Unparalleled Evildoer

Chapter 190: Entering the Palace to Advise and Offer Suggestions

Gongsun Yu frowned slightly. Facing Fusu's fiery love, she really didn't know how to answer. She believed that Fusu would give up his future throne for her. He risked his life to come and see her, which proved this point. If she met such a man in the world, what else could she ask for? He could give up everything for her, and could she give up her hatred and wander around the world with him? She sighed softly, "If you take me away from Xianyang, I can never come back. You will regret it."

Fusu said: "As long as you are by my side, how can I regret it?"

"You don't want the kingdom of Qin?"

"This kingdom is not mine, what use is there for it?"

"You know about the hatred between us?"

Fusu sighed and said, "There is no hatred between us, so why do you have to impose it on me? If you really want revenge, just kill me. I can't control my birth, but I can choose my heart. If I lose you, life in this world will be meaningless."

Gongsun Yu shed tears of emotion. Everything can change in just a moment. Maybe the road ahead is bleak and she is too tired from dragging on. She should have let go long ago. Maybe it is because of her true love. The longer her heart is frozen, the faster it will melt.

Fusu said: "Let's go, escape from this high city wall, deep palace, hide our identities, find a quiet place, and live our own life."

"You can't leave!" Meng Yi couldn't help shouting outside the house. He walked into the house, and Wuzhe followed him in. They all heard it from outside, "A king should stand between heaven and earth. How can he abandon the common people and the country because of his children's personal feelings? Prince, don't let us down."

Fusu said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you. I will never stay in Xianyang!" He knelt down in front of Wuzhe and begged, "I can only ask you to send us out of the city."

Wuzhan went forward to help him, but couldn't lift him up, "Prince, you can't do this!"

Fusu said: "I am no longer a prince. If you don't agree, I will kneel here and not get up. I know you will have a way."

Wuzhan said: "This matter is of great importance. If you leave the city, it will implicate my second brother and me. Besides, how can His Majesty tolerate you leaving the palace without permission? No matter where you flee to, you will be captured and brought back."

Fusu asked: "What should we do now?"

"Stand up and talk first!" Wuzhan helped Fusu up and continued, "I have a plan that can help the eldest prince leave the palace smoothly, but he needs to go back to the palace with his second brother and wait."

Fusu asked, "As long as I can leave the palace and be with Miss Yu, I can wait as long as it takes."

Meng Yi advised: "My dear brother, you must not follow his temper. He is destroying his own future." He turned to Fusu and said: "If you give up your future, she will definitely leave you. Can't you guess her intentions?"

"Even if he becomes a beggar, I will follow him." Gongsun Yu stared at Meng Yi and said firmly.

After this, Wuzhan was the most surprised. Wuzhan did not expect Gongsun Yu to answer so straightforwardly. If she followed Fusu out of the palace, it meant that she had given up the assassination of Ying Zheng. "Is she really moved by Fusu's sincerity?" What she said before was very different from her decision at this moment. I really don't know which one is true and which one is false. I felt sad. Logically, I should be happy. If she really gave up the assassination, she could marry Fusu and stay away from the palace. Isn't this the best result? Isn't this what I want to see?
Meng Yi was speechless, but Fusu excitedly held the beauty's hand and said, "With your words, I will be satisfied even if I die."

Gongsun Yu glanced at Wuzhe's clear eyes, looked at Fusu, and said softly: "The eldest prince gave up his kingdom for Yu'er. Yu'er has no reason not to stay with the eldest prince forever."

Wuzhan found these words particularly harsh, as if they were spoken to him. He suddenly felt that autumn was really cold and that his body was too thin.

Fusu asked Wuzhan, "Brother Zhan, I don't know how you want me to implement your plan."

Wuzhan said: "The eldest prince does not need to do anything. I just need to go to the palace and persuade His Majesty to punish the eldest prince."

Fusu smiled bitterly and said, "If my brother goes to persuade the emperor to punish me, then I will have no choice but to flee from here. At least I won't be trapped to death in the palace."

Wuzhan said: "The eldest prince has misunderstood. A sentence does not necessarily mean imprisonment. If it is exiled, wouldn't that be exactly what the eldest prince wants?"

Fusu was pleasantly surprised and said, "Yes, why didn't I think of this? This plan is so brilliant!"

Meng Yi said, "How can this be done? If he is exiled by His Majesty, there will be no chance of returning. My dear brother, aren't you harming him?"

After hearing this, Gongsun Yu looked at Wuzhan with a cold gaze, as if he could see the resentment in Wuzhan's heart. But then he thought, this was his own choice and he couldn't be blamed.

Wuzhan said, "Don't worry, second brother. I know what to do. Please take the eldest prince back to the palace. If we wait too long, those people will find out. I will explain in detail later. I will go to the palace early tomorrow morning and ask to see His Majesty."

Fusu felt much more at ease. After bidding farewell to Gongsun Yu, he left with Meng Yi and returned to the palace.

After the two left, Wuzhan ordered Suqin and Suyun to take Gongsun Yu to a room that had already been tidied up to rest. He never saw Gongsun Yu again, and there was no sound of piano, and no sleep that night.

……

The next morning, Jin Xingzi drove into the palace and asked to see His Majesty. Ying Zheng had just finished his morning exercise and washed up. When he heard Zhao Gao say that Wuzhan wanted to see him, he immediately summoned Wuzhan to the imperial study.

When Wuzhan saw Ying Zheng, he stood ten feet away and knelt on the ground to greet him. Ying Zheng smiled and said, "Wuzhan, come forward and talk. What do you want to see me for?"

