Chapter 92: Terrible [Jinjiang Authentic Edition - Capture, Destroy Qin...
"Heh—good citizen?"
With a stern look on his face, Meng Yi walked into the house covered in snow and wind. Under the flickering firelight, he saw the uncle and nephew, who were tied up tightly with cowhide ropes by the soldiers, with their arms pressed down. They were still struggling and shouting on the earthen bed like two stranded fish. He couldn't help but feel a chill in his eyes!
They fabricated a false identity and used forged ID cards to sneak into the capital, then pretended to be blind and sneaked out of the city right under the noses of the guards. No wonder Your Majesty ordered a city-wide search for the uncle and nephew.
From morning to late at night, he personally led the team to capture people. In order to detain these two Chu people alive in Xianyang City, he mobilized a lot of manpower and material resources!
With a cold heart, Meng Neishi took two steps forward with a solemn face.
A soldier in black hurried over to Meng Yi, holding a khaki cloth bag, and whispered, "Meng Nei Shi, take a look at this."
Meng Yi subconsciously lowered his head to take a look, and when he saw clearly that the ordinary-looking cloth bag was actually stuffed full of square bamboo slips, he frowned and grabbed a few of them and looked at them carefully. He was so angry that he almost laughed.
He had originally thought that "Chu Ji," "Chu Yu," "Qu Zhong," and "Huang Zhu" were the only two false identities used by the uncle and nephew. He hadn't expected the cloth bag to also contain various forged "verifications" and "transmissions"! Beyond their Chu origins and ages, all other identity information was fake!
Normally, the court's entire strict household registration system, which was carefully designed from top to bottom, seemed like a joke in front of these two former noble sons of the Chu State!
[How did they get so many fake IDs?]
The Great Qin has only been unified for two years now. Have the remnants of the fallen state, harboring anti-Qin motives, already quietly infiltrated key positions within the Great Qin?
If the surviving descendants of a Chu general have such great power, then are the true royal descendants already filled with rebellious intentions?
Important questions popped up in Meng Yi's mind one after another. If these things were to be carefully investigated one by one, under the system of collective responsibility in Qin law, who knows how many people would lose their heads!
He narrowed his eyes slightly, pushed the cloth bag full of forged certificates and reports back into the arms of the soldier beside him, and walked to the earthen bed with the Ji Jin sword at his waist. He lifted the chin of the middle-aged man on the bed with the hilt of the sword, looked at the other's face in the dim torchlight, and then used the same action to lift the chin of another struggling teenager next to him and began to look at him.
Unlike Xiang Liang, who was in his thirties and still able to keep his composure, the thirteen-year-old Xiang Ji was like a ferocious wolf cub at this time. Seeing that the bag of bamboo slips had been discovered by Meng Yi, he no longer pretended. With a gloomy face and eyes full of hatred, he raised his head and bared his teeth at the young official from Xianyang City who walked to the bedside.
Meng Yi, who always had a good memory, saw the young man's face clearly under the light from the side, and suddenly remembered that he had met this man in an inn in Huaiyin, Chu in the summer.
On that day, on the second floor of the inn in Huaiyin County, the young man from Chu who lived in the next room, Room B, was about to go out with a sword, and he happened to bring Han Xin in. As soon as the other party saw his figure in the corridor after going out, he immediately slipped back into the guest room.
He was preoccupied with the mission at the time and casually glanced at the boy next door without even carefully observing his face. He never expected that in just a few months, this rebellious boy from the Yizi room would become the key thief that His Majesty and the Emperor's eldest grandson had personally ordered him to hunt down throughout the city.
Although he didn't know the inside story, Meng Yi had already deeply felt that this strong man and young man were very unusual. Looking at the uncle and nephew who were glaring at him with dissatisfaction on their faces on the earthen couch, he couldn't help but curl his lips and sneered:
"Yi has lived in Xianyang for nearly thirty years, but today is the first time I've seen a 'good citizen' walking around the city openly with a bag full of fake certificates and reports!"
