Chapter 14 Ziying's Disappearance
Normally eight people live in this room, but in order to make it easier for them to recuperate, Zhang Han moved the others next door.
Doctor Yu went to prepare medicine for them, and now only two people were left in the room lying on the bed.
Seeing Zhao Yuanxi coming, the two men were about to sit up, but were pushed back by Zhao Yuanxi.
"Take good care of your injuries. No need to be so polite. Seeing that you are recovering well, I am relieved."
Ah Ji hesitated for a moment and asked, "Why did the Queen Mother save me personally?"
He was neither as smart as Brother Zhang nor as brave as the others. He really didn't understand why he was worthy of the Queen Mother's attention.
"It wasn't me who saved you, it was Doctor Yu. I just offered some advice. Besides, do you think your life is unimportant and not worth saving?"
Aji lowered his eyes. Of course his life was important to him, but that was only to him.
"Does the Queen Mother also think that lives like ours are important?" Aji was puzzled.
Aren’t the lives of the common people what those nobles despise the most?
Aji was born in Zhao State and later came to Qin State with his parents. His father was a Zhao soldier who survived the Battle of Changping. He had seen how human lives were treated as worthless. Thousands of lives were treated like this, let alone a small guard like him.
"certainly."
Despite receiving a positive response from the Queen Mother, Ah Ji still felt unsatisfied. "If human life is so important, then why is there so much killing? Why do we still have to fight? Why can't we just live in peace?"
He asked the question that had been lingering in his mind.
He was questioning the Queen Mother, who was once the ruler of the Qin State, why, if she believed that human life was precious, wars among the countries continued.
Du, who was standing by, widened his eyes and quickly stopped him, "Aji, stop talking!"
Zhao Yuanxi was also stunned. She looked directly into the boy's eyes and suddenly smiled. "It's not that I want to shirk responsibility. There are many things that are beyond my control. Even the King of Qin can't stop many things."
The general trend of the world is that after a long period of unity, there will be division, and after a long period of division, there will be unity. This has been the historical law of China for thousands of years. Now that history has reached this point, if Qin had not unified the six kingdoms, other countries would have emerged later.
As the queen mother of Qin, Zhao Yuanxi's emotions naturally tended to Qin unifying the six kingdoms, and history did indeed show that.
"Do you hate war?" Zhao Yuanxi asked.
Ah Ji seemed to remember something, his eyes dimmed, "Yes."
"That's a pity. The war will not be dictated by your will."
"Empress Dowager is not able to do it either?" Ah Ji looked dejected.
"No matter who's will is, there are different countries on this land, and the war will not stop unless—"
"Unless what?"
Zhao Yuanxi was disappointed. "Unless a country emerges to unify this land and allow the people living here to live and work in peace and contentment, there will be no peace in the world."
"Are you talking about the Qin State, Your Majesty?"
Zhao Yuanxi did not answer, and the Qin State in history obviously gave a negative answer.
Although it was the first country in China to achieve great unification, it obviously failed to do the latter point and was overthrown after only fourteen years.
But Zhao Yuanxi's silence seemed to Aji like a tacit agreement. Although he had too many uncertainties in his heart, he wanted to grasp this hope.
"I understand!"
What do you know? Zhao Yuanxi's heart at this moment is like the famous painting "The Scream".
It’s over. I feel like I have led the children astray.
"Empress, Empress, something bad has happened!" You hurried in, looking panicked.
"What happened?"
"Master Ziying is missing!"
You was so anxious that she almost cried, "This morning, the Queen asked about Master Ziying, so I went to the Lan Palace. The Lan Palace servants said that Master Ziying did not return home last night, and his teacher, Mr. Ji, was not in the palace either."
Zhao Yuanxi's face darkened and he asked You to call Zhang Han and the others over.
Ah Ji and the others wanted to help, but were driven back by the returning Doctor Yu. "Don't make things worse. I mean, you'll faint as soon as you get to the door. I won't be bothered to save you then."
Thinking of the child who was not even as old as his younger brother, Aji looked outside with a worried look on his face, praying in his heart that he would be safe.
There were people kneeling on the ground in front of the Lan Palace gate, and the palace maids who served Ziying were all scared and pale.
When Zhao Yuanxi arrived, those people only knew how to beg for mercy and could not tell him any information about Ziying.
"Hasn't any of you seen them?"
"We servants really didn't know. Usually, it was Mr. Ji who took Young Master Ziying with him. Yesterday—yesterday, Young Master Ziying left the palace with you, the Queen Mother. Mr. Ji said he also needed to go home, and he hasn't appeared since."
Zhao Yuanxi frowned, and now everyone was pointing at Mr. Ji.
But as Ziying's teacher, what did he want to do by taking Ziying away?
Wang Ben, who had never left, answered Zhao Yuanxi's confusion.
She gritted her teeth and said, "Ji Sheng is Cheng Jiao's man, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"I just learned of this matter. I have already ordered a city-wide search for their whereabouts. Other entrances to Yongcheng have also been blocked. If there is any news about Master Ziying, report it to the Queen Mother immediately."
Zhao Yuanxi took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She asked the palace maid who was on duty at her door last night, "What time did Ji Sheng take Ziying away last night?"
The maidservant was so frightened that her hands and feet went limp. She fell to the ground and kept saying, "It was around midnight, about half an hour earlier than when the queen came back."
This time is neither too early nor too late. Ji Sheng has the opportunity to take Ziying away when the city gate is open, and there is also enough time for him to hide in the city.
There was no news of Ziying for the entire day.
No one in the city saw Ji Sheng's whereabouts, and those who went out of the city to look for him found no trace of him.
"Can he really go up to the sky and into the earth?" Wang Ben was so angry that he swung the long spear in his hand so hard that it made a whistling sound.
He originally came here to investigate a case, but now not only has the case not been investigated thoroughly, but the criminals have also taken Qin Wangsun away!
It is truly a great shame and humiliation.
"What did you just say?" Zhao Yuanxi had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and he felt like he was going to heaven and earth!
Ji Sheng couldn't go up to the sky, but it was very easy for him to go into the ground.
This is Yongcheng! The place where thirteen kings of the Qin Dynasty were buried. A shovelful of dirt would give you a cemetery.
Zhao Yuanxi's words made Wang Ben stunned. He murmured, "Could it be that I said he could go to heaven and earth..."
"Empress Dowager, you mean!" Wang Ben's eyes lit up and he immediately understood what she meant.
He began to analyze, "Although there are many tombs in Yongcheng, there are only a few suitable for hiding people. The tombs are all covered with thick mounds, and the only places that can hide people are the nearby halls of worship."
"Most of the tombs of the previous kings are located in Yongcheng, where the flow of people is complicated. Ji Sheng would never choose that place. There are only some tombs of princes, which are unguarded and located in remote areas."
Wang Ben clenched his fists, "There's a place Ji Sheng will definitely want to go!"
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