Chapter 44 The forty-second round of the conspiracy of the dunes

If Zhao Gao wants to achieve his goal, he has to recruit Li Si. This is a historical example of a villain.Li Si, who has always regarded himself as an orthodox gentleman, joined forces with Zhao Gao... The remaining Hu Hai, who was barely on the throne, was forced on the road of no return under the soft and hard pressure of his mother and concubine Li...So a false edict, an assassination plot Appeared.Concubine Li thinks she has succeeded, but she doesn't know that there is another power hidden in Zhao Gao... In just a few words, before everyone could react, Shihuang leaned back, and Lan Yuan was staggered.Lan Yuan knew something was wrong, and screamed: "The emperor..." Li Si shouted: "Quickly announce the imperial doctor..." The palace was suddenly in chaos.The palace people and maids were at a loss, they were petrified, neither stood nor kneeled, panicked, as if it was the end of the world.

Lan Yuan quietly waited beside Shi Huang, kneeling down to pray for Shi Huang, in fact, she could definitely conclude that Shi Huang had passed away.According to Meng Mu, after a person dies, the soul cannot leave until twenty-four hours later, so the family members should hurry up and pray for him on the road, praying for the gods who came to take him on the road to treat him kindly, and sing the string music to see him off.The emperor is different from ordinary people, he is the favored son of heaven, he is a great performer, and the ceremony is even more grand.This is what Lan Yuan thinks about now, as for the chaos in the palace, she can't hear or see it at all, so she can only silently pray for the emperor.Someone yelled maniacally: "Kneel down, don't make a sound, or you will be shot!" This was the first time Zhao Gao uttered the loudest roar in public, and everyone doubted whether the voice came from Zhao Gao's mouth... The atmosphere in the room seemed to freeze immediately, and it was strangely quiet.

Suddenly, two people rushed in crying outside the palace gate, they were Hu Hai and Princess Jinzhen.Immediately behind was the imperial physician, but he was forced to come in. "Your Majesty..." Seeing the terrified look on the imperial physician's face, he approached the first emperor tremblingly. If it were not for the two guards holding him back, the imperial physician would have escaped from here.Restlessly, he sounded Shi Huang's pulse and listened to his abdominal cavity as usual, his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't grasp Shi Huang's clothes.Suddenly the imperial physician knelt down and kowtowed: "Prime Minister, Your Majesty, has... passed away..." His voice was like stones falling into the water, and his voice became quieter in the end, just a simple mutter.

Li Si couldn't help shouting: "Your Majesty..." There was a burst of wailing in the room.Zhao Gao also knelt down, but Zhao Gao didn't cry along with him. He had no tears, only hatred.Zhao Gao took a little luck, waved his arms behind him, and immediately rushed into more than a dozen followers.I only heard Chang Qingguang order: "No one is allowed to cry anymore, and those who disobey the order will be beheaded!" The room was silent again, and there must be some people who couldn't figure it out. Why is it a crime to cry when the emperor is dead?Princess Jinzhen didn't like him, and asked: "Who are you? How dare you issue such a ban..." She rushed over and was about to hit Chang Qingguang.This rogue guy grabbed the gold needle's skillful hand with a playful smile: "Princess, why don't you just marry our family..." Looking left and right, he suddenly shouted with a tense face: "Except for the prime minister and young master, Everyone else will be imprisoned, including you, the princess—you are not allowed to leave the house without an order from our family."

"Ah...Father, don't you just ignore these scoundrels?" Jin Zhen couldn't break free, and was led down by those tiger-like followers in black. "Let's go, let's go..." More than 20 servants, imperial physicians, and maids in the palace were escorted to other places and imprisoned, but one person was forgotten... Li Si burst into tears, and Hu Hai yelled stupidly. This ensemble composed of the old, the young, the tender, and the green was like chanting scriptures for the first emperor.Zhao Gao has no sorrow, only hatred.He solemnly and for the last time kowtowed three times to the first emperor, got up from the ground with all his strength, flicked the edict in his hand, and stretched his waist a few times until he couldn't stand it anymore. The child is much higher.

