allonlinenovel Chapter 530: Traitors are in power
Chapter 530: Traitors are in power
Upon hearing this, Eunuch Liu gripped his whisk tightly, thinking to himself: His Majesty is afraid that the Prince of Guangling will take advantage of the chaos to rebel.
He glanced at the Northern Qi Emperor out of the corner of his eye and saw the emperor take out a medicine bottle from his sleeve with trembling hands, pour seven or eight pills into his palm, stuff them into his mouth, and swallow them forcefully.
Then, the Northern Qi emperor slumped in his dragon throne, pressing his hand against his chest while gasping for breath.
Eunuch Liu was a former servant of the Northern Qi emperor and clearly sensed his change.
After the Northern Qi emperor survived the assassination attempt by the Prince of Qi, his health deteriorated.
It is likely that the Northern Qi emperor knew his lifespan was short, and his paranoia grew stronger. He not only feared that powerful ministers would collude with their cronies to plot against him, but also worried that his princes would stop at nothing to seize the throne, even murdering their fathers and usurping the throne.
From then on, every decision made by the Northern Qi emperor was baffling.
They had completely lost their reason.
"Your Majesty, please have a sip of warm water." Eunuch Liu put down his whisk, picked up a cup of warm water, and served it to the Emperor of Northern Qi. "You must take care of your health and avoid extreme joy or anger."
"All those around me are good-for-nothings," the Emperor of Northern Qi said weakly. "None of them are as useful as the Imperial Tutor."
If he hadn't distanced himself from the imperial tutor, he probably wouldn't have allowed a group of greedy and corrupt officials to almost ruin the family's legacy.
The Emperor of Northern Qi missed his imperial tutor even more and asked, "How is Heqing's illness?"
Eunuch Liu replied, "Imperial Physician Fang sends messages to the palace every day, saying that the Imperial Tutor's condition has stabilized, but there are no signs of improvement. He is only being kept alive by the precious medicinal herbs you bestowed upon him; otherwise, given his weakened state, he would probably have already..."
The Emperor of Northern Qi was deeply concerned about the current situation of Northern Qi and urgently needed his imperial tutor to help him turn the tide.
So he ordered, "Post an imperial edict to find...find..."
The Northern Qi emperor was covered in cold sweat, his lips were bluish-purple, and he pressed hard on his chest, trying to catch his breath, but his eyes rolled back and he fainted.
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty..." Eunuch Liu exclaimed in alarm, "Guards, summon the imperial physician—"
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But once the Northern Qi emperor got involved, it wasn't something he could simply stop at will.
Although the imperial court issued an edict to stop increasing taxes and conscription, the people no longer dared to trust the court.
They all believed that the imperial edict was merely a delaying tactic by the court, and that after appeasing them, the court would exploit them even more ruthlessly.
As a result, the oppressed people were filled with hatred towards the court, and not only plundered the government's property and grain, but also wanted to overthrow the Northern Qi emperor's regime.
In addition, those capable people had already sold their possessions and fled to neighboring countries in order to evade taxes and military service when taxes were increased and conscription was forcibly carried out.
Some of the people went to Yuncheng and Panshicheng to seek Zhao Yi's protection.
At this time, a rumor suddenly spread throughout Northern Qi that the emperor had fallen ill, the court was controlled by treacherous officials, and that the increase in taxes and conscription was all the work of these officials.
The people started discussing the rumor with great interest.
"The officials of Yongqing County exploited the people, and the matter reached His Majesty's attention. Even though these officials were related to the prince, His Majesty showed no mercy and beheaded them all. Such a wise ruler who cares about the people would never do anything to exploit them."
"Yes, I don't believe our Emperor would do such a thing. It must have been done by a treacherous minister around him."
“You don’t know this as well as I do. I heard from a gentleman who just returned from the capital that the decree to increase taxes and conscript soldiers was indeed the idea of the Right Pillar General. Moreover, His Majesty has not attended court for four or five days, and apart from the Right Pillar General, none of the other officials can see His Majesty.”
Hearing this, everyone was shocked.
The Northern Qi emperor was ill, and only the Right Pillar of State could see him. Other officials not only could not see him, but also did not know his condition.
It's hard not to suspect that the Right Pillar General, taking advantage of the fact that the Prince of Guangling was far away in Yuncheng, had seized control of the Northern Qi Emperor and intended to usurp the throne.
The crowd looked at each other, each convinced themselves that the rumors were true.
After all, there's no smoke without fire; there must be a reason behind it.
Right Pillar State is plotting a rebellion.
The rumors spread like wildfire, eventually becoming the story that the Right Pillar General had imprisoned the Northern Qi Emperor, seized control of the court, and plotted to usurp the throne.
Upon hearing this, people from all over the country refused to accept it.
How can we allow treacherous officials to hold power, disrupt the court, and harm the people?
They all pleaded with Zhao Yi to raise an army to attack the Right Pillar State and rescue the Northern Qi Emperor.