The younger brother of the First Emperor

Chapter 113: Mr. Qin stands on the side of morality

Le Cheng looked at Ying Chengjiao in surprise and glanced at the smashed carriage.

He was full of confusion as he had just thought Ying Chengjiao was bloodthirsty.

[He was almost killed, but he was released now? What's the way?]
Seeing Zhu Hai standing there motionless, Ying Chengjiao waved to a servant and loudly ordered him to prepare money, food and water for Zhu Hai and take him away.

"You bastard...you kid, do you know that I am here to kill you!" Zhu Hai stopped him with a stiff face.

He was caught while stabbing someone, but not only was he not killed, he was asked to give him money to leave. He had never encountered such a thing in his life.

He felt a little guilty and thought that he shouldn't have assassinated such a good person.

Ying Chengjiao hid behind Gai Nie and comforted Zhu Hai, who was dressed as a butcher.

"I am the Prime Minister and General of Zhao.

"Mr. Zhu has done a great favor to the State of Zhao, which means he has done a great favor to me, Ying Chengjiao.

"With the grace of the country in the forefront, personal grudges are nothing."

The young man pointed at Zhu Hai and shouted to the Zhao army, Qin elite soldiers, maids and servants who were surrounding him:
"Do you know this man? He is a righteous man in the world!
"Qin attacked Handan, and Zhao was in imminent danger of being destroyed. The old prime minister, Lord Pingyuan, sought help from all directions, including Wei.

“Although the King of Wei sent Jinbi’s army, he was afraid of Qin and ordered Jinbi to station his troops at the border and wait and see.

"The wife of the old prime minister is the sister of Lord Xinling. While sending an envoy to Wei to urge rescue, she also blamed Lord Xinling, saying: 'The reason I married into your family is because I admire your noble character and your ability to save others from distress. Now Handan is about to fall, and the reinforcements from Wei have not arrived yet. Even if you don't value me and abandon me, don't you have pity for your sister?'

"Xinling Jun was very worried and repeatedly asked the king of Wei to order Jin Bi to rush to rescue Handan. He also lobbied the king of Wei through his guests and debaters, but the king would not listen.

"Xinling Jun then notified his guests and assembled more than a hundred chariots, intending to go to Handan to fight for Zhao. When he passed Yi Gate, he saw his retainer Hou Ying and told him that he was about to die.

"Hou Ying said, 'Sir, please take care of yourself. I, an old minister, cannot follow you.'

"After Xinling Jun left, he walked a few miles and felt unhappy, so he turned back to see Hou Lei.

"Hou Ying smiled and said, 'I knew you would come back. Now you have no other options, so you want to go fight the Qin army. This is like throwing meat in front of a hungry tiger. What merit will this bring?'

“Xinling Jun bowed twice and asked for advice.

"Hou Ying asked Lord Xinling to dismiss his attendants and said, 'I heard that Jinbi's military seal is in the King of Wei's bedroom, and Ruji is the most favored, so she will definitely be able to steal it. I heard that the prince avenged Ruji's father's death, and Ruji wants to repay the prince, and she will not refuse even if she dies. If the prince really asks her for it, he can get the tiger seal, seize Jinbi's army, rescue Zhao in the north, and repel the Qin army in the west.'

"Xinling Jun did as Hou Ying said, and indeed he received the military token and was about to set out.

"Hou Ying said to Lord Xinling: 'When a general is on the battlefield, he may not obey the king's orders. If Jinbi has verified the military token but still refuses to hand over the army and asks the king of Wei for instructions, then things will be dangerous. My good friend Zhu Hai is a man of great martial arts, and we can take him with us. If Jinbi obeys, that would be the best. If not, you can let Zhu Hai kill him!'

"The Zhu Hai that Hou Ying was talking about is the hero in front of you!

"Xinling Jun invited Zhu Hai to go with him. When they arrived at Yecheng, where the Wei army was stationed, Jin Bi checked the military token, but he still had doubts in his heart. He said, 'I am stationed here with a hundred thousand troops under the order of the King of Wei. Now the King of Wei has sent you to replace him alone with a contrary order. I need to consult the King of Wei.'

"When the conspiracy was exposed, the righteous man killed Jin Bi with the 1-jin iron hammer hidden in his sleeve. (Note )
"Only then can Lord Xinling lead the Wei army to rescue our Zhao.

“The Wei army was able to reach Handan, drive out the Qin army, and rescue Zhao thanks to four benefactors.

"Lord Xinling, the king of Wei's favorite concubine Ruji, the righteous man Hou Ying, and the righteous man Zhu Hai.

"After Ru Ji got the tiger talisman and delivered it to Lord Xinling, she was killed by the King of Wei.

