Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 268

Having only stayed in the city for a short time, has Xiao Yan'er already obtained enough information to assess the situation in advance?

Lu Wei gave a faint "hmm," an attitude that encouraged Ji Yan to continue: "As the favored daughter of the Yin-Yang School, her flaw has never changed, which is that her eyes will always only be on herself."

"I heard that she and Yan Dan had secretly pledged their lives to each other. During their honeymoon before Yan Dan went back on his word, she was devoted to him. But all she did was ultimately just self-delusional sentimentality."

"Some of these were exploited by Yan Dan, and some were not, but in any case, Yan Dan's understanding of Dong Jun is far greater than what Dong Jun herself thinks she understands about Yan Dan."

"Therefore, Yan Dan knew about Dong Jun's desire for revenge from the very beginning, so he could naturally have imagined that this gathering of the six kingdoms in the Mechanized City would be a great opportunity for Dong Jun to make his move!"

"Yan Dan has probably prepared a trap for a home-field victory long ago, just waiting for Dong Jun to step into it!"

Xiao Yan explained the reasons for her judgment, remaining extremely calm throughout the entire reasoning process.

Lu Wei turned around, looked at the pretty figure who had come up behind him, and nodded in affirmation with a smile at her deduction: "If that Lord Dongjun had half your wisdom, he wouldn't have stepped into the Mo family's forbidden area on his own initiative."

"Ayan has only been by Brother Lu's side for a long time and can only imitate some clumsy things. She can't be considered truly wise." Ji Yan's eyes were like a pool of autumn water as she bowed humbly: "Whether it is Yan Dan, Dong Jun, or Ayan herself, they are all pawns manipulated by Brother Lu."

"Then do you want to jump out of the chessboard?" Reaching out to stroke that smooth face, Lord Xia Kui casually asked in a low voice with a smile on his lips.

Faced with this question, Ji Yan pressed down on Lu Wei's hand with one hand, her long eyelashes trembling slightly before she closed her eyes.

It would be impolite not to post such a clear instruction...

...

"I'll find a way to rescue the old man!"

On a slightly cool evening, Tianming, Shaoyu, and Gaoyue, the three little ones, reunited.

Tianming, who was originally the least assertive of the three, suddenly changed his weak and mischievous ways, stood on the railing with his hands on his hips, and loudly uttered a shocking statement.

Shao Yu and Gao Yue exchanged bewildered glances, but were not surprised:

This morning, several heroes from different factions were attacked in the Mechanized City. Four people died and one was seriously injured. When the seriously injured person was saved by Xiaoyaozi who arrived in time, he immediately pointed out that the person who attacked them was Gai Nie!

In response, Gao Jianli, the temporary manager of the Mechanized City, immediately grabbed the Water Cold Sword and rushed to Gai Nie's residence, where he drew his sword and engaged in a fierce battle with the 'Qin spy' without saying a word.

Even though Gai Nie knew this was his junior brother Xiao Zhuang's conspiracy, he couldn't talk to Gao Jianli properly right now. He could only retreat and defend, hoping to let Gao Jianli vent his anger and calm down.

Xiao Gao's swordsmanship is second only to the Grand Master in the Mohist school, making him the second best swordsman in the Mohist school. However, when it comes to wielding a sword in front of the Sword Saint, he is still quite far behind.

Even without drawing his sword, Yuanhong could not harm Gai Nie with simple sword techniques. Just as Gao Jianli felt humiliated and was about to unleash the Yi Shui Han attack, Tianming, Kuang Xiu, and Master Ban rushed out to stop him.

Kuang Xiu and Master Ban's reason was simple: Gai Nie was the Grand Master's guest, and the Grand Master had specifically instructed them not to harm him before leaving.

Tianming was even more direct. Although this cold-hearted Xiao Gao had saved him a few days ago, he wouldn't allow him to hurt the uncle!

So Tianming stood before the Water Cold Sword with wide eyes.

Seeing that Jing Ke's son was now protecting the murderer who killed Jing Ke, Gao Jianli's right hand trembled, and he was filled with rage. Finally, he turned and left with a dark face.

Gai Nie was temporarily imprisoned by the order of Master Ban Kuang Xiu.

Tianming wanted to stop it, but what power did a mere child like him have...?

After causing a ruckus outside the man's detention center all afternoon to no avail, he decisively found his two friends and declared:

Shao Yu is very strong, and Yue'er is so smart. With my help, we can definitely take care of those two guards and rescue the uncle!

Chapter 315 The Truth About the Mechanical City

"According to the report from the spies infiltrated into the Mo family by the Quicksand, forces from all six former kingdoms participated in this gathering in the Mechanized City."

"At the level of the martial arts world, besides the Mohists and Taoists, Confucian disciples have also infiltrated for the first time, but there are no clues to directly indicate whether they are acting independently or under someone's direction..."

Li Si performed the courtesies due to a subject, respectfully reporting to His Majesty the Emperor.

He made Confucianism the last topic of his report, and his words were quite enticing.

