In the first month of the forty-eighth year of King Zhao of Qin, in the State of Zhao, Handan.
It has been snowing heavily for three days in a row. The snow on the road is three feet deep and there is still no sign of stopping. In the just-concluded Battle of Changping, the Zhao State was encircled and killed by the Qin army, with 400,000 people killed. The city was in a state of depression, everyone was in danger, and there were few pedestrians on the road.
I saw a carriage speeding over, running over the snow quickly, making a "creak" sound. The car stopped in front of a mansion gate. The gate was very wide, but there wasn't even a plaque.
An old woman got off the carriage, and immediately someone ran out of the house to greet her. A man who looked like a steward ran out and shouted: "Third Aunt, please come to the inner hall quickly. My young master has been waiting in the lobby for a long time."
"Here he comes. Mr. Lu has already told me about the situation here. Don't worry. As long as I, Aunt Zhao, are here, any child can be delivered safely!" Aunt Three muttered as she walked away. This third aunt is a well-known midwife in Handan City. She has delivered no less than forty or fifty children, and none of them had any accidents.
As he was talking, he entered the lobby. There was already a young young man there. Seeing the old woman coming, he stood up in a hurry and said, "Third Aunt, please make sure that their mother and son are safe. I can pay you any amount! I, the stranger, will do what I say!" "The foreigner was a hostage sent by the Qin State to the Zhao State four years ago. However, the war between Qin and Zhao continued, and he was also treated coldly by the King of Zhao. He was able to survive with the help of the big businessman Lu Buwei.
"Since you agreed to Mr. Lu, you don't have to be polite to me. Take me in quickly. I will do my best!"
"That's it, thank you very much! Zhao Jia quickly takes Aunt Three to the inner hall."
Zhao Jia took his third aunt to the inner hall in a hurry. Within an hour, a baby's cry came from the inner hall, making the stranger feel happy. The third aunt soon came out with the child in her arms and said with a smile: "Congratulations! It's a boy. Mother and child are safe." Yiren was so excited that he took the child and shouted: "I'm a father! I'm a father! Zhao Jia Look how much he looks like me!".
"Congratulations to the young master, congratulations to the young master! Look at this little mouth, how much he looks like a young master!" Zhao Jia pointed at the baby and said. Zhao Jia was originally from the Qin State. He came to Zhao State as a hostage with a stranger a few years ago. However, the relationship between Qin and Zhao has always been tense and he was not favored by the King of Zhao. Therefore, the two relied on each other for life and had a very deep master-servant relationship. In this lonely time, they are very excited about the arrival of this little life! This may add a touch of brightness to your future life.
Just at this moment, a middle-aged man broke in. This man was of medium build and extraordinary in appearance. When he saw the stranger, he hurriedly said, "Buwei is late because the road is blocked due to heavy snow. How are my wife and children?"
"Sir, you came just in time. Thanks to the presence of the third aunt, their mother and son are safe! He is a big boy. Come and see how blessed this child is!" the stranger said excitedly.
"Haha! Congratulations, sir, on your son! This is God's blessing to you!" After congratulating the stranger, Lu Buwei turned to his third aunt, took out a bag of silver, stuffed it into her hands and said, "Thank you, sir." Aunt! Please accept this money! I, Lu Buwei, will never forget the kindness of third aunt!" It turns out that the Battle of Changping had just ended at this time, and the Qin army killed 400,000 Zhao soldiers in a trap. Everyone in Zhao hated Qin. The midwife heard that it was He wanted to help Qin's proton deliver the baby, but he couldn't help it. Lu Buwei finally found a third aunt who was proficient in delivering babies, and Lu Buwei promised to pay ten times the fee.
The third aunt hurriedly excused herself and said, "I agreed to this because I am grateful to you for your care of our family over the past few years. You are so polite!" Although she said this, she weighed the money in her hands and put the money bag away with a smile. Put it in your pocket! After the third aunt collected the money and gave some instructions, she stood up and left.
After Lu Buwei and Yiren went into the inner hall to visit Yiren's wife Zhao Ji, they returned to the lobby. Zhao Jia had already prepared a pot of hot tea and stood beside him. Lu Buwei and the stranger sat around the table on the floor, drinking tea and saying:
"The smooth delivery of Zhao Ji is a blessing to the young master! But now is an extraordinary period. The birth of the little prince is not at the right time. We can't hold a banquet to celebrate his birthday with great fanfare. I feel wronged to the young master!"
"Sir, the safety of my mother and son is already a great blessing for me. How dare I expect anything else? I have been looked down upon for a long time. Thanks to you, the hotel has been repaired. It is all your credit for me to be able to live here!"
