Traveling the Heavens in Thunderbolt

Chapter 168 The rebellion subsided
Lao Ai's confidants and soldiers saw a golden statue falling heavily to the ground. After taking a closer look, they suddenly felt that the golden statue looked familiar.

"How come there was a sudden earthquake and a golden statue fell from the sky?"

"I think the costume carved on that golden statue looks familiar. It looks a bit like Lord Changxinhou."

"What nonsense are you talking about? The Marquis of Changxin is now sitting in the palace hall, preparing to kill the tyrant Emperor Ying Zheng."

"Look, there is a pair of huge handprints on the city wall!"

"How can this be?"

"Could it be?" Just as the soldiers on the city wall were discussing, they suddenly saw a monkey landing on the city wall and said to everyone: "The traitor Lao Ai is dead, and those of you who surrender will be spared."

"What?! How is it possible that Marquis Changxin is dead?"

"You are spreading rumors to confuse the people. Come with me to kill this evil monkey."

Naturally, Lao Ai's cronies did not believe it, nor were they willing to believe it, because they had relied on his power to bully others for many years, and now they were rebelling with him. If the news of his death reached the front line, it would surely cause the already precarious defense line to collapse.

Ordinary soldiers could escape punishment by claiming that they were deceived by Lao Ai, but those of them who depended on Lao Ai's power would definitely be liquidated by Ying Zheng, who hated him deeply.

Of course, he did not want the news of Lao Ai's death to spread, causing him and others to lose the chance of escaping.

Just when this group of people were about to take action, suddenly several golden and silver palm auras came from behind them and hit the shouting group of Lao Ai's confidants. After a burst of screams, all the people hit by the palm auras turned into golden statues.

Such a horrifying scene made all the soldiers terrified, but they dared not make any sound, for fear of angering the person who slapped them and suffering the same fate.

On the city wall where one could hear a pin drop, the monkey-reporter bowed in the direction of the palace hall and said, "The execution has been carried out. The emperor will return. Let's get going—" and then jumped off the city wall.

The soldiers looked towards the direction of the palace and saw a procession that looked like soldiers from the underworld clearing the way, a terrifying and strange scene.

No one dared to stop it, no one dared to hinder it. With the swaying figures of Feiying and Youquan leading the way, the swaying black sedan chair passed over the palace wall under the gaze of a group of soldiers in the dance of the six evil spirits to kill ghosts and gods, and disappeared into the darkness that had already fallen.

The news of Lao Ai's death spread throughout Xianyang City in less than an hour, thanks to the spread of terrified soldiers on the city wall.

Now that the backbone had been removed, all of Lao Ai's cronies scattered like birds and beasts and fled.

Due to the pressure from Lao Ai's cronies planted in the army, the garrison troops, which had already had little fighting spirit, immediately surrendered to King Qin Ying Zheng.

Ying Zheng, Changping Jun and others rode on war horses, and under the protection of Meng Tian and Gai Nie, they accepted the surrender of the defending troops, and under the guidance of the surrendered troops, they entered the inner city and advanced all the way to the palace.

When approaching the palace, the golden statue of Lao Ai appeared in Ying Zheng's sight. The huge palm print that penetrated the palace wall and the dozens of golden statues on the wall confirmed the power of this prince and officially spread to Xianyang.

“I didn’t expect that Prince Han, who had appeared in South Korea earlier and killed Luowang’s top-level killer “Black and White Xuan Jian” and South Korean general Xueyi Hou, would choose to appear in our Great Qin’s Xianyang City at this time. What’s even more unexpected is that he actually has a grudge with Lao Ai. I just don’t know what his true identity is. He actually has the ability to cross the battlefield, bypass the layers of protection of Luowang’s killers, and kill Lao Ai in front of the two top-level killers “Yanri” and “Jingwei”.” The person who spoke was Changping Jun, who played an important role in quelling the Lao Ai Rebellion. In fact, with his power in Qin, how could he not know that Prince Han’s true identity was Chang’an Jun Chengqiao, who was apparently dead. However, after tonight, the political situation in Qin will change completely.

