The fat man, with his hands behind his back, suddenly chuckled coldly a few times, then remained silent.
I suddenly had a very bad feeling and asked cautiously, "Brother Ying, what are you laughing at?"
Qin Shi Huang dismissed the irrelevant people, leaving only me and Li Si, and slowly said, "I've thought about it. When I have time, I'll kill all the people who deserve it, unify the six kingdoms, and then I can be emperor for a few good days."
I don't know if Liu Bang and Xiang Yu are included in his list of people who "deserve to be killed," but basically, people like Zhao Gao are definitely on the list. Don't be fooled by the fat man's calm demeanor; he's still incredibly ambitious and dreaming of achieving even greater success than before.
I rubbed my hands and said, "Brother Ying... I have some bad news for you. You can't kill indiscriminately, whether they deserve to die or not. Your mission is to continue being Qin Shi Huang, starting from unifying the six kingdoms..." I recounted the whole story of the Human Realm Axis. Li Si listened and shook his head, finally saying, "According to you, the burning of books and burying of scholars alive will have to continue, and the Great Wall will have to be built again?"
I said helplessly, "I'm afraid that's the case."
"In that case, Ying Ge and I, the emperor and the prime minister, are actually just two men doing menial tasks by simply following the script?"
I added, "You could only call it a high-level odd job."
With a gloomy face, Qin Shi Huang kicked a small pebble away and said angrily, "Wouldn't that drive people to starve and bored to death?"
Indeed, that's human nature; we fear the unknown, but we anticipate it even more. If you design a perfect path for someone's life, most people will still run away. That's why many wealthy young men whose futures seem predictable run away from home, and many of them become artists or highly accomplished individuals. Of course, it's not uncommon for them to meet a Cinderella along the way and then, due to the hardships of life, return to inherit the family business; early Hong Kong films often followed this formula.
I apologized, "I'm sorry, Brother Ying, I shouldn't have come."
I've said this to Xiang Yu as well. My arrival, besides bringing brief moments of joy and temporary good fortune, has brought the person involved a lifetime of frustration. I think I need to be more cautious when dealing with time-travel missions in the future.
Qin Shi Huang paused for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Forget it, there's nothing wrong with continuing to be the emperor. Just kill fewer people and it'll be fine."
His words instantly wiped away all my guilt. So, if I hadn't come, he would have killed even more people according to his plan. Is this fat guy an extreme case of split personality?
Well, speaking of which, both Fatty and Li Si are in pretty good form today. Li Si didn't even give Fatty a chance to say "back down."
As we were talking, we heard a thud from the side, and Mary's brother, who was still "paused," collapsed. He hurriedly got up, knelt down on the ground in fear and trepidation, and said to Fatty Ying, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, this servant really couldn't hold on any longer."
Chapter 104 The Unluckiest Customer
I glanced at the eunuch and said to Qin Shi Huang, "Brother Ying, play for a few more days and then quickly dismantle the wood and return it all to the people. Next time I come, I'll definitely bring you a game console."
Sometimes, human effort simply can't compete with machines. On a video game console, you can freeze a character in the air by pressing pause, but can a human do that? This poor, fat man spent his life doing odd jobs as a contractor, some of which were built on borders, others buried underground. I'm genuinely afraid he might suddenly have an idea and invent the Qin Dynasty's Viagra, so that pressing pause would freeze people in the air. And that's nothing compared to what happens when you find winged turtles and tortoises? The final level even has a Dragon Palace—does he have to dig out the lava? And this is just Super Mario Bros. What about Contra? Double Dragon? Battle City? Salamander? If this fat man keeps doing this, the Epang Palace that Xiang Yu later burned might very well be a simulation game base…
Suddenly, an idea struck me. I patted Fatty on the shoulder and said, "By the way, Brother Ying, with your current skills, you could totally play Tetris." It's economical in terms of materials and labor, has low technical difficulty, and can be reused repeatedly.
Qin Shi Huang said somewhat sadly, "Are you leaving? When will you come back?"
I forced a smile and said, "Now that I've conveyed my message, I should be going. Everyone has just returned to their own era, which is a period of frequent incidents. In He Tiandou's words, I am the policeman in that area, and I need to hurry up and continue my patrol."
The fat man asked nervously, "When?"
