Chapter 8 The Qin Dynasty is dead! [Jinjiang authentic version only released·The three tribes of Yi! ...
The two palace servants who were kneeling behind the emperor and wiping his hair saw that they had hurt his scalp. They immediately knelt down in panic and kowtowed, begging for mercy: "It's our fault for being so clumsy that we hurt your hair. We deserve to die!"
Zhao Gao, who was waiting outside for the night, heard the sudden noise coming from the inner hall and hurried in.
The first thing I saw was two palace maids holding handkerchiefs, kneeling on the ground in fear and kowtowing to apologize, while His Majesty the Emperor lowered his head and rubbed his eyebrows with his slender fingers, looking very sleepy.
He glanced at the clepsydra, carefully leaned forward, and asked softly:
"Your Majesty, are you going to bed?"
Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng opened his eyes, raised a finger at the two frightened palace maids, and said in a low voice:
"You two should leave now. I was sleepy and pulled my hair. It has nothing to do with you two."
"promise."
"promise."
Upon hearing this, the two palace servants immediately breathed a sigh of relief as if they had been pardoned. They hurriedly got up from the floor quietly, bowed and quickly took their leave.
Zhao Gao watched the First Emperor's expression and saw that His Majesty only glanced at the clepsydra placed not far away, and he unconsciously frowned his thick black eyebrows that slanted into his temples.
It is only the hour of Hai now, and there is still a full hour before His Majesty the Emperor goes to bed.
A trace of suspicion emerged in Ying Zheng's mind. He couldn't understand why he, who was usually full of energy at this time of year, was so sleepy today. It wasn't even midnight yet, so why was he so sleepy that he could barely open his eyes? As if he had been drugged, his entire consciousness became hazy.
Zhao Gao, who had been serving the Emperor for some time, also keenly noticed that the Emperor seemed to be sleepy very early today, and his sleepiness was particularly severe. His eyes looked a little dazed. He could not help but take two steps forward, leaned over and said in a gentle voice:
"It's already very late, I'd better help Your Majesty to sleep first."
Ying Zheng glanced at the brown bamboo slips piled on the lacquer table, a struggle flashing in his eyes. Intellectually, he wanted to continue reviewing the slips with his red brush, but his eyelids were almost glued shut. His heart was willing, but his strength was insufficient. He could only reluctantly give up his desire to continue working, stood up from his seat, pressed the lacquer table, and said calmly to the young clerk who had just arrived:
"Today I will rest an hour early. Tomorrow you must remember to wake me up an hour early."
Zhao Gao bowed respectfully and said:
"promise!"
Only then did Ying Zheng rub his forehead, slipping on soft silk shoes, walk around a huge jade screen and enter his own bedroom. He had just stepped onto the dragon couch made of ancient agarwood and had no time to think about how wide the highway leading to the ancient lands of the six kingdoms would be and when construction would begin. The next moment, his consciousness was pulled into endless darkness by a strong suction force.
Zhao Gao, who followed in, was even more surprised to see that the First Emperor fell asleep as soon as he got on the dragon bed.
Everyone in the Zhangtai Palace knew about the emperor's little habits. Perhaps it was the miserable experiences in his childhood and the frequent assassinations in his adulthood that made the emperor feel very insecure deep down. Even when he was sleeping at night, he was deeply defensive against the outside world. He usually slept on the bed holding the Qin Wang Sword. But tonight, the Qin Wang Sword was still hanging on the wall, and the First Emperor had already fallen asleep on the dragon bed.
[Your Majesty, why are you so sleepy tonight?]
Zhao Gao was very puzzled. He walked lightly to the dragon bed, gently spread the thin brocade quilt and covered the emperor with it. Then he frowned and walked to the three-legged hollow incense burner. He sniffed the incense carefully and found nothing unusual as usual. He felt relieved and thought that the emperor's sleepiness tonight was just a coincidence. He then carefully adjusted the position of the incense burner with both hands, and after quietly arranging several palace guards to keep watch, he went outside to wait.
