After the rain dispersed, the sky was cloudless. Secluded in the night of Zhongmou City, Bai Yan sat on his knees in the mansion, looking at the bamboo slips.
A eunuch hurriedly came to Bai Yan's room and said something to Bai Yan. Then Bai Yan put down the bamboo slips and left with the eunuch.
In Zhongmou City, due to the arrival of Ying Zheng, the entire city has entered unprecedented martial law. Not only are there no pedestrians on the empty streets, but Qin officials can also be seen patrolling by from time to time.
Bai Yan took two of his close followers and followed the eunuch on the streets, and finally came to a heavily guarded mansion.
The gate of the mansion alone was guarded by no less than twenty Qin officials armed with long swords, and there were even more countless Qin soldiers patrolling other places.
Bai Yan asked his cronies to wait outside the gate of the mansion, and then followed the eunuch into the mansion. Under the bright night.
Under the illumination of several maids holding candle lamps, Bai Yan came to a room. The walls of the room were covered with candles. The light of dozens of candles swayed slightly as the door opened, but the candlelight gathered together still made the entire surrounding extremely bright.
However, what surprised Bai Yan was that not only Ying Zheng was included, but also Shangqing Mao Jiao, many maids, and an imperial physician were also in the room.
"Bai Yan, a humble minister, pays homage to the king!" Bai Yan slowly stepped forward and bowed his hands to Ying Zheng beside the couch.
In the ceremony room, Bai Yan only saw the Empress Dowager Zhao on the couch, her face was pale and she looked like she was dying.
See this. Xiu Baiyan froze on the spot, looking at Shang Qing Mao Jiao next to him with confusion. When leaving Luoyang, Queen Mother Zhao still had a cough and discomfort, but it was not so serious. Why did she suddenly become like this when she arrived in Zhongmou City? It seemed that she had not much time left.
inside the room. When Shang Qing Mao Jiao saw Bai Yan's eyes beside him, he sighed slowly and shook his head vaguely.
"My son, Bai Yan is here!" At this time, Bai Yan heard the weak voice of Queen Mother Zhao on the couch and turned his head to look.
When he saw Empress Dowager Zhao's pale cheeks looking weakly at him with a smile, Bai Yan's heart tightened and he hurriedly bowed.
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"Bai Yan, meet the Queen Mother!" Bai Yan lowered his head slightly. When he first met Zhao Ji, the Queen Mother Zhao, Bai Yan remembered that in history, the Queen Mother Zhao's lifespan was only one year.
However, at that time, he saw that Queen Mother Zhao seemed to be unwell and had an unusual cough. Bai Yan had doubts and asked the imperial doctor to diagnose her.
In the end, however, nothing was diagnosed. Now, looking at the appearance of Queen Mother Zhao, Bai Yan couldn't help but think of the historical records that Queen Mother Zhao and Zhao Ji would pass away this year.
It's just that Bai Yan never thought that it would come so quickly and suddenly. Bai Yan also vaguely remembered that during this year, not only the Queen Mother Zhao died in the same year as the Queen Mother Zhao, but also the two kings of Chu and Wei.
In history, these two monarchs also died of illness one after another within this year.
"My son is the king!" Zhao Ji's words rang out again. Only then did Bai Yan come back to his senses. When he raised his head slightly and looked at Ying Zheng beside the bed, Bai Yan noticed that there seemed to be wet marks on Ying Zheng's exposed cheek.
Seeing Queen Mother Zhao weakly reach out her hand and put it on Ying Zheng's cheek. Both Bai Yan and Mao Jiao bowed their heads again.
Ying Zheng is the king of Qin, the king of a country. As ministers, when they see Ying Zheng at his most vulnerable, it is best to avoid it.
"Mother!" Ying Zheng's trembling words echoed in the room. Be it Bai Yan, Mao Jiao, other maids, or imperial doctors, they all bowed their heads and remained silent.
