It is said that Qin Shihuang was controlled by a daughter

Chapter 583 Li Si Alliance, Yuanman's Guidance

The gallbladder endoscope is indeed a miraculous device.

However, without the Hetu and Luoshu embedded, it has little effect.

When Li Si received this secret order, it was already dark. He could never have imagined that the victorious 'showing off' and 'bragging' he had once placed on Han Fei would suddenly fall upon him.

Xu Fu wanted to deal with Ying Hehua, but was Ying Hehua the only one? They insisted that she was an anomaly.

Li Si didn't believe in ghosts and gods. He analyzed that there were only two reasons: 1. She was an outcast: She wasn't content to be a princess and insisted on rebelling to seize political power. Her trip to the Lishan Palace had truly offended the emperor. 2. She was an outcast: Her speech with the Confucian scholar from Qi was very similar to someone from the past—Mo Qi.

Before this, only Wei Liao and Han Fei truly knew of Mo Qi's death. Li Si and Xu Zhi both received the same information—he was not in Zhongnan Mountain because he had gone on a journey in imitation of Confucius.

But Mo Qi is dead, which is no different from disappearing.

It was Han Fei who told Li Si this news.

“I told the little princess that I would give her a year to think things through, but her resolve was stronger than I had imagined. But junior brother, you are different. You don’t have that much time to guess, hesitate, or make excuses.”

Han Fei said this the day before he left Xianyang to join Fusu on his military campaign.

It was a scorching sunset, the spring sun dim, making their parting seem like it was twenty years ago in Lanling.

Li Si chuckled softly and swallowed the wine in his earthenware cup. "Senior brother, how come you've become so eccentric after spending so much time with Mo Yuan? You used to despise the Mohist and Yin-Yang schools' nonsense. Now, these ambiguous words baffle me."

Han Fei said, "If it truly corresponds to Mo Qi's divination."

"What hexagram?"

"Your dream," Han Fei said.

Li Si was stunned. "How did you know about my dream?"

"In your dream, I no longer exist in this world. The existence of my physical body is insignificant; it is the existence of my soul that endures. Perhaps Mo Qi is not the only one in the world who knows about your dream."

Without hesitation, Li Si asked, "Yunyou Palace?"

"I said, the Immortal Master is either my student, or an old friend of yours..." Han Fei paused for a moment, "or he is also an old friend of ours."

This time it was different from before; Li Si left Lanling, leaving Han Fei in the rain.

Li Si stood there, trembling all over.

Although Yunyou Palace is adjacent to Yuelin Palace, Yunyou Palace is much more heavily guarded. Li Si, as the prime minister, has only seen the immortal master twice, and each time he was far away and could not see him clearly.

Until the gallbladder mirror was brought into the palace.

His long-held, vague worries have finally come true.

Ying Hehua returned from Chu with information about Yan Le's death.

Her behavior had already displeased Ying Zheng at that time, and made the Chief of the Imperial Carriage Office uneasy.

Li Si suddenly remembered someone—the secret network of yesteryear, like silver threads lurking in the night.

“Your Excellency, I have found that… the official in charge of the Yongcheng Pillar had a different name three years ago.”

Mo Qi said she had told him to be careful of Zhang Cang.

Li Si stood on the streets of Xianyang, gazing at the dusk.

If Ying Hehua is an anomaly, then isn't he also an anomaly?
A princess who desires power.

A commoner who rose to the position of prime minister.

Li Si recalled that when Ying Hehua was a child, she tugged at his sleeve and said: "Guest, can you promise that you will never betray your father?"

Did he really betray Ying Zheng?
That's why he dreamt of being cut in half at the waist.

Han Fei's advice made it impossible for him not to take it to heart.

Li Si is Li Si after all.

He figured it out in just one night.

This can only mean that Ying Hehua also dreamed of the ending of the "Prophecy Book".

Mo Qi was unable to save Bai Qi and Lü Buwei from their tragedy. Under the double blow, she went mad and abandoned worldly affairs.

They must not repeat the same mistakes.

A quiet change is spreading from the inner court of Xianyang.

-

"elder sister?"

This is Xu Zhi's tenth day at the Shaofu government office.
In the early hours of the morning, before dawn, Xu Zhi was already preparing to set off for the final exploration.

If the location is suitable and conforms to the so-called celestial phenomena, she will lead her people to this completed area under the pretext of inspection to openly enter the underground palace.

A finely decorated carriage stopped in front of the Shaofu gate.

Yuanman's cloak still held the morning dew. "If I had known you were going to Lishan, I would never have let you go alone."

Looking at her all-black robe, Xu Zhi seemed to have learned the essence of her sneaking around.

She smiled. "What are you saying, sister? I'm here to repair the mausoleum. Do you mean you want to come with me?"

Yuanman looked her up and down, her delicate brows furrowing, a troubled expression appearing on her beautiful face. "I want to go with you."

