Chapter 118: Hu Hai Goes to the Frontier [Jinjiang Authentic Edition - Maodun Seizes Power]...
After realizing this cruel reality, Hu Hai's mind went blank, his pupils trembled wildly, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably. The endless murderous intent and chill coming from the tip of the sword penetrated his limbs and bones at an extremely fast speed along his eyebrows.
He opened his mouth to cry, but he was so frightened and terrified that no sound came out. He could only carefully avoid the extremely dangerous Qin Wang Sword in his father's hand like a frightened little quail. Then, as if he had truly gone mad, he banged his head loudly on the wooden floor, crying bitterly and confessing to his furious father:
"Wuwuwu, Father, I was wrong. This time I truly know I was wrong."
"Please calm your anger and forgive me this once. I did not lie to you. A few years ago, I was blessed by the black bird during a high fever, and I was able to glimpse a glimpse of the imperial family's future in my dream. I was also frightened by the countless evil deeds committed by Qin Ershi in my dream. When I heard that you were going to send me to the border, I was overwhelmed with fear. I was filled with endless dread of leaving you and becoming a hostage on the grasslands. Therefore, I just now had the devil's will to tell you a distorted version of the future."
"Father, Father, please forgive me this time."
Hu Hai stretched out his hands and grabbed his father's wide black sleeves, begging for mercy continuously.
Seeing that his father was still looking at him with a cold expression, without a trace of warmth, he lowered his head and choked with sobs in despair:
"Since Your Majesty has also clearly understood the future, I, your humble servant, will boldly speak the truth to you. There is no one in the world more wise than Your Majesty."
"Father, as the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, you must understand how difficult it is to be the emperor of the Qin Dynasty. I know you resent me and that I am angry with you, but I am stupid by nature, with little experience and education. Without your supervision, I am most likely to be led astray by evildoers."
"I am such a useless person. Although I did many cruel things that angered heaven and people in my previous life as the Second Emperor of Qin, I have always adhered to your will. After becoming the Second Emperor, I still follow your idea of great unification and dare not change it in the slightest."
"But I'm too young. I've been loved and protected by you since I was a child. I don't know the evil intentions of powerful officials. I can't fight against Zhao Gao at all. In the end, I can only be a puppet in his hands! In my previous life, our royal family fell into extinction. Ultimately, it was because of that treacherous minister Zhao Gao who deceived me! He controlled the government and ruined the great empire of the Ying Qin royal family!"
The more Hu Hai spoke, the more anxious he became, and the louder he cried. When he got angry, he couldn't help but hiccup.
"Woo woo woo woo, hiccup, Father, you don't understand! You don't know how outrageous the Zhao Gao in my dream was! Even the old Prime Minister Li Si couldn't defeat him! Let alone a young monarch like me who hasn't even come of age?!"
"That Zhao Gao is truly despicable! To eliminate dissidents, he openly played the trick of calling a deer a horse in the court! He clearly presented a deer to me, his son, but then he told me in court that he presented me with a fine colt! I laughed and said the animal was a 'deer,' and the court officials who followed the emperor also boldly said 'it's a deer, not a horse.' Who would have thought that after returning home, these officials hadn't even had time to sit down on their beds before they were arrested, thrown into prison and killed by Zhao Gao's men!"
"Wow, Father, ever since this happened, I've been terrified of Zhao Gao! I can't do anything to him. In my dreams, I've regretted countless times listening to Zhao Gao's instigation, forcing my elder brother to death and usurping the throne. Every time I'm in Zhangtai Palace, I miss you terribly and wish I could die in your place. It's precisely because I foresaw this horrible future that, after waking from my dreams, I'm filled with fear and regret, with nowhere to vent and no one to talk to. All I can do is secretly be wary of Zhao Gao and study obediently with him, hoping that by performing well, I can see you again and plead my case to you in person at Zhangtai Palace."
"Hiccup~ Father, I know I've done so many evil things. You don't want to see me anymore, but those were all done by Qin II in my past life. In this life, I'll never have the chance to do evil again, and I'll never be able to claim the throne. Please let me go this time. I'm willing to go to the grasslands as a hostage and redeem myself for the Qin Dynasty. Wuuwuwu, please, father! Please!"
