Ying Fusu

With Fusu's tacit approval and Li Si's full cooperation, a brand-new version of the story was presented to the entourage by Li Si.

—On the first day of the seventh month of autumn, the First Emperor, knowing that his life was coming to an end, issued an edict to Shangjun, ordering his eldest son, Fusu, to immediately rush to Shaqiu.

On the third day, the First Emperor was on his deathbed and left a will for Li Si: when Fusu arrives, take the Imperial Seal and escort the coffin back to Xianyang to conduct the funeral.

Furthermore, to be on the safe side, the news of Fusu's death was kept secret until he arrived.

In order to comply with the First Emperor's dying wish, Li Si had no choice but to cooperate with Zhao Gao, the charioteer, and thus orchestrate the series of strange events that followed.

For example, using salted fish to mask the stench of a corpse;

For example, falsely issuing imperial edicts to forbid anyone from having an audience with the emperor;

For example, they could pretend to continue their eastern tour, creating the illusion that "the First Emperor is safe and sound," in order to prevent villains from taking advantage of the chaos.

In this story context, Meng Yi, the high-ranking official who accidentally "stumbled upon" the truth, is naturally no longer the rebel who attempted to assassinate the emperor.

Instead, he inadvertently nearly ruined the First Emperor's plans before his death, and was therefore temporarily controlled by Li Si as a stopgap measure.

Now that the truth has come out, and Fusu, who can make decisions and control the situation, has arrived, there is naturally no reason to continue imprisoning Meng Yi.

...

As soon as Li Si finished speaking, all the officials and guards accompanying the emperor showed expressions of sudden realization.

--I see.

As for Fusu, he feigned grief and confusion, but secretly observed the expressions of the people accompanying the emperor.

Having confirmed that this version of the story contained no obvious flaws that would raise suspicion—at least no one showed any doubt—Fusu nodded with a sigh.

"These past few days have been tough on Prime Minister Li..."

After saying this, Fusu was stunned for a moment, then as if he remembered something, he hurriedly cupped his hands to Li Si.

"With the emperor's presence disrupted, the ancestral temples and the state are in imminent danger."

"Fortunately, with Prime Minister Li holding things up, the sky over our Great Qin didn't collapse."

"Thank you!"

"Thank you, Prime Minister Li, for your mature and insightful governance and profound understanding of righteousness!"

Fusu was solemn, and Li Si also bowed quickly, saying he dared not.

As for the officials and guards who were watching, they had not yet recovered from the sudden news of the First Emperor's death and the grief they felt.

Most of the guards were still crying.

The high-ranking officials, on the other hand, mostly wiped away their tears and sighed deeply as they looked in the direction of the imperial carriage.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Fusu, with Li Si's cooperation, completed a crucial part of the trip.

—Characteristics of the incident.

What could have been a cataclysmic event, plunging much of the country and the entire Xianyang court into turmoil, was successfully transformed under Fusu's deliberate control into a perilous yet ultimately safe transfer of power.

The past is past.

Next, we should make plans for the future.

To put it bluntly, it's about what to do next.

Previously, Li Si, "following the First Emperor's will," stabilized the situation to its current state.

Next, it was up to Fusu to take over the baton and continue planning the second half of this dramatic change.

"Where is the imperial physician who accompanied the emperor?"

At Fusu's command, Li Si, who was already prepared, immediately had more than a dozen imperial physicians "invited" to Fusu.

Then Fusu tightened his face, pursed his lips, and with an unprecedentedly solemn expression, his gaze swept over the group of imperial physicians in front of him.

"Where is the Imperial Physician?"

As soon as the words were spoken, a figure with graying hair and beard, yet not appearing old, stepped out from among the imperial physicians.

"I, Xia Wuqie, the Imperial Physician, pay my respects to the Eldest Son."

...

When Fusu saw this 'young man' emerge from the imperial physicians' ranks, he felt that something was amiss.

But when he heard that the imperial physician before him was a famous figure in history, Xia Wuqie, Fusu was not surprised at all.

—Characters who appear in famous historical scenes, such as Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, especially positive figures.

The title of Imperial Physician is somewhat beneath him.