“If you want to come with me, Meng Yi will probably say I’m crazy for standing up for his brother. Look, I’m fine,” she patted herself and jumped up and down to prove her good health. “Xiao Ye’er is so attached to you, you should go back to Xianyang soon.”

Yuanman sighed, "Every time you go out, I feel uneasy. I felt it was inappropriate when you wanted to go to Dazexiang years ago. How can you let people criticize you like this?"

As she spoke, a young girl stepped out of Yuanman's car—the starlight made her look even more charming.

“Hehua. The other day when I went to your palace to see Ayu, this little girl, ever since she heard Xiaofu talk about Huhai, has been pestering me to thank the princess who saved her life in person.” Yuanman said.

Yu Xing'er's attire doesn't suggest she's about to return to Xianyang after thanking everyone.

After much persuasion, she was determined to follow her to the Shaofu government office, even if it meant being a maid.

With her stubborn personality and the look in her eyes, Xu Zhi couldn't say no.

For some reason, Yuanman noticed someone.

Even if Xu Zhi didn't admit it, Zhang Liang's appearance was too good-looking and too eye-catching. In addition, she had half-forced him to kneel on the mountain road for a whole night as soon as he arrived.

Xu Zhi was worried that the officials from the Lishan Palace who would be arriving soon would criticize her for acting recklessly and causing the same mistakes again.

She threw him a straw hat, indicating that she didn't want to see his face.

He stood respectfully at the foot of the steps, while Ying Hehua took the seat of honor, and they discussed which entrance to use.

After Xu Zhi finished speaking, she took off the red bracelet she always wore. First, she reflexively put on a jade bracelet, then she switched to a silver one. Finally, after thinking about it, she decided to wear nothing at all, citing convenience. As a result, the old injury on her wrist became visible...

The coral-red bracelet that had been removed was placed on the black lacquered dressing table, its vibrant color almost blinding him.

Zhang Liang's distress struck Ying Hehua as odd.

Perhaps it was intuition, but Yuanman felt something was off when she saw that person... In addition to his figure and speech... Ying Yuanman was, after all, an experienced person, and she could almost see through the thoughts of the person wearing the bamboo hat from this long wait and sadness.

Did Zhang Liang still love his sister?

How dare he!
Finally, the screen was removed, and the person left.

It was just her and her sister.

Her younger sister was intelligent from a young age and considered herself rational.

But when it comes to romantic relationships, she's foolish. People always seem to suffer for things they're not good at.

Ying Yuanman tore off the hem of her robe, insisting that she explain the cause of the injury on her wrist.

"Zhang Liang injured you so badly. Don't you know how much your health has deteriorated compared to previous years?"

When mentioned, she becomes like a child who has made a mistake, remaining silent and unable to utter any of her usual arguments.

“I’m taking my medicine properly, I’ll get better,” she said.

Yuanman looked at her younger sister and asked, "Do you really want to live your whole life alone, just as Lady Fuchu is?"

No one knows how much pain she was in when she said those words.

Xu Zhi dared not look back too much.

If she speaks with genuine emotion, then she is truly feigning compassion.

So she said with unusual coldness, "...After thinking it over, only Fu Chu really wanted to marry me. But I killed him. Although he is dead, I did not break my promise."

That was the only one who truly wanted to marry her.

Though spoken lightly, these were the saddest words Yuanman had ever heard.

"...Hehua."

"Why did you come all the way to this remote Lishan for that person?"

Yuanman saw her younger sister frown, and a look of intense pain flashed across her dark eyes.

"Sister, many things are in the past... it's better to remain strangers."

Yuanman was slightly taken aback.

“I don’t want to hide it from my elder sister. I came to Lishan to take up my post ahead of schedule, not for my own sake.”

"But my decision to come to Lishan is to do what I should do. There is still a danger that must be completely eliminated."

As Xu Zhi spoke, she naturally considered the worst-case scenario. After ten days, there was still no news of Li Xian.

She kept thinking, could he really be dead?
What good are her dissatisfaction, breakdown, and heartbreak?
Han Fei left Xianyang, and given the changes that had occurred that year, she couldn't offer him any assurances.

From now on, she will have to rely on herself for everything.

Soon, Yuanman was filled with joy. A craftsman said that he had heard strange noises coming from the depths of the underground palace sixteen days ago. He also found out that someone had discovered that a foundation was always leaking water, and the water was rusty red.

There is also a rumor circulating among the craftsmen that Prefect Li mysteriously disappeared there.

This day was the tenth day of the fourth lunar month.

So she forced a smile and said to Yuanman, "Sister, that bastard Li Xian is really smart to choose to die today. I'll pay my respects at his grave when I hold my next memorial service."

Yuanman gently pulled her younger sister into her arms. "Hehua, don't go to anyone's grave. Hehua, look at your own heart. You're too tired."