Hu Hai once again held his head in his hands and lay on the ground crying his heart out.
Hearing his youngest son's sobbing plea for mercy, the First Emperor turned his head away sadly, feeling that the six-foot-long sword in his hand weighed a thousand pounds.
In this life, not only his stubborn eldest son was his precise retribution, but also his cruel youngest son. Look at how flexible his youngest son's bottom line was. As long as he could protect himself, Hu Hai could slap his own red little face thousands of times and he would not feel ashamed at all.
He simply couldn't understand why, despite being so wise and his concubines being all noble ladies well-versed in poetry and literature, they ended up giving birth to a bunch of sons who were so unpresentable and incapable of taking on responsibilities?
Unable to find the answer to this question, the First Emperor tightly gripped his sword. With an indifferent expression, he used the tip of his sword to lift his son's chin, causing him to raise his head again. Looking at Hu Hai's tearful little face, he couldn't help but feel a hint of disdain. Just looking at his three-dimensional facial features, the weeping young boy before him was indeed his own, but it was a pity that he was just a sham...
With such a shameful inner self, he really didn't want to admit that this child had half of his blood...
The First Emperor half-closed his narrow, long eyes, his gaze as sharp as an eagle's, but the tone he spoke was as cold as ice in a river:
"Hu Hai, does Zhao Gao know what you experienced in your dream?"
Hu Hai, whose life was hanging on the edge of a cliff, heard his father's question. He was so quick-witted that he looked at his father with tears in his eyes and said hoarsely:
"Father, rest assured! That treacherous minister Zhao Gao will never know in his lifetime that I, your son, have seen through his evil ambitions!"
"As you said, looking at all the members of the royal family, only your son is the most suitable person to be sent to the grasslands as a hostage. I am half Hu people and have a natural talent for learning the Xiongnu language. When I go to the grasslands, I will not only be able to communicate with the Xiongnu people face to face, but also deliver letters to you. With the bloody lessons of my previous life, I know I am stupid and dare not betray the royal family or the Qin Dynasty. I will be your most loyal personal soldier! Once I get to the frontier, I will keep a close eye on the Xiongnu prince!"
"Really?" The First Emperor curled his lips and sneered, "Then Zhao Gao, how do you think I should deal with this?"
Hu Hai swallowed, carefully observing the expression on his father's face, and tentatively asked, "Father, why don't you order Zhao Gao to accompany me to the frontier?"
"Although I will never trust Zhao Gao in this life, and even because I died at his hands in a past life, I am somewhat afraid of this treacherous minister in my heart, Zhao Gao has not yet been corrupted by power. Although he harbors evil intentions, his ability and talent are beyond doubt. I will never be deceived or fooled by his sweet words again in this life. If he can follow me to the grasslands, with his help, I will not be secretly deceived by the Xiongnu prince, and wouldn't I be able to better serve my father? What do you think?"
Hearing his youngest son's words, the First Emperor pursed his lips, put the long sword that was holding his youngest son's chin back into the scabbard with a "swish", turned around, held the hilt and thought.
Having escaped from the sword again, Hu Hai collapsed on the wooden floor, gasping for breath.
Outside the carved glass and wooden window, it was already dark.
Under the bright light, the First Emperor could clearly see the shadows of the father and son, one standing and one lying, cast on the dark window. Snow was falling outside the window, and the atmosphere inside the window was frighteningly cold.
In his original plan, he wanted Zhao Gao to go to the grassland with Hu Hai as a hostage. Hu Hai had status but no ability, while Zhao Gao had ability but no status. If the Qin forces wanted to gain a foothold on the grassland for a long time and not be undermined or fooled by Maodun, the combination of master and apprentice was indispensable.
，他很难以理解和自己的评注。 étécrééPoissongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrilléSongrillé
The First Emperor closed his eyes and sighed deeply in his heart, but he also felt relieved.