Ying Zheng saw this very clearly: Li Si was able to become the prime minister of the empire not only because of his outstanding abilities and relatively shallow foundation, but also because he could be controlled by Ying Zheng. All his clever tricks could not escape the eyes of the First Emperor.

Ying Zheng did indeed want to ask about Confucianism, and Li Si's actions, besides having personal motives, were also to cater to the emperor's wishes.

Therefore, the emperor and his minister actually understood each other, but due to their status, Li Si always had to expose more of his shortcomings.

"Confucianism? I remember that the Prime Minister is a Confucian scholar, Master Xun?" Ying Zheng straightened his posture and asked with the same majesty that Li Si had expected.

"Yes. That's right. I pay close attention to the behavior of the Confucianists. I know that their members in court want to persuade Your Majesty to implement the enfeoffment system and restore the Zhou system, while many of them in the government are dissatisfied with the court's laws and make unkind remarks. I sighed for this, but I dared not hide this matter from Your Majesty."

Li Si has now joined the Legalists, and he has suffered a lot of humiliation in the Confucian school. He is not a magnanimous prime minister, so his hatred for the Confucian school and Xiaoshengxianzhuang has long been accumulated.

He didn't take direct action only because Master Xun was still alive: he loved his reputation, and even though he had been expelled from the Confucian school after his senior brother Han Fei's death, he still didn't want to be remembered in history books for disrespecting his teachers.

He was eager to take action against Confucianism, but he didn't want to personally select the person to do so.

"Then do you think this is an instruction from Xiaoshengxianzhuang?" Ying Zheng asked further, leaving no room for doubt or refusal.

Even after the Qin Dynasty unified China, a group of Confucian scholars still entered the imperial court, and Ying Zheng (the Qin emperor) used them to some extent: when it came to matters of ritual and etiquette, whether it was the inheritance of the old system or the innovation of the new system, these disciples of Confucius were still needed.

However, the significance of these Confucian scholars ends there: pedantic scholars are not qualified to discuss important matters of state.

But he could be an emperor, and the fact that Confucian disciples rebelled against Qin was another matter entirely.

Unifying the world, unifying culture, unifying weights and measures, etc., in Ying Zheng's mind, only when there are no differences among the people can there be lasting peace and stability.

The empire is still in its development stage, but the grievances of a small number of commoners have already reached the ears of the emperor through the Shadow Guard. The empire will not compromise because of the words of these ignorant villains. When the empire's glory is achieved, they will naturally be ashamed.

But amidst the complaints, there was also praise for Xiaoshengxianzhuang, this "sacred place of learning," which made Ying Zheng sensitive.

Adding to Li Si's point, is Confucianism destined to become the second Mohism?

"The three heroes of Qi and Lu from Xiaoshengxianzhuang are famous throughout the world. As far as I know, Zhang Liang, one of the three heroes, is a descendant of the Zhang family, which served as prime minister of Han for five generations. When the empire destroyed Han, he fled to Xiaoshengxianzhuang. He may have had some grievances in his heart."

Li Si did not answer directly, but expressed his opinion in another way.

"Zhang Liang?" Ying Zheng murmured the name. He had a vague impression of this person, but the specific details of that impression dated back more than twenty years.

"You reported last time that Gongshu Chou went to the Mechanical City from Sanghai to seek inspiration. How is the preparation for the Mirage in Sanghai progressing?"

Suddenly abandoning the topic of Confucianism, Ying Zheng turned his attention to the mirage.

Li Si remained calm and composed, recalling the information about the mirage from his mind: "It's basically all set. We can start trial voyages next year, and then we can officially set sail."

"Trial voyage next year..." This timing would satisfy His Majesty the Emperor, so he beckoned to the side hall, and immediately a young eunuch bowed and brought over the latest elixir refined by Yun Zhongjun of the Yin-Yang School after his recent return to Xianyang.

The perfectly round pills, as smooth as real ones, emitted a faint fragrance. Ying Zheng picked one up himself, and swallowed it quickly as soon as it entered his mouth. The whole process was very smooth.

Feeling his body noticeably more energetic, the forty-year-old First Emperor said solemnly, "Next year, you will personally go to Sanghai to supervise the final stage of the Mirage... and while you're at it, make a trip to Xiaoshengxianzhuang."

"Yes!" Li Si understood and slowly withdrew. At this moment, the emperor, unexpectedly, closed his eyes and asked again, "Who are the candidates from Zhao and Chu to go to the Mechanized City?"

Prime Minister Li paused, saying, "The Zhao family is Zhao Xie, a member of a collateral branch of the imperial clan. He has already been killed by the black swordsman I found. The Chu family is the Xiang family, and its current core member is the young master Xiang Yu."

"Reward the Black Swordsman and raise Xiang Yu's bounty to another level."

"Yes."

------

"With this blueprint of the Mechanized City, we can confirm the core of the Mechanized City's water source."

Gongshu Chou's eyes gleamed as he looked at the blueprints that Liu Sha had obtained through mysterious means. His withered face couldn't help but let out a bright yet ugly smile: "Lord Wei Zhuang is indeed worthy of being chosen by the Prime Minister to be in charge of the Mechanical City operation. His methods are truly extraordinary."