Bai Yan knew that Lao Ai's affair with Zhao Ji and Lao Ai's rebellion were all true, but some of them, just like the story of the beacon fire play on the princes, would be tampered with.
The most problematic one was the Qinian Mutiny. Qinian Palace was the residence of the Queen Mother Huayang at that time. Lao Ai devoted all her power to rebel in Qinian Palace.
After going through the whole process, it was the Chu family that finally won. Lao Ai died and Lu Buwei was expelled. After these two events, Ying Zheng came to power, Changping Lord became the prime minister of Qin, and a group of Qin and Chu officials successively replaced the power of Lao Ai and Lu Buwei.
The longer Bai Yan stayed in the Qin Kingdom, the clearer it became that the gentry was now in power and it was basically impossible to usurp power from within within one generation.
Behind Tian Qi's replacement of Jiang, not only was Tian Dan in power, but also the decline of the royal family members of the Jiang family of Qi after the Five Kingdoms conquered Qi. And even under such circumstances, the Tian family would have to count the consequences in the future. Only through the efforts of many people can Tian's replacement of Jiang's be completed.
Even if it were placed hundreds of years later, hundreds of years after someone called out that the prince and general Xiang Ning had the guts, it was recorded that the Sima family did not dare to usurp Wei at once, but waited until all the old Wei officials died of illness before they dared to do so. Gradually control the king of Wei.
But in the presence of the Ying clan of Qin State, Lao Ai was just not clear-headed, and there would be thousands of people under his command who would remind him.
In the Qin State, there is a clan member of the Ying family of Qin State. The Ying family represents all the old Qin people, as well as the old gentry of Qin State, not to mention the Meng family, Yang family, Li family and many other countless big families.
Under such circumstances, unless there are people from the Ying family who kill all the royal family members of the Ying family, even if Ying Zheng is successfully killed, he will not be able to succeed to the throne. Those veterans and generals in Qin's territory will not agree. All the old Qin People will not agree.
If it was so easy to succeed to the throne, Zhao Guo would have probably changed more than a dozen surnames in more than a hundred years. inside the room. Bai Yan lowered his head and felt a little emotional when he heard the conversation between Ying Zheng and Queen Mother Zhao.
Although he doesn't know the details of what happened at the beginning, Bai Yan is not stupid enough to ask again now. The original rebellion of Lao Ai has been confirmed, Lao Ai's attempt to assassinate Ying Zheng has become a fact, and Lu Buwei has been dead for many years. Everything has been settled.
The only thing that is certain right now is that the previous guesses were correct. After all, Ying Zheng and the Empress Dowager Zhao are mother and son, a mother and son who have experienced hardships together.
Compared to the previous kings of Qin, for Ying Zheng, the only person in the world who took care of him and protected him was his mother Zhao Ji.
If Ying Zheng didn't care about Zhao Ji, he wouldn't still be here until late at night, and if there were no accidents, Zhao Ji would be posthumously named the Empress Dowager in the future.
"Bai Yan!" Ying Zheng's voice sounded. Bai Yan raised his head, looked at Ying Zheng, and raised his hands.
"Wei Chen is here!" Bai Yan responded softly. In the study room. Ying Zheng looked at his dying mother on the bed, tears constantly appearing in his eyes.
Compared with the complaints against his mother over the past few years, at this moment, Ying Zheng's mind was full of scenes of his mother taking care of him when he was a child. When he thought of his childhood, the world seemed to be malicious to him, and the safest place was his mother's. In arms.
Thinking of what my mother just said, I wanted to go back to the place where I lived when I was a child.
"Immediately lead the cavalry tomorrow to escort the widow and the Queen Mother to Handan without delay." Ying Zheng ordered.
Ying Zheng did not turn his head to look at Bai Yan, feeling the hands on his face and touching himself gently. At this moment, Ying Zheng didn't think about anything, he just wanted to enjoy himself. His mother comforted him just like she did when she was a child.
Looking at his mother, Ying Zheng was filled with reluctance. If my mother is not here, I will never have a mother again, and I will be the only one in this world.
