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

As expected of the man she chose, he truly has the ability to assist Zheng'er in achieving great things.

If that's the case, it seems I can follow the example of Empress Dowager Xuan and keep Cao Ze in the palace, just for the sake of Qin.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was a good idea.

Chapter 391 Cao Ze Fights and Kills Yan Lingji

Cao Ze was invited by Zhao Ji and Ying Zheng to stay at Ganquan Palace for dinner. When Zhao Gao led him out of the palace, Cao Ze thought for a moment and asked Zhao Gao for confirmation: "Brother Zhao, you said earlier that Lord Changping proposed to postpone the construction of Zheng Guo Canal and instead advised the King to start the construction of Ling Canal. Is this true?"

Zhao Gao smiled, but his smile was somewhat sinister.

"Sir, as you know, my family has always been loyal to the Empress Dowager. We will not hide anything from her because of you, nor will we hide anything from her because of anyone else. I hope you will be more understanding in the future."

"Each serves their own master; Brother Zhao is magnanimous."

Zhao Gao smiled and flattered Cao Ze.

"Thank you for understanding my family, sir. In the future, if you ever need those sword servants, as long as it doesn't involve the Empress Dowager, you can just ask them to do so."

He wasn't stupid. He could tell from some details today that the Empress Dowager's regard for Cao Ze had increased to an extreme level, far beyond her previous behavior of taking him as a male concubine.

Faced with Zhao Gao's overtures, Cao Ze readily accepted.

If he doesn't agree, I'm afraid Old Zhao won't be able to sleep well tonight because of the Six Swordsmen.

As Cao Ze left the palace, Yan Lingji landed beside him with a "whoosh".

She blinked her soft, watery blue eyes and chuckled, "I thought you were going to sleep in the Empress Dowager's palace."

Cao Ze waved his hand: "No, no, the rules in the palace are very strict, how could I possibly stay overnight?"

Yan Lingji narrowed her beautiful eyes and gently blew out the flickering flame at her fingertips. She teased, "It seems it's not that you don't dare, but that you don't have the ability."

Cao Ze was so angry he laughed. Seeing that no one was around, he slapped Yan Lingji's pert buttocks hard.

I have to say, this damn feel is absolutely awful.

Yan Lingji's smile froze as she looked at Cao Ze, a flicker of fire in her beautiful eyes, her rosy and alluring mouth gradually opening wider.

Before Yan Lingji could even lash out, Cao Ze used his persuasive skills to silence her bright red lips.

Yan Lingji's anger gradually dissipated, absorbed by Cao Ze.

After a long while, Cao Ze estimated that Fire Fairy's oil was almost gone before he parted ways with Flame Spirit Fairy.

After being deeply kissed by Cao Ze, Yan Lingji was in an exceptionally good mood.

"You're smart to know what's good for you."

Cao Ze chuckled. He had already figured out how to use the Fire-Starting Girl, and he figured he wouldn't be far from speedrunning the three levels.

Yan Lingji led over a donkey cart, put on a red veiled hat, and said, "Let's go, it's getting dark."

Cao Ze got into the car without incident.

Because they frequently visit Ganquan Palace, in order to avoid any rumors, they had to bring out Brother Donkey again, using his exclusive donkey cart, and pairing it with a "driver" named Yan Lingji who could start the fire.

To be honest, he originally planned to use the little mare Ta Xue as a carriage, since Ta Xue was prettier and more classy than Donkey Brother.

It wasn't until he first rode the Snow-Treading Horse out that he heard people around him recognize it. After some inquiries, he learned that before Gongsun Long left Hangu Pass and entered Zhao, he had been arguing with masters from various schools in Qin for a long time.

Therefore, this little mare, Ta Xue, is a household name in Xianyang.

So he decisively replaced the donkey, thus avoiding any rumors or gossip.

By the time they arrived at the mansion, it was already late at night.

Cao Ze got off the donkey cart, looked at the red lacquered lanterns hanging high under the gate of his mansion, and smiled with satisfaction as he gazed at the gilded characters "Cao Mansion" reflected in them.

After several days of decoration, their mansion finally looked presentable.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The sound of heavy footsteps rang out, and Wushuang Gui pulled open the heavy beast-head door with one hand.

"Roar……"

Wushuang Gui let out a low growl.

Cao Ze, who knew a lot about Wushuang Gui's "roar", automatically translated Wushuang Gui's roar as "He's back, bro".

Cao Ze sighed. With Wushuang Ghost guarding the gate, he didn't even need to invite a door god.

That's why he didn't use Wushuang Gui as a groom, but instead chose Yan Ling Ji.

After Yan Lingji tied up the donkey, she hugged Cao Ze's arm and said with a grin, "Tonight you're mine."

Cao Ze couldn't help but grimace.

Without saying a word, he picked up Yan Lingji, who was laughing, and strode through the courtyards to the inner room of the mansion.

The night was dark and the wind was high.

Two slender, alluring women wearing straw hats stood on a high ground not far from Cao Ze's residence, looking down at the Cao family mansion.