If someone pays attention, they will definitely find that Zhao Gao is not short in fact, and his face is not all slavish, and the expression of arrogant contempt for everything is beyond words.He looked at Li Si's kneeling back from behind again, and looked at Hu Hai's straightforward and stupid fat boy, with a hint of contempt in his heart.What, the prime minister can't let your Li Si family contract it!I want you to give back all the humiliation you have despised and insulted me in the past, you old bastard.You, Hu Hai, you idiot, do you think the emperor really belongs to you?Don't be kidding, I, Zhao Gao, would not assist you to become emperor even if I was really loyal. Are you worthy?

Standing behind these two people, Zhao Gao went through all the routines again according to his train of thought, and then said arrogantly: "Don't cry, you two, it's time for the three of us to control the situation." Li Si didn't seem to know each other. Zhao Gao was normal, he looked him up again, no matter how he heard it, his tone was extremely strange.Li Si asked in puzzlement: "Why did Mr. Zhao say that?" The three people Zhao Gao mentioned were to promote Hu Hai, but the three people Li Si believed would not have Zhao Gao, but there should be Meng Yi ...Although this young man is not of his own accord, he is very talented and loyal to Shi Huang.It's a pity that he is not here at this time. If he were, Zhao Gao would not be so rampant.

The corners of Zhao Gao's eyes turned up, his usual servile face raised his eyebrows and raised his proud head.But no matter what, he, Zhao Gao, is different from ordinary people after all, that is the nature of a jackal and the demeanor of a villain.Zhao Gao spoke contemptuously, and said contemptuously to Li Si: "Isn't it? You and I are also ministers of the imperial court. At this moment when the fate of the Qin State is at stake, will anyone back down?" Li Si was surprised to find that Zhao Gao not only had It's changed, and the style has changed. He just wanted to say that you are also worthy of being a minister, but in a blink of an eye he found that he was stepping into a wolf's den at this moment... How come that General Chang has never seen it in the past?Driving the people around the emperor just now is like driving animals?He didn't even pay attention to the princess... Li Si felt a potential threat approaching him, and he had to consider restraining his momentum. At this time, Zhao Gao was no longer the Zhao Gao he was half an hour ago.Thinking of this, Li Si said tactfully: "Master Zhao said the same thing...Meng Yi is not here, the two of us can handle it."

Zhao Gao sneered: "Your Excellency is really smart, you really don't need a heavy hammer to ring the gong, if Meng Yi wants to worship the mountain, let him do so! But please wait first, my lord, I will talk to Mr. Huhai first... Mr. I'll come." Zhao Gao no longer paid attention to Li Si, and walked towards the side room with the sad and ignorant Hu Hai.Li Si was already aware of what was going to happen, but the first emperor had passed away for a while, and the other ministers didn't know it at all.For such a big matter, how could he, Zhao Gao, cover the sky with one hand?No, I have to go out... Li Si's thinking is actually too simple, isn't it just to let all the ministers know, come to the palace to cry!Unexpectedly, as soon as Li Si arrived at the door, he was stopped by several menacing servants in black: "Prime Minister, please stay." Li Si understood that he was being polite to him.If someone else was left alone, their heads had fallen to the ground, and he had to obediently return to his original position and kneel in front of the first emperor's tomb.

Hu Hai followed Zhao Gao into the side room, and Concubine Li couldn't wait to greet her: "Son..." "Mother..." Hu Hai was already sobbing, and knelt down in front of Concubine Li. "Mother, father, he is dead... woo--" Concubine Li shed a stream of tears, hugged Hu Hai's head and comforted: "My good son, the person mother misses most in this world is you... don't be sad Yes. You must learn to use elegance when speaking in the future, how can your father talk about death casually, it should be said that he died." Hu Hai cried for a while, and listened to his mother quietly.Until now, Hu Hai didn't realize that a historical burden was about to fall on his shoulders. He was not mentally prepared for this, nor was the entire Great Qin Empire.

