The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 282 Loneliness
Li Si said, "This is all thanks to you, young master."

Seeing his father's gaze on him, Fusu bowed and said, "Actually, the land in Guanzhong has always been very good. It was the wars between the various states that delayed this land. If it is given ten years to recover, it will be full of crops. It was originally very beautiful, but the wars have worn away much of its beauty."

Ying Zheng gazed at the distant mountains, and could see the shimmering river under the sunlight.

At noon, the group stopped by a river and set up camp to cook lunch.

The father and son sat together. Ying Zheng coughed twice and then asked, "Will the world get better and better?"

Fusu replied, "Your subject does not know."

"What do you think?"

After pondering for a moment, Fusu said, "Your subject believes that as long as what we have done is useful and meaningful, and the vast majority of people can benefit from it, people will remember what we have done, regardless of whether the Great Qin Dynasty exists in the future."

Li Si was roasting a rabbit, with Meng Tian guarding him nearby.

Upon receiving the gift, a basin of washed mulberries was brought out. Ying Zheng took a few dark mulberries from the basin and said, "When I went to the Hexi Corridor, I heard a county magistrate named Lou Jing say that the mulberries in the Western Regions are very large and sweet."

Fusu said, "I have never eaten mulberries before. I will definitely try them when I have the chance."

Ying Zheng stroked his beard and smiled, then reached out and patted his son on the back.

From his father's words, Fusu sensed his father's helplessness and disappointment. People will eventually grow old, and his father was indeed growing old; otherwise, he wouldn't have let Xia Wuqie accompany him.

In fact, Xia Wuqie always said that his father's health was fine, and he had been saying this from the past to the present, and the answer he received was always that his father was fine.

But only the Emperor himself, and Xia Wuqie, knew the true state of his health.

When he heard his father say that the world might get better and better, Fusu knew that his strong-willed father was still worried about the world.

In fact, Father's worries are unnecessary, regardless of whether the future of the world is good or bad.

No one dared to refute Qin's unification; who would dare?

From then on, every emperor took unification as his mission.

From then on, for generations to come, no matter how the world changes, the nation in people's hearts has never been divided into fiefdoms, but only unified.

After the emperor returned from his western tour, he also took a trip around Guanzhong.

Until this year's summer harvest in Guanzhong began, the wheat in the fields finally turned golden, and the people of Guanzhong once again worked together as a family in the fields.

People tucked their long hair away, put on their simplest and oldest clothes, some barefoot, some wearing straw sandals, and led their wives, children, and elderly relatives into the fields to begin harvesting this year's grain.

Li Si asked a villager for a bowl of newly harvested wheat, which he handed to the emperor, saying, "This is this year's wheat."

Ying Zheng picked up a few grains of wheat, put them in his mouth and tasted them, then said, "Hmm, good grain."

Li Yan, standing to the side, already had tears in his eyes. Although he had never experienced the hardships his grandfather's generation had gone through, and did not know how the old Qin people had managed to get by, he could feel in his heart how hard-won this happiness was.

When the autumn harvest is mostly over, it is also the time to wrap things up.

Children were picking up ears of wheat in the wheat field.

As the emperor's entourage passed through Tongguan, Ying Zheng saw groups of villagers spontaneously placing bowls of grain in a small house next to Tongguan city.

This is something that the people of Weinan County have been doing all along.

“Fusu, look…” Ying Zheng said in a low voice, “People are all hoping that you will become the next emperor.”

Fusu lowered his head slightly, not replying, nor knowing how to respond.

Li Si said, "Prince Fusu works for the common people and distributes land to all people. He is deeply loved by the people. There are rumors that Prince Fusu loves the people and all people, regardless of whether you are poor or not, and regardless of whether you are of noble or lowly status."

After passing through Tongguan, the group returned to the imperial palace in the northern suburbs.

Fusu hoped that his father could return to Xianyang, but his father seemed unwilling to return to Xianyang and preferred to live in this detached palace in the northern suburbs.

"Father, the court officials are still waiting for the Emperor to return to Xianyang."

“It’s much more comfortable in the northern suburbs during this sweltering summer. Xianyang is too stuffy and hot.” ​​At this point, Ying Zheng added, “When it gets cold, I will go to Mount Li.”

Fusu bowed once more, having no choice but to comply with his father's wishes.

"Go back now. The affairs of state are heavy and cannot be left unattended."

Upon hearing his father's words, Fusu could only bow and take his leave.

Outside Linguang Palace, Fusu met his teacher.

Li Si seemed to know what the prince was going to say, and said, "I am here with the emperor, and state affairs can only be handled by the prince."

Fusu could only nod and walk down the steps of Linguang Palace.

At the bottom of the stone steps, Fusu saw his son.

There were still some beads of sweat on Li's forehead, and his originally beautiful blue robe was now covered with weeds. I wonder where this child has been playing.

Fusu stopped, brushed all the weeds off his clothes, straightened his collar and belt, and asked, "Where did you go to play?"

Li replied, "I went to play with Fatty Liu."

"Liu Fei?" Fusu asked suspiciously, "Which Liu Fei?"

