It's still necessary to apply ointment to people like Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, and Li Si. After all, with today's words spoken, Li Nian has no possibility of mingling with Hu Hai and others again.
Since they are destined to be enemies, applying ointment should be more thorough!
Li Nian continued, "After the king's death, in order to seize the throne, Master Hu Hai and his followers did not immediately send the king's body back to Xianyang. They were waiting."
Ying Zheng then interjected, "They are waiting for news of Fu Su and Meng Tian?"
Li Nian nodded and said, "Yes! Without clear news of Fu Su and Meng Tian, they dare not act rashly. After all, at that time, General Meng Tian had 300,000 troops under his command. If they failed to eliminate Fu Su and Meng Tian with the forged imperial edict and instead invited them to come, they could also use the king's body to shield them."
If it were truly what would happen later in history, Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, and Li Si should all be dead for daring to use his body in such a way!
"Not until they received definite news that Fu Su and Meng Tian had died did Master Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, and Li Si order the carriage to travel day and night back to Xianyang. However, at this time, several days had passed since the king's death. The king's body..."
Li Nian did not finish speaking, but Ying Zheng and Meng Yi understood what he meant.
The body had been lying there for several days, and in July it was a hot summer. It had definitely decomposed and smelled terrible.
"To prevent news of the king's death from spreading, the carriage dared not take shortcuts back to Xianyang, but instead pretended to continue touring and detoured back to Xianyang. To cover up the smell, Master Hu Hai and Chancellor Li Si came up with a good idea. They bought a lot of sea cucumbers and put them in the carriage. If someone smelled the odor, they said it was due to hot weather and spoiled sea cucumbers!"
Ying Zheng's face turned even more ugly. If this were historical fact, wouldn't he be being treated like sea cucumber?
He, the first-ranked master of Qin, is being compared to seafood?
Li Nian continued to add fuel to the fire, making the flames burn hotter: "With these maneuvers, Master Hu Hai successfully inherited the throne when he returned to Xianyang. However, he was very uneasy and always feared that someone would dig up his deeds and seize his position. Who in the world was most likely to take his place?"
Meng Yi felt a chill in his heart. This person really dares to speak out like that. There's no need to ask; of course, it's the brothers of Master Hu Hai?
Ying Zheng's face turned even more ugly. He had already guessed what his good son Hu Hai would do next, but he never expected his good son to be even more ruthless than he imagined!
"Of course, they are the brothers and sisters of Master Hu Hai, the king's other children."
"Thus, Master Hu Hai began a massive purge. The historical records state that the king had more than twenty sons and ten princesses. Master Hu Hai killed twelve of them at once. The historical records say: 'The twelve princes were executed in Xianyang City, and the ten princesses were killed at Du. Their possessions went to the government, and those who were implicated were countless.'"
"The brothers of Master Jia Liang committed suicide out of desperation, and another six princes were slaughtered in Du County. When the brothers and sisters of Master Gao saw their family members being killed one after another, they were scared. They wanted to escape but worried about implicating their families. Therefore, they voluntarily submitted an application to become mummies for the king."
"Master Hu Hai was pleased to hear this. After Master Gao volunteered to become mummies for the king, he was rewarded with one hundred thousand pieces of money. The historical records state that 'Master Hu Hai approved his application and awarded him one hundred thousand pieces of money for burial'."
Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng finally couldn't contain himself and said, "This fellow is an brute. To harm one's own flesh and blood in such a manner, he is sure to meet with a bad end!"
"The term 'split to death' is something that Ying Zheng is quite familiar with—it refers to a method of death where one's limbs are split apart, a cruel and inhumane way. For Hu Hai to use such a method on his own siblings, he cannot be anything but an animal!"
Li Nian said, "What the king said is correct. Master Hu Hai indeed did not meet a good end. He was killed by Consul Zhao and his daughter-in-law Yan Le."
Thinking of his ten daughters being split apart and killed in a cruel manner, Ying Zheng's anger boiled over, and he coldly declared, "He got off easy. He should be subjected to the same punishment!"
As long as there is evidence that shows Hu Hai could possibly commit such acts in the future, he is sure to punish that scoundrel severely. In his time, he merely killed Lao Ai's children by throwing them against a wall.
Li Nian said, "Regarding the death of Master Hu Hai, that is a separate matter. However, it was said that the officer in charge of the Chē Fú Mén helped Master Hu Hai obtain the throne. With his power and status in Qin, he naturally rose higher and higher. There was an interesting incident in this process, leaving behind a proverb for future generations."
"At that time, Zhao Gao was extremely powerful and held sway over the court. One day, while the officials were paying their respects to Master Hu Hai, Zhao Gao had a horse brought to him and pointed at it, saying to Master Hu Hai: 'This is a thousand-mile horse that I have specially presented to your majesty.'"
What is this amusing incident? It's probably an embarrassing matter, isn't it?
Ying Zheng said, "Hu Hai is stupid and evil, but he's not so ignorant that he can't tell the difference between a deer and a horse."
Li Nian said, "Your Majesty is quite right. Master Hu Hai could indeed tell the difference. When he saw that it was clearly a deer, and Zhao Gao called it a horse, he laughed and asked if Zhao Gao had made a mistake. This was a deer; why did he say it was a horse? But Zhao Gao did not pay attention to Master Hu Hai. Instead, he asked the officials in attendance what they thought—it was either a deer or a horse."
Ying Zheng's eyelids twitched a few times, and he slapped the table in front of him, loudly saying, "So-called pointing a deer as a horse, so-called pointing a deer as a horse!"
Whether it's a horse or a deer isn't the issue. It's obvious that Zhao Gao is deliberately showing off his power, not even caring about Master Hu Hai's imperial dignity.
"Some ministers were afraid of Zhao Gao's power and did not want to say something against their conscience, so they dared not speak up; some, to flatter Zhao Gao, identified the deer as a horse; and there were also ministers who spoke out openly, pointing out that it was indeed a deer, not a horse."
"For those who spoke the truth, Zhao Gao recorded them and gave them various charges, some were driven out of the court, some were killed. The proverb left by this incident is 'pointing a deer as a horse'!"
Ying Zheng asked, "What about Li Si? Isn't it the case that Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, and Li Si all altered the will together? Where is Li Si?"
"At the time of pointing a deer as a horse, Chancellor Li had already been subjected to 'the five punishments,' and his entire clan had been exterminated!"
Ying Zheng paused and fell silent, knowing this was probably done by Hu Hai and Zhao Gao. He then said, "Master Hu Hai is stupid and evil, and Zhao Gao is arrogant. With these two around, my Qin State may not be doing well."
This question left Li Nian speechless.
Seeing Li Nian silent, Ying Zheng said, "I have said before that if what you say is true, I will not punish you because of your words!"
Li Nian only then slowly spoke, "Your Majesty's guess is correct. Qin will perish after two generations!"
This time, Ying Zheng truly could not sit still. He stood up from the throne, his face filled with disbelief.
He could accept the fall of Qin, but in his mind, Qin should have fallen centuries later.
But now Li Nian tells him that his Qin State will perish after two generations. What does this mean?
The second generation refers to him, the first generation, if that's the case, then the second generation would be Hu Hai. That means that with Hu Hai, such a vast and mighty Qin would cease to exist, ending in just a few decades?
No, probably not even decades.
Ying Zheng remembered the various years mentioned by Li Nian, and it was possible that his Qin State might have fallen within just a few years!