"No!" Bai Yan heard Ying Zheng's words and knew that Ying Zheng was preparing to rush to Handan. He did not wait for the garrison in Xianyang and the troops to be updated, so he quickly compiled the ceremony.
After accepting the order, Bai Yan saw the anxious look in Mao's eyes next to him and understood. Then he bowed to Ying Zhengji and bowed out.
When Xiu Baiyan left the room, he looked at the imperial doctor with confusion, but he knew that it was not the time to ask, so he had to leave first.
Late at night. When Bai Yan left the mansion with the maid, he happened to meet Ying Kan who hurriedly came to see him outside the door of the mansion.
Seeing the eager look on Ying Kan's face, Bai Yan stopped and bowed his hands in front of Ying Kan as a gift.
"Master Ying!" Bai Yan spoke. Feeling Ying Kan walking past him in a hurry, Bai Yan shook his head when he saw it, and then ignored Ying Kan and left with his two cronies.
He heard Ying Kan's voice asking to see him from behind. Bai Yan was not sure whether Ying Zheng would summon Ying Kan, but Bai Yan knew very clearly how those people in the past viewed and treated the Queen Mother. Ying Zheng knew very well, but he did not do so because he had complaints against the Queen Mother in his heart. Pay attention.
But the Queen Mother was dying at this time, and it was really the most unwise move for Ying Kan to go to Mao Jiao and disturb Ying Zheng and the Queen Mother.
Return to the mansion. Bai Yan asked two soldiers to call Ye Lai to the mansion. After watching the soldiers leave, he returned to his study.
Coming to the wooden table and looking at the bamboo slips obtained from the interrogation, Bai Yan knelt down and fell into deep thought. At dusk, Ying Zheng gave all the rights of investigation to himself. After interrogating the living people, almost everyone was holding on. Some spineless people spoke quickly, but they were all useless things. .
Originally, Bai Yan was planning to find a time to take these people to Yanmen, but now that the Queen Mother was seriously ill and dying, Ying Zheng suddenly ordered to rush to Handan at full speed.
This hasty order disrupted Bai Yan's original plan. But it didn't stump Bai Yan. Reaching out from the wooden table, he took out a scroll of bamboo slips and looked at the list of survivors on it.
Half an hour later. There were footsteps outside the door, and then Ye walked into the room.
"General!" Xieye came to the wooden table and bowed his hands in front of Bai Yan in ceremony.
"I need you to suffer a lot tonight, go and make arrangements." Bai Yan raised his head and looked at Ye. In Ye's confused eyes, Bai Yan slowly said what he was going to do tonight.
··········Inside the cell in Zhongmou City. A man wearing silk clothes was lying in the wooden house. At this moment, the man was covered in dust, and the silk clothes were stained with a lot of blood, and his eyes felt dim.
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"You said that a good gentleman would not enjoy the glory and wealth, but insisted on assassinating Ying Zheng."
"No, if I were given that status, I would stay at home all day long with my beautiful wife and concubines in my arms, eating wine and meat, and never go out."
"Now the family is ruined. I heard that not a single male in the whole family is alive!" The two Qin officials stood at the door, watching the man and talking in a low voice, their words full of confusion.
If a good gentleman doesn't do something, he must do something that will get him beheaded. Inside the cell. When the man with a dead expression on his face heard that no one in the family was alive, a look of pain appeared on his face, and his bloodshot eyes slowly closed.
A secluded man is a bastard. In the past, after leaving the main palace and being rescued by Qi Jiji, before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he was chased by Qin Qi all night long.
Whether he was running to the wooden house in the alley or to the high-rise mansion, Qin Qi could always follow him. Zhu Xun saw with his own eyes that one Qi Wuji after another was killed by Qin Qi in front of his eyes, or died together.