After Hu Hai, who was burdened with the sins of his previous life, went to the frontier, he did not dare to cause trouble. After knowing Zhao Gao's inner self, he would not be bewitched by Zhao Gao like a fool. Zhao Gao was of humble origin and had no roots on the grassland. If he wanted to take root on the grassland, he could only protect Hu Hai, the "Prince of Qin", and rely on the power of the royal family. However, his natural identity as a Zhao person did not allow him to get as much as Hu Hai on the grassland. Moreover, Maodun and Zhao Gao were both ambitious people who coveted power. Their identities were opposite, but they were similar in nature. Even for the sake of power, they could not really open their hearts to each other. They could only communicate and be on guard at the same time. Both sides had to win over Hu Hai, for fear that he would be controlled by the other side.
In this way, Hu Hai's status was guaranteed, and the three parties checked and restrained each other, and a delicate balance was really achieved. Hu Hai dreamed of his experiences in his previous life while having a high fever, and it was a coincidence that he was the hostage, and it was a blessing in disguise that he achieved the optimal solution.
After figuring out everything, the First Emperor raised his right hand slightly, turned his back to Hu Hai, and said coldly:
"Ying Hu Hai, don't cry anymore. Since you haven't committed any evil in this life, I will forgive you this time. When spring comes, you will take Zhao Gao with you to the grasslands with Maodun to help him seize power. If I find out that you are doing something stupid on the grasslands again, your elder brother and nephew will not have to deal with you. I will personally use the Qin King's Sword to deal with you! I just don't want to kill my son, but that doesn't mean I can't kill him!"
"Do you understand?!"
Listening to his father's blunt and heart-wrenching words, Hu Hai's body trembled violently again. He knew that after today, he and his father would never be able to go back...
He tried hard to hold back his tears, his lower lip trembling, and tears flowing violently. Even though he was no longer willing to live a hard life on the grassland, he dared not distort the facts or play tricks anymore after finally saving his life. He could only say "yes" to his father in a hoarse voice, and kowtowed three times to his father who had his back to him, before he got up from the wooden floor, looked dejected, looked back every few steps, and left reluctantly.
Zhao Gao, who was waiting in the Qinxue Palace, became a little impatient after Hu Hai left.
Although he had already prepared to go to the grassland, he still had a faint hope deep in his heart - after all, the Eighteenth Young Master was only ten years old, and in his early years he was indeed the Emperor's favorite youngest son.
What if Your Majesty is moved by the Eighteenth Prince and does not send Hu Hai to the grassland, but instead randomly chooses an unpopular prince from the royal family to be the Prince of the Xiongnu?
Or maybe, Your Majesty only allows the Eighteenth Prince to go to the grassland and let him continue to stay in the palace to perform his duties?
Although there was a lot of power scattered on the grassland waiting for him, a "man of ambition", to gather it, the harsh living environment on the grassland could not be ignored. What if he followed the Eighteenth Young Master to the grassland and accidentally contracted a disease before he could do anything and take power? If he stayed in the palace, he could still rely on the imperial physician for treatment, but the level of doctors on the grassland, hmm...
Zhao Gao felt a little sad.
He paced back and forth in the Palace of Diligent Learning, torn between inner and outer desires. Seeing the Eighteenth Young Master return with his eyes red and swollen, looking dazed, he immediately approached him, bent down, and asked tentatively in a low voice:
"Young Master, I wonder where His Majesty is..."
Upon hearing this, Hu Hai raised his head slightly to glance at Zhao Gao, then clenched his fists and lowered his eyes to hide the strong hatred for Zhao Gao in the depths of his eyes. Even though several years had passed, he could still clearly recall the moment in his dream when his soul was sucked into the body of "Qin Ershi" and the strong feeling of suffocation when Zhao Gao strangled him to death from behind!
Under the huge impact of the dream, he was no longer a real ten-year-old child, and his feelings for his teacher Zhao Gao were no longer so pure.
The candlelight in the hall flickered and the light was dim. Zhao Gao could not see any hatred on Hu Hai's drooping face. He only saw the Eighteenth Young Master's muffled voice, bowing his head and sobbing to him:
"Teacher, the rumors are true. Father really wants to send me to the grasslands as a hostage. Even though I begged him desperately, he still insisted on sending me to the Xiongnu as a hostage."
