Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1992: The Seven Stars of Azure Dragon (Thirty-Nine)

Of course, in fact, even if the news got out, no one would dare to say in front of him that he was dying - Gu Xun would not tell him matters of life and death so bluntly.

It’s just that Ying Zheng himself thinks that others will talk about it.

It's like a fool who loves face and loves to fantasize. He is always worried about his image in the eyes of others and worried that someone is saying bad things about him behind his back.

When Ying Zheng thought about it, he sometimes felt that his ideas were ridiculous.

He had come face to face with death more than once in his life.

When he was young, he took the risk of leaving Xianyang with Gai Nie and went to Han to meet Han Fei. However, he was almost completely trapped in Han by Lu Buwei's men.

Later, when Lao Ai rebelled, he also faced the threat of military force.

Later, when Jing Ke assassinated him, he felt for the first time that he was about to die - he was panicked and scared, but his emotions were just a little out of control at the time, and he didn't feel anything afterwards.

But now, he was extremely afraid of death.

I am afraid of death, and I am even more afraid of hearing about death from other people's mouths.

He didn't even want to hear the word sick.

Ying Zheng thought back to the past and felt that even when he was most eager for immortality, he was not so afraid of death! ?

Now, what happened?

He couldn't figure it out, he just knew that he really didn't want anyone to know that he was sick, nor did he want to hear others say that he was sick - even if they might have good intentions.

But this news cannot be blocked for too long.

It was impossible for Ying Zheng to handle state affairs solely through documents; he always had to contact officials at all levels.

His condition could not be concealed.

Li Si might even take the initiative to tell others - the emperor's health is a very sensitive topic, closely related to the rise and fall of the empire. It is not something that Ying Zheng should conceal just because he wants to.

This sensitive topic could not really be spread completely, but it could not be completely concealed from the court officials either.

Li Si also had allies and close officials in the court. Naturally, he hoped that the people on his side would know about Ying Zheng's situation as soon as possible.

Although this matter is somewhat taboo, but... human hearts are the hardest to predict.

Of course, Ying Zheng could continue to issue a blockade order, but as more people knew about it, the news would inevitably leak out and spread.

At least it will definitely spread thoroughly within the team.

But even so, Ying Zheng will continue to maintain the lockdown order - this is a statement that he does not want others to know that he is unwell.

As a result, almost no one dared to mention this in front of him.

What Ying Zheng wants now is to make it dark when he closes his eyes.

In other words, compared to the fact that he was sick and was going to die, he was more afraid of others thinking that he was sick and was going to die.

As long as no one says anything, as long as he thinks no one says anything, he will feel much more at ease.

………………

Elsewhere in the convoy, in Li Si's carriage, he was drinking hot tea, resting and thinking.

When Li Si learned about Ying Zheng's health problems, his first reaction was to persuade Ying Zheng to stop his tour, return to Xianyang immediately, and then summon famous doctors to treat the emperor.

From the perspective of Ying Zheng's health, there was nothing wrong with Li Si's suggestion.

But considering the overall situation of the empire, Li Si's words were thoughtless - the situation in the empire was in turmoil, and once the news of Ying Zheng's illness spread, the anti-Qin forces would have to hold a collective victory party.

As the prime minister, he must of course maintain the rule of the empire and ensure that there is no chaos.

Therefore, such major matters must be handled quietly, and must not be done in a high-profile or hasty manner.

But this is not Li Si's fault. It's not that he doesn't think before he speaks, but that he can only make such suggestions.

The emperor is ill. As a minister, can he suggest that he should be patient for the time being?

As for secretly finding a doctor to treat him...it does work.

It is not easy to find a reliable doctor these days, even for the emperor.

Or it should be said that it was even more difficult for the emperor to find a doctor - treating the emperor was a big hassle, and not everyone was willing to have anything to do with the emperor.

If you succeed, you will get some gold and silver rewards. The highest salary is to be a medical officer in the Imperial Hospital.

This benefit is not small if you say it is small, but it is not that big either if you say it is big.

At least compared to the risks, these benefits are not very attractive.

If the treatment is not done properly, it could be fatal!
Of course, dislike is often mutual.

The doctors among the people despised Ying Zheng, and Ying Zheng also despised the doctors among the people.

Medical skills are not like height. It is easy to tell who is better and who is worse at a glance.

Among a hundred doctors, at least ninety or even ninety-nine are mediocre doctors who rely on luck to get their jobs, while only one tenth or even one percent have real skills.

The doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau have all been carefully examined and their medical skills are guaranteed. They dare not say that they can cure any disease, but they will never kill someone with their medicine.

But folk doctors can’t say for sure.

Even a famous doctor who is well-known in a certain area, or even in a county or multiple counties, may not be reliable.

Reputation is something that cannot be fully trusted in many cases - especially in something like treating a disease where mistakes cannot be tolerated.

It is very troublesome to verify the doctor's level at short notice - it is not something that can be confirmed by simply finding a patient for him to treat.

However, these troubles are not a problem because the touring convoy is accompanied by an imperial physician.

When the emperor goes on a tour, he is accompanied by many court officials, so how could he not bring a doctor?

Every time the imperial hospital went on a tour, it would send at least five doctors with excellent medical skills and who had a good relationship with each other to accompany the tour.

They are reliable enough.

But Li Si knew very well that these imperial doctors were reliable but useless.

He never understood Ying Zheng's physical problems, but he was very clear about how superb the medical skills of Gu Xun and Nian Duan were.

The reason why Ying Zheng suddenly became so seriously ill was definitely not simply because of the running around in the past few months - Ying Zheng's reaction afterwards also illustrates this point.

I'm afraid there were signs of Ying Zheng's problems a long time ago.

The fact that neither Gu Xun nor Nian Duan were able to solve Ying Zheng's physical problem, allowing it to drag on until it broke out today, is enough to show how difficult this problem is.

The imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Bureau are naturally not qualified.

In this situation, only by escorting Ying Zheng back to Xianyang as soon as possible can his illness be truly alleviated or even cured. If he continues to tour, it would be good if the situation does not worsen.

When Li Si first learned about this, he was not clear about what Ying Zheng was thinking or what his attitude was, so he could only respond with the most conservative option.

However, Ying Zheng's reaction was far beyond Li Si's expectations.

Li Si could accept and understand that Ying Zheng wanted to cover up his health problems. If he were in his place, he would have to keep the matter under control.

But he also keenly realized that Ying Zheng's reaction was a bit extreme.

It was not the extreme means, but the extreme emotions. In other words, he sensed Ying Zheng's fear and terror.

Li Si could understand this, but he couldn't understand it either.

For an emperor who desires immortality so much, fear of death is a very normal emotion.

From his understanding of Ying Zheng, although the latter was afraid of death, he would not show such obvious fear - at least until Ying Zheng felt that his time was up and death was imminent, he would not be unable to control his emotions.

But was Ying Zheng’s physical condition really so bad that he was on the verge of life and death?
Li Si felt that although Ying Zheng was seriously ill, it wasn't to this extent, right?

Could it be that Ying Zheng also concealed the true condition of his illness from him?
Many speculations arose in Li Si's mind. Different speculations represented different possibilities and directions for the future, and also determined his different responses.

For Li Si, Ying Zheng was not important, the empire was not important, and nothing was more important than his official position.

He worked hard for the empire just to ensure his own position.

In terms of his obsession with being an official, Li Si, who was born in Xiaoshengxianzhuang, can be regarded as a fundamentalist disciple of Confucius, a complete official fanatic, even more obsessed and less principled than Confucius.

He didn't care whether Ying Zheng lived or died, but he must not lose his position as prime minister.

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Once Ying Zheng reaches the point where he can no longer bear to speak, the power structure of the empire will inevitably undergo drastic changes, and he must ensure that he can safely survive this turbulent period.

………………

June, the thirty-seventh year of Emperor Qin Shihuang’s reign.

The spread of a piece of gossip caused a shock throughout the world - an unprecedented earthquake, even greater than the destruction of Xiaoshengxianzhuang overnight.

Ying Zheng is seriously ill!

It is said that Ying Zheng had been feeling unwell for several days, and the accompanying imperial physician had been unable to cure him, so the convoy had no choice but to keep the news secret.

By this day, the touring caravan had reached Pingyuanjin in Jibei County - a Yellow River ferry near Pingyuan County, the county seat of Jibei County, and also close to Gaotang, one of the five capitals of the former Qi State - Ying Zheng's condition had further worsened, and the caravan had to stop temporarily.

As a result, the news began to spread further to the entire convoy, and then began to spread across the world at the speed of a storm.

This is good news, but also bad news, for the people.

Of course they would be happy to see Ying Zheng die of illness, but one could not expect them to be truly grateful to the emperor.

Even if you like SM, there is no such way to play it.

But for the people, changing the emperor does not mean a good thing.

