In Xianyang City, after being silent for a while, the name Shatilie was mentioned again.
Some people say that when Shatilik committed a serious crime, he was originally going to be executed. But Huaiguzi saved his life.
Some people say that when Sha Tilie was leaving, Huai Guzi was the only one to see him off. The two of them hugged each other and talked happily. Huaiguzi even said that he would be Sha Tilie's backing.
I don’t know where these rumors came from. At first, they were told by traffickers and lackeys, but later they were heard by servants of powerful families. After a short time, the courtiers began to talk about it.
Only a few courtiers knew about Shatilie's execution. Not many people know about the deliberate release of Shatilik in order to cause chaos to the Huns.
After hearing the rumors from outside, the courtiers inevitably had some thoughts about Li Shui. Some of the more upright ministers couldn't help but start writing letters, suggesting that Ying Zheng investigate Li Shui to see if he had colluded with the Huns.
Ying Zheng responded quickly and immediately sent someone to investigate. It took three days to arrest three homeless people.
The initial rumors came from these three people.
The officials responsible for investigating the matter tortured the three men, but the three men were also at a loss. They just said that one night, a masked man met them secretly, gave them some gold, and asked them to spread rumors. . When things are done, there will be more gold and silver.
Seeing that they couldn't ask any more questions, the officials had no choice but to report back to Ying Zheng. Ying Zheng gave the order to trap and kill them all.
As a result, the farmers who were buried underground in the mass graves outside the city had three more neighbors.
But after rumors appear, it is difficult to stop them. We cannot kill everyone in Xianyang City. What's more, there are many officials among them.
In the end, under Zhao Cheng's instigation, the Wang family's old party who had just taken refuge with Zhao Gao began to attack Li Shui.
These people got together and spent several days finally figuring out a clue, or to be more precise, they made up a clue in their head.
These people believe that since Li Shui was from Chu and later became unclear with Xiang Lian, it is very likely that he came to Xianyang under Xiang Liang's instructions.
As for the fact that Di Mushroom didn't come out during cross-examination that day, maybe Li Shui had received some special training. There are many witchcraft in Chu land, and Li Shui is an alchemist, so he has some strange abilities, which is normal.
Not only that, Li Shui also claimed that he once saw an immortal on the top of Kunlun Mountain. Then he must have been to the land of the Huns. Perhaps at that time, he had some contact with the Huns.
Then these old members of the Wang family speculated that Li Shui, who was responsible for Xiang Liang's defeat of Qin, felt that he was not strong enough to accomplish the important task, so he simply united with the Xiongnu.
In the future, Xiang Liang will raise his troops in the south, the Xiongnu will invade in the north, and Li Shui will make trouble in Xianyang. Then Da Qin can be defeated in one fell swoop.
As for why Li Shui knows immortality. Wang's old ministers thought. Either he had received guidance from an expert, learned something, and then lied about being an immortal and came to Xianyang to deceive others.
Or, he really had met an immortal and received some inheritance.
No matter what the situation is, Lishui is very dangerous. The emperor should not appoint him to an official position and let him roam around and come into contact with all kinds of people.
It would be best to kill him to avoid future troubles. Of course, if the emperor still has hope for alchemy, he might as well set a three-year deadline. Li Shui was imprisoned in the palace and was not allowed to contact anyone. Refining the elixir within three years will give him his freedom. If he can't refine it, he is a liar and will be killed immediately.
This suggestion was not only reported to the emperor, but also widely circulated among the courtiers.
After Li Shui found out, cold sweat broke out on his head: These people are really cruel.
To be honest, Wang's old party's suggestions hit the nail on the head.
Li Shui's original plan was to give Ying Zheng some sweet dates from time to time to give him hope, and then drag it out year after year.
As long as he dies and Fu Yao succeeds to the throne, he can be as high as the sky and let the birds fly.
But if Ying Zheng really locked him up to make alchemy, he would definitely die in three years.
Fortunately, after Ying Zheng read the letter from Wang's old party, he only said eight words: it's nonsense.
After hearing this, Li Shui breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Ying Zheng was still very wise and was not so easily deceived by villains.
At that time, Sha Tilie was arrogant and domineering in Xianyang City. He relied on Li Shui and Li Xin to control the Huns. Ying Zheng saw all this, not to mention that Li Shui suggested that Sha Tilie be sentenced to castration, and he and Sha Tilie forged a big feud. If he said that Li Shui colluded with the Huns, he would never believe it.
The petition from Wang's old party had no effect. After Li Shui was safe, he began to fight back.
He entrusted Wu Yue and others, and also wrote a letter to Ying Zheng, suggesting that the emperor eliminate the remaining members of the Wang family as soon as possible and restore peace to the court.
This time it happened to be consistent with Ying Zheng's plan, so he acted quickly and ordered the imperial envoy Feng Jie to thoroughly investigate the Wang family's old party.
A few days later, Feng Jie's thorough investigation has yielded results. There are many officials in Wang's old party who are protecting each other and doing illegal things.
Ying Zheng ordered that those who had committed the most heinous crimes would be beheaded and the rest would be dismissed, demoted, or fined.
For a moment, the court was shaken. Every time there is a court meeting, there are always a few people missing.