"Tell you not to mourn. At this moment, there are more important things to do than mourning your father. You just listen to Mr. Zhao, he has already arranged everything for you." Concubine Li said anxiously looked at Zhao Gao intently.Hu Hai also couldn't help looking at the elated Zhao Gao, and asked with a little surprise in his grief: "Master Zhao, I want to visit my father..." Zhao Gao said angrily: "Come on, you, seeing that we all have brains. Bao, you are still young..." He cut to the chase and posed a substantive question: "My son, the emperor passed away, and there was no edict to enshrine the princes, but he gave the eldest son Fusu an edict, ordering him to preside over the state of Qin. Fusu When you arrive, you will be the emperor immediately, but how can you, young master, have such merits as others? What should you do?" Hu Hai said sadly: "I know this. Knowing the king knows the subject, and knowing the father knows the son. The father and the emperor donate their lives, regardless of the sons. This is a brilliant move taken by the father for the stability of the country." Zhao Gao said with contempt for the heart of the earth: What a fool...but he is also profound enough. Concubine Li held her son's hand tightly, feeling even more anxious, but she still said patiently and kindly: "Son, the fate of your mother and you is in your hands, why don't you get the hang of it? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Listen to Master Zhao!" Hu Hai nodded ignorantly.Zhao Gao further enlightened him: "At this moment, the power of the world and everyone's life and death are entrusted to His Highness, Gao and the prime minister. I hope His Highness will take some action." Hu Hai still had an expression of not being enlightened, and murmured: "It is unrighteous to abandon a brother and make a younger brother; it is not filial to fear death without obeying the father's edict; it is not filial to fight for merit without ability and talent Also; these three are perverted, have no virtue, and the world will not accept it. At that time, one's own property and life will be hard to protect, the country will be in turmoil, and bloody disasters will come!" Zhao Gao was not reconciled, and said: "The minister heard that Tang Wu killed his master, and the world will be praised. Righteousness is not unfaithful; Wei Jun killed his father, and Wei Guo carried his virtue. Confucius wrote it, which is not unfilial. Husbands do great things regardless of meticulousness, great courtesy does not shy away from small concessions, rural songs have their own straightness, and hundreds of officials have different merits Therefore, if you care about the small and forget the big, there will be endless troubles; doubts and hesitation, and regrets. If you are decisive and dare to act, you will surely succeed, and may Your Highness follow!" Hu Hai sighed deeply: "At this time, the funeral of the emperor has not yet been sent to the whole country, and the funeral ceremony is not known how to finish it. At this time, it seems too early to plan to inherit the big position. Let others think. What's more, what about the prime minister?" What about the past?" Seeing that Hu Hai has been tempted, Zhao Gao was overjoyed, so he stepped up his "offensive", idiot, I don't believe you are not tempted by the throne!Therefore, Zhao Gao comforted him and said: "Time is running out, so we can't hesitate anymore! Of course, if we don't cooperate with the prime minister, the matter will definitely not succeed. I am not talented, and I am willing to help His Highness and the prime minister connect to make this happen." Zhao Gao After finishing speaking, it doesn't matter whether Hu Hai agrees or not, he walks away. At this time, Concubine Li chased after her and asked: "Master Zhao, at this moment, can I come forward?" Zhao Gaoxin said that you were too anxious, but said in his mouth: "My lady, in the opinion of the old minister, you still wait for the slave After convincing the Prime Minister, the overall situation will be finalized. Don’t you become our actual master?” Concubine Li admired Zhao Gao’s idea very much, and nodded in agreement: “Everything is arranged by Master Zhao.” "Then, ma'am, wait a moment, this old slave is going!" Zhao Gao confidently walked out of the secret room to meet Li Si. The night in the Dune Palace was really too dark, as if the darkness descended from the sky after the death of the First Emperor, like an upside-down bell jar, tightly covering the entire Dune