"You two are truly worthy of being descendants of the Xiang family of the former Chu State. Your courage is truly extraordinary."
When Xiang Liang heard Meng Yi reveal the true identities of the uncle and nephew, his eyelids couldn't help but twitch.
Xiang Ji was still struggling desperately under the iron grip of the two soldiers. He raised his head and stared at Meng Yi's face with his eyes as vicious as a hawk, cursing angrily:
"Meng Yi, you blind official who aided the Qin Dynasty! Even though my uncle and nephew disguised our identities and brought fake ID cards to Xianyang, we have been innocent citizens in the capital for the past two days and have done nothing wrong! We certainly didn't run to the western suburbs of Xianyang to assassinate Qin Shi Huang! What gives you the right to throw dirty water on my uncle and nephew and conduct a city-wide manhunt for us?!"
"People outside the Great Wall say that your Qin laws are strict. Are you really the old Qin people just making up stories and putting the blame on us two old Chu people?"
In the wind and snow, he struggled to get out of the city gate in fear and it took him more than an hour to travel on the snowy road in the dark.
At this moment, Xiang Ji was tired, sleepy, cold and exhausted. His sleep was interrupted by someone kicking open the door abruptly. Adding up the new and old grudges, the anger in the young man with double pupils was about to burst through his head and directly break through the thatched roof!
Seeing the tall young man being pressed on the earthen couch, still trying to raise his head, with an angry look on his face as he cursed at himself unwillingly, Meng Yi felt no emotion at all. He just lowered his eyes coldly at the uncle and nephew on the couch and sneered:
"Xiang Liang, Xiang Ji, the black bird is watching what you do!"
"Whether you, uncle and nephew, sneaked into Xianyang City during the day with forged certificates and documents, or fled to the outskirts of Xianyang after dark to collude with the remnants of the anti-Qin rebels, you have violated extremely serious Qin laws!"
"Young men have lofty aspirations and aspirations, which I understand. But Xiang Ji, your courage has grown too rapid. How could you stand by the Wei River this morning, watching His Majesty's carriage being launched—with the audacious words 'He can replace you'? Yet, when you were arrested late at night, you kept saying 'We are good citizens!'"
Hearing Meng Yi tell him everything he had shouted out in the morning by the Wei River because of his surging emotions, and that he had exposed his two false identities and called him by his real name, Xiang Ji clenched his fists and looked away unwillingly.
Seeing Xiang Liang remaining silent, Meng Yi was too lazy to argue with the uncle and nephew. He said coldly to the black-clad soldiers around him: "Closing the net!", then turned around and strode away with the cold sword in his hand.
"Don't push us! We will walk!"
"Who are you? Why are you here to arrest me?"
"Yeah, I was sleeping peacefully at home in the middle of the night. How could you guys suddenly rush in and arrest me?"
“…”
“…”
Horrified shouts rang out from all directions. When the uncle and nephew, with angry faces, had their arms tied with ropes by the Qin soldiers behind them and were pushed out of the door, they saw that the snow-covered yard was littered with chaotic footprints.
Han Huo, who had been standing in the house not long ago, confidently entertaining the uncle and nephew, was now lying face up in the snow, his life or death unknown.
When the two men struggled to be taken out of the courtyard, they saw in the flickering light of torches that soldiers in black were pressing down on disheveled men, dragging, pulling, or pushing them out of different courtyards.
The quiet small town on the outskirts of the city was in chaos, disorder, and noisy, as if it were a war.
The uncle and nephew felt a chill in their hearts. What else was there to not understand?!
This small suburban town, which was a mixed crowd and full of anti-Qin people, had actually been targeted by that man for a long time!
Even the mysterious head of the family who worked in the palace and whom Han Huo was proud of must have been discovered by that man long ago!
The strong man and the young man couldn't help but look at each other, their eyes filled with endless regret and unwillingness.
The rest of the captured people gradually figured it out and quickly knelt down and cried loudly:
"Wuwuwuwu, don't arrest me, I'm a good citizen! I really am a good citizen!"
