Afang took off the phoenix crown on her head and placed it on the table, revealing the face of the Queen of Qin.
Afang's appearance was not ugly, but she was not very beautiful either.
Her eyes are slightly big, her face is slightly wide, and her skin tone is slightly dark. Compared with the concubines of the First Emperor, Afang's appearance is not superior even compared with most of the palace maids.
In this harem filled with beauties, Afang's appearance can only be described as average, and is really not outstanding at all.
But the First Emperor chose her to be the master of the Qin harem and the queen of Qin.
Even though Afang was infertile and would never have children in her lifetime, the First Emperor still did not think of deposing her.
The First Emperor required all the princes and princesses in the harem to recognize Afang as their mother and call Afang "Queen Mother".
If she had no children, then any children born to other concubines in the harem would be Afang's daughters.
The First Emperor treated Afang very well to this point.
The position of Queen Afang was unshakable.
Upon hearing this, Ying Fusu showed a helpless look on his face.
Da Zheng Palace was Ying Fusu's sleeping palace. It was an entire palace with multiple rooms inside.
Afang Palace entered from the front hall, passed the middle hall, went around the side hall, and entered the back hall.
She looked through all seven rooms in the Zheng Palace, stared at Ying Fusu's newly changed bed and said, "The color of this bed..."
Walking forward and touching the wood of the bed, Afang's eyes flashed with a strange look.
"I see. This wood is different from the wood in my bedroom. According to regulations, all beds in the palace should be made of rosewood. How come this one is made of elm?"
Afang's voice was soft and gentle.
But when a person can easily decide the life and death of others, no matter how gentle this person's voice is, it will sound majestic to the ears of those who have no control over their life and death.
The two eunuchs trembled, their eyes were shifty, and they lowered their heads and shivered slightly.
"How dare you! The Queen asked a question, but no one responded. Do you all want to die?"
The maid in Afang was furious. She glanced at all the eunuchs and palace maids in Ying Fusu's bedroom and scolded them.
Judging from the surface, she is more majestic than Queen Afang.
Ying Fusu sighed softly, walked forward slowly, and said, "Mother, it was my son who liked the elm wood bed, so I ordered it to be replaced."
The two eunuchs standing against the wall felt relieved after hearing this. Their breathing gradually became smoother and their bodies stopped shaking.
They lowered their heads and did not notice that when the maid Afang scolded them, her gaze stayed on them for a moment longer.
"You like elm beds." The queen repeated, "Then tell me why you prefer elm to rosewood."
How would Ying Fusu know the difference between rosewood and elm?
He studied Confucianism and read the classics of hundreds of schools of thought. How could he know the knowledge that only carpenters would know?
After a moment's silence, Fang said, "The rosewood bed that Fusu used before was cracked in many places after being baked over charcoal. One day, Fusu used too much force and broke the rosewood bed. When we asked them to replace the bed, we asked them to make it with elm wood."
Afang chuckled.
"The wood fragrance of rosewood can calm the mind and help you sleep. Although the wood is easily eaten by insects, it is naturally not easy to dry out."
Ying Fusu blushed and wanted to say something.
Tap tap
Afang knocked on the elm bed, listened to the dull sound of the elm, and said, "The grain of elm is very beautiful, and its hardness and toughness are also good. If you said that you like its pattern, the queen mother would believe it. But you insisted that it was baked over charcoal fire, dried and cracked. Fusu, the disadvantage of elm is that it does not dry well."
Afang looked around the elm bed, pointed at it with one hand, and beckoned Ying Fusu over with the other hand.
Ying Fusu came closer and looked along the direction where Afang's finger was pointing, and saw a tiny crack.
Afang touched Ying Fusu's head and said softly, "My mother tells you that elm wood is more likely to crack than rosewood."
Ying Fusu looked embarrassed.
Afang turned her head and glanced at the maid beside her.
The maid understood what he meant and walked over to the two eunuchs who had just shivered.
He grabbed a eunuch by the collar of his clothes and pulled hard.
The two eunuchs were pulled to their knees.
The maid looked furious and said angrily, "Who gave you the courage to replace yellow pear wood with elm wood?"
The two eunuchs looked at each other and exchanged glances - putting the blame on the eldest son.
While kowtowing to Afang, he explained loudly.
"Unfair! It was the eldest master who asked us to change it!"
"We two are following the eldest master's orders!"
Ying Fusu turned around and looked at the two eunuchs with a trace of pity on his face. He said to Afang: "Fusu mistakenly thought that elm wood dries much better than rosewood, so he made this mistake. It is not their fault."
