Qin Wuyang was dumbfounded.
"The third rule is to take pride in serving the King..."
Qin Wuyang replied, "I am ashamed to be unable to serve Your Majesty."
I glanced at him and said, "No, it's about being ashamed of extravagance and debauchery." I didn't want him to think he could read my mind!
Wu Yang immediately went berserk: "How could anyone remember that?"
I said calmly, "This should be referred to in Articles 1 and 2, which state that it is shameful to be unaware of or unable to memorize the Fifty Honors and Fifty Shames."
Qin Wuyang fell silent.
I continued, "The fourth point is to take pride in being a person who is new at forty, and to be ashamed of not being a person who is new at forty—as for what it means to be a person who is new at forty, I will explain it to you in detail after I finish talking about the fifty honors and fifty shames."
"Um..." Qin Wuyang no longer had the arrogant and domineering look on his face. He carefully stood up and said to me, "I'm sorry, I have to take my leave now. As for the rest of the story, you can tell Envoy Jing and he can pass it on to me. Hehe, we're new here, and there are still many things I need to settle down back home."
I said, "Won't you listen a little longer? The 103 loves and 103 hates that will be discussed later will be very helpful in governing your country."
Qin Wuyang's expression changed, and he said with a forced smile, "I'll listen to your insights again if I have the chance... I'll take my leave now!" After saying that, he didn't dare to look at me again and fled towards the door.
I had someone escort him back to the guesthouse first, then returned with a smile and my hands behind my back. I knew exactly what this kind of person feared most. You could yell and scream at him to his face and he might not be intimidated, but he dreaded long lectures. Just like me back in the day, I was happiest when the teacher punished me for breaking class by making me run five kilometers, but I dreaded listening to the principal lecturing during recess. That old man was incredibly long-winded, emphasizing discipline and forbidding us from moving around. Our playground was sandy, and when he spoke, I would keep my upper body still and dig my heels into the ground. Once, the principal's speech was so long that I buried myself until only half of my body was visible…
I turned around and saw Jing Ke tilting his head, still sizing me up. I smiled and said, "Envoy Jing, do you think I look familiar?"
Jing Ke scratched his head and said, "You're like a friend of mine who drinks dirty water."
"...Didn't your friend die?" I remember Ersha told me about this. He did have a friend who died from drinking dirty water, on the very day I was thinking of giving him the laundry water to drink.
Ersha said blankly, "I also remember someone who died—and I might even know someone who didn't die."
I was speechless. I grabbed the fruit plate and handed it to him, saying, "This is a specialty of our Qin Kingdom. Try it."
Ersha slowly shook his head: "I'm not hungry."
"This is very thirst-quenching and refreshing."
Ersha shook his head: "I'm not thirsty either."
I picked up a piece of apple, stuffed it into my mouth, and chewed it with a crunching sound, jokingly saying, "Are you afraid it's poisoned?"
Ersha shook his head: "I'm not afraid, you don't need to poison me if you want to kill me."
...I miscalculated despite all my calculations. I didn't anticipate the stubbornness of a fool; if he doesn't want to eat, he absolutely won't, no matter how much you tempt or provoke him. A fool's logic is always so simple.
I tentatively asked, "Do you know someone named Gai Nie?"
“That’s my friend,” the fool said naturally, without the slightest emotional fluctuation.
"Then... what about Xiao Zhao?" I asked cautiously.
"Little Zhao..." Ersha suddenly murmured, "Who is Little Zhao? Why does he seem so familiar?"
I pushed the fruit plate forward a little: "Eat and think about it, he keeps talking about you to me."
Ersha stared at me blankly, mechanically picked up a piece of apple and put it in his mouth, but didn't chew it at all. Then he held his head in distress and asked, "Who is Xiao Zhao?"
I'd heard Liu Laoliu tell me that people with intellectual disabilities often have a certain aversion to the Meng Po soup. I could tell that Jing Ke before taking the potion was quite different from Xiang Yu and Fatty before they did; he still had a vague memory of me and Zhao Bailian. I placed the temptation herb in the most prominent position and coaxed him gently, "Think it over carefully, maybe you'll remember right away—Kezi, do you need money to buy batteries? Those little guys in your semiconductor device miss you too..."
Jing Ke's face was ashen. He swallowed the whole piece of apple with a thud, then blankly stretched out a hand: "Give me money, I'll go buy batteries."
I was overjoyed and placed the tempting grass in his palm. Before I could say anything, a man suddenly rushed in through the door, shouting, "Gua Pi!" It was none other than Qin Shi Huang!
When I saw him rush in at this critical moment, I was shocked. I quickly stood up and kept gesturing to him while trying my best to speak in a calm tone: "Go out first, and I will send someone to call you in a while."
Fatty, without a second thought, rushed over to Ersha and grabbed him around the waist, yelling, "Hey, you son of a bitch, you still want to rob me?"
Startled by being embraced, Jing Ke looked down at Qin Shi Huang, then abruptly broke free of his hold and said coldly, "Are you the King of Qin?"
The fat man was stunned. Seeing that I could no longer hide it, I shouted, "Brother Ying, run! He hasn't regained his memory yet!"
But it was too late for Fatty to run. Jing Ke was an assassin after all. He grabbed Fatty and pulled him into his arms, then used his thumb and forefinger to pin Fatty's neck. Fatty then turned to me and shouted, "Don't move!"
I had just picked up a small cauldron when I hurriedly put it down and stepped back, waving my hands wildly and saying, "Kezi, don't do anything rash! We're all on the same side!"
Under Jing Ke's control, the fat man danced wildly and fearlessly, shouting, "You son of a bitch, all you know is how to kill, all you know is how to kill..."
Jing Ke remained perfectly calm, his gaze towards Qin Shi Huang devoid of any emotion. He spoke slowly and deliberately, saying, "Before I kill you—pay me back the 300 coins you owe me."
Chapter Ninety-Six Extras
I was taken aback. I saw a smile on Ersha's face. Looking at his hands, I realized that he had eaten the temptation herb the moment Qin Shihuang entered the room.
By this time, Ersha had released Fatty and was simply holding his hand out in front of him. Fatty slapped his hand hard: "I'll give you a hammer!"
Ersha jumped onto the fat man's back, grabbed his neck, and shouted, "Give me back my money—"
The fat man ran around the room shouting, "I'm not hungry, you'll kill me after I pay you back!"
These two, an emperor and an assassin, were acting like children after being apart for so long. I glanced at my watch and waited for them to play for a few minutes before stopping them, saying, "Brother Ying, Ke Zi, we don't have much time. Let's get down to business."
Knowing he was "sick," Qin Shi Huang quickly sat down and said, "Don't make a fuss, don't make a fuss."
I briefly explained the drawbacks of Jing Ke eating the temptation herb, then asked him to sit down. The three of us looked at each other, unable to suppress our laughter. I put my phone on the table and said, "Brother Ying will probably have about 5 more minutes. Ke Zi will take a little longer, but not by much. You can check the time yourselves. When you think it's about time, go wait in the next room and come find me when you're done."
Ersha was looking down, scanning his chest. I asked, "Kezi, what are you looking for?"