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

A scout sergeant entered the main tent, knelt on one knee, and said, "General, there are no traces of carriages, horses, or suspicious persons within fifty li of the camp."

Left Vice Minister Wang Yi paused slightly in his rough hand holding the pen, and said, "Understood."

"We also need to engage in combat with South Korea recently, so we must not be careless. Tomorrow, send more people to continue patrolling."

The scout squad leader replied, "Yes, sir. I'll take my leave now."

"Go."

After the scout squad leader and others had left, Zuo Shuzhang Wang Yi gently tapped the long table.

After a long while, he took out a palm-sized scroll from his clothes. It was encased in a secret scroll and had a combination lock made of mechanical art.

With swift movements of his fingers, he quickly took out a piece of supple silk rolled into a cylindrical shape from the scroll.

There are only a few words above.

If the King of Qin enters Han and returns, he may pass through Wusui. If the matter is accomplished, he will be granted permission.

Wang Yi suddenly clenched the silk in his hand. The supple silk instantly became tattered and torn under his terrifying grip, and the writing on it was almost illegible.

He muttered to himself, "Lord Wu'an, this old man has lived on until now, hoping one day to clear your name. But many years have passed, and this old man is growing more and more desperate. Now, someone is helping him, willing to exonerate you. What about the King of Qin? They are the ones who wronged you. This old man will seek justice for you..."

Xianyang, a thousand miles away.

In a huge mansion, an elderly man with a slightly hunched back looked very uneasy as he accompanied Lü Buwei.

"Prime Minister Lü, we've just received news that the assassination attempt failed. Xuan Jian's whereabouts are unknown. Because of Zhao Cheng, the Six Sword Slaves have betrayed us..."

Lu Buwei sat in the stone pavilion, gazing up at the bright moon hanging in the sky, seemingly oblivious to Old Man Zheng's words.

"When will the bright moon appear? Year after year, I gaze upon it everywhere..."

A seemingly unrelated remark left Old Man Zheng completely bewildered, leading him to mistakenly believe that Lü Buwei hadn't heard him clearly.

"Prime Minister Lü, the plan has failed. Next..."

Lü Buwei waved his hand dismissively and said calmly, "Who said we failed?"

"You've followed me for so many years, and you still don't know my true nature?"

Old Master Zheng was taken aback, then suddenly realized and said, "It seems that everything is within Prime Minister Lü's expectations."

Lü Buwei stood up, still gazing at the bright moon. "The Art of War says: 'A general should plan for defeat before planning for victory, and thus he will never be defeated.' The Art of War also says: 'To think of the benefits, one must consider the harms; to think of the success, one must consider the failures.' How could I possibly entrust such a crucial matter as dealing with the young King of Qin to a group of assassins?"

Old Master Zheng's expression turned solemn. "Please enlighten me, Prime Minister Lü."

Lu Buwei withdrew his gaze from the moon and looked at Old Man Zheng, smiling, "If it were anyone else, I certainly wouldn't say anything. But between you and me, master and servant for many years, I know you are not good at judging people and are not knowledgeable in military and political affairs, and you also know I am not skilled in martial arts. Let's have a good talk tonight."

Old Zheng's face was filled with emotion.

In a daze, he seemed to merge with the world around him, having been at the peak of the half-step Grandmaster for more than twenty years, with signs of a breakthrough emerging.

But soon, everything calmed down.

Breaking through to the level of a Grandmaster is incredibly difficult; it requires talent, understanding, comprehension, and good fortune, among other things.

Lu Buwei looked at Old Man Zheng with some regret. He thought for a moment and said, "I heard you mention before that the Yin-Yang School has someone skilled in alchemy in this generation. In the next few days, I will ask the Yin-Yang School for elixirs that can help you break through your limitations, in the name of the Qin State."

Old Master Zheng said gratefully, "Thank you very much, Prime Minister Lü."

In the martial arts world, everyone knows that the Yin-Yang School's elixirs are extremely precious, and ordinary martial artists almost never see them in their entire lives.

Lu Buwei smiled and said, "There's nothing to thank me for. As long as it helps you break through to the Grandmaster level, it's all worth it. Let me first tell you why I sent assassins to kill you first, and then laid out a backup plan."

