Two days later, Ying Zheng's army finally arrived outside Yueyang City.
The warmth of early spring makes people feel cozy and comfortable.
The melting of ice and snow allows the earth to be nourished most freely.
However, the earth is nourishing, but it is very inconvenient for marching.
The sergeants crowded forward on the official road as much as possible to prevent their feet from being sunk deep in the mud in the wilderness.
Outside Liyang City, the old clansmen were already standing together waiting for the arrival of King Qin.
According to the imperial system, these people from the old aristocratic families need to accompany Ying Zheng to Yongcheng to accompany the king to perform the crowning ceremony. No one dares to neglect such an important matter.
Ying Zheng got out of the car and everyone bowed down.
Ying Zheng raised his hand and said, "Your Majesty, please excuse me."
People from the old family and other officials stood up one after another.
The old family is headed by the Meng family, the Xi family, and the Bai family, and among the three families, the Meng family is the most respected, so Meng Lin, the patriarch of the Meng family, is naturally the flagship figure for everyone.
Meng Lin took two steps forward, cupped his hands and said, "We will lead all the disciples to welcome the king."
"Haha, no need to be polite." Ying Zheng smiled.
"It's cold outside, please go to the palace and rest for a while," Meng Lin said.
"Well, let's go." Ying Zheng waved his hand, and Meng Wu, Meng Yi and others followed behind.
When they arrived at the Meng Mansion, Meng Lin ordered the butler to serve the best wine and food to welcome King Qin.
During the banquet, everyone was talking about political affairs related to King Qin's crown ceremony.
After the banquet, Meng Lin, the patriarch of the Meng family, Xi Ting, the patriarch of the Xi family, and Bai Lang, the patriarch of the Bai family, sat around Ying Zheng in Meng Lin's study.
"Your Majesty, there is something that we would like to know the specific truth about." Meng Lin said.
Seeing that Meng Lin's attitude was extremely serious, Ying Zheng naturally did not dare to neglect: "What does Patriarch Meng mean?"
Meng Lin looked at Xi Ting and Bai Lang, and then said slowly: "May I ask Your Majesty, Lu Xiangbang... is he really suspected of raising troops to rebel?"
Read the book
Ying Zheng frowned and his mood suddenly sank.
Because the Queen Mother gave birth to a child, the name Ying Zheng least wanted to hear was Lu Buwei.
"Lu Xiangbang, rebellion?" Ying Zheng's voice was quite low, "I have indeed doubted him on this point, and I hope he will start trouble now, but there is really no evidence to prove that Lu Buwei has conspired to rebel."
The three clan leaders heard that there was something wrong with these words.
"Did Prime Minister Lu offend the king in some way?" Xi Ting asked.
Ying Zheng let out a breath and said, "You may know about this later, but for now, it's better not to ask."
The three clan leaders all saw clearly that based on Ying Zheng's current attitude towards Lu Buwei, if Lu Buwei really had the intention to rebel, King Qin would have taken action against him long ago.
"So, Prime Minister Lu has no intention of rebellion?" Bai Lang said.
"It's strange, since the king didn't catch any clues about Prime Minister Lu in Xianyang, how did the Queen Mother in Yongcheng know what Prime Minister Lu was thinking? Is it just a guess?" Meng Lin seemed to be talking to himself.
"The Queen Mother?" Ying Zheng asked doubtfully, "What does this have to do with the Queen Mother?"
"Your Majesty, this is what happened..." Meng Lin did not hide anything and told Ying Zheng what Lao Ai said to him two days ago without reservation.
To the surprise of the three clan leaders, Ying Zheng not only looked calm, but also beamed with joy: "Really? Are you saying that Lao Ai has left Yueyang and taken a detour to Xianyang?"
"It's absolutely true, Your Majesty." As he spoke, Meng Lin was still observing Ying Zheng's reaction.
"That's good, that's good." Ying Zheng said happily, "I'm just afraid that he won't go."
After hearing this, the three clan leaders were even more confused.
Chief Ying Zheng breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "If he leaves Yongcheng, then the queen mother will be safe."