When Zhao Gao heard this, he became even more nervous:
"What about this humble official?"
Hu Hai sobbed twice, then immediately stretched out his cold hands and firmly grasped Zhao Gao's two wide sleeves. He looked at Zhao Gao with a look of dependence and cried, "Teacher, of course I have to go to the grassland with Hu Hai as a hostage. Teacher, Hu Hai has fallen out of favor with my father. When we go to the grassland, I can only rely on your help. Teacher, you must help me."
Zhao Gao's heart, which had been hanging in his throat, finally settled down with a thud. Looking at the Eighteenth Young Master wiping his tears and crying, he felt neither disappointed nor ecstatic.
The master and the disciple could only sit opposite each other like two hapless dogs in the water, one crying and the other with his mind blank.
Gradually, the cold wind outside the window howled louder and louder. In the second half of the night, the light snow turned into heavy snow. After dawn the next day, the heavy snow stopped again, and the towering palace complex was covered with layers of white snow.
What happened in Zhangtai Palace yesterday evening gradually spread to the harem.
The content of the intimate conversation between the First Emperor and the Eighteenth Prince in the inner hall was naturally unknown to outsiders, but by noon, most of the palace concubines knew that yesterday afternoon, after the Eighteenth Prince learned that he was going to be taken as a hostage on the grassland, he ran to the Zhangtai Palace howling, and then returned to the Qinxue Palace in a daze in the falling snow. It was obvious that he failed to make His Majesty give in, and his future was destined to be spent grinding out a bright future in the wilderness.
The concubines in the palace all sighed, but then put the matter behind them.
In the Qingzhu Palace, after Madam Qing learned about her adopted son, she looked out the window at the green bamboos bent by the snow and remained silent for a long while before she whispered a sigh to the palace maids around her:
"Alas, perhaps this is Hu Hai's fate. His biological mother is a Hu woman, which means his future home is destined to be in a barbarian land. Since Your Majesty has made the decision, our palace should quickly prepare more large woolen clothes for Hu Hai to take to the grasslands. This can be considered as fulfilling the mother-son relationship we have shared over the years."
Upon hearing the voice, all the palace maids leaned forward and said "yes". Some of the palace maids who had served Hu Hai since childhood felt sorry for Hu Hai's experience when they heard that the Eighteenth Young Master was so unlucky and his wife was so indifferent to him. However, due to their low status and power, they had no chance to speak at all. They could only do their best to help the Eighteenth Young Master who was about to leave with needlework.
In the huge palace, upon closer inspection, there was not a single noble who was truly sad for Hu Hai.
The biting cold wind blew back and forth, and rows of transparent icicles hanging from the eaves were knocked down one by one by the palace servants using long bamboo poles, and then hung up again one by one.
In the blink of an eye, the last vestiges of winter are gone and the ice and snow have melted.
At the beginning of spring in the 32nd year of Qin Shihuang's reign, Maodun, unable to bear the wait any longer, repeatedly begged Qin Shihuang to send troops to send him back to the grassland.
When the Dragon Raises its Head on the Second Day of the Second Month, Qin Ying followed his father out of the city to see off the Xiongnu prince. He looked at Hu Hai, who was sitting in the carriage, through the window, looking at him with resentment once, twice, and three times. Finally, he reluctantly took Zhao Gao and followed Maodun on the official road to the outside of the Great Wall.
Qin Ying smiled exceptionally brightly. The tyrant emperor and treacherous ministers of the Qin Dynasty were finally gone. She would no longer have to annoy him.
Fusu pursed his lips and watched his younger brother's caravan disappear from his sight. What kind of life he would live on the grassland in the future depended entirely on Hu Hai's own luck.
The fact that he can let go of the grudges from his previous life is the greatest tolerance a brother can show.
The long convoy, protected by three hundred elite soldiers from the palace, quickly headed towards the border town as soon as it left the imperial capital.
Arrived at the Border Town General's Mansion in mid-February.
After hearing from Zhao Gao the purpose of their visit and reading the handwritten letter sent to him by His Majesty, Meng Tian immediately selected 5,000 elite soldiers and sent his deputy general Lu Zhu to accompany Maodun back to the tribe to seize power.
