People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Zhao Yan's finger trembled as he pointed at Ya Fei, "Between siblings, I dote on you the most, why..."

Consort Ya said, "Please, Your Highness, step down!"

Zhao Yan said fiercely, "If I do not allow it, you dare to kill your brother!"

Consort Ya said calmly, "Does Your Highness still remember our ancestor, King Wuling?"

Zhao Yan felt a tightness in his chest, as if his throat had been gripped. His ancestor, King Wuling, had starved to death in Shaqiu; everyone in Zhao, and indeed in the seven kingdoms, knew this.

Zhao Ya continued, "I know that the palace is full of your men, but the city guards and the troops stationed outside the city are all our men. Handan will be under our control in less than half an hour. You don't need to try to delay us."

Zhao Jia raised his head at this moment: "Father is seriously ill, and his health is deteriorating day by day. I hope that Father will take care of his health and consider the future of Zhao."

Zhao Yan stared blankly at the ceiling. "...Zhao Ya, Zhao Jia, who taught you all this?"

Zhao Jia hesitated before saying, "It's Mr. Cao Ze."

"Cao Ze?" Zhao Yan said with a self-deprecating laugh, "He deserved it, he didn't die unjustly!"

Consort Ya's lips moved slightly, but she did not tell her brother, Cao Ze, that he was not dead.

The main hall of Longtai Palace was heavily surrounded by the royal guards.

Lian Cheng stood outside the palace gate and roared, "Anyone who dares to make a move will be considered a traitor!"

Outside the palace, Li Zuoche whipped his horse wildly, leading over a thousand city guards straight towards the palace.

General Pang Nuan's army has entered the city. As long as King Zhao is in his hands, everything will be settled.

Guo Kai was leisurely reading Cao Ze's "Journey to the West" in the Prime Minister's mansion when suddenly a group of city guards burst in. Without saying a word, they killed everyone they saw and tied up the still bewildered Guo Kai, sending him to the palace.

Zhao Qian suffered the same fate as Guo Kai; he was ripped off a woman's belly by the city guards, tied up, and taken away.

At this time, the palace was filled with troops. The palace guards surrounded Lian Cheng's Tiger Gang, the city guards surrounded the palace guards, and Pang Nuan, who had entered the city, led his troops to surround the palace. With these layers of protection, everyone in Handan knew that a palace coup had occurred.

After a long while, Zhao Yan walked out of Longtai Palace, looking at the thousands of soldiers outside the palace, and knew that it was too late to turn the tide.

Consort Ya casually tied up her disheveled hair, biting a strand of long hair between her teeth, and whispered behind Zhao Yan, "Brother, let's begin."

Zhao Yan seemed to have all his strength drained away. With his eyes closed, he said, "I am seriously ill and unable to govern the Zhao Kingdom. From this day forward, the Crown Prince shall succeed me."

After saying just a few words, Zhao Yan could no longer hold on and collapsed.

Zhao Jia roared, "Quickly, summon the imperial physician!"

Looking at her brother's face, which was no longer angry, Consort Ya felt a pang of pity, but her voice remained cold and stern: "My brother has already given the order. Why don't you lay down your weapons? Are you plotting a rebellion?"

The palace guards looked at each other, then dropped their weapons and knelt down.

Ya Fei breathed a slight sigh of relief; at this moment, it was best to avoid conflict.

Pang Nuan looked calmly at Consort Ya outside the palace, his eyes full of admiration.

Both he and Li Mu had thought about this matter, but they were both aware of Prince Jia's personality.

It is the best choice for Ya Fei to start doing it.

Li Zuoche, carrying the captured Zhao Qian and Guo Kai, threw them in front of Consort Ya and knelt on one knee: "Your Highness, the traitors are here. Please punish them!"

Zhao Qian roared, "What traitor! Zhao Ya, do you want to die? Let me go!"

Guo Kai looked utterly defeated. His worst fears had come true: Consort Ya had done something that Crown Prince Jia could never have done.

Zhao Jia glanced at Ya Fei, who was somewhat worried. In a fit of anger, Ya Fei killed her underling.

Ya Fei didn't bother to look at him again. "Take them away and lock them in the cell. Keep a close eye on them."

After a pause, she addressed everyone: "The Queen has been immoral. From this day forward, she shall be confined to Chunqing Palace to repent. Without my order, she shall not leave the palace, and no one shall have contact with her."

She will never forget how the Empress conspired with Guo Kai to scheme against them, and how it even caused Cao Ze, the father of Xue'er and Li Ji's child, to have to leave.

Li Zuoche accepted the order and left.

Soon after, Physician Li arrived and cautiously took Zhao Yan's pulse. Suddenly, his face turned deathly pale.

Zhao Jia said in a deep voice, "Imperial Physician, my father..."

With a mournful face, Imperial Physician Li said, "Your Majesty's pulse... Your Highness, the King may not make it through this month."

This time, even if he didn't add any more medicine to Zhao Yan's medicine, Zhao Yan was doomed.

Consort Ya glanced at her unconscious brother and sighed softly. If her brother hadn't been so determined to send Zhao Jia to Qin, if Xue'er and Li Ji hadn't been about to give birth, if…

She didn't actually want it to be like this; after all, her brother had treated her well.