"Young master understands the righteousness, and Bu Wei admires it from the bottom of his heart! Has the news of Zhao Ji's birth ever spread?"
"Not many people know about it yet, but it will definitely spread within a few days."
"Now, the relationship between Qin and Zhao is tense. At this moment, we can only try to keep a low profile and cannot do anything to irritate the Zhao people. We need to keep everything simple at the moment... I don't think anyone from Zhao will want to have anything to do with us at this time."

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"It doesn't matter. A few days ago, I ordered someone to take down the plaque of "Qin Guo Pavilion" to avoid any accidents."
"Young Master's actions are very timely! We still need to go to Zhao Wang's palace to take care of things. Zhao people want to kill Young Master right now, and Zhao Wang will also want to use Young Master to vent his anger. We must make preparations in advance."
"If that's the case, I'll have to trouble you, sir."
Lu Buwei stood up to say goodbye. Before leaving, he took a deep look into the inner hall, his heart filled with joy and uneasiness.
After leaving the Qin Guo Pavilion, Lu Buwei went straight to Jianxin Mansion. Jianxinjun Guolian was a favorite of King Zhao Xiaocheng and consulted with him on everything. When he arrived at the gate of Jianxin Mansion, Lu Buwei took out some scraps of silver and sent it in to inform him that Jianxin Lord Guo Lian was playing with the jade rabbit donated by the Chu merchants. When he heard that someone was visiting, he hurriedly put away the jade rabbit, tidied his clothes, and walked in. Main hall. Lu Buwei had been waiting in the lobby for a long time. When he saw Guo Lian coming, he took a deep look. On weekdays, Guo Lian got a lot of benefits from Lu Buwei, and naturally knew that Lu Buwei secretly helped the stranger. Now that the relationship between Qin and Zhao was on the same level, this time he must have come for Qin's proton.
Guo Liannai pretended to be mysterious and said: "Sir, please wait for a long time. I just came back from the palace, so I was delayed for a while."
"How dare I blame you, sir? I think you have many things to do every day. It is a great kindness for you to take time out of your busy schedule to meet us common people. I wonder why King Zhao summoned you this time?"
Seeing that Lu Buwei took the bait, Guo Lian said: "There is nothing important. It's just Changping's new defeat and the Qin army's advance. The king wants to find a place to vent his anger."
At this time, Lu Buwei already understood Guo Lian's intention and followed suit: "Could it be that the king wants to attack Qin's protons?"
"Yes, I'm afraid this young master of the Qin Kingdom will die soon!" Guo Lian pretended to be melancholy.
Lu Buwei burst out laughing when he heard this. Guo Lian originally wanted Lu Buwei to beg her, but now she was confused and asked doubtfully: "Why are you laughing, sir?"
"I laugh at why the king is so stupid!"
"how do I say this?"
Lu Buwei stopped laughing and asked seriously: "May I ask, sir, what benefit does killing the proton at this time bring to Zhao?"
Guo Lian pondered for a moment and said, "It can relieve the king's anger!"
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"The king is relieved, but this will further anger the Qin army and make their attack on Zhao more violent." Seeing Guo Lian's silence, Lu Buwei continued: "What benefit does killing the proton do to you, sir?"
"To me, haha... Mr. Lu is joking, what good can it do to me?" Guo Lian laughed awkwardly.
"Since killing the proton is not good for Zhao or your Excellency, why do you still do it? This will only speed up Qin's use of troops against Zhao, and if Handan is captured, the Qin army will not let you go. The world Everyone knows that most of King Zhao's plans came from adults, and the killing of Qin's proton must also be blamed on adults. How can adults stand on their own feet at that time?" Lu Buwei saw a hint of fear in Guo Lian's eyes, and then said: "What if? Your Excellency is interested in King Zhao at this time. King Zhao must think that Your Excellency has considered everything for the State of Zhao. If anything happens to the State of Zhao, Your Excellency is also a benevolent person to Qin. Moreover, I heard that the foreigner has been designated as the No. 1 of the State of Qin. If the third-generation heir can really ascend to the throne of Qin, he will definitely be grateful for your life-saving grace today. Why don't you give me some advice to your Majesty?"
Guo Lian blinked and understood in her heart that Lu Buwei was not an alarmist. King Qin Zhao did have the intention of destroying Zhao State, and he had to plan for his future, so he said: "Sir, what you said makes sense. Tomorrow I will advise the king to kill Qin's prostitute." No!"
"Your Excellency is also a sensible person. I heard that Qin Zhizi has just given birth to a son. In this case, Qin Zhizi is even more important. Please keep him safe as well. I will explain your thoughts to Qin Zhizi."
"That's inevitable!"