As the culprit who offered Lao Ai to the Queen Mother of Qin, Zhao Ji, and caused chaos in the palace, Lü Buwei's attitude during the Lao Ai Rebellion was even more inexplicable. Based on Changping Jun's understanding of his son-in-law, although he would not punish Lü Buwei because he served the previous king and assisted him in governing the Qin State for many years and made great contributions to the Qin State, he would definitely abolish his position as prime minister and his influence in the court would definitely be cleared out.

The reason why Changping Jun asked this question was that after Lu Buwei was dismissed from his post as prime minister, there would be a large power vacuum in the Qin State. He didn't know how the King of Qin planned to arrange it, whether he planned to bring in the surviving Chang'an Jun Chengqiao to fill the vacancy, or let himself and others divide it up.

Ying Zheng naturally understood what Changping Jun meant, so he said, "Prince Han met me in Xinzheng, Han State, and we had a very pleasant conversation. After the meeting, Prince Han joined me. It was thanks to him that I was able to escape Lao Ai's pursuit this time that he helped me get rid of "Black and White Xuan Jian" and "Blood Robe Marquis", severely damaging Luowang's power in Han State, so that I could arrive in Wusui safely and send a letter to you, Lord Changping. After this battle, I will grant him a hundred-mile area in Ba County near Baiyue to reward him for his service to the king."

The implication was that Cheng Qiao was dead, and from now on there was only Prince Han in the world. Moreover, he had already reached an agreement with himself that he would go to the wild land to be a refugee and would not enter the Qin court, and the power of the Han Dynasty's foreign relatives would not be restored.

Changping Jun, an old fox who had experienced three dynasties, was certainly interested in the King of Qin. He immediately said, "Very good. Having such a rare person join our Qin will surely give our Qin an advantage in the future struggle for hegemony. Our Qin will surely become the next ruler of the world after Qi Huangong."

"Ha, Lord Changping has a brilliant idea. I am still young and hope for your guidance on government affairs in the future." When Ying Zheng heard Lord Changping's words, he immediately expressed his intention to appoint him as the prime minister after Lu Buwei stepped down.

But his thoughts couldn't help but go back to that night in Wu Sui.

"I wonder what use this hundred-mile area is to you?" Ying Zheng asked.

Cheng Qiao laughed and said, "Instead of obeying orders from others, it is better to be the king of a country."

Ying Zheng said in disbelief: "Oh, I didn't expect you to have such ambitions. But why do you sound so unrealistic?"

"Ha, indeed." Cheng Qiao had no intention of hiding anything, and said, "Then my brother, do you know the original intention of the Zhou emperor to enfeoff the princes?"

"The original intention of the Zhou emperor to enfeoff seventy-one vassal states was to consolidate the Zhou royal family and protect it when necessary."

"Yes, what's the result?"

"After the Zhou royal family moved eastward, their power declined, and the princes who were originally there to protect the royal family began to attack and annex each other, causing the world to be in turmoil for four hundred years, and wars have continued until today."

Cheng Qiao took over the conversation and continued, "Today, the seven powers are in existence. Our Great Qin has experienced the reforms of Lord Shang, King Hui's expedition to the east, and King Xiang's battles with the six states. Only then did we have the power to unify the world. But the key lies after this unification."

"It seems that my brother has already made plans for the future."

"As a descendant of the Ying family, I must plan for the Ying family. After the Qin State unites the world and the six kingdoms are destroyed, the grasslands in the north and the Baiyue land in the south will become the enemies of the Qin State."

"So what my brother meant was to prepare for the Qin State's future conquest of the south."

"Yes, although the feudal system is outdated and destined to be lost in the long river of history, it is the best tool for expanding territory before the royal authority declines."

"And you are willing to become this sharp weapon to prepare for the future expansion of Qin."

(End of this chapter)