Chapter 269: Enjoying it alone is not as good as enjoying it together in Xianyang
"Gai Nie."
"I am here."
The First Emperor threw the unfinished memorial over and said angrily, "Let that bastard give me an explanation!"
"only."
After Gai Nie left, Zhao Gao, who was missing an ear, stepped forward humbly.
Here is a nourishing medicinal soup made by the imperial physician Xia Wuqie, which contains precious medicinal materials such as ginseng, deer antler, and ganoderma.
The First Emperor took it with a gloomy face and took a few sips with a silver spoon.
He lowered his eyes and saw that the spoon in his hand was shining silver, so he threw it to the ground.
The silver spoon rolled several times on the ground, making a crisp tinkling sound.
"Change it to a wooden spoon. From now on, everyone in the palace will use wooden spoons."
"His Majesty."
Zhao Gao knelt on his knees, crossed his hands on the ground with the backs of his hands facing up, and knocked his head down on his hands.
"Silver changes color when it is poisoned. Eating with a silver spoon can keep your majesty safe. Please take care of your body and don't act on impulse."
The First Emperor stared at Zhao Gao's missing ear and said angrily, "That bastard knocked off your ear, how can you still speak for him?"
More than ten years ago, chopsticks and spoons in the Xianyang Palace were all made of wood.
This is not because Qin Jun took the lead in frugality, but because wooden tableware is more heat-insulating than metal tableware, more shatter-resistant than ceramic tableware, and smells more fragrant than clay and stone tableware.
However, as Prince Cheng Jiao's reputation grew, people from the court to the palace, both inside and outside, believed that he could fulfill the ambitions of the Qin emperors to unify the world and create a grand situation unprecedented in ancient and modern times. It was a blessing for the Qin State and the Ying family.
Although he held no official position and no rank, his say in Qin State was second only to that of the King of Qin. Most of the time, the King of Qin had to shamelessly ask for his advice.
Master Cheng Jiao, who was privately called the Little King of Qin by several important officials in the court, ordered that all the tableware in the palace be changed from wood to silver.
To this day, the Xianyang Palace is under the control of the First Emperor, and chopsticks and spoons are still made of silver.
"I am not speaking for Lord Chang'an. I am only speaking for Your Majesty. Please take care of your health."
Zhao Gao was lying on the ground with his head lowered, and his words were natural and sincere.
The First Emperor's eyes kept flickering, as if he wanted to see through the heart of this prince of Zhao State, whom he had known since childhood and who had protected him countless times. Finally, his gaze fixed on the ear that Zhao Gao had lost.
"Zhao Gao."
"I am here."
"Will you be the second Guo Kaihu?"
Boom~
Zhao Gao moved his hands away and his head hit the hard ground heavily.
A dull sound was accompanied by a broken forehead and splattering blood.
Zhao Gao's head was broken and bleeding!
"Your Majesty once said that the anger of a common man is to hit the ground with his head. Gao, you only have the courage of a common man."
The scarlet blood line is like a thin red rope, winding and flowing.
The First Emperor picked up the soup bowl, held it to his mouth with both hands and slurped it.
"You and I have known each other since childhood, and you have saved me from danger many times. I don't want to kill you unless it is absolutely necessary."
Sizzle sizzle～
The First Emperor drank as he spoke, and the entire small bowl of medicine went into his stomach.
"But you are forcing me to kill you."
Snap~
The porcelain bowl hit Zhao Gao's crown three inches away. The broken pieces of porcelain cut his black hair and stained it with red dots.
With his amazing hearing ability, Zhao Gao could hear the sparse sounds of scattered porcelain slag bouncing on the ground.
The broken porcelain bowl was so close to him that it almost smashed his head.
Zhao Gao could have dodged, but he didn't. He intentionally controlled his body's muscle instinct to dodge, like a heavy stone sculpture standing on the ground, not moving an inch.
“The soup is good.”
The First Emperor stood up and walked slowly.
A palace maid lowered her head and handed over a white handkerchief woven from Shu brocade that exuded a fragrant aroma.
The First Emperor took it and held it in his hand, but wiped the soup stains from the corners of his mouth with his sleeves.
The First Emperor held Zhao Gao's arm, which was numb from being pressed to the ground due to the tension and blood flow, and personally pulled Zhao Gao up.
With his other hand, he grabbed the plain white handkerchief handed to him by the palace maid and wiped the blood off Zhao Gao's forehead.