But she could not stand by and watch the foundation of the Zhao state crumble from the hands of her brother, with no chance of saving it.

"Let's go to Chunqing Palace to see the Queen."

Now only the last unstable factor remains, which is also the easiest to handle.

In Chunqing Palace, the Empress wore loose-fitting, ornate robes to conceal her pregnancy.

Looking at the rows of soldiers outside the hall and listening to the orders brought by Li Zuoche, she was so shocked that she couldn't say a word.

Li Zuoche smiled and said, "I would like to ask that Your Majesty reside in Chunqing Palace from now on and not go out."

With the help of her maids, the queen managed to stay upright and not fall to the ground.

Li Zuoche coughed and said, "Help the Queen to go and rest."

Not long after, Consort Ya barged directly into the harem.

Seeing the Empress lying on the couch with her belly protruding, she exclaimed in surprise, "You're pregnant?"

When the Empress Dowager saw that Consort Ya had discovered her secret, she was startled and stammered, "Little Ya..."

Ya Fei snorted, "When did you get pregnant?"

The Empress Dowager, realizing that Consort Ya had no suspicions, said somewhat nervously, "It was probably in August or September."

"Oh, it's been four months already. You didn't tell Brother Wang?"

The Empress's face turned deathly pale. If Zhao Yan found out, wouldn't Zhao Ya have a reason to kill her?

"Don't kill me, don't kill me..."

Consort Ya suddenly sighed, "Take good care of yourself during your pregnancy. Once you give birth, I will spare your life."

The woman was stunned. "W-what happened?"

Zhao Ya shook her head. She had originally planned to intimidate the Empress and force her to help Zhao Jia succeed to the throne, but who knew she would get pregnant? She was truly... just as lucky as Xue'er and Li Ji.

"My brother is unconscious and his days are numbered. The child in your womb is his posthumous child. You should know what I mean."

After a moment of surprise, the woman quickly said, "I will definitely give birth to the child, I will definitely give birth to the child."

Unexpectedly, Cao Ze helped her get pregnant, saving her life. She secretly sighed, thinking that the timing of the pregnancy was perfect, and that she was glad she hadn't listened to Guo Kai and had an abortion.

After Zhao Ya left, the Empress Dowager began to curse Zhao Yan in her heart, hoping he would never wake up and would die soon.

Physician Li rushed into the palace in a panic and was ordered by Consort Ya to diagnose and prescribe medicine for Empress Zhang.

"Your Majesty, Your ...

Physician Li was incoherent; in less than a day, who knew things would turn out like this?

The Queen had calmed down. "Never mind me for now. Was it you who was treating the King?"

"Yes."

"Let him die already!"

"what?"

"I said, let him die quickly, or we'll both die!"

The Empress's phoenix eyes were bloodshot. "Do you understand? Kill Zhao Yan! Kill Zhao Yan!"

Physician Li was startled: "I...I understand, I understand, I'll go right away."

He scrambled out of Chunqing Palace.

The Empress stared blankly at the snow outside the palace, her face full of bitterness.

She was finally about to become the Queen Mother, but things didn't go as she had imagined.

She may spend the rest of her life in this palace.

She inexplicably longed for the wonderful days she spent with Cao Ze.

Unfortunately, I didn't know how to cherish it back then...

……

Cao Ze was unaware that a turbulent situation was brewing in Handan, the capital of Zhao, and that a Warring States-style version of the Xuanwu Gate Incident was unfolding.

The continuous heavy snowfall caused a snow disaster in Xinzheng.

King Han ordered Ji Wuye to provide disaster relief in the royal city.

The original plan to invite Cao Ze to the mansion at the end of last month had to be postponed, as he pulled in a bunch of cronies to make a fortune.

This was something Cao Ze heard from Liu Yi, implying that as long as he got on the right track, he could easily achieve "financial freedom."

Cao Ze visited Liu Yi's residence again.

According to the established customs of his hometown, people generally do not visit each other on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

But in the Warring States period, when even the New Year celebrations had not yet taken shape, Cao Ze followed local customs and continued to help Liu Yi, who had invited him to visit, put on his hat properly.

Liu Yilong strode out of the hall, laughing heartily, "It's kind of you, brother, to come all this way in the snow."

Cao Ze shook off the snowflakes from his clothes. "Compared to the heavy snow a few days ago, this little bit of snow is nothing."

Instead of hosting a banquet in the main hall as usual, Liu Yi and Cao Ze went into a side room, a warm and cozy room.

"This damn weather is freezing!"

Liu Yi took a big gulp of strong liquor and laughed, "That's good too. With those lowly people dead, the money and grain will be... Hehe, come on, brother, let's keep drinking and celebrate for the General!"

Cao Ze sighed inwardly. He had seen this scene countless times in history books and movies.

Therefore, when Han Fei sought money and supplies from Zhang Liang, Hong Lian, and Zi Nu, he didn't hesitate to give all his money to his brother-in-law. Since everything was free at Zi Lan Xuan, he figured it was like giving the bride price in advance.

Even so, it was only a drop in the ocean. The disaster affected not only Xinzheng, but also Nanyang.

Cao Ze and Liu Yi ate and drank, but their enthusiasm waned.