Chapter 1882: 1870: You’re Really Not Tempted?

Chapter 1882: Chapter 1870: You’re Really Not Tempted?

Qi Le naturally chose the Royal Family’s side, but she also pleaded with the previous Emperor to allow her to search for the whereabouts of the Golden Seal at her home and present it to the Royal Family once found.

The previous Emperor agreed but feared she might not be diligent, so he arranged for the Hidden Guard to be by Qi Le’s side to search for the Golden Seal at the Qi Family.

However, no matter how Qi Le and the Hidden Guard searched, they found nothing.

Qi Le used her status to extract information from her parents and elders but discovered that none of them knew about the existence of the Golden Seal.

In the end, she could only turn her attention to Scholar Qi, as he was the only one outside at that time.

Thus, Scholar Qi was summoned to the Capital City, but despite Qi Le and the Hidden Guard’s multiple investigations, even after drugging him and searching him, they found no trace of the Golden Seal.

The previous Emperor wanted to take action against the Qi Family but had reservations, and with Qi Le’s pleas, he held back.

Coincidentally, at that time, the Grasslands Delegation arrived, so the previous Emperor temporarily shelved this matter.

However, unexpectedly, Qi Le accidentally received another piece of information from the subordinates of the then Prince of the Grasslands.

They said a herdsman accidentally fell into a glacier crevice and, upon awakening, found himself in a valley where outside was icy and snowy, yet inside the valley, flowers were in full bloom, like a fairyland.

He said that the valley was surrounded by cliffs, and he did not know how he entered it.

Later he fell into the water, lost consciousness, and when he woke up, he did not know where he was. Later, someone found him, and he realized he was in the mountains at the border of Great Chu and the Grasslands.

The herdsman considered his encounter as witnessing a miracle.

However, this herdsman was from a small tribe, the grasslands are vast, and not many people knew about it. Besides, people don’t really believe his story, though some children took it seriously.

This subordinate was from that tribe, stopped at the tribe while passing through Great Chu, rested for a night, and heard it from a relative’s child, but didn’t take it seriously.

Then, while casually chatting with others, he inadvertently mentioned it, which was overheard by Qi Le.

Since hearing this royal secret, Qi Le had been researching the information on the Dragon Cave and Underground Palace.

After hearing the subordinate’s words, she kept it in mind, asked a few more questions, compared them with the royal information that had been passed down, and felt that the location where the herdsman awoke was very similar to the Underground Palace and Dragon Cave.

Qi Le did not hide this information from the previous Emperor.

The previous Emperor, upon receiving this information, was naturally very excited and wanted to send someone to find the herdsman to investigate.

But sending others, the previous Emperor was not at ease. At this time, Qi Le herself requested the mission, saying she was willing to explore this secret for the royal family, in exchange for sparing the Qi Family.

The previous Emperor did not initially agree, as Qi Le was the Emperor’s chosen daughter-in-law, the next mother of the nation.

But Qi Le persuaded the previous Emperor, saying the King of the Grasslands had affections for her, and she could use this to stabilize her position in the Grasslands and use the King’s influence to search for the Underground Palace and Dragon Cave.

She also said she only asked that when the time came, whether or not the previous Emperor could find the key at the Qi Family, the Qi Family would be spared.

After considering for a few days, the previous Emperor agreed, and together with Qi Le, staged a play.

This play was known only to the previous Emperor and Qi Le at the time, even the other Princes were kept in the dark.

Qi Le and the King of the Grasslands, under the desperate protection of subordinates and the previous Emperor’s concessions, endured tremendous hardships to reach the Grasslands.

Who would have known, once reaching the Grasslands, to gain the King’s trust, Qi Le and the previous Emperor had discussed to identify a few spies lurking in the Grasslands Royal City.

But unexpectedly, after she acted according to plan, she discovered that the spies from Great Chu hiding in Wang City seemed to have been thoroughly eradicated overnight.

Even when she wanted to send a message back to Great Chu, she couldn’t find anyone.

Later, not long after she was appointed Queen Ah Lan, she heard that the Qi Family was ransacked and exiled, and by the time she got the news, it was too late.

By then, her situation in the Grasslands had improved, and she had a few confidants, who also managed to infiltrate the Qi family’s place of exile, but the Qi Family members were too heavily guarded to approach.

She could only settle for second best, sending confidants to secretly enter Great Chu to contact some subordinates she left in the Capital City to find the whereabouts of the Qi Family’s women.

In the end, she only learned that Qi Huan was taken in by Song Hong, and was pregnant, but did not know Song Hong was about to marry.

The confidant relayed this news to Qi Huan, and upon realizing she was deceived, Qi Huan decided to leave Song Hong and seek refuge with Qi Le.

The confidant escorted Qi Huan out of the Capital City, heading north, but midway, they were pursued by people sent by Song Hong, leading to a conflict, and Qi Huan fell into the water and went missing.

After much searching, and failing to find her, these confidants had to return to the Grasslands to report.

Qi Le did not give up, and had dispatched people several times into Great Chu to look for Qi Le’s whereabouts, but never found her.

However, she still left people in the Capital City, always keeping an eye on Song Hong.

Until some years ago, the Capital City finally sent word that Song Chongjin came to visit, and his subordinates carefully inquired, discovering Song Chongjin was the child Qi Huan left behind years ago.

After hearing Qi Le’s explanation, Wang Yongzhu and Song Chongjin did not believe her; there were too many loopholes.

For instance, regarding the Underground Palace and Dragon Cave, Qi Le absolutely did not tell the truth or possibly concealed very important information.

The royal secret should be true, which explains why the Great Chu Royal Family has always been tracking Qi Huan’s whereabouts, even checking all the remains. And also why there is strict security at the Qi family’s place of exile, presumably for this reason.

Others might believe around seventy to eighty percent, but Wang Yongzhu knew that at most only half of Qi Le’s words were true.

Because only she knew the true purpose of Qi Le’s search for the so-called Underground Palace and Dragon Cave.

After Qi Le finished speaking, she asked one question: “If the Queen knew the Golden Seal was in our possession, what does she want? For us to hand it over, for you to give it to His Majesty of Great Chu? Or to the King of the Grasslands? Or does the Queen intend to keep it herself?”

Qi Le squinted her eyes and looked at Wang Yongzhu: “Aren’t you tempted? I’ve already found the location of the Underground Palace and Dragon Cave, now only the key is missing. If we can open the Underground Palace and bury the ancestors of the Qi Family there, our Qi Family can rule for thousands of generations, unify the kingdom!”

Song Chongjin and Wang Yongzhu shook their heads together, showing no interest.

Wang Yongzhu’s first reaction was, do you think I’m stupid?

But it was Song Chongjin’s definitive shake of his head that surprised both Qi Le and Wang Yongzhu, as this promised the opportunity to become a national leader, holding ultimate power and glory, which man could resist this temptation?

Song Chongjin thought nothing more, simply not trusting Qi Le.

Qi Le was stunned for a while and then said: “You’re actually not tempted?”

Song Chongjin very directly said: “We simply don’t trust you!”

Qi Le’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant, but she managed to maintain her composure. After a pause, she said: “I’ll give you three days to consider, think it over and then tell me your answer! All right, I’m tired, you can leave!”