SFS Chapter 368 Regret
Chapter 368 Regret
The wise king harbored resentment towards Zhao Yi for killing his uncle and gaining power by stepping on his uncle's corpse. Just now, when he encountered Zhao Yi's carriage, he ordered his coachman to ram it.
Everyone in the Ministry of Rites said that Zhao Yi was neither arrogant because of his talent nor proud because of his success, and that he was gentle and polite to others.
The wise king scoffed at this, asking, "What is Zhao Yi's background? What is his identity?"
If you want to win people's hearts, you have to put on airs and keep a low profile.
He glanced around and saw that there were only a few officials at the palace gate, but in a short while, seven or eight officials arrived one after another.
The wise prince believed that Zhao Yi harbored ambitions to seize the throne, so he thought that Zhao Yi would not dare to make things difficult for him and would pretend to be magnanimous and not take it to heart.
To everyone's surprise, Zhao Yi's expression turned cold: "What if I want to argue about it?"
The wise prince looked at Zhao Yi in astonishment, completely unexpected that Zhao Yi would pursue the matter. If it weren't for the cold and sharp look in Zhao Yi's eyes, he would have almost thought he had misheard.
With so many people watching, how could Zhao Yi dare to do that?
“Even a three-year-old knows that if you do something wrong, you should sincerely apologize.” Zhao Yi raised an eyebrow: “What? Doesn’t the Prince of Xian even know this basic etiquette?”
When the wise king heard Zhao Yi mock him as being worse than a three-year-old child, his face turned very ugly.
It's impossible for him to apologize to Zhao Yi.
But if he doesn't apologize, he'll probably become a laughing stock if word gets out about what happened today.
Despite all his calculations, he hadn't anticipated that Zhao Yi was such a tough nut to crack.
His face was tense: "Brother, it's just a joke between brothers, nothing serious. Why are you being so aggressive?"
"The character '贤' (xián) signifies both virtue and talent. His Majesty's choice of this character as your title demonstrates the high hopes he has for you."
Zhao Yi refused to be led by the nose by the wise king, his face cold and stern: "You rode your horse recklessly in front of the palace gate, disrespecting your elder brother behind you. You are arrogant and rude, and you do not know how to repent. You are really not worthy of the title 'wise'."
With a hiss, the surrounding officials gasped.
This statement is undeniably serious.
The situation has completely changed since the wise king rammed Zhao Yi's carriage and then rode his horse recklessly at the palace gate.
The former was merely disrespecting his elder brother, while the latter violated the laws of Northern Qi.
The wise king's expression changed, and he clenched his fists.
He is going through a turbulent time, and if today's events reach his father's ears, he may be punished.
Making him apologize to Zhao Yi is less desirable than simply killing him.
Only now did the wise king feel regret.
He regretted provoking Zhao Yi.
"Your Excellency, Imperial Censor," Zhao Yi looked up at the Imperial Censor standing beside the carriage, "You are responsible for overseeing all officials. Will you report today's events truthfully to His Majesty?"
The censor looked at the furious Prince Xian, then at the composed Zhao Yi, and bowed, saying, "This is my duty."
Zhao Yi received his answer, bowed to the censor, ignored the Prince Xian, and led Shen Qingtan toward the palace gate.
The virtuous prince's forehead vein throbbed, and he rushed to Zhao Yi's side, looking at Zhao Yi with cold eyes, as if asking him: What else do you want?
He was instantly consumed by rage and wanted to leave.
But he had to apologize to Zhao Yi, otherwise he would be impeached by the censor, which would be a real problem for him.
The wise prince suppressed his anger and bowed, apologizing, "Brother, I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have acted rashly and bumped into your carriage. Please forgive me."
Zhao Yi said indifferently, "You haven't apologized to my queen yet."
The Prince Xian gritted his teeth and, enduring the humiliation, bowed to Shen Qingtan, saying, "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry you were frightened. Please forgive me."
Shen Qingtan pursed her red lips and did not reply, leaving the matter to Zhao Yi to handle.
Zhao Yi said calmly, "This will not be the first time."
Upon hearing Zhao Yi's casual remark, the wise king felt a surge of anger rise to his head, and his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
Zhao Yi spoke so lightly, as if he didn't care about the matter, yet he was forced to apologize in public, causing him to lose all face and dignity.
