Xishu, the third son of Xishu, the head of the Xi family, has been doted on by Xishu since he was a child because his behavior resembles that of Xishu.
At the age of eighteen, he took charge of the Xi family's business in the Bashu area in the west of the empire, and was responsible for training the concubines who had a wide audience in the Bashu tower and attracted a lot of money.
At the age of twenty-five, he became an official in Yongxiang Ling. He was in charge of the eunuchs in the harem, the life of the palace maids, and the punishment of the palace residents' crimes. He received an annual salary of one thousand dan.
Doing things according to the laws of Qin in public affairs will not indulge one person in vain.
He is generous in private, easy to make friends with and bold.
He can drive a chariot, go to the battlefield, and he can write memorials with a pen.
In the Qin State, this was considered to be both civil and military, which was very rare. He had an excellent reputation in Xianyang aristocratic circles.
In the 29th year of this year, the West seems to be the next head of the Xi family, and he is familiar with many high officials in the court.
Wang Jian, the Marquis of Wucheng, once asked him if he wanted to join the army and could take him on an expedition.
The young general leader Meng Tian is a good friend of the West, and the two often drink and chat.
Even the First Emperor once praised the West. If this son had been born ten years earlier, he would have made great achievements in destroying the six countries.
There seems to be no shortcomings in the West. It has been smooth sailing all the way and the way it treats people is just right.
Associating with people who slaughter dogs righteously, you can hold the dog's legs with both hands and chew them until your mouth is full of oil, without feeling sloppy.
When traveling with nobles from aristocratic families, they are polite and courteous, as if they were old Qin nobles who have lived for hundreds of years.
Such a West, with normal development and promising future, has encountered something abnormal today.
There were three headless corpses in front of him. The warm blood was on his exposed cheeks and the back of his hands slowly became cold.
It took away the heat in his blood and skin, and the coldness enveloped him.
When he was first arrested in Tingwei Mansion, Xiang Xiang was not worried at all.
There are really too many people arrested, and they are still from the three major Meng Xibai families.
Generally speaking, as long as it is not a serious crime of rebellion, the more people you arrest, the less likely it will be.
When he heard that Li Si was trying the case and wanted to convict the three major families, the West was still not worried.
Meng Xibai, as one of the three oldest aristocratic families in the Qin State, could he be executed together for what crime he had committed?
It is a real crime of death, as long as it is not a major crime such as treason that touches the bottom line of the First Emperor.
Some other capital crimes will eventually become four words, the crime does not lead to death.
There is a saying in "Book of Rites": etiquette cannot be extended to common people, and punishment cannot be extended to officials.
The Zhou Dynasty, which governed the country by etiquette, divided people into ten categories and implemented this sentence for 800 years.
Shang Yang, a giant of Legalism who opposed Confucianism and believed that Confucianism was doing nothing but harming the country and should be driven away, proposed to rule the country by law.
"Historical Records: Biography of Shang Jun" says: Princes who break the law are guilty of the same crime as the common people.
At first glance, this should be considered progress.
In fact, this sentence is just bullshit for ignorant common people.
The formal judicial process is to commit a crime, be convicted, and receive the penalty for the crime - beheading, imprisonment, and quartering.
This sentence from "The Biography of Shang Jun" only goes as far as conviction and does not mention the subsequent punishment. This is a rogue act.
Qin law stipulates that those who spread ashes on the road will have their hands chopped off.
If a common man spreads ashes, he will be punished with having his hands chopped off.
If a nobleman raises ashes, he is guilty of raising ashes, and the punishment is unknown.
Sharing the same crime is not justice, but sharing the same punishment is.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao set a rule during his march. Anyone whose horse trampled on the crops in the field would be beheaded, and then his horse trampled on the crops in the field.
Cao Cao said that although I am your lord, I have made the rules and I cannot break them.
Master Mengde cut off a few hairs, and with a look that was killing him, he said that the body's hair and skin were inherited from his parents, and his hair was almost the same as his head. I will cut off my hair to take my place.
Things were like this in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, which had developed for four hundred years, and in today's era, this kind of situation will only happen more often.
King Huiwen of Qin killed someone when he was a prince, and his uncle took the punishment on his behalf. He was tortured and had his nose cut off.
That was where Qianlong was watching, it was the political game between him and Shang Yang, and it was the result of the struggle between the old and new forces.
Without the participation of top nobles, what does it matter if the prince kills a few people? I want to kill as many as I want.
Even with Qianlong watching like this, the prince would be executed according to Qin law if he killed someone, so wouldn’t that mean he wouldn’t be executed as well?