They had traveled almost all over Xianyang in recent days, and naturally found Cao Ze's residence there.

“Zi Nu, today’s grand court assembly in Qin is quite tense, hehe.”

Ya Fei said with a faint smile.

Large gatherings such as court assemblies involve hundreds of civil and military officials of all ranks, many of whom are collaborators from other countries or are simply spies.

Therefore, what was said at the court meeting was hard to hide from those who were interested.

"I knew this guy wouldn't behave himself even after coming to Xianyang. Wouldn't it be better if he offended Lü Buwei to death?"

Zi Nu spoke in a low voice, seemingly not understanding why Cao Ze had clashed with Lü Buwei so quickly.

“That’s fine…” Consort Ya paused and said, “I have decided to help Cao Ze, so that Lü Buwei will have no way out in Qin and will have no choice but to join our Three Jin states.”

Lord Longyang and Gongsun Long both listened to her, but Zi Nu and Wei Zhuang did not express their opinions.

Zi Nu said, "That's what I think too."

"Based on my understanding of him, the fact that he has chosen to offend Lü Buwei to the death at this time shows that he is confident in dealing with Lü Buwei, which is a good thing for us."

After arriving in Xianyang, the group had two main plans.

The first plan was to go it alone, using various means to drag Lü Buwei into the mess and make it impossible for him to stay in Qin.

The second direction of the plan was to cooperate, overtly or covertly, with Lü Buwei's rivals and enemies to force Lü Buwei to leave Qin and seek protection from other countries.

Just as Cao Ze had told her, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

At that moment, at this moment.

Compared to an unknown collaborator, she and Ya Fei naturally preferred to cooperate with Cao Ze.

Ya Fei pondered for a moment and said, "When cooperating with this kid, we must not let him know our purpose. What identity do you think we should present ourselves under?"

Zi Nu had already thought of this: "Lord Longyang and Wei Zhuang are secretly working together. Gongsun Longzi knows him, so we can approach him as a friend."

Ya Fei narrowed her beautiful eyes, scrutinized Zi Nu, and asked inexplicably, "And what about you?"

She could not possibly show herself; as the eldest princess of Zhao, her appearance would cause quite a stir.

Zi Nu's heart tightened, but she pretended to be calm and said, "I will personally come forward and use making a deal with him as a cover."

Ya Fei asked with a half-smile, "What kind of transaction will you use as a cover?"

Zi Nu is intelligent and quick-witted.

She said calmly, "King Han and Wei Zhuang plan to establish an intelligence network in Xianyang, so I made a deal with them. I helped them get rid of Lü Buwei in exchange for the ability for Quicksand to operate freely in Xianyang."

Consort Ya said leisurely, "He once told Xue'er that the more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to deceive. I thought it only applied to men, hehe..."

Zi Nu smiled helplessly; being with Ya Fei gave her a bit of a headache.

Before you know it, she'll see something you don't want her to see.

“Your Highness, Zi Nu knows what is important and will not act on emotion.”

Ya Fei remained noncommittal and drifted away, leaving behind an ambiguous sound.

"I hope so."

……

P.S.: I've been looking at houses these past few days, preparing to take out a loan to buy one... It's been exhausting running around, please forgive me.

Chapter 392 Life is Like a Play

The expenses for the second half of the year were finalized on the day of the grand assembly.

Before a day had passed, and many years had gone by, discussions about the extent of Lü Buwei's wealth resurfaced in Xianyang.

As for whether he is the richest man in the world, no one questions it.

Soon, Cheng Jiao consulted Cao Ze and then began to take action.

First, they sent people to the streets and alleys to discuss where Lü Buwei's money came from, what he gained from hoarding rare goods back then, and how Lü Buwei used that money...

In the blink of an eye, these discussions about how much wealth Lü Buwei had gradually turned sour, becoming channels for spreading rumors and gossip.

How much money did Lü Buwei embezzle? How many concubines did he take? Was he even a decent person?

Alongside these hotly debated topics, there were also four sixteen-character official maxims specially written by Cao Ze:

You eat your own food and your own salary, which is the people's blood and sweat; the common people are easy to oppress, but Heaven is hard to deceive.

It was personally inscribed by Ying Zheng in front of the main gate of the royal palace and the Zhangtai Palace.

The sixteen-character official motto written by Cao Ze immediately spread throughout Xianyang City and quickly spread throughout the country and to the seven kingdoms of the world.

It's not hard for observant people to see that all the events that happened in just one or two days point to one person—Lü Buwei.

However, within three days, as a large number of carriages loaded with wealth drove out of the Prime Minister's residence, through the streets of Xianyang, and into the Qin King's Palace, they were witnessed by countless people in Xianyang. They praised Lü Buwei's generosity and his act of donating his family property to the country.

In a short time, Lü Buwei's reputation soared.

And the second confrontation, in which Cheng Jiao had acted on impulse and seized the opportunity to cause trouble, was thus averted.

The two sides remained evenly matched and left the field.