northernbook Chapter 289 Past Events
Chapter 289 Past Events
After being stripped of power, Prince Yu had anticipated the current situation.
Either Emperor Jing'an, out of consideration for his father-son relationship, would suppress the matter and cover it up.
Either Emperor Jing'an would be ruthless and investigate thoroughly.
Now that Emperor Jing'an has ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to conduct a thorough investigation, it won't be long before they find the evidence.
After all, no matter how stubborn someone is, once they're in the Jinyiwei's prison, they'll be pried open.
To break the current situation, he needs to suppress something even bigger than the blunder by the Ministry of War.
Prince Yu wiped his fingers with a clean white handkerchief and slowly walked to a map.
The Grand Tutor followed closely behind, and looking in the direction of Prince Yu's gaze, he saw a place called "Phoenix Mountain" which he circled.
He asked, "Your Highness, where is this place?"
Prince Yu's eyes darkened. Phoenix Mountain was a crucial place, perhaps holding a way out for him.
Emperor Jing'an would stay at the imperial palace for half a month every year.
Two years ago, when Emperor Jing'an was staying at the summer palace, he went to the palace with official documents to find Emperor Jing'an. When he passed by Phoenix Mountain, he inadvertently spotted Jiang Wang, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
He assumed Jiang Wang was on orders to investigate a case at Fengxing Mountain and didn't take it seriously until he failed to see Emperor Jing'an at the imperial palace.
It wasn't until noon the next day that Jiang Wang was seen escorting Emperor Jing'an back to the palace.
He vaguely guessed that Emperor Jing'an had gone to Phoenix Mountain, and his intuition told him that this matter was not simple. He dared not send anyone to investigate Emperor Jing'an, but when Emperor Jing'an went to the imperial palace the following year, he began to pay close attention.
Sure enough, Emperor Jing'an went to Phoenix Mountain again.
Emperor Jing'an never mentioned this place, only going there in private, which is enough to show that it contains something very important to him.
Or perhaps it harbors a secret unknown to others.
Prince Yu never does anything without certainty. Before making any plans, he must first test the waters and judge whether his guesses are correct based on Emperor Jing'an's reaction.
He threw down the handkerchief in his hand, took down the map hanging on the wall, slowly rolled it up, threw it into the brazier, and took out a tinderbox to burn it.
-
Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Emperor Jing'an sat on his dragon bed, preparing to review the memorials.
Eunuch Cao lit some calming incense and caught a glimpse of Emperor Jing'an's actions. "Your Majesty," he said, "Lord Zhao specifically instructed me to let you rest early tonight." He paused, then added, "If you continue to handle state affairs, I don't know how to answer Lord Zhao's questions tomorrow."
Emperor Jing'an felt somewhat helpless, but thinking of Zhao Yi's concern for him, he didn't take out any more memorials. He slowly lay down on the bed and pulled the thin blanket over his chest.
When Eunuch Cao saw Emperor Jing'an close his eyes and go to sleep, he breathed a sigh of relief.
From the moment he began to follow Emperor Jing'an, Emperor Jing'an began to have trouble sleeping, often waking up in the middle of the night and finding it difficult to fall back asleep.
Recently, Emperor Jing'an has been having difficulty falling asleep, and his nightmares have become increasingly frequent.
Over time, even the strongest body can't withstand it.
Eunuch Cao withdrew from the sleeping quarters.
Emperor Jing'an heard the door close and thought he would have a hard time sleeping that night. But as he smelled the elegant fragrance in the palace, sleepiness washed over him, and he drifted off to sleep.
He was tied to a pillar, wearing only a thin robe, and the cold wind howled, cutting into his body like knives.
The sound of the chains rattling rang out. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw the chains wrapped around the girl's neck several times, tied to a corner like a dog.
She was only wearing an undergarment and no shoes. She was so cold that she huddled up in a ball, wishing she could hide her feet inside her trousers.
Her face was blue from the cold, her lips were bloodless and cracked, and her eyes were staring blankly at a silver bowl in front of her, which contained a bowl of fatty meat, frozen and covered with a thick layer of grease.
Beside her sat a large, muscular dog, staring intently at her as if it might pounce and bite her throat at any moment.
His heart clenched, and he called out again and again, "Yizhen, Yizhen..."
Yi Zhen blinked slowly, looked at him, and her lips moved as if she wanted to speak.
But she was too hungry and too cold to even speak.
She has been chained to the doghouse for three days. If she survives for seven days, the powerful and wealthy young men of Northern Qi will release her.
They refused to give her water or food, trying to break her pride as a royal princess and force her to fight with dogs for food.
Yi Zhen once said, "I can give up anything, but as a princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the daughter of my mother, I cannot break my pride."
Yizhen wanted to rescue him, but she also believed in her own words: she would rather die than submit.
He shouted, "Yizhen, you don't need to worry about your brother, go quickly."
Upon hearing his words, Yi Zhen twitched her fingers and slowly rolled over, lying face down on the ground. This single movement exhausted her strength.
She slowly crawled forward until she reached the silver bowl.
The dog moved, walked over, stared at Yizhen for a while, then lowered its head and ate a piece of meat.
Yizhen, with a burst of strength from who knows where, pulled the bowl in front of her, grabbed a piece of fatty meat from the bowl, and stuffed it into her mouth.
He looked at her as if she were starving, or as if she was afraid the dog would steal the rest of the meat. He grabbed the fatty meat with both hands and stuffed it into his mouth, making her eyes bloodshot.
He seemed to hear something shatter on the ground, and struggled desperately to stop her. But he was bound, and could only watch helplessly as she, without dignity, like a beggar, snatched food from a dog.
He only wanted to survive, so he asked them to release him.
The veins on his forehead bulged, his hands were clenched into fists, he hated his own powerlessness, and he called out to her, begging her to leave.
When those people saw that Yizhen had eaten, a torrent of ridicule and insults erupted.
"Princess, is this meat delicious?"
"If you bark like a dog a few times, I'll give you a bone."
"Hahaha, you really treat the Great Zhou princess like a dog? She's a princess, you know. Tsk, a princess of a nation, and she's not even as good as a beggar, reduced to fighting with dogs for food."
"Today's performance was truly spectacular. It was quite amusing to see the proud and unyielding Empress Xiaoen, even from the afterlife, watching her own daughter suffer humiliation and be forced to eat with dogs."
These words were like sharp blades piercing his chest, pushing him to the brink of collapse.
He saw Yizhen looking at him; her eyes were red, but not a single tear fell. She just gave him a forced smile.
She said, "Brother, we will all survive."
A cold liquid streamed down his face.
“Yi Zhen…”
Emperor Jing'an suddenly awoke, the oppressive feeling making it hard to breathe; guilt, humiliation, and grief still tormented him.
When Eunuch Cao heard the commotion, he came in, lifted the curtain, and was stunned to see the tears on Emperor Jing'an's face.
Emperor Jing'an wiped his face, looked at the tears in his palm, shook himself, and got out of bed with a gloomy expression.
Eunuch Cao hurriedly helped Emperor Jing'an wash his face, poured him a cup of warm water, and then took a pill and handed it to him to swallow.
Emperor Jing'an handed the cup to Eunuch Cao and was about to speak.
At this moment, the voice of an eunuch came from outside the hall: "Your Majesty, there is unusual activity at Phoenix Mountain."