The atmosphere in the next banquet hall was very harmonious.
Ying Zheng was obviously the happiest one. He drank a few more drinks when he was happy.
After the banquet, Ying Zheng paid another visit to Meng Ao and then took his leave, taking Zhao Gao and Imperial Physician Song back to the palace.
After Meng Wu arrived at the door, he ordered Meng Tian and Meng Yi to see Ying Zheng off. The two brothers were sent to the palace gate before returning to the palace.
At the entrance of the palace, two strong men dressed as guards were waiting, it was the second watch and the third watch.
Seeing that Ying Zheng was back, Er Geng stepped forward quickly, holding a scroll in his hand, which he said was the portrait of Princess Zhao sent by someone sent by Lu Xiangbang, and ordered to hand it over to the king for tasting.
Ying Zheng was curious, because Zhao Ji once asked him to pay attention to the princesses of the Zhao Kingdom. Apparently Lu Buwei also had the same intention, so he only sent picture albums of this country, not princesses of other countries.
After entering the door, Er Geng handed the album to Ying Zheng.
After opening it, Ying Zheng was stunned and sobered up a bit.
The Princess Zhao in the painting is very special, and this painting seems to have broken Ying Zheng's perception.
You must know that other portraits of princesses are all wearing loose and dignified princess costumes, but the princess in this painting is actually wearing a Hu costume, but it seems that it is only worn by Hu nobles to participate in ceremonies. The kind of woman in the painting is energetic, heroic, and very capable. She looks to be seventeen or eighteen years old, with bright eyes.
Ying Zheng was immediately attracted, his eyes stopped on the scroll and he couldn't move away.
For a man, especially a king of a country, if he wants to choose his favorite among many beauties, then the man will definitely choose the most special woman. The princess in the painting is obviously the most special one. Not to mention that the clothes in the painting are different from other princesses, but the courage to present the portrait in gorgeous clothes to a king to choose his concubine is different from ordinary people.
"You mean, this girl is the princess of the Zhao Kingdom?" Ying Zheng asked Xiang Ergeng, and the word "Zhao Kingdom" was emphasized.
"Exactly, Your Majesty." Er Geng said, "The person who sent the picture album said that the Princess of Zhao is named Princess Hu Yu. She has liked to wear Hu clothes since she was a child, so King Zhao gave her the name Princess Hu Yu. As for the others, the people who came did not Not much to say."
"Princess Hu Yu..." Ying Zheng said to himself, "Even her name is different."
While Ying Zheng was deep in thought, Li Si stepped in, holding a scroll of letters in his hand.
"Your Majesty, you want Cao Min to write "The Way of Employing People", Cao Min has already written it." Li Si said with his hand.
"Thank you for your hard work, sir." Ying Zheng said, "You finished it so quickly. Did you write it very late last night?"
"The grassroots people haven't slept all night," Li Si said, but there was no trace of tiredness on his face, and there was no trace of blood in his eyes. It didn't look like he had stayed up all night.
Ying Zheng took the letter and handed the scroll to Li Si.
"Take a look, this is Zhao's princess picture album." Ying Zheng said.
"The common people don't dare." Li Si bowed his head and said, not daring to reach out and take it.
"Let you see it, just take a look and help me take a closer look." Ying Zheng motioned Zhao Gao over again, "You all have a look."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhao Gao took the scroll from Ying Zheng's hand and opened it to look at it, but in the same posture as Li Si.
Seeing the person in the painting, the two of them were startled at the same time.
"The State of Zhao promoted Hu costumes for riding and shooting. Many people had the habit of wearing Hu costumes, but most of them were men." Li Si nodded after reading the scroll, "I didn't expect that women wearing Hu costumes could look so heroic."
"He is truly a heavenly being." Zhao Gao also praised.
"You all can help me take a look at the pictures that will be sent to me in the future." Ying Zheng said with a smile, "I am very happy today, so I want you to see more of the future princess."
"Your Majesty, why are you so happy today and in such a good mood?" Li Si asked.
