Ying Fusu

Fusu and Meng Tian led their troops to Shaqiu in the afternoon of the 12th day of the 7th month of autumn.

Commander Bai, who relayed Meng Tian's message, only received it after nightfall that same day.

After investigating the situation, it was already late at night when they went to the sand dunes to meet Meng Tian.

When they returned to the emperor's location and relayed Meng Tian's instructions to Zhao Gao and Li Si, it was already morning.

There were less than two hours left before Meng Tian and Fu Su would formally come to request an audience with the Emperor.

"What a charlatan..."

"That child must have followed the advice of a commoner, which is why he didn't obey the imperial edict to commit suicide!"

The emperor's carriage was enclosed in temporary encampments.

Zhao Gao roared angrily, but he was still not satisfied. He gripped the jade pendant he was playing with tightly, as if he wanted to crush it with his bare hands.

Li Si, who had also received the news, glanced at Li Si and subconsciously feigned surprise.

Although he didn't speak, his facial expression vividly seemed to say: Ah?

Fusu didn't die?

He was even brought along by Meng Tian?

This……

Unlike Li Si's feigned fear, Hu Hai was genuinely furious.

"teacher!"

"The traitors have come knocking on our door, what are we waiting for?!"

"We must send troops immediately to eliminate the traitors!!!"

In his panic, Hu Hai didn't even care about appearances or taboos in speech;

He directly judged Meng Tian, ​​the general in charge of the defense of the northern wall and the construction of the Great Wall, as well as Fusu, the eldest son of the Qin Dynasty and his own elder brother, as traitors.

Even the word "pacify the rebellion" for treacherous officials was instinctively replaced by "execute" by Hu Hai.

—They must be killed!

—Don't let them say a single word!

Otherwise!

Otherwise...

"If the teacher is afraid, then the student will go himself!"

Upon hearing this urgent shout, Hu Hai hurriedly jumped up from his seat and straightened the sword at his waist in a rather serious manner.

Then he took out a jade talisman from his bosom that was obviously too new.

He then added, as if to bolster his own morale, "The imperial edict has only been issued for a few days, yet the rebels have already rushed to Shaqiu. They must be traveling light and without a large force."

"With these three hundred guards, even if Meng Tian had three heads and six arms, he would have no chance of survival!"

After saying this, Hu Hai walked straight out of the tent, looking as if he was about to lead his troops out.

Unsurprisingly, he was stopped by Zhao Gao's nonchalant "Wait a minute."

"Young master, you are oversimplifying things."

This statement served as a temporary reassurance to Hu Hai, but also carried a subtle sense of admonition.

Finally, Huhai was brought back into the tent. Zhao Gao raised his head solemnly and looked at Li Si with a gloomy gaze.

"We are now at a critical juncture, facing a life-or-death situation."

"These commoners and children want to see His Majesty; they clearly want us to surrender without resistance."

"The common man said: 'Stop being so stubborn and ignorant, and you may die alone, but your clan will be safe.'"

...

"What does Prime Minister Li think?"

It is obvious that Zhao Gao did not convey Meng Tian's original words to Li Si and Fusu in their entirety.

At this moment, in Zhao Gao's eyes, Li Si was the 'chief culprit' who deserved to die.

He was also a powerful minister whom the future second emperor, Fusu, desperately wanted to eliminate in order to seize power as soon as possible.

Looking back at ourselves?

Although the saying "a new emperor, a new court" doesn't exist now, the principle remains the same.

As a mere charioteer with a salary of 600 shi (a unit of grain), and a confidant of the late emperor, even if nothing had happened, Zhao Gao could not have continued his past glory under Fusu's rule.

Of course, all of the above is based on the premise that "the defeat is indeed inevitable" and that Zhao Gao and Li Si's scheme has indeed completely failed.

At present, Zhao Gao is still somewhat unwilling.

Although he knew the chances were slim, he still wanted to pull Li Si aside and think of another way.

If all else fails, it's not too late to cooperate with the Second Emperor Fusu and shift the blame to Li Si—or even Prince Huhai.

Little did Zhao Gao know that while he was weighing the pros and cons, Li Si, whom Zhao Gao saw as the scapegoat, was also working at a rapid pace.

In the end, he was an old fox who had been immersed in the court and the ups and downs of officialdom for many years.

In just a moment, Li Si had seen through everything.

— Zhao Gao must have also received Meng Tian's promise not to kill him.

He told himself to kill Zhao Gao, and told Zhao Gao to kill Li Si—this was clearly an attempt to make the snipe and the clam fight each other so he could reap the benefits.

It seems that Li Si had no intention of giving up the fight and cooperating with Fusu and Meng Tian to salvage the situation.

Anyway, it's already like this;

Whether you stick your neck out or not, you'll still get stabbed.

Why not give it another shot!

However, his years of experience in officialdom allowed Li Si to see beyond the surface and understand something much deeper.

[Prince Fusu is certain that the situation is already settled and we can't cause any trouble.]

Therefore, I want to control the situation as much as possible and quell this shady affair at the lowest possible cost...

【coup?】

...

In the blink of an eye, Li Si had considered many possibilities.

It has also become clear that Fusu and Meng Tian, ​​by sending people to play their cards openly, have likely already grasped the power that "the overall situation is settled."

"Zhao, are you asking a question you already know the answer to?"

At the same moment his brain stopped working, Li Si spoke without hesitation.

With just one sentence, Zhao Gao and Hu Hai, teacher and student, all frowned.

Only then did he say, "The imperial edict ordering his execution was a conspiracy."

"If the conspiracy fails, then we must act."

"Since ancient times, whenever a person has been ordered to be killed by the king but has not been killed, the only option has been to kill him with a hook or spear."

"At present, there is no other way but to take military action."

"However..."

The moment the word "but" was uttered, Zhao Gao's expression darkened even further.

Seeing Hu Hai's puzzled expression, Li Si anxiously explained, "Your Highness only has three hundred guards under your command."

"The Imperial Guards protecting the Emperor are not easily mobilized by us."

"Especially with General Meng Tian and his eldest son Fusu present, it would be even more difficult for the Imperial Guards to turn against each other."

...

"If war really breaks out, the Imperial Guards will most likely just observe and wait, only concerned with the safety of the Emperor and his carriage."

"On the other hand, the eldest son—knowing all our schemes, would never have come alone."

"The border troops who came with the eldest son from the Fushi camp number at least a thousand, and at most several thousand."

"Most importantly: all our schemes must remain hidden from the light of day..."

"What if the eldest son gets angry and exposes our plans to the public—so that all the high-ranking officials and imperial guards who accompany him know?"

"Then, I fear that even without the eldest son mobilizing his troops, we will all perish quickly without a proper burial..."

As soon as Li Si finished speaking, Hu Hai's face turned deathly pale.

As for Zhao Gao, his face was gloomy, and his eyes flashed with a fierce light.

Meng Tian—or rather, his eldest son Fusu—did indeed make a promise to "protect your life."

But everyone knows that traitors have no human rights.

Whether this promise could be fulfilled was not under Zhao Gao's control at all; it depended entirely on Fusu's mood.

"A mere commoner..."

Have you not heard the saying: Even a cornered dog will jump over a wall—even a rabbit will bite when cornered?

His harsh but cowardly rebuke only elicited a sigh and a shake of his head from Li Si.

"If you really push us to the brink, then Young Master should lead his troops to kill us now."

"It is precisely because the eldest son does not want us to cause any more trouble that he has taken this action of 'persuading us to surrender'."

"Zhao, you must quickly devise a way to resolve this situation."

"If we cannot obtain what we desire, we may have no choice but to give up and submit."