Chapter 77 Bonus Chapter with 8000 Nutrient Solution "Return..."

The King of Qin's coming of age and assuming personal rule was a good thing for the people and the country. However, Lü Buwei never imagined that Lao Ai would be used as a tool by the King of Qin to suppress him, and he never expected that... Lao Ai would be so foolish!

Lao Ai's ambition was truly nurtured, and he became the most convenient tool in the hands of the King of Qin. He knew that his path as a Qin minister had come to an end, and the prime minister of three dynasties had vanished into thin air.

When Ying Zheng returned to Xianyang, the first thing he did was to dismiss Lao Ai on the grounds of the Lao Ai affair. Lao Ai was the one who pushed him to the Empress Dowager's side, and the root of the matter lay with him.

With such a heavy responsibility looming, even if most of the court officials were his people, it wouldn't change the fact that he would be dismissed.

It's infuriating that he thought before today that Ying Zheng wasn't dealing with Lao Ai because he was considering the Empress Dowager's feelings... but he never imagined the root of the problem lay with him.

He gazed at the sunset on the horizon and let out a long sigh.

After the Lao Kingdom of Taiyuan Commandery was wiped out, a sword as large as the Qin King's sword was found, with the words "Rui'er" engraved inside. Meng Tian sneered, "Could it be that Lao Ai wants his bastard child to also bear the surname Ying?"

"These two bastards carry sin in their blood; keeping them alive will only bring more trouble. I just don't know where Lao Ai has hidden them?"

Meng Tian discarded the counterfeit Qin King's sword and said coldly, "Examine them carefully. If you find the child, put him in a sack and kill him immediately!"

"My lord?" The servant was taken aback, then hesitated for a moment. "After all, it's an innocent child."

“Innocent?” Meng Tian frowned. “His purpose in being born was to overthrow the king, and you actually think he’s innocent? If he lives, the king’s bloodline will be questioned. How will the king face his clan? At that time, those restless members of the royal family will definitely cause turmoil! Then Qin will be in great chaos! The other states are all vicious people who take advantage of others’ weaknesses. There’s no doubt that they might launch an attack on Qin. Keeping that child around will only bring more trouble!”

"Blame Lao Ai for being so despicable, for forcibly bringing him into the world and possessing unparalleled abilities that allowed him to ascend the throne."

Upon realizing this possibility, the servant felt as if he had swallowed a fly and immediately replied, "Yes, it was my mistake."

After the King of Qin was crowned and officially assumed power, neither of them immediately returned to Xianyang.

Lao Ai was captured alive and imprisoned, but the Qin Palace was already a bloodbath, and all those who had followed him in the rebellion were executed on the spot.

When the King of Qin went to Yong to be crowned, he could not take all the palace slaves with him. Many of them went into hiding, while some were killed before they could escape.

Those innocent eunuchs became the tools for Lao Ai to vent his anger before his death; wherever he went, not a single one survived.

When Wang Jian breached the Qin palace and raised the Qin flag, the maids and palace servants who had been hiding and had not been found rushed out in surprise, kneeling down one by one to thank Wang Jian and the King of Qin.

Meng Wu held a dead eunuch in his hands and gasped, "What a vicious person."

"Fortunately, he was kept under control in Xianyang. Otherwise, given his treacherous nature, he might have slaughtered the entire Xianyang and even the royal family."

Arriving before the bound Lao Ai, Wang Jian stroked his white beard and said, "You wicked man, your heart is so ruthless. If His Majesty had not seen through your schemes early on, wouldn't you have plunged our Great Qin into chaos?"

Lao Ai was heartbroken. He had been hanging his head and not moving, but when he heard this, he slowly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot. "I am ruthless? Ying Zheng is no less ruthless than me. I was just one step behind. If you hadn't come back, I would not only have slaughtered the Qin Palace, but also killed all the people of Xianyang City to keep the secret!"

He laughed maniacally, lost in his own beautiful fantasy, "And that beautiful queen, hahaha, I'll make her know whether I'm a man or a eunuch! I'll kill the bastard child of Ying Zheng in her womb! I'll imprison her in the harem so she can please me every day!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than he was punched hard in the face, immediately spitting out two bloody teeth and being forced to stop his twisted laughter.

"How dare you insult the Queen!" The young general's face turned red with anger, his fists clenched so tightly he wanted nothing more than to kill him in revenge.

"Pah!" Lao Ai spat out the blood in his mouth, his expression defiant and fearless.

"It seems you're about to die and all you want to do is spout nonsense." Although Wang Jian was enraged, he was able to control himself well and even smiled. "It's a pity that your words won't reach the ears of the King or the Queen."

Wang Jian knew how to attack someone's heart.

The smile on Lao Ai's face gradually faded, and he stared intently at Wang Jian.

"And you're no longer able to have sex, are you?" Wang Jian said, glancing at Lao Ai's lower body. "Those two children you killed were your own, your only bloodline. How does that feel?"

"Aaaaaah! I'll kill you!" Lao Ai's face was swollen as he struggled to kill, his bulging eyes particularly frightening.

Wang Jian revealed a condescending smile, "Let me tell you, if you are willing to serve the Empress Dowager wholeheartedly, even if you have two children, it will not be a problem. It is not that you cannot keep them. There are empress dowagers in history who have children with men outside the palace. It is not difficult to send them out of the palace and change their names. In order to consider the Empress Dowager's feelings, the king will turn a blind eye. After all, it will not endanger the royal bloodline."

“You should never have thought of letting your bastard child overthrow the Ying family’s throne. I heard that when you were in Yong, you called your child ‘King’ every day and even forged the Qin King’s sword for him.”

