I said, "That's the only way."
I summoned Meng Yi and ordered him to bring 500 men with me into the palace. Meng Yi asked warily, "What do you intend to do?"
I said bluntly, "I don't need your help to rebel, but you have to save me when your king tries to kill me."
Meng Yi thought for a moment and said, "This is what I should do, alright then."
I patted him on the shoulder: "If you do this well, I'll ask the king to bestow the Korean princess upon you directly."
Meng Yi: "..."
We brought a small group of people. We arranged for Li Si to ride in the bronze chariot, while I rode alongside Meng Yi on horseback. Seeing how I sat on the horse, Meng Yi knew my riding skills were lacking and couldn't help but ask, "Principal Xiao, you didn't ride horses much before, did you?"
I said, "You're right, all we do is drive."
"drive?"
"Uh... it's the monster I was riding."
Meng Yi said, "By the way, what does your mount eat? I had someone put out plenty of hay and meat for it, but it hasn't touched a single bite." Meng Yi asked in alarm, "Does it have to eat people?"
I laughed and said, "You don't need to worry about that. It can just drink the oil extracted from the rocks."
Meng Yi then said with relief, "I thought so. It looks quite docile. Even when brave soldiers touch it, it doesn't bark."
I said, "My car isn't up to par. There are cars that go off as soon as you touch them, but they're more expensive." If it were Jin Shaoyan's car, the alarm system would definitely go off as soon as you touch it.
We soon arrived at the Qin King's Palace. To avoid suspicion, I didn't go in immediately. The people on duty for Qin Shi Huang had been completely changed, and it wouldn't be convenient for me to lead my troops in.
I patted the carriage door and said, "Brother Li, it's your turn."
But there was no movement inside the car. I opened the car door and saw Li Si looking blankly at me, muttering to himself, "How did I get here?"
"Bang!" I slammed the door shut again. The side effects of this seductive herb are just too annoying!
After waiting for about ten minutes, Li Si got out of the car with an apologetic look on his face: "I'm sorry, I really had no choice."
I said, "Go check on Ying Ge's current condition. If he's sober, come and wake me up right away."
Li Si managed to get in through the layers of notification, and soon came running out, saying, "I was conscious when I went in, but I'm about to die. Let's wait for the next group."
I was taken aback: "What next wave?"
"Oh, when the next wave of people wakes up."
I stamped my foot and said, "How do I know when his next wave is? Besides, by the time he recovers, you'll be too weak to go..."
Li Si said, "He said he would send someone to find you as soon as he recovers."
Out of sheer boredom, I pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Having known me for so long, Meng Yi figured I was rather easygoing, so he asked, "What kind of magic is this?"
Meng Yi and I each smoked a cigarette. After a while, a eunuch came running out of the inner city, panting, and said, "His Majesty orders that Prince Qi and his entourage must come to see him immediately."
I knew that Fatty Ying must have given that eunuch a strict order to run, just to squeeze in as much time as possible. I hurriedly ran inside, and Li Si called out, "Should I still go? My group is almost there..."
"Keep up!" Li Si is a harmless person; even after the effects of the drug wear off, he won't pose a threat to us.
Meng Yi hesitated for a moment, then led 500 soldiers and followed us into the inner city. This would normally be a grave taboo, but Qin Shi Huang must have given the order, so no one stopped them along the way.
Wherever I went, eunuchs would come to guide me, and soon I arrived at a side hall. It looked no different from ordinary houses, except that there was a long row of them, and no guards at the entrance. Qin Shi Huang was waiting for me on the steps of the middle room, with Li Si following behind. When Meng Yi saw us enter the room together, he stopped and led his men to stand guard for us.
Once everyone was present, Qin Shi Huang got straight to the point: "That fool has finally arrived, what should we do?"
I said, "Brother Ying, don't rush. Prime Minister Li also said that it would be best if the rest of us met first. I'll give the medicine to Kezi first, and then we can discuss this matter when everyone is present."
Qin Shi Huang scoffed, "What's there to discuss after taking the medicine? Just eat it and it won't hurt me, that's all."
Yes, if Ersha takes the medicine, he won't stab Fatty anymore, right? But if that happens... wouldn't that be considered changing history? At least it would mean missing a very significant historical event.
Li Si, already aware of the connection between the three of us, pondered and said, "Your Majesty, it's not that simple. If it weren't for Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin, you might not have so quickly decided to conquer the six states. This event served as both an excuse and a pretext for your unification efforts. If this matter is smoothed over, I don't know if it will affect you in the future." Li Si truly lived up to his name; I hadn't considered his macro-level perspective. But if that's the case, does that mean I, the fool, absolutely have to assassinate the King of Qin?
Qin Shi Huang waved his hand dismissively: "I know the situation. It's very convenient to eliminate the six states. I don't need to think about anything else."
That's what you call the aura of a king! It seems the fat man's meaning is very clear: as long as he gives the medicine to Ersha, everything will be fine. As for whether there's any assassination attempt on Qin, he doesn't care. In his eyes, the six states are already cooked ducks.
Li Si paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "The destruction of the six states was not due to inferior weapons or poor strategy, but rather to their bribery of Qin. Well, even if they hadn't bribed Qin, it wouldn't have mattered. Our Qin's productivity was far superior to theirs; that's the fundamental difference."
Old Li's professional habit resurfaced, and he not only gave us a long talk about "On the Six States," which was written more than a thousand years later, but also provided Qin Shi Huang with Marxist enlightenment.
I stroked my chin and said, "So, in that case, Jing Ke didn't actually need to assassinate the King of Qin—or rather, whether he assassinated the King of Qin or not wouldn't have affected later history at all?"
Li Si nodded.
Actually, this is a very simple matter. The Crown Prince of Yan sent Jing Ke to kill Qin Shi Huang because he was ambitious and wanted to conquer the six states. Liu Laoliu and He Tiandou also said that their purpose in sending him was to protect Qin Shi Huang from being killed by Jing Ke. In this case, the revelation of the dagger at the end of the map had no significance and did not affect the subsequent development of history.
Although it was a bit risky, it was worth the risk. Having already made up my mind to erase this historical event, I breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Then what about Qin Wuyang?"
Qin Shi Huang casually waved his hand and said, "Kill them all."
This is probably another catchphrase characteristic of Qin Shi Huang, following "Unify Ha (Xia) Me?" What can be unified, unify; what cannot be unified, "discard, discard." Being an emperor, sometimes, is that simple…
The plan was finalized when Li Si suddenly fell ill. Seeing the king standing beside him, he knelt down tremblingly and said, "Your Majesty, we cannot bestow a title upon him..." I was annoyed. It seemed that Li Si, before taking his medicine, did not have a good impression of me. He was determined not to let me become the King of Qi, and he even thought that the three of us were discussing whether or not to bestow a title upon him.
Fatty Ying said with practiced ease, "Step back!"
Li Si walked backwards out...
I wiped my sweat, glanced at my watch, and said, "Brother Ying, to be on the safe side, let's meet for 10 minutes each time. You have 5 minutes left, enough time to come up with a general plan."