"The righteous Hou Ying was already seventy years old at that time and could not go with Lord Xinling. He calculated the time and when Lord Xinling arrived at Yecheng, he faced the direction of Yecheng and committed suicide, repaying Lord Xinling's kindness with suicide.

"Of these four people, only Lord Xinling and Zhu Hai are still alive.

"Although Zhu Hai wants to kill me today, as the prime minister and general of Zhao, how can I kill this great hero who saved Zhao?"

Zhu Hai felt dizzy, as if he had drunk fifty jars of liquor, and was floating in the clouds.

He pretended to glance around casually, and wherever he looked, he was filled with admiration.

The Zhao soldiers who had just punished him lowered their heads with guilt, not daring to look him in the eye.

In front of so many people, his past deeds were recounted loudly and he was greeted with hundreds of respectful and admiring looks.

He felt very happy, extremely excited, and his blood was boiling.

He felt even happier now than when he killed Wei's veteran general Jin Bi and followed Lord Xinling to take over the 100,000 Wei troops.

Even on that extremely dark face, you could see some red.

The cold wind blew across his face and immediately turned into hot wind, and his face felt very hot.

The wounds on my arms, chest, and back no longer hurt, and the blood that had solidified in the cold wind was no longer stuffy.

He felt refreshed and had never felt so comfortable before.

At his happiest moment, he heard a child's voice asking a question.

"The righteous man assassinated me, it must be because I didn't do something good enough.

"Mr. Zhu, can you tell me what I did wrong that made you take the risk to assassinate me?

"Did I offend Lord Xinling in some way?"

Zhu Hai's face was dark red.

The blushing just now was due to excitement, but now it is due to shame.

He was speechless and unable to speak.

He was originally a butcher, had never been to school and could not read.

He became famous for killing the old Wei general Jin Bi with a hammer, and was nicknamed the Heavy Iron Awl in the martial arts world, and became a guest of honor of Lord Xinling.

All he did all his life was kill dogs and pigs, and fight and kill people.

How could he say anything if no one reminded him in advance?

He was just following orders and had no grudge against Ying Chengjiao.

After seeing with his own eyes this young man who was only as tall as his waist, seeing what this young man did, and hearing what this young man said, he really didn't know what was wrong with this young man.

This is a good kid.

Everyone around was looking at Zhu Hai with respect, waiting for his response.

He felt very uncomfortable and thought it would be more satisfying if someone shot him and stabbed him with ten thousand holes.

Only a short while had passed, but he felt like he had been holding it in for a long time. Unable to bear the pressure, he lowered his head and said in a muffled voice:
"You are not wrong, it's Hai's fault."

After saying only six words, he swung the heavy iron spike in his hand, which had made him famous for killing Jin Bi, and smashed it hard on his own head.

Few people expected him to do this, and Ying Chengjiao was among them.

The Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, and even the Qin and Han Dynasties.

There are too many people who value fame over their lives, and there are many records of them in the history books where every word is gem.

The moment Zhu Hai raised his hand, Gai Nie, who had been instructed in advance by Ying Chengjiao, moved.

Chengying is unsheathed, the sword is invisible.

The handle of the 40-jin iron spike broke inexplicably in the middle, and the spike head, which was supposed to hit Zhu Hai on the head, flew high into the sky due to inertia and fell freely.

The Zhao soldiers who were about to be hit hurriedly scattered. The cone head hit the ground with a dull "bang" and sank half a foot deep.

Zhu Hai stared blankly at Gai Nie who was only a few feet away from him, sheathing his sword. He lowered his head to look at the broken awl handle, and suddenly stabbed it towards his heart.

"Stop him!" Le Cheng, who had not reacted immediately, shouted. Several Zhao soldiers rushed forward, knocked Zhu Hai down, and held this hero who had made great contributions to them firmly under their bodies.

Ying Chengjiao sighed, raised his head, and shouted to the sky:

“Such a righteous man would rather commit suicide than tell me the truth.

"Oh my God, what did I, Ying Chengjiao, do wrong? Why did Lord Xinling want to kill me?"

The Zhao soldiers who were watching were originally full of hostility towards this nominal general, but now most of them felt distress, pity and respect for him.

A prince of Qin became the prime minister and general of Zhao. They were dissatisfied and felt it was a shame.

This prince of Qin let go of the assassin who almost killed him because the assassin had done a great favor to the State of Zhao, and reflected on himself in public.

The prince of Qin who acted on the side of Zhao State became the prime minister and general of their Zhao State.

Okay, that's fine, no shame.

The boy walked to the dead assassins and rubbed his eyes.

After taking his hands away, his almond-shaped eyes turned visibly red, and tears flowed down his face.

As they walked, the youthful and energetic Bai Wuxia approached the young man, wiped away his tears, and asked with a distressed look on her face:

"Zhu Hai is not dead, why are you crying, young master?"

