The journey to Chu was "to collect the treasures of love for her."...
Ying Zheng was busy with the affairs of Chu. He sent Qin troops to garrison Chu, moved the Chu royal family to Xianyang, imprisoned and controlled the three noble families who controlled the state, confiscated their weapons, and took over the local bureaucratic system.
Banban then prepared what to do in Chu. She did a lot of research and read through books and scrolls about Chu one by one.
Ying Zhao lay on her lap, his eyes pleading, "Mother, can I go?"
Banban thought for a moment and said, "My sister is too young to go. Your father and I are going to Chu for important business." How could playing around not be important business? She lied without batting an eye and her expression didn't change at all. "You go too. My sister will be alone in the palace."
Ying Zhao sighed, then, feeling sensible, said, "Never mind, I'll take care of my sister."
If you want to take your child on a trip, you should raise them to at least six or seven years old. Otherwise, the journey is long and bumpy, and they won't be able to handle the horse-drawn carriage ride alone.
Speaking of chariots, Ying Zheng complained to her a few days ago that he wanted to reform the chariot tracks. The most direct reason was that the standards for manufacturing chariots in different countries were different, especially the width of the chariot tracks. This led to a very troublesome problem: chariots from his own country had difficulty traveling on roads in other countries.
At this time, the roads were all dirt roads. Since they were dirt roads, the soil would be crushed and leave mud pits, which are ruts.
When a wheel rolls over a fixed road surface for a long time, it easily creates fixed ruts. If a carriage from another country were to travel on this road, the ruts would be different, and at best the carriage would be bumpy and difficult to travel, and at worst the carriage would be destroyed and people would die.
While the claim of a car crash resulting in death may be exaggerated, it has actually happened.
After all, no matter how exquisite the manufacturing process of a carriage is, it will become loose due to constant bumps. If it collapses while traveling at high speed, it is not an exaggeration to say that people could be killed.
Last time I traveled to Sichuan, I felt nauseous several times because of the bumpy ride.
"The wheels are a problem, but it can be solved if the roads are all repaired."
Ying Zheng said, "If the cart tracks are standardized, then the roads will naturally be too. My cousin and I have the same idea."
Of course, the fundamental purpose of building roads and standardizing carriage tracks was not simply to make horse-drawn carriages more comfortable. It was to maximize the development of a country's economy and commerce, so that merchants' wagons could carry goods from one place to another without worrying about them getting damaged.
Closer exchanges between countries can also promote unification.
In addition, government orders can be issued more quickly, and in the event of an uprising, supplies can be prepared before troops are mobilized.
Lost in thought, Banban uttered a phrase: "If you want to get rich, build roads first."
“It’s a good slogan.” Ying Zheng pondered for a moment, then wrote it down in his notebook.
Banban peeked at the tribute paper on his desk, propped her chin on her hand, and blinked her curled eyelashes enviously. "My cousin's handwriting is better than everyone else's." It was like the small seal script printed in later generations, neat and solemn.
I still remember the year she first came to Qin. She went from a little girl who could recognize some characters and read to a complete illiterate. The characters for Qin and Zhao look different! And their pronunciations are also quite different!
Her world had collapsed, and she had to start all over again.
I've never heard him mention any troubles in this regard, as if he were born with an innate understanding of everything about the Qin state.
He followed her gaze, lowered his head to look at her, and handed her the calligraphy brush.
She wrote it?
All right.
Taking the brush, she followed Ying Zheng's handwriting and wrote the six characters, "If you want to get rich, build roads first."
Ying Zheng smiled as he looked at her, put his long arm around her, and held the back of her hand. "So many years have passed, but my cousin's handwriting still carries the style of the Jin dynasty."
He encouraged her to write it again.
"Does it?" Banban asked uncertainly, pricking his head and checking left and right.
"Why is the writing cursive here, to save ink? It turns out that the Queen's frugality was even reflected in her handwriting."
"..."
"You're such a smooth talker," she said dramatically, bumping him with her shoulder, seemingly mocking him. "You can write faster with a pen, though."
In her opinion, this wasn't a Jin-style writing, but rather a habit she had developed in her previous life from frequently writing in cursive script.
The Jin script was indeed more free and flexible than the Qin script, but it was also more rigorous in structure. Just like Chinese characters, even when the strokes are connected, they are still perfectly balanced.
“I will also write without cursive.” She broke free from his grasp and carefully wrote two characters, stroke by stroke.
—Ying Zheng.
He mimicked her tone, "I can write in cursive too." He placed his hand back on hers and wrote three words.
— Ji Chengyin.
It's as if both of them have been changed by the other.
His tone and actions made her cheeks flush slightly. She swept her brush across the paper and said, "It's time to dip it in ink."
She glanced at the three characters 'Ji Chengyin' several times, feeling that her name looked especially beautiful when written by him.
