I am not a seventh-generation descendant of Lord Wu'an from the Qin Dynasty.

"Hahaha~"

Inside Ganquan Palace, a burst of heartfelt, delightful laughter rang out, greatly pleasing Empress Dowager Zhao Ji.

"That old hag has finally met her match!"

"Hmph, she gave birth to a son who died young, and now she doesn't even acknowledge her eldest grandson. All she does all day is nitpick at her daughter-in-law's mistakes to assert her authority as the mother-in-law."

"Doesn't she even consider the mistake her deadbeat son made back then in Handan, abandoning his wife and children!"

After venting her anger for a while, Zhao Ji, seeing that Bai Qi wasn't cooperating, came over and fawned over him.

"Of course, Bai Qizi is more capable. He rendered that old hag speechless with just one move."

"But did she really keep fifty hunky Korean men in the palace? Fifty! Can she handle that?"

"Is that all you're focusing on? Those are the Han crossbowmen, the most skilled defensive soldiers of the Warring States period, now appearing in the Qin palace."

Bai Qi shook his head inwardly. He was now absolutely certain that the Empress Dowager Zhao Ji in his arms had no other skills besides pleasing men.

"The presence of Korean assassins inside Xianyang Palace is something we must be wary of."

Before you leave the palace tomorrow, go and see the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan of Qin, ostensibly to clean up the palace.

"Clean up all the fake eunuchs, witchcraft, aconite for abortion, musk for bewitching the emperor, and other such nonsense in Xianyang Palace."

Empress Dowager Zhao Ji, who had been beaming with joy, instantly changed her expression, her face becoming sullen: "Are we really going to Yongcheng?"

Just then, Hong'er, dressed in a pink gauze dress, gracefully walked in carrying a bowl of medicinal soup.

"Your Majesty, the contraceptive soup is ready!"

Zhao Ji glared at her irritably, while the palace maid Hong'er looked completely bewildered.

"Should we also get rid of this contraceptive soup?"

Bai Qi remained silent, but reached out and took the medicine, placing it to Zhao Ji's rosy lips and speaking softly.

"Sweetie, drink it!"

"Bitter~"

"Then I'll blow on it for you!"

"Waaah~"

Hong'er looked at what was in front of her.

A sixteen-year-old boy tries to appear mature and composed, while a thirty-year-old woman feigns youthful innocence.

She felt a strange sense of unease, but the two people involved seemed to enjoy it immensely.

"We must go to Yongcheng."

Seeing that Zhao Ji obediently finished drinking the contraceptive soup, Bai Qi then explained with a serious expression.

"From the moment the Empress Dowager forced her subjects, she should have realized that she could no longer stay in Ganquan Palace."

"As His Majesty grows older, there are more and more sarcastic remarks in the Xianyang Palace. Even Prime Minister Lü dares not do anything more. How could Bai Qi, a mere centurion, dare to defy such a great taboo?"

Bai Qi was genuinely afraid that he would replace the historical Lao Ai and ultimately anger King Zheng of Qin, resulting in his being torn apart by five horses and his twins being thrown to the ground in the palace.

Zhao Ji pouted.

A man who just trampled through the palace gates of Empress Dowager Xia Ji and then climbed onto the bed of Empress Dowager Zhao Ji, keeps claiming to be a coward—who would believe that?!

But she also knew the concerns in the heart of the young man in front of her. There was always an inexplicable grudge between the King of Qin and Bai Wu.

Thinking of this, Zhao Ji asked curiously, "Regarding the matter of Lord Wu'an, does Bai Qizi truly harbor resentment?"

Bai Qi sighed, "Would you believe me if I said I really wasn't the posthumous child of Lord Wu'an's granddaughter-in-law?"

Empress Dowager Zhao Ji shook her head directly. How could she believe something that the entire Qin court and the public had already acknowledged?

Bai Qi leaned against the headboard, squinting at the golden phoenix embroidered on the ceiling, her voice soft and low.

"Even if the grandson of Lord Wu'an were truly alive, he probably couldn't conceive of a better means of revenge than lying on the bed of King Zhaoxiang of Qin's granddaughter-in-law right now, could he?"

"Didn't I vent all my resentment on you?!"

"Yes, it's full." Zhao Ji smiled, feeling quite pleased with herself for her cleverness.

Bai Qi sighed, "It really proves that old saying."

Even the most brilliant strategies of wise men cannot withstand the sudden inspiration of fools.

"Oh, right."

Zhao Ji suddenly thought, "Your lies caused Zheng'er to come yesterday evening, hugging me and crying his eyes out. It was quite a sight."

"Honestly, you're such a grown-up, yet you're still so childish. You can't even tell the difference between truth and lies."

Even so, Bai Qi still caught a fleeting glimpse of relief in Zhao Ji's eyes.

"This child was worth raising!"

"Who told you that's a lie?" Bai Qi clapped his hands lightly. "Clap clap!"

From the shadows, the Soul-Turning and Soul-Destroying Sisters suddenly appeared, handing over a short message with both hands.

[Zhao Yiming has revised the genealogy. Soon after, an envoy from Zhao arrived in Xianyang with the genealogy, confirming her status as a princess from a foreign imperial family.]

"Now, from this day forward, you are officially recognized as a princess from a branch of the Zhao state."

Bai Qi scoffed, "Of course, not the current King of Zhao's branch, but a remote branch of the Zhao royal family that separated when the three families divided Jin."

"As the old saying goes, we are all descendants of Yan and Huang, and we were all one family five hundred years ago!"

