Chapter 116: Bet? What bet?
"I have already sent the money to the Internal Affairs Office of Zhisu. Now you are trying to poach my people. This is a bit unreasonable."
Ying Chengjiao was very dissatisfied.
"When a girl on the grassland plucks wool to make clothes, she won't just pluck the wool of one sheep. She'll pluck the whole sheep until it's bald."
Didn’t I say this a few days ago?
Li Mu was speechless and said, "...Your Majesty, don't you have your own insights?"
"Is it not possible that I have the same feeling as you?"
"...Your Excellency, you have never been to the grassland. Where do you get this kind of insight?"
Ying Chengjiao touched his chin and nodded: "That makes sense, your wine money will be reduced by half this month."
Li Mu had a look of displeasure on his face.
The First Emperor said in a loud voice: "Wu'an Jun likes to drink? All the fine wine in the palace belongs to Wu'an Jun!"
"Didn't my royal brother object to drinking, saying that it was a waste of food?"
"It's okay to have a little drink to relax."
"Mu is addicted to wine, and gets drunk every time he drinks."
"Mr. Wu'an is a true character."
"Are you double-standard? Why did you call me a brat when I was drunk? Why didn't you say that I am my true nature?"
“…”
Gai Nie looked at the three people talking to each other, and asked the servant for a pot of tea.
The peerless swordsman sat on a stone bench, looking at the three people expressionlessly, sipping his tea with great relish.
His Majesty licks the drunkard, the drunkard licks the young master, and the young master licks His Majesty. I have never seen the love triangle that the young master mentioned, but it should be similar to this love triangle.
Zhao Gao looked at the leisurely Gai Nie in a daze.
What is this plague god doing?
Watch a show?
Watching His Majesty's play?
It's getting too much!
I really want to go over and drink tea...
"You bastard! Do you really want to snatch people from me? If you place a grain official in charge, then why not place a general?"
"Do you think I don't want to? I tricked him into staying in Qin. If he doesn't want to be loyal to you, what can I do?"
"If you want Mu to come to the court, that's fine. If the King of Qin gives up the throne to you, Mu will put on his armor immediately."
"Do you think I don't want to? This bastard hasn't been to court for ten years. The last time he did go to court was because I forced him to. If he doesn't want to be the emperor, what can I do?"
“…”
There were servants who reported what happened in the front yard to the old man fishing by the pond who was fooling the fish and himself.
The old man fishing still had a relaxed and contented look on his face, and raised his hand slightly.
The servant bowed slightly and retreated quietly.
The old man came to Chang'an Junfu, and it has been nearly ten years. He fishes by the pond every day, year after year.
On the water surface, the fishing float that was originally quietly floating suddenly trembled, making circles.
There was no wind on the surface of the pond, and no anger underwater as the carps fished against the silver needles.
The shaking of the fish float is caused by the shaking hands of the angler.
If a fisherman's hands shake, it means his mind is in a state of confusion.
"If we had not taken him and his mother back to Qin, everything would have been fine. Little King of Qin, why don't you want to be the King of Qin..."
The sigh that seemed to be there and not there was vague and drifting away.
No one heard the merchant's words, the only ones who listened were the carps by the pond.
Chang'an Jun Mansion.
Ying Chengjiao’s study.
Outside the study, only Zhao Gao was guarding quietly.
Gai Nie...
He strolled around as if he was at home, visiting his friends in a very natural manner.
He first challenged Jing Ke to a duel, which gave Jing Ke some new insights into swordsmanship - after the battle, Jing Ke was bedridden for three days.
Then he found the old man by the pond, cut the fishing rod in the old man's hand with a sword, and left in a leisurely manner.
Gai Nie is visiting a friend...
This peerless swordsman felt much more comfortable here than in the palace.
The First Emperor believed that he was safest in two places: the imperial palace and the Chang'an Palace.
Gai Nie believed that the First Emperor was safest in the Chang'an Palace.
"Duke Lu, would you like to duel with swords?" Gai Nie stopped the old man who was cleaning Ying Chengjiao's bedroom.
"Can."
The old man was sweeping the floor with a broom, without even raising his head.
Inside the bookstore.
The First Emperor was sitting on a cushion.
Ying Chengjiao lay on his side on the bed.
On the three shelves, there are not books on bamboo slips, but paper books.
The titles of these paper books are marked on the sides, including "Chemistry", "Lord of Mysteries", "Journey to the West", "Lüshi Chunqiu", "91 Learning Materials"...
The First Emperor glanced at the white books on the three shelves and was not surprised at all. While drinking tea on the table, he said to Ying Chengjiao: "Books are the thoughts of the ancient sages and are sacred things. Reading is to understand the thoughts of the ancient sages and is a sacred thing. You should sit upright to read. You put a bed in the study. Do you still like to read on the bed? This is not beautiful."