As soon as he said this, Wei Zhuang glanced at him but didn't say anything more: "Mr. Gongshu, you can make the final preparations to breach the city."

"As for this place, let these imperial soldiers serve as a feint for us."

Below the platform where Wei Zhuang and Gongshu Chou stood, the shield soldiers, moving in unison, fearlessly advanced towards the location of the mechanical city.

Sending a squad of well-equipped Qin soldiers in black armor into the Mohist traps would make a good test subject...

The appearance of Qin's regular army was not a concern for the heroes of the six states in the Mechanized City: with the Mechanized City's fortifications, they wouldn't even need to personally take action against that small number of Qin soldiers; the traps and mechanisms would be enough to devour all their minions!

However, the Mo family members were not so optimistic. They discovered that the infiltration of quicksand was still continuing: Master Ban, as the core figure in the operation of the Mo family's mechanical city, was actually attacked from behind today. Although for some reason the attacker did not take Master Ban's life, the important blueprints of the mechanical city were stolen.

This means that the enemy can know the internal structure of the mechanical city before they even attack!

Meanwhile, since Gai Nie had already been imprisoned, Gao Jianli believed that the enemy who made this move was another of Gai Nie's accomplices: if this accomplice wasn't Tianming, then who could it be...?

"A dark and windy night, a deadly force lurks invisibly, ever-changing and unpredictable, a black jade unicorn." The Xiang clan, represented by Fan Zeng, has always been the most steadfast ally of the Mohists. In the current situation, it's difficult to say that there aren't Qin spies among the heroes of the six states, but Fan Zeng is someone who can be trusted.

“Our Xiang clan has been traveling with Gai Nie all the way. To be honest, I don’t think Gai Nie’s defection is fake. He was most likely framed by the assassin Black Qilin from the Reverse Flow Sand.”

Fan Zeng glanced at the Mo family members. He understood that Gai Nie was a mortal enemy to the Mo family, but that was in the past.

Now, in order to fight against the empire together, Gai Nie can be accepted as an ally. With him around, we can be more confident in dealing with Wei Zhuang.

However, the leaders of the Mohist school were unable to let go of their hatred and turned a blind eye to the fact that the Quicksand had a black Qilin, focusing solely on targeting Gai Nie, which showed a lack of strategic vision.

Seeing that no one brought it up, Fan Zeng simply said it himself in front of everyone: "You have all heard about the Black Qilin's methods, which are impossible to guard against. Now it is almost certain that the Black Qilin is hiding in the Mechanized City and has also stolen the blueprints of the Mechanized City."

"Based on the existing clues, we can narrow down the scope, act quietly, and have a chance to catch him."

"The source of the Black Qilin's transformation ability must have originated from the disturbance caused by the Hidden Bats in the back mountain. After that, he made several moves in the Mechanized City. We can try to follow this line."

Yan Yun, who was usually taciturn, suddenly stood up at the meeting and expressed his opinion in line with Fan Zeng's remarks, which surprised the other commanders.

Seeing that there were still reasonable people in the Mo family, even if they were women, made Fan Zeng feel somewhat gratified. This was even clearer after he saw the woman's identity: as expected of the Queen of Yan, her overall perspective was different from those of these pure Jianghu people.

“The Black Qilin may have infiltrated, but that doesn’t mean Gai Nie is innocent.” Gao Jianli stood up and stated that he still advocated for Gai Nie to remain imprisoned.

This tendency to prioritize personal grudges above all else was deemed excessive by Fan Zeng and even by a small group of Mohist disciples, including Dao Zhi...

"Is Gao Jianli really that obsessive?"

After listening to Yan Yun's report on the meeting, Ji Yan subconsciously frowned. She intuitively sensed that something was wrong and immediately thought of another possibility. A look of surprise and doubt flashed between her brows.

"Has Xiao Gao still been playing the piano lately?"

Lu Wei also had his doubts, so he asked another question.

“Every day after dinner, I would play music with Kuang Xiu for about three incense sticks’ time, without fail,” Yan Yun nodded in reply.

"Gao Jianli's behavior was at Yan Dan's behest. He needs you commanders to act ruthlessly in order to achieve his subsequent plans."

With his suspicions confirmed, Lu Wei decisively voiced his assertion.

Now it was Yan Yun's turn to frown, while Ji Yan relaxed, revealing an expression of "I knew it."

Because the actions of the quicksand were not entirely without flaws, and Gao Jianli, despite his unique achievements in music and swordsmanship, should not have been so rigid and inhumane, even if he could not be considered exceptionally intelligent.

This is something that Gai Nie cannot hide simply by killing Jing Ke.

Judging from the development of the city in recent days, at least three commanders, Gao Jianli, Kuang Xiu, and Master Ban, have received individual instructions from Yan Dan.

Among the others, Dao Zhi was unruly, Master Xu was focused on forging swords and it was normal that he didn't receive any instructions, and Yan Yun, on the surface, didn't seem to need any instructions either.