SFS Chapter 335 Conferring of a Kingship, Funeral
Chapter 335 Conferring of a Kingship, Funeral
Shen Qingtan thought to herself, "Someone like the Imperial Tutor should know about this, right?"
Princess Yizhen was a person of the Northern Qi Emperor. The fact that the emperor was able to feed Princess Yizhen to wild animals shows that she was of high status and was under the protection of the Northern Qi Emperor.
It's also possible that person was the Emperor of Northern Qi...
The Imperial Tutor is the teacher of the Emperor of Northern Qi. Will he tell them about the murderer?
Before she could figure out the Imperial Tutor's purpose, Shen Qingtan dared not test him rashly, for fear of getting herself into trouble.
"Second Madam," Tingxue said, panting as she entered, "Princess Guangning wishes to see you."
After the two countries reached an agreement on the marriage alliance, Princess Guangning returned to Northern Qi with the imperial tutor to await her marriage.
Shen Qingtan pursed her lips slightly and declined, saying, "I'm closing my doors to visitors recently."
Tingxue realized that since the Second Master had passed away, it was indeed inappropriate for the Second Madam to receive guests, so she went to report to Princess Guangning.
-
The Northern Qi emperor posthumously conferred the title of Imperial Noble Consort Huiming upon Princess Yizhen and the title of Prince of Guangling upon Zhao Yi. Furthermore, at the suggestion of the imperial tutor, Yuncheng and Panshicheng were designated as Zhao Yi's fiefdoms.
Zhao Yi died of illness in Yingcheng, so his funeral was arranged to be held in his fiefdom, and Shen Qingtan was to go to the fiefdom to hold the funeral for Zhao Yi.
To show his high regard for Zhao Yi, the Emperor of Northern Qi specially sent his tutor and second-in-command to Yuncheng to offer condolences.
The people of the capital thus learned that their prince, who had been living in exile in the Great Zhou, had died of illness while dealing with the plague.
The common people didn't have many thoughts about this prince who had half of the blood of the Great Zhou Dynasty in his body; only a small number of them were very hostile towards Zhao Yi.
After all, the Great Zhou was an enemy state, and the division of a city of Northern Qi brought humiliation to Northern Qi.
But from some hidden corner, a faint voice said that the Imperial Tutor had abandoned the people of Cloud City and Rock City, disregarding their lives.
Zhao Yi disobeyed the imperial tutor's orders and assisted the city's prefect in closing the city gates, thus preventing the sick people from fleeing to other cities.
Then the prefect was instructed to house the sick people together and protect those who were not infected, thus preventing the plague from getting out of control.
Afterwards, a prescription was given to Yuncheng and Panshicheng, and the patients took the decoction and it had some effect.
Zhao Yi suddenly fell ill and died.
The news spread far and wide in the capital, and everyone knew what Zhao Yi had done for the people of Yuncheng and Panshicheng.
Gradually, these voices spread to other counties and cities, and the people of other cities adjacent to Yuncheng and Panshicheng were extremely grateful to Zhao Yi.
If it weren't for his decision to close the city gates, their county would probably not have been spared.
Perhaps because Zhao Yi died, people forgot that he had half the blood of the enemy country in him, and only remembered the things he did for the people of Northern Qi. They no longer hated or rejected him, but instead continued to praise him.
When the news reached Lin Yi, who was far away in Yuncheng, he was puzzled as to where it had come from.
Zhao Yi is clearly dead, so why are we still creating hype for him?
The confidant said, "My lord, I suspect that the Imperial Tutor leaked this information. Zhao Yi has made contributions to the people of Yuncheng and Panshicheng, and the prescriptions he provided have had some effect. Even if you manage to cure the plague, you will only be stealing Zhao Yi's achievements and will be overshadowed by him."
Lin Yi thought the same thing, and sneered, "I won't let him succeed."
Just then, someone came to report: "Lord Lin, the Prefect has arrived."
Lin Yi took out a piece of cloth from his sleeve, covered his mouth and nose, and walked out of the mansion, where he saw the prefect waiting at the gate.
He inquired, "Lord Jiang, what is the situation in Yun City?"