It is simply ridiculous that the death penalty should be replaced by torture after the master had suffered it. Isn't this the legal support of the Qin State?
This is why Qianlong is watching and must cut off the nose of a significant person.
If the prince's murder in the city were known to the public, Shang Yang wouldn't have to go to such trouble.
To find a random prisoner on death row and say that Teacher Wang Zi killed him would not only make the people angry, but also uphold the justice of Qin Law.
Under the policy of obscuring the people, most of the people in Qin were ignorant. Not only will you not feel insulted, but you will also thank Shang Yang.
This is how the West thinks, and this is also the mainstream thinking of this era, regardless of common people and nobles.
Things are indeed going according to Western ideas, and witnesses dare not continue to testify for fear of retaliation.
Not only has no one in the Meng Xibai family been punished, but they have not even been convicted. This is the norm.
Just when Xiang Xiang was getting bored and stood there with his eyes closed, waiting for the farce to end, his name was called.
Opening his eyes, Dongfang and the other four people whose names were called came on stage and were ready to go through the motions.
Before it was time for a cup of tea, the three people who had gone through the process before him were all convicted by Li Si and had their heads chopped off overtime.
Although these charges are true, it is abnormal. Nobles like them who come from a big family should not be convicted like this.
Dongfang wiped the blood on his cheeks with his hand that was splattered with the blood of the three families.
On the Western touch, the blood on the face was wiped away.
In the real scene, the blood stains on Dongfang's face changed from a line to a face, turning the face of Mr. Qianqian into a ghost-like one.
After listening blankly to the charges and witness statements narrated by Li Si, he stared at the evidence placed on the table in front of Li Si with unfocused eyes.
"The west."
Li Si lowered his head, not looking at the ferocious face of the West.
"What else do you have to say."
Appealing and self-certifying, this is the treatment that the three children of the three major aristocratic families who were killed did not receive.
Dongfang's mouth felt bitter and he smiled.
The sticky, dried blood was pulled away, making Xi Xi's face feel strange.
He raised his head and looked at the blue sky in the west, covering the sun with his hands and opening his eyes to the sun.
"Have you asked Your Majesty during this interrogation by the Left Prime Minister?"
"…Never."
"No?"
"Enforce the law impartially and act according to the laws of Qin. Why bother your majesty?"
"It's boring for the left prime minister to talk like this."
"Li Siben is a boring person."
"hehe."
Xiang Xi put down his hands, bathed in the not-blazing sunshine, took a deep breath, and smiled brightly.
"Brother Li, if Fang doesn't want Xilihutu to die, let Fang be a sensible person."
Slaves are inferior to merchants, merchants are inferior to farmers, and peasants are inferior to nobles.
The laws of Qin never govern the nobility, but the lower-ranking people who are inferior to the nobility.
The only person who can punish the nobles is a person who is higher than the nobles.
The West originally thought that the person who could ask Li Si to wipe out the three great families was the First Emperor.
In his mind, only the First Emperor could make Prime Minister Zuo Li Si act like this.
Unexpectedly, he learned from Li Si that it was not the First Emperor who did it, which surprised the West.
The noisy three families gradually quieted down. As children of aristocratic families, they may be playboys or incompetent, but they are definitely not pure idiots.
They did not accept their fate like the West.
But like the West, they want to know the reason for all this.
Why did the three people in front have to die? Are we in the back going to die again?
Only by knowing where the root of the problem lies can we find ways to solve it.
It was Qin Lu who convicted them.
The weapon used to kill them is Qin Jian.
But Qin Lu and Qin Jian are not the cause of their death, Qin Lu and Qin Jian's master is.
Li Si lowered his head, his cruel eyes filled with unbearability.
A few years ago, that down-and-out Chu man from Jixia Academy in Qi State bought gifts that even the housekeeper at the home of Lu Buwei, Marquis of Wenxin, looked down upon.
But he was picked up by a direct descendant who was born in a noble family. He smiled and said if he wanted to come to my school, he would suffer for a while. If you are really talented, I will take you with me the next time I see Marquis Wenxin.
At that time, the people of Chu were debating among the people in the Jixia Academy. They were at their most arrogant and arrogant, so they could not agree.
He bowed deeply to the black Shu brocade gown that only nobles could wear, said thank you and left proudly.
After that, the Chu people met the family members for the second time, which was at the residence of Marquis Wenxin.
Marquis Wenxin, Lu Buwei, invited the family members to a banquet at his residence, called Li Si out, and told the people of Chu that if nephew Fang had not told me what you said in the wine shop, I would not have noticed you.
"Si told you so a long time ago."
Li Si responded abruptly.
