It is said that Qin Shihuang was controlled by a daughter

Chapter 547: Spring is far away, but you were once my deceased wife (4)

The Qin Palace is spacious, and so is the Zhilan Palace.

The sunlight on the snowy day was more penetrating than ever before, shining through the window and the screen, illuminating her graceful figure. He just couldn't tell if she had her back to him or was busy with something else...

When Li Xian heard her asking him to follow her, he thought she wanted him to get out of the palace as soon as possible. He didn't expect that she took him to a room. Judging from the bottles, jars and cloth knots there, it was most likely Ayu's medicine room.

He watched the snow light slowly sprinkle on the indoor utensils and medicine table, like a pool of flowing moonlight.

She came out from behind the screen again, holding a lacquer tray in her hand.

A cloth was placed on the black lacquered plate, and a strong smell of wine emanated from the cup.

She took two steps and placed the lacquer tray on the table. "They were confused about who the imperial censor who came to my palace was. We were trying to hide the truth behind the lamp. It would have been fine if Zuo Che had come back and you had let him see you in my palace, but now you're leaving like this, who knows, someone might tell lies again."

Hu Hai just stared at him and started laughing, "Master Li? I've never been here before, and I can't find the way. Can you take me out?"

Li Xian's hatred for Hu Hai was different from his hatred for Zhao Gao. In the political struggle, he was outmaneuvered by schemes and intrigues, and his skills were inferior to his own. But besides Zhao Gao, the person who deserved the most scrutiny was Hu Hai, who was both cruel and bloodthirsty, and even more ignorant and foolish.

A ruler who makes too many guesses is a fool and must never become an emperor.

In this lifetime, Hu Hai will never be able to sit in that position again.

Li Xian did not want to say much to him, so Xu Zhi had Chunyu Yue and the Doctor carefully instruct him.

Hu Hai looked at him in confusion, then pulled him down to squat and listen to him.

"Hai'er knows you're here to see my sister, so I'm very happy." "But I don't want to walk anymore, please carry me out."

"……promise."

Hu Hai's weight pressed on his back, and later snow water seeped in, making him feel uncomfortable.

"It's not a big deal," he said.

Xu Zhi was surprised. Given his personality, he would actually refuse to do anything. She seemed to recall an incident from the past, when the wind and snow on Mount Vulture Peak lashed their faces and she had worried about his appearance being damaged. He had said the same thing then.

"Your eyes can't be on the back of your head, but you won't feel any pain, right?"

Li Xian was silent for a while, but for the sake of face, he stood there without moving.

The lacquer tray was placed in front of the table where he was sitting.

"Take it off." She said it so directly, with her princess airs still lingering. She held a piece of cloth in one hand and a bottle of alcohol in the other, and didn't think there was anything wrong with it at all.

Her expression was completely self-assured, treating him as if he were not a man at all. It was as if he were a ghost crawled out of hell, neither human nor merely a shell, and therefore not required to follow any social norms.

"...you are..."

"Agao will come find me later. He will definitely be willing to join me in throwing a few more balls of snow at you." Xu Zhi wanted to pull his clothes off, but then she realized something was wrong. "Take them off yourself."

This statement could lead to misunderstanding. However, when Xu Zhi said this, the listener only heard the indifference and indifference in the sentence.

He chuckled softly and reached out to take the white cloth from her hand. "Since Your Highness is unwilling, why not ask me to do it?"

Xu Zhi frowned. "I told you ten years ago that there are no eunuchs in my palace."

"Well."

His official robes were pulled down to his waist, revealing red and swollen whip marks on his back. Some had scabbed over, while others hadn't, and many were still oozing blood, looking exceptionally gruesome under the light.

Hu Hai moved about on him, accidentally disturbing a lock of hair. This lock of hair, hanging down from behind his ear and falling to the back of his neck, was tattered, yet possessed a cruel beauty. Among the royal families of the various kingdoms, some were quite fond of it.

He pulled her back and quickly put a piece of cloth over her eyes, "If you're afraid, don't look."

"What's there to be afraid of?"

"Your Highness is distressed?"

"No." Because she couldn't see, she didn't hold the alcohol firmly in her hand and accidentally spilled some on her hand.

He turned his head to the side, his face filled with sorrow, and said, "Your Highness's words have broken my heart."

"You'll feel more pain elsewhere later."

As soon as he finished speaking, a cool sensation made his back tense instantly. Immediately afterwards, a sharp, dense, knife-like pain shot through the wound.

He returned to the night when Fan Zeng slashed him with a sword. The blood was thick and the pain was suffocating. She did the same, pressing the golden wound medicine on his neck, asking him to wake up in the pain and save his life.