The young man said sadly:
"These people, like Zhu Hai, are retainers of Lord Xinling and are all men of high integrity.

"So many noble men died because of the assassination of me, Ying Chengjiao. This is all my fault.

"Alas.

“If I hadn’t been entrusted with the mission of persuading Yan to stop fighting and saving Zhao.

"I will die here, so that no more heroes will die because of me."

Zhao Jiangle Cheng heard this, shook his head, and said with emotion:

"You are such a noble man, sir.

"At first, I was dissatisfied with the fact that you became a prime minister and a general at such a young age, and I thought you were using some conspiracy.

"So the young master relied on virtue to take advantage of the good to feel ashamed."

The Zhao soldiers whispered to each other, saying that this Prince Qin was completely different from other Qin people and was a true gentleman.

There was a "clang" sound.

A Qin warrior suddenly struck the frozen ground hard with his spear and shouted:

"Sir, do you remember that you are still a Qin person? You are the son of the King of Qin!"

The Zhao soldiers looked at the Qin warrior with murderous eyes and their ears pricked up.

They wanted to hear how Prince Qin, the prime minister and general of their State of Zhao, would answer.

The young man looked at the furious Qin soldier.

"Of course I remember."

Qin soldiers roared:

"Why didn't you kill Zhu Hai?
"Without this thief, our Qin State might have conquered Zhao State.

"He is the enemy of Qin, and also the enemy of the young master!"

The boy shook his head, looking serious.

"Qin attacked Zhao in order to seize its land. This was an unjust war.

"Zhu Hai did not let Qin succeed and saved Zhao. This was a moral act. What was wrong with that?

"I am a prince of Qin. I love Qin, but I love morality more.

“Any righteous person is not my enemy.

"Mencius said: 'Those who have the right way have many supporters, while those who have lost the right way have few supporters.'

“I think that statement couldn’t be more true.”

The Qin soldier was speechless, not knowing how to refute and was unable to speak.

He came from a poor family and, like Zhu Hai, was illiterate in terms of culture.

He can charge into battle, but he cannot persuade others in debates.

Ying Chengjiao let out a long sigh, feeling bored, and asked Zhao General Le Cheng:
"These people are all righteous men, and they are retainers of Lord Xinling, who has done great favors to our State of Zhao. General, can you please release them all?"

Le Cheng said hurriedly:
"I don't deserve the title of General, you are the general. I am the general, you are the general.

"The general has spoken, and I will obey."

He was not a general to begin with. Zhu Hai had called him a general before because he wanted to complete the task for his lord, which was a kind of compliment.

With the letter from his uncle Yue Yi in mind and personal observation behind him, he really did not dare to accept the title of "General" in front of Ying Chengjiao, the real general.

After responding humbly to Ying Chengjiao, the Zhao general looked fiercely and coldly at the six surviving assassins, his heart full of murderous intent.

“The general is magnanimous and doesn’t care, but I, Le Cheng, am a narrow-minded person.

"Go back to Hao County and tell your lord to go to Handan as soon as possible.

"I will write a letter myself to report this matter to His Majesty, and Lord Xinling must give an explanation for this matter!
"Someone, untie them!"

The young man thanked him sincerely, walked behind the Sword Saint, and cried through Gai Nie and Zhu Hai:

"Twenty-one heroes have died because of Cheng Jiao. Mr. Zhu, please have pity on a young boy like me and don't let me become the twenty-second one."

Zhu Hai opened his mouth and closed it again.

He knelt on the ground suddenly, lowered his head and said:

"I was originally just a butcher in the market, but Lord Xinling, as a noble lord, personally visited me many times. I will repay this kindness by killing Jinbi.

"Afterwards, Lord Xinling treated me as a guest of honor, and I repaid him by assassinating him. Before I came, I knew that whether the assassination was successful or not, I would die.

"But the young master did not kill me. Instead, he treated me with courtesy and offered me money and food to leave. He called me a righteous man and valued me very much. This kindness is too precious.

“I will go back and report what happened here to Lord Xinling, and repay Lord Xinling’s kindness completely.

"If you don't give up, I will come back to you and hope you can give me a chance to repay you."

Ying Chengjiao knew that the best way to deal with the situation at this moment was to go over and help Zhu Hai up personally.

He looked at the half-broken cone handle in Zhu Hai's hand, thinking that this thing would be like tofu under the sharp sword of Chengying, but would be a deadly weapon if used against himself.

[A few flaws won't affect the overall situation. There's no need to gamble your life at this time. What if he hits me and Gai Nie can't stop me?]
He swallowed quietly and stood behind Gai Nie without moving.

[Note 1: At that time, one catty was equivalent to half a catty today, 250 grams. I know some brothers think that hiding catties of iron spikes in the sleeves is extremely unreasonable. This is not something I made up, it is recorded in history books.]

(End of this chapter)