"Yes, Lord Chang'an?"
Xingfang's eyes flashed with disbelief.
Although the dispute between Ying Chengyu and the aristocratic family continued, he even killed a Bao Bailingzhi.
Xiang Xiang knew that Ying Chengyu was extremely bold, but he didn't know that Ying Chengyu was so bold.
Even though Li Si said at the beginning that he was following the orders of Lord Chang'an, the West never believed it and always thought that this was just the words of the First Emperor.
Li Si should not be silent, this is his acquiescence.
"Brother Li!"
Dongfang was excited and suddenly took a step forward.
The Qin swords at the waists of the soldiers on both sides were unsheathed, and the two swords intertwined to form a cross in front of the west.
"Stop!"
Dongfang suddenly woke up, took a step back in a hurry, and knelt on the ground with a thud.
"Prime Minister Zuo! I am the Commander of Yongxiang, and your Majesty's approval is required to kill me!"
Hearing that it was Ying Chengyu's order, a raging fire called hope ignited in Xiang Xiang's heart.
To convict and execute Yongxiang Ling, who had an annual salary of one thousand dan, actually did not require the First Emperor's intervention. Only an official with an annual salary of two thousand dan would ask for the First Emperor's approval.
The West's words gave Li Si a name to report to the First Emperor.
As the Yongxiang Order, Xingfang was half a member of the palace, and he met the First Emperor quite often.
No one knows what promises the First Emperor made to him or what he said.
Your Majesty didn't know about it, it was all done by that man. As long as Your Majesty knew about it, he wouldn't allow it!
"I have not heard of this decree."
Li Si raised his head when he heard a loud thud, and looked at the man kneeling on the ground in great embarrassment, in Xianyang's prestigious West.
A look of prayer appeared on West's face.
Li Si said coldly: "Si has been interrogated here for so long and is very tired. I have no time to talk to you. What else do you have to say!"
Li Si emphasized the emphasis on the word "so long". Dongfang was stunned for a moment, and then his expression turned to despair.
Yeah, so long.
Your Majesty must have known about such a big event in Xianyang.
There has been no imperial edict for such a long time, so His Majesty's intention is very clear.
He smiled bitterly, and stood up with his bloody hands on the ground that was stained red and smelly by the blood of the three families.
With his mind, if he was not frightened by life and death, he should have figured this out long ago.
"Left Prime Minister."
West lowered his head and spoke in a low voice.
"Ying Chengyu, is he the emperor?"
Li Si's expression changed.
"If he can kill me today, Ying Chengyu, he can kill you tomorrow, and all the princes in the court."
Xiang Xiang raised his head, and the cheek that was supposed to be that of a humble gentleman was truly bloody and ferocious, like an evil ghost crawling out of hell.
He yelled with all his strength: "Today's West! Tomorrow's princes!"
"Official leader, be executed immediately!"
Li Si roared angrily.
The soldier closest to the west brandished the Qin sword to chop off the head of the west.
"Fang Zilai!"
Xiang Xiang roared angrily, ducked sideways to avoid the Fu Bing's sword, got close to the Fu Bing and hit the Fu Bing on the wrist with his palm.
The soldier's wrist went numb and he lost consciousness, and the Qin sword fell from his hand.
Xiang Xiang elbowed the Fu soldier in the chest and drove the Fu soldier back five steps, then stretched out his foot to kick the hilt of the lost Qin sword.
Qin's sword bounced up under the force, and Xiang Xiang quickly grabbed the hilt with quick eyes and hands.
There were five more soldiers on all sides, either brandishing their swords or thrusting their swords to attack the west.
"roll!"
Dongfang roared and waved his Qin sword to block all the attacks.
"How can a noble die under Qin's laws! I am committing suicide!"
The shining Qin sword wiped across the neck, cutting through the throat and separating the arteries.
The West was soaked in the blood of others just now, and now it is finally soaking others in its own blood.
The warm blood carried the owner's resentment, and released his resentment under the warm sunshine. The owner fell to the ground slumped,
West body dies.
The three children of Meng Xibai's family became noisy again, shouting and roaring filial piety.
"Is that Zhuzi the emperor?
"If you can kill Meng Xibai today, you will dare to kill the king tomorrow!"
"With this son in Qin, who can bring peace to the country?"
"Master Zuo Xiang, aren't you afraid that you will be the one bleeding here tomorrow?"
"Anyone of you, Yan Yan, who can stay out of this matter, is the meat of the chopping block!"
Li Si looked ugly.
He was not instigated by these people to rebel. As the leader of both Confucianism and Legalism, he would not be confused by these few words.