Upon hearing this, the two eunuchs cried out that they were innocent, their voices getting louder and their voices becoming more confident.
Afang listened to the two eunuchs' shouting and a trace of pity flashed in her eyes, but she still nodded gently to the maid.
The maid got Afang's permission and immediately shouted, "You two dare to deceive the queen, you will be beaten to death!"
The two eunuchs were horrified.
"It's unfair! Young Master, please save us!"
"Master, we both acted according to your words and did not tell a single lie!"
"Wait a minute!"
Ying Fusu stopped the queen's maid who was about to go out and call the eunuch in, and dragged the two eunuchs away.
He bowed deeply to the Queen, Afang, and said, "Mother, this is Fusu's fault. If you want to punish someone, then punish Fusu."
"You have been studying Confucianism since you were young. Which Confucian classics tell you to lie to your parents? If you want to do such dishonest things again, I will ask His Majesty to come here to see whether it is your fault or the fault of these two eunuchs that the yellow pear wood turned into elm wood."
This time, before Ying Fusu could even open his mouth, the two eunuchs were already in tears and crawling on their knees to the foot of Afang Palace.
"Queen, please calm down. It was us two who were obsessed with money and replaced the yellow pear wood with elm wood!"
"This matter has nothing to do with the eldest son. It's all our fault!"
The two took the initiative to admit their mistakes because they knew.
The Queen's punishment was to drag them out and beat them to death, and only the two of them died.
If the First Emperor came and found out that they not only stole property from the palace but also dared to put the blame on the eldest prince, he would definitely exterminate all three clans.
Whether one person dies or three generations of a clan die, everyone will settle the account.
Afang looked at Ying Fusu and said, "What else do you want to say to the Queen Mother?"
Ying Fusu said, "The Analects of Confucius says: 'A father conceals his son's secrets, and a son conceals his father's secrets; this is integrity.' This means that a father conceals his son's secrets, and a child conceals his father's secrets; this is integrity. Today, Fusu concealed the truth from the queen mother for the sake of their lives, which is also an upright move. It's just a few properties, why should we ruin their lives? Please forgive them, queen mother."
Afang sat on Ying Fusu's bed, pulled Ying Fusu to sit down, sniffed and said, "There has been no yellow pear wood fragrance in recent days. Is my son sleeping well?"
“No discomfort.”
"If the Queen Mother were here, I would not be able to sleep well. I couldn't sleep well even after returning to the palace today."
Afang stared at the two eunuchs kneeling in front of her, begging for mercy with fear in their eyes.
"My son has been bullied. How can I, as a mother, sleep peacefully?"
"Mother..."
"Let me ask you again, why is the Da Zheng Palace so deserted?"
At this moment in the Da Zheng Palace, there were thirteen eunuchs and palace maids together, so it could not be called deserted.
But considering the status of Ying Fusu, the eldest son of the Qin Dynasty, the number of people is much smaller, and there must be at least twenty-two people on duty.
"It's late at night. Fusu doesn't need so many people to serve him. Let them go back first."
"Did you ask for it, or did they ask for it?" Afang looked into Ying Fusu's eyes and said, "Don't lie to my mother again, or I will have no choice but to ask your father to come here."
"…They said they were not feeling well and asked to return early, but Fusu agreed personally. Mother, please don't let Fusu become a person who goes back on his word."
Afang stood up.
Wherever her eyes fell, there were eunuchs, and the palace maids would lower their heads and dare not look her in the face.
The Queen of Qin took two slow steps, turned her back to Ying Fusu and said, "You have been imprisoned by your uncle for ten days, why don't you get out? If your mother misses you in the future, she will still have to come to the Zheng Palace in person. This is not in line with the 'etiquette' you have learned."
"... Please forgive me, mother. It's not that Fusu doesn't want to leave the Zheng Palace. But if Fusu leaves, there will be hundreds of thousands of prisoners in Mount Li and dozens of eunuchs and maids in the Zheng Palace who will lose their lives because of him."
"So, can you stay in the Zheng Palace with peace of mind? If one day your uncle wants to kill your mother, will you leave the Zheng Palace?"
"...Uncle would never do that."
"As an emperor, how can I be coerced?"
Afang left a word, started walking, and talked as he walked.
"Your Majesty, you may not execute these two eunuchs today, but from today on, you will always be thinking about my son being bullied and will have trouble sleeping. Fusu, do you want your Majesty to sleep peacefully or do you want to save their lives?"
Ying Fusu followed behind Queen Afang with a bitter smile on his face.