Palace.The night was so dark that you couldn't see your fingers. If it wasn't for the bright lights in Shihuang's bedroom, the ghost Zhao Gao couldn't find a place to attack, but he felt that he was an emperor himself, so why should he be afraid of others.When Shi Huangdi was still alive, he was terribly afraid that the giant would swat him to death like a fly.But the things in the world are like this, everything will be reversed, Qin Shihuang is my nemesis Zhao Gao, and I Zhao Gao is his Qin Dynasty's nemesis... Zhao Gao's proton career should come to an end. Zhao Gao finally convinced the idiot Hu Hai.Although Hu Hai was easier to persuade, Li Si was different from Hu Hai. Li Si would accurately judge what Zhao Gao was thinking before he finished every word he said.Zhao Gao knew this very well in his heart. It was very difficult to persuade Li Si, but it was not difficult to subdue Li Si. Lose it easily?Zhao Gao had already grasped Li Si's lifeline, so he approached Li Si with confidence.He looked contemptuously at Li Si, who was under one man and above ten thousand people. At this moment, Li Si has entered the age of forty. He was a young boy when he tried to leave the Western Qin Dynasty. The skinny old man looks like a farmer.Zhao Gao, who walked into the bedroom, stared at Li Si's thin back and gray hair, and the marks of years were deeply burned on his face like a knife.Zhao Gaoxin said: If I can seize the opportunity, I, Zhao Gao, will also aspire to this high position... Li Si is still deeply mourned.Zhao Gao still gave him a straight-forward statement first, and said directly: "The emperor passed away, and he gave the eldest son Fusu a book, and he will be established as heir with Xianyang at the funeral. But the edict has not yet been issued, and now the emperor is dead. People in the world don't know, Fusu Meng Tian doesn't even know. The imperial edict and talisman of Fusu are all given by the young master Hu Hai, and the establishment of the crown prince is a matter for the prince and Gao. How will the prince deal with this matter?" Li Si was anxious, and he naturally understood. Zhao Gao made an attempt, saying: "This is all talk of subjugation! It is definitely not something that ministers should discuss! You should get rid of this idea as soon as possible." The edict is clearly in his hands, but it is said that it is in Hu Hai's hands, rebellious heart It is obvious. Zhao Gao was not in a hurry, but cleverly used a metaphor: "Your Majesty, measure yourself to see if you can compare with Meng Tian? Is it because of your merits that you can surpass Meng Tian? Is it because of your strategy that you can surpass Meng Tian? The Marquis advocates burning the world book And it caused complaints, does Meng Tian have any? Fusu has always been at odds with the princes, and he and Meng Tian have long been like monarchs and ministers, don't you know this? How can you compare with Meng Tian?" Li Si knew that he was not as good, but said: "This time I am not as good as Meng Tian in several respects, but Master Zhao, why do you want to delve into these things?" Zhao Gao cut to the point: "The eldest son Fu Su is resolute and brave, believes in benevolence and strives for courage, that is, the emperor, he must use Meng Tian as the prime minister, and it is impossible for a prince. Go home with the seal in your arms..." Li Si was silent... If I had known this before, why should I offend Fusu and all cultural people in the world?Zhao Gao saw that Li Si had basically agreed, indicating that he was very accurate in feeling Li Si's veins.He seemed to be able to see through Li Si's internal organs, and he was hovering at the crossroads of success and failure at this time, so it was only one step away, and he had to follow up quickly.So the world's number one lobbyist hit the nail on the head again, saying: "If you don't want to make a funeral, you must ensure that you go to Xianyang to have a funeral. If Fusu and Meng Tian know that the emperor is dead, then our plan will come to nothing, and your life is in danger just like mine." .” Li Si listened to all this dumbly.Zhao Gao believes: All silence is acquiescence, and acquiescence is a more secret cooperation, which is a hundred times stronger than bluffing!Li Si, you can further acquiesce, and I welcome you with my hands up. Zhao Gao finally revealed the important trump card of this time: "It is necessary to falsely preach the oracle, and give Fusu and Meng Tian the death. If not, these two men will have 300,000 