Chapter 71 Bonus Chapter for 5000 Nutrient Solution: "Then he must love it too much..."
The Qin Palace was calm and peaceful.
Taiyuan Commandery, Lao State.
A servant reported: "Just as you predicted, Marquis Changxin, the rumors have reached the ears of the King of Qin. I heard he is furious and has sent his chief clerk to investigate carefully."
"Chief Secretary?" Lao Ai sneered. Now that things had come to this, he had no choice but to make plans. His eyes turned fierce and sinister. "Li Si is just a petty man who only wants to climb the ranks. He is nothing to fear. If I succeed, he will only kneel down at my feet and kowtow. He might even cooperate with me from the inside and beg me to let him continue to be the Chief Secretary. Heh."
"What Marquis Changxin said is correct," said the attendant. "The King of Qin has admired Han Fei for a long time, and this one incident alone has made Li Si wary. It's a pity that Prince Fei is unwilling to come to Qin, otherwise we could have enjoyed watching the dogs fight each other."
"That's absolutely right," Lao Ai laughed heartily.
"So what should we do next?" the servant asked.
"No rush." Lao Ai looked towards the door. "I'm waiting for someone."
The people in the room sat there in silence until the wee hours of the morning. Then, the servant returned on horseback in the dead of night, bringing with him three different letters.
Lao Ai, his heart pounding, hurriedly took and opened the three letters. The characters in the letters were not Qin script. He had previously served the military and state and had specifically studied the differences between the scripts of various states, so he could read them without difficulty and easily recognize them.
"This is not the script of my Qin state?" The county clerk couldn't understand what was written on the letter.
"You can't understand it, can you?" A hint of disdain and contempt flashed across Lao Ai's eyes, but he controlled it well and quickly concealed it, his tone light. "It's normal that you can't understand it. You don't need to learn this. This is the script of Shanxi."
The states of Han, Zhao, and Wei were originally separated from the state of Jin, hence the general term "Three Jin" used by people to refer to these three states.
"The Three Jin?" The attendant's expression froze slightly as he leaned closer to read the letter. "Could it be that Marquis Changxin intends to collude with them from within? But they are, after all, people from another country. I'm afraid it will be easy to invite them in but difficult to send them away."
The Qin state is on the verge of internal strife. Don't the three Jin states want to destroy Qin in one fell swoop?
"What's there to be afraid of?" Lao Ai glanced at him, quite smug. "Ying Zheng will send Wang Jian and others to lead troops to resist. Putting aside everything else, that old man Wang Jian is very good at leading troops. Even if the three kingdoms gather their troops, or even if five kingdoms invade, he won't be defeated! Qin has a million strong army, are you saying we're afraid of just the three Jin states?"
"I pretended to promise them that I would cede land after the deed was done, but it was all a lie. I would never cede any land; they were dreaming!"
"As long as the three Jin states attack Qin, Qin's troops will definitely be transferred away from Xianyang. At that time, wouldn't Xianyang be at our disposal?"
"I," Lao Ai said, bracing himself on the table with a sinister smile, "will definitely give Ying Zheng an unforgettable coming-of-age ceremony!"
The attendant grumbled, "If Marquis Changxin tricked the Queen Dowager into having a child or two, what's there to worry about in having a legitimate reason to seize power? We could overthrow Ying Zheng on the grounds of upholding the bloodline of Qin. The Queen Dowager doesn't seem to be very smart. Could it be that she's too old to have children?"
Upon hearing this, Lao Ai's face suddenly darkened.
Yes, child, he used to have children.
He wasn't wearing makeup at the moment, and the scar on his face, running from the corner of his eye to his jaw, made him look like a sinister demon.
"Marquis Changxin has only been close to women for a few years. How could he understand women's intricacies? The Queen Dowager served the Prime Minister and married the late King. I heard that in Zhao, she even gave herself to Zhao soldiers to protect Ying Zheng. Her lack of intelligence is just a facade to deceive men. What do you know? Marquis Changxin is no match for that kind of licentious woman."
Upon hearing this, the room erupted in laughter.
"Stop talking!" Lao Ai slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.
The surroundings fell silent.
"Disperse, everyone. I will be going to the palace tomorrow."
When everyone realized that Marquis Changxin was not interested in listening to such gossip, they all left dejectedly.
Lao Ai was pondering. He didn't yet understand why Ji Changyue was unwilling to see him, or whether he would even be able to see her tomorrow...