Ying Zheng said calmly: "Of course it is a matter of the Meng family. I went to visit General Meng today. He is ill, but the result this time is beyond expectations."
Ying Zheng recounted the events of the Meng family, and finally mentioned Sima Hong in particular. Because Li Si suggested that Ying Zheng should pay attention to the food, weapons, chariots and horses needed for the war, Sima Hong's family business can provide a lot of help.
Li Si nodded and said: "Don't be anxious, Your Majesty. The reserve of military supplies cannot be completed overnight. It is a cumulative process. What's more, in order to obtain the maximum reserve, many factors are needed, and these factors , Your Majesty still needs to resolve it step by step."
Ying Zheng seemed to understand what he heard, but he didn't think much about it. He chatted with a few people for a few more words, and felt a little tired, so he asked everyone to leave.
After a busy day and a lot of drinking, Ying Zheng felt quite sleepy.
After a short nap, Ying Zheng was almost awake from the wine, and had some dinner. I went back to the study, thinking about what happened in the past few days, and planning what I should do tomorrow.
"The portrait of Princess Zhao was sent by Lu Buwei. The last conversation with Lu Buwei was more or less reckless. Regarding the matter of General Meng, we should also explore his tone. There should also be a look at Jiuding. After all." Ying Zheng pondered in his mind, so he decided to go to Lu Buwei's house tomorrow.
Ying Zheng made up his mind, picked up the "How to Employ People" written by Li Sigang for him, and studied it carefully, still taking notes while reading.
Early the next morning, Ying Zheng handed Zhao Gao the "Policy of Destroying the Six Nations" and the "Policy of Warring the Six Nations" together and asked him to send them to the Meng brothers.
As soon as Zhao Gao walked out of the door, Ying Zheng suddenly remembered something and hurriedly called Zhao Gao.
"I have ordered one of the Meng brothers to be responsible for the preparation of ordnance, and the other to be responsible for the preparation of food and fodder. Now we are still short of someone to take charge of the vehicles and horses." Ying Zheng paused and said, "Why don't you... let me do it."
"I don't dare. I just want to serve the king. Besides, you can't be an official." Zhao Gao bowed and said.
"You are my brother. It's okay if I say yes." Ying Zheng said, "Besides, there is no suitable candidate at the moment. Just wait for the opportunity, and I will give you a car government order. That's it, don't do it. I declined."
"Then..." Zhao Gao didn't know what to say, so he could only bow his head and said, "I would like to thank you for your kindness."
Zhao Gao bowed down.
"Go, go to the Meng family and deliver the letters to the Meng family brothers. Tell them not to let outsiders see it. Take Er Geng with you and be careful on the way." Ying Zheng said.
Zhao Gao stood up, took the slips, and went to Meng Mansion with Er Geng.
Ying Zheng also went out with San Geng and went straight to Lu Buwei's Prime Minister's Mansion.
Ying Zheng did not go through the main entrance of Lu Buwei's foreign residence, because there were many guests from Lu Buwei's residence, there were many people, and it was quite noisy.
Ying Zheng went directly to the back door of the inner palace. At midnight, he asked the guards to inform him. The guards directly invited Ying Zheng to enter, saying that Lu Xiangbang had already explained it.
The Lu Mansion is very large and spacious. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the second palace in Xianyang City. The outer palace is the same size as the inner palace, and the outer palace houses three thousand guests. Its scale can be imagined.
When they arrived at the living room, Lu Buwei was already waiting in front of the door.
"Old minister, I see you, Your Majesty." Lu Buwei saluted.
"Father Zhong, please get up quickly." Ying Zheng quickly helped Lu Buwei up.
"If the king has something to do with the old minister, just call him over. Why come in person?" Lu Buwei said.
"Father Zhong's home is my home. I just go home to visit Father Zhong, so why bother Father Zhong." Ying Zheng said respectfully, but it was completely different from the way he spoke to Lu Buwei last time.
"Hahaha, that's true." Lu Buwei smiled happily, stretched out his hand in a gesture of invitation and said, "Your Majesty, please come inside."