But he could not remain indifferent to these words and ignore them.
Li Si knew very well that the relationship between Ying Chengyu and the First Emperor was very good and unusual.
He was beaten into a pig's head for instigating a relationship between the two of them. He once heard the First Emperor say with his own ears that Cheng Xi would not betray. He once saw with his own eyes the piece of jade that represented the identity of the King of Qin and had the same origin as the jade seal passed down from the country.
In private, Li Si already treated Ying Chengyu as the First Emperor.
But Li Si was not sure whether the relationship between the two could transcend the throne that was the lord of the world and symbolized absolute power.
Even though the First Emperor took Ying Chengyu to the high platform during the wax sacrifice and personally built momentum for Ying Chengyu, it seemed that he wanted Ying Chengyu to inherit the throne.
But before Ying Chengxuan officially succeeded to the throne, the First Emperor was still sitting on the throne.
At this time, Ying Chengyu is exercising his royal power as a minister and wants to kill the entire family of the three great families. Is it appropriate?
Li Si didn't know, but he was inclined to think that the First Emperor wouldn't care about it.
Whether it was Lu Buwei entering the Prime Minister's Mansion or Ying Chengyu retiring in Xianyang Prison, it all showed that the First Emperor had a high degree of trust in Ying Chengyu, so he did not report it.
In order to avoid making Ying Chengxuan unhappy because he did not carry out the order and reported to the First Emperor, and also made the First Emperor unhappy because he was not loyal to Ying Chengxuan, both sides would be unhappy.
But Li Si also knew that the First Emperor would not issue an order to destroy three families.
I don’t know what the First Emperor wants, but if Ying Chengyu does this, the First Emperor won’t allow it.
Li Si beheaded the person first, didn't that violate the wishes of the First Emperor?
Li Si, who was thoughtful, quickly thought of a way. He extended the interrogation time and waited for the First Emperor's instructions.
If there was no imperial edict from the First Emperor, it meant tacit approval, so Li Si could kill with confidence.
If things continue to develop without any surprises, Li Si's approach will be as perfect as a textbook.
But because of his personal friendship with the West, Li Si said a few more words to the West.
After the West learned that Ying Chengyu was responsible, they revealed the fact that the monarch's power had been desecrated and accused Ying Chengyu of being too powerful. Doing so would overwhelm the monarch's power.
He also used words to pull the court officials and the three Meng Xibai families into a trench.
It was impossible for Li Si to kill all the officials of Tingwei Mansion.
As long as he cannot, the words of the West will spread throughout Xianyang's upper social circles the next day.
Everyone from the First Emperor to the petty officials will know about this.
Li Si didn't know what the First Emperor's attitude was at that time.
And if the First Emperor is angry, even if he doesn't blame Ying Chengyu in his heart, he is just pretending to be angry because of the pressure of his ministers to maintain the monarchy.
So as it leads to the invasion of the monarchy and the arrest and killing of the three families, the three families must be rehabilitated. This is politics.
The opposite of a good person must be a bad person, and if you find that a good person secretly commits murder and arson, committing extremely evil crimes, you want to beat the "good person" to death.
Then we need to label the bad guy who is always in opposition to the "good guy" as a good guy, regardless of whether the bad guy is a good guy or not.
This is the fastest and easiest way to kill "good guys" in a reasonable manner.
Dongfang sacrificed his life to blaze such a path for Mengxi and Bai Sanjia.
"Take these people into custody on the spot and kill those who act rashly!"
Li Si said with a dark face.
Before the First Emperor knew what Xi said before his death, Li Si would not kill anyone from the three families.
The place fell silent, and everyone in the three families breathed a sigh of relief and expressed their gratitude to Xingfang, who was lying in a pool of blood.
The one who is most grateful to the West is undoubtedly the only remaining man among the five who stood up together.
If there was no West, he would be being read out the charges by Li Si at this time, waiting for death in despair.
After settling the three families of Meng Xibai, Li Si asked people to collect the four corpses on the ground and send them to Xianyang Prison.
…
Inside Xianyang Prison.
The heads of the three families were getting tired of scolding, and they couldn't keep turning a blind eye to Nephew Gan behind him.
The three of them ignored Ying Chengyu at the cell door and turned around, as if they had just seen Gan Luo.
He greeted Gan Luo for a while and criticized Ying Chengyu's insidiousness in front of Gan Luo, and swore to save Gan Luo.
Gan Luo grabbed his messy hair and advised: "Three uncles should worry more about themselves."
Since the jailer left just now, Gan Luo's ominous premonition has become stronger and stronger.
