Bonus chapter for 15,000 nutrient solutions: "Who dares to eat this?..."
Ying Zheng: "Why do you remember so many things about me?"
She would ask questions she already knew the answer to.
"No, I want to hear it from my cousin himself."
His wife started acting unreasonably, like a fussy child, so Ying Zheng had no choice but to hold her close and lower his voice helplessly, "It's because I love you."
She chuckled with satisfaction after hearing this, and stopped making a fuss, obediently closing her eyes to rest for lunch.
After the New Year, the heavy snow gradually subsided, and Ying Zheng's twenty-fourth birthday arrived as scheduled. After the banquet, the two stood together on the Muwang Terrace to look out over the entire Qin Palace. The Qin Palace was situated on high ground, and from there, one could see the buildings of Xianyang City.
All was silent, the spring chill was biting, and everything was a hazy, grayish white.
The ruler of this country is only twenty-four years old. He has been king for eleven years and has been ruling in his own right for two years. His crown prince will be two years old in four months.
With absolute power in hand, a wife and children all around, and an invincible nation.
He was incredibly successful, and he deserved to be incredibly successful.
Ambitious ambitions filled the sky, shrouding the entire city of Xianyang in a hazy mist.
Banban leaned against her cousin's chest, reaching out to point at the low, tiny houses in the distance. She felt the cold, hard edges of her cousin's robes against her ears and glanced back at him.
At this time, without cotton, the robes were only able to keep warm to the limit, and the luxurious clothes did not feel so comfortable to the touch. She never thought so much when the weather was not cold, and she had never experienced what it meant to be cold when she was in the warm underfloor heating.
"Cousin, are you cold?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Are you cold? Then let's go back inside." Ying Zheng said, and then led her back to the house.
The seeds brought back by the team that went out to sea didn't include cotton. Where does cotton grow? After thinking about it carefully, Banban thought of Xinjiang, but then dismissed it, since cotton in Xinjiang seems to have been introduced from abroad.
However, nomadic peoples, who herd livestock, can weave wool into warm clothing.
If we can manufacture guns, we won't have to worry about the difficulty of fighting nomads. Then we can have as much wool as we want. Yay!
"What are you thinking about, looking so happy?" Ying Zheng noticed that the corners of her mouth were so upturned that you could hang an oil lamp on them.
"I need to pick up weaving again. I want to weave cloth myself to make clothes for my cousin and Zhao'er." Banban smiled and took his arm. "So that you and all the people of the world won't be cold!"
“My cousin has already worked hard enough. She handles palace affairs, manages the Six Diseases Hall, and takes care of Zhao’er every day. Even so, she has never neglected singing and dancing. In her spare time, she even grows flowers, plants, and crops.” Of course, he wanted to persuade his cousin to rest, as he felt she was very tired.
“I have others to help me too. Palace affairs are not important. There are only me, my aunt, and Yang Jiang in the palace. My aunt doesn’t come back to stay often now, and Yang Jiang is getting married soon,” Banban counted on her fingers. “I just listen to the reports from the ladies-in-waiting at the Six Diseases Hall every month. When problems arise, I try to find solutions. I sing and dance occasionally to keep my body healthy! The palace servants help me with the flowers, plants, and crops. I just go to check on them every day.”
“Even Zhao’er, my cousin takes care of him every day, not to mention the wet nurse and eunuchs who serve him closely. I haven’t had to worry about anything.” She shook Ying Zheng’s arm. “My cousin is the one who has worked hard. He is often troubled by the affairs of the court and his brows are furrowed. Look, you have wrinkles between your brows.”
As soon as her fingertips touched him, his furrowed brows relaxed unconsciously.
Ying Zheng took her hand, kissed it, and said, "Alright, as long as you're happy, anything is fine."
The two held hands, just like they had done years ago, and returned to Zhaoyang Palace together.
In early spring, the Zheng Guo Canal was fully completed. On the day the water was released, people all over the country stood on both sides of the canal, holding their breath. Under everyone's watchful eyes, layers of water rolled down the canal and spread out.
"The water's back! The water's back!"
"Thank God! We did it!"
Everywhere there were inspiring shouts and cries.
The Zheng Guo Canal took a full ten years to build!
Ying Zheng excitedly jumped into the canal and followed the rushing water, frightening the Qin soldiers on both sides of the bank who chased after him, jumping down like dumplings being dropped into a pot, shouting, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, you mustn't!"
Banban stood on the wall and looked down. When she saw her cousin jump, her heart stopped. She ran downstairs frantically, calling out, "Cousin!"
Why are you, a non-swimmer, getting involved? Are you out of your mind?!
When Ying Zheng was pulled out of the water, he was soaking wet and still shaken. Before he could even recover, the Queen berated him mercilessly: "Are you crazy?! Don't you know whether you can float or not?! Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd dropped your tiger tally into the water!"
Ying Zheng admitted his mistake, saying, "I won't do it again next time. I was just happy for a moment."
The moment he admitted his mistake, her tense emotions immediately collapsed.
"...You scared me to death!" She started cursing and then suddenly lunged at him, wailing, "You scared me to death!"
He hurriedly hugged her, frantically trying to soothe her. Back in the carriage, he repeatedly humbled himself, saying "It was my fault, cousin" countless times, before finally calming her down. She sobbed and clung to his waist, refusing to let go, her complaints incessant.
