I started by watching videos, and I chose 10,000 combat power.

The First Emperor tapped his finger lightly on the table, and Li Si's shoulders trembled involuntarily.

"Just what?"

The First Emperor's voice revealed no emotion, but carried an undeniable air of authority.

Li Si lowered his head and lowered his voice: "However, some senior officials are discussing in private that the many things brought by the Grand Preceptor are too novel and violate ancestral rules."

"For example, regarding the curved plow, they say, 'The ancestral laws cannot be changed'; and regarding fine salt, they are even more distressed, claiming, 'Salt and iron are the lifeblood of the nation, and cannot be lightly altered, lest it shake the foundation of the country.' Although I have already reprimanded them and explained the advantages and disadvantages, it's just that—"

He couldn't finish speaking because the First Emperor had already raised his hand from the table, clenched it into a fist, and slammed it heavily on the table.

The table shook violently, the bamboo slips jumped up, and the writing brush slipped from the brush holder and fell to the ground.

The First Emperor roared, his voice echoing like thunder throughout the hall: "The laws of our ancestors? A bunch of stubborn old fogies! Immediately issue the order: anyone who dares to speak ill of the Imperial Preceptor will be punished for treason, without exception!"

Li Si lowered his head even further, his forehead almost touching the floor, and his voice, trembling slightly, was squeezed out from his throat: "Your subject obeys the decree."

Luo Fei looked at Li Si kneeling on the ground, his forehead pressed against the floor, his shoulders trembling slightly, and his lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

He waved his hand in Li Si's direction and said casually, "Prime Minister, there's no need for that. Let those old ministers talk. They naturally find it hard to believe things they haven't seen. When the harvested grain fills the granaries, when the curved plow plows cover the Guanzhong Plain, and when fine salt is served on the people's tables, they will shut their mouths."

Li Si slowly raised his head, leaving a red mark on his forehead.

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed the words back.

He looked at Luo Fei's calm and expressionless face, lifted his knees off the floor, changed from a kneeling position to a sitting position, his back was still straight, and his whole body relaxed.

"I cannot match the Grand Preceptor's magnanimity."

Li Si stood up and stepped aside.

The First Emperor glanced at Luo Fei, his eyes filled with approval and appreciation. He waved to Li Si and said, "You may leave."

Li Si bowed and withdrew from the main hall.

The next two weeks passed by like the Wei River outside Xianyang Palace, flowing at a leisurely pace.

There are things to do every day, and each day is different, yet they all seem mundane.

The options provided by the system every morning are all ordinary, unremarkable daily necessities, such as towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, and shower gel.

Luo Fei took these items out and gave them to the First Emperor and Fusu, among others.

When the First Emperor first used a toothbrush, he squeezed toothpaste into his mouth and brushed a few times, immediately his mouth was full of white foam.

He paused, looking at himself in the mirror, thinking there was something wrong with his mouth. Luo Fei demonstrated how to rinse and spit out water, and the First Emperor imitated him.

After brushing his teeth, he licked them with his tongue and found them smooth and clean, without the sticky feeling he used to have.

He picked up the toothbrush, examined it from all angles, and said, "Good stuff."

When Fusu used shampoo for the first time, he seemed a little excited. He squeezed out a large dollop and applied it to his hair, rubbing it vigorously a few times. As a result, there was so much foam all over his head that it looked like he was wearing a fluffy white hat, which made the eunuchs next to him secretly laugh.

He rinsed his hair several times with water to remove the foam. After it dried, his hair became soft and smooth, with a faint fragrance, which was completely different from his usual greasy hair.

He touched his hair with his hand, then smelled it, and couldn't help but smile happily.

These days, Fusu has thoroughly read the entire book of Lunyu, and each time he reads it, he gains new insights.

His personality has also undergone a significant change.

In the past, when faced with problems, he always hesitated and was used to thinking in terms of Confucianism.