If Ying Chengyu's words were gibberish, they would be revealed in an instant and his power would be reduced to nothing.
Gan Luo couldn't figure out why Ying Chengyu lied, so he could only take it as the truth, but he spoke from the bottom of his heart to dissuade the three masters.
However, the three masters thought that Gan Luo was sarcastically saying that after the three of them were arrested and imprisoned in Xianyang Prison, they did not think about rescuing them. Instead, they thought of seizing the opportunity to seize power and deserved to be arrested by Ying Chengyu and imprisoned in Xianyang Prison.
The three of them judge others by themselves, and they will be full of resentment and cynicism when they feel that they are in a different position.
After exchanging glances, the eagerness and anxiety on their faces disappeared.
Bai Fei sat next to Gan Luo and said calmly: "My dear nephew, if you were in our situation, what you would do would be no different from us."
Meng Jiakun had a cold face and snorted coldly.
"In the past, Qianlong used a trick to lead our three major families to oppose Wei Yang, and the surging river was soaked with the blood of our ancestors. The Gan family took the opportunity to rise to the top of the family. Although it only lasted for a few short years, this matter is true. What? You, the Gan family, were the first to do this to take advantage of others' danger, but now, your virtuous nephew, you can't blame me for following suit."
Xi Shu's eyes flashed with strange light and he sat back on the ground.
"I can understand the virtuous nephew's resentment. How about this? When we get out of Xianyang Prison, my three families will share the method of training concubines with the virtuous nephew?"
"Of course, my nephew will also tell my three families how to communicate with families from all over the world. Although my nephew's income is much more than that of my three families, he has always done business with the world.
"My three families were originally just operating in Guanzhong and never sold concubines to the six countries. Now that the world is beginning to become more prosperous, what place in Qi, Chu, Yanzhao does not like beauties?
"If it weren't for the fact that our three families alone could not train such a large number of concubines, how could this matter have come to the good nephew? The good nephew will suffer a small loss after being imprisoned, and my three families will pay a cornucopia of money. Is this sincerity enough?"
Gan Luochu was still listening to the words of the three people. When Xi Shu was halfway through speaking, he looked at the cell door and was stunned.
He reached out with one hand and knocked on the shackles around Xi Shu's neck, signaling Xi Shu, who had his back to the cell door, to turn around.
With the other hand, he called Bai Fei, who was paying attention to himself. Meng Jiakun turned his attention to the cell door.
"Three uncles, are they from your three families?"
The three of them said don't listen to that guy's farts and didn't bother to look back.
He saw three bloody heads and a corpse with a Qin sword stuck between the neck bones, piled at the feet of Ying Chengyu.
"Find a few death row inmates to kill, and you just want to scare me? Do you think I'm a twelve-year-old kid like you who can still be scared to tears?!"
Xishu ran over in small steps and kicked a head away. He looked at the white brains that were knocked out of the head on the wall of the cell, and smiled like a sick man.
Meng Xibai's three great families are numerous. Meng Jiakun, Bai Fei, and Xi Shu are the heads of the family, and they may be able to roughly identify the direct lineage of their own family.
But for the majority of the family branches, the three masters can only remember the outstanding children among them.
This is normal.
Most people in modern times do not have such a large family. How many people can know all their relatives?
It is common for distant relatives not to know each other when they are close, not to mention that each of the three major Meng Xibai families has hundreds of people.
"Uncle Shu, I told you a long time ago that you are sick. Your anti-social personality needs to be treated, otherwise you will die."
Ying Chengyu squinted his eyes, and there was a sharp aura in the two gaps, and the handsome man's face was as cold as iron.
"It doesn't matter if you don't know these people, you will always kill the people you know. When I cried and begged you to stop, you said with a cruel smile that these lowly slaves did not accomplish enough, died as a pity, and were not worth crying for.
"After so many years, I thought I had long forgotten the appearance of those poor women and your anti-human laughter. When I hear your laugh today, it is exactly the same as then, and I know that I have never forgotten it."
The jailer who stretched out his hand to send the body to the head came forward, and the jailer bowed and waited.
"Tell Li Si to kill my Uncle Shu's son first. I don't believe it. He doesn't even remember what his son looks like."
"only."
Ying Chengyu stared at Xi Shu's grinning, twisted mouth.
"Uncle Shu, Chengyu wants to ask you something more."
Peng Peng~
Xishu kicked two heads away with two kicks. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the heads hitting the wall, with a look of joy on his face.
"What do you want, Zhuzi? Do you want me to kick your head like a ball? Put your head under my feet, hahahaha!"
Ying Chengyu said every word.
"I, please, don't, please, me."
