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

Cao Ze was dumbfounded. When did Ying Zheng have a queen?

As far as he knew, Ying Zheng had not yet established a principal wife, but had only married several concubines, and even Fusu had only recently given birth to a child.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Cheng Jiao frowned and said, "Since my brother has not yet assumed personal rule, he has not yet chosen a queen."

"Therefore, the queen mentioned in the letter must refer to someone else. I suspect..."

After his initial surprise, Cao Ze asked, "You mean the current Empress Dowager?"

Cheng Jiao lowered his voice and said, "Haven't you heard about that?"

Cao Ze certainly knew what Cheng Jiao was referring to.

This scandal has been circulating for two thousand years.

Because of this, many TV series were made in later generations, but he still prefers the version with "beating up Zhao Ji" and "the magic of love going round and round," and he is planning to try it out when he has the chance.

However, to be fair, Queen Chang and Zhao Ji can truly be described as a pair of brilliant and talented individuals.

Both were once singers and dancers, both were once queens, and both are known for their scandalous affairs; they really learned from each other...

"Brother Chengjiao, be careful what you say."

Cheng Jiao clasped his hands together, feeling both excited and uneasy.

"Brother Cao, what should we do?"

Cao Ze immediately said, "Let's go to the Prime Minister's residence together and search the ruins of that small building again to see if we can find anything else."

He was going to see if he could find anything else; it would be even better if he could find more evidence.

The two rode at breakneck speed, rushing into the Prime Minister's residence and heading straight for the ruins.

Cheng Jiao whispered, "Brother Cao, someone must have broken into our residence in the Prime Minister's mansion last night and ransacked it. Lü Buwei is very worried that we might have found something."

"How about I go to the palace and borrow some more imperial guards from my brother, the king, to keep watch?"

Cao Ze waved his hand and said, "This will make Lü Buwei more suspicious. This is his Prime Minister's residence. Let's not cause any unnecessary trouble."

Cheng Jiao thought about it and agreed, so he called over a few guards and attendants.

"You guys go dig there, be careful, use small shovels, and lay out what you dig out flat."

He then arranged for four or five small teams of three to dig separately to avoid revealing the location.

Standing on the ruins, Cao Ze thought to himself that he needed to go to Ganquan Palace again.

Although Zhao Gao was a dead eunuch, his strength was undeniable; he was a grandmaster, and might even be considered the patriarch of eunuchs.

Not to mention that the Six Sword Slaves are a unified entity, possessing the strength to kill a Grandmaster.

In addition, there's Gongsun Long, the Nameless Sword Saint, Xuan Jian, Yan Ling Ji, Li Wu, Jing Ni, Zi Nu, Wei Zhuang...

He refused to believe that he could not handle Lü Buwei even with so many Grandmaster-level combatants, including a Grandmaster like Wuming.

With such a formidable lineup, he felt he could eventually sideline Jing Ke and try out the "Assassination of the King of Qin" challenge himself.

Just as Cao Ze was pondering and refining his plan, Cheng Jiao suddenly exclaimed, catching Cao Ze's attention.

"what happened?"

Cheng Jiao held a broken piece of bamboo and said in a low voice, "We found inscriptions in that place again."

Cao Ze stroked the bamboo strip Cheng Jiao had given him; dozens of lines were faintly visible on the carbonized bamboo surface.

The Great Seal script currently in use in the Qin state was more than twice as complex as the Small Seal script that came later.

He couldn't recognize the character at first glance.

What kind of character is this?

Cao Ze looked up and asked Cheng Jiao.

Cheng Jiao lowered his voice, afraid of being exposed.

"death of a prince."

Cao Ze was stunned for a moment, "Dead?"

The Queen, the King, passed away...

This……

Cao Ze was a little confused for a moment. He said, "Maybe we guessed wrong. This may be something that happened many years ago, as recorded in the annals."

Cheng Jiao held the same view.

A young man in fine clothes accidentally bumped into someone, dropping the bamboo strip in his hand. Without even cursing, he picked up the bamboo strip and ran to Chengjiao's side.

"Lord Chang'an, we have made a discovery."

Cheng Jiao quickly took them; there were four carbonized bamboo pieces in total, two of which were already blurred and difficult to identify.

The remaining two records are "strange" and "three days".

Cheng Jiao murmured, "Queen, King, died, strange, three days..."

He frowned. "Could this file record the death of my grandfather and my father's ascension to the throne?"