He didn't want Afang to have a bad sleep, but he also didn't want to kill the two eunuchs.
"Don't worry, mother. Such things will never happen again in the future."
"They exchanged elm wood for yellow pear wood and stole the palace's property. Did the Queen Mother execute them against the palace's rules? Was it a reckless killing? Was it the Queen Mother's fault?"
"Of course, my mother is not someone who kills indiscriminately. What she did was in accordance with the palace regulations. What was wrong with that? But these are two lives after all. Can you punish them with three canes?"
Afang stopped and turned to look at Ying Fusu who was avoiding her gaze.
The Qin Dynasty ruled the country according to law and unified the world with it. The laws within the Qin territory were detailed and extremely strict.
The two eunuchs stole property from the palace and according to Qin law, they should be beaten to death.
As the eldest prince of the Qin Dynasty, Ying Fusu openly said such words and took the lead in violating Qin laws.
To put it in a broader sense, this is an attempt to undermine the foundation of the Qin State.
If Ying Fusu had been determined to pardon the two, it would have been a bit overbearing, but it was much better than replacing the punishment - the final right of interpretation of Qin law lay in the hands of the emperor, and no Qin law could be enforced by the emperor's words.
Afang looked at Ying Fusu for five breaths.
Ying Fusu knew that he was in the wrong and lacked confidence, so he did not dare to look Afang in the eyes.
"Can."
Afang spoke softly in the look of surprise and astonishment of Ying Fusu.
"Thank you, mother!"
Ying Fusu bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Queen! Thank you, Queen!"
"Thank you Queen for your mercy! Sparing our lives!"
The two eunuchs were delighted and kept talking.
They only thanked Queen Afang and did not express any gratitude to the eldest prince Ying Fusu who had been working hard to save their lives.
The maid of Afang went out and called Erlang official in.
Two palace guards dragged the two eunuchs to the open space in front of the Da Zheng Palace.
As the two eunuchs were being dragged along, their eyes were filled with joy.
Today was a blessing in disguise. After being beaten with three sticks, I was able to use this as an excuse to ask the eldest son to let me rest for half a month.
If I had known this earlier, I would have been bolder and replaced the yellow pear wood with cheaper wood.
The two eunuchs never thought about whether Ying Fusu would agree to their request.
It seemed that as long as they asked, Ying Fusu would definitely agree.
In their hearts.
There was the joy of saving a life, the secret delight of having a half-month break, and the regret of not being bolder when changing the wood.
There was no gratitude towards Ying Fusu, no uneasiness for having made a mistake, and no regret for stealing property from the palace.
The two eunuchs were thrown to the ground by the official, who was about to start beating them with a stick.
"slow."
When they reached the gate of Da Zheng Palace, Queen Afang called for them to stop.
"Mother?"
Ying Fusu spoke hurriedly, for he was afraid that Afang would go back on her word.
Afang smiled at Ying Fusu, pointed at her maid and said, "Let Ping'er hit it."
Ying Fusu was relieved and said, "My queen mother is kind and loving."
Ying Fusu thought that his mother was afraid that the eunuchs would be too harsh and hurt the two eunuchs.
An official handed the court stick to the maid called Ping'er by Afang.
When handing over the cane to the emperor, he saw that Ping'er was very beautiful and gave her some careful advice.
"This stick is a bit heavy."
Ping'er smiled.
"No problem."
The official saw Ping'er smiling from a close distance. Her face was slightly red. He thought to himself, "She is so beautiful." His heart skipped a beat uncontrollably.
Just as he lowered his head, his hand felt lighter and the cane had changed hands.
He looked up and saw that the court stick, which he had to swing with both hands, was being swung by Ping'er with one hand.
Phew~
The court stick cut through the night sky, bringing with it two whistling sounds, blowing the official's hair on his forehead to one side.
Bang!
The imperial cane hit the two eunuchs, making two extremely heavy muffled sounds.
But to the ears of these officials, this muffled sound sounded like a violent thunder.
There is a reason for caning.
Some people die after ten hits, while others are fine after fifty hits.
It all depends on how Langguan fights.
After so many beatings, the eunuchs could tell from the noise whether the beating was fatal or just a show.
The officials nearby all fixed their eyes on Ping'er, a petite girl who could swing the court stick with one arm, and their eyes twitched.
What a powerful force! This kind of sound is a life-threatening sound...
The official who had just reminded Ping'er that the court stick was heavy was now looking at Ping'er with a sweet smile.
And the court stick held in one hand in the bottle, these two sticks beat away all the beautiful thoughts.
"I'm done, you guys go ahead."