"So what!" Lao Ai roared, blood continuously flowing from the corners of his mouth and between his teeth. "The Ying surname is not of Zhou royal blood! Didn't they become kings and have fiefdoms? If the Ying people can do it, why can't I, Lao Ai, do the same?!"

"I am a dignified seven-foot-tall man, why should I be the Empress Dowager's male favorite! If I cannot be the King of Qin, then I will make my child the King of Qin! I have done nothing wrong!"

"They are all children born to the Empress Dowager. What is Ying Zheng? How is he any more noble than my child!"

"That promiscuous woman Ji Changyue, who knows, Ying Zheng might be Lü Buwei's son. Your Ying family's throne was stolen by Lü Zheng long ago, hahahahahahaha!"

"Incurable." Wang Jian shook his head. "My king did not order me to execute you on the spot. Someone else is here to kill you." As he spoke, he ordered his men to check again and confirm that Lao Ai was tightly bound to the ground and had no possibility of moving.

The group then left the prison.

"Who is it?!" Lao Ai shouted towards the outside of the cell, unwilling to give up, but unfortunately Wang Jian did not turn around. "Who is it! Don't go! Is it Ying Zheng coming back to kill me personally?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a magnificent dress peeking out from outside the prison door.

That was Ji Changyue. She stood quietly, her gaze looking down at his disheveled state.

Lao Ai's shout froze as his gaze met hers in mid-air.

"I am naturally dissolute." Ji Changyue repeated his earlier insults in a calm tone, "I never knew that in Marquis Changxin's heart, I was such a person."

Lao Ai's throat seemed to be violently choked, unable to utter a sound. He panicked terribly, managing only a weak, ugly smile with all his might. "Empress Dowager... Empress Dowager, I misspoke just now. It was all that old scoundrel Wang Jian who forced me to do it. Yue Ji... I beg you, save me, save me..."

"Shut up! How dare you call me by my name!" Ji Changyue shouted, unable to hold back any longer, and slapped him across the face.

"I--"

"I am the Queen Mother of the Great Qin Dynasty, and my every word and action can determine life and death!"

"Lao Ai," Ji Changyue stared down at the man kneeling at her feet, "you dare to lie to me, and no one who lies to me will have a good end."

"I didn't lie to you, Empress Dowager! I really didn't lie to you! I love you! Our child was killed by Ying Zheng, it's all his fault, it's all his fault!"

"They were killed by you yourself." Ji Changyue felt like laughing as she said this, and she did laugh out loud with sarcasm. "I, Zheng'er, gave you a chance. If you hadn't stabbed Ming'er and Rui'er to death as if they were Zheng'er's children, how could they have died?"

"You're about to die and you don't want him to have an easy time, so you want to kill his child to vent your anger and take revenge on him, isn't that right?!"

Lao Ai's face twisted suddenly, realizing that there was no use in pretending anymore. "You bastard—" Before he could finish speaking, a golden hairpin suddenly pierced his side of the neck.

"Would I still allow you to insult me ​​now?" Ji Changyue's gaze was icy as she twisted the golden hairpin in his flesh. Seeing him writhe in pain, unable to utter a sound, she felt a surge of pleasure. "I've told you before, no one who lies to me ends well. You don't have to love me, but you can never lie to me!"

"Those two children were kept by you after you bribed the physician to trick me into letting them live. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had a chance to survive in the first place. You don't love them at all, so what are you pretending to be a loving father to them for?" She twisted the gold hairpin again, admiring Lao Ai's panting breath as he was about to die. "Qingzhuo stole them away for three or four days before you realized they were missing. Do you love them? Hmm?"

She deftly pulled out the gold hairpin, and blood gushed out immediately.

Just as Lao Ai was about to speak, the golden hairpin pierced his neck again, this time on the other side. He completely lost the ability to speak, and the frequency of his body's twisting movements gradually weakened until he could no longer struggle.

“This is your despicable true face. All the kindness you showed me was staged, and the sweet words you said to me were carefully thought out to bewitch me... It was all a lie, not a single word counts.” Ji Changyue chuckled. “I hate you so much, I hate you so much.”

"I was foolish, I was naive. As long as someone was kind to me, I would eagerly offer my heart, afraid that if I didn't give enough, you would be disappointed and leave."

Lao Ai stared intently at Ji Changyue, speechless, yet wanting to bite her hand.

Ji Changyue leaned down and stared at him, saying each word slowly and deliberately, "Before I knew you were lying to me, I never thought of killing Ming'er and Rui'er. I let Qingzhuo take them away so that they could live. I even gave them all my life's wealth, enough for them to squander for the rest of their lives."

"It was you who killed them with your own hands; you have no one to blame but yourself." She stood up and, under Lao Ai's dazed and hateful gaze, threw down the golden hairpin. "Guards! Lao Ai has acted arrogantly and plotted rebellion. Strip him of his title and have him torn apart by chariots!"

It's unclear whether he bled to death first or managed to survive until he was torn apart by chariots.

Ji Changyue no longer cared.

He turned and left, leaving his unbearable past behind in this cage.

Xianyang was cleaned up, and the Qin Palace was restored to its former cleanliness. This was the price King Cheng paid. When Mi Chen launched the Huayang Coup, the Qin Palace was also massacred, and countless eunuchs and palace slaves died. Although King Cheng was only thirteen years old at the time, he knew how to protect himself and won over Wang Jian and Meng Ao, which is how he survived.

Political struggles have always been like this: it's either you die or I live.

Back in Xianyang by carriage, Banban lifted the curtain and looked outside, thinking that many similar things would happen in the decades to come.

This is the price of unification.

She was indeed fortunate to be born into the Ji family, she truly believed.