"I am also a good citizen! I am not a remnant of the anti-Qin rebellion!"
"You've got the wrong guy!"
"Shut up! You can cry out in jail if you have anything to say!"
“…”
“…”
Some were crying, some were shouting, and some were struggling to escape.
Upon receiving the news, the old pavilion chief, having rushed over in the middle of the night, jumped out of bed and was shocked to see the chaotic scene that resembled a vegetable market. He caught sight of the equally stunned and shocked old village chief standing nearby. Then, recalling the news that had spread from the city that the emperor had been assassinated in the western suburbs, the two old men exchanged a glance. Then, looking at the common people being taken away by the soldiers, they instantly broke into a cold sweat. Could it be that all these people, captured from their homes by elite soldiers in the middle of the night, were assassins?!
Seeing that the two old men were shocked and confused, and obviously out of touch with the situation, Meng Yi did not explain much.
The situation in these immigrant settlements on the outskirts of the city is really too complicated. After Zhang Huai's identity was quietly exposed in front of His Majesty that day, the people around him had already been secretly understood by the people sent by His Majesty.
He held the Ji Jin sword in his arms and watched quietly in the snow as the remnants of the anti-Qin forces were quickly captured from every nook and cranny by the soldiers, shouting in fear, "I am a good citizen! I am a good citizen!" Meng Yi was too lazy to even make a mocking expression.
If these captured people could commit suicide on the spot, shout a few "anti-Qin" slogans, and shout out a few words of loyalty to their former motherland, he would be able to feel some admiration for them.
Before they arrested you, you were constantly criticizing the court for being unfair and insulting His Majesty for being unkind to you! Now that we've caught you, you're all crying and yelling, "You've been arrested by mistake. I'm an honest citizen!"
Ha - all the bones in the bodies of these remnants of the anti-Qin army with ulterior motives are not as strong as their lips. Your Majesty is in excellent health now. As long as you live a long and healthy life, these shady existences like you will be eliminated one by one sooner or later!
Amidst cries, shouts, and curses, on the dark snowy night, a large group of Qin soldiers pressed nearly a hundred remnants of the Six Kingdoms towards the city gate.
…
The snowflakes from the sky were falling heavier and heavier.
The cold wind blowing in our faces became increasingly biting.
Like a string of grasshoppers, the uncle and nephew of the Xiang family had their hands tied and tied to a rope along with other anti-Qin people, and were dragged forward with difficulty by soldiers. After being taken out of Hanyangli, their hearts had completely fallen to the bottom.
Even though Xiang Liang was a smart and steady man, he couldn't help feeling discouraged when he saw the elite soldiers surrounding him.
What's going on?
The business just started to show signs of development, but it was met with a complete collapse at the very beginning!
In the morning, he was standing by the Wei River and was proud of his nephew's great ambitions. But late at night, in the blink of an eye, the uncle and nephew had become prisoners of the tyrant.
The key is - where did they go wrong? !
They were arrested as soon as they arrived in Xianyang. How could they overthrow the tyrannical Qin?
A strong man and a young man were pulled by ropes by soldiers in black. They walked with difficulty, leaving footprints in the snow one step at a time in the cold wind. They were cold on the body and even colder in the heart. The despair emanating from their inside out smelled bitter.
…
The next day, early in the morning, at the end of the Yin hour.
The sky outside the window was still pitch black.
In the southeastern city where the common people of the imperial capital gathered, the south-facing city gate rumbled open again, crushing the white snow.
On the quiet eve of dawn, the sound of the wind and snow was mixed with the sound of horse hooves. Mixed in with the crying and shouting, the dim streets covered with thick snow instantly became noisy.
Some brave common people in the city heard the noise, put on their clothes and hurried to their doorsteps. They quietly opened the door a crack and leaned over to look out. They saw people on the street who were tied up with ropes like grasshoppers and were being pressed forward by elite soldiers. Their eyelids jumped in surprise, but deep down they breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the thief hunt that had caused a stir throughout the city during the day was finally coming to an end.