The two of them entered the hall side by side. Ying Zheng sat on the main seat and invited Lu Buwei to sit with him.
The third watch did not follow him, but waited outside the door.
"Father Zhong sent someone to deliver Princess Zhao's picture album to the palace yesterday. I was not in the palace at that time, so I came here today to learn more about it," Ying Zheng said.
Lu Buwei already knew Ying Zheng's intention, nodded and said: "Yesterday, what I ordered to be sent to the palace was the portrait of Princess Hu Yu of Zhao State, one of the candidates to participate in the selection of concubine."
"This Princess Hu Yu is wearing a Hu costume, which I think is very special." Ying Zheng said with embarrassing eyes.
"It is indeed special." Lu Buwei said with a smile, "When I first saw this painting, the old minister thought that the envoy from Zhao State had taken the wrong scroll. If the envoy was not an old acquaintance of the old minister, I am afraid that the old minister would have held him accountable. , but I later heard that this Princess Hu Yu was a princess selected from thousands of people in the Zhao Kingdom who valued martial arts over literature."
"Is the envoy from Zhao State an old acquaintance of Father Zhong?" Ying Zheng asked.
Lu Buwei nodded and said, "Does Your Majesty remember Guo Kai?"
"Guo Kai? Which Guo Kai?" Ying Zheng asked.
"When the former king was a hostage, it was the veteran who helped the king return to Qin, where he became the prince, and later became the king of Qin. And when the king was a hostage in Zhao, it was also the veteran who helped the king return to Qin," Lu Buwei said. , "And this Guo Kai is an important minister of the State of Zhao. It was he who helped the old minister that enabled the late king and the king to return to Qin smoothly."
"Oh?" Ying Zheng said a little surprised, "Then didn't this person have kindness to others and even the late king?"
"Haha, this man just loves money as much as his life. Besides, it was just a fair transaction at the time. But the old minister owes this favor. Now he asked someone to send a letter, saying that he must send Princess Hu Yu's picture album I handed it over to the king, and also told the old minister to say a few kind words." After speaking, Lu Buwei shook his head with a wry smile.
"This favor from Father Zhong has been in arrears for a long time." Ying Zheng said with a smile.
Lu Buwei said: "The king is joking."
"After reading the album, Father Zhong, what do you think of Princess Hu Yu?" Ying Zheng asked.
"I feel that although Princess Hu Yu wears Hu clothes, she is not disrespectful, but looks very unique." Lu Buwei said.
"It's very unique." Ying Zheng handed the album to Lu Buwei.
Lu Buwei opened the album and said, "It's just that this is against the rules."
Ying Zheng was a little nervous in his heart. He didn't know what Lu Buwei's plan was for recommending it and saying it was against the rules, but he said with a rather calm face: "I really feel that women wearing Hu clothes do not look dignified and beautiful, but they do not look dignified and beautiful." Losing pride makes people feel another kind of beauty."
"The king really thinks so?" Lu Buwei asked.
"Of course." Ying Zheng said, "The reason why Zhao State sent this picture album was not to offend the Qin Dynasty, but to be different from what other countries presented in order to please me."
"If the king doesn't like it, it's a crime. If the king likes it, it's a merit." Lu Buwei put away the album and said, "I guess King Zhao wouldn't dare to offend Qin. I guess this woman must be different from ordinary people." place."
"Then let her come to participate in the concubine selection. I really want to see her." Ying Zheng said with a little expectation in his tone.
"Old minister, I obey the king's order." Lu Buwei said with cupped hands.
"By the way, Father Zhong." Ying Zheng changed the subject and said, "The reason why I was not in the palace yesterday was because I went to the Meng family. I heard that General Meng was ill, so I went to visit with Cheng Jiao. It seems that Meng The old general is seriously ill."
"When he first became ill, I went to visit him." Lu Buwei's expression changed, "I'm afraid it's not just as simple as being ill."
Ying Zheng was shocked. Could it be that the Meng family's military power was leaked?