Ying Zheng only launches an attack after making thorough preparations; just look at how he has tolerated Lü Buwei all these years.
The next morning, Lao Ai dressed up specially, redid his makeup, put on an outfit that Ji Changyue liked, and got ready to take a carriage to the Qin Palace.
When he arrived at the palace gate, his calves belatedly felt a little weak.
The soldier's innate fear of the king remained in his body and bones. From the first time he saw him, he was afraid of Ying Zheng. It was a twisted mentality of fear and jealousy.
He couldn't fathom what Ying Zheng was thinking at that moment, or rather, his current fear stemmed from the unknown.
After calmly composing himself, he got off the carriage after a while.
As Zhou entered the Qin palace, he encountered palace slaves, eunuchs, and so on, all as usual. This put Lao Ai at ease, as Ying Zheng would not reveal anything before investigating the matter thoroughly.
Entering from the west gate of Xianyang Palace, you arrive at the main road of Zhaoxin Palace. This was the Qin Palace of successive Qin kings, but it is now abandoned and has been turned into a place for entertaining guests. To the left is Zhaoyang Palace, the Qin Palace of the Queen.
Lao Ai had not seen the Queen for a long time; she had been pregnant for five months.
He glanced again in the direction of Zhaoyang Palace, and thinking of the Queen's sweet little face, he felt a surge of desire.
He kept looking inside, and this time Jiang, the eunuch, didn't stop him, but just glared at him with a resentful look.
Oh? He knows who killed his apprentice?
Not too stupid.
Lao Ai chuckled in response, his eyes flashing back at him as if to say, "This is what happens when you disrespect me."
He arrived at Ganquan Palace without any trouble. Before even entering, he called out loudly to the Empress Dowager. Upon entering, he saw Ji Changyue having breakfast. She was slightly taken aback when she saw him. "...Why are you here?"
"I naturally have important matters to report." Lao Ai glanced around and gestured.
Ji Changyue was silent for two seconds, then said, "Jingxin, you may all leave now."
On the other side, Banban heard that Lao Ai had entered the palace and couldn't sleep. She got up early to eat. The court meeting had already ended, and Ying Zheng was reading in Zhaoyang Palace, writing something as he read.
Upon closer inspection, Banban found no connection between the words.
What are you doing?
Ying Zheng curled his fingers and gently scraped her belly with the back of his fingers. "Naturally, it's to name our child."
With a sense of wonder, she nestled close to him, asking, "These are all boys' names, aren't there any girls' names?"
“You forgot? A few days ago, we had the imperial physician come to examine his pulse and said he was a boy.”
"That could also be a misdiagnosis," Banban muttered. She didn't know what she was upset about. She touched her stomach and carefully read the words. "Ziyu, Huaijin, Nanzhong, Jizhao... why do they all sound like Fusu!"
She immediately became unhappy, "I don't want to! I don't want to!"
The name you gave your son also has a very artistic feel to it, right?
"..." Since his cousin didn't say anything, Ying Zheng didn't even think about it that way.
"I took the wrong one, I took the wrong one, don't cry." Seeing his cousin's eyes filled with tears, he felt both annoyed and regretful, so he simply crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it away, "I don't want these."
A person who has been wronged cannot hold back their tears. She pushed him away and said hurtful things, such as how she hated him and didn't want him to touch her.
This sudden surge of jealousy nearly overwhelmed the entire Zhaoyang Palace.
Ying Zheng spent half an hour coaxing his wife before finally calming her down, and then said he would go with her to retrieve it.
Banban glared at him, then opened the Qin bamboo slip and began to read.
Ying Zheng read a few words: "There is a line in the poem 'Bo Xi' from the Book of Songs of Wei: 'The valiant one of the state.' It is very good. A tall tree is called 'jie' (桀), like a pine tree standing on a precipice. It is heroic and outstanding, which perfectly matches the awe-inspiring spirit of the Qin warriors."
Banban rested her chin on her hand, thinking: "Hmm... let's leave it at that."
Ying Zheng quickly wrote it down and memorized it. She craned her neck to look, and there it was—the character "桀" (jie). Immediately, the arrogant laughter of a villain popped into her mind: "Hehehehe~"
"..." It's a bit hard to break down.
"The character '倬' is also good. It comes from the 'Greater Odes' and implies a broad mind and the grandeur of royalty."
This time, Banban simply said, "It doesn't sound good."
Then Ying Zheng proposed one idea, and rejected another, and the two argued for a whole morning.