The two officials in charge of caning the eunuchs looked at the two eunuchs who were lying on the ground, tilting their heads with difficulty and trying to turn around.
You hit these two men on the back with your stick. From the sound, we can tell that their heart meridians have been shattered. Why should we fight anymore...
Ping'er put the court stick into the official's hand and returned to the queen.
"Tomorrow your father will hold a grand banquet in the Xuanniao Palace to enfeoff his ministers, and order all Confucian scholars to attend."
Afang spoke softly to Ying Fusu, and walked out of the Zheng Palace, saying, "We, the Great Qin, govern the country by law, not by Confucianism. The Qin laws cannot be violated."
Ying Fusu was also a martial artist. When he saw Afang's maid Ping'er swinging the court stick with one arm , he knew something was wrong.
But before he could open his mouth, the two court sticks had already fallen on the two eunuchs.
Before Ying Fusu could recover from the shock, he heard Afang tell him that the First Emperor would hold a grand banquet in the Xuanniao Palace tomorrow.
Qin used the black bird as its totem.
Xuanniao Palace. Just from the name, you can tell that this palace has a very high status in the Qin State.
In fact, the Xuanniao Hall is the largest palace in the Xianyang Palace, and is only used for banquets of the highest standards.
The First Emperor disliked Confucianism, so how could Ying Fusu not know that?
However, the First Emperor granted special permission to all Confucian scholars to attend this highest-level banquet held in the Xuanniao Hall.
This kind of honor is definitely not what Confucianism deserves, and Ying Fusu knew what it meant.
My father wants to wipe out all Confucianism...
"Young Master..."
The two eunuchs did not fight at all, but dragged the two eunuchs, whose eyes were already dazed, to Ying Fusu.
They are shirking responsibility.
This has nothing to do with my brothers...
Ying Fusu was awakened from his daze. He looked at the two eunuchs who were breathing out more than breathing in and were already dead, and took a deep breath.
Ying Fusu wanted to say that he was given a grand funeral.
But as soon as the words came to his lips, Ying Fusu swallowed them back.
These two people have indeed committed a crime...
"Give his family more money."
"only."
Ying Fusu wanted to chase after Queen Afang, who had not yet gone far, to ask about the details of tomorrow's banquet.
Just as he was about to step out of the Zheng Palace, a group of eunuchs and palace maids stopped him.
"My Lord, please have mercy on our lives."
"Please ask the eldest son to return to the palace."
"Please don't leave the Zheng Palace, my Lord."
Ying Fusu paused for a moment, nodded silently, turned around and walked back to the Da Zheng Palace.
After taking two steps, he said, "Tell the eunuchs and palace maids who are on leave to come back and take up their duties."
"My Lord, it is already late..."
"They just went to bed..."
"Why not call me when the shift changes..."
Ying Fusu suddenly got angry.
"That's what they're supposed to do! Get them up!"
"only!"
"only!"
"only!"
Hearing the unprecedentedly cheerful response coming from behind him, Ying Fusu suddenly felt much more relieved.
After taking three more steps, he turned around.
Looking at these eunuchs and palace maids, he said seriously: "If I leave the Zheng Palace, you will all die. Who said this?"
"Changan-kun."
The eunuchs and palace maids looked at the somewhat unfamiliar eldest son and spoke in unison.
Ying Fusu nodded, and a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes that had never appeared in his eyes before.
If I don't leave the Zheng Palace, I will not be able to stop my father from killing Confucianists.
At that time, the teacher will die, Dr. Fu will die, and all the Confucian disciples present will die.
If they leave the Da Zheng Palace, these people will die.
But it was my uncle who killed them, not me...
If I insist on protecting him, will my uncle really kill me?
The day passed quickly.
The night is filled with darkness.
The city of Xianyang was under curfew and there was deathly silence.
But Xianyang Palace, Xuanniao Hall.
The lights are brighter than daytime.
The First Emperor held the hand of Queen Afang and entered the Xuanniao Palace.
This time, no one lowered their heads, but all looked at the First Emperor eagerly.
This scene looks very much like a company's annual meeting, with employees sitting down and waiting for the boss to give them bonuses.
The First Emperor did not wear the Tongtian crown today, and his face did not look as majestic as when he attended court in the past. He did not even wear the black crown.
He was only wearing a black linen suit, which was made of the same material as the clothes worn by ordinary Qin people, except that there were no patches on it.
Such an emperor no longer looks like a god, but more like a human being.
The First Emperor entered the palace with a smile, looked around at his ministers, and jokingly said his first sentence.
"Gentlemen, are you getting impatient?"