It is said that Qin Shihuang was controlled by a daughter

Chapter 582 Zhang Liang Takes Up His Post at Lishan and Observes the Stars

The journey from Xianyang westward to Mount Li is not far. The path is mostly rocky, with undulating mountains and lush trees, resembling a dark blue-gray horse from a distance.

Xu Zhi would never know the complex and profound emotions contained in the eyes of the man on the platform who gazed at her convoy before she left...

A few days ago, while preparations for her trip were still underway, there were already many voices within the imperial court.

"When Yong'an goes out, the army is always the first priority. I wonder if he's going to take up his post as the Minister of the Imperial Household or as the supervisor?" a minister said.

“Yong’an went to great lengths, even risking imprisonment, to openly confront the Imperial Carriage Office Director and the Prefect of Nanzheng County. In the past, His Majesty tolerated her outrageous behavior. But this time, I think Yong’an has offended His Majesty and the Prime Minister, and has been banished from Xianyang. I’m afraid she won’t be able to return.” A scholar-official rarely expressed his worries.

“I think so. I heard that the eldest son gave some of his guards to Yong’an. After all, she has her brother, His Majesty reinstated Yao Shangqing… In addition, Chen Ping, whom she promoted, has been promoted again and again in the Censorate. She won’t lose power so quickly.”

"Would our Prime Minister so easily relinquish his power to a former colleague?" pondered the old official from the Court of Justice.

In recent years, after Meng Yi became the Minister of Justice, he made many changes to prison affairs.

The Chief Justice was not used to it.

After all, he had followed his superior Li Si for many years and played an important role in the case of Han Fei's death.

Fortunately, his old superior, Li Si, who had been promoted beyond his rank, did not forget him. When the Chief Justice wrote a letter of gratitude, he spoke of their shared hometown and was almost in tears. Of course, he also emphasized how Li Si's son had kicked him back then and how he had warned him not to let Yao Jia go to prison to persecute Zhang Liang—a 'glorious deed'...

Li Si quickly transferred his old subordinate to a key position in the Prime Minister's office.

Faced with the current chaotic situation, His Majesty the Emperor is increasingly relying on Taoist priests and sorcerers. He knows that even Li Si sometimes struggles to locate the Emperor…

Li Si often found himself in trouble with alchemists.

Especially recently, Ying Zheng noticed a so-called celestial phenomenon.

At this time, the Chief Justice, fulfilling his duty to share the burden of his superiors, thought of Princess Yong'an going to Lishan. He harbored the natural tendency to be a fence-sitter, trying to please both sides.

He wanted to be popular with everyone, and unfortunately, he remembered someone who could help him.

There is a place where Qi merchants from the east travel year-round at the border of Xianyang and Lishan, and below it is the former territory of Xinzheng, Han.

A hidden door.

It was pitch black, then suddenly light appeared.

After many years, the Chief Justice of the Court still behaved the same way he did when he went to apologize to him at his residence back then.

"Sir, please don't be so formal... cough cough, why are you pointing this sword at me? Since you're standing aside, you should know that I'm an official of the Great Qin Dynasty, you absolutely cannot do this."

"Fu, come back."

Upon hearing his voice, the woman holding the sword sheathed it and quickly stood aside. However, she disapproved of the Qin people's behavior and gave the Chief Justice a disgruntled look.

Zhang Liang, on the other hand, was quite used to it.

Most Qin people are not like this. Meng Yi and Meng Tian, ​​who grew up in Qin, are prudent and steady. This way of speaking is something that can only be found in the Chu region...

Lord Changping, Li Si, the Chief Justice, Li Xian, and even she, who was personally instructed by Li Si, all of them were somewhat influenced by this unconventional way of thinking and flamboyant behavior.

It hasn't changed for many years.

"Sir, I know very well that I have always been just a nobody, with no lofty ambitions, only hoping that my family's wealth will continue. But because I spent many years in Xianyang Prison, seeing people come and go, I saw things I shouldn't have seen, which is why I have to analyze how to protect myself wisely!"

The Chief Justice was a knowledgeable man who could tell that the sword's style and gleaming light indicated it was not from an ordinary forging place.

"I wondered why there weren't many people who responded when Mount Li summoned those skilled in mechanical arts. It turns out that not only are there many disciples of Fan Zeng, the master of Ailao Valley, but even the Mohists such as Zhang Er and Chen Yu are all here with you now."

"What brings you here? Don't think that just because you did me a favor in prison, you can come here so presumptuously!"

He smiled. “Opportunities discovered by chance are meant to be used. But please don’t mistake me for a bad person. This time, I’m not Yao Jia’s accomplice, nor am I letting the princess kill you.”

Upon hearing the last part, Zhang Liang's brows furrowed involuntarily. "If it's something from the past, I'm afraid I can't say more."

"Throughout the world, the most skilled stargazers, besides those two from Zhongnan Mountain, are none other than... Sir, you are a student of Han Fei, could you perhaps..."