Prefect Jiang quickly replied, "The patient has received some relief after taking the prescription sent by His Highness. The doctor said that after another ten or twenty doses of the decoction, he might recover."
Lin Yi frowned and continued to ask, "How many new patients are there each day?"
“Several hundred,” Prefect Jiang said with a worried expression. “I hope that after taking this medicine for a while, all the patients will recover.”
Lin Yi gestured to Prefect Jiang to lead the way to check on the patient's condition.
"The epidemic is highly contagious. His Highness had not been in contact with any patients, but had only stood for a moment at the entrance of the bamboo shed where the patients were housed, and then contracted the epidemic."
Prefect Jiang hesitated before asking, "Are you really going to visit him?"
After saying this, Prefect Jiang noticed that Lin Yi's expression was very unpleasant. He suddenly realized that he had said the wrong thing and quickly added, "This humble official will take you to see him."
With a cold face, Lin Yi followed behind Prefect Jiang to Hua'an Ward.
Instead of taking Lin Yi closer to the patients, Prefect Jiang led them across the street into a tavern, where they could see the sheds where the patients were being housed from the window.
Lin Yi heard heartbreaking cries coming from the shed, and heard doctors carrying out the bodies of the deceased. His brows furrowed tightly.
"I don't think the medicine His Highness gave us is working. Not a single patient is getting better; they're just hanging on by a thread. People are dying every day."
"Throughout history, no patient who contracted the plague has ever survived. The only one who could cure the plague was the medical sage Zhongyuan, who is said to have died."
At this point, Lin Yi said in a deep voice, "These patients cannot be cured. Their existence will only kill more people. In my opinion, we should burn them down to completely eliminate the root of the epidemic."
Prefect Jiang's expression suddenly changed drastically: "This...this is too cruel and inhumane..."
"If it were possible to cure them, I would do everything in my power to save their lives. Unfortunately... their fate was sealed the moment they contracted the disease."
"The prescription given by the Crown Prince was effective, so why did he himself die of illness?"
"I had no choice but to make this decision."
Lin Yi closed the window: "If you quell the plague as soon as possible, you may be rewarded by the court for your good governance. If the plague in Panshi City is quelled, but not in Yun City... then it won't just be your official hat that's taken off, but your head."
Prefect Jiang shivered and subconsciously touched his neck.
Lin Yi patted Prefect Jiang on the shoulder: "Think it over carefully."
Prefect Jiang looked down at Lin Yi's hand on his shoulder, and then heard Lin Yi say meaningfully, "There's no one in this tavern, and there's a stove in there. It's easy for it to catch fire."
After saying that, Lin Yi left.
Prefect Jiang stood there, staring blankly at the brazier in the room, the red-hot charcoal crackling and popping.
He felt a chill run down his spine. Lin Yi was implying that he had set fire to the patients and then spread rumors that the fire was caused by the patients trying to keep warm.
-
Lin Yi returned to his residence, and someone came to report: "My lord, I have heard some news. The Emperor posthumously conferred upon Zhao Yi the title of Prince of Guangling, and designated Yuncheng and Panshicheng as his fiefdoms. Shen Qingtan, along with the Imperial Tutor and the Second Grand Secretary, have come to Yuncheng to prepare for the Prince of Guangling's funeral."
Lin Yi wondered if the Northern Qi emperor thought Zhao Yi's remains were in Yingcheng, which was why he decided to bury Zhao Yi in the Yuncheng Prince's Mausoleum.
"Have they arrived in Cloud City?"
"We have arrived in Yuncheng."
Lin Yi narrowed his eyes slightly. With the Imperial Tutor, the Second Assistant Minister, and Shen Qingtan in Yun City, it would be a bit tricky if they wanted to set fire to the sick people again.
"My lord, the day of Zhao Yi's funeral is the best time to make our move," the confidant advised. "On that day, everyone's attention will be on the mourning hall, which will actually make things easier for us."
The smile in Lin Yi's eyes deepened; that day was indeed a good opportunity.
The Prince of Zhenbei of the Great Zhou Dynasty should come to attend his son-in-law's funeral, right?