Ying Fusu

Again.

There is absolutely no fool or idiot among those present—those who are qualified to be here.

How could someone who could remain influential in the Xianyang court under the First Emperor, especially after unifying the country and under the extremely arrogant and emotionally unstable First Emperor, possibly be a fool?

Almost instantly, countless people realized that something was wrong with this imperial edict.

And something is extremely wrong.

Even the simple statement "Establish Prince Huhai as Crown Prince" has plenty of room for discussion.

Not to mention what followed: Zhao Gao was appointed as prime minister and made his uncle a high-ranking official.

General Meng Tian and Prince Fusu were ordered to commit suicide.

Then, he ordered the execution of almost all the powerful officials in the court who held sway and were unlikely to submit to or serve Zhao Gao...

If it were simply a matter of making Huhai the crown prince, people might only have doubts.

—The First Emperor had long held this thought, or perhaps on his deathbed, he changed his mind for some reason, abandoning Fusu and installing Huhai instead;

This is possible.

Although it doesn't quite meet everyone's expectations, it's not so bad as to be obviously fake.

But adding the subsequent content makes it all too bizarre.

Furthermore, considering the current situation, the most crucial figure in this edict, Zhao Gao, the chief charioteer, has never appeared from beginning to end.

The newly appointed prince, Hu Hai, was sent directly into the inner palace almost like a prisoner.

Prince Fusu and General Meng Tian, ​​who should have been executed, escorted the coffin back to Xianyang and produced this so-called "last will and testament" riddled with flaws...

After reading the contents of the edict, within three to five breaths, the court officials in the hall realized what had happened.

—Zhao Gao forged an imperial edict, intending to install Prince Huhai as emperor!

Fortunately, Prince Fusu saw through this plan and prevented the dramatic change from happening!

But no one dared to point it out.

Even the Right Chancellor Feng Quji only dared to ask Fusu, "Is this imperial edict genuine?" He indicated that if it was genuine, he would be willing to hang himself in accordance with the edict.

The goal, of course, was to have Fusu utter the truth that everyone already knew.

—This is a forged imperial edict.

The forged edict, riddled with flaws, was written by Zhao Gao, the chariot officer, but was intercepted by Prince Fusu...

"I imagine most of you gentlemen have already made your guesses."

Beside the imperial bed, Fusu's gentle voice rang out at just the right moment.

As the assembled officials turned to look at the source of the sound, Fusu then turned his gaze once more to Li Si, the Left Chancellor, who stood behind Feng Quji, poised to strike.

"When the First Emperor was on his deathbed, he summoned Li Si, the Left Chancellor, and Zhao Gao, the Chief of the Imperial Chariots, to draft his last edict at his bedside."

"Then I would trouble Prime Minister Li to recount the events of that day to you all."

As soon as he finished speaking, the assembled officials turned their gazes toward Li Si, who was seated second in the western wing.

Then Li Si slowly got up and walked to the center of the hall.

First, he bowed to Fusu in the direction of the imperial bed, and then bowed again in the direction of the side hall where the coffin was laid to rest.

Then, he slowly surveyed the officials and courtiers in the hall.

"On the day of Jiazi in the seventh month of autumn, the First Emperor summoned me and Zhao Gao to draft his will."

"That real imperial edict—the one dictated by the First Emperor and drafted by Zhao Gao, which I personally witnessed—was the one that the eldest son just read aloud outside the city."

"Immediately: Prince Fusu is to rush to Shaqiu in case of any unforeseen circumstances."

Upon hearing Li Si's words, all the officials in the hall understood in their hearts that "it was just as they thought."

On the surface, however, they didn't forget to feign surprise, as if to say, "Is that so?"

Li Si, however, walked slowly and unhurriedly to Feng Quji, picked up the imperial edict that had been passed around among the officials and then returned to the hands of the court official.

He spread it out in front of him, looking at it while slowly turning his body again.