In a moment of distraction, the brush dipped in ink erratically, and ink splattered onto the inkstone, forming a round blot on the yellowed tribute paper.
She rested her chin on her hand again, nestled comfortably in his arms, and used her brush to extend the ink blot into a winding strip, adding scales and outlining five claws.
I heard his chuckle in my ear, and my hand was grasped. With his guidance, I sketched the dragon's head with just a few strokes.
"What are you laughing at?" Banban said deliberately. "This is my cousin."
"An ugly little black dragon."
Who would say their own drawing is ugly? This is just an attempt to mock him, and they've dragged themselves down with them.
He wielded his ink and sketched a bird with outstretched wings beside the black dragon, its long tail swaying as it soared into the sky and cried out.
“Is this…a phoenix?” she asked. “Why not a rabbit?” He always called her a white rabbit.
“Because,” Ying Zheng paused slightly, his casual tone carrying a hint of lightness, “the dragon and the phoenix are a pair.”
Banban's heart also felt light, "I like it!"
Ying Zheng liked black because black represents water, while the warring states were mostly associated with fire. Fire is ultimately extinguished by water, symbolizing water as the victor, so he naturally admired black.
The little black dragon, though its swimming body was somewhat ugly, appeared cute and clumsy in his eyes because it was drawn by his cousin.
His cousin was in his arms, muttering something about wanting to be a phoenix, to be the empress of the world. She was ambitious, but her ambition was not murky; on the contrary, it was pure.
"This paper needs to be put away." Banban couldn't wait to move the auspicious beast-shaped paperweight aside, picked up the tribute paper to look at it, and said, "Keep it safe."
The sunlight reflected from the window pierced through the paper, casting blurry shadows on the faces of the two people.
"Alright." Although Ying Zheng had no choice, he obeyed.
My cousin loves to collect all the evidence of his love for her and treasure it like a precious gem, while he prefers to keep it to himself and never show it to anyone.
Perhaps this is the difference between men and women.
She quickly returned carrying the offering paper, her face full of surprise, "That box is full!"
It was a rather large box, one that Ying Zheng had seen before. "It's full?" he exclaimed in surprise.
With nothing to do in the afternoon, we decided to organize the boxes together.
At the very bottom of the box was the crown that Ying Zheng had given her on their wedding day. This was a one-time thing for Banban; she had never worn it on any other occasion. This was partly because it was too heavy, and partly because no one else was worthy of her wearing it when receiving guests.
This crown is of great significance to her; she feels heartbroken if it gets even a little dusty.
The rest were much more miscellaneous: paintings, bracelets, necklaces, old anklets, seeds of Riri (a type of flowering plant), eulogies, letters, hairpins and purses he designed.
Banban took out a purse, which she had embroidered in the first two years of learning needlework. She often embroidered it crookedly, making it look like a mess. So he drew the shape to be embroidered on the cloth and watched her embroider.
When it came time for Pang's inspection, she was so flustered that she couldn't finish her embroidery and kept pestering him for help. She said that he could do everything, so he should be able to embroider objects too.
As it turned out, his embroidery was not as good as hers.
Both of them were punished.
Pang told Ying Zheng not to spoil his cousin like that, saying it wasn't good to indulge her in everything.
At that time, Ms. Pang said that there were many things she could not do, but she had to know how to do, such as needlework.
Although Banban still doesn't understand why she has to know how to do things that she doesn't have to, she has kept this purse to this day.
"Cousin, can you still tell which ones you embroidered?"
"Didn't you embroider all of these?"
They're good at playing dumb.
Banban glared at him, then put the purse back into the box.
"Since it's full, take out the ones that don't matter and throw them away."
"I don't want to."
What's not important?
"Just put in another box."
"Could my cousin have thrown away all the things I gave him?" Seeing his attitude, Banban couldn't help but feel suspicious.
It felt like every hair on her body stood on end. If he dared to utter a single word of "yes," she would definitely make him pay!
"How dare I?" This time he stopped deliberately arguing with her and teasing her.
She rarely gave him things to admire; she mostly gave him practical items, from his headdress, robes, and waistbands to his trousers and shoes, all of which she had made for him.
Ying Zheng wasn't particularly playful, and his daily life was quite dull and monotonous. Occasionally, he would relax by having entertainers play music and watch dances, but otherwise he would ride horses, compete with his soldiers, or study things related to forging and designing weapons.
In this respect, he is actually no different from an ordinary man.
Winter passed in the blink of an eye, and the cleanup of Chu was almost complete.
In early spring, the couple officially set off for the land of Chu.
This time, it was a grand affair, just as Qin Zhi had suggested, with elite troops clearing the way, pacifying the common people on both sides, and escorting them safely all the way.
Ordinary people cannot even get within a hundred feet of the king's carriage.