Old Mr. Zheng bent down to listen.

Lu Buwei, intrigued by his desire to teach, slowly said, "This student of mine has been taught by me since before the late king ascended the throne. In terms of understanding him, I fear that no one in the seven kingdoms understands him better than I do."

"Hehe, speaking of which, our young King of Qin is far more intelligent and quick-witted than ordinary people."

"Unfortunately, precisely because of this, I can easily tell that if the young Prince Qin discovers that he has been assassinated by the Luo Wang assassins, he will first suspect I am the one who is the first to suspect him."

"If those assassins succeed, that's fine. But if they fail, the young Prince of Qin will definitely develop a rift with me and will not remain indifferent."

"And within the Qin state, the only ones who can pose a real threat to me are those who hold military power."

"Therefore, if the young King of Qin wants to deal with me, he will definitely try to gain the trust and support of the army on the way back to Xianyang."

Old Zheng looked surprised: "Then what should we do?"

Lü Buwei chuckled.

"This all started with the death of Lord Wu'an, Bai Qi."

Old Zheng's thoughts drifted slowly; he and Bai Qi were contemporaries.

However, his talent was far inferior to Bai Qi's.

When Bai Qi reached the peak of the Grandmaster realm, or even became a Great Grandmaster, he had only broken through to the second-rate realm.

Lü Buwei said, "As the supreme general of Qin, Bai Qi's life can be described as legendary, no less so than mine. During his lifetime, he led troops to attack the six states many times, killing millions of people and incurring deep enmity with the six states. Therefore, he was known as the 'Million-Man Butcher'. When the soldiers and civilians of the six states talked about him, they all feared him like a tiger."

"Unfortunately, he died later, betrayed by King Zhaoxiang. The six elders of the Farmer's School used the Twenty-Four Earthly Formation to kill Lord Wu'an, who was almost invincible in the world at that time."

Old Master Zheng was taken aback. "Prime Minister Lü, wasn't Lord Wu'an arrogant and conceited, plotting a rebellion, and committing suicide out of fear of punishment?"

Lü Buwei sneered, "How could a man of such talent as Lord Wu'an commit suicide out of fear of punishment? Rather than believing that, it would be better to believe that Lord Wu'an was poisoned and forced to die by King Zhaoxiang for refusing to lead troops to attack Zhao."

Old Man Zheng hesitated slightly before saying, "With Lord Wu'an's strength, even with the cooperation of the Twenty-Four Earthly Formation, the six elders of the Farmer's Clan might not be able to defeat Lord Wu'an, let alone be killed by him."

According to the information he obtained from the Luo Wang and the rumors he heard in the martial arts world, the six elders of the Farmer's Clan were all hall masters of the Farmer's Clan before the death of Lord Wu'an. Their strength was mostly at the first-class level, and no more than three of them were experts who had stepped into the half-step grandmaster level.

To put it bluntly, even with the support of the formation, it wouldn't be too difficult for Lord Wu'an to kill the six elders.

Besides, even if they can't be killed, can't they at least escape?

Lu Buwei chuckled coldly: "Do you know why all the previous generation of sword slaves died, and why the news was kept secret?"

Old Master Zheng's eyes widened in surprise: "Could it be because of Lord Wu'an?"

“Indeed,” Lü Buwei said. “Those were the strongest generation of sword slaves, three half-step grandmasters and three first-class experts. They had eliminated countless troublesome figures for the Qin state, but unexpectedly, they died at the hands of their own people in the end.”

Old Master Zheng exclaimed, "Lord Wu'an is truly a divine being!"

He then asked, "Why did King Zhaoxiang go to such lengths, even associating with farmers, to kill Bai Qi?"

Lü Buwei shook his head slightly: "I don't know either. I'm also very curious about what King Zhaoxiang was hiding back then."

He had once perused court secrets in the royal archives, but this matter was deliberately obscured, leaving only the record that Lord Wu'an was arrogant, suspected of treason, and ultimately committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

According to his conjecture, King Zhaoxiang knew that his days were numbered and worried that the next King of Qin would not be able to control Bai Qi, who had made great contributions but was also arrogant and conceited, so he had no choice but to kill Bai Qi.

