The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

Zhao Ji was the biological mother of Qin Shihuang, and she was also the first empress dowager in Chinese history.

History has evaluated her as being unfaithful to women, promiscuous by nature, indulging in male favorites, and misleading the country and the people.

She had more than one man in her life, and she was satirized by the historian Sima Qian.

She had been the lover of four men, but they all left her in the end.

Zhao Ji's life was unfortunate, as she was always caught in the political whirlpool of four men.

Her first man, Lu Buwei, was interested in business and power, not in her. He only regarded her as a bargaining chip in the political stakes.

Her second man, Yiren, was obsessed with power and the throne, not with her. He only regarded her as a tool to vent his desires and relieve stress.

Her third man, Lao Ai, was obsessed with power and seizing power, but he was not obsessed with her either. He just regarded her as a tool for him to gain power.

And her fourth man, Ying Xi, is the one who truly loves her the most.

He kept his true love for her deep in his heart, tortured himself, and became the most pitiable person.

If we say that Zhao Ji's first half of her life was due to social reasons that made her of low status.

Having no choice and being at the mercy of others and becoming a tool for others' entertainment is also worthy of everyone's sympathy.

However, Zhao Ji had the freedom to make her own decisions and choices for the rest of her life, but she chose to fall into depravity.

With her promiscuity and romanticism, she completely destroyed the power and position she had worked so hard to build, and ultimately became a pawn used by others.

"Zhao Ji, whose original name is unknown, was called Zhao Ji because she was born in the State of Zhao."

"She was extremely beautiful and good at singing and dancing. When the great merchant Lü Buwei of Wei was doing business in Handan, Zhao, he took her in and made her his singing girl."

"Lü Buwei was on good terms with Yiren, the son of King An of Qin, who was a hostage in Zhao at the time."

"The aliens were originally protons who were not valued and lived in poverty."

"After Lü Buwei met him, he thought he was a rare talent and was determined to help him pursue his career."

"Therefore, Yiren often visited Lu Buwei's house as a guest."

"At a banquet at Lu's residence, Yiren saw Zhao Ji, who came to dance with a beautiful face, and asked Lu Buwei for her."

"Merchants had the lowest status, but Zhao Ji had to rely on merchants for her living and was treated as a plaything by them. She had no sense of belonging at all."

"Maybe someday a merchant will give you away for profit. Zhao Ji will be the same as those women of low status."

"After weighing the pros and cons, Lu Buwei finally agreed to give Zhao Ji to Yiren."

"By marrying Yiren, who was designated as the heir by the Crown Prince An Guojun, Zhao Ji could be considered a member of the Qin nobility."

"And she may become the future queen. Her future is bright and comfortable days are ahead."

"But man proposes, God disposes. In the fiftieth year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin."

"King Zhaoxiang of Qin sent troops to besiege Handan. The people of Zhao wanted to sacrifice the Yiren family who were held hostage in Zhao."

"Because of the large population and the large target, Lu Buwei fled Zhao with only Yiren."

"Zhao Ji and her son Ying Zheng, who was only a few years old, were still in Zhao State. The people of Zhao State were doing their best to hunt down Zhao Ji and her son Ying Zheng."

"Thanks to the fact that Zhao Ji's father was also a businessman like Lu Buwei and had some money, she was able to hide safely."

"Zhao Ji and Ying Zheng spent six years like this, having to cover their faces with something when going out, or covering their faces with their hands when seeing people."

"Until King Zhaoxiang of Qin died, Lord Anguo ascended the throne, and Yiren was made crown prince."

"Zhao Ji was able to return to Qin with Ying Zheng and became the queen herself."

"Yiren was crown prince for only one year before King Xiaowen of Qin passed away. Yiren ascended the throne smoothly and became the new King of Qin."

Liu Che: Ying Zheng’s growth into Qin Shi Huang was inseparable from Lu Buwei’s profound strategy.

The Zhao and Qin states were busy fighting all day long, and the Qin state almost forgot about the existence of Ying Yiren.

Yiren's father, An Guojun, had more than twenty sons and had no time to care about his life or death. It was even more of a luxury for him to inherit the throne.

At this time, Ying Yiren met Lu Buwei, the noble man in his life.

Lu Buwei was extremely wealthy and had great strategy and foresight.

Although Lu Buwei was very wealthy, merchants had a low social status at that time and could only be at the bottom of society, so he tried every means to enter the court.

