It is said that Qin Shihuang was controlled by a daughter

Chapter 543 Imprisoned in the Palace
Li Zuoche saw a person leaning against a big pillar behind Ying Hehua. He looked at him and her calmly, with no emotion in his eyes.

"Second brother?"

Xu Zhi turned around and found that Li Xian had not left yet.

In the late afternoon, he came back from prison, covered in snow and wind, and also brought news about the court's final decision on how to deal with Zhao Gao.

Li Xian glanced around and found the lantern in her hand. He said nothing and just looked at Li Zuoche, "You did a good job on Chengyuan's matter."

Li Zuoche was about to say something when Li Xian said, "You've been familiar with legal texts over the years, so you should understand that it's not a good time for you to go to Yong'an Palace, especially so late at night."

Li Zuoche paused, retreated to the steps, and bowed to the ground.

The imprisonment of princesses was not unprecedented; in the Qin state, there was a precedent—Ying Quliang's daughter, Lingyu, was also imprisoned in the palace. Princess Lingyu married Shang Yang, and during Shang Yang's investigation of her crimes, the princess, being of noble birth and not residing in her fiefdom, was only imprisoned in the palace. During this time, imperial censors were dispatched daily to inquire about matters large and small over the years.

He remembered that the deputy general had said that he had an elder brother who was now an imperial censor.

"Princess sister, I am rude."

Just as Xu Zhi was about to speak, Li Xian took the lantern from her hand, held it in his own, looked at Xu Zhi, and said with his head down: "I see that the night is getting late. Your Highness has handed over today's report to me, and I will leave."

Li Zuoche finally abided by the rules. "Then I will visit you another day."

The footprints in the snow disappeared quickly. Xu Zhi couldn't help but praise: "The left car's hands are nimble, and his Qinggong is pretty good."

"Not bad?" Li Xian chuckled. "If he was smart, he wouldn't be waiting for you in the West Palace."

Over the years, there were only two people who had stepped foot everywhere in her palace... Because she had made some inventions, even the palace maids were not allowed to enter some palaces at will.

The West Hall was where Zhang Liang had taught her when she was here. After she was released from the Xianyang prison, she ordered Ayu to lock it. When Ayu asked her why, she remained silent and only said that the place needed repairs.

Xu Zhi glanced at him, saw his black robe, and thought of the past, feeling very unhappy.

"It's better for you to come and go freely. In the main hall, the side hall fortifications, the plum garden in the front hall, the prison cells in the east, where haven't you been?"

She was about to go to the bedroom, but he didn't say he wanted to leave.

She glared at him. "It's late, and I've asked everything I wanted to ask. What is Lord Li doing?"

He still held the palace lantern in his hand. He extended it forward and said, "It's snowy and dark at night. Please light the way ahead for Your Highness."

Having heard so many words like this, Xu Zhi didn't have the time to figure out how much truth there was in them.

"That's enough." She interrupted him with a frown. "Is it necessary to act in front of the left car?" she asked.

Li Xian paused, then lowered his eyes to look at her. Xu Zhi was standing under the bronze animal lamp, lying on a tall beam in front of her.

Li Xian noticed the light and shadow and felt uncomfortable, so he stepped aside and said, "My younger brother has returned from Shangjun. There are so many eyes watching him in the army and the court. He has gone to see Zhao Jia off. Those who are interested will inevitably be impressed. We must not make any mistakes."

She turned sideways and said, "So, sir, you care so much about Zuo Che."

Li Xian didn't like her calling him "Sir." But when she did, it reminded him of a time long past... back then, she was still Xu Zhi, just Xu Zhi. She hadn't yet been shrouded by the surname Ying.

But how could she, when she had already decided to be Ying Hehua, run in a direction that was contrary to the imperial power?

He took a step closer to her. "Your Highness went to great lengths to make him my younger brother and to get my father to accept him. Naturally, I must put in even more effort."

"You had no objection to settling him down in the past."

He smiled, and his slender fingers touched her cheek naturally. "I naturally have no objection, and I am willing to let the princess place a time bomb in my house."

"Your Excellency even used the term 'time bomb' very well. It seems that Mo Qi taught you more about the future in Zhongnan Mountain. I just wonder if your Excellency can remember your original intention?"

He smiled deeply, lowered his head, and stared into her eyes. "What do you think my original intention was?"

"Don't let the same ending happen again," she said.

Sometimes, he really couldn't see what kind of soul lived behind this beautiful face. Even at this point today, with nothing to show for it, power or wealth, and imprisoned in the palace by her beloved father, her dark eyes still shone with a look of never giving up.

He was obsessed with this stubbornness. As he continued to sink into darkness, he could always see that intoxicating bright color.

He held her face in his hands and said, "I thought His Highness would say: Kill Zhao Gao."