After Maodun had spent ten days getting used to the Qin army, in early March, Maodun hurriedly left the border town with the Qin army and headed for the prairie.
In early summer, the temperature in Qin gradually began to rise.
On the endless prairie, the temperature is still as hot as in spring.
Various unknown wild flowers are blooming on the green grass, and a clear river is flowing quietly on the grassland, dragging a shimmering silver light band on the vast green carpet.
Maodun, who had been away from the tribe for a long time, finally returned to his hometown. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and felt relaxed from head to toe.
Following him to the grassland, dozens of Qin soldiers dressed as Huns looked at the felt tents in the distance with grim expressions.
Lu Zhu moved closer to Maodun and asked in a low voice:
"Prince Maodun, is the felt tent in front your tribe?"
Maodun nodded, and said with a look of emotion and smugness: "Yes, the main gathering place of my tribe is just ahead. If I hadn't personally brought you here, I'm afraid you would never find it until you die."
Hearing the smug laughter of the Xiongnu prince beside him, Lu Zhu sneered inwardly, but kept it hidden on his face. "Prince Maodun, now that we've arrived at our destination, we should quickly make arrangements. We'll help you regain control of your tribe, and you can quickly fetch the Eighteenth Prince from the border town."
Maodun nodded and said seriously:
"Now is not the time. Let's go back and make some plans. We'll launch a night raid at three o'clock tonight!"
"OK."
Wait until three o'clock in the morning.
Maodun arranged the 5,000 Qin troops into different routes, and under the cover of night, they rushed towards the tribe nervously and excitedly.
However, what he never expected was——
Before he rushed to the front of the tribe, he saw the Qin soldiers who came with him took out something similar to a slingshot from their arms. Before he could figure out what it was, he saw round balls with bright flames flying towards his tribe in the dark sky.
Then—boom! boom!—a loud noise erupted from the ground, accompanied by flames shooting into the sky.
The originally quiet grassland tribe suddenly started shouting in panic.
Maodun trembled and almost fell off his horse in shock. When he saw the Qin soldiers dressed as Huns throwing those terrible round bumps that could make thunderous sounds into his tribe, they waved their weapons and rushed into their tribe happily as if they saw a big fat sheep.
The young Xiongnu prince was completely stunned. His first reaction was: Oh no! He had let a wolf into the house!
The second reaction was an endless surge of anger and fear from the depths of my heart towards that sharp-tongued little devil in Xianyang.
[Qin Ying! You little bastard!!! Is this what you said to me that day with those bright eyes: that the Qin army hasn't developed a new weapon with extremely lethal power?!]
…
On this day, the Huns were lying in their felt tents in the middle of the night, sleeping soundly, when a terrible thunder fell from the sky, ruthlessly destroying their beautiful homeland!
On this day, the young Xiongnu prince was covered in blood, like a terrifying demon that had crawled back from hell. Amidst the fearful tears and pleading voices of his scumbag father, half-brother, and mother, he raised his sword and killed almost all the people in the tribe who opposed him!
When the sky brightened, the whole tribe became very quiet. Maodun, who had endured humiliation for many years, was sent from the tribe to the Yuezhi as a hostage, and then from the Yuezhi to Xianyang as a hostage, and finally returned to the tribe to avenge his mother, finally got what he wanted. But looking at the deep pits of various sizes in the tribe that were blown out by the terrible divine thunder, the new Xiongnu Khan, the future first generation of Xiongnu King of the Qin Dynasty, felt a chill down his spine and became completely honest to the Qin royal family.
In early April, after Maodun Chanyu had completely straightened out the entire tribe with thundering means, he immediately followed the Qin army back to the border town to take the Eighteenth Prince Hu Hai and his teacher and accompanying soldiers to his own tribe.
The situation of tripartite control was also completely opened up on the vast grassland.
At the end of the month, the First Emperor received letters from his youngest son, Meng Tian, Zhao Gao, and Maodun in the Zhangtai Palace. After learning the real situation on the grassland, he saw that things were developing as he had expected. A difficult matter that had been dragging on for several years was turned around, and another matter that he had been thinking about for several years could also be started.
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