When Lu Buwei saw that Qin King's grandson Ying Yiren was held hostage in Zhao State, he came up with a bold investment plan. He decided to put Ying Yiren on the throne of the country so that he could also rise to prominence.

After a long talk between Lu Buwei and Ying Yiren, the two hit it off immediately.

Yiren also solemnly promised that he would not treat Lu Buwei unfairly if the plan succeeded.

Lu Buwei took gold and silver jewelry to the State of Qin to lobby Lady Huayang to adopt Ying Yiren as her adopted son, and lied that Ying Yiren was doing very well in the State of Zhao.

Lady Huayang had no children, but was favored by Lord An Guojun.

In order to avoid having no one to rely on when he was old and ugly, he readily accepted Lu Buwei's suggestion and asked Ying Yiren to change his name to Ying Zichu.

After Ying Zichu officially became the legitimate son of Lady Huayang and An Guojun, his identity completed its transformation and he was one step closer to the throne.

Lu Buwei invited Ying Yiren back home as a guest and asked his concubine Zhao Ji to dance to entertain him.

When Ying Yiren saw the gorgeous and beautiful Zhao Ji, he was immediately fascinated by her, and asked Lu Buwei to give Zhao Ji to him.

Lu Buwei pretended to be angry about Zichu's stealing his love, but he was secretly happy in his heart and went with the flow to offer Zhao Ji to Ying Zichu.

The Qin State launched another fierce attack on Handan, the capital of the Zhao State, and the Zhao State planned to kill Ying Zichu.

When Lu Buwei learned about this, he spent a large sum of money to bribe the officers and soldiers guarding the residence and the city, and fled back to Qin with Yiren.

Zhao Ji and her son Ying Zheng hid from place to place and survived under the protection of the Zhao family. After several years of hard life, they were reunited with Zichu.

After Ying Zichu returned to his country, he became the successor of An Guojun and was named the crown prince.

An Guojun died after only three days in office, and Ying Zichu successfully ascended the throne.

After Ying Zichu became King Zhuangxiang of Qin, he kept his promise and appointed Lu Buwei as prime minister of Qin.

From then on, Lu Buwei had great power in the court and Zhao Ji became the queen.

However, King Zhuangxiang of Qin had been living in exile for a long time, and his physical condition was too poor. He died after only three years as king.

The young Ying Zheng ascended the throne and respectfully called Lu Buwei his father-in-law. Lu Buwei and the Queen Mother Zhao became the actual rulers of the Qin Dynasty.

After the death of King Zhuangxiang of Qin, Queen Dowager Zhao and Lu Buwei lived their lives as a couple as if no one else was around.

Soon, the relationship between the two spread among the Qin officials, and Ying Zheng's life experience became a topic of conversation after dinner.

It was rumored that Ying Zheng was the child of Lu Buwei and Zhao Ji, so the cautious Lu Buwei decided to distance himself from the Queen Mother Zhao.

But the Queen Mother of Zhao had great power. She summoned Lu Buwei again and again and forced him to obey her wishes.

Lu Buwei was in a dilemma. In order to get rid of the entanglement of Queen Dowager Zhao, he secretly looked for a man named Lao Ai.

"King Zhuangxiang of Qin did not live long. He was the King of Qin for only three years before he died with King Xiaowen of Qin."

"Zhao Ji transformed herself from queen to queen mother, and her son Ying Zheng became the new King of Qin."

"According to the rules, the young King of Qin should be in charge of the Queen Mother."

"From then on, Zhao Ji became the supreme ruler of Qin."

"At that time, Zhao Ji was only a little over 30 years old, and she felt lonely and unbearable in the palace."

"So he thought of his old lover, Lu Buwei, and wanted to have an affair with him."

"At this time, Lu Buwei is no longer the businessman Lu Buwei of the past. Today, Lu Buwei is the prime minister of Qin."

"He is second only to the emperor, and has tens of thousands of servants at home. He can have as many young and beautiful women as he wants. There is no need for him to risk his reputation and ruin by having an affair with the old and ugly Zhao Ji."

"But in the end, Lu Buwei still chose to have an affair with Zhao Ji, not for any other reason, but only for his own career."

"If I don't have an affair with Zhao Ji, I will offend Zhao Ji."

"As Zhao Ji is the queen mother of a country, there will be no good consequences if you offend her."

"As Ying Zheng got older, Lü Buwei began to have doubts."

"If I go to the harem every day, sooner or later Ying Zheng will find out."

