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

Zi Nu placed the wine on the stone table, then sat down next to Cao Ze without saying a word.

Ying Zheng looked at the wine cup where the ripples had not yet subsided and said calmly, "Did you know it was me who came?"

Han Fei laughed and said, "It's not hard to guess that only that person in Qin has the ability and the courage to do this."

Cao Ze then said, "It is truly unfortunate that a country has parasites."

Ying Zheng remained silent.

Although everyone knew who did it, without evidence, there was no way to do anything to Lü Buwei.

Moreover, even if there is evidence, so what? Lü Buwei is fully capable of making it impossible for anyone to prove it.

Han Fei smiled faintly. He was now quite certain that Ying Zheng and Lü Buwei were destined to be irreconcilable enemies, with no possibility of reconciliation.

Not to mention the assassination attempt.

In his view, Lü Buwei's move was a complete blunder.

If we succeed, all will be well; if we fail, there will be no turning back, and we will have no choice but to go down this path to the bitter end.

However, this is undoubtedly good news for South Korea.

When two tigers fight, one of them will surely die.

Ying Zheng looked at Han Fei, seemingly talking to himself, and asked, "I once heard someone say that a frog at the bottom of a well can only see a small part of the sky. I am very curious how one can write a plan for the world in such a dilapidated courtyard."

Han Fei picked up a fallen bamboo leaf from the stone table and looked at the emerald green leaf as if it were some precious treasure.

"Some people have never seen the ocean and think that rivers are the most magnificent, while others can see the whole autumn through a single fallen leaf."

He put down the bamboo leaf in his palm and let it fall slowly.

Ying Zheng gazed at the bamboo leaves lying on the ground and said, "So, you are the latter?"

"Only by traveling ten thousand miles can one see the vastness of the world." Han Fei drank a cup of wine. "Although the article was written in the courtyard, it was formed on the road."

"Traveling ten thousand miles..." Ying Zheng asked with a playful tone, "Why travel ten thousand miles? Is it because your country and family cannot tolerate it?"

Han Fei smiled and said, "Where is home and country? To paraphrase Brother Cao, home and country are wherever my heart finds peace."

"Where does my heart find peace?" Ying Zheng murmured to himself, seemingly deeply moved.

Deep down, he never considered Zhao or Qin to be his home. Only the place where his mother was by his side was his home and his country.

Han Fei asked, "I wonder... why Young Master Shang has come to Xinzheng?"

Ying Zheng gave Han Fei a deep look and said slowly, "Take a walk around and clear your mind."

Han Fei used words like knives to stab Ying Zheng's heart: "If the country and family cannot tolerate you, why travel ten thousand miles?"

Cao Ze couldn't help but laugh.

My brother-in-law's mouth is always right; he never suffers a loss.

After being subtly mocked by Ying Zheng, he quickly switched tactics and returned the favor with a playful jab.

Ying Zheng was not angry, but he was still somewhat uneasy, his eyes fixed on the small pond in the courtyard.

"I'm just wandering around to clear my head."

His weak and unconvincing tone drew frequent glances from Gai Nie on the rooftop.

Wei Zhuang's lips curled slightly, seemingly pleased that his chosen king was superior to his senior brother's.

Han Fei did not continue to pierce Ying Zheng's heart. He looked up at the dark blue night sky and said in a calm tone, "If the heart is in a deep well, the sky in one's eyes will become small."

Ying Zheng glanced sideways, mistaking Han Fei's words for mockery, "You don't understand me."

Han Fei coughed lightly, and said with a hint of melancholy, "Yes, how many people in this world can understand people like you and me who live in solitude and loneliness?"

As the night breeze began to rise, it lifted the hems of Han Fei and Ying Zheng's robes. At that moment, the world seemed to be both flowing and still.

Gai Nie on the rooftop narrowed his eyes, his shock mixed with a hint of bewilderment. He looked at Wei Zhuang and suddenly understood what Cao Ze meant by the merit of following the dragon.

Ying Zheng suddenly laughed, "Han Fei, no, King Han, I truly admire you now."

"To be able to become king in South Korea's current situation, you're quite something. What a pity, what a pity..."

He chuckled to himself, realizing he had actually tried to persuade Han Fei to come to Qin to help him; thankfully he hadn't said it aloud, otherwise it would have been truly laughable.

Only Gai Nie and Cao Ze knew what Ying Zheng was regretting.

Han Fei, who had already become the King of Han, could never have imagined that Ying Zheng had traveled all the way to Han to take him as his subordinate.

He said, "All of this is thanks to Brother Cao. Without Brother Cao, I might never have even glanced at the throne in my entire life."

This was the conclusion he reached after reviewing the situation multiple times. Whether Cao Ze acted intentionally or unintentionally, Cao Ze was the best contributor to his becoming the King of Han.

Ying Zheng looked at Cao Ze. He was usually very confident, but suddenly he was a little worried. Could he persuade Cao Ze to come to Qin with him?

……

Chapter 354 Marrying Honglian

A night wind suddenly arose, and dark clouds in the sky obscured the bright moon.

As night deepened and darkness fell, the city gates slowly began to close.

Ji Wuye rode atop his tall warhorse, his fierce eyes narrowed as he gazed at the dark end of the street.

"General, all four city gates have been sealed off."

A shadow as fast as a bird suddenly appeared, its body draped in black clothes that resembled bird feathers.

"Very well, today no one, regardless of who they are, shall leave the city without my orders!"

Ji Wuye's voice was filled with malice. His patience with Wei Zhuang had reached its limit, and he wanted Wei Zhuang dead!