With Ji Changyue in charge of the palace's miscellaneous affairs, Wang Wan was entrusted with important responsibilities. It seemed that they intended to use him, and Li Si's expectations were dashed again. However, he was still ordered to accompany them on this trip to Chu. In addition, Li You was also there, and as the legitimate princess, Ying Yue was also among those accompanying them.
Ordinary memorials were sent directly to Chu, without needing to be sent to Xianyang.
Along the way, Ying Yue frequently lifted the curtain to look outside. "Although I have the blood of Chu, I have never been here before." She spoke only to her husband, without any reservations.
"Your Highness will find it easier to come here in the future. I don't have any important matters to attend to in court. I will accompany you whenever you wish."
Initially, Li You addressed Ying Yue as Your Highness and referred to himself as his subject.
After their marriage, Yingyue frequently told him that he didn't have to do that, and only then did he reluctantly stop calling himself a subject.
For a long time, the title "Your Highness" has not been so solemn; rather, it has been more like an affectionate term.
"I was just saying it casually with you. I have no feelings for the State of Chu." Ying Yue smiled slightly and leaned affectionately on his shoulder. "I think the next prime minister will most likely be Wang Wan. With the example of Mi Qi, my brother is in a time of suspicion and will not easily use someone who is not loyal to him. Although Wang Wan has not accomplished much, when it comes to loyalty, he is second to none."
"Moreover, Wang Wan is a Qin person."
“Your father may not be without hope, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked your father to accompany him on this trip to Chu. This is also to appease him.”
Li You shook his head and said, "My father is not in a hurry. He has endured so many years under Lü Buwei's tutelage, and he has survived the days of obscurity. Now that the king remembers him in everything, why would he be in a hurry?"
"He is only loyal to the king." In reality, he has no sense of national or familial loyalty to the Qin people. If Ying Zheng were not the King of Qin, but the King of Qi or the King of Chu, he would have followed him just the same.
At the very least, if one cannot gain the emperor's favor and attention, then clinging to power and protecting one's official position is the bottom line.
This is his idea and style.
On the other side of the royal carriage, Li Si was vividly recounting to the King and Queen of Qin what he had seen and heard in the State of Chu.
“The witch tribe was prevalent in the Chu region. Legend has it that when King Huai of Chu was traveling in Yunmengze, he met a goddess in Wushan. The goddess told him, ‘In the morning you are the morning clouds, and in the evening you are the passing rain.’ From then on, many lovers in the Chu region used the clouds and rain of Wushan to express their love.”
"This is quite a novel matter." Banban had thought that "Wushan Clouds and Rain" referred to something erotic, but it turned out it meant love. "Was there really a goddess who took a liking to King Huai of Chu?"
"It's not certain whether there's a goddess or not," Li Si thought to himself, but said tactfully, "It's probably just King Huai of Chu boasting. She's probably just an ordinary commoner. If she really is a goddess—" If he were to take a fancy to her, he would have to take a fancy to the King of Qin. How could it be the King of Chu's turn?
He was so used to flattering Ying Zheng that he only realized halfway through his speech that he was talking to the Queen.
"...How could he possibly have taken a liking to King Huai of Chu?" Li Si finished his sentence, the pause barely audible. "He was repeatedly deceived and ultimately died far from home."
Ying Zheng glared at him speechlessly.
"Does Your Majesty know that Zhang Zi once tricked King Huai of Chu twice by offering six hundred li of land in Shangyu?" Li Si quickly pretended not to see and added, raising two fingers, "He succeeded both times."
Banban exclaimed in astonishment, "He was a king, yet he was so easily fooled. How could he have died far from home?"
Li Si knew that Ying Zheng favored King Zhaoxiang and was reluctant to speak ill of others. Just as he was pondering how to speak, Ying Zheng himself said, "King Zhaoxiang invited King Huai of Chu to form an alliance at Wuguan. Qu Yuan advised him not to go, but he did not listen and went anyway. As a result, he was detained as soon as he entered Wuguan."
"King Zhaoxiang forced him to cede territory from Chu, but King Huai of Chu refused to comply even at the cost of his life. Later, Lord Mengchang, who was also detained in Qin, escaped with the help of his retainers. Lord Mengchang led troops from Qi, Han, and Wei to attack Qin. King Huai of Chu took advantage of the chaos to escape, but no country was willing to take him in. Chu even established a new ruler early on. When Qin troops arrived, they captured him and brought him back to Qin."
Upon hearing this, Banban sighed with regret, realizing that King Huai of Chu had died in the state of Qin.
"King Zhaoxiang is so powerful." But also so shameless. How can someone trick others into coming out and then force them to cede territory?
It turns out that during the war-torn years of history, those lands were not all won through conquest; there was plenty of cheating and deception involved.
Ying Zheng: "?"
She used to only use the word "amazing" to praise him.
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Author's note: Here we go.
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