As the wise king watched Zhao Yi's retreating figure, the hatred in his heart intensified.
Zhao Yi disregarded the Prince Xian's attitude, sat in the sedan chair, and said gently, "Did I frighten you? Did you bump into anything?"
Shen Qingtan shook her head: "You stopped me, I'm not hurt."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yi's tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and he raised his hand to touch her forehead.
"Hey, don't touch me." Shen Qingtan pushed Zhao Yi's hand away and said reproachfully, "I have a floral decoration on my forehead."
Zhao Yi smiled as he watched her display a girlish charm, then pulled her into his arms: "It's not damaged. If it is, I'll fix it for you."
Shen Qingtan muttered, "Then I won't be seeing anyone tonight."
She took out a mirror with a double magpie and auspicious beast pattern from her sleeve and looked at herself. Seeing that her makeup was not smudged, she breathed a sigh of relief.
The couple arrived at Baoyuan Hall, where many ministers and their wives had already gathered.
They walked toward their seats.
Ministers and their wives all paid their respects to them.
Shen Qingtan sat down and looked around. Apart from Princess Guangning, everyone else was a stranger.
When Princess Guangning saw Shen Qingtan, her eyes lit up, and she wanted to greet her. But when she saw everyone in the hall, she gently pursed her lips and slowly lowered her head.
Seeing this, Shen Qingtan took out a gift from her sleeve and gestured for Tingxue to deliver it to Princess Guangning.
Princess Guangning received the gift and looked at Shen Qingtan with a sense of surprise and delight.
She was grateful for Shen Qingtan's kindness to her in Da Zhou, but she never expected that Shen Qingtan would be her sister-in-law.
Upon returning to Northern Qi, she heard the news of Zhao Yi's death and went to the Guangling Prince's residence to visit Shen Qingtan, but was refused entry.
She thought Shen Qingtan didn't want to associate with her, but unexpectedly... he actually prepared a New Year's gift for her.
This is the first gift she has ever received in her life.
Shen Qingtan noticed a glint of tears in Princess Guangning's eyes and was slightly taken aback. Before she could think further, she heard someone say, "Lord Jiang, you came alone? Isn't your son coming to the palace banquet?"
"There are many noble people in the palace, and my son has caught a cold and is unable to attend the palace banquet."
She looked up and saw two middle-aged men with beautiful beards and refined demeanor walking over.
One of them noticed her gaze, turned his head to look over, and stopped in his tracks.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, I am Jiang Su, the Director of the Imperial Observatory. I pay my respects to you."
Another official followed suit and bowed.
Zhao Yi said indifferently, "No need for formalities."
Jiang Jianzheng's gaze inadvertently fell on Zhao Yi's face. He stared at him for a while until Zhao Yi frowned slightly. Only then did he look away and prepare to return to his seat. But he saw Consort Shu staring at him expressionlessly, her inscrutable expression revealing a hint of eeriness.
Jiang Jianzheng bowed to Consort Shu.
Seeing that Consort Shu was all alone, with neither his wife nor son attending the banquet, the gloom that had been weighing on her heart dissipated.
It seems her people succeeded and arrested Jiang Jianzheng's son.
So, when Jiang Jianzheng just showed goodwill to Zhao Yi, was he planning to seek Zhao Yi's help?
Unfortunately, Zhao Yi is not one to meddle in other people's business.
Sure enough, Supervisor Jiang ran into a snub with Zhao Yi.
Therefore, Jiang Jianzheng had no choice but to do as she said.
Consort Shu seemed to foresee the future of the Lin family after their turn of events, and a glimmer of light appeared in her usually quiet eyes.
When that time comes, she will definitely settle accounts with Zhao Yi one by one.
At this moment, the Northern Qi Emperor and Empress arrived together.
All the civil and military officials knelt down: "Your Majesty, we respectfully wish you good health and the Empress well."
The Emperor of Northern Qi raised his hand: "No need for formalities."
The civil and military officials took their seats again.
The Emperor of Northern Qi picked up his wine cup and saw Jiang Jianzheng standing in his seat: "Minister Jiang, do you have something to report?"
Consort Shu sat up straight; the moment she had been waiting for had finally arrived.