Wuzhan walked to a distance of five steps in front of Ying Zheng and stopped, then bowed and said, "I heard that Your Majesty has placed the eldest prince under house arrest, so I came here to apologize."

Ying Zheng said: "I know you have a good relationship with Fusu. How can you come to see me so early in the morning to ask for forgiveness? You are here to ask for mercy!" "Your Majesty is wise, but I am indeed here to ask for forgiveness."

"Oh, tell me?"

"Your Majesty, I would like to ask you how to deal with the eldest prince?"

"He committed treason by secretly bringing the remnants of the Chu Kingdom into the palace. After he found out, he didn't know he was wrong and wanted to take her as his concubine. Putting him under house arrest in the East Palace to repent is the lightest punishment for him."

"May I ask, Your Majesty, how should the severe punishment be imposed?"

Ying Zheng said to Zhao Gao, "Little Gao, tell Wuzhan!"

Zhao Gao said, "Your Majesty, there is no law against the prince's behavior. If he is to be punished for being unfilial, he should be exiled to the frontier and serve in the army for three years."

Ying Zheng asked, "Isn't it a capital crime to bring someone into the palace without permission?"

Zhao Gao said: "The eldest prince did not bring anyone into the palace, but came to beg Your Majesty. Your Majesty did not grant his permission, and he did not bring anyone in. Therefore, he is not guilty of a capital crime."

Ying Zheng said: "According to what you said, I beat him with twenty boards a bit too hard."

Wuzhan said: "To offend your majesty is a capital crime, and your majesty will not punish you too severely."

Ying Zheng sighed, "The laws of the Qin Dynasty should be revised. Let's hold court tomorrow to discuss the matter!" He turned to Wuzhan and said, "Wuzhan, how do you want to punish Fusu?"

Wuzhan said: "I request Your Majesty to send the eldest prince to the frontier as a military supervisor!"

Ying Zheng said, "Oh!" and said, "Tell me the reason?"

"First, if the punishment is not severe, it will inevitably cause controversy and the princes will not accept it. Second, it can show that the laws of our Great Qin are fair and strict, even the princes are no exception, which can shock the ministers and educate the people. Third, although the eldest prince is wise and benevolent, he has lived in the palace for a long time and has little experience. He needs to be tempered in the military camp and reflect on his mistakes before he can become a great man. Fourth, the eldest prince is your Majesty's flesh and blood. With him as your Majesty's eyes, what is there to worry about?"

After hearing this, Ying Zheng laughed and said, "I love to listen to you. Every word you say makes sense. I will follow your advice and send that evil creature to Jiuyuan to guard the Great Wall with Meng Tian."

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Ying Zheng said, "After the Lishan incident, I am still afraid. I can only sleep at night with four guards protecting me. Although the six kingdoms have perished, the remnants are still there. They are secretly colluding and infiltrating everywhere. This time, they even colluded with important officials in the court. If it weren't for you and the national teacher, I'm afraid my kingdom would have been taken away by the remnants of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. I can't rest until the remnants are eliminated. Now the positions of the court lieutenant and the guard are vacant. After this lesson, I really can't find a suitable candidate. I want to hear your advice."

"Your Majesty is very gracious and treats meritorious officials well. If you investigate this matter carefully, I am sure that there are still important officials who will be implicated. However, the ministers are arrogant, forming cliques for personal gain, and are negligent in their duties. They do need to be disciplined. I understand your Majesty's difficulties. It's not that there are no suitable people, but that there are no people you can trust."

Ying Zheng sighed and said, "That's right, do you have any good ideas?"

"Select a group of virtuous people without any foundation and train them to become the pillars of strict law enforcement. These people are valued by your majesty and will perform their duties conscientiously and devote themselves to their work. In this way, we can weaken the power of the cliques, enforce the law and discipline, and rectify the government."

Ying Zheng said: "This strategy is feasible. These days I have only been thinking about the ministers in the court, but not about this. However, now is the time to recruit people. Where can I select virtuous and talented people?"

"With the laws of the Qin Dynasty as the guideline, we will implement the imperial examinations regardless of whether one is rich or poor. The talents selected in this way will be familiar with the laws, and when they take office, they will surely lead the entire government to be fair and strict."

Ying Zheng sighed, "I have always wanted to build an empire governed by law, without personal feelings, and everyone is equal. What is benevolent governance, courtesy governance, in the final analysis, is a political trick that fools the people and corrupts the government. It cannot last long. Only the law is the way to govern the world, so that corruption has nowhere to hide and the country is long-term and stable. But besides me, there are only three people who can really see through this, and you are one of them."

Wuzhan secretly admired Ying Zheng's foresight and vision. Since entering the court, he had deep feelings that the reason why Qin could unify China was not just because of its strong army and national power, but more importantly, it had such a monarch.

Wuzhan said: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. I am not as insightful as you."

Ying Zheng laughed and said, "You are too modest. Is there anything in this world that you don't understand? You refused to serve as the Minister of Justice and joined the Xiandao Academy. Don't you understand my thoughts?"

Wuzhan said: "I am a humble official who is highly valued by Your Majesty. I only want to do my best for Your Majesty. How dare I guess Your Majesty's intentions?"

"Although this scientific expedition is good, it will take some time to run, and the most important thing right now is to select people as soon as possible to take up the two important positions."

"You can let the old minister Wei Liao take the position of the Court Judge. He has held the position before and will surely do a good job. He usually keeps to himself and is loyal to Your Majesty."

"He is already old and should be enjoying his retirement. How can he endure such hardship?"

"Sir Wei is in very good health. If he continues to serve Your Majesty for a few more years, he can make a smooth transition and convince all the ministers."

"That's all!"

……

(End of this chapter)