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

Cao Ze cursed inwardly, but smiled broadly on the outside.

"Brother Kuang Xiu, how have you been lately?"

"What a load of rubbish!" Cao Ze's words seemed to have hit a nerve with Kuang Xiu.

He grumbled, "That old bastard Gongsun Long is shameless. He's always acting mysteriously, leaving early and returning late. These past few days, he's disappeared into some pigsty again."

"They clearly don't have much money, yet they insist on eating and drinking well. Pah!"

"That butcher is going to try and collect his debts from me!"

"That Robber Zhi is even more inhuman; he just smuggled my purse! Now I'm almost homeless!"

Cao Ze blinked.

"...Then why are you still drinking?"

Kuang Xiuli said confidently, "I can sleep on the streets, but I can't do it without drinking!"

"My sudden enlightenment and understanding of the true meaning of the zither are all thanks to this fine wine!"

Cao Ze tentatively asked, "Do you know where Senior Gongsun is now?"

"I don't know! If I did, I'd go to his door and beat that old bastard to a pulp!"

Kuang Xiu gritted his teeth, "That old bastard is shameless, still following a woman around at his age."

"Don't think I don't know what's going on with this old guy's dirty tricks, he's shameless!"

"You've been in Xianyang for so long, always acting all mysterious, you must be thinking of taking advantage of a younger woman!"

Cao Ze's heart skipped a beat. "A woman? What does she look like?"

Kuang Xiu was about to take a sip of wine when he realized there was nothing around him.

He swallowed hard to stop his craving for alcohol.

"I don't know, I didn't see clearly, I just remember that she was wearing purple clothes."

Cao Ze's eyes widened slightly. Sure enough!

How long have they known each other?

"I'm not sure, but it should have been a month or two ago. I saw it when I was living with this old guy."

One or two months... Cao Ze almost slapped his thigh in frustration.

That's it, that matches up.

Zi Nu and Gongsun Long knew each other from the beginning, yet she pretended not to know him in front of him. There's no way there's anything fishy about that!

No wonder last month went so smoothly.

Lacking skilled individuals, he happened to meet Gongsun Long and immediately agreed to help him, only needing some money for food and drink.

Lacking information, Zi Nu came running over eagerly, giving him a reason that even he found hard to doubt.

He even thought that Zi Nu wanted to seduce him and become his husband.

"Brother Cao Ze, are you alright?"

Kuang Xiu waved his hand in front of Cao Ze's eyes.

Cao Ze laughed and said, "It's alright, let's go have a drink."

He wanted to ask Kuang Xiu carefully what Gongsun Long had been doing all this time, whether he had really only been lecturing in Xianyang.

Under the moonlight, Kuang Xiu was completely drunk.

Cao Ze got what he wanted to know: Gongsun Long was indeed suspicious, not only connected with Zi Nu, but also with Longyang Jun.

Besides Longyang Jun, Kuang Xiu couldn't think of anyone else who could be described as the most beautiful man in the world.

Therefore, it means that Gongsun Long and Ya Fei must also have a connection. In other words, Zi Nu should also have a connection with Ya Fei.

They're all in cahoots.

After reaching this conclusion, Cao Ze took a big gulp of wine.

No wonder he barely noticed; they were all women who knew him well!

Damn it!

Kuang Xiu hiccuped as he drank.

“Brother Cao Ze, you don’t know, I’ve finally understood. I’ve grasped the spirit behind your poem, that boldness, that unrestrained freedom, that ethereal quality…”

He suddenly burst into song.

"Have you not seen the Yellow River's waters come down from the sky... Hahaha..."

Kuang Xiu laughed loudly and excitedly, slapping the table with his hand and cheering.

"Sages and worthies of the past all perished, only drinkers left their mark!"

"Drink, drink, drink!"

Kuang Xiu hugged the large wine jar with one hand and drank heartily.

Cao Ze said speechlessly, "Brother Kuang Xiu, if you keep drinking like this, you'll be sleeping on the streets of Xianyang again."

Kuang Xiu, thoroughly drunk, exclaimed, "Fine, I'll sleep then! Who's afraid of who! I'll sleep right now and show you!"

He suddenly ripped his clothes off, and before Cao Ze could recover from his daze, he ran straight out of Cao Ze's mansion and howled loudly on the streets of Xianyang.

Cao Ze's eyes widened.

Holy crap!

Kuang Xiu is really going to run naked in Xianyang for a photo op?!

……

Chapter 436 The Destruction of Qin!

Kuang Xiu has disappeared!

Cao Ze went to visit Kuang Xiu in the morning, intending to describe to him the great feat he had accomplished the previous night.

However, when he entered the house, he found that Kuang Xiu had disappeared without even a farewell letter.

Only the words written on the ground—

"How shameful! I long to seek out Qu Yuan!"

Cao Ze was stunned. What did that mean?

Feeling suicidal? Thinking of jumping into the Miluo River? Or feeding the fish with Qu Yuan?

Cao Ze scratched his head; this was a bit of a problem...

Wait a minute, isn't Kuang Xiu afraid of water because it's too cold?

Does this guy dare to jump?

Cao Ze shook his head. If Brother Kuang Xiu really jumped, there was nothing he could do.

Respect the fate of others; burn paper money when needed...

Two hours later, Cao Ze left the mansion alone and arrived at the Mo family's stronghold inn.

Zi Nu was already waiting by the window on the second floor.

She looked out the window at the bustling streets of Xianyang, pondering why Cao Ze suddenly wanted to see her.

Has the plan changed?

Cao Ze went up to the second floor, strode over to Zi Nu, and sat down.

He cut to the chase: "Zi Nu, you know Senior Gongsun, don't you?"

Zi Nu's mind raced: "Of course I know Senior Gongsun, is there something wrong with that?"

Cao Ze said calmly, "I was saying that you knew Senior Gongsun before you came to Xianyang."

"Well, time is running out. Let's be frank now: what is your purpose in coming to Xianyang? And why did you choose to help me?"

Cao Ze got straight to the point; he didn't have time to beat around the bush with Zi Nu and Ya Fei.

The woman's purple eyes narrowed slightly.

"Didn't I already tell you? The Quicksand organization is going to establish a base in Xianyang, and we..."

Cao Ze interrupted, "This may be the goal of your Quicksand, but it is definitely not the goal of your Three Jin!"

Zi Nu's breathing quickened slightly as scenes flashed through her mind, realizing that Cao Ze already knew about her acquaintance with Ya Fei.

"What do you want? To give up on using Wei Zhuang to kill Lü Buwei?"

Cao Ze shook his head and said, "Of course I won't give up."

Zi Nu said, "In that case, why are you so fixated on what our purpose is?"

"Didn't you always say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend?"

"At least for now, there's no conflict between us; instead, cooperation benefits both of us, doesn't it?"

Cao Ze muttered to himself, "Cooperation benefits both sides... The enemy of my enemy is my friend..."

Zi Nu was somewhat uneasy. "Is something wrong?"

Cao Ze smiled. "There's nothing wrong with it."

"You know me too well, so much so that you inadvertently revealed your true intentions."

"Your target is indeed Lü Buwei."

Zi Nu's mouth was slightly open as she stared blankly at Cao Ze. "You know?"

Cao Ze said, "Whether you know or not is irrelevant now. Where is Consort Ya? I would like to see her."

He did not believe that Gongsun Long and Wuming listened to Zi Nu.

For him, Wuming, who had already broken through to the Grandmaster level, and Gongsun Long, who was at the peak of the Grandmaster level, were indispensable allies.

He wanted to speak with Ya Fei in person.