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

As October approached, a secret letter was delivered from Xianyang to the Wusui camp.

Meng Tian took the secret letter to Cao Ze and said, "It is a letter from the King himself, and you need to open it yourself."

Cao Ze was surprised and took the secret letter, which had been coated with sealing wax, from Meng Tian.

He glanced through it quickly; there was nothing else, only a message urging him to return to Xianyang as soon as possible.

Cao Ze examined the secret letter repeatedly, confirming that it was indeed a secret letter from the palace. He was somewhat hesitant.

Based on his understanding of Ying Zheng, Ying Zheng rarely acted in such a hurry, and he didn't even explain the specific situation.

Seeing Cao Ze bowing his head and remaining silent, Meng Tian asked in surprise, "Brother Cao, what is it?"

Cao Ze shook his head and smiled, "I don't know. His Majesty has ordered me to return to Xianyang, so I'm afraid I can't stay here any longer."

Meng Tian, ​​on the other hand, seemed to understand.

"That's fine too. Once the war is over, Brother Cao might be implicated by me."

Meng Tian said with a wry smile, "Brother Cao has made a wasted trip."

Cao Ze cupped his hands and said, "Brother Meng, you are too kind. Please prepare a fast horse."

Meng asked in surprise, "So soon?"

Cao Ze said, "His Majesty has ordered me to return to Xianyang as soon as possible. There may be something important that requires my immediate attention."

He thought of Changping Jun. Could it be that Changping Jun had sensed something and pulled some trick?

Meng Tian said in a deep voice, "Alright, I will personally help Brother Cao select two steeds with the best endurance."

"Thank you very much, Brother Meng."

Cao Ze and Jing Ni set off together, traveling day and night, crossing mountains and rivers, and returned to Xianyang in less than four days.

He first quietly returned to his residence, and seeing that everything was still the same, he was somewhat relieved.

After hearing some recent rumors about Xianyang from Li Wu, and finding nothing else to do, Yan Lingji bid farewell to Li Wu, who was playing with Xiao Yan'er, and headed to the palace.

Upon arriving outside Zhangtai Palace, Cao Ze casually asked Zhao Gao, "Lord Zhao, has anything happened in the palace lately?"

Zhao Gao was extremely surprised to see Cao Ze return to Xianyang so early.

He glanced around and lowered his voice, "Sir, have you heard something?"

Cao Ze's expression turned serious. "Brother Zhao, please speak plainly."

He wondered to himself, could something really big have happened in Xianyang that he had never heard of?

That shouldn't be the case. Could it be that Li Wu didn't have access to this information?

Cao Ze felt a pang of regret. If Ying Zheng hadn't had the power to reclaim the intelligence network from Luo Wang, he wouldn't have had to try to build it himself.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. If he could see the most important thing about the Luo Wang, how could Ying Zheng possibly ignore it?

Zhao Gao looked at Cao Ze with a strange expression, "The Empress Dowager has been in a bad mood these days..."

Cao Ze immediately understood. If Zhao Gao hadn't reminded him, he would have almost forgotten about Ying Zheng's mother, Zhao Ji.

Sigh, another tiring task.

"Ahem..." Cao Ze said solemnly, "I'll leave it at that for now, Brother Zhao. I'll go see the King first."

Zhao Gao saw Cao Ze heading to the imperial study and pondered to himself.

I have now established myself firmly in Zhangtai Palace and am highly regarded by the King, so my future looks promising.

Mr. Cao Ze and Empress Dowager Zhao Ji were having an affair every day, and sooner or later their affair would be exposed.

The king may not do anything to Empress Dowager Zhao Ji, but he might not be so lenient with Mr. Cao Ze, especially since he is an insider...

Zhao Gao raised his dark red eyebrows.

I need to start thinking about this soon.

This is really a headache...

Forget it, let's get to the position of Chief of the Imperial Carriage Office first!

……

Chapter 510 Shocking! Empress Dowager Zhao Ji is pregnant!

Zhangtai Palace, Imperial Study.

When Cao Ze followed Zhang Han in, he found that Ying Zheng was not in the room.

"Brother Zhang Han, Your Majesty..."

Zhang Han clasped his hands and said, "Imperial Censor, His Majesty has gone out. Please wait a moment."

Cao Ze nodded, not thinking too much about it.

At this moment, Gai Nie walked in carrying a pile of letters. Cao Ze saw Gai Nie and said with a smile, "Brother Gai Nie, it's been a long time."

Gai Nie forced a smile, clearly not one to smile easily.

"It's only been a few days, Brother Cao, you've already traveled all the way from Wusui back to Xianyang. You must be exhausted from the journey and haven't had a rest yet."