Then, Ying Zheng told Lao Ai's true identity and intentions to the clan leaders.
The three clan leaders all took a deep breath.
You Qi Meng Lin stood up directly, knelt on the ground, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, forgive me, but I didn't know that Lao Ai was so ambitious, and I used my connections to help him purchase weapons and war horses."
After hearing this, Ying Zheng didn't look angry at all, and said slowly: "Clan Chief Meng, please rise up. The so-called ignorant person is not guilty. You must have thought that you were just relieving the temple's worries. However, if you feel guilty, During this trip to Yongcheng, how about you eradicating Lao Ai's gang members?"
Meng Lin stood up and responded: "Since the king does not blame him, then Meng must seize this opportunity to make a difference. When he helped Lao Ai purchase ordnance before, the roster he handed over to me still exists. I think we can definitely uproot his followers."
For Ying Zheng, this was an unexpected gain.
"Hahaha, good!" Ying Zheng laughed, "It seems that I have found the right person."
"Ashamed, ashamed." Meng Lin cupped his hands and said.
"By the way, you just said that Lao Ai came to you to ask you to hold me off for a few days so that he could have enough time to deal with Lu Buwei?" Ying Zheng asked.
"Exactly." Meng Lin said.
"Hmph!" Ying Zheng said coldly, "What he wants to deal with is not Lu Buwei, it is clearly the inner palace of the widow!"
"That's right." Meng Wu, who had been silent until now, said at this time, "He wants to hold the king in Liyang. He clearly wants to buy himself more time, then hijack the harem and negotiate with the king. The ultimate goal is, Just waiting for the coalition forces from Yiqu and other tribes to arrive."
"Hahaha..." Ying Zheng laughed suddenly, "It's just that his wishful thinking has already been expected by us."
"Yes, yesterday we also received a letter from Jiu'an, the general manager of Huayang Palace, saying that Lao Ai wrote him another letter. It said that Lao Ai asked him to be ready to send out the imperial guards at any time and open the harem. Palace gate." Meng Yi said.
Bai Lang's eyes widened and he murmured, "Could it be that the king has been using Jiu An to catch this big fish?"
Ying Zheng smiled and said: "It's not too early to say it, it was only two months ago."
Seeing that Ying Zheng's mood improved, everyone looked at each other and laughed.
In this way, Ying Zheng spent the night repairing in Yueyang, and the next day, he led his army on the official road to Yongcheng.
There are nearly ten more families in the team, all of whom are members of the old Yueyang family.
Three days later, Ying Zheng finally walked into Qinian Palace.
"My son, I wish to express my regards to my mother." Ying Zheng saluted.
Zhao Ji smiled and said, "Zheng'er, there's no need to be polite, come and sit down."
Ying Zheng walked forward and sat next to Zhao Ji.
"The queen mother heard that Hu Yu also gave birth to a prince. How are they doing? Are they okay?" Zhao Ji asked with genuine concern.
"Thanks to my mother, they and their son are fine." Ying Zheng said calmly, "Before coming, I just held a full moon ceremony for Hu Hai."
"Haha, that's good." Zhao Ji asked, "Who does the child look like? Is he as naughty as Hu Yu?"
"This child is just one month old, so you can't tell whether he is naughty or not." Ying Zheng said, "But the look between his eyebrows is very similar to that of his mother."
"Really?" Zhao Ji grinned from the corner of her mouth to her ears.
"Well, Hu Yu also said that the child looks very much like his mother," Ying Zheng said.
"Okay, don't make the queen happy. As you said, the child is so young, how can you tell who it looks like." Although she said this, Zhao Ji was still happy in her heart.
"Haha, when the widow returns to Xianyang with her after the crowning ceremony, the queen will see that Hu Hai looks different after all." Ying Zheng smiled and said.
When it came to the crown ceremony, Zhao Ji couldn't help but ask: "How are your preparations over there? Why did you come out half a month in advance?"
I saw Ying Zheng's expression suddenly changed, and he said with a straight face: "I can advance the time, why don't you pray?"
