"What, Prince Sima of Pei County captured the assassin?"
When Zhao Tuo led the Zhonglang cavalry to escort Xiang Xiang and other serious criminals, and returned to Pengcheng with the heads of the Xiang brothers, he heard the shocking news.
However, Zhao Tuo did not have time to inquire too much about this matter for the time being, because regardless of public or private matters, he had to be the first to see the emperor after returning to Pengcheng.
The first is to report on his counterinsurgency status.
Secondly, he was naturally concerned about the emperor's injury.
"The Lord, with his clever calculations, determined in advance that the Xiang family was connected with the assassins, and quickly quelled the rebellion. He is truly worthy of being a martial lord of the Qin Dynasty. Without the Lord, the land of Chu would have been in chaos."
The two prime ministers personally welcomed Zhao Tuo's triumphant return. On the way to the palace, they praised him one by one.
Zhao Tuo has long been immune to these compliments. He cares about the emperor.
"Two prime ministers, how is the emperor's injury?"
Wei Zhuang and Wang Wan looked at each other.
Wang Wan smiled bitterly and said, "It's hard for us to talk about this."
Wei Zhuang changed the subject: "The emperor was very happy after hearing the news that the monarch had defeated the rebels."
Zhao Tuo was silent.
He knew that these two people wanted to avoid suspicion. The emperor's physical condition was not good and he spoke freely. He was a little rude just now because he was concerned.
However, judging from the attitudes of the two prime ministers, the situation may not be very good. Otherwise, if the emperor was in good health, they wouldn't need to do this.
During the next journey, Zhao Tuo and the two prime ministers exchanged a few words before arriving outside the emperor's palace. .net
"Xuanwu Gonghou enters the palace to pay his respects."
As the eunuch conveyed the emperor's edict, Zhao Tuo took a deep breath, took off his shoes, and walked into the palace.
As for the two prime ministers, since the emperor had not yet been announced, they could only wait outside the palace. It seemed that the emperor wanted to talk to Zhao Tuo alone.
"Your Majesty, Zhao Tuo, pays homage to your Majesty. Your Majesty will live forever."
Zhao Tuo walked into the palace and immediately bowed and saluted.
"Get up."
As the First Emperor spoke, Zhao Tuo stood up and saw clearly what the Lord of the World looked like now.
The First Emperor was dressed in loose robes, kneeling on the couch, his eyes still bright.
However, Zhao Tuo keenly noticed that the emperor's sitting posture was obviously much looser, unlike the upright and solemn look he had seen before.
After letting Zhao Tuo sit down, the First Emperor looked at his son-in-law, nodded and said, "You did a good job regarding the Xiang family. But I am curious, how did you determine that the Xiang family was related to the assassins?"
Zhao Gao and many eunuchs who were standing in the room immediately pricked up their ears.
Zhao Tuo said: "I have dealt with Zhang Liang several times and know his methods and strategies. After the assassination, I immediately thought that the rumor about Baoding in Surabaya must have been deliberately released by this person. Zhang Liang is a Korean and has no power in the Chu region. If he wants to accomplish all this, he must have the help of the local noble families. So I thought of the Xiang family."
"The Xiang family are die-hard loyalists to Jingchu. In the past, Xiang Yan and Xiang Qu both fought to the death for the Chu state and were defeated by their ministers. Although Xiang Liang surrendered to the Qin Dynasty in order to preserve his clan, he still had a lot of resentment and hatred in his heart. In addition, after the Qin Dynasty unified the world, we implemented the Qin Law and suppressed the old tribes of the six countries, which greatly damaged their interests. "
"With all these things going on, the Xiang family will never sit back and wait to be killed. If there is Zhang Liang in the middle, they will definitely hit it off and commit treason. Therefore, I believe that Zhang Liang's assassination is a heinous crime, but the assassins only have a few people. Compared with this, the division is divided The Prime Minister’s Xiang family is a serious threat that must be controlled immediately.”
Zhao Tuo's voice was clear and the First Emperor nodded.