"If Ying Zheng finds out, I will be killed without a complete body."

"In order to protect himself, Lü Buwei found a man named Lao Ai from his own house and planned to use him to replace himself."

"Lü Buwei was afraid that Zhao Ji would be angry, so he did not dare to tell Zhao Ji directly to replace him with Lao Ai."

"Instead, he deliberately sent people to spread the news throughout the palace, saying that there was a man in his mansion who was particularly good in bed."

"When Zhao Ji heard the news, she was naturally very excited and asked Lu Buwei for this person."

"Lü Buwei used his and Zhao Ji's influence in the court to simply shave off Lao Ai's beard."

"So he let Lao Ai enter the harem and become a fake eunuch to serve Zhao Ji."

"Zhao Ji was very satisfied, and Lu Buwei was relieved to have escaped."

"Lao Ai was favored by the Qin rulers, so naturally he kept asking for status and position from Zhao Ji, the Qin ruler."

"Zhao Ji loved Lao Ai too much, and even made him a marquis even though he had no achievements."

"Give him the land of Shanyang as his fief, and give him the Hexi Taiyuan Commandery as his fiefdom."

Huang Yueying: Lao Ai was Zhao Ji's third man, but Zhao Ji was just a tool for Lao Ai to gain power.

Lao Ai was originally a swordsman from the State of Zhao. He became famous at a young age and was an excellent swordsman.

He has his beloved woman, as well as his own ideals and ambitions.

Later, another man stole his love and destroyed all his dreams.

His glory, his woman, and everything he had were all taken away by that man.

Lao Ai began to feel jealous and unbalanced, and his mentality began to become extreme.

Later, Lao Ai became a disciple of Lu Buwei and worked as an artist who made fun of others.

Lao Ai had a special feature: one of his organs was particularly large.

The first person to discover that Lao Ai was peculiar was Li Si, the Prime Minister of Qin who was a retainer of Lu Buwei at the time.

In order to gain Lu Buwei's appreciation, Li Si recommended Lao Ai to Lu Buwei.

The shrewd Lu Buwei took Lao Ai into his palace for two purposes.

One is to give him to Zhao Ji, so that he can save the energy of pleasing Zhao Ji.

Second, if his affair with the Queen Mother was exposed, he could find a scapegoat for himself.

So Lü Buwei made a big fuss about Lao Ai's special qualities, with the purpose of letting Zhao Ji know and using this to seduce her. Sure enough, a few days later, Zhao Ji heard that Lao Ai was very capable in a certain aspect, and immediately took Lao Ai into her arms.

After Zhao Ji got Lao Ai, she felt like she had found a treasure. She was both infatuated and unable to stop.

From then on, Lao Ai became the brightest star in Zhao Ji's life, and they reveled every night.

From then on, Lao Ai found a better opportunity, a more convenient way, which was to warm the heart of a lonely woman.

The young Lao Ai was a special existence in Zhao Ji's life, and he indeed had qualities that others could not reach.

He was not as money-minded as Lu Buwei, nor did he have the shrewdness of Zichu.

He often served Zhao Ji and was considerate in her daily life.

He was also good at being her listener and patiently listened to her troubles.

He also often gave gifts to win her heart, and he was more like her true lover than anyone else.

In this way, Lao Ai, with his hidden ambition, was extremely gentle and affectionate towards Zhao Ji.

He gave her an illusory dream that she had been pursuing all her life but never achieved.

Zhao Ji's life was truly miserable. She was actually just a pathetic pawn, being shackled by various forces from beginning to end.

If Zhao Ji had mixed feelings of love and hate towards Lu Buwei and Qin Yiren, then she loved her male favorite Lao Ai without caring about anyone.

Because of her past experiences, she was deeply aware of this.

She was just a plaything of Lu Buwei and Yiren, while Lao Ai was the man whom she could completely control and accompany.

So the Queen Mother Zhao Ji of the Qin Dynasty disregarded royal etiquette and lived together with her male favorite Lao Ai, desperately wanting to truly love him again.

In fact, Lao Ai did not suffer any loss.

Because Zhao Ji's face was still young and she had a noble status.

In Lao Ai's eyes, Zhao Ji was neither a queen who was the mother of the country nor an elegant lady.

She is not a mature woman with lingering charm; she is just a tool that enables him to possess supreme power.

However, human desires are endless, especially for people like Lao Ai who know how to use their own resources.