Your long letter is given by Hou Lao Ai. "
Zhao Ji's smile froze on her face: "Zheng'er, you, what do you mean?"
Ying Zheng snorted coldly and said, "What do you mean by this? Doesn't the Queen Mother know? I must have left Yongcheng for a few days under the pretext of inspecting the city's defenses, right?"
Zhao Ji stayed there for a while, then asked in confusion: "Is there anything wrong with him going to inspect the city defense for you?"
"For a widower?" Ying Zheng's tone became colder, "I'm afraid he only said that to you."
Zhao Ji became more and more confused by what Ying Zheng said, and asked anxiously: "Zheng'er, what are you talking about? Is there any misunderstanding in this?"
Ying Zheng sighed and said with some helplessness: "Empress, Empress, until now, you are still kept in the dark. Okay, now I will tell you the whole story. However, the Queen's heart is really... Be prepared, there are some facts that the queen may not be able to accept for a while, but she has to face the reality."
Zhao Ji had already had a premonition in her heart, and she managed to calm down and said, "Just tell me."
Ying Zheng stood up, used Li Si's method, and said, "Does the Queen know who Lao Ai is?"
"He? He's just a boy from Yiqu who came from the market." Zhao Ji replied.
"No." Ying Zheng shook his head and said, "I think back then, Empress Dowager Xuan planned to annex Yiqu, and some Yiqu people moved westward because they were unwilling to surrender. This Lao Ai is the current Yiqu survivor. The son of the leader Yu Tu."
"What?" Zhao Ji's face was full of horror, and she obviously didn't know about this.
"And Na Yutu spent all his money to send Lao'ai to Xianyang and let him climb up. The ultimate goal was to take the opportunity to cause trouble and restore Yiqu to the country." Ying Zheng paused and said, " And judging from Lao Ai’s ambition, his final goal is more than that.”
Zhao Ji was speechless and her mouth opened wider.
"In the past few years, Lao Ai has tried every means to climb up. Finally, with the help of your power, he became the Marquis of Changxin, and he also has military power in his hands." Ying Zheng's speech was still unhappy, "And now , Lao Ai, who has gained a certain amount of power, is afraid that I will attack him after he gains the royal power, so he has contacted Yiqu's remaining troops and plans to attack Qin from both inside and outside."
After being stunned for a long time, Zhao Ji's eyes finally regained some focus and she asked aloud: "Your Majesty knows so much in detail. Could it be that he has already suspected Lao Ai and has certain evidence?"
"That's right." Ying Zheng nodded and said, "Since the last time I came to Yongcheng to visit my mother, I have discovered some clues and then started investigating. Now, if you want witnesses, there will be witnesses, and if you want physical evidence, there will be physical evidence."
"How could this happen..." Zhao Ji's eyes flashed with blurred tears, "It's because the queen mother believed in him..."
Ying Zheng saw his mother crying in front of him, and his heart softened. He moved closer to Zhao Ji, and his tone was no longer so harsh: "Okay, mother, don't be too sad. You are also a victim after all. However, I will never let him hurt you again."
Zhao Ji nodded lightly, and suddenly thought of something while feeling sad: "Zheng'er, since he didn't patrol the city defense for you, where did he go? Will he pose a threat to us?"
Ying Zheng said with a gloomy face: "According to the information currently available, he should have bypassed me from Yueyang and then headed to Xianyang. The purpose is to hijack the palace and kidnap the people in the harem to force me to submit."
"Ah?" Zhao Ji was shocked, "What, what should I do?"
"Don't worry, Queen Mother." Ying Zheng said with confidence, "I have already arranged my pockets and are waiting for the thief to get inside."
"Okay, once we catch him, I will interrogate him carefully." Zhao Ji said, biting the corner of her mouth.
Unexpectedly, Ying Zheng turned his back and said coldly: "I still want to ask my mother, this big thief will definitely not be able to escape, but what about the little thief?"
Zhao Ji's face suddenly turned earth-colored, her legs softened, and she fell down on the chair.