soldiers, plus their status in the hearts of the world, Xianyang is in danger ..." Li Si cried out sadly: "No...it can't be like this!" Zhao Gao looked at Li Si who was lying on the ground with contempt, and motioned, Chang Qingguang next to him stepped forward and pressed the tip of the knife to Li Si's throat: "Prime Minister, whether to cooperate or not is up to you. Don't think that you can't do it without you. We can take a more direct method, kill you, and fulfill your reputation as a loyal client, and immediately support the young son Hu Hai as the crown prince! This way we can save a lot of trouble." Chang Qingguang splashed a lot of spit on Li Si's face, saying very emotionally. Zhao Gao said in a roundabout way: "If you cooperate, you will still be your prime minister, and you will be under one person and above ten thousand. Don't forget, your son, who is a sheriff, is still entangled in a bribery case. Meng Tianruo Look, he will be the first to take your son under the knife, and Li You, the governor of Sanchuan County, will be decapitated!" Li Si was already trembling when he heard this, and he lost all confidence.Li Si yelled weakly: "Don't say any more... Is it okay to allow you..." Zhao Gao turned around and brought the unsealed imperial edict, threw it in front of Li Si, and ordered in a low voice: "Good performance. Come on." , the imperial edict was written by you, and it is up to you to revise it now." Li Si curled up as if bitten by a snake, his teeth clenched: "...No, I won't participate..." Zhao Gaoyin stared at him: "What are you talking about? Prime Minister, you'd better be sensible and don't show your face Shameless. Chang Qingguang, immediately send a secret envoy to kill Li You, the governor of Sanchuan County." Li Si was already hoarse, and shouted: "Don't hurt my son... I can't wait for you!" Zhao Gao signaled that he was about to go out Chang Qingguang: "Wait a minute, the prime minister promised to cooperate with us!" Li Si's heart was in great pain, he grabbed the imperial edict, looked up at the house, and finally set his sights on Shihuang who was already sleeping peacefully on the imperial couch.Weeping and sighing: "It's really sad! Why did I meet this troubled world? God, you let me die too! Even if I can't die, don't let me do what I don't want to do." While weeping, Li Si slapped a pen and wrote an imperial edict, handed it to Zhao Gao, and then helped the corpse to weep.After Zhao Gao finished reading, he cast a contemptuous glance at Li Si's back and immediately went to look for Hu Hai. Suddenly, Lan Yuan, who was in grief, raised his head from the side of the first emperor, and scolded sharply: "Rebellious ministers and thieves, how dare you tamper with the emperor's last edict!...Everyone accuses everyone, criticizes everyone!" Li Si and Zhao Gao gasped in surprise. .Li Si was paralyzed on the ground, scared out of his wits, Zhao Gao screamed in surprise: "Chang Qingguang, Chang Qingguang..." Chang Qingguang quickly came in from the door: "Master, what's the matter..." Zhao Gao slapped his head , Said: "Don't take this woman with me..." Chang Qingguang finally saw Lan Yuan clearly, and jumped towards Lan Yuan in surprise. "Zhao Gao, you treacherous villain, don't deserve a good death...Li Si, you are so weak... Where's your backbone? But compromise with the villain, use the power of rats and snakes to usurp power and harm the country, how disappointed the people of the world will be! God, heaven, open your eyes and see..." Chang Qingguang sealed Lan Yuan's mouth, Unexpectedly, Lan Yuan bit his hand and refused to let go. The pain made him want to scream... Zhao Gao became angry with embarrassment: "Hurry up and take her away, take her away... Tianming will use her to sacrifice to the sky." Zhao Gao, who didn't have any success on his face, walked into the secret room.Concubine Li's heart beat faster, and she hurriedly asked, "Master Zhao...how is it?" Zhao Gao glanced at each of her mother and son, and saw that Hu Hai was still kneeling in his mother's arms like a wooden stake.Cursing in my heart: This idiot is useless at all, don't waste my efforts... this time I will offend the world badly!Zhao Gao suddenly kneeled and kowtowed to Concubine Li and his wife, which made them even more anxious, wondering what kind of medicine Zhao Gao was selling in this gourd.Concubine Li squeezed her heart into her throat, and only then did she hear Zhao Gaogong's congratulatory voice: "This servant kowtows to the Emperor Dowager, and