"It's been many years, Master Xia. How have you been?"

Out of consideration for seeing an "old friend," Fusu finally mustered up the courage to give a perfunctory greeting.

Xia Wuqie, on the other hand, clearly already knew Fusu's intentions and didn't dare to strike up a conversation or try to get close to him.

He hurriedly returned the greeting to Fusu with a cupped hand, then beckoned to the serious imperial physicians behind him, each of whom was much older than him, to move the two boxes of bamboo slips in front of Fusu.

"Please take a look, young master."

"From the time His Majesty left Xianyang for his eastern tour until the third day of the seventh month of autumn, when His Majesty passed away—all the pulse books, diagnostic books, and prescriptions are here."

After saying that, Xia Wuqie turned to the side and raised his hand to sweep the imperial physicians behind him.

"From His Majesty's eastern tour until his death, every pulse diagnosis, medical report, and prescription was decided by all the imperial physicians, who then signed and sealed it."

"Your Majesty's passing, along with all my colleagues, swear on our lives and our families: Your Majesty's death was truly due to serious illness and the end of your life, and there is absolutely no foul play involved."

As Xia Wuqie finished speaking, everyone gradually realized: Why was Fusu in such a hurry to question the imperial physician?

The First Emperor died during his eastern tour, and he died "outside".

At present, whether following the normal procedure or according to the First Emperor's dying edict, Fusu should escort the coffin back to Xianyang, handle the funeral, and then naturally inherit the throne.

This leads to a problem.

How exactly did the First Emperor die?

When the First Emperor died, Fusu, as the eldest son, was able to ascend the throne naturally, making him the objective beneficiary in the absolute sense.

Is it possible that Fusu launched a coup or even a military coup, murdering the emperor through treasonous means, and thus usurping the throne?

To fabricate such a story and thus legitimately ascend the throne?

Theoretically, this possibility exists.

With the death of the First Emperor, Fusu, as the direct beneficiary, had the motive to tacitly accept the First Emperor's death, or even to promote and facilitate it.

Conversely, from Fusu's perspective, in order to clear himself of suspicion of "murdering the emperor and usurping the throne," Fusu had to prove that the First Emperor's death was an undeniable natural death, not a result of persecution.

The most crucial piece of evidence to prove this is the imperial physician who accompanied the emperor.

"Thank you for your trouble, Master Xia."

After Xia Wuqie urgently stated that everything was normal, that there was nothing suspicious about the First Emperor's death, and that the accompanying imperial physicians were all willing to testify, Fusu did not react much.

He simply said "Thank you for your trouble" and then turned to look at Meng Tian diagonally behind him.

"The imperial physicians who accompanied the emperor, as well as the late emperor's pulse records, medical records, and prescriptions, were all of great importance."

"I'll have to trouble you, teacher, to keep an eye on things properly."

Upon hearing Fusu's words, Xia Wuqie knew that without being "escorted" back to Xianyang by Fusu's large army and having a visit to the court, he would ultimately find it difficult to escape.

He simply stopped struggling, bowed to Fusu in thanks, and allowed the border soldiers behind Meng Tian to "invite" him and the other imperial physicians away.

The two boxes of bamboo slips were naturally not forgotten either.

With the matter of the imperial physicians, or rather, the matter of "the cause of the First Emperor's death" now settled, Fusu finally turned his attention to the imperial carriage in the very center of the camp.

They gazed into the distance for a long time, but ultimately did not walk toward the imperial carriage.

Instead, she squeezed out a few tears and looked at Li Si again.

"For His Majesty's upcoming eastern tour, besides the Imperial Physicians, are there any other officials from the various departments of Ceremonial Affairs accompanying him?"

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1.

Translation of the excerpt from "Biographies of Assassins" in the Records of the Grand Historian, specifically the section on Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin:

…The King of Qin's attending physician, Xia Wuqie, threw the medicine bag he was carrying at Jing Ke. Only then was the King of Qin able to run around a pillar, panicking in his haste…

2.

Fengchang: The head of the Nine Ministers of Qin, in charge of ancestral temple sacrifices, rituals, and cultural education. His subordinates included Taile, Taizhu, Taiyi, Taishi, etc.