"It is Liu Fei, the nephew of Xiao He, the prefect of Weibei County. He came from Chu to study in Guanzhong."

Fusu then realized that the son was Liu Ji's son, and he had almost forgotten that Liu Ji had such a son.

"Father, does Grandpa live here alone?"

"Yes, Grandpa doesn't want to go back to Xianyang."

"Won't Grandpa feel lonely all by himself?"

"He was accompanied by the Prime Minister."

Looking at his son's expression, Fusu asked again, "What? Do you want to go play with Grandpa?"

Li looked at his father again, then at the towering steps of the Lin Guang Palace, and whispered, "I think Grandpa is a very lonely person." Li was a very sensible child, good at understanding others and seeing through people's hearts.

This child has been very perceptive about these things since he was a child. Without anyone telling him, he can tell the joy or anger in other people's expressions just by observing them.

"I'm a little afraid of my grandfather."

Fusu said, "Don't be afraid, that's your grandfather. Go see him. Your brother is still hunting and killing Xiongnu people with your grandfather in the north."

"is it?"

Upon hearing this, Li's eyes lit up again, and he said, "Then I'm not afraid of Grandpa anymore."

Fusu said, "Go."

After saying this, Li walked up the stone steps toward Lin Guang Palace.

Fusu stood there for a long time until a palace attendant came to report, "The Emperor has decided to let the young master stay here."

Hearing this, Fusu finally felt relieved and went back.

At dusk, Tian An saw the young master return, and then saw the lady inquire about the emperor's health.

Fusu said, "Xia Wuqie said that Father Emperor's health is fine."

Wang Tang'er then asked, "Do you need me to arrange for someone to take care of Father?"

"No need, there are many people taking care of Father Emperor, so Li will remain at Lin Guang Palace."

Hearing that her son Li had also gone to accompany his father, Wang Tang'er finally felt more at ease.

The next day, Fusu got up early for his morning run and saw Tian An holding a book on a scroll in the side hall.

"Young master, the young master sent someone to deliver a message saying that he wants to bring some books."

Fusu glanced at the books he was to bring; they were all medical books.

After taking two more steps into the hall, Fusu came to an even older bookshelf, took out several scrolls of bamboo slips from it, placed them in Tian An's bamboo frame, and said, "Take these books with you as well."

These bamboo scrolls, bound together with rope, were written by the young master many years ago, as Tian An still remembered.

Fusu explained, "These are all books about typhoid fever; I hope they will be helpful to him."

"I'll send it to the young master right away."

After this year's summer harvest, Guanzhong will be busy with autumn preparations, and the counties in Guanzhong will be busy clearing out the idlers in their respective counties.

On a plain in the northern suburbs, Ying Zheng watched as Li flew a kite. However, the autumn winds in Guanzhong were strong, and the kite broke its frame as it flew higher due to the tension of the string and the force of the wind.

Li picked up the broken kite and said, "Grandson didn't do a good job. We need to make a bigger one to make it more fun."

This child resembled Fusu in his youth, and Ying Zheng then remembered that he hadn't properly looked after Fusu when he was young.

Li is a very bright child; at the age of twelve, he was able to make a kite all by himself.

Ying Zheng said, "Your elder brother wouldn't be able to do such exquisite work."

Li said, "My brother is not as patient as I am. I learned it from Grandpa Tian An, but Grandpa Tian An said it was taught by Father."

Ying Zheng asked, "Do you usually like to play this?"

Li continued quietly piecing together the kite's frame. Since Li called this thing a kite, then let's just call it a kite.

"I love reading, and I want to read lots and lots of books."

"Your father also loves to read."

Li then asked, "Does Grandpa also enjoy reading?"

Ying Zheng suddenly laughed again and said, "I also read them. The books you read now are all left by our predecessors. Our predecessors are no longer here, but when I read those books, people like Xunzi and Han Fei were still alive."

Li said, "My father often said that Xunzi was remarkable. If only Xunzi were still alive."

"What's so good about it?"

“I heard my father say that General Wang Jian almost brought Xunzi to Qin and took my father as his disciple.”

Li Si smiled, almost bursting out laughing.

Li said, "It's true, my maternal grandfather can testify."

The young master lived in a small house next to the Lin Guang Palace. There was a deer that often walked in front of the house, which seemed to be the young master's pet.

Xia Wuqie also knew that the palace kept deer, and that Prince Fusu and his wife kept quite a few.

Upon seeing several scrolls of books on the young master's windowsill, Xia Wuqie stood there for a moment, especially after seeing a few sentences on the scrolls, including the words "typhoid fever".

After hesitating for a moment, Xia Wuqie picked up one of the scrolls and looked at it carefully.

I don't know how much time had passed, but then I heard footsteps behind me.

"The Imperial Physician?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Wuqie turned around and saw the young master.

Li said, "This is a book my father gave me."

Where did this book come from?

"My father gave it to me."

"This pharmacopoeia is well written, and it contains some novel pharmacological insights that I've never seen before."

It surprised Li that even the Imperial Physician was unaware of pharmacology.

He also felt that with so many books in Xianyang Palace, it was unlikely that the Imperial Physician had read them all.

(End of this chapter)