roccoschili Chapter 375 Old Grudges
Chapter 375 Old Grudges
"I have a few words to say to the Prince of Guangling." Consort Shu struggled to stay and threatened the Imperial Guards, "His Majesty only banished me to the Cold Palace, he didn't kill me. If anything happens to me, you won't be able to explain yourselves to His Majesty."
The Imperial Guards were filled with dread as they recalled the image of Consort Shu seeking death in order to keep Prince Xian in the capital.
They exchanged a glance, but ultimately did not forcibly take her away.
Consort Shu gestured for the Imperial Guards to stand further away.
The imperial guards, fearing they might overhear something they shouldn't and risk being killed, retreated a short distance once they were certain that Consort Shu couldn't escape.
Zhao Yi was summoned to the palace, but he did not intend to have any interaction with Consort Shu, and headed towards the Imperial Study.
Just as Zhao Yi was about to walk past, Consort Shu hurriedly asked, "Don't you want to know how your birth mother died?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yi stopped and looked calmly at Consort Shu.
Consort Shu stared intently at Zhao Yi, whose eyes were like a calm lake where ice and snow had melted.
It was as if they only noticed her voice and glanced at her subconsciously, not really caring about the cause of Princess Yizhen's death.
Consort Shu did not believe that Zhao Yi was truly so nonchalant.
If Zhao Yi truly didn't care about Princess Yizhen, why would he personally come to Northern Qi to retrieve Princess Yizhen's remains and bring them back to Great Zhou?
Now that things had come to this, she had no other choice, so she planned to use the cause of Princess Yizhen's death to provoke Zhao Yi into killing her.
Because she knew very well that even if she hanged herself in the cold palace, she could not change the fact that her son would return to his fiefdom.
It might even backfire, making the Northern Qi emperor dislike her son even more.
If Zhao Yi had done it, the situation would have been completely different.
“I think you should want to know about your mother’s life in Northern Qi. So today I will do a good deed and tell you some things about her, so that she won’t die without knowing why.”
Consort Shu raised her hand and pointed in a direction: "She lived in Anrui Palace before she died, and she planted a catalpa tree in the courtyard with her own hands. I heard that the catalpa tree symbolizes one's hometown."
“Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, she would sit under the tree for a whole day and tie a red cloth strip to the tree to pray for blessings.”
"If you go to Anrui Hall now, you might still see that tree, and there should still be strips of cloth tied to it."
Consort Shu stared at Zhao Yi's handsome face without even raising an eyebrow. She tightened her grip on her fingers and continued, "Every strip of cloth contained her longing for her hometown. It's a pity—she was captured by my men and locked in a cage with wild beasts to fight, where she was bitten to death. Hahaha, how pitiful! She died without ever seeing her family come to take her back to the land she yearned for."
Zhao Yi clenched his fists tightly inside his sleeves, trying his best to control his emotions so as not to strangle Consort Shu.
"If she had lived just one more month, she could have waited for the envoys of the Great Zhou to come and take her back to her country. It's a pity that she was born with a lowly life and little fortune, destined to be a slave and never enjoy wealth and honor."
Consort Shu looked at Zhao Yi's tense face and smiled smugly: "Ah, I remember now, she was pounced on by a wild beast, looking desperately in the direction of Anrui Palace, and she was still calling your name."
Zhao Yi had already seen through Consort Shu's thoughts and was not swayed by her provocation: "You have committed many evils and now you have received your due retribution."
Consort Shu was stunned. Zhao Yi shouldn't have reacted like this. He should have excitedly killed her to avenge Yi Zhen.
"You killed my mother simply because you were jealous that she gave birth to a prince first, which threatened your position."
"After you gave birth to the Prince Xian, you gained His Majesty's favor. His Majesty promoted the Lin family, and the Lin family has been at the height of its power ever since, enjoying unwavering imperial favor."
"For so many years, the Wise Prince has been highly valued by His Majesty and is one of his favorite sons. It's a pity—"
Zhao Yi changed the subject: "Your greed is insatiable, and you went and provoked the Imperial Tutor who was loyal to His Majesty, thus incurring his wrath. In order to bring down the Imperial Tutor, you did not hesitate to create a plague, which ultimately killed your elder brother."
Consort Shu's expression changed.
"Instead of restraining yourself, you went even further, trying to avenge your elder brother, which led to the Lin family being wiped out."
Looking at the disheveled Consort Shu, Zhao Yi said, word by word, "Even at this point, you still can't see the situation clearly. You went to His Majesty to demand justice for the Lin family, which ultimately caused Prince Xian to lose His Majesty's favor."
At this point, Zhao Yi raised the corners of his lips: "Your Highness, Prince Xian's power originally surpassed that of Prince Qi, making him stand out among all the princes. If you had behaved yourself, he wouldn't have lost everything trying to save you."
These words were like a sharp blade piercing Consort Shu's heart, forcing her to face reality.
She firmly believed that Zhao Yi killed her elder brother and that Jiang Jianzheng wiped out the entire Lin family.
However, Zhao Yi claimed that she was the one who killed her elder brother, caused the Lin family to be wiped out, and caused her son to be imprisoned in his fiefdom, losing all power and favor.
She is the culprit.
"No, it wasn't me. You killed my elder brother. It was Jiang Su who destroyed my Lin family."
Consort Shu vehemently retorted, "If Jiang Su hadn't said that Heng'er would rebel in the future, why would His Majesty treat us, mother and son, like this?"
The more he argued, the more a voice inside him seemed to say: "If you hadn't arrested Jiang Jianzheng's son, why would Jiang Jianzheng have accused your son of plotting a rebellion?"
[It was you, it was you who killed your own elder brother, caused the Lin family to be wiped out, and even caused your son to miss out on the position of crown prince.]
If she hadn't had the idea of winning over the Imperial Tutor, she wouldn't have become enemies with him, and she wouldn't have created the plague to get rid of him. Her brother wouldn't have died at Zhao Yi's hands.
If she hadn't taken such a risky approach to save the Lin family by kidnapping Jiang Su's son and angering Jiang Su, the Lin family wouldn't have been wiped out.
If she hadn't been blinded by hatred, hadn't seen the situation clearly, and hadn't come to His Majesty to seek justice for the Lin family, she wouldn't have been stripped of her imperial concubine title and sentenced to death.
Her son wouldn't be demoted to a fiefdom for pleading for her.
It was her, it was her... she caused it all.
Countless voices whispered these words in her ears, and Consort Shu clutched her head in anguish, as if blocking out these voices would prevent her from being defeated.
No matter how she covered her ears, the sounds continued to come from all directions, tormenting her mind and pushing her to the brink of collapse.
"It wasn't me...it wasn't my fault..."
As long as she doesn't admit it, she won't suffer, and she won't regret it.
"For over twenty years you have been scheming and eliminating those who posed a threat to you, all in order to put the wise prince in that position. Now, at the very last moment, you have only benefited others."
Zhao Yi slowly walked up to Consort Shu and pressed the final straw on her: "Tell me, why did His Majesty summon me to the palace at this critical juncture?"
Consort Shu could not accept the fact that she was doing the work for someone else, and she could not accept that the person was Zhao Yi.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible—" Consort Shu refused to believe that the Northern Qi Emperor had summoned Zhao Yi to the palace to transfer all the power held by the Prince Xian to Zhao Yi. She said emotionally, "His Majesty despises you and your son and wishes you would disappear. How could he possibly support you?"