Chapter 75 Assassination of 75
Persuasion naturally takes time, which has led to the recent bustling activity in Xianyang, comparable to the period more than a decade ago when Lü Buwei announced his intention to compile the Lüshi Chunqiu and recruit talents from all over the country.
It has even surpassed its former glory, attracting people not only from within China for various reasons, but also from abroad.
This included the ruler of Qi, who, despite being a spurious ally of Qin, traveled a great distance and even borrowed passage from other states to reach him.
At that time, the country was more morally upright; if you were released later, you might be detained on the spot.
The King of Qi's entourage was still on its way, and the various families in the city were still selecting suitable officials to persuade him, with the two prime ministers being the top choices.
However, because the Left Chancellor clearly had a pro-farmer bias, the Confucianists and other groups who were at odds with the Farmer School did not seek out the Left Chancellor. Instead, more people chose to visit the Right Chancellor, Lü Buwei, who held real power.
However, Lü Buwei held a high position and wielded great power, so it was clear that not just anyone could meet him. Those who could not see Lü Buwei could only settle for other people in Xianyang City.
All of this was under Zhu Qing'ai's surveillance. Although she wasn't so perverse as to install surveillance cameras in every official's home, she did monitor all public places and streets in Xianyang.
She knew the movements of all the philosophers from various schools who came to Xianyang, including the spies who had infiltrated the area, but she only monitored the spies throughout their stay.
She couldn't be bothered to listen to those lectures; she'd rather use that time to find Zhao Ji and Han Ji to play the leaf card game.
This lively atmosphere continued until the King of Qi came to Qin. As soon as the King of Qi entered Xianyang, he was personally received by the King of Qin.
King Jian of Qi received a warm welcome from all the people of Qin. The banquet held in Xianyang Palace was grand and magnificent, and even the Qin people attended. King Jian of Qi was immediately a little dazed, feeling refreshed and capable again.
Look, even the King of Qin treated him with great courtesy, and even the Qin state held a banquet for him.
Qin's attendance at the banquet wasn't solely for King Jian of Qi's sake; it was more because she discovered that someone had hired an assassin to carry out the assassination, and the assassin was currently mixed in with the group of dancers on the outskirts.
Ying Zheng and she both knew this, and in fact, they were the ones who let the assassin in, otherwise the assassin wouldn't have been able to bring the murder weapon into Xianyang Palace.
As for how the King of Qi saw 'Qin', it was because after he took his seat, a palace servant presented him with a dictionary. He only needed to place his hand on it to see 'Qin' sitting in the head seat next to the King of Qin.
His position was slightly lower than that of the King of Qin and the "Qin" ruler, but still better than that of everyone else. He had no objection to this, as the Qin state was larger than all six of them combined.
He felt that he was already very fortunate to receive such treatment, with the King of Qin even hosting a banquet for him.
Out of curiosity, King Jian of Qi repeatedly removed his hand and put it back. After several attempts, he discovered that whether he could see the spirit of the state was indeed related to this dictionary.
When he placed his hand on her, he could see the dignified woman when he looked up. But when he removed his hand, he could only see the King of Qin with a friendly smile. The seat next to the King of Qin was empty.
After discovering this, he whispered to King Zheng of Qin, "I wonder if I may take this dictionary with me when I leave?"
After the Qin state's dictionaries became the subject of various magical legends, other vassal states also tried to buy these dictionaries and use them to try to see the spirits of their states, but without exception, they all failed.
Therefore, a theory circulated among the six states that all the dictionaries exported by Qin were fake, and only the real ones could have miraculous effects, while the real ones naturally remained within Qin's territory.
There are supporters and opponents of this claim, but it has nothing to do with King Jian of Qi anymore. After all, he is now certain that the book he holds is genuine and can be used to see the spirit of the nation.
Ying Zheng didn't know what King Jian of Qi meant by this. How many dictionaries from their Qin state had been sold abroad? What was the point of taking this one with him? It couldn't be for commemoration, could it?
Despite his doubts, Ying Zheng generously said, "It's nothing serious, just a dictionary. If the King of Qi likes it, he can take it with him when he leaves."
King Jian of Qi received a satisfactory answer and felt that the relationship between Qin and Qi was friendly. The person sent by that person had even advised that the states should unite in order to resist Qin.
However, he was so far away from Qin that he was unwilling to send troops to fight for another country. Besides, there were many benefits to being an ally of Qin, and he had received some benefits over the years.
Perhaps some secretly believe that no country has been able to unify the world for hundreds of years, so how could the Qin state possibly do it in just a few decades? As for waiting for several decades to come...
If he's already dead, how can he possibly manage the affairs of the living?
In short, King Jian of Qi was very open-minded. He sipped his wine, smacked his lips, and praised, "The territory of Qin is indeed like a fairyland. Even this cup of wine is exceptionally mellow."
King Zheng of Qin said, "There is plenty of this wine in the palace. Since the King of Qi likes it, he can take a few more jars with him when he leaves."
The King of Qi's smile became much more sincere, and after some modest refusal, he finally agreed.
Putting everything else aside, he's definitely going to take quite a lot of things with him this time.
As the banquet was held in the evening, and the sky gradually darkened, a dazzling display of fireworks lit up the sky, a creation of the Chemical Research Institute.
