The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 10 Father, help me! Someone wants to kill me!
As soon as Zhao Ji entered the front hall, she was observing the Qin ministers in the hall. This represented Qin's attitude towards Zhao and towards herself and her son.

Know yourself and the enemy, a hundred battles will never end.

"The Art of War" was read by Zhao Ji.

She saw that the ministers' eyes were almost all on the child prodigy. She could only attract some attention when she was talking to Ying Yiren.

Most of the glances were nonchalant, like when one hears a cat or a dog barking and then takes a look over.

[Everyone in Qin State, from top to bottom, did not take Zhao State and my mother and I seriously and looked down on us.]
[Their attention has always been focused on that boy... Is this boy more valuable than an entire country?]
[Madam Ji... He doesn't even want to call me mother.]
[A child prodigy and a prince, if these two are combined, can they do whatever they want in Qin?]
[If he has some unique skills and knows some political tactics, he can be called a child prodigy and be respected to this extent. Then isn’t Zheng’er the reincarnation of a saint?]
[All the treatment that this brat received today will be given to Zheng'er tomorrow.]
When the bustling crowd dispersed, the eunuchs roughly lifted the prince of Zhao and took him away to be settled, and new tears welled up in her eyes.

She tilted her pretty face slightly, and crystal tears the size of soybeans slid across her perfect white jaw.

Even if a beauty cries, she is still a beauty.

The tears on her face made her look a little bit miserable, but what she showed more was the beauty of sorrow.

"The prince said that he would treat Master Gao well, is this what the prince meant by treating him well?

"If Prince Wang is like this, what about my son and I? The Crown Prince is just doing the same thing as in Handan, but he is just saying nice things. I beg to take my son back to Zhao."

Qin Zichu, who had been separated from his wife and children for eight years, hugged Zhao Ji without feeling any strangeness, and rested his chin on the top of his beloved wife's head.

"I heard that Zheng'er was bullied by many princes in Zhao State, and the King of Zhao rewarded the son who whipped Zheng'er the most severely at the banquet to encourage their arrogance.

"Now that the King of Zhao's son has come to Qin, I am doing the greatest kindness by not killing him.

"We have been separated for eight years. The last time I saw Zheng'er, he could not walk steadily and could only call me mother. I miss you day and night. When I heard that you had returned, I lost my appetite and sleep and became extremely thin.

"How could you bear to take our son away from me? Haven't you seen enough of Zheng'er being tied to the stake and whipped?!"

Zhao Ji cried bitterly.

"The injury on Zheng'er's body hurts my heart! You only heard about it in the distant Qin State, but I saw it with my own eyes.

"Every time I apply medicine to Zheng'er and see the scars on his body, I wish I could suffer the same fate myself! Zheng'er is my only son, how can I not feel heartbroken!
"If it weren't for the last resort, why would I be willing to take Zheng'er back to Zhao?"

When she cried, pear blossoms fell. Zhao Ji, who was only thirty years old, perfectly combined the charm of a young woman and a girl. I felt pity for her.

Her big eyes, filled with tears, were watery and reflected a hint of despair.

"Zheng'er will suffer physical pain in Zhao, but at least his life won't be in danger. But in Qin? I'm afraid he won't even be able to save his life!

"Before entering Hangu Pass, he was assassinated. As the father of the crown prince, you did nothing about it. You are worse than a seven-year-old child!"

Qin Zichu looked helpless and sighed.

“That’s just angry talk.

"You and I know very well that there are very few people who are capable of assassinating someone less than ten miles outside Hangu Pass and gathering more than three hundred people. They are either the pillars of the Qin State or my brothers and sisters.

"If we get to the bottom of this matter and find out who is behind this, what can we do?

“Kill him.

"If the murderer was a close minister, even a small move could cause the whole body to fall, not to mention a pillar that supports the Qin Dynasty. The court would be shaken. This is my fault. If the murderer was my brother or sister, how would my father look at me if they killed each other?

“No killing.

"I am the crown prince of Qin. I know the murderer who assassinated my son, but I cannot kill him to avenge him. Where is my dignity? Where is my prestige? Can I still be the crown prince? Am I still qualified to be the regent?
"What's more, Zheng'er has not yet been recognized by the royal family. The assassination of a foreigner and the assassination of a prince of Qin are two completely different things."

The prince showed a trace of fatigue.

"The previous king passed away last September. My father followed the rules of mourning and I was ordered to act as regent. (Note 1)
"I have been very cautious for the past month, not daring to make the slightest mistake, and so far I have not made any major mistakes. (Note 2)
“Now that the return of power is imminent, no problems can occur at this time.

"As long as nothing happens to me, the prince, you and your son will be fine."