Liu Ji, who was sleeping soundly, was also awakened by the sudden loud noise on the street. He also yawned and climbed up from the wooden bed of the inn, walked to the window on the second floor, opened the window slightly and looked down. Under the flying snowflakes, he could vaguely see the chaotic scene below. He couldn't help but widen his eyes and sighed twice.
"A real man should be like this. Even a real man is remembered by others!"
He pulled at his collar with both hands and watched the large group of people walking away in the snow below before he closed the window again and huddled back into the warm bed.
An oil lamp at the end of the bed was dim, and Liu Ji's sleepy head was slowly cleared up by the cold wind outside.
He lay in bed, looking at the beams above his head, and a rare moment of reflection arose in his heart.
This year Liu Ji is 38 years old. Many people of his age have already become fathers, but he is still a bachelor in name.
In the past, he had enjoyed his leisurely days as a local boss in Sishui Pavilion. Although he was not married, he already had a woman and a son, so he did not have the anxiety of an ordinary bachelor. However, ever since he saw that Lu Zhi endured humiliation and passed the examination to become the Imperial Court Official in order to escape marriage with him, and Fan Kuai also joined the army and left his hometown to attack the Baiyue in the south in order to fight for a title, Liu Ji's hedonistic mood of playing with the world has quietly changed.
Especially yesterday morning, when he happened to watch the grand procession of Qin Shi Huang's travels by the Wei River, it was impossible for him to say that he was not moved and had no thoughts in his mind.
Unfortunately, the barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes. Although Liu Ji's current life is not as affluent as that of his ancestors, it is better than the worst and better than the rich. He can barely be considered a "person wearing shoes". Listening to the noisy crying in the street, he rolled up the quilt in distress and turned over. The little ambition that he had developed from watching the emperor's travel was blown away by the cold wind outside the window like a newly emerged flame.
"Oh, forget it. Although Qindu is a good place, it also has many flaws. I'd better go back to Sishui."
After a little struggle in his mind, the head of Sishui Pavilion finally gave up and prepared to invite the three Lu brothers and sisters to the restaurant for dinner and chat.
Although the imperial capital of Xianyang is nice, how can it compare to the peace of mind he feels in his hometown of Pei County?
Liu Ji decided to go back to his hometown and lie down. Gradually, he could no longer hear the noise on the street, and fell asleep again in a daze, rolled up in the quilt.
…
At the first hour of the morning, the dark sky outside the window had turned dimly light. In the warm and cozy room of the emperor's eldest grandson in the mansion of the eldest son of the royal city.
Following her biological clock, Qin Ying climbed out of the rosewood bed with sleepy eyes.
Seeing this, the wet nurse waiting by the side hurriedly bent down and carried the little prince out from the wooden railing.
The little fat boy was rubbing his eyes with his little hands when a mechanical electronic sound suddenly rang in his mind.
【“Drip drip drip”——】
[This system has detected that during the 38th year of the Qin Shi Huang Emperor's reign, which does not exist in historical records, the host, Qin Ying, had just helped Qin Shi Huang change the fate of his death due to illness in Shaqiu, yet she had the audacity to present the "Records of the Grand Historian" to Qin Shi Huang!]
After reading the "Records of the Grand Historian," Qin Shi Huang was furious! Not only did he imprison Qin Er Shi and the treacherous minister Zhao Gao, he also used drastic measures to quickly arrest and imprison the young Overlord of Western Chu, who had sneaked into Xianyang City with the intention of rebelling!
[When the 48-year-old Emperor Gaozu of Han saw the captured Overlord of Western Chu in his inn room, he was so shocked that he gave up his ambition to stay in Xianyang!]
[In just a few months, the host saved Qin Shi Huang, invited the Marquis of Huaiyin, kidnapped the Overlord of Western Chu, and frightened Emperor Gaozu of Han! In one fell swoop, he extended the fate of the Qin Dynasty by another fifty years! He is truly capable!]