"You are so nosy. My father didn't care about me when he was alive, and the teacher he found for me didn't care about me either. But you keep nagging me. What kind of posture is needed for reading? Red tape. If you don't read seriously, it's useless to read it like an ancestral tablet. If you read seriously, it doesn't matter whether you read it lying down or lying on your stomach."
This guy has indeed read more books than me.
The First Emperor snorted coldly and said, "You always have your own twisted theories, let's not talk about this for now. I want to ask you, you placed cement in ten places under heaven. This is not a one-day job, it will take years to complete, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Ying Chengjiao propped his head up with his right hand and said, "Why should I tell you? You haven't conquered the whole country yet, so what's the point of telling you the use of cement? There are only so many Qin people, and you've dragged them all to fight. Where will they come from to build roads?"
"...You thought long ago that I would build roads after the unification of the world."
“If you want to be rich, you have to build roads first. Isn’t it obvious?”
The First Emperor felt frustrated.
Cheng Jiao's vision is far superior to mine. Before I unified the country, he had already thought about what to do after the unification.
He improved the county system and proposed the parallel system of counties and kingdoms and the Enfeoffment Order.
Cement was invented and stored in ten places throughout the country for the construction of imperial roads .
He is not as good as I am in expanding the territory, but I am far inferior to him in strengthening Qin and enriching the country.
Thinking of expanding territory, the First Emperor suddenly remembered what Li Mu had said to me - Your Majesty is the only one who can make Mu know that he will be defeated before the battle even begins.
Could it be that Cheng Jiao was not only an outstanding ruler of the country, but also an outstanding military commander?
My brother is not only capable of governing a country through literary skills, but also capable of being a general through military skills?
Now that I think about it, this guy strongly opposed me on the eve of Li Xin's expedition. At first I thought it was a coincidence...
The First Emperor stroked the teacup with both hands and said softly, "Cheng Jiao."
What is the emperor planning now?
Ying Chengjiao sat up with a start and asked vigilantly, "What's the matter?"
"Right now, the Xiongnu have not been destroyed, and the Baiyue have not been pacified. I am very worried."
"It's really not that I don't give you Li Mu, it's that Li Mu doesn't follow you."
"I mean, I appoint you as the supreme general, how about we go to war?"
"Royal brother, how dare you let me lead the troops? Are you suffering from some crazy disease?" Ying Chengjiao looked at the First Emperor with a look that said "Are you crazy?"
"Back then, I led an army to attack the State of Zhao and suffered a great defeat at Tunliu. All 50,000 soldiers were wiped out, and General Fan Yuqi fled to Yan for fear of punishment. I was captured by Zhao, but fortunately my brother exchanged me for 15 cities. This was considered a great humiliation by the Qin people, and the people of Xianyang scolded me for the Tunliu humiliation for ten years. Have you forgotten it?"
"If you hadn't reminded me, I would have almost forgotten."
The First Emperor looked at Ying Chengjiao with his eyes, which were sharper than an eagle's, and Ying Chengjiao felt a little guilty.
"50,000 soldiers were defeated by Guo Kai's 5,000 men, and few of them escaped. In your words, even if they were 50,000 pigs, it would take a while to kill all the 5,000 Zhao soldiers. You kept saying that we were ambushed, so tell me today what kind of ambush we were in."
Ying Chengjiao didn't even blink, and said, "I led my troops to pursue the enemy and chased them into a long and narrow valley. Guo Kai deployed 5,000 Zhao troops on both sides of the valley. When they saw me entering the valley, they immediately poured oil and fired rockets. My 50,000 Qin troops were all devoured by the flames."
After saying this, Ying Chengjiao looked sad, as if he was recalling the tragic scene that day.
After hearing this, the First Emperor said coldly: "Your experience sounds so familiar to me. It is almost the same as the plot in your Romance of the Three Kingdoms where Zhuge Liang burned the rattan armor soldiers."
Royal brother, if you have nothing to do, read "The Book of Lord Shang" twice and read less novels.
"The war has been going on for so long that there is nothing new anymore."
"Which valley did you enter?"
"I'm not familiar with Zhaodi, and I don't know the specific name of the valley."
"Keep pretending." The First Emperor sneered, "Then tell me how you persuaded Li Mu to surrender to Qin."
"My brother, you are asking too many questions."
The First Emperor said with great sorrow: "You and I are brothers. I have never hidden anything from you, but you have hidden it from me."
Don't hide anything from me?
Ying Chengjiao blinked and said, "What postures did you use when you performed the Zhougong Ceremony with the concubines last time? Can you demonstrate it in front of me?"
...This guy really deserves a beating!
Why didn’t I bring the King of Qin’s sword?
The First Emperor stood up angrily and looked for a book he had not read on Ying Chengjiao's bookshelf. He immediately took a fancy to the book "91 Learning Materials".
What kind of book can be marked as study materials by this guy? What are the two symbols in front?
Spell?