Ying Zheng apologized again and again, feeling both amused and exasperated, but his heart sank a little. "I'm fine, aren't I? Besides, there are so many soldiers stationed around, the water only reaches my waist."
"You still dare to say that." She was about to cry again.
"Okay, okay, I won't say anything more." He rubbed her head and put his arm around her shoulder, just like he would coax Zhao'er. "This is it."
"What's over?" Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sobbed uncontrollably, tears still clinging to her eyelashes, giving her a delicate, tearful appearance.
"They all saw the Queen lose her composure in court, throwing herself into the arms of the King of Qin and wailing, completely losing her dignity."
Banban angrily clenched her fist and punched his chest hard. "They even saw the majestic King of Qin being scolded by the Queen and having to apologize repeatedly."
They're evenly matched, so neither of them should criticize the other.
There was a lot of noise and cursing, but fortunately, Banban remembered that her cousin's clothes were soaked. She lifted the curtain and found Qin Ju waiting with brand-new, comfortable clothes, shoes, and socks. She brought them in for him to change into.
She then noticed some women kneeling by the canal, weeping bitterly, and burning paper money.
After Ying Zheng finished changing his clothes, she suggested, "In recent years, some people have died from exhaustion in building canals. Why don't we build them proper tombstones to comfort their widows?"
Ying Zheng nodded casually, "I'll do whatever you say."
After careful statistics, Banban compiled a list of 26 young warriors from 13 counties who had died. She chose a pine forest to erect a forest of tombstones for them, with each tombstone inscribed with their names.
A few days later, she took Zhao'er to visit these tombstones so that he would know that these were the brave warriors who had been kind to the Great Qin.
Unexpectedly, they later discovered that these tombstones were covered with red, bloody handprints.
The scene was so horrifying that she instinctively covered Zhao'er's eyes.
"Mother?" Zhao'er clung to his mother's hand, a hint of doubt in his eyes.
Qin Ju explained in a low voice to everyone present: "Your Majesty, Your Highness, these bloody handprints are used for summoning souls. They were made by the grateful people of Qin who pierced their own palms and personally imprinted them one by one."
Upon hearing this, Banban quickly developed goosebumps, not out of fear, but out of an indescribable tremor, as if at that moment, his blood and bones were boiling inside him.
She removed her hand from Zhao'er's eyes and gently urged him, "You should go and offer your prayers."
Zhao'er nodded, took small steps to stand in front of the stele forest, raised her little hands and bowed three times earnestly, "Thank you, brothers."
He had no concept of fear of bloody handprints. After bowing, he reached out and touched the bloody handprints.
The branches in the forest swayed in the wind, making a soft rustling sound.
Qin Ju raised his head and looked at the pine forest and the sky, a satisfied smile appearing on his lips.
When the women who came to burn paper money for their deceased husbands happened to come by, they recognized the Queen and the Crown Prince. Upon seeing them, their eyes reddened, and their sorrow dissipated. They began to sob softly.
"As the saying goes, 'When you drink water, don't forget the well-digger.' From now on, when the crops of Great Qin are bountiful, Zhao'er, don't forget who deserves the credit. This canal was built by millions of Qin people working day and night in shifts, do you understand?"
"Zhao'er understands."
On the way back, Zhao'er asked, "Father, he didn't come."
Banban seemed to be deep in thought, and patted her son's head. "Your father is not coming. Your mother called him, but he refused to come, always saying he was too busy."
Every few years, the Qin state suffered from famine, and the common people rarely had enough to eat every year, leading to widespread suffering.
The Zheng Guo Canal had to be completed as soon as possible. Despite being forced to work day and night, it took nearly ten years to finish. Once the canal was fully operational, the country's farmland could be irrigated, and there would likely be no more famines. The reserve granaries for military campaigns were also plentiful, eliminating the need to exploit the common people for food.
This was a great thing for the country and its people, but the tight schedule and ruthless labor made him increasingly 'tyrannical'.
Some people will resent him, and his appearance will only be seen as hypocritical. It would be better to let his wife and children pay their respects, since his wife has always had a good reputation in Qin and even among the other states.
After paying their respects at the pine forest tomb, the mother and son returned to the Qin Palace.
Qin Ju returned to the council hall to report, and heard him ask, "Have the Queen and the Crown Prince returned?"
“Exactly.” Qin Ju bowed.
What was the Crown Prince's reaction?
"The Queen ordered His Highness the Crown Prince to bow to those steles. His Highness bowed three times to the stele forest, expressed his gratitude in person, and even gently touched the Soul-Summoning Seal." To be honest, the Crown Prince was only two years old, still very young.
Ying Zheng knew what the Soul-Summoning Seal was. He put down his brush, examined the memorial in his hand, and looked up. Qin Ju's replies were now devoid of any emotional coloring. He would state what he saw in the most straightforward way, which pleased him greatly.
He didn't think Qin Ju would cause any harm by speaking on behalf of the Queen and the Crown Prince.
As they were talking, Banban and Zhao'er came in.
"Father~"
Zhao'er ran inside, "Father, thank you for your hard work." He looked up, tugged at his wide sleeve, took out several slices of peach flesh, and held them up for him to eat.
"Zhao'er, eat by yourself." Ying Zheng patted his head.
I don't know how long he held that peach in his hand. Children have high body temperature and sweat easily.
Who would dare to eat it?
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Author's note: It's late! Here's a red envelope for everyone!
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