[Please, capable host, keep up the good work! May you soon become the crown prince! And put an end to the disastrous ending of the Second Emperor of Qin!]
Early in the morning, after hearing the "beep beep beep" of mechanical electronic sounds in her mind, Qin Ying, who was staying in the bathroom to take care of her physiological needs, had all the sleepiness in her head driven away, and her pair of almond-shaped eyes became bright and shining.
[Xiang Yu has been successfully captured by Meng Yi?!]
He quickly took care of his physiological needs on the agarwood toilet, and after cleaning himself inside and out with the help of his wet nurse with warm water, he put on a warm tiger-head hat, dressed neatly, and ran to the restaurant. Sure enough, he saw his father and mother sitting together discussing something.
The little fellow hurriedly ran to the two of them on his short legs, bowed and said:
"Ying greets father and mother."
"Ying, come here quickly."
Wang Ling smiled and reached out to hug the neatly dressed little fellow. Fusu, who was sitting beside him, looked at his son's bright almond-shaped eyes and couldn't help but ask the chubby boy with a complicated expression:
"Ying, can you tell me in detail what happened yesterday when you and your grandfather were assassinated in the western suburbs?"
"Yesterday, the capital was in an uproar over this incident. In the evening, your eighteenth uncle and his teacher were imprisoned in the Palace of Diligent Learning by your grandfather's order. Since dawn today, hundreds of immigrants from the suburbs have been imprisoned in the city's prisons. Could it be that all of these people are assassins?"
Seeing the complicated emotions in her father's eyes, Qin Ying couldn't help but blink.
What should he say about this?
His grandfather was indeed "assassinated" yesterday, but the "assassin" was not a thief, but "Shiji", and the part of his grandfather that was assassinated was not the body, but the soul!
That was simply like being struck by lightning!
Based on his understanding of his grandfather, he must have spent the entire night reading "Records of the Grand Historian" by lamplight in the Zhangtai Palace.
My grandfather had already quickly dealt with Hu Hai and Zhao Gao, and my stupid father probably couldn't escape either.
On ordinary days, Silly Dad would hold different political opinions in the court in front of Grandfather, which angered Grandfather so much that he ordered Silly Dad to be exiled to the frontier, thinking out of sight, out of mind. But when the news of Grandfather's "death" reached the frontier, Silly Dad dared to argue with Grandfather several times while he was still alive. After he died, Silly Dad didn't even bother to go back to the city to investigate the situation and just slit his own throat with a sword. This kind of mentality is beyond description. To be honest, Silly Dad is really - when he should be obedient, he is stubborn! When he should be stubborn, he is stupid!
Not only did he die, but the Meng family also suffered a miserable end as a result.
He suspected that sooner or later his grandfather would give his silly father a few hard slaps on the solid head!
After organizing her words in her mind for a while, Qin Ying blinked her clear eyes and said directly to her silly father in a baby voice:
"Father, let me tell you straight. Yesterday, when I was accompanying you on a golden carriage, leaving the royal city for the ironworks in the western suburbs, a black bird suddenly descended from the carriage, signaling to me and you—"
"Two anti-Qin figures well-known in Chu have arrived in the capital. They've secretly colluded with the remnants of the anti-Qin forces lurking in Xianyang. In the future, when the Qin imperial family's ability to govern declines, these remnants of the fallen nation will ignite fires throughout the empire, sparking a massive uprising among the common people. This will destroy the vast empire that Great Father built with such great difficulty, sweeping across the world! And it will plunge over 20 million common people into the flames of conflict once again!"
"The Black Bird is merciful. It doesn't want to see the internal strife of Great Qin break out again. It doesn't want to see my father's life's work go to waste, and the five hundred years of hard work accumulated by the Ying Qin royal family vanish into thin air in a single day. After bequeathing the prophecy to my grandfather and grandson, my father used the assassination attempt as an excuse to openly and honestly hunt down the remaining criminals throughout the city!"
When Fusu heard his fat son's explanation, he nodded slightly. He could understand this matter, and it was pretty much what he expected.