The First Emperor took down the book and looked at the two Arabic numerals "91" inquisitively.
Just about to open it.
Ying Chengjiao's hands clasped the top of the book.
Ying Chengjiao, who had just been lying on his side on the bed, suddenly came to the side of the First Emperor.
"Brother, please change it. This book is not suitable."
The First Emperor sneered and took away Ying Chengjiao's hand.
"The paper of this book is very wrinkled. I can tell at a glance that it is a book you often read and you hid it from me. Let me see what book can make my brother, who read all the palace books before he was ten years old, mark the study materials, so that I can learn from it too."
As he spoke, the First Emperor opened the book.
After reading two pages with both pictures and text, the First Emperor's face turned strange.
After flipping through it casually, the First Emperor looked at Ying Chengjiao, who was covering his face with his hands, with a strange expression.
"You learn this? You can still use it? You can't shoot..."
“…”
Ever since Xia Wuqie's conversation with the First Emperor that day, the First Emperor found the martial arts practiced by Ying Chengjiao among those in the inner treasury.
Recalling the content of the martial arts, the First Emperor patted Ying Chengjiao on the shoulder with a serious face and said, "I understand. The happier the woman is, the harder it is for you to endure, and the faster your martial arts will progress. You really practice very hard."
“…”
"Can you tell me, there are hundreds of techniques in the inner library, why did you choose only "Yellow Emperor"?"
"… Zhao Xianglu gave it to me. He told me that I could practice martial arts while having sex. If I could persist for a year without ejaculating, I would become a world-class martial artist. After a year, if my progress remained the same, I could ejaculate."
This was the first time that the First Emperor heard of this matter.
He looked at Ying Chengjiao's face, which had turned from ashen to black, and laughed dryly twice. He did not even pursue the matter when Ying Chengjiao insulted Zhao Ji as "Zhao Xianglu".
She said with a guilty conscience, "It is indeed your fault, mother. After practicing for a year, you should have discovered that the Yellow Emperor can protect your virginity until death. Why do you still want to continue? You can just give up."
"...Zhao Xianglu sent assassins to kill me. If I hadn't continued practicing, I would be dead now."
"It is also my mother's fault. Now you have armored doors and powerful crossbows to protect you, and you have many retainers. You really don't feel safe. I will return Gai Nie to you, and you can stop this practice."
My royal brother, your martial arts skills are too low, and you simply cannot appreciate the pleasure of being invincible and reaching heaven and earth.
Ying Chengjiao's face darkened, and he said in a hateful voice, "I have had endless money and have lived a rich life. How can I be willing to be penniless and live a poor life? How can I bear to give up my martial arts?"
"It doesn't matter whether you have martial arts skills or not. If you like, just practice it."
"Royal brother, you know that I have reached the level of top masters. I am not naturally gifted. If I change my technique and start over again, I will not be able to regain my current level of Kung Fu even in fifty years."
"So what if he's a top master? Very strong? Can he defeat three hundred elite soldiers?"
"Can!"
"Three hundred warriors can't stop you, so what about three thousand warriors, thirty thousand warriors, or three hundred thousand warriors? Just give up, it's not worth it."
The First Emperor always looked down upon the courage of ordinary people, and he could not understand Ying Chengjiao's thoughts.
That is the martial arts dream buried deep in the hearts of the next generation of men.
Kill one person every ten steps, and leave no trace in a thousand miles.
Laugh out loud over a glass of wine, and kill people in the city.
He fought in a range of three thousand miles, and was able to defeat an army of one million alone.
The post-90s generation who sang "How I Want to Travel the World with a Sword" can really travel the world with a sword.
Who can bear to give up the feeling of being able to go up to the sky and down to the earth, to be omnipotent, to split rocks and cut water?
"value."
Ying Chengjiao said this.
"Stubborn."
The First Emperor put the "91 Study Materials" in his hand back on the bookshelf.
Without even turning his head, he said, "I summoned Xia Wuqie, the Yin-Yang School, the Taoist School, and the Immortal School. I asked them if there was a way to lose one's virginity while maintaining one's internal strength when practicing the Yellow Emperor's technique. The answer is yes."
"have?"
Ying Chengjiao was overjoyed and hugged the First Emperor.
The First Emperor had never seen Ying Chengjiao like this before. His eyes were so bright that they seemed to blind him.
"Brother, you are my real brother, tell me what to do? Zhao Xianglu has been harming me for so many years! I am suffocating to death!"
"What did you call me, mother?"
"Queen Mother! Queen Mother Zhao!"
When the First Emperor saw that Ying Chengjiao changed his words so easily, an incredible idea came to his mind.
Without changing his expression or tone, he asked tentatively, "Then what about the bet..."
"What bet? I don't know! I will go to Yongdi in person tomorrow to pick up Queen Mother Zhao and bring her back to Xianyang!"
The First Emperor: ...