"Yes."

The black crow disappeared.

Ji Wuye pulled on the reins and led over a hundred city guards on a personal patrol around the Zilan Pavilion.

The Hundred Poisons King with his full head of white hair and the Corpse-Driving Demon, who was wrapped up tightly, witnessed all of this, then disappeared from the shadows and headed towards the Purple Orchid Pavilion.

Zhao Gao's younger brother, Zhao Cheng, traveled day and night from Xianyang.

He saw from afar that the gates of Xinzheng were tightly closed and the city walls were heavily guarded, which made him feel uneasy and suspicious.

He immediately dismounted and, relying on his superb agility and disguise skills, infiltrated Xinzheng.

At this moment, although the interior of Zilan Pavilion was brightly lit, it was very quiet.

Only the occasional flickering candlelight revealed the presence of girls in tight-fitting clothes and wielding sharp swords moving about inside the pavilion, preventing enemies from infiltrating the Purple Orchid Pavilion.

The back courtyard.

Ying Zheng, Han Fei, and Cao Ze were drinking in silence.

The commotion within Xinzheng City was continuously described by Zi Nu.

"Ji Wuye kept the city gates tightly shut, and the city guards had hidden soldiers deployed in the streets and alleys around Zilan Pavilion. Some of the Luo Wang's men were also stationed in the pavilions surrounding Zilan Pavilion..."

Ying Zheng said, "Han Fei, it seems that not only is someone trying to assassinate me, but someone else is trying to assassinate you as well."

Han Fei smiled faintly and said, "Ji Wuye has no intention of assassinating me. He probably wants to take advantage of the chaos to kill Brother Wei Zhuang so that he can control the military."

Military power... Ying Zheng suddenly drank a cup of wine. Although the military power of Qin was not entirely in the hands of Lü Buwei, Lü Buwei had countless connections with the military.

In addition, two years after the war between the five states against Qin, Lü Buwei secretly devised a counterattack and thwarted the five states' plan to launch a long-distance attack on the Qin capital, which greatly enhanced his reputation in the army.

Trying to rely on the military to suppress Lü Buwei is tantamount to asking for trouble.

Unless the Meng and Wang families stand firmly on his side, the military power controlled by the royal family alone is far from enough.

Ying Zheng slowly exhaled. Leaving the Meng family aside for the time being, the Wang family had frequent contact with Lü Buwei.

Since he had not yet been granted adulthood and was in charge of the government, he found it difficult to do anything without the influence of Lü Buwei, which made him feel very constrained.

Confucius said, "If names are not correct, then language will not be in accordance with the truth of things; if language is not in accordance with the truth of things, then affairs cannot be carried on to success." This is exactly the principle.

How should we approach and probe the relationship between the Meng and Wang families...?

“Young Master Shang, I have brought you someone with me on this trip, someone you really want to see.”

Han Fei said with a smile.

If Ying Zheng hadn't come to Xinzheng, he would have needed his junior brother Li Si's help to get by.

But now that Ying Zheng has arrived in Xinzheng, many things can be skipped.

This time, he wanted to plant a thorn in the side of Lü Buwei and Ying Zheng, a thorn that would prevent them from reconciling.

"Oh? Who is it?" Ying Zheng was unimpressed by Han Fei's words.

His trip to Xinzheng was solely for Cao Ze and Han Fei, who had not yet become the King of Han. He did not wish to see anyone else, nor did he have any interest in seeing them.

Han Fei clapped his hands, and the door on the courtyard steps was slowly pushed open.

A young nobleman, dressed in ordinary clothes but still exuding an air of nobility, ran out excitedly.

"Brother Wang!"

Cheng Jiao knelt beside Ying Zheng, tears streaming down his face.

He was heartbroken. As a prince of the royal family, he had almost been stranded in the middle of nowhere and was even accused of treason. It was truly...

Ying Zheng suddenly stood up, his face, which had remained expressionless until now, showed a mixture of surprise, joy, anger, sorrow, and confusion.

"Chengjiao, get up first, let's talk slowly."

Ying Zheng helped Cheng Jiao to sit on the stone bench.

Cheng Jiao accepted the silk handkerchief that Han Fei thoughtfully offered, wiped his face, and calmed down a little.

A strange light flickered in Gai Nie's eyes, and he unconsciously tightened his grip on the hilt of the Yuanhong Sword, wary of Cheng Jiao's treacherous intentions.

After all, according to the official intelligence, Cheng Jiao had widely disseminated proclamations demanding the surrender of his brother, indicating that he had been bribed by the Zhao state and had defected from the Qin state.

Ying Zheng, his face grim, asked, "Cheng Jiao, what exactly happened after the battle of Yaoshan?!"

Cheng Jiao took a deep breath and suppressed his anger, saying, "General Meng Ao was facing off against Pang Nuan's army at Yaoshan. He sent General Zhang Tang to Tunliu and ordered me to lead troops to Yaoshan to provide support. But for some reason, Fan Yuqi, after sending away General Zhang Tang who came to deliver the order, trapped me in the main tent and told me that my brother was the son of Lü Buwei, who had an affair with the Empress Dowager, and was not my father's son. He then ordered me to start an uprising in Tunliu."

"Fortunately, I had learned some swordsmanship with my brother in the palace since childhood, so I still had some martial arts skills. I took advantage of the darkness to escape from Tunliu. Not long after, I was secretly pursued by the Luo Wang and had no choice but to flee to the State of Zhao. Later I learned that it was Fan Yuqi who had used my name to spread the proclamation to attack my brother. I have been labeled a traitor and colluder."