What he couldn't understand was, "Ying, do you harbor a deep prejudice against your Eighteenth Uncle? When you first saw him in the palace when you were six months old, you beat him up. And every time you saw him in the palace afterwards, he didn't look happy. Since the palace soldiers were searching the entire city for rebels against the Qin Dynasty, why did your father hear the news that your eldest father had ordered your Eighteenth Uncle imprisoned as soon as he returned to the palace yesterday?"
"As a grandson or nephew, did you intervene in this matter?"
"I intervened." Qin Ying admitted.
"Ying, you."
Fusu never expected that his fat son, who was always shrewd, would admit it without hesitation. His eyes widened in shock.
Wang Ling couldn't help but frown, but she was a sister-in-law, and unlike Fusu, she didn't have the "elder brother filter" for the youngest brother-in-law in the palace. Seeing that her husband, who usually loved his younger brothers and sisters, was getting anxious when he heard his fat son's words, she quickly looked at the chubby boy in her arms and asked:
"Ying, as a junior, how can you interfere in the affairs between your eldest grandfather and your eighteenth uncle?"
"How on earth did you get involved? And why?"
Seeing the urging in her mother's eyes and the anxious look on her father's face, Qin Ying grinned at her father and said slowly in a childish, innocent, yet cruel voice:
"Mother, Father, the reason why Grandfather immediately imprisoned Eighteenth Uncle after returning to the palace yesterday was because he was unwilling to kill his son after learning about the Black Bird prophecy! Although Eighteenth Uncle is cruel and foolish by nature, Grandfather decided to use his useless resources and let him off the hook, considering that he hasn't yet committed evil in this life."
"What? Ying, what do you mean by that?"
Hearing these incoherent and horrified words, Fusu's long eyebrows not only did not relax, but became even tighter.
Wang Ling also pursed her lips, her head full of confusion.
Qin Ying looked at the couple's faces and said in a baby voice, "
"Father, what Ying meant to say was that yesterday, while in the golden carriage, my son and I not only received the warning from the black bird regarding the remnants of the anti-Qin forces outside the palace, but we also received warnings from the remnants of the anti-Qin forces inside the palace."
"The black bird said to Ying and his grandfather, 'The one who will destroy Qin is the Hu people.'"
"This 'Hu' doesn't refer to the barbarians outside the Great Wall, but to Ying's eighteenth uncle Hu Hai!"
"Hu Hai? The one who destroyed Qin?"
Fusu was stunned and repeated this strange sentence that he had never heard before, his face full of horror and disbelief.
Qin Ying nodded her furry little head and continued to speak in a breath:
"Yes! Father, Xuanniao told me and my great-grandfather yesterday that if Ying hadn't stopped him from taking the poison pill made by that fraudulent alchemist two years ago, in another ten years, he would have been exiled to the Great Wall to guard it because of his inappropriate remarks in court so many times and angered him!"
"My grandfather will also, during one of his tours outside the Great Wall, tragically pass away suddenly. Then, my eighteenth uncle, Hu Hai, who will stay by my grandfather's side, will seize the opportunity and join forces with the court officials to seize power in the capital! He will use a modified and forged imperial edict to trick my father into committing suicide by sword at the frontier! He will force my mother to commit suicide in the mansion! He will kill Ying swiftly and decisively! He will chop off the heads of my sixteen uncles! He will also brutally dismember my ten aunts! He will slaughter all the loyal ministers left by my grandfather! He will drive chaos into the world and bring war to an end!"
"Eighteenth Uncle alone could destroy the Qin Dynasty in just three years! After becoming the Second Emperor of Qin, not only would he slaughter all of Grandfather's direct descendants, he would also bring about the demise of the Second Emperor of Qin! This would wipe out the entire Qin imperial family!"
"He calls me brother, sister, and younger sister affectionately, but his hands are stained with the blood of every member of the royal family! Eighteenth Uncle's evil ambitions are abhorrent to both humans and gods. He's truly terrifying!"
Fusu: “!!!”
Wang Ling: “!!!”
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