It was this conjecture that led him to remain discreet and humble even after becoming the prime minister of Qin, wielding great power. He cultivated a good reputation among the people, maintained good relationships with officials, and was approachable in the army.

Old Master Zheng pondered for a moment, "Then what is Prime Minister Lü's backup plan?"

Lü Buwei smiled faintly: "Zuo Shuzhang Wang Yi was Bai Qi's trusted and beloved general back then, and he received many favors from Bai Qi. After Wu An Jun died in a murky manner, Wang Yi secretly worked on his behalf. At that time, the King of Qin was still young, and I handled all these matters without the King of Qin knowing anything about them."

"After that, I had a private meeting with Wang Yi. As a precaution, I covered up Wang Yi's efforts to help Lord Wu'an and promoted him."

Old Man Zheng asked, "Does Your Excellency want General Wang Yi to take action?"

Lü Buwei nodded slightly: "I have already told Wang Yi the truth. With my promise, Wang Yi will not hesitate to do it."

He laughed and said, "Speaking of which, I originally transferred the Pingyang Heavy Armored Army stationed in Taiyuan to Wusui, intending to help Qin acquire Nanyang, a city of Han. But I never expected that today, like a deer's horns hanging from a tree, it would be such a stroke of genius. I can only say that the young King of Qin was unlucky and this became his burial place."

"Perhaps this is what Cao Ze meant when he said in 'Dream of the Red Chamber': 'Cleverness can backfire and lead to one's own demise.'"

Old Master Zheng exclaimed in admiration, "Your plans are flawless, sir. I admire you greatly."

This is also why, even though he was already a semi-master, he still chose to follow Lü Buwei, who was still a merchant at the time.

The following day, the convoy set off from the outskirts of Yewang County and headed towards the Wusui Camp, where the Pingyang Heavy Armor Army was stationed.

On this day, Ying Zheng unusually did not continue discussing state affairs with Cao Ze inside the carriage.

Cao Ze, driving his donkey, carried Jing Ni and Li Wu, and they breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It was certainly exciting and novel to brag in front of the future First Emperor, but after two days and two nights of bragging, the novelty had long worn off. It would be better to drag Yan Lingji to a place for some car sex.

Seeing that Cao Ze and Ying Zheng had finally stopped talking, Li Si, who had been eagerly waiting, took the opportunity to show off his wisdom from time to time in front of and behind Ying Zheng's carriage.

Unfortunately, after Cao Ze's brainstorming session and a wealth of insightful observations, Ying Zheng found Li Si's opinions somewhat unremarkable.

Seeing Ying Zheng's lack of interest and dejection, Li Si felt a sense of defeat and almost had his Daoist resolve collapse, causing him to waver in his beliefs and studies.

Is the gap between him and Cao Ze really that big?

A look of confusion appeared in Li Si's eyes. When he was compiling Cao Ze's writings into the "Lüshi Chunqiu", he read Cao Ze's articles and works over and over again.

He acknowledged that Cao Ze was knowledgeable, eccentric, and imaginative, but in matters of governance, apart from his vague and unspecific essay "Productivity and Institutions," he had no other insightful or thought-provoking remarks.

What exactly did Ying Zheng and Cao Ze talk about these past few days?

Li Si frowned deeply.

I strongly suspect that Cao Ze was deliberately sent by his senior brother to Ying Zheng's side to cause him trouble.

But he had no evidence...

"Stop!"

The scout squad leader who reported to Zuo Shuzhang Wang Yi last night, along with four scouts, blocked the convoy.

The six sword slaves, Zhao Cheng, Tian Ze, and others, disguised as accompanying Qin soldiers, each had their own thoughts.

Li Si's heart skipped a beat; he knew it was his turn to step in.

"I am Li Si, the Qin envoy sent to the State of Han."

The scout squad leader glanced at the envoy's staff in Li Si's hand, cupped his hands and said, "Greetings, Your Excellency Envoy."

Li Si said, "I am passing through Wusui, and I hope you will do me a favor."

The scout sergeant said respectfully, "Please follow us into the camp, sir."

Thank you.

……

Chapter 362 Your Entertainment Circle is Truly Chaotic

"Ha! Hey!"

"Ha! Hey!"