I said, "Let's have lunch—I'll have another state banquet with you, and then we can eat tomato and egg noodles when we get back."
Fatty Ying glared at me and said defiantly, "Why don't you become the emperor and get back at him?"
It's clear the fat man is slacking off. Staying here means repeating yesterday's story, dealing with a bunch of obsequious ministers, and not even getting tomato and egg noodles. The funny thing is, Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions only happened after Bangzi seized power from the slugs, so now, let alone tomatoes, there aren't even any radishes, corn, or grapes. For the fat man, this is quite a miserable situation.
We ate lunch at my Xiao Mansion. Besides Ersha and Fatty, Li Si was also there. After listening to us chat for a while, Ersha suddenly said, "We don't need you here. I want to go back with you!"
I said apologetically, "Kezi, it's not that I don't want to take you with me, it's just that it's not safe to take someone with me. Also, I don't know if taking you back would violate the laws of Heaven. Wait until I figure it out before I come back to get you."
I turned to Qin Shi Huang and joked, "Brother Ying, being emperor must be so easy for you, you even have a spot to be a troublemaker."
The fat man looked displeased: "Being an emperor with no suspense is so boring..." He suddenly said to Li Si, "Why don't you take my place?"
Li Si hurriedly waved his hand: "Brother Ying, we're all on the same side, so it's fine if you say that, but please don't make jokes like that again. I don't want to die before Xiao Huhai ascends the throne."
I looked at Li Si somewhat awkwardly and asked, "Brother Li, what are your plans?" Of these people, Jing Ke had already completed his mission and historical responsibility, and could finally relax. Qin Shi Huang died of illness later. Only Li Si's fate was the most tragic; although he served as prime minister for several years, he ultimately met a violent end, being cut in half at the waist.
Li Si laughed nonchalantly, "Hey, I'm still the same. It's just one cut, right? I'll just wait to take it. What's there to be upset about? Dying from illness in my past life was even more painful. Besides—" Li Si said with a hint of self-deprecation but unable to hide his concern, "Besides, aren't my wife, children, and elderly parents still being held hostage by you?"
It turns out he still couldn't let go of his wife and daughter. He was willing to take that knife wound, mostly because he feared that failing to conform to history would implicate his relatives in another era. I patted my chest and said, "Don't worry, your daughter will be my goddaughter from now on, and I'll take care of her in-laws' affairs—you know that little guy Cheng Xiang, right? He's my godson..." Including the daughters of Li Tianrun and the Fei family, Cao Xiaoxiang already had three potential suitors. Or perhaps he didn't even need to choose and had already taken them all into his harem?
Li Si leaned close to me and whispered, "Brother Ying, don't worry, I'll remind him. I used to teach history."
I smiled and said, "It's settled then, I should go now."
Everyone present was a little sad. Ersha ran a few steps ahead of me, kicking the dirt with his feet, head down, just dawdling and not wanting me to leave. He pulled on the car door with one hand, leaning back, and said, "I miss Baozi and the others—"
I forced a smile and said, "I'll definitely bring her to see you and Brother Ying when I have the chance."
Ersha persisted, "And that girl Li Shishi, and Big Guy and the others..."
I mumbled an agreement as I got into the car. Seeing this, Meng Yi came over and asked, "Principal Xiao, are you leaving?"
I smiled and said, "Yes, it's a pity I didn't get to see your brother. Please give him my regards."
Meng Yi asked in surprise, "Has Principal Xiao met my brother before?"
"Uh... just admiration."
Li Si stepped forward and whispered, "Actually, this Meng Yi will be a remarkable figure in the future. But when it comes to conquering the six states, we have to talk about the Wang family father and son—"
I asked in surprise, "The Wang family father and son?"
Li Si gestured towards General Wang in the courtyard and said, "The kid you spared is Wang Ben. His father is the famous Wang Jian, who is now the Grand Marshal of Qin and is leading troops in battle."
I said in surprise, "Oh, I've heard of it, I've heard of it. How does Wang Li compare to them?"
Li Si said, "That was Wang Ben's son, who was later defeated by Xiang Yu."
It's quite complicated—Wang Ben owes me a huge favor, and Xiang Yu is my buddy. How am I supposed to deal with him when we meet again?