Seeing that his goal had been achieved and the sky was getting dark, Lu Buwei stood up to say goodbye and returned to his mansion.
Early the next morning, Qin Guoguang received a birthday gift from Guo Lian. Although it was just a robe for children, both Yi Ren and Lu Buwei knew in their hearts that Guo Lian had convinced King Zhao not to embarrass Yi Ren for the time being. , this disaster has been temporarily avoided. The stranger thought that it was not appropriate for him to show up at this time, so he sent Zhao Jia to seal a hundred gold coins as a thank you and sent it to Guo Lian's house. Guo Lian was very happy to hear this.
On the third day after Zhao Ji gave birth, Zhao Ji's father came to visit secretly. Most of the people he saw had no good looks at him, but he was only concerned about the safety of Zhao Ji and the child. Zhao's father, named Zhao Jincai, was engaged in selling sea salt in Handan. He had three shops in Handan and had a small fortune.
The State of Zhao does not rely on the sea, and salt is transported from the State of Qi. It is difficult for ordinary traders to bear the cost of long distances, and there are many thieves. Only large households can rely on bodyguards to travel. Lu Buwei sold a large amount of sea salt from Qi every year and distributed it to various merchants, earning huge profits. Zhao Jincai was one of Lu Buwei's merchants.
Zhao Jincai once brought his daughter Qiaoer to visit Lu Buwei, saying that he was entrusting her to find a wealthy family to marry, but in fact he wanted to offer his daughter to marry her. Lu Buwei saw that Qiaoer was quite beautiful and danced gracefully, so he stayed in the house to take care of her. Unexpectedly, the foreigner came to visit Lu Mansion that day. Lu Buwei deliberately asked Qiaoer to come out to perform a dance. The foreigner actually fell in love with him at first sight. Lu Buwei saw the foreigner's thoughts and sent him to the Qin Palace. The foreigner was very happy and relied more on Lu Buwei in Zhao State.
After noon, Lu Buwei came to visit the stranger, and happened to bump into Zhao's father. Zhao Jincai saw that it was Lu Buwei, so he pulled him to the corner and complained: "Brother Buwei, you and I are both businessmen. I entrust my daughter to you. I originally wanted you to help me find a wealthy family, so that I can benefit from it, and it will be easier to do business in the future. This is good. Now that I have married Qin Zhizi, my life is not guaranteed, and I may be implicated, let alone glory and wealth. It's gone!" Zhao Jincai felt that this business was a loss.
"Brother Zhao, this is wrong. The profit from doing business can only be ten times at most. Now the foreigner is the heir to the throne of the Qin Kingdom. Once you ascend the throne, you will be the head of the country. You are not worth the weight of gold and silver! What we have to do now Even if we can protect their father and son, and let the son inherit his father's legacy, our family will be able to have glory for eternity!"
"I don't dare to expect to be the head of the state now. Whether he can return to Qin or not is a question!"
"That's why he needs us now! Brother Zhao, just imagine, if he is going smoothly now, how can he look at us? I heard that if you help a person when he is in trouble, it is ten times more valuable than helping him on a normal day. !”
Father Zhao heard what Lu Buwei said was reasonable, but now that the matter has come to this point, he has no good solution, so he can only seek happiness for himself!
The two came to the lobby, and Zhao's father asked if he could name the child. The stranger replied that it was not too late.
Lu Buwei said: "The child was born in the first month, and he will be a politician in the future. I hope he can become the king of Qin in the future. It would be better to call him Ying Zheng." Both Yiren and Zhao's father praised him for his kindness.
After that, I received some congratulatory gifts one after another, mostly from Qin businessmen who were good friends with Lu Buwei, and Yiren thanked them one by one.
A few months later, the Qin army's attack became more and more intense, and King Zhao wanted to kill Qin's hostage to vent his anger. Guo Lian said: "Killing Qin's hostage now will only anger the Qin army and will not do any good to Zhao. The king just needs to send more men now." , send people to watch carefully. Once the Qin army encircles Handan, we can tie Qin's hostage to the top of the city and threaten the Qin army to retreat. If not, we will kill him on the top of the city. This will definitely intimidate the Qin army and boost the morale of our army. !”
After hearing this, King Zhao was overjoyed and ordered Guo Lianduo to send people to guard the Proton Mansion, and at the same time, do not let the gangsters enter the Qin Guo Pavilion to avoid more trouble.
After that, the outsiders were restricted in their scope of movement and were not allowed to go out of the Qin mansion unless there was something wrong. The foreigner was bored in the hotel, and little Yingzheng became his only sustenance. He played with little Yingzheng every day in the hotel. Oddly enough, although Ying Zheng is young, he is smart and knows how to read adults' faces, which makes strangers like him even more.