In the end, she circled the character '肇' among the hundreds of characters written by Ying Zheng.
She silently recited the meaning her cousin had given her when he said the word: to establish a state, to worship Heaven and receive the mandate, to harbor the ambition to reform and innovate, to fully exert the power and influence of Heaven's mandate, and to have a sharp and incisive demeanor.
It was as if a military order had been personally broken through by a battle axe, and reciting it was like hearing a battle command.
“Ying Zhao, it sounds like an eagle's claw.” Banban was delighted and rubbed Ying Zheng’s hand against it. “Cousin really knows how to choose a name. This name sounds just as good as Ying Zheng’s.”
Ying Zheng was tired of choosing a name, but unexpectedly, all the names he had collected over three months were rejected in just one morning!
However, the moment he was chosen, the gloom vanished, replaced by overflowing anticipation. He joked, "How can the Crown Prince's name be decided without the Queen's approval?"
"Was our Zhao'er born the Crown Prince?" Banban feigned ignorance, her pride evident in her smug expression.
Ying Zheng, ever oblivious to his wife's subtle expression, deliberately said, "If the Queen wishes to wait two years, that is also acceptable."
She stopped abruptly, her lips pouting so high they could hang an oil bottle, and pinched his waist hard.
The baby in her belly has a name. Banban keeps saying "Zhao'er," and then it becomes "Eagle Claw, Eagle Claw." After saying it so many times, she spaced out for a while.
Suddenly, she exclaimed, "Ah!"
Ying Zheng was tidying up his calligraphy brushes when he heard the noise and rushed over. "What's wrong?"
Banban was bewildered for a while, then touched her stomach and said uncertainly, "Just now, I think he moved."
"Now?" It will move now?
Ying Zheng was slightly taken aback, and his whole body tensed up. "Is there any further movement?"
"Touch it, touch it!" Banban took his hand and placed it on his stomach.
The two held their breath, afraid of disturbing the unborn little life, and remained motionless as if in deep meditation.
Qin Ju almost fell asleep leaning against the pillar, afraid that his master would see him slacking off. He straightened up, blinked hard to regain his senses, and glanced inside.
The King of Qin was kneeling on one knee, touching the Queen's belly.
After yawning, Qin Ju relaxed and continued to doze off. But then he jolted awake and looked again. Good heavens, the King of Qin was still in the same position, and even the Queen was sitting motionless.
He was puzzled. What was going on?
The next second.
Two voices exclaimed in unison: "It moved! It moved! It moved!!!"
Excited and thrilled, the couple held their hands together, their faces flushed and necks red.
Qin Ju's shoulder slipped, and he was so startled that he almost fell over.
What does it feel like?
"It's like a little fish blowing bubbles, it's blowing bubbles in my belly." Banban awkwardly gestured with her hands to describe it, recalling a similar feeling she had experienced when she went into the water to catch fish years ago.
Ying Zheng smiled and said, "The physician said that the child lives in the amniotic fluid. If you move it slightly, the amniotic fluid will move along with it. That's why you said the little fish blows bubbles, and it also looks like a butterfly flapping its wings."
Tiny and floating, yet it steadily pierced through the fingertips of both of them, reaching their palms.
It's hard to describe how I feel right now; all other unpleasant feelings have been overshadowed.
Ying Zheng looked up, the morning light streaming in through the window, illuminating her round, fair face. Her eyebrows and eyes were curved, her eyes and lips brimming with joy and happiness.
He could hear the ripples in his heart being stirred, and he seemed to resonate with everything she loved and cherished in this world.
She made him feel beauty and hope.
This is a satisfaction completely different from the ambition he harbored to stand at the pinnacle of power.
Her shadow is present in countless moments of his life, and these important moments were also created by her.
She felt happy and joyful, and for a moment he was dazed, his heart trembling.
"I'm so lucky to have met my cousin," he said with a frank smile. "And you too." He lightly flicked her belly.
“I know.” Banban’s eyes lit up. “I’m lucky too.”
The words she had spoken to Ying Yue were now coming true. What could be more convincing than Ying Zheng saying those words himself? She wasn't thinking about anything else, but rather that people who truly love each other see each other as their lucky stars, loving him and feeling sorry for him.
Just as he felt sorry for her, even though she had never suffered any hardship or pain in her life, her cousin always felt indebted to her.
He must love her too much.
Thinking this, she leaned down sweetly and placed a kiss on his forehead.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