"Once the edict was drafted, the First Emperor ordered Zhao Gao to send it to Shangjun."

"The Emperor's carriage will temporarily stay at Shaqiu, awaiting Prince Fusu's arrival upon receiving the imperial edict."

"But just two days later, the First Emperor passed away in his imperial carriage at Shaqiu..."

...

"Therefore, Zhao Gao suggested: In order to prevent petty villains from causing trouble and endangering the state, we should keep the death a secret."

"Disguised as if the First Emperor were still alive, they continued their eastern tour."

"I agree, so I used the name of the First Emperor to order the imperial entourage to continue its eastern tour."

"Unbeknownst to them, the edict that Zhao Gao sent to Shangjun at that time was not the one that the eldest son had just read aloud outside the city."

At this point, Li Si slowly rolled up the imperial edict in his hand and gestured for General Meng Tian, ​​who was seated at the head of the eastern banquet, to "please".

Unlike Li Si, who began to put on a show after being called upon by Fusu, Meng Tian remained calm and composed throughout, as if Mount Tai had collapsed before him.

When Li Si "called out" him, he simply took out another wooden box from his pocket and handed it to Li Si.

Then Li Si took the wooden box, but did not rush to take out the imperial edict inside.

He simply held the wooden box slightly to his chest and looked around at the officials and ministers in the hall once more.

"This is yet another forged imperial edict sent by Zhao Gao to Shangjun."

The imperial edict reads: "General Meng Tian is disloyal, and Prince Fusu is unfilial. They are hereby ordered to be executed immediately."

This time, the officials no longer feigned surprise.

It was just a brief uproar.

—Zhao Gao, are you alright?

Knowing that they wanted Prince Huhai, they had to kill the eldest prince, Fusu, first;

Knowing that General Meng Tian commanded 300,000 border troops, which were Fusu's most powerful entourage, he also included Meng Tian in the plan to seize military power.

Once Fusu and Meng Tian each commit suicide according to imperial edict, Prince Huhai, who controls the border troops, will have real confidence.

As for the first imperial edict that Li Si produced earlier—it had too many implications and too wide a scope of impact;

If it were truly sent to Shangjun, Fusu, Meng Tian, ​​and their students would likely immediately recognize that something was amiss.

Therefore, Zhao Gao, based on the first forged edict, separated it into the second forged edict produced by Meng Tian, ​​intending to deal with Fusu and Meng Tian first...

"When the envoy sent by Zhao Gao read the imperial edict, all the border army officers of the Fushi camp in Shangjun were present."

"Upon hearing that the First Emperor had decided to order the execution of General Meng and his eldest son, all the generals on the border were horrified."

While the officials were pondering the matter, Li Si did not stop his "review".

He said a few more words to slightly draw the attention of the ministers back to himself, then let out a long sigh of relief, still feeling lingering fear.

"Ha~~~"

"Thank goodness."

"Fortunately, in the sixth month of summer, the First Emperor sent a letter to General Meng, mentioning that His Majesty was ill and feared that his life would not last long."

"Only after the forged imperial edict was delivered could General Meng and his eldest son notice the anomaly."

"After learning the truth from the envoy sent by Zhao Gao, the eldest son led three thousand guards, personally escorted by General Meng, to Shaqiu..."

As Li Si finished speaking, the officials and ministers in the hall lowered their eyes and nodded, lost in thought.

They couldn't even pretend to be surprised anymore.

In this sense, around the time of the First Emperor's death, Zhao Gao almost orchestrated a coup that would shake the very foundations of the state!

This change was not only about the succession of the Second Emperor and the succession of the Qin throne;

It also involves a bloody purge of the Xianyang court and the future direction of the Qin dynasty.

Fortunately, this change did not happen and did not come to pass.

Judging from the fact that Fusu had only sent back the news of the First Emperor's death without mentioning these other matters, Fusu's handling of the matter was quite appropriate.