Zhao Ji smiled with delight, squinting as she examined the line of small characters above, her smile barely concealed.

"So, I've become a princess of Zhao?"

Although she was already the most respected Empress Dowager Zhao Ji in the seven kingdoms, she still harbored resentment over her humble origins as a dancer in her youth.

Unexpectedly, what was just a casual act the night before actually brought her a pleasant surprise.

"Otherwise what?"

Bai Qi: "If the State of Zhao does not agree to change the Empress Dowager's genealogy, then the State of Qin will change its national policy and attack the State of Zhao first."

"I only tried threatening them, but I didn't expect Zhao to back down so easily, and it actually worked."

"No matter how much the King investigates in the future, it will only be unfounded rumors. It will only deepen his impression of the Empress Dowager's painstaking efforts to protect her young son."

A mother and a godfather are always different; the former is gone with the wind, while the latter is a damned old scoundrel who deserves to die!

Of course, things are far more complicated than Bai Qi described.

From the moment Bai Qi rode his horse into Xianyang, the apparent conflict was a power struggle between the young King of Qin's intention to rule personally and the powerful minister Lü Buwei's regency.

In reality, the Qin military was more dissatisfied with Lü Buwei's use of Qi general Meng Ao to suppress the Qin army's eastward advance.

Seeing that the King of Qin was getting older, the grandson of Lord Wu'an suddenly emerged and took advantage of the situation to push things forward.

The intention was to shift the Qin's national policy, which focused on consolidating and developing its internal affairs, to a war against the six states that were expanding eastward.

After the death of Lord Lingjun Wei Wuji, the six states suddenly realized that their strategy of forming an alliance to attack Qin was doomed to failure.

Among the six states, there was no one else who could win the trust of the rulers and ministers of the six states and defeat the fierce and ruthless Qin.

Bai Qi timely proposed attacking Han, and Empress Dowager Huayang, representing the power of Chu, was the first in Qin to blindly support it.

Empress Dowager Xia Ji stared intently at Bai Qi, which was the result of the leak of her attack on Han rhetoric in a second.

If Empress Dowager Zhao Ji could further connect with the Zhao royal family, Qin's strategy of attacking Han would become the top choice.

First attacking Han, then Wei, then Zhao... After this series of wars that destroyed states, the Zhao envoy who obtained this piece of strategic intelligence about the Qin state was almost laughing himself silly.

This merit came from heaven; there's no way to refuse it.

Let's not even talk about how many years it would take for the Qin state to fight these battles one after another.

To put it simply, if Qin dared to attack Han without cause, the states of Jin, Wei, and Zhao would inevitably fight Qin to the death.

With the Three Jin states moving and the Chu state joining in, the alliance of the six states of Yan, Qi, and Qin against Qin was formed in an instant.

This is the current consensus among the governments and people of the seven countries.

If the Qin state, a powerful and ruthless nation, cannot be defeated by the Qin alone, then the other six states will join forces, and Qin will surely retreat to Hangu Pass.

Therefore, the Zhao envoy wholeheartedly supported Qin's strategy of attacking Han.

Upon hearing that Queen Dowager Zhao Ji of Qin intended to secure the birth of a princess of Zhao, he immediately agreed.

Before the information could even reach Zhao, he simultaneously deceived the Qin king's messenger while also placating the Queen Dowager's eunuchs, urging Zhao to "act quickly!"

As for Bai Qi, he was just a favored minister who climbed into the bed of the Queen Dowager of Qin. In short, he was no more than a second Zhao Kuo who only knew how to talk about war on paper. Let's just sit back and watch the outcome.

"The limitations of the times are there. Perhaps no one could have imagined that the Eastern Qi state, possessing the benefits of fish and salt, would so obediently pursue a policy of isolating the six other states after Tian Dan's restoration of Qi."

"You six states can attack whomever you want, but if my powerful Qi Kingdom makes even a move, then I'll consider it a loss!"

Bai Qi was enjoying the moment when everyone else was drunk and he was the only one sober, but Zhao Ji saw that he had a calm expression and became dissatisfied.

Then, a wicked smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

Zhao Ji bowed and whispered something in the ear of the palace maid Hong'er. Under Hong'er's incredulous gaze, she nodded affirmatively.

A short while later, Hong'er returned, bringing back a slender man in black with a cloak draped over his shoulders.

"Your Majesty, Bai Qizi, the sinful woman Han Ji has come to pay her respects as summoned!"

"Han Ji? Who is she? She's the mother of Lord Chang'an, Cheng Jiao. What's she doing here?"

Bai Qi glanced down at Zhao Ji, who was grinning mischievously, and understood in his eyes. "You sent her?"

Empress Dowager Zhao Ji, with a mysterious expression, raised her hand and beckoned to Han Ji, "Come here!"

Han Ji hesitated, but as soon as she thought of Prince Chengjiao, her eyes hardened, and she reached out to untie her cloak.

Bai Qi looked at her in surprise, then crawled over on all fours like a white dog.

Zhao Ji chuckled and whispered, "Today, Bai Qizi wanted to play horseback charging, but he was too tired. That's why I asked Sister Han Ji to help out."

Bai Qi felt that Zhao Ji only wanted to humiliate Han Ji, but the pleasure of recreating King Zhuangxiang of Qin made it impossible for him to refuse.

However, even someone as powerful as Marquis Wenxin had to resort to Lao Ai to appease a mere concubine for three years.

Faced with the combined might of the two Ji, even a powerful King Zhuangxiang of Qin, in his prime, died within three years.

I don't know how long I can hold on!