…
The night sky was dotted with stars, the moon was high in the sky, and the crickets chirping at the base of the wall gradually stopped.
His Majesty the Emperor was sleeping on the dragon couch with his eyes closed. At a certain moment, his eyelids began to twitch rapidly.
[Clad in a black, wide-sleeved robe and standing barefoot on the cool, silky floor, Ying Zheng gazed at the misty scene around him. He subconsciously reached for his sword, but found nothing.]
Looking at the empty space around his waist, he couldn't help but frown. He turned around and looked around at the mist, wondering, "Where is this place? Am I dreaming?"
"Ha! It's finally time for the lottery! I wonder what I'll win on my first try!"
Through the thick fog, a childish, yet strange, voice suddenly reached Ying Zheng's ears. He immediately looked forward alertly. He was certain that the pronunciation (Mandarin) was extremely strange. Even though he was proficient in both the elegant language and the Seven Heroes script, he couldn't tell where the accent came from. But what surprised him even more was that he could understand what was being said in this unfamiliar language!
“Wow, this turntable is pretty nice!”
The strange and childish voice sounded again. Ying Zheng pursed his lips slightly and decided to go and take a look.
He raised his arms to push aside the thick white fog that blocked his way, counting his steps in his mind as he walked towards the source of the sound.
[One step, two steps, three steps... twenty steps... thirty steps... ninety steps... ninety-nine steps.]
Just as he finished counting "ninety-nine," Ying Zheng noticed that the fog blocking his path had thinned considerably. Through the faint white mist, he could see a tiny baby in black clothes and with dark hair, sitting with its back to him on a large, multicolored rotating platform, about thirty steps ahead.
That strange accent came from the little baby's mouth. Could it be the legendary "baby talk"? Ying Zheng reached out to wipe his long beard from his jaw, wondering to himself, while simultaneously staring at the back of the baby's round head and examining it closely. For some reason, he felt that the little child before him looked somewhat familiar, but since he could only see its back, he couldn't quite make out what was going on.
He subconsciously tried to move forward, but saw the little baby in front of him, with its back to him, suddenly stretch out its two tiny hands and, exerting its full strength, "yay!", spun the large turntable. The turntable spun twice, and with a "poof" accompanied by a colorful cloud, a small wooden box appeared. The baby immediately and happily opened the box and took out a thick, square book. This magical and fantastical scene made Ying Zheng's pupils tremble slightly, and his steps, which were about to move forward, stopped.
"Hey, let me see what I got from this blind box!"
[[Blind box? What is this?] Listening to the unfamiliar words in the "baby language", a hint of doubt emerged in Ying Zheng's heart.]
“Wow! I actually got a copy of ‘Records of the Grand Historian’!”
"Records of the Grand Historian"? What dynasty is this history book about? Why have I never heard of it? Ying Zheng's mind was filled with more mysteries.
"Today, I heard from my mother in the palace that the Qin Dynasty had just been unified, and the court was still arguing over the feudal system and the county system. This means that this year should be the 26th year of the Qin Shi Huangdi."
[[In the palace, Grandmother, the twenty-sixth year of the Qin Shi Huang Emperor?!] Ying Zheng's eyes widened in shock, staring in disbelief at the familiar-looking little baby in front of him. Could this child be his eldest grandson, Qin Ying, who was visiting the palace for the first time today?]
After realizing that the little baby in front of him was most likely his beloved eldest grandson, Ying Zheng's vigilance instantly dissipated. He subconsciously took a step forward, and then he heard the little baby shouting loudly in a broken and speechless tone:
"Come! Let me read the Records of the Grand Historian. Oh, it's still fourteen years before the fall of the Qin Dynasty."
The First Emperor, who had just unified the world, froze in his tracks and stood there in a daze: "..."
"Alas, my father finally committed suicide, and my ruthless uncle usurped the throne and destroyed the Qin Dynasty three years later! The Qin Dynasty perished in its second generation. How can we break free from this difficult situation?!"