After the Qi martial arts old man ordered to climb over the wall to break out of the siege, he killed several Qin cavalry and was besieged by more than a dozen Qin knights on the way. Later, he was killed by the Qin swords of more than a dozen Qin cavalry. Cut into countless pieces and died tragically.
After he was captured, he saw with his own eyes countless feet stepping on the old man's body.
"That's him!" The door to the secluded cell was slowly opened. Zhuxun opened his eyes weakly and saw several Qin knights wearing Qin armor.
Afterwards, Zhu Xun was carried out of the cell by two Qin cavalry. Inside a wooden house. The door was slowly opened, and after the master was dragged into the room, there was immediately a pungent smell of blood. He looked at the blood-stained cell and various instruments of torture under the weak candlelight around him.
Zhuxun already knows what will happen to him next. The fact was not what Zhuxun expected. Zhuxun was quickly tied to a wooden frame, and a burly man came forward with a thick rope stained with blood.
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"Tell me, who is the mastermind? There are still those people who have not been caught!" As the man spoke, he waved the thick rope in his hand and threw it away. In an instant, a scream came from the room.
"Ah!" Zhuxun stared, opened his mouth, and veins popped out on his forehead. The next moment, before Zhu Xun could recover, another swing landed on his body.
Pa~pa~! Every blow would make the master howl in pain. After a while, some dark red wet stains appeared on the clothes on Zhu Xun's body.
"This man also has a tough mouth!"
"Be careful, don't beat this person like that person. If you didn't say anything to that person just now, you almost beat him to death." Qin Qi, who was escorting the master in the room, watched this scene with relish, and inadvertently mentioned that not far away There was a 'corpse' discarded in a corner. It was said that the body was lying motionless on the ground. The whole body was covered with traces of whipping, and the blood stained the clothes red.
"Don't worry, that man was already weak, and he kept coughing. He was dying when he was brought here. If you hadn't said that man killed Shangqing Guo Kai, I wouldn't have believed it. That man could lift a sword!" Whip Zhuxun The burly man, naked, retorted angrily, with a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone.
And that is to refute. The burly man also stopped whipping, which made Zhu Xun relax a little. However, at this moment, Zhuxun had no time to relax. His face was ferocious from pain, and he slowly turned his head to look at the bloody man lying on the ground in the corner.
Kill Guo Kai? In an instant, Zhuxun thought of the few people who had gone to Handan before. One of them was weak and had a cough. Together, Zhuxun immediately guessed who that person was.
Snap~! However, the next moment, Zhu Xun didn't pay attention, and a thick rope was swung down. Xun Xun's face, which was already grim due to pain, turned red again.
"Say! No! Say!" the burly man said with power, several times in succession. In the end, he seemed to be still not satisfied. He stopped panting and looked at Zhu Xun, who looked painful but still spoke harshly. He turned around and picked up the iron in the stove. stick.
the other side. The two Qin knight soldiers who had dragged the master over also came to the corner and kicked the bloody man on the ground hard. Then one of them squatted down and reached out to turn the bloody man over.
Zhu Xun looked at the corner with a red face, completely ignoring the danger in front of him.
"Ah!" The next moment, accompanied by severe pain in his chest, Zhuxun opened his mouth to the maximum, and his whole body struggled continuously. His hands and feet struggled to break free from the rope, and finally slowly softened.
Before coma. Zhu Xun smelled the burnt smell and clearly saw the familiar face of the bloody man turned over in the corner not far away.
"I fainted! This man has thin skin and tender flesh, but he never thought that his mouth would be so tight!" The burly man shook his head and said.
In the room, the two Qin riders next to the bloody man saw this and looked at each other. Then they looked at the body, changed their appearance, stood up respectfully, went to the wooden frame, untied the master's hands and feet, and held the corpse. its leaving.
inside the room. After seeing his master leaving, the tall and secluded man quickly turned around and saluted the bloody man.
"General, that man has left!" the burly man finished his words. Then he saw the unconscious bloody man on the ground, opening his eyes and looking up at the door.