During the whole process, Wang Jian and Wang Ben did not react at all.
Wang Ben was demoted to a commoner, and he couldn't react even if he wanted to. Wang Jian has been recuperating at home. He only has his title and no right to speak. It is safest for them to remain silent now.
Wang Jian remained silent, which was understandable. What was even more strange was that Zhao Gao also remained silent. During the entire process, no action was taken, and Wang's old party was allowed to be killed, demoted, and exiled. It's as if he has nothing to do with Wang's old party.
Zhao Cheng found an opportunity and quietly asked Zhao Gao: "Brother, why don't you help Wang's old party?"
Zhao Gao asked calmly: "Why should I help?"
Zhao Cheng was stunned for a moment and said: "These people have already taken refuge in my Zhao family. Now that my brother is sitting back and ignoring me, doesn't it make them feel chilly?"
Zhao Gao said: "What do you think of your Majesty's help now? Are you afraid that the Wang family's old party will be disheartened, and are you not afraid of His Majesty's suspicion?"
Zhao Cheng was a little speechless. Since my brother was not going to get involved in this matter, why did he let himself run around in the first place to contact these old officials of the Wang family?
In those days, Zhao Cheng visited the house again and held big banquets. He was exhausted from all the efforts.
In the end, these people were only used once, and they were only secretly instructed to slander Li Shui once. Then half of these people were destroyed.
Making friends with courtiers is not a one-time deal, and the price is too high.
Zhao Gao saw his puzzled expression, patted his shoulder and said: "You are still young, you don't understand the ways of this. At the banquet that day, I vowed to tell the Wang family's old party , we must try our best to protect them. Do you think they believe it?"
Zhao Cheng said: "Those people shed tears of gratitude that day. They must have believed it."
Zhao Gao asked again: "Then do you think they still believe it now?"
Zhao Cheng shook his head: "I definitely don't believe it."
Zhao Gao chuckled: "You are half right. Those who were beheaded, dismissed from office, and expelled from the court must not believe it. But those who are safe and sound, or just fined, must believe it in their hearts. . They must have thought that it was me secretly meeting the emperor that saved them."
Zhao Cheng was stunned when he heard this: "It seems to make sense."
Zhao Gao added: "Although these people who are left behind are also members of the Wang family's old party, they have clean hands and feet and rarely do anything illegal. Therefore, they will be least implicated in the liquidation of the Wang family. I can only rest assured about people like this." Use them."
"In this way, I don't have to do anything. I can not only eliminate the emperor's doubts, but also gain a group of loyal courtiers. Moreover, the emperor has also eliminated all the bad apples among them for me. Killing three birds with one stone, wouldn't it be nice? "
Zhao Cheng was sincerely convinced when he heard this, and said: "Brother is really a heavenly being. With my brother as the pillar of heaven in Da Qin, I'm afraid he will be passed on to all generations."
Zhao Gao was proud and laughed.
…………
A few days later, Wang's influence in the court was already pitifully small. There were only a few scattered courtiers left, but these courtiers also claimed to have no relationship with the Wang family.
Li Shui thought that the dust had settled and the cancerous tumor of Wang family had been solved.
But that day during the court meeting, he was impeached again. The person who impeached him was Ma Lingshu, an old party member of the Wang family.
Li Shui was a little helpless. This guy had vowed that day to confuse right and wrong for the Wang family. Why was he still active in the court?
In fact, Ma Lingshu was a blessing in disguise.
What he said in the court that day. Completely offended the entire Wang family. It can be said that the liquidation of Wang's old party was initiated because of him.
Therefore, he has been completely isolated. Even if he surrenders to Zhao Gao, Zhao Gao's people don't want to see him.
Ying Zheng didn't bother to pay attention to such a lone person who was not a threat.
When Feng Jie conducted a thorough investigation, he found that Ma Lingshua, apart from being interested in promotion, had nothing to do with gold, silver and beauties, and could not find any evidence of guilt.
As a result, Ma Lingshu slipped through the net like this.
Li Shui looked at him and thought: "You jumped out on your own, so don't blame me for being rude."
Ma Lingshua looked like a bachelor and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Huaiguzi colluded with the Huns. The evidence is conclusive. Please punish him."
Ying Zheng also had a headache about this Ma Lingshua, and asked impatiently: "Where is the evidence?"
Ma Lingshu took out a bamboo slip and said: "On this, there are testimonies from sixteen merchants' family members. It proves that Huaiguzi forced a group of merchants to carry a large amount of gold and silver treasures to the Huns a few months ago. I think that , Huaiguzi is secretly supporting Shatilie."
"Reminiscent of the recent rumors in Xianyang City, Huaiguzi may really be colluding with the Huns."
Li Shui's first reaction was to frame him. When did I force merchants to send gold, silver and jewelry? For a person like me, if I break a penny into several petals of a flower, would I give him gold, silver and jewelry to Satire?
However, when Ma Lingshu began to read the testimony loudly. Li Shui was a little confused: "This Wu Tong sounds very familiar. Where have I seen it?" Baidu read the latest chapter of "I was a great stickman in the Qin Dynasty" for free for the first time.