"I dare not trouble Your Majesty. I will come by myself. I will come by myself." Zhao Gao was extremely terrified.
The First Emperor did not argue with Zhao Gao, but threw his handkerchief to him and asked him to wipe it himself.
His toes stepped on a large piece of porcelain and dragged it hard. The hard porcelain rubbed against the equally hard ground, and a sharp sound was heard between the two that was difficult for ordinary people to accept.
The First Emperor snorted coldly and said, "This porcelain bowl is you, Zhao Gao. I have already killed you once. Don't be a treacherous minister like Guo Kai and force me to kill you a second time."
"Gao is only a flatterer, not a treacherous minister."
Flatterers are servile and fawning, while treacherous ministers abuse their power and mislead the country.
Zhao Gao, with a fawning look on his face, carefully tucked the handkerchief handed to him by the First Emperor into his lapel.
Zhao Gao cleaned up the broken porcelain pieces that the First Emperor had dropped, wrapped them up in cloth, and put them in his arms.
Seeing this, the First Emperor could not help but laugh and scold: "You put this in your arms? Aren't you afraid of getting pricked?"
"This bowl died for me. I am grateful to you, so why would I be afraid of being hurt by you?" Zhao Gao bowed his head and said humbly, "I will remember your majesty's grace."
"Ha." The First Emperor laughed, pointed at Zhao Gao and cursed: "You are really a treacherous minister."
"As long as I can earn your Majesty's smile, I am willing to be a flatterer."
The First Emperor looked at Zhao Gao's smile, which seemed to be from the heart, and he could no longer utter the words of criticism that he had been accumulating.
To say that he trusted Zhao Gao very much, in fact, he didn't; he was just soft-hearted.
He grew from an abandoned son of Zhao State to the ruler of the world, and his title changed from the insulting Zhao Zheng to Your Majesty, and then to Your Majesty.
The First Emperor had met too many people in this wonderful life, including friends and confidants who he thought he would share life and death with, and enemies who he had killed thousands of times in his dreams...
But as time passed, those people gradually disappeared.
Prince Dan of Yan, who had been held hostage in Zhao State with the First Emperor, sent assassins to assassinate him, but his father, King Xi of Yan, beheaded him and handed his head to the First Emperor.
King Yan of Zhao, who was once arrogant and domineering, and who was bullied by the State of Zhao in every way, died of illness on the throne after nine years in office. If he had lived a few more years, he would have seen the Qin army break through the city of Handan.
Perhaps it was because he had accomplished his ambition to unify the world, or perhaps it was because he was getting older.
In the past, if Zhao Gao dared to inform the First Emperor, he would have been beheaded, even if he informed the First Emperor's mother.
But now, the First Emperor looked at the blood oozing from Zhao Gao's humble forehead and could not bear to say even harsh words...
Two hours later, Hero Gai, who had gone to find Ying Chengjiao to give instructions, came back.
Looking at Zhao Gao, whose mental state was completely different from before he left, he wondered if this dog had eaten bee poop.
"What did that fellow say?"
The First Emperor's mood had calmed down a lot, and he was calm when he asked this question.
Gai Nie had no expression on his face.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty."
Zhao Gao has always been subjected to the shock of Gai Nie's abnormal behavior and has become accustomed to it.
He showed no expression at all and just complained in his heart that this plague god had offended His Majesty again.
The First Emperor thought he knew Gai Nie well, and said gloomily, "Did that bastard say that?"
Hero Gai replied emotionlessly, "No, Nie said so."
The First Emperor lost his composure immediately, picked up rolls of bamboo slips and threw them at Gai Nie, shouting as he did so.
"You said that? How dare you talk to me like that? Am I too lenient with you?"
Zhao Gao frowned, wondering why the First Emperor had not punished Gai Nie even though he was so rebellious.
What's the big deal about being scolded? He didn't even get beaten with a stick.
It is difficult to see the expression on Gai Nie's face, but after being followed by Gai Nie for a long time, the First Emperor could more or less guess what Gai Nie was thinking. It seemed that he was helpless, and also wanted to enjoy the show?
Gai Nie, who dodged all the bamboo slips, said calmly, "Chang'an Jun said, 'Didn't he want me to be king? What can I do to him in order to be king?'"
Zhao Gao suddenly realized.
This time, the God of Plague actually showed mercy to His Majesty. You have wronged him.
No, Gao was affected by this plague god!