At this time, Karma also walked in from outside the door with clothes. Bai Yan stood up, looked at his clothes that were full of holes and tatters, and then looked at the two of them.
"This matter must not be spread out!" Xiu Baiyan warned softly. Ye and the burly man nodded.
"General, we are leaving tomorrow. Do you want to arrange for this person to be released?" Ye asked. Bai Yan shook his head.
"No, I will hand it over to Ying Kan tomorrow, and Ying Kan will decide to deal with these people. Whether these people live or die depends entirely on God's will." Bai Yan said, and then came to a huge wooden barrel, took off his clothes, and exposed The body with several wounds was filled with water with a wooden spoon and poured from the head.
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"Ah?" Ye looked surprised when he heard Bai Yan's words, and then looked at the burly man next to him, the cavalry general in disguise.
Both of them were a little hard to understand.
"General, what if this person is killed?" Ye thought for a while and asked worriedly. Looking at the several old wounds on the general's body, it is hard to imagine that this is what a nobleman would have, let alone washing his body with cold water in this cold winter night.
However, I have become accustomed to these things, and even the soldiers in the army will not find it strange. But at the moment, what Ye wants to know more is that he just put so much effort into deceiving the master. If he doesn't let go, he will be killed by Yingkan later. Wouldn't he suffer tonight in vain, and also waste a moment? Key pieces.
As the general once said, they are chess pieces.
"You guys underestimate the nobles! This is the land of Zhao!" Bai Yan explained softly as he washed his body and felt that his body was getting hot after being washed by cold water.
Seeing Ye's confused look, Bai Yan laughed.
"Compared to other people's rescue, let those nobles personally spend the cost to save people, then they will be convinced." After Bai Yan finished speaking, he saw the look of enlightenment on the industry. After rinsing, he stepped forward to take the clothes from the industry and put them on. .
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"You two should go back and rest!" Bai Yan said. Ye and the general nodded, saluted Bai Yan, and then watched Bai Yan leave, with the two of them following behind.
The second day. The sky is dim and bright. Bai Yan got up early and led the cavalry army to gather outside the city gate.
When Bai Yan was preparing to lead a small group of his cavalry troops into the city to escort Ying Zheng and the Queen Mother Zhao out of Zhongmou City.
A remote city gate in Luoyang. More than a dozen carriages were slowly driving into Luoyang after being inspected by Qin officials.
In the carriage, Bai Yan took his wife and daughter, feeling the shaking of the carriage and listening to the noise coming from outside the carriage.
When he heard about Zheng's rebellion, Bai Yan shook his head. Bai Yan watched his two daughters looking out the window curiously and told them about Zheng's family.
the other side. A mansion in Luoyang City. You Zhanyou was lying happily on a bed, and two disheveled women beside him were nestling in Zhan You's arms.
Listening to the servant's report and Zheng's investigation, Zhan You couldn't help laughing.
"Then Bai Yan has made a meritorious service again!" Zhan You shook his head proudly, as if Bai Yan had made a meritorious service, just like he had made a meritorious service.
At this moment, in Zhan You's eyes, there was no fear at all when he thought of Bai Yan in the past, and instead he was calm and calm.
At this time, a maid came over with a jug of wine. A woman fawned over Zhanyou and looked at the maid.
Zhan You didn't notice this scene. Watching the maid leave, Zhanyou didn't pay attention. He only saw the two beauties he had just acquired in the past two days. With a wicked smile on his lips, Zhanyou reached out to pick up the wine and drank it. After a while, just as Zhanyou When he was about to reach out to touch the woman in his arms, Zhanyou suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and his head became dizzy.
Zhan You looked confused, why was he so easily drunk today? Thinking of this, Zhan You looked at the door of the room where the maid had left not long ago, and thought of the maid just now.
suddenly. Zhan You's eyes were full of dizziness, and he felt like the whole room was shaking. When Zhanyou was unconscious, a woman's voice could be heard faintly next to Zhanyou's ears.
"Go get the knife!"
