It is said that Qin Shihuang was controlled by a daughter

"Yes. Do you think I don't even know who I am? Twelve years... what have I been persisting in? What do you think I've been persisting in? I thought you would understand."

His hand moved again and again, but he still couldn't hold back his words.

“Ah Zhi. This path is so bloody and cruel that it has no room for kindness and purity. It is not worth your all.”

She raised her head and looked into his dark eyes. "I told you, I was very scared. But actually, it wasn't just a few months ago, but seven years ago at the Wei Kingdom's pass, that I felt like I was going to hell."

The medicine furnace emitted a gurgling sound, and a thick medicinal smell enveloped the area, but it couldn't undo anything about the past.

"I often hear you Legalists talk about the principles of exchanging benefits. Three thousand for two hundred thousand, it's not a loss. But I can't guarantee what you'll get in return for the same outcome you value. Or are you afraid?"

Li Xian's voice suddenly softened for some reason, "I'm as timid as a mouse, as despicable as ever, of course I'm afraid..."

I'm afraid this outcome will endanger your life. He couldn't bring himself to say those words.

She felt the tightness around her waist lessen, so she tried to push him away. "No wonder Mo Qi tried so hard to get me to give up. No wonder he went traveling the world at this crucial moment. So you never believed me all along..."

"The so-called good medicine can cure the world. But the princess's actions so far have resulted in Dunruo's death, Yao Jia's loss of power, and discontent in Qi and Chu. I have not seen any effect."

"Zhao Jia returned to Qin, the Xiang clan submitted, and Li Zuoche is now your brother. Can't you see any of this?"

He found a table, sat down, tilted his head to one side, and raised his voice, "The princess's efforts have certainly been effective. You are determined to go to Chu to be a widow, and we both know that it is not a peaceful place. Therefore, for my own protection, I will use Shu as a return route. Is that not acceptable?"

At this point, the winter chill relentlessly invaded, and even the surrounding medicinal scent faded considerably.

Her gaze shifted from pity to doubt, and finally to coldness.

“Look at me and say that you did all this just to protect yourself, and that you have no other reason to hide it.”

He paused, clearly stunned. Three years later, when everything had settled down and the lonely grave in Shangcai was overgrown with weeds, she would understand the meaning of her resolute decision today.

After a moment, he said, “I am a blind man, why does the princess have to force me to do something so difficult? The breath-holding pill that was used on Han Fei back then, who was it used on? The princess must know that.”

Liu Ying used the medicine, and Liu Bang was in the next room.

Lü Ze and Shen Zhi came from Sichuan...

She found the person in the black robe before her to be utterly repulsive.

Xu Zhi's last bit of patience was exhausted.

Why should she place her pitiful and meager hopes on such an inherently evil person? Repeated betrayals, and a mere glimpse of loyalty.

Yes.

She glanced at the sky outside, numbness mingling with the winter wind, and felt that all of this should have ended long ago.

Kill him, and it will be the end of it all. We'll never have to scheme about secrets again, living in constant fear and anxiety.

She didn't want to say anything more to him.

"I will find the medicine again. You, take care of yourself."

A cold wind blew into the room, and he felt a chill on the back of his hand as he touched the cool, smooth jade.

Li Xian suddenly felt unwilling.

In his previous life, he regretted clinging to power at the last moment.

In this life, he regrets having been too sincere when he first appeared.

Would it have been better for her to have calculated her way to him from the beginning than to have trusted him?

Power, loyalty, filial piety, oaths—he possessed none of them at the end of his life.

Whether it's the Hetu Luoshu, Bian Que's medicine, or even Mo Qi, the Battle of Changping... he will take too many secrets of this world to his grave.

What he resented most was still her.

Unfortunately, due to excessive post-traumatic stress, he only dared to recall it after Zhao Gao reminded him—the one he owed and the one he loved was always her.

He fantasized about the next life, but this life was stolen from him, so how could there be an afterlife...

He suddenly grabbed her sleeve.

Xu Zhi was preoccupied with her thoughts, pondering how to make the assassins outside act faster while reassuring herself... It's so simple, isn't it? All she had to do was watch him die in front of her, and Zhao Gao would lose an arm, and then no one in the world would know the secret of her identity.

She never imagined she could be so hypocritical, but she couldn't tolerate betrayal. She couldn't bear any more betrayal; one after another, he turned against her. She could kill him with a clear conscience...

It's long overdue.

She reminded herself again.

As she walked along, she hadn't even stepped out the door when he suddenly pulled her, his chin resting against her neck, and she ended up sitting on his lap...

Before taking his life, she asked for end-of-life care. Thinking this, she didn't push him away immediately.

Little did she know that just a second before she was about to speak, Li Xian grabbed the back of her neck.