Shouldn't Chang'an Jun be arrested on the spot for saying such things, so that he can be tried by Your Majesty? How could he bring back such treasonous words?
The First Emperor was furious. He immediately took off his noble and luxurious crown embroidered with the black bird, rolled it up twice and threw it to Gai Nie.
Wearing only his underwear, he shouted, "Send it to that bastard! Send it to that bastard!"
This time, what was thrown at him was the crown and robes that symbolized the highest power of the Qin Empire. Gai Nie did not dodge but caught it in his hands.
"Brother, what are you afraid of? When you wanted to gather all the soldiers in the world to cast twelve golden men and recruit all the wealthy people in the world to Xianyang, weren't you afraid of chaos in the world?
"The eight words 'Kings, princes, generals, and ministers, are all of a kind?' have already been spread out. Do you still care about the distribution of paper? I have already announced the method of making paper in the name of Zhang Liang to all parts of the country.
"Flood disasters submerged the nine provinces. Gun used the magical object Jiutian Xirang that could continuously grow, but it still could not prevent it. His son Dayu used human power to dig canals to drain the flood water, and the floods stopped. This shows that blocking is not as good as dredging.
"The people are not tools, they are human beings. We cannot just keep suppressing them. The situation in Han is very clear. The people's first priority is survival. As long as the Qin gives them a way to live, they will not rebel."
Gai Nie's words were plain, but the content was sonorous and powerful, which made it difficult for the First Emperor to calm down his anger for a long time.
The First Emperor, who seized the world with the Legalist doctrine, believed that what Ying Chengjiao said was heresy and a perverse theory.
From this long speech, the First Emperor only heard four words - it can't be stopped.
Unless the First Emperor issued another ban, anyone who hid paper would be killed, and anyone who dared to make paper would be exterminated along with his entire family.
But this is an excuse and reason for the remnants of the six kingdoms to gather together for rebellion and win over the hearts of the people. This is aiding the enemy.
However, if it is just a simple ban and the punishment is not that severe, then this order will be meaningless outside Guanzhong.
The only place where every order of the First Emperor could be carried out to the end was Guanzhong, which was covered by Qin law.
…
Several more days passed.
After being released from Xianyang Prison, Gangcheng Jun Cai Ze has been hiding in his own Gangcheng Jun Mansion, refusing to go out of the main gate or the secondary gate.
But this is of no importance. The effect that the aristocratic family pursued has been achieved, and the character of Cai Ze, the new leader of the aristocratic family, has been established. This is all they want.
None of the noble families took Cai Ze's words to heart when he said that he had reached an agreement with Ying Chengjiao that as long as Gan Luo did not cause trouble within ten days, Ying Chengjiao would release Gan Luo on time.
No one thought that a man who was good at preserving himself in troubled times could persuade the unruly and rampant Ying Chengjiao.
The noble families all agreed that this was just a trick of that boy to delay time.
Bai family.
The heads of the three great families, Bai Fei, Meng Jiakun and Xi Shu, gathered here.
Soak in a warm pool that releases steam, and enjoy the service of a dozen beautiful maids around you.
They were naked, but the maids by the warm spring pool were wearing some clothes.
The maids' clothes were dark black, pure white, grass green and sky blue.
But each of these colorful clothes was as thin as a cicada's wing, and even through a layer of gauze, it could not hide the fine hair between the lower body, and the number of them could be counted.
There was a girl with yellow hair and a childish look, standing in the warm pool with the water up to her neck. She held up a plate of wine and stood beside Meng Jiakun, acting as a beauty tool.
There was another beauty with a tall and plump figure, lying in the warm pool, the warm water caressing her body, allowing the three men to use their hands and feet and forcing a smile.
There are also three twin beauties, whose faces are as white as ice, and whose complexion can freeze the hottest days of summer. Water drops sliding down their faces are like melting ice crystals. Such beauty is rarely seen above water, but it is buried underwater.
…
The extravagance here is far worse than that of the only entertainment place in Xianyang, the Tower, but this scene is rarely seen by ordinary people.
"Brother Meng, Brother Xi."
Bai Fei casually patted the cheek of the beauty who was busy moving up and down while holding her breath, allowing her to catch her breath.
Meng Jiakun, Bai Zhu opened his eyes and looked sideways.
Bai Fei smiled and said, "It's better for all of us in Xianyang to enjoy the fun together. How about building a pavilion?"