The reason sounds very simple. Starting from this line of rumors about the Surabaya Baoding, we can suspect the Xiang family who is greatly hated by the Qin State.
It's easy to talk about it afterwards, but at that time, when Zhang Liang was assassinated, the emperor was seriously injured, and all the ministers were in confusion, he was able to sort out the matter one by one, make a prompt decision, and lead his troops to go to the prime minister. The reasoning and reasoning shown in this process The ability to make decisions is definitely not something that ordinary people can achieve.
"My son, it would be great if I could be as resourceful and decisive as you."
The First Emperor sighed quietly.
Hearing the emperor mention his son, Zhao Tuo couldn't handle it well.
Zhao Gao on the side moved his brows slightly, his eyes thoughtful.
Afterwards, the First Emperor asked some more questions about countering the rebellion. When he heard that Zhao Tuo used his military strength to send out news and forced Xiang Liang to lead his troops to fight, and finally defeated him in a battle, he was even more full of praise.
But in the end, his expression finally turned cold.
"The Xiang family's rebellion is unforgivable and the entire clan was cut off in half to frighten the world.
"After Tong County and Xu County put down the rebellion, the rebels will be dealt with in this way."
"Inform the leaders of thieves such as Xiang Liang, Xiang Juan, Ge Ying and so on to all counties in the world to serve as a warning to others."
"Jing Tong, Xiang Ji and others, in addition to the bounty, if anyone is captured in the world, they will be awarded the rank of five senior officials. If they are above the fifth senior official, they will be promoted to one rank."
The First Emperor set the punishment for the rebels in one breath, and at the same time added rewards to Xiang Ji, Jing and others.
Zhao Tuo nodded secretly. If you capture one person, you can be promoted to the rank of fifth doctor. This will definitely make many people excited and greatly increase the possibility of capture.
After doing all this, the First Emperor seemed to be tired, and he waved his hands with a tired look.
"I'm tired, please go down."
At this time, Zhao Tuo boldly asked:
"I was worried about His Majesty's dragon body all the way, and I don't know about His Majesty's injury...
"Injury? Haha, it's just a minor illness and it doesn't have much impact on me."
The First Emperor smiled, his voice becoming stronger.
Zhao Tuo saw sweat on his forehead and glanced worriedly, but it was not easy to say anything about this kind of thing, so he could only bow and leave.
The First Emperor was sitting on the couch. When he saw Zhao Tuo's figure disappearing at the door, the color on his face immediately receded, and his whole body leaned to the side as if he could not support himself.
"His Majesty."
Zhao Gao and the eunuchs beside him were startled and rushed over to support the First Emperor.
"hiss……"
The First Emperor was breathing in the air-conditioning, sweat was flowing down his forehead, and there was a look of pain on his face. He whispered: "Help me lie down."
After Zhao Gao and the two eunuchs gently supported him to lie on his side, the First Emperor let out a sigh of relief.
Zhao Gao whispered: "Your Majesty's injury has not yet healed. He can just lean on the bed to receive the Marquis of Martial Arts. There is no need to treat him like this."
"Hmph, what do you know?"
The First Emperor glared at Zhao Gao.
The big iron cone thrown by the assassin at Yunlong Mountain weighed a full 120 kilograms. Although it did not hit the position where the First Emperor was sitting at the time, it hit the front half of the golden root chariot and hit all kinds of objects with great force. Broken wood and metal fragments were shot everywhere, many of which entered the body of the First Emperor.
Shoulders, arms, waist, abdomen...
In some places it only broke the surface of the skin, but in other places it was inserted very deep, almost into the bone.
Among them, the waist and arms were the most serious. During this period, although most of the injuries have healed and scarred, the pain in the waist has not diminished.
It was difficult for the First Emperor to sit for a long time. Once he sat for a long time, his waist would be very painful and he had to lie down to feel more comfortable.
When facing close ministers such as Zhao Gao, and even important ministers such as Wei Zhuang and Wang Wan, the First Emperor did not hide anything and directly received them by sitting or reclining.