If we talk about Zhao Ji and Lao Ai, they would have lived a shameless life peacefully in the palace.

I'm afraid Qin Shihuang wouldn't pay any attention to them. At most, he would just keep them away from Xianyang so that he wouldn't have to worry about them.

But it just so happened that Lao Ai, the fake eunuch, was a man with a strong desire for power.

Relying on the favor of Queen Mother Zhao Ji, he became increasingly arrogant and domineering.

Queen Mother Zhao Ji shared all the rights she enjoyed with Lao Ai.

Relying on Zhao Ji's influence, Lao Ai's power gradually increased and his ambitions grew.

Lao Ai, who had made no contribution at all, was granted the title of Marquis of Changxin and received extremely generous rewards.

All matters in the palace, no matter how big or small, were decided by Lao Ai.

At his peak, he had thousands of servants and over a thousand guests.

There were more than a thousand guests and servants who went to Lao Ai to seek official positions, and his power in Qin was second only to Prime Minister Lu Buwei.

Soon, Zhao Ji became pregnant with Lao Ai's child.

In order to avoid the eyes and ears of the world, Zhao Ji avoided her residence on the pretext of feeling unwell.

So Zhao Ji took Lao Ai and moved out of Xianyang and moved to the palace in Yongcheng.

After escaping from Qin Shihuang's sight, Zhao Ji and Lao Ai became even more unscrupulous and lawless. Soon after, Zhao Ji gave birth to a second child for Lao Ai.

It is truly a rare event that a queen gave birth to a child while she was a widow.

This was also a great humiliation for the royal family, and Zhao Ji also felt that she seemed to have made a serious mistake.

However, Lao Ai became more and more arrogant and licentious in the palace, and he became carried away by success, often calling himself the fake father of Qin Shihuang.

"In addition, the way Lao Ai travels, his clothing, his residence, etc. as a eunuch are not much different from those of the royal family."

"This is also the important reason why Lao Ai dared to say that he was the fake father of the King of Qin until the end."

"The person in power in Qin is my backer. Even Lu Buwei can be on equal footing with him."

"He even surpasses him in terms of treatment. Why don't you dare to say that you are the fake father of the King of Qin?"

"Lao Ai relied on Zhao Ji's support to do whatever he wanted in Qin."

"She even dared to move with the Queen Mother to the former capital of Qin, Yongdi, and gave birth to two sons."

"After Ying Zheng held the crowning ceremony and became the true ruler of Qin."

"Lao Ai was afraid that his affair with the Queen Mother would be discovered and he would start a rebellion."

"But it was suppressed and eventually he was executed by being torn apart by chariots."

"As for the two sons born to Lao Ai and Zhao Ji, Ying Zheng ordered them to be snatched out in front of Zhao Ji, put into a bag and thrown to death."

"First, the lover was killed, and then the two sons born to the lover were thrown to death by their own son."

"If such a big change happened to a normal person, he would probably collapse on the spot. Zhao Ji must have felt very bad at that time."

"Ying Zheng didn't give her a chance to suffer, and directly sent her to Yongdi and placed her under house arrest."

"Later, Ying Zheng issued an order that anyone who dared to speak against her would be put to death."

"Later, a total of 27 ministers who were not afraid of death brought up Zhao Ji as an excuse, and all of them were executed by Ying Zheng."

"The reason why Ying Zheng later released Zhao Ji under the persuasion of Qi's Mao Jiao was not because he was broad-minded."

"It's because if Zhao Ji is kept under house arrest again, it will have a certain impact on his ambition to unify the country."

"The states of Shandong are different from the Qin State. The states of Shandong emphasize kindness and filial piety."

"Ying Zheng threw his two younger brothers to death and placed his mother under house arrest. These actions were considered quite bad by the people of the six states in Shandong."

"The people of the six states in Shandong regarded Ying Zheng as a beast, so they would naturally resist and despise Qin."

"This would definitely have a certain impact on the cause of unification, so Ying Zheng released Zhao Ji."

"Being disliked by Ying Zheng, it is certain that Zhao Ji must have spent the rest of her life in extreme discomfort, and the dissolute Queen Mother Zhao eventually died of depression."

Li Shimin: Lao Ai was blinded by power and ultimately lost his life because of his ambition.

Lao Ai thought that he could cover the sky with one hand by relying on Zhao Ji's exclusive favor, but he forgot that Qin was still the world of Ying Zheng.