this servant kowtows to His Highness the Crown Prince..." Hearing this address, Concubine Li was so excited that tears filled her eyes , hugging his son Hu Hai tightly and muttering non-stop: "Hai'er, we succeeded...we succeeded!" Hu Hai didn't have the expression of joy after success at all, and he was indifferent even when his mother cheered him on the spot, but shed tears silently, as if he had been wronged so much...Of course, it is impossible to say that he has no feeling of.A mediocre person has his own mental world. Hu Hai grew up among many courtesan girls, and he was infected with lust and sexual intercourse from a very young age. In addition, his mother was not disciplined in this regard, let alone restrained. Therefore, Hu Hai Just after he turned 12 years old, two court ladies gave birth to a child for him... His father died, and he was indeed very sad, but after the grief, he first thought of the beautiful orchid garden beside his father... Concubine Li was discussing with Zhao Gao how to get rid of Fusu and Mengtian, she asked worriedly: "What if Fusu and Mengtian find out? By then our mother and son will still be the ghosts of others..." Deng Deng Next, Zhao Gaoyou was silent for a while, and Fang said: "This possibility cannot be ruled out!" Concubine Li's face changed drastically when she heard that, and her expression became awkward: "Master Zhao, you can't scare us, tell you, if it is true In that case, my Purple Swallow Group will establish a country right here and become the East Qin Kingdom..." Zhao Gao suddenly asked: "Is the Purple Swallow Group yours?" Concubine Li was very surprised, and looked at Zhao Gao without knowing it. : "Zhao Gao, what did you say? What happened to the Purple Swallow Group?" "You'd better ask your lover, General Chang, how many soldiers and horses he has in his hands..." Zhao Gao suddenly paused, staring at Concubine Li with rounded eyes, which made Concubine Li terrified and felt Out of a rare fear, Zhao Gao said: "at this very moment, ma'am, you are still talking about those unrealistic empty words, what the hell is Dongqin built? Shit, it's purely whimsical! Chang Qingguang I don’t know what bad ideas he can give you? At that time, Meng Tian’s army will clean up your so-called Eastern Qin Kingdom in less than an hour, and there will be no smell of you at all... you Believe it or not?" Concubine Li looked up at the furious Zhao Gao in astonishment. At this moment, she simply recalled that she was accompanying the patrol team. Could it be that she was really manipulating everything along the way?In fact, she never personally gave an order, Zhao Gao went in and out, doing everything quietly.Then her own so-called authority is just a fake prestige given to her by those scumbags that she used her body as capital to win over.Chang Qingguang said that the Purple Swallow Group is in his hands, but Concubine Li has only heard about it, but has never seen it with her own eyes. Isn't this funny?The more Concubine Li thought about it, the more frightened she became, and the more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. Her tall and pretty body bent down involuntarily, and looked pitifully at Zhao Gao in a daze... After a long time, words like blisters slowly rolled out of her mouth: "I, believe... ..." Zhao Gao was not polite, and said in a stern tone: "Since you believe in it, then you should obediently believe in fate. We are all still bound together. The envoy will leave tomorrow. If you are strong, you should pray to the gods to bless us with success." There are still a lot of things to be done, do you really think that the work is done? Have you forgotten Meng Yi who worshiped mountains and rivers everywhere? He gave us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when he left to worship mountains and rivers. It will be troublesome and dangerous." "Here, what's the trouble?" Concubine Li asked casually. Zhao Gao shook his head very disappointed at her, and said with a long sigh: "It's really a woman's opinion. That Meng Yi is a dragon and phoenix in the world, a hero among men, and he is completely free from greed. If he stands up and raises his arms, and with Meng Tian's influence, it will be very easy for the world to want to be named Meng, do you understand this?" Concubine Li opened her eyes wide in horror. After Zhao Gao's analysis, she realized that the country could not be identified at this moment... At this moment, Concubine Li and Zhao Gao suddenly found that Hu Hai was missing...