Unknowingly, two years have passed. The Qin army launched offensives against Zhao intermittently. They changed their commanders several times and Bai Qi, the man who tricked the Zhao army, was killed by King Qin Zhao. At this time, the Qin army was led by Wang Yi, and after a bloody battle, Handan was finally surrounded. At this critical moment, King Zhao ordered Guo Lian to kill the stranger in order to express his vow to fight Qin to the death. Guo Lian secretly notified Lu Buwei and asked him to leave Handan quickly. Lu Buwei hurried to the emergency. King Zhao expressed his vow to fight Qin to the death and ordered Guo Lian to kill the stranger. Guo Lian secretly notified Lu Buwei and asked him to leave Handan quickly. Lu Buwei hurriedly went to the Qin State Pavilion to discuss countermeasures with strangers.
"Sir, we can't stay in Handan any longer and must evacuate quickly." Lu Buwei got straight to the point.
"I want to leave with Zhao Ji and Zheng'er. Sir, do you have any perfect plan?"
"Now that Handan is under siege, Zhao Jun has completely blocked the city of Handan. My wife is a woman and she is still holding a child. It is difficult to escape, and she may lose her life if she fails. It will be safer for mother and son to stay in Handan. I have asked Zhao Jincai Protect them secretly, and someone will naturally send them to the hotel after we leave."
"Then how do we escape?"
"I have bribed a centurion of Zhao Jun. We can pretend to be Zhao Jun and escape while the defense is changing."
"Sir, can you please arrange for someone to take their mother and son to Xianyang later?" At this time, Yiren also understood that he and Zhao Ji, mother and son could not escape together, and this would most likely be a farewell. He begged Lu Buwei with his last hope.
"It depends on how the war goes. Once the war is over, I will send someone to take my wife and children back." Lu Buwei could only comfort Yiren.
The stranger sighed and said, "Sir, please give me a stick of incense to say goodbye."
"Master, please hurry up!"
When the foreigner entered the inner hall, Qiaoer had already burst into tears. She had just heard the conversation between the two through the crack in the door and knew that she could not escape. When she saw the foreigner coming in, she threw herself into his arms and they held their heads. Cry bitterly. After a long time, the foreigner said: "Now I can only feel sorry for you, madam, for a while. After that, I will send someone back to pick you two up."
Qiaoer sobbed for a while and said: "The mountains have no edges, the sky and the earth are united, and the rivers are exhausted, so I dare to break up with you. Please husband, don't forget Qiaoer!" The two hugged each other and cried again.
At this time, Lu Buwei knocked on the door and said: "Master, please hurry up, we will see you again in the future!"
Yiren hugged the two-year-old Ying Zheng again. Ying Zheng seemed to realize something and hugged Yiren without letting go. He cried, "Zheng'er won't let his father leave. Zheng'er wants his father to play with me."
Yiren felt sad for a while. He really couldn't bear to let go of his son at this moment. It was just fate that played a trick on people! He could only lie: "Zheng'er, be good. Father won't leave Zheng'er. How about Zheng'er playing hide-and-seek with his father? Zheng'er closes his eyes and counts dozens..."
As soon as Ying Zheng heard that he was going to play hide and seek, he obediently let go of his father, closed his eyes, and read: "1, 2, 3..." Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lu Buwei and Yiren hurriedly fled away. Ying Zheng opened his eyes and turned around and couldn't find his father. He realized that he had been deceived, so he burst into tears and shouted: "Father is bad, father doesn't want Zheng'er anymore..." Yiren had just escaped outside the door and heard that Ying Zheng Zheng shouted and stopped to go back to see Ying Zheng. Lu Buwei hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Master, think twice! If we miss tonight, we will all be in danger!" Yiren hesitated for a moment, then cruelly ran away with Lu Buwei. stand up! He felt that he was sorry for little Ying Zheng, and secretly swore in his heart: If I can become the king one day, I will definitely compensate you mother and son twice as much.
At this time, Handan was in a state of depression under the siege of the Qin army. On the way to escape, Yiren saw broken walls and ruins everywhere, and a large number of hungry people in ragged clothes. There were no more pedestrians on the streets, and even the old, weak, women and children were conscripted to the city walls to fight against the enemy.
Lu Buwei and Yiren fled to the city gate. The centurion who had been bribed was waiting there. He sent them two pieces of guard clothes and said, "Hurry up and change them. The shift will be changed in a quarter of an hour."
So Yiren and Lu Buwei disguised themselves as soldiers and took advantage of the night to find an opening under the leadership of a centurion to escape from the broken city to the Qin army camp. The Qin army escorted the two back to Xianyang.
From then on, Yiren and Zhao Ji's mother and son were separated from each other.