Cao Ze nodded slightly. Ying Zheng and Cheng Jiao's father's real name was Yiren. In order to seize the position of crown prince, he chose to take the childless Empress Dowager Huayang as his mother.

This is why Lü Buwei chose to bet on Ying Yiren and was somewhat confident that Ying Yiren would succeed to the throne.

Rare commodities are valuable, and you can't just place a bet on them casually.

However, he always felt that the matter recorded in the case file might not be so simple.

After all, it was a trivial matter that everyone knew about, so there was no need for Lü Buwei to be so cautious in keeping it here.

Unless there is another reason...

Cao Ze remained outwardly calm, choosing to observe and see what else could be uncovered.

Inside Lü Buwei's study, Old Man Zheng said, "Prime Minister Lü, they discovered bamboo slips that hadn't been completely burned, and faint writing is visible on them."

He disguised himself as one of the guards and his men, sneaked inside, and kept observing. He had just deliberately bumped into a boy carrying something and saw the words "Three Days and Strangeness".

Lü Buwei, with his eyes closed, asked, "What word?"

"One is the character '异' (yì), and the other two are '三日' (sān rì)."

Lü Buwei suddenly opened his eyes, "A thousand spiders devour dreams, for three days..."

Old Master Zheng was startled, his expression changed, "Prime Minister Lü, this is bad!"

Lü Buwei slowly stood up and paced around the study.

After a long silence, he said, "We can't let them investigate any further."

"Arrange for people to be on their side and prepare generous gifts. Tomorrow, the Prime Minister will present these gifts to the Empress Dowager!"

This matter is related to him, but it is also inextricably linked to Zhao Ji.

He planned to take this opportunity to ease his relationship with Zhao Ji.

We're all in the same boat; who can escape?

"Yes!"

Old Zheng responded and disguised himself as one of the others before leaving.

The next day, while Cao Ze and Cheng Jiao were working overtime to dig, the Prime Minister's residence became lively.

Such an unusual scene naturally attracted Cao Ze's attention.

He instructed Cheng Jiao to leave the Prime Minister's residence quietly and go to the main street of Xianyang.

The streets of Xianyang were still bustling with people, yet orderly. Various types of carriages traveled along the streets, some pulled by one horse, others by two.

However, the most impressive thing was the carriage that departed from the Prime Minister's residence.

The four horses rode side by side, their hooves moving in perfect unison, controlled by the rider.

Cao Ze looked at Lü Buwei.

The carriage that Lü Buwei rode in was open-air, with a crank-operated canopy at the rear, and the black body was painted with vermilion cloud patterns.

At this moment, he wore a tall crown and looked extremely dignified.

But what puzzled Cao Ze the most was Lü Buwei's actions.

The caravan that Lü Buwei was in consisted of nearly a hundred riders in full armor, wielding spears and swords, with two rows of mounted archers equipped with longbows and crossbows.

Not to mention the dozens of retainers crowding on both sides of the carriage, and the two long rows of attendants and maids following behind, carrying lacquer boxes and utensils of unknown value.

The procession stretched for three hundred meters, and everyone along the way, from pedestrians to nobles and officials, made way for it.

It was all because the team's banner had a large "吕" (Lü) character on it.

Within the entire city of Xianyang, the only person who dared to do such a thing was the powerful Chancellor Lü.

Cao Ze was secretly puzzled.

Why did Lü Buwei, who should have kept a low profile at this time, make such a big fuss, as if he was afraid others wouldn't know where he was going and what he was going to do?

His mind raced, and he secretly followed Lü Buwei's entourage.

It wasn't until they were close to Ganquan Palace that Cao Ze realized Lü Buwei had come to see Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji stood in the bedchamber, her phoenix robe and magnificent crown making her radiant.

After being nourished by Cao Ze for many days, she now felt at peace and serene.

"Your Majesty, Chancellor Lü has come to pay his respects."

Zhao Gao entered the main hall and briefly explained the situation.

A look of doubt flashed in Zhao Ji's beautiful, shimmering eyes.

"What is he doing here? I won't see him!"

Ever since she learned that Lü Buwei had harmed Cao Ze, she had wanted nothing more than to tear Lü Buwei apart.

Zhao Gao said, "This servant does not know, but Prime Minister Lü asked me to convey a message: may the Empress Dowager remember King Xiaowen?"

Zhao Ji paused for a moment, vaguely recalling the bloody battles of yesteryear.