There are very few people who know that he was Han Fei's student, who know that Han Fei is alive, and who know that he is alive and in Xianyang.

When Zhang Liang learned that she had taken up her post ahead of schedule, he wondered if she was up to something inexplicable again.

"Who sent you to ask this question?"

The Chief Justice observed Zhang Liang's furrowed brow.

He had handled many prison cases, and like Han Fei, he never experienced any emotional fluctuations; it was just that he couldn't understand it logically.

“Oh. It is indeed an old story. Princess Yong’an wanted to kill you, and you should hate her. But you must not take your anger out on others… Now, Prime Minister Li and Minister Yao do not think so. On the contrary, they want to save you.”

This sentence came like a vast, sweeping wind.

Zhang Liang was an extremely intelligent man. He spent several years with them in the Qin court, so the truth could only be the opposite!

He would even prefer that her love was more about exploitation.

The Chief Justice continued in that seemingly casual yet incisive tone, "Sir, the newly appointed Chief Justice is certainly not someone who would bend the law for personal gain. It's strange that Chief Justice Meng appeared at your brother's banquet that day but did not step in to stop him."

Zhang Liang was stunned at first, then suddenly remembered what Zhang Cang had said three months ago.

At that time, he didn't understand and refused to look.

It wasn't until he arrived at Zhongnan Mountain that he saw Mo Qi's 'posthumous work'.

Zhang Liang thought that he had thought these things through very clearly and understood them very well.

He loved her, but he couldn't overcome the insurmountable barrier between his family and his country.

She loved him, but she loved the Qin state even more.

He overlooked the specifics, and ignored the source of the persistent pursuit of qualitative change accumulated in each and every matter.

She offered her heart, unconcerned about his hurtful words or his attempts to kill her, placing it in his hands time and time again with unwavering devotion.

"The state of Korea is gone. I know you hate Qin, and I know you hate me. But I don't want you to have any regrets."

"I won't let you hate me."

"How could you trample my sincerity underfoot?" This was the first thing she said when she was in Handan.

He recalled the time in Chengfu when Han Xin and A Ying questioned him. She noticed his resistance, stopped holding his arm, stood obediently, and said forlornly, "Zhang Liang is my teacher."

He recalled her sorrowful eyes. "I loved someone, and I thought about living a happy life with him."

Later, even though he felt he was going to die.

He even felt, as he had hoped, that Ying Hehua would kill him with her own hands.

But she orchestrated his departure. She even managed to save her brother's and Zheng Chou's wedding banquet.

In Kuaiji, she saved his and Zhang Buyi's lives.

She gazed at the blind Li Xian, and uttered those hoarse words, 'My Chu dialect is poorly learned. I can't even distinguish between fish and doubt.'

Zhang Liang resolved never to meet them again, and to live his life like this forever.

He always manages to understand people's hearts with the most rational logic.

What did a woman get in return for her sincere love from beginning to end?
It was his doubt and incomprehension.

But that is the weight of a soul.

He noticed something slipping through his fingers, light and airy, like gauze or water, warm yet slightly cool... as if he would never touch it again in his life.

The news that Ying Hehua would take office two months ahead of schedule filled Zhang Liang with unprecedented panic.

Sometimes, it is a minor figure like the Chief Justice who can change the course of an event, and he may even have such harmless motives.

— Yong'an's ceremonial procession was quite grand and impressive as it traveled.

When she arrived at Lishan Liyi, Chang Cong greeted her in front of the Shaofu government office.

There was a horse-drawn carriage behind him.

"Your Highness, the person you requested who knows how to observe stars has arrived," Chang Cong said.

Xu Zhi never expected that the person recommended by the Chief Justice, who was said to have a skill in stargazing that was no less than that of a magician, would be Zhang Liang.

However, when their eyes met, Zhang Liang's brown eyes remained largely unchanged from when they were in Kuaiji.

Of course, she was unaware of the tremor he was trying to hide.

Xu Zhi felt a little pain in her heart, but more than that, she found the whole thing rather ridiculous.

He pretended to have forgotten everything, keeping it from her. When she and Li Xian pretended to be a couple in Kuaiji, he didn't react much.

Cruel and inhumane.

Many years ago, Yan Yue said this about her father, and many years later, her hands are not clean either. Father and daughter are exactly the same. This must be her fate.

Seeing him, Xu Zhi felt more of a sense of danger.

Xu Zhi listened to Zhang Liang spout those high-sounding sentences.

His voice was still so gentle, and to outsiders it seemed that he was always so polite to everyone, even the 'notorious' Yong'an.

She stood on high and spoke in her usual haughty tone, "Young Master Dan treats you with respect. I also love to treat scholars with courtesy. Mr. Song, you are a talented man, and you should rightfully be in a superior position. When you are making calculations and observations, you should also talk to each other from time to time."

