Faced with this situation, Lu Buwei was not afraid.
Nowadays, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty respect Lu Buwei, the right prime minister. The prince is not in charge of the government, and the queen mother is the regent. He has a relationship with the queen mother. Even because of this rumor, he has become a natural ally of the queen mother and the prince. Even Xiang Shaolong has to stand in the same camp as him. His power has reached peak.
Lu Buwei entered the palace to meet the Queen Mother and the Crown Prince, and caught up with Xiang Shaolong. He presented the hardcover version of "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" to the Crown Prince, and with a kind smile on his face, said: "This is the wise and capable person in the world that I have recruited. Strange people and scholars gathered their collective wisdom and summarized everything in a book about the way to govern the country, from governing the world to farming in four seasons. When the book is completed in the future, as long as the prince has a book in his hand, he can He knows everything, he knows everything.”
Zhu Jijiao smiled and said: "Zheng'er is young, so he has to rely on Prime Minister Lu and Master Xiang for more help."
As soon as King Zhuang Xiang left, Zhu Ji seemed to break free from her prison and became excited.
Lu Buwei said: "This is exactly my responsibility. Don't worry, Queen Mother. If the prince needs me, I will do my best. The day when I, the Qin Dynasty, will unify the world is not far away."
He seemed to regard Da Qin as belonging to both his father and son.
The political prince smiled and said: "I have read Prime Minister Lu's masterpiece a long time ago, and it seems that I have gained more recently. I must study it carefully."
When only the Crown Prince and Xiang Shaolong were left, the Crown Prince calmly said to Xiang Shaolong: "Master, what does Lu Buwei mean? Does he want to confirm the rumors? He really regards me as his son."
Xiang Shaolong did not dare to speak. This was the prince's family matter, not to mention that he also believed that the prince was Lu Buwei's son.
When the prince saw that Xiang Shaolong was silent, he became furious and shouted: "Master, do you also think the rumors are true?"
The First Emperor's momentum burst out. He had never spoken to Xiang Shaolong like this before.
Xiang Shaolong knew that it was impossible not to speak, and said: "It doesn't matter what Lu Buwei thinks, we don't need to care about it, the main thing is what the prince thinks?"
The prince said: "I don't need to think about anything. I am Ying Zheng and the King of Qin. The late king handed over the country of Qin to me. I will naturally inherit the late king's legacy and unify the world."
Xiang Shaolong asked: "Do you want to ask the Queen Mother..."
"Pa!" The Crown Prince slapped the table, interrupted Xiang Shaolong, and shouted: "I don't need to ask the Queen Mother any questions. She is my mother, so she will always stand with me."
Xiang Shaolong quickly changed his words and said: "I mean, the Queen Mother has a lot of power now, but she has no foundation in the court, and the only person she is familiar with is Lu Buwei. Once she needs help, she will definitely go to Lu Buwei. There is nothing we can do about it. .”
The prince said: "I will tell the Queen Mother that there is a master in this court. The master will definitely support me, right?"
Xiang Shaolong said: "Of course, always. The Crown Prince should communicate more with the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother has not been exposed to national affairs, but she has the right to make decisions. Although the Crown Prince cannot personally govern, he is already very familiar with national affairs. The Crown Prince should let the Queen Mother She knows the capabilities of the prince and cannot let her treat the prince as a child, so that there will be less constraints when the prince exercises his rights. Two years is not a long time, so don’t rush forward in these two years. Both the prince and I, Da Qin, must accumulate strength. In the next few years, as soon as the crown prince takes over the throne, he will be able to flex his muscles."
The prince smiled and said: "Yes, stability is the most important in these two years. How should Lu Buwei treat it?"
Xiang Shaolong said: "Just treat him as normal. He is the natural ally of the Crown Prince. As the head of the officials, it is very important to have his support."
The prince's eyes flickered, he thought for a while and said: "It is not necessarily Lu Buwei who is the head of the hundred officials. Master can directly replace him."
When Xiang Shaolong heard that he wanted to take down Lu Buwei, and maybe even wanted to kill him, he felt chilled and said: "Lu Buwei is very powerful. Taking him down rashly will have a great impact on Da Qin."
The prince said: "The military is very powerful and only upholds orthodoxy. With Lu Buwei here, the military is afraid of causing trouble."
Xiang Shaolong said: "They will not take action rashly on major matters involving the king. Besides, I am also a member of the military system. Let's wait for the opportunity."
The prince nodded and said, "Okay, let's take a look at the form first. I won't deliberately target Lu Buwei, but I won't be partial either."
Xiang Shaolong sighed secretly: "Lu Buwei is showing his wrong feelings. What he is facing is not a normal person at all."
The prince didn't want to know whose son he was. He was already the king. What could he gain by recognizing Lu Buwei as his father? He would only regard Lu Buwei as an obstacle to his control of power. Even if Lu Buwei is really his father, he still wants to eradicate him mercilessly, even if the entire Qin Dynasty pays for it and the national power declines. As long as you can secure your position as king, everything else doesn't matter.
Xiang Shaolong said: "Since we want to draw a clear line with Lu Buwei, it is especially important for the Queen Mother. The late king is newly mourned, and the Queen Mother is sad. As a son, the prince should pay more attention to the Queen Mother and pay more regards to her."