Zhao Ji looked anxious.

"Why don't you go and stop them?"

Qin Zichu was not in a hurry.

"I stopped him once in front of all the ministers, to let my father know that it was not me who wanted to investigate, and to show my feelings. That was enough. No matter how much my father dotes on a seven-year-old child, he would not let him do whatever he wants in such a major matter.

"Before you entered Xianyang, a rumor began to spread in Xianyang that Zheng'er was born in Zhao State, his heart is Zhao's, and he is called 'Zhao Zheng'. Let Cheng Jiao bring him to meet father. Once father sees Cheng Jiao's mood, the rumor will be self-defeating." Zhao Ji was unaware of the rumor. She cursed the rumormonger for his evil intentions and said he was not a good son. Her tears fell like rain.

Qin Zichu tried to comfort Zhao Ji with kind words for a long time, until his sleeves were soaked, and finally Zhao Ji stopped crying.

"When you left Zhao State, why didn't you take us mother and son back with you?"

Qin Zichu was both sad and angry.

"That fellow Lu Buwei said that you and Zheng'er had left the city first, so I fled with him. By the time I knew that you and Zheng'er were still in Handan, you had already walked a hundred miles.

"He has great power. If I become king, I cannot do without his assistance. When I ascend the throne, I will kill this beast and do the bidding for you."

Zhao Ji refused to believe it and said quietly:
"I have only heard of retainers being controlled by their masters, but I have never heard of masters being controlled by their retainers.

"Asking my mother and I to return to Qin is just like you coming to marry into my family. You just want to use the power of my Lin family.

"Everyone else said that you were not a good match, but I believed your sweet words. You said that if you became king, you would make my son the crown prince and inherit the Qin throne. It turns out that you were just trying to fool me..."

Qin Zichu lowered his body, and even though he and Zhao Ji were the only two people in the hall, he insisted on whispering in Zhao Ji's ear.

"The reason why I named Zheng'er Zheng is that he was born in October, which is the first month of the year in Qin. Second, it is the legitimate succession to the throne. (Note 3)
"Qiang means poisonous insect. I named my second son Cheng Qia. Doesn't that show my feelings? If I were the king, the crown prince would have to be Zheng'er."

The couple in the front hall are chatting, and the brothers in the palace are looking for their father.

As Ying Chengjiao pulled Ying Zheng out of the gate, they saw five tall black horses. The royal carriage had stopped at the door of the front hall at some point.

The chariot officer jumped off the carriage and asked with a smile:

"Sir, are you looking for the king? Do you want a ride?"

Ying Chengjiao and his brother ran over and complained:
"If you don't take me with you, I won't know where my grandfather is."

Qin Wangzhu has been on the throne for more than ten days, but he has no intention of ruling the country. He still lets the crown prince govern the country and the queen assist in governing the country, just like when he was in mourning.

He doesn't care about anything and his whereabouts remain a mystery.

It was common for him to be in the Western Palace in the morning and go to the Eastern Palace to the royal tombs in the evening.

The carriage commander smiled and did not respond, but carried Ying Chengjiao into the carriage.

The child stood in front of the carriage and refused to go in.

"I'm not expecting you to kill everyone before you even see your great father, am I?"

Ying Zheng held onto the carriage rails with both hands and climbed up. (Note 4)
The chariot officer sat in the front room, turned his horse around, and replied with a smile:

"I can only guarantee that you will be alive when you meet the king.

"Whether you can come out alive or not will depend on how long you can convince the king."

Crack the whip.

"drive!"

In less than a quarter of an hour, the royal carriage stopped outside a palace.

Ying Chengjiao rushed towards the palace gate, but his voice arrived before he did.

"Father, help me! Someone wants to kill me!"

…………

[Note 1: After the death of an ancient monarch, the new monarch would change the era name. The period between the death of the previous monarch and the change of era name in the first month of the following year is called "observing mourning."]

【Note 2: According to the "Chronicle" of the Qin bamboo slips unearthed from the Qin Tomb at Shuihudi, it is recorded that in the th year, in the ninth month of the last year, Zhao died. In the first year of King Xiaowen, he died immediately. It is known that the ninth month of the leap year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin died, and he died in the second ninth month. His son King Xiaowen changed the reign title to the first month of the following year. The Qin State implemented the Zhuanxu calendar, and the beginning of the year began in the tenth month. The first month of the Qin State was not the first month, but the tenth month. Therefore, King Xiaowen's mourning period was less than one month, not one year as widely believed.】

【Note 3: In the pre-Qin period, "zheng" and "zheng" were interchangeable. 】

【Note 4: The horizontal bar used as the front handrail of a carriage.】

(End of this chapter)