Li Xian gasped, his voice as cold as ice: "Your Highness is really heavy-handed."

"I'd like to." Xu Zhi's voice was flat, but his movements subconsciously became lighter. He dipped some more medicine and let it flow down along the whip marks, wetting the clothes around his waist.

"There's alcohol in the medicine, so it can disinfect it." She added this, and after wiping the last wound, she placed the empty medicine bowl on the table and tilted her head. "Okay, you should leave now. I also need to go get Gao and the others to go back early."

Li Xian did not immediately tell her that he had already retied his robe.

He grabbed her hand. "Is Your Highness so resolute? Without even considering the consequences, are you determined to part ways like this?"

He looked up at her and said, "I was indeed killed by Zhao Gao. Your Highness, don't forget, you were not."

Xu Zhi froze. Back then, it was because of Hu Hai's birth that she vomited blood and died, returning to the modern era.

For a long while, she recalled this life, but could not find any part in which Hu Hai was disobedient or bad.

"He won't."

"No?" He laughed contemptuously. "How about you call Gongzi Gao and ask your brother why he doesn't like your younger brother either?"

Li Xian held her shoulder and said, "Princess, Xianyang is not a place that will remain peaceful just because Zhao Gao leaves."

Xu Zhi paused, and pulled off the restraints on his eyes. "What on earth do you want to say?"

The cloth fell between them, plain white, just like in the previous life.

Li Xian stood up. He smelled a faint scent of alcohol and held her hand, not wanting her hand to be so cold.

"Azhi, our relationship cannot be separated by interests," he said.

When it snows, it is very quiet, so quiet that you can't hear any sound outside.

It was too quiet. She knew Hu Hai's cruelty from what she saw on paper.

But in Qin, she was still a little dazed when she heard Li Xian talk about what Hu Hai did in the two years after he ascended the throne.

Xu Zhi looked at him and took a deep breath. "How many years have passed, Li Xian? Don't you understand what has happened in the past ten years? Even if we can change everything, Dun Ruo is dead, Wang Wan is dead, Zhao Jia is dead... I can't take care of everyone on this road. I dare not think too much about the ending, but there are only five years left. Li Xian, we can't be entangled with each other like enemies or friends anymore."

"Entangle? Ah Zhi, why do you want me to let go with just this word?"

She lowered her eyes, "I have people I want to protect, and you too. I admit that I was too naive when I forced you to become an enemy of your father. I ignored your pain."

He looked at her, even willing her to argue with him. "Azhi, you were the first one to say you wanted to be with me. You were the first one to say you wanted to change the future with me? Why in the end, you told me to let go?"

He was just bringing up old matters.

But she brought up Song Boji, saying that she wanted to remain faithful to her late husband.

He was taken aback by her serious expression. She was, frankly, infuriating; she wasn't one to rigidly adhere to rules, yet she used them to pressure him.

"My deceased husband?" "Who was it?" He sneered, "Fu Chu or Zhang Liang?"

Without waiting for Xu Zhi to speak, he held her tight, thought about it, and finally said this.

"But you were my late wife."

She paused for a moment, then said, "That's not me."

Li Xian asked, "How do you know it's not?"

Xu Zhi felt that his mental state was worrying, so she turned her head away and dodged the kiss. "Jing Qian, why are you holding on to the past?"

He lowered his eyes, "Then why do you do the same?"

1. Hu Hai executed Meng Tian and Meng Yi, undermining the Qin Dynasty's military and central decision-making capabilities; he executed Li Si, Feng Quji, and Feng Jie, destroying the Qin Dynasty's administrative and supervisory system; and he carried out a large-scale purge of old officials, leaving the court without anyone to rely on, which ultimately enabled Zhao Gao to "point at a deer and call it a horse" and seize power, accelerating the demise of the Qin Dynasty.

2. The *Spring and Autumn Annals*, under the 30th year of Duke Xiang, states: "On the day of Jiawu in the fifth month, a fire broke out in Song, and Song Bo Ji died." Song Bo Ji here refers to Song Gong Ji. The *Guliang Commentary* provides a more detailed account of Song Gong Ji's death, stating that her residence caught fire that night. Her servants prepared to take her out to escape the fire, but Song Gong Ji believed that as a woman, she must strictly adhere to the etiquette expected of a woman. With her tutor (an elderly woman responsible for tutoring and caring for the children of nobles) not around, how could a woman go out at night? Therefore, she hesitated and delayed leaving the palace. Subsequently, the fire escalated, and Song Gong Ji, who had always upheld etiquette, perished in the flames.