Xu Zhi pushed him away. "Now Zhao Gao has lost his position as Minister of the Imperial Chariots and has gone to Mount Li..." Mount Li. She suddenly looked up. "I was wondering, since I had Chen Ping deliver the Lüshi Chunqiu, why didn't the emperor execute Zhao Gao yet... So it's you. Why did you send him to the Mount Li Mausoleum?"

Li Xian didn't say anything more, a cold glint in his eyes. "Princess, don't worry. Since I promised you, I won't go back on my word. In this matter, I only want him to die slowly." "You got Meng Tian to agree to let Zuo Che return to Xianyang. Besides attending Zhao Jia's funeral, what else do you expect him to do for you?"

Li Xian paused for a moment, then smiled. She was truly an extremely intelligent woman. Those fools in the court were waiting to see if they could use Li Zuoche's identity to argue that Li Si was even more powerful, but Xu Zhi already knew that Li Zuoche's return was not Li Si's intention.

Li Xian gently gathered the thin velvet cloak on her shoulders, raised his hand, and tied the belt for her. "It is the princess's wish to bury Master Jia. Shouldn't the princess praise me?"

He looked at her as if asking for a reward.

"Really?" She smiled. "What did you say to him just now? How could I not know that you are the imperial censor sent by the emperor to inquire about this? Does Feng Jie know about this?"

"Feng Jie? He wishes he would never know the details of Shangdang's affairs." Li Xian smiled nonchalantly. "The things I asked Your Highness during the day were all trivial and insignificant. It would be better for me to ask Your Highness in person."

Feng Jie and Feng Quji were both relatives of Feng Ting. If Ying Zheng knew about this, it would be a complicated matter that would be difficult to sort out. In addition, Zhang Ping and Changping Jun were conspiring to rebel, so this group of Han people who came to Qin would die earlier than in history.

Xu Zhi knew better than anyone else that these two men were loyal ministers of the Qin State.

She believed that it would be the most foolish thing for him to burn all the files.

At that moment, Li Xianru was telling a joke, and she couldn't help but take a step back.

"What do you want to submit?"

Li Xian smiled. "Sometimes, it can be a blessing in disguise. My father initially didn't want Li Zuoche to become my younger brother, believing him to be a potential danger. But look, now? I, a minister, was able to remain at court even under such scrutiny, and now the Li family has been able to establish a new presence in Shangjun, thanks in part to your Highness's contribution. Although the affairs of the Mount Li Palace were not without their difficulties, sending Zhao Gao away from Xianyang was precisely what your Highness hoped for."

Xu Zhi looked at him, "My father didn't say how long he would keep me in prison. He was really hurt by the whole incident involving the State of Zhao and didn't want me to come out again."

He couldn't see what was in her eyes, the only thing he could believe was that she would never give up.

After all, after this year, Xu Fu's journey to the east to seek medicine and the First Emperor's carving of the stone would follow one after another.

"Your Highness thinks so?"

When they reached the desk, she said nothing and drank her tea silently.

The furnishings around this study haven't changed much.

"What do you wish for, Your Highness?"

She was silent for a moment, "I don't want to touch Feng's."

"nature."

"I don't believe you."

Li Xian did not refute. He no longer hesitated and took out a jade seal from his bosom and handed it to her palm. The jade stone shone with a bright white light, and the small...

If she guessed correctly, this should be his private seal.

"If Her Royal Highness is willing to take this step, I believe this will be a very good start."

Silence is like the snow covering the sky, cold and desolate like the desert. Which is the stone that can change fate, the prophecy or reality?

What kind of cooperation would require him to give her his personal seal? That was the entire plan of this life and the power he had accumulated over the past few decades.

Even if the paths are the same and the goals are the same, there is no free lunch in the world and no gift without desire.

The moonlight is dim and the candlelight flickers.

He looked up at her, waiting for her answer.

"This is the second time you've asked me that."

Li Xian paused, thinking back to the old banyan tree in Handan. That was so many years ago. It was incredible that she still remembered it...

Before leaving, Li Xian stared at the lantern in his hand and raised his foot to crush it to pieces, but stopped just as he was about to touch it. His eyes darkened, and he squatted down, picked it up and put it in a corner that was even more remote than the original one.

He wanted to say something else then.

She concentrated, looked at the moonlight, and then lowered her eyes. "Let me think about it, Li Xian, let me think about it again."

It's winter again, and the plum garden is still there, but there's no trace of plum fragrance. The snow has turned into ice crystals hanging on the orchid trees. I hope to see pear blossoms next year, but I also have an extra expectation for spring in February.

He would never have imagined that the coming of spring meant the end of the severe cold, and did it also mean that the dead trees would be reborn and flowers would bloom again?