The First Emperor's pupils shrank in shock upon hearing this, and he unconsciously covered his heart with his right hand, nearly suffering a heart attack. His eyes were filled with disbelief, unwillingness to believe, and inability to believe: "!!!" [What?! My Great Qin had just been established, and it's about to fall?!]
Angry and shocked, the complex and inexpressible emotions made Ying Zheng speechless. When he came to his senses, he immediately pursed his lips and quickly raised his legs to walk towards his daring grandson. However, with a "bang", the Jade Emperor's floor, which felt cold under his feet, cracked. The emperor was startled and just lowered his head. The next moment, his whole body fell down as if it had lost weight. At the same time, a large mass of something fell down from above his head with a whistling wind.
The shocked Qin Shi Huang looked up and saw that what was falling on his head were countless abalone. His eyes widened in shock. He let out an angry cry of "Ah--" and opened his eyes, then sat up straight from the dragon couch.
Seeing that His Majesty had a nightmare again tonight, the palace guards immediately knelt down in worry and cried out, "Your Majesty!"
The palace maid's shouting drew the frightened Ying Zheng's attention back, and his confused and horrified eyes quickly became as quiet as a deep pool.
Hearing the noise in the bedroom, Zhao Gao hurried in from outside. He saw the First Emperor sitting upright on the dragon couch with cold sweat on his face, looking at the surrounding scene with his eyes as sharp as torches and a serious expression.
[Is this another nightmare?]
A thought flashed through Zhao Gao's mind. He took the copper cup brought by the palace servant and carefully handed it to the side of the dragon bed. He whispered respectfully to the First Emperor, whose expression was obviously not right:
"Your Majesty, are you thirsty? Why not have a glass of warm water to calm your nerves?"
Ying Zheng pursed his lips as he took the copper cup, frowned, and gulped down half a cup of warm water. His confused consciousness gradually became clear.
It was obvious that he had just dreamed of his eldest grandson.
Even though he would occasionally fall into the nightmare of his childhood in Handan in the dead of night and couldn't escape, the content of tonight's nightmare made Ying Zheng more frightened than the dark experiences of his childhood.
He unconsciously clenched the copper cup in his hand, and the words spoken by his eldest grandson in a baby voice echoed in his mind over and over again like a spell -
[My Great Qin has just been established, and in fourteen years it will perish?!]
[Fusu finally committed suicide by drawing his sword? Did Hu Hai destroy the Qin Dynasty in just three years?!]
[The Second Emperor of the Qin Dynasty perished?!]
What kind of bullshit is this?!
Ying Zheng's face remained calm, but within him, a turbulent storm was brewing! His mind told him it was just a nightmare, and perhaps "Records of the Grand Historian" was just a rebellious book written by some remnant of the Six Kingdoms! But the real sensation of falling, and the swarm of abalone crashing down on him—even in his dream, he could clearly feel the cool warmth of the jade floor beneath his feet, and the undeniable stench of the abalone.
What on earth is going on?
Unexplained sleepiness? Strange baby talk? Unclear historical texts?
Is this all true?
“!”
Ying Zheng lowered his head, his fingers rubbing his brows, and paused. A ruthless look flashed in his narrow, long phoenix eyes. "There must be some remnant of the Six Kingdoms who still harbor evil intentions! If they can't assassinate me openly, they're using witchcraft against me in secret! They're trying to disrupt my mind! Curse my Great Qin!"
This is an unforgivable crime! The culprit must be found and arrested! The three Yi tribes!!!
The First Emperor, filled with resentment, clenched his fingers around the copper cup until they turned white. He stared at Zhao Gao in front of him with a sinister look and said sternly:
"Zhao Gao! Immediately convey my order. Conduct an immediate carpet search of the palace to find any daring thieves practicing witchcraft and sorcery! Also, send a message to Meng Yi, telling him to quickly bring the eldest son Fusu, the Grand Historian, the shaman, and the alchemist into the palace to face the emperor! Arrest Hu Hai and bring him to Zhangtai Palace!"
"After daybreak, go to the eldest son's residence and bring Chang Sunying to the palace to meet me!"
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