"Mr. Ke looks very much like someone else."

"...Who is it?" Zhang Liang asked nervously.

Xu Zhi recalled that in Kuaiji, she felt something was off, and she tried to see if he remembered anything.

He said, "We've never met, so how can we care about each other?"

When she was self-harming and seeking medicine, she worried that it might have triggered something in him.

But the truth is he was pretending to be ignorant all along.

He looked at her hysterical outburst as if she were a clown.

Watching her foolishly indulge his schemes time and time again for his sake.

Since he has already decided to be enemies for life, what does he want to do by showing up at this critical juncture?
Is it because the conjunction of Mars and Antares is about to occur, and he wants to use her once again, to bury the Qin state together with Xu Fu and the immortal master?
"Who is it?" She paused for a moment, then chuckled to herself.

"My enemy."

No single sentence could hurt Zhang Liang more than this one.

Xu Zhi's eyes darkened, but she smiled and said, "Fortunately, it's already too late to turn back to life or death, I'm just afraid of seeing you again."

He had never, ever experienced, such direct hatred from her towards him, towards him as a person.

She hates him.

Of course she should hate him.

There's no reason why she shouldn't hate him.

The leaves rustled, and the spring sunshine should have been warm, but her gaze was cold and piercing, no different from the snow in October.

“I have always disliked people wearing white robes. You observe the stars, untouched by worldly dust, but you have already entered the world, and the proper etiquette between superiors and inferiors cannot be disregarded.”

Before her eyes even fell on him, Zhang Liang had already lowered his head and knelt on the dusty steps.

Chang Cong was the first to be surprised. On their way here, he had seen how considerate, even ridiculously kind, Yong'an was to her maid.

at the moment……

"...Your Highness. This Mr. Song is here to help us predict the auspiciousness of celestial phenomena and determine the auspicious day for descending into the underground palace. Isn't this a bit..." Chang Cong said.

Xu Zhi suppressed a cough that was making her breath catch in her throat and gave Zhang Liang a sharp look.

“I think Mr. Song is very patient. Since he likes to kneel, let him kneel.” She turned her head and smiled. “None of you are allowed to make things difficult for him. Let him get up whenever he wants to.”

"I think this place is spacious, and the steps are higher than elsewhere. When it gets dark, we should be able to see the Milky Way."

Look, look, Zhang Liang.

If she wanted, she could truly master the strategies she learned from him, big or small.

In fact, Lishan also has magnolia blossoms hanging down to the treetops in spring. In March, no one will skip over to him, hug his neck, and ask him with a smile, "Which is more beautiful, me or the flower?"

She never left the Shaofu official residence for a single day.

Busy every day, discussing matters concerning the burial pits with the craftsmen, Ying Hehua displayed a skill that was not typical of a princess.

In private, she kept looking at the blueprints that Qin Wei had sent her.

For him.

She only asked him one question, "When do your celestial omens say I can go down to the underground palace?"

“Princess, now is not the time,” he said, handing her a stack of divination scrolls.

He felt only a daze.

It seems like less than ten years have passed... Just like back in Handan, when she needed to find Lian Po's defense plans to rescue Li Xian, who was trapped there. Now, she's drawing map after map, secretly studying the sealed tunnels.

However, they are nowhere near as polite as they were ten years ago.

"You'd better figure this out for me quickly."

"Three days,"

She couldn't bear to hear the unit of three used to count days, let alone hear it coming from Zhang Liang's mouth.

She flung the silk scroll at his face. "Song Lian, I'm giving you one last day. Otherwise, get back to Linzi."

-

Ten days ago, at Xianyang Palace

The immortal master carried a very long and thick scroll into the hall and spread out a leather divination sheet—the celestial bodies were connected.

Mount Li is located east of Xianyang.

There are twelve Qin Duke tombs in Yongcheng, all facing east.

The imperial mausoleum faces east, with its orientation being west.

The location of the tomb chamber corresponds to the celestial arrangement, and thus to the heavens and earth!
The image drawn above clearly reads: "Mars guards the heart!"
"The northwest direction is the land of the dragon vein. The celestial phenomena are aligned in April of this year, located in the east."

“If the land of Mount Li can be kept peaceful, then Heaven will not be angry, and the gods will not send down calamities,” the immortal master said.

Ying Zheng did not express his opinion; the beaded curtain concealed his unfathomable eyes, and no one knew what the emperor was thinking.

Meng Yi, who was standing beside the emperor, felt a growing unease. Xu Fu's words were clearly aimed at Ying Hehua. Given her behavior, it was unlikely that she would stay put in one place.

Meng Yi said, "How can Master Xu be so certain that there are gods involved in matters of destiny?"

"The mirror reveals that Her Highness the Princess's heart is not what it seems."

Xu Fu then submitted a memorial, saying, "Your Majesty, please recall carefully: in that year, did the princess's words and actions resemble those of a six-year-old child?"