But for Zhao Tuo.
But he didn't want to show his weak side and insisted on sitting down to receive him.
"Although Zhao Tuo is not my son, he is my son-in-law and my most trusted minister. In his heart, I should be a majestic king and elder. How can I show my weakness in front of him."
The First Emperor had his own pride and dignity.
Even if it was difficult to sit still for a long time, he still wanted to show his best image in front of Zhao Tuo.
Zhao Gao sighed secretly, somewhat understanding the First Emperor's thoughts. At this time, he remembered the scene of the assassination again.
The emperor's injury was not good, the assassin was not caught, and the Prime Minister Xiang rebelled again, which made the first emperor always in a bad mood, so Zhao Gao kept silent.
Now that the Xiang family has been wiped out, I heard that the assassin was also captured by the County Sima in Peixian County. On the way to be transported, the First Emperor's mood improved a lot. Zhao Gao felt that there was something that he had to tell.
"Your Majesty, I have heard a lot of rumors outside these days, which make people panic. I don't know whether to say it or not."
Zhao Gao showed hesitation to tease the emperor.
The First Emperor became interested: "What rumors?"
Zhao Gao showed a "struggle" look on his face, and finally lowered his head and said: "I heard from the ministers that the son of Tingwei used to be a servant of the minister, and he went to Mount Tai with your majesty to perform the ceremony of enshrining Zen. It turned out that Feng Chang, who was responsible for presiding over the ceremony, was there. I broke my leg on Mount Tai."
The First Emperor's expression suddenly changed.
After being reminded by Zhao Gaoyi, he also remembered this matter, and his hands began to tremble involuntarily.
Zhao Gao continued: "But this time, His Majesty appointed him as Zhonglang and accompanied him at the side of Surabaya. When the assassins attacked, Li Zhonglang was extremely brave and loyal. He did not hesitate to use his body to block that vertebrae. but…………"
Having said this, Zhao Gao said with a sad face: "I am afraid."
Zhao Gao is really afraid.
He was the first to report the Shuqi rumor to the emperor. Zhao Gao himself didn't quite believe it, but he couldn't believe that all the things that happened to Li You later were too scary.
Especially this time, when the big iron cone flew down from the hillside and bombarded the golden root car with great force, Zhao Gao, as the driver of the car, was only a little bit away from the iron cone.
The big iron cone hit the middle of the First Emperor and Zhao Gao.
If that big iron vertebra were moved just a little bit forward, it could hit Zhao Gao's head directly.
Thinking about it afterwards, Zhao Gao could be frightened awake in the middle of the night.
And in that assassination, not only the First Emperor and Li You were injured.
As a charioteer, Zhao Gao was also injured many times by the broken wood when the big iron spine hit the golden root chariot. Fortunately, he was wearing a layer of leather armor, which gave him more protection. The injury was not as serious as that of the First Emperor, but his left shoulder was still weak.
Zhao Gao wanted to be friends with Tingwei Li Si, but he was really afraid of Li Si's son.
terrible!
Zhao Gao didn't want to get close to Li You at all, so he had to take the opportunity to tell this matter today.
The First Emperor was lying on the bed, breathing more and more rapidly as he listened to Zhao Gao's words that penetrated his heart.
He remembered that night on the shore of Surabaya.
"I can hold it down."
The words he once said in front of Li You are now unbearable to recall.
The First Emperor closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
After a few breaths.
He said in a deep voice: "Fifth doctor Li You is loyal and loyal.
I should commend him for his meritorious service in rescuing the driver, so as to publicize his name of loyalty and bravery. "
"Give Li You the title of third...two levels, and make you the right concubine."
Thinking that if Li You was promoted to the third level, he would become Zuo Geng and would have the power to go to court. The First Emperor's heart skipped a beat and he quickly changed his mind, thinking that it would be better for him to be the right concubine.
"In addition, Li You will be given six hundred gold, six maids, and a mansion to allow him to recover from his injuries."