What Xiang Shaolong is most worried about now is the Queen Mother.
Zhu Ji is a libertine by nature. Although Lao Ai was castrated by herself, Lao Ai is not the only man. Will Lu Buwei give her another man as a gift?
If Zhu Ji just raises a pretty boy, even if he raises a few more, Xiang Shaolong doesn't care as long as he doesn't participate in the power struggle. What she fears most is that she will only favor one person, and if this person is unwilling to be left alone, if he wants to gain power, he will get into big trouble.
But he couldn't say these words to the prince directly. Should he tell the prince: "Be careful of your mother stealing someone."
Not to mention the prince, even if he is still a farmer, he still has to play with his life.
Xiang Shaolong has one belief now: everything will be fine until the Crown Prince comes to power.
Generals Hegong and Xu Xian jointly visited Xiang Shaolong.
Xiang Shaolong knew that it seemed that the military wanted to show off the prince's life experience to him.
After sitting down in the living room, Mr. He spoke directly without any courtesy and said: "There have always been rumors about the prince's life experience, and the rumors have become more and more serious recently. What do Shaolong think?"
Xiang Shaolong said decisively: "They are all nonsense, don't pay any attention to them."
The two generals looked at each other, but they didn't expect Xiang Shaolong to answer so simply.
He still said publicly: "The royal bloodline is of great importance. We cannot ignore these rumors."
Xiang Shaolong said: "What do you want?"
He Gongdao: "We must confirm that the crown prince is of the blood of the previous king before we can fully support him."
Xiang Shaolong asked: "How to confirm?"
He Gongdao: "Recognize your relatives with blood."
The practice of dripping blood to identify relatives was actually created during the Three Kingdoms period. What was recorded at that time was the bone dripping method, which involved dripping the blood of living people on the bones of the dead to see if it penetrated; there was also a method of combining blood, which appeared around the Ming Dynasty, and involved The blood of two living people was dripped into the vessel to see if it merged into one.
This is to comply with the original plot.
Xiang Shaolong asked: "Since there have always been rumors, why didn't you seek confirmation from the late king?"
The two of them were at a loss for words. How could they have the courage to ask King Zhuang Xiang: "Is your son your biological son?"
Xu Xian said: "Although there were rumors at first, they were not serious. We always thought that someone was slandering Lu Buwei. But now that the rumors are getting worse, we have to take it seriously."
Xiang Shaolong said: "It's not surprising that the rumors are spreading more and more now. We can even guess who is fanning the flames. It's just that the attitudes of the two generals are worrying."
He Gongdao: "This involves the royal family's orthodoxy, so we must be cautious."
Xiang Shaolong said: "Rumors have always been there and nothing has changed, but the attitude of the two generals has suddenly changed. Is it because the late king has gone and the two generals feel that the remaining orphans and widows are weak and can be bullied?"
Xiang Shaolong doesn't think that soldiers must be upright and care about the purity of the royal family's bloodline more than they care about their own wealth and life. The reason for bringing it up now is not for a greater right to speak, and Xiang Shaolong has no intention of saving face for them.
The two of them were furious and said: "Shaolong, we treat you as one of our own, so we came to you to discuss this matter. I know that you and the Crown Prince have a deep relationship, but the late king treated you badly, why do you ignore the late king's kindness so much?"
This series of fights seemed to be because Xiang Shaolong was favored by the prince and was greedy for power, while they were focused on serving the country.
Xiang Shaolong was indeed coveting the throne of the Crown Prince. Wasn't it just to get closer to Qin Shihuang that he tried all his efforts? But the two generals were not without scheming. They stood up at this time just to show their strength in front of the prince, and wanted the prince to give them greater rights. If the prince disagrees, they will support Chengjiao, believing that Chengjiao will be able to meet their requirements in order to become the king.
Xiang Shaolong said: "There is nothing to discuss here. I never believe these rumors. As for the kindness of the late king, everything I have done since I entered Qin has been worthy of the late king. What I have to do now is to do my best." Assist the crown prince and lead me, the Qin Dynasty, to unify the world."
The two generals saw that Xiang Shaolong's words were categorical and had no room for maneuver, and they were even more suspicious of the Crown Prince's bloodline.
He Gongdao: "Our military is only loyal to the royal family's orthodoxy, and we must not be so vague."
Xiang Shaolong said: "I am also a general, and you cannot represent the entire army."
Duke He was furious. He was the oldest civil and military person in the dynasty, and even the late king did not dare to speak to him like this. Although Xiang Shaolong is powerful and talented at a young age, he despises himself so much. How can he just let it go?
When Xu Xian saw that Mr. Lu was trembling with anger, he quickly comforted him: "Mr. Lu, calm down!"
He also didn't expect that Xiang Shaolong would dare to confront them so harshly. Xiang Shaolong has always respected them very much, but he never expected that he would fall out with them for the sake of the crown prince.
Xu Xian said to Xiang Shaolong, "What if we must do this?"
Xiang Shaolong said: "How do you prove that this method is effective?"
The two of them were stunned. They believed deeply in the method of identifying relatives by dripping blood and never thought about whether this method was really accurate.