Now, when faced with a problem, he first thinks about whether or not this should be done. If he thinks it should be done, he does it decisively; if he thinks it shouldn't be done, he resolutely doesn't do it, no longer considering irrelevant factors.

He took longer strides, spoke louder, and had a more determined look in his eyes.

The First Emperor saw all of this and, although he did not praise him verbally, he was very satisfied and felt that Fusu was becoming more and more like himself.

After obtaining Luo Fei's consent, Fu Su began teaching his younger siblings the first set of body-refining techniques.

The princes and princesses were summoned to the training ground, where they lined up in several rows, wearing training clothes and standing barefoot on the fine sand.

Fusu stood in front of them to demonstrate, breaking down the movements and teaching them one by one.

The First Emperor would occasionally stand by the training ground and watch his sons and daughters sweat profusely on the sand, watching their movements go from unfamiliar to skilled, from clumsy to smooth, and the corners of his mouth would unconsciously turn up slightly.

Zhao Gao is dead.

He did not die of illness, but was tortured by the First Emperor for nearly a month, and was even executed by being torn apart by five horses after his death.

In the dungeon of the imperial prison, Zhao Gao lay on a straw mat, his broken limbs fixed with splints and strips of cloth to prevent the bones from shifting and to avoid infection of the wounds.

The First Emperor would make time to visit the imperial prison almost every day, not to see him, but to torture him.

On the first day, the First Emperor ordered his men to whip him for a full hour.

From his initial screams to his later groans, and finally to complete silence, Zhao Gao's back, legs, and arms were covered in whip marks, his skin torn and flesh mangled.

The First Emperor did not order anyone to stop. After he finished, he had people apply medicine and bandage him, and feed him food and water so that he would not die easily.

The next day, the First Emperor ordered someone to brand him with a hot iron.

The branding iron, glowing red-hot, was pressed against his chest, producing a hissing sound as white smoke rose, filling the air with the smell of burning flesh. Zhao Gao screamed in agony and fainted.

The First Emperor ordered that cold water be poured on him to wake him up, and then the scalding continued.

On the third day, the First Emperor had someone use pliers to pull out his fingernails, first his left hand, then his right, one by one, until all his fingers were gone, and then his toes were pulled out.

Zhao Gao was in so much pain that his whole body convulsed, and he lost control of his bowels and bladder, making the dungeon stink.

The First Emperor frowned, ordered the dungeon to be cleaned, and then continued pulling.

This torment continued day after day for almost a month.

Zhao Gao's body grew weaker day by day, his screams grew fainter and fainter, his eyes changed from fear to despair, from despair to emptiness, and finally turned into a plea for death.

But the First Emperor didn't kill him because he hadn't had enough fun yet. He wanted Zhao Gao to experience every kind of torture imaginable, to make him wish he were dead, and to make him regret ever being born.

Zhao Gao ultimately failed to last a full month.

On the night just days before his one-month anniversary, he died quietly.

His heart stopped beating, his breathing stopped, his eyes were still open, his pupils were dilated, and his eyes were filled with tears.

No one knows what he was thinking before he died. Perhaps he was reminiscing about his life of wealth and glory, perhaps he was thinking of that good-for-nothing Hu Hai, or perhaps he was terrified of the First Emperor's face.

When the First Emperor heard that Zhao Gao was dead, he remained silent for a moment, his face expressionless, and simply said, "His body will be torn apart by five horses and left to rot for three days."

Zhao Gao's body was dragged out of the imperial prison, and five horses were tied to his head and four limbs respectively.

Several soldiers cracked their whips, and five horses galloped at the same time. Zhao Gao's body was torn into five pieces, and blood splattered all over the ground. The scene was extremely bloody.

No one sympathized with him, because he didn't deserve sympathy.

The First Emperor stood on the palace wall, watching Zhao Gao's body being torn apart by five horses, watching the five severed limbs scattered on the yellow earth, watching the blood seep into the soil, staining the yellow earth blackish-red.

His expression was very calm, as if he were watching an execution that had nothing to do with him.

Then he turned around, walked down the palace wall, and left.