Gai Nie placed the pile of official documents he was carrying on the large golden scale. Seeing the scale sink, he skillfully took more than a dozen documents from the scale and placed them on Ying Zheng's desk.

Cao Ze said, "His Majesty urged me on in a hurry, so I dared not delay on the way and went straight to the palace upon arriving in Xianyang. I still do not know why His Majesty has summoned me back to the palace in such a hurry?"

Gai Nie pondered for a moment and said, "This is the king's private matter, and I am not in a position to say more. The king has just gone to Ganquan Palace, so Brother Cao may wait a moment."

Cao Ze became increasingly suspicious and uncertain.

Private matters? Did you just go to Ganquan Palace?

hiss~

Cao Ze thought to himself, "Could it be that that silly woman Zhao Ji has gotten herself into some trouble?"

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

After all, that damned eunuch Zhao Gao had just said that Zhao Ji had been in a bad mood lately.

Cao Ze couldn't contain himself any longer, so he tentatively asked, "Is it related to the Empress Dowager?"

While tidying up the things that Ying Zheng had messed up, Gai Nie said, "It is indeed related to the Empress Dowager."

Cao Ze took a deep breath.

Good heavens, it really is related to that woman Zhao Ji.

Cao Ze thought carefully about what he had seen and heard after entering the palace, and the atmosphere did not seem like the scene of three hundred axemen lying in ambush.

If Ying Zheng really knew that his mother had slept with him, he shouldn't have been so calm.

We should at least offer a sacrifice to that damned eunuch, Old Zhao, first, right?

Just as Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing were having an affair, Wang Po was definitely the best assistant, which is why Wu Song didn't let her go when he was seeking revenge.

Thinking of this, Cao Ze felt a little relieved.

However, the thought of his future high position and power while Zhao Ji remained unchanged gave him a headache.

Ying Zheng was not like Zhao Wang Yan, that sickly and incompetent ruler who could have affairs with the Queen without much concern.

The only good thing is that Zhao Ji is Ying Zheng's mother.

As long as Zhao Ji remains steadfastly attached to him, even if Ying Zheng eventually finds out, he will most likely pretend not to know, either tacitly approving or concealing it.

But there is no doubt that I will be almost 100% marginalized.

He might have to be buried with Zhao Ji after she dies of old age.

The advantages and disadvantages are quite obvious.

Cao Ze muttered to himself, "If I had known that Lao Ai was Yan Ri, whom I had shattered, I would never have gone to Ganquan Palace to seduce Zhao Ji. This is no joke!"

I need to think of a way to prevent things from getting worse. If Zhao Ji accidentally gets pregnant with my child, that would be a disaster.

Ganquan Palace.

When Ying Zheng arrived, he was stopped by a palace maid who said, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is resting."

Ying Zheng paused, then looked at the beautiful palace maid outside and asked, "Where is the imperial physician?"

The palace maid said nervously, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has sent the imperial physician away."

Ying Zheng frowned slightly. "What did the imperial physician say?"

The palace maid replied, "This servant does not know."

"Enough..." Ying Zheng walked straight into the room and said from behind the screen, "Mother, your son has come to see you."

"...It's Zheng'er." Zhao Ji said gently, "Your Majesty is fine, just had an upset stomach, but I'm all better now. I'm sorry to have worried you."

Ying Zheng breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "It's good that everything is alright. Mother, please rest. I will take my leave now."

Today, the Imperial Physician of the Imperial Household Department reported to him that the Empress Dowager was unwell. This is good; he has taken his private instructions to heart.

It seems that his purge has been very effective, and the Imperial Household Department is now completely under his control.

After Ying Zheng left, Zhao Ji, who was inside the house, clutched her stomach, her beautiful face filled with helplessness and complex emotions.

Just now, the imperial physician named Xia Wuqie asked her about her illness, took her pulse, and diagnosed her with a suspected slippery pulse, which frightened her so much that she almost fainted.

She only just found out that she was pregnant.

Fortunately, I had some medical knowledge and categorically denied it.

He quickly used a combination of threats and intimidation to guide the imperial physician to conclude that his pulse was similar to a slippery pulse due to indigestion caused by excessive drinking and eating. He then prescribed medicine and left a receipt.

Otherwise, if that imperial physician were to spread the word, how could he continue to play around with that boy so freely?

But here's the problem.

Before the thief left Xianyang, she had experienced symptoms of pregnancy, but she didn't take it seriously. After all, that thief was cunning and would never let her succeed.

She had been suffering from stomach pain until today, when she summoned the imperial physician.

To my surprise, I still won.

Based on my own experience of giving birth to a son.