King Zheng of Qin introduced it in the same way, humbly saying, "It's just some small gadgets made by a chemist, which I'm presenting to the King of Qi."
King Qi's lips twitched. Was this showing off or just showing off? His eyes were fixed on the dazzling fireworks. He secretly removed his hand from the dictionary. The fireworks were still there, but the figure beside King Qin had vanished...
A question mark popped into his head: Is this something that can be done by human beings?
His voice was slightly hoarse as he praised the fireworks display, and he was also relieved that he hadn't listened to those short-sighted people. He believed that Qin could be resisted by uniting as a whole, and that he shouldn't think he hadn't remembered the disastrous defeat of the five-nation coalition ten years ago.
He was already grateful to be able to live a few more years in secret. He downed another glass of fine wine, and the wine that he had previously found mellow now tasted slightly bitter.
Finally, King Jian of Qi comforted himself, thinking that his children and grandchildren would have their own fortunes, and that the country's demise was in his hands, and he could not worry about anything else.
Seeing the young and promising King of Qin before him, he felt a pang of envy mixed with bitterness; he simply didn't possess such abilities...
After feeling a pang of sadness, he still had to look at the dancers performing in front of him and smile happily, without showing any sign of anything amiss.
These dancers entered the venue to perform during the fireworks display, and their graceful figures and lively dances were made even more apparent by the backdrop of the fireworks.
However, King Qi Jian's smile soon vanished. One of the dancers pulled a short dagger from her skirt and rushed towards King Qin at the head of the table.
King Jian of Qi was terrified, his voice distorted into a shrill, piercing cry: "Guards! Guards!"
He cursed Qi Guo in his mind. What kind of deity was this, choosing this time to assassinate him? He had a clear conscience that he had absolutely nothing to do with this assassin!
If he weren't truly afraid of death, he would have rushed to the King of Qin to protect him.
He quickly realized what was happening and stopped shouting because, apart from the people he had brought, all the other Qin officials were looking at him with strange eyes, as if they were not worried at all that their king would be assassinated and die on the spot.
King Jian of Qi also remembered that Qin was still present, so he didn't need to worry. He tried to calm down and figure out how to explain to King Qin that the assassin had nothing to do with him.
Although the assassination attempt happened so coincidentally at his welcome banquet, he can swear that he did not hire anyone.
The assassin had already taken three steps in two to reach the King of Qin, but King Zheng of Qin remained kneeling on the mat without moving, calmly raising his eyes to look at the assassin.
The assassin was suspicious of King Zheng of Qin's calm demeanor, but since she had already come all this way and charged out, if she didn't make a move, she would be captured by the guards who rushed in from outside.
But when she gritted her teeth and raised her hand to stab the King of Qin with her dagger, she saw that the 'Qin' beside her was completely still, just looking at her with indifferent eyes, as if he were looking at a dead person.
At this moment, her fear reached its peak. A bad premonition filled her heart. She couldn't retract the dagger she had thrust out, and could only hope to succeed in one strike.
But deep down, she also had a vague understanding... that she couldn't succeed...
Sure enough, she stabbed the golden halo with her dagger; it was more like a protective shield than a halo.
This protective shield, of course, came from Zhu Qing'ai. She bought the enchantment from the store and added it to the Qin King's sword. It can be used passively once a day. The best feature is that this number can be accumulated. The number of times that are not used on the same day will not disappear, but will continue to accumulate.
The assassin, seeing that the assassination attempt had failed, did not hesitate and immediately slit his own throat with a dagger, his action ruthless and resolute.
As she fell to the ground, she heard a muffled female voice and low laughter: "Zhao's Sheji Sword is quite useful; I didn't even have time to use it."
The assassin's last thought was, wait a minute, what does the Zhao state's "Sheji Sword" mean?
Has the State of Zhao betrayed the five-state alliance?!
traitor!
Ying Zheng looked down at the sword beside him, the same one that Zhao had personally handed him when he came of age, and his emotions became complicated again.
"King Qin, are you alright?" King Jian of Qi asked cautiously, interrupting Ying Zheng's thoughts.
King Zheng of Qin, still wearing his standard smile, reassured King Jian of Qi: "It's nothing. I apologize for startling you, King Jian."
King Jian of Qi quickly waved his hand. He didn't dare to say anything more. His request was not high. He just wanted to avoid being blamed for the assassination.
King Zheng of Qin ordered his attendants to bring in people to clean up the mess. The bloodstains on the ground were quickly wiped clean, and the dancers who had screamed since the assassin appeared but were forcibly silenced were taken away.
****
Several of the accomplices were directly identified by 'Qin', while the remaining dancers received no punishment, but also no reward.
The dancers, having survived the ordeal, didn't regret losing any of their money. No matter how important money was, it wasn't as important as their lives, was it?
No one blamed her for vetting the dancers, since it was the King of Qin's own order to let them pass. She even received extra money, which she claimed was a gift from herself when distributing it to the dancers.
****
During the banquet, Ying Zheng announced the punishment directly to everyone: "This traitor shall have his entire family exterminated."
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 11:51:37 and 21:54:03 on May 21, 2024!
Thank you to the little angels who watered with nutrient solution: Hanheyⅹ 30 bottles; Bingye 1 bottle;
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