Those fox-like eyes suddenly magnified before her eyes. She could clearly see his pupils—gray, dull, lifeless, and devoid of vitality…

She never asked him in detail why, after almost three months, even after consulting Huang Shigong, his eyes had become like this. She had already decided to kill him; what did she care about this...?
The windowpanes fluttered, as if the snow and wind of many years ago had suddenly blown from the cliffs of Guxiakou.

He held her tightly and said, "You can't leave me here alone."

A spasm shot through her heart. Pain? Was it pain?
No. It won't happen.

His breath pressed against hers, silencing all her words. The taste of rust spread between his lips, carrying with it a complex mix of emotions. He made no attempt to hide the blood at the corner of his lips.

Upon seeing Lord Li in such a disheveled state outside the door, Shen Zhi was slightly taken aback. Ying Hehua, upon entering the room, said, "If I were to come out alone, or if I were to say something offensive, it would be considered that Li Xian has betrayed me. Anyone who betrays me will be killed."

Li Xian was slammed against the gray wall by Shen Zhi. The mountain-patterned embroidery on his front was soaked with water, while bamboo crackled and burned in the stove next to him, making a sound just like the fire that was lit when the six states rebelled against Qin.

"enough."

She lowered her eyes, her tone extremely indifferent.

What begins with injustice will inevitably be solidified with evil. If the damage cannot be increased, only destruction will remain in the end.

As Xu Zhi stepped out the door, her little daughter tugged at her sleeve, "A-Chun thanks you, Madam."

Liu Chun? A little girl who's about ten years old.

Xu Zhi wasn't in the mood to talk to her right now, so she tried her best to soften her tone, "Didn't your father tell you not to run around and talk nonsense?"

"Aren't you the wife of the Immortal Physician?" she pressed.

"No."

The little girl looked at Xu Zhi's tied-up hair and said, "The jewels on your hairpins are so beautiful... Why do you wear the same hairstyle as Mother?"

She removed the green jade hairpin from her hair. "You like it?"

Liu Chun suddenly remembered something and immediately shook his head.

"You don't dare to take it?"

"Take it." Xu Zhi placed the jade hairpin in her hand, then stood up, composed herself, and went to find someone else to help her find the antidote for the pill.

"..." Liu Chun stammered, "I vaguely heard you arguing with the Doctor. My brother had been vomiting blood for days, and my mother, father, and uncle were very worried... My uncle asked the Doctor for help, and my brother was able to survive. I hope you won't blame him... I heard my uncle ask someone, and that person said that blood can also save lives. Then my uncle set off immediately."

Xu Zhi was best at grasping the key points: "What blood?"

Liu Chun thought for a moment, "...it seems to be someone's blood."

"What's the use of this? How can it be used?"

“I don’t understand. It seems to require some kind of mutual interaction... I heard my uncle say that... this medicine is extracted from blood…”

serum.

Does this mean serum?

She suddenly thought of something and almost burst into laughter through her tears.

She murmured, "Since I became a widow seven years ago, I cannot afford to lose my mother now, no matter what."

She asked seriously, "Which way did your uncle go?"

-

After Xu Zhi left, Li Xian coughed violently, as if he were coughing out his soul.

“Inspector Li, even if what you say is true… the princess won’t be grateful to you.” Shen Zhi thought for a moment, “Even if His Majesty the Emperor knew about this, as long as…”

Li Xian raised his hand to stop her, "Things aren't that simple. The most urgent matter is Zhao Gao. Has she mentioned the Empress's illness, and what are her plans?"

"I feel bad for the investigation into Aying's rescue, so I've been investigating the whereabouts of the other pill for the past few days. It's said that it was taken away by Mo Qi back then."

Shen Zhi continued, "The prince has dispatched his secret guards to investigate, and he has already gone alone to find Lü Ze."

-

When leaving Xianyang, Xu Zhi avoided everyone's eyes and summoned Lu Heng back.

Lu Heng quickly obtained the trail he had previously used to track Huang Shigong.

She even began to feel grateful that it wasn't her who had lost her memory; she remembered every word Zhang Liang had ever said to her.

The safety he understood was not about hiding in the mountains, but about choosing the most dangerous place to live when half the world wanted to kill him.

She thus arrived at a place called Fufeng on the outskirts of Xianyang.

The elegant residence is located in a quiet and secluded place.

She took off her brocade hairpin and changed her clothes into the yellow and white of a commoner.

She stood before the garden gate for two whole hours in the cold wind.

She had long hair, a white cloth covering her forehead, and a dagger placed in front of her.

People in the past could not see what the woman looked like; they simply thought it was a common drama of grudges and feuds in the early Qin Dynasty and the Warring States period.

In the midst of nationwide chaos, especially among the nobility, it was commonplace for people to kill each other or be robbed by others.

"Ten years after the fall of Han."

“I understand what you’ve always wanted.”

"Now, aided by frost and wind, I test the waters, begging you to appear, sir, and offer my utmost sincerity in exchange for your priceless treasure." (End of Chapter)