Just because Ying Zheng was tyrannical and unjust didn’t mean the new ruler would be better than him—most ordinary people knew well how low the ruler’s bottom line could go.

Among Ying Zheng's sons, only Fusu had a good reputation among the people. However, because he was exiled to the north, it was basically a consensus among the people that Fusu could not inherit the throne.

Besides Fusu, are there any other reliable princes?

No...at least not in the eyes of the common people, so they are generally pessimistic about the succession of the throne.

But for the anti-Qin forces, this is pure great news.

It was the entire empire that persecuted the people, and Ying Zheng was only a part of the empire... although it was the most core part.

They were powerless to resist Ying Zheng, let alone the empire, so there was no point in changing the emperor.

But the anti-Qin forces are different. They are not afraid of the empire, but they are afraid of Ying Zheng!
The Winning regime is dying, and they can almost pop the champagne.

That's why the news spread so quickly, but the common people did not provide any help. It was purely a stress response of the various anti-Qin forces.

Once this news spread, on the one hand, it would be easier for them to further corrupt and win over local government officials, and on the other hand, it would also stimulate "their own people" to see if there were any brave men willing to add fuel to the fire for Ying Zheng.

After all, he was only seriously ill, not to the point of death, and there was still a risk of recovery - considering the two great doctors, Gu Xun and Nian Duan, the anti-Qin forces were quite worried about this.

If someone was willing to add fuel to the fire at this time, to make things difficult for Ying Zheng in an attempt to anger him to the point where his condition worsened, or simply take the opportunity to assassinate him, who knows, the result might be immediate!

It should be said that the forces holding such ideas were not limited to the anti-Qin forces. As long as they were not subordinate to the empire...even including some forces that were subordinate to the empire, almost all of them were happy to see Ying Zheng's death.

Even within the imperial court, there were people with ulterior motives.

A strong emperor is an oppression to everyone.

For ordinary people, Ying Zheng oppressed their living space.

For others, Ying Zheng oppressed their power space.

No one doesn't want to gain more power. Even if you are a dog, you would want to eat better.

It just so happened that Ying Zheng had both the idea and the ability to oppress them.

If there were a new emperor, perhaps these two conditions would change.

…………

Of course, not everyone hopes that Ying Zheng will die. There are always people who hope that Ying Zheng can turn danger into safety and live a long life... although it may not be because of loyalty.

For example, the empire’s prime minister Li Si, and Ying Zheng’s son Fusu.

The capital of Shangjun County is Fushi City, the residence of the eldest prince.

Fusu paced back and forth in the reception room with a gloomy expression on his face. His hands were behind his back and his fingers were shaking constantly, and he was obviously uneasy.

A moment later, a dark figure walked into the reception room.

"Your Highness." As Mo Ya entered the room, he bowed to Fusu.

Seeing Mo Ya coming, Fusu stopped immediately and waved his hand, "No need to be polite, let's talk about the situation of the convoy first."

"How is my father now?"

"Uh..." Mo Ya paused and replied, "According to the latest intelligence, the patrol convoy has set off again and is heading to Julu County according to the established plan."

"The tour hasn't been stopped yet!?" Fusu frowned and asked in disbelief.

"It is said..." Mo Ya lowered his head and replied lightly, "Before the convoy set out again, His Majesty the Emperor personally showed up to dispel the rumor that the Emperor was seriously ill."

Since Ying Zheng was seriously ill, he should immediately stop his tour and return to Xianyang to recuperate.

But if Ying Zheng himself is unwilling, or even refuses to admit that he is sick, then no one can do anything.

"Father...what is he thinking about..." Fusu closed his eyes, shook his head with a painful expression and sighed.

At this point, no one with a normal brain would believe that Ying Zheng was not sick.

He dragged his sick body to cover up the truth, but it was completely futile - if Ying Zheng had a normal mind, he should not have done such a thing!

Seeing this, Mo Ya added, "It is said that His Majesty the Emperor has issued an order that no one in the convoy is allowed to mention the word 'illness' or 'death'."

"Huh..." Fusu sighed, opened his eyes and said in a deep voice, "I can't just sit back and watch this matter."

"Since the emperor is unwilling to return to Xianyang immediately, then please ask Master Nian Duan to go there in person!"

"Mr. Mo Ya..."

Mo Ya interrupted Fusu presumptuously and said, "Your Highness, I have already arranged for someone to contact Master Nian Duan and ask her to help."

"but……"

"Why, Master is not in Xianyang now?"