Ying Zheng knew clearly about any slight move made by Lao Ai.

Moreover, after Lao Ai came to power, he did not know how to restrain himself and offended countless people.

It was not until the ministers formally reported Lao Ai to Qin Shi Huang that Qin Shi Huang finally understood.

It turned out that Lao Ai was not a eunuch, but a fake eunuch arranged by Lu Buwei to enter the palace.

It wasn't just that Lao Ai and Zhao Ji committed adultery, he also gave birth to two younger brothers.

What’s important is that Lao Ai actually had the idea of ​​​​killing the king and usurping the throne.

Qin Shi Huang ordered a thorough investigation of the matter, and found out everything about Lao Ai and his dirty deeds with Zhao Ji.

Qin Shihuang went to Yongdi under the pretext of performing royal rites to investigate the details of the affair between Lao Ai and Zhao Ji.

Lao Ai felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Since the King of Qin had left Xianyang City, the palace must be unguarded.

As long as we take this opportunity to gather the troops, we can catch Ying Zheng in a trap when he returns.

The night before the action, Lao Ai was particularly flattering to Zhao Ji.

After Zhao Ji fell asleep, Lao Ai stole the Queen Mother's jade seal.

Lao Ai himself had thousands of men under his command. He used the imperial seal to mobilize the county soldiers and palace guards and cavalry, and went into the palace claiming that this was the Queen Mother's order.

Although Qin Shihuang was only a few years old and much younger than Lao Ai, his intelligence was obviously superior to Lao Ai.

Before going to Yongdi, Qin Shihuang entrusted his trusted two men, Changping Jun and Changwen Jun, to assemble the army outside the city of Xianyang in advance.

If Lao Ai plots rebellion, he should be dealt with immediately.

Qin Shi Huang had already drafted an edict, rewarding one million yuan to anyone who captured Lao Ai alive, and 500,000 yuan to anyone who killed Lao Ai.

There will always be brave men when there is a big reward. Such a generous reward made the Qin army soldiers excited.

Lao Ai, who was kept in the dark, was still complacent about his cleverness. As soon as his army set out, it was immediately attacked fiercely by Lord Changping and Lord Changwen.

The Qin army was known as a force of tigers and wolves. It had been fighting abroad for years, making the six kingdoms terrified.

Using them to deal with Lao Ai's group of scattered soldiers can be said to be a sure win.

A fierce battle broke out between Lao Ai's army and the Qin army in Xianyang City, and the Qin army fired thousands of arrows at once.

In an instant, more than half of Lao Ai's mob were killed or wounded, and their defeat was overwhelming.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Lao Ai fled out of Xianyang city with his followers.

But in such a huge Qin State, every inch of land belonged to the Ying family. Even if Lao Ai had great abilities, he could not escape.

Lao Ai was eventually captured, and Ying Zheng launched a major purge.

Anyone who has any connection with Lao Ai will be punished, regardless of whether they participated in the coup or not.

After a quick trial, Lao Ai was sentenced to death by being torn apart by a chariot, and his three clans were exterminated.

As for the two children born to Lao Ai and Zhao Ji, Ying Zheng would naturally not let them go.

He ordered his men to put the two boys into sacks and throw them to death.

Although the Lao Ai incident had some impact on the mother-son relationship between Zhao Ji and Ying Zheng, it was not a major event.

After Lao Ai was executed, Qin Shihuang was resentful towards Zhao Ji, but it was not because Zhao Ji was immoral and brought shame to the royal family.

Instead, Lao Ai wanted to rebel, but Zhao Ji was indifferent and even seemed to be helping him.

Therefore, Qin Shi Huang made Zhao Ji stay in Yongdi and banned her from traveling.

Many ministers pleaded for Zhao Ji. Qin Shihuang was very angry at the time, so he directly dismissed these ministers and investigated them, and some of them were even imprisoned.

After a while, Minister Mao Jiao saw that Qin Shihuang's anger had subsided, so he advised Qin Shihuang to uphold filial piety and not be laughed at by the six countries.

So, Zhao Ji was welcomed back to Xianyang by Ying Zheng in great glory and moved into Ganquan Palace again.

Looking at the death of Lao Ai, it is greater than his contribution to the Qin State throughout his life.

Qin Shi Huang used the Lao Ai incident to purge the disloyal ministers in the court and further suppressed Lu Buwei's position, laying a good domestic foundation for his later annihilation of the six kingdoms. (End of this chapter)