Chapter 254 Lu Xu: Avenge my son today!
"Changan Jun, please go back."
Zhao Gao, who had just asked for instructions from Zhangtai Palace, took small steps and ran to Ying Chengjiao, who was sitting on a stone bench in the corner of the square in front of Zhangtai Palace, waiting to be summoned by the First Emperor. He lowered his head and respectfully and humbly conveyed the First Emperor's intentions.
Ying Chengjiao held the memorial in one hand and pounded it with the other.
"Go and report it again."
Zhao Gao did not move or answer, but kept his head high, chest puffed out, and back straight.
"Your Majesty has said in person that he does not wish to see Lord Chang'an."
"I already know what you said. Go ask again. Maybe he has seen it this time."
"Changan Jun, please don't..."
Ying Chengjiao suddenly threw the bamboo slips on the stone table in front of him, and with his right hand, he slapped Zhao Gao in the face with great speed.
The slap was delivered with such speed that only the shadow of the hand could be seen but not the hand. However, it did not hit Zhao Gao's face, but was accurately intercepted by Zhao Gao halfway.
Zhao Gao held Ying Chengjiao's hand on the right side of his cheek with his left hand and finished what he had left unsaid.
"…It's difficult for Gao."
The wrist that was grabbed felt a little painful, and Ying Chengjiao tried to shake it open, but failed.
Zhao Gao took a step closer to Ying Chengjiao, his face bright and his voice gloomy.
"The completion of The Yellow Emperor does not mean that he is invincible. Lord Chang'an, please go back."
Ying Chengjiao smiled.
Others did not know the relationship between him and the First Emperor, but how could Zhao Gao, who had been the First Emperor's confidant for more than ten years, not know it?
My wrist felt like it was held in a steel hoop, and the increasing pain was like the hoop was tightening.
Ying Chengjiao reached into his arms with his free hand and pulled out a gun.
Zhao Gao's whole body was tense, and he felt as if his life was in danger. All the sense of danger came from the hand that Ying Chengjiao stretched into his arms.
He lowered his eyes and stared closely, gathering internal strength in his dantian, and exerting force in his legs and feet, ready to take action at any time.
When he saw the palm-sized black irregular iron weapon, he was confident that he could subdue Ying Chengjiao and the situation was still under his control.
When the dark and deep muzzle of the gun, which posed a fatal danger to him, turned and pointed towards his ear, he was still confident that he could control Ying Chengjiao.
Bang!
Flames burst out!
There was a loud buzzing sound, and it seemed that the mosquitoes and flies flying around in the hot summer had entered Zhao Gao's ears and were flapping their wings, making sounds.
He suffered temporary deafness in both ears, and his brain was like a bowl of overturned tofu brain, and in a daze, he lost absolute control over his body.
What followed was a burning pain in the right ear.
And the hot, wet, and sticky feeling when the right hand touches up along the pain.
Ying Chengjiao shook the iron hoop that he had been unable to break free of just now with a slight shake.
Crash~
The guards on duty outside the Zhangtai Palace lined up spontaneously, holding long spears that flashed with cold light, and advanced towards Ying Chengjiao.
Ying Chengjiao retreated a dozen steps, putting some distance between himself and Zhao Gao, aimed his gun at Zhao Gao's brow, and shouted loudly.
"Brother, if you don't speak, I'll replace you with the Minister of the Imperial Chariot Office!"
Squeak
The gate of Zhangtai Palace was wide open. Gai Nie stood behind the First Emperor, looking at Ying Chengjiao with an unfriendly face.
The first person he looked at was Ying Chengjiao, but he was immediately attracted by Zhao Gao, who was a dozen steps away from Ying Chengjiao.
The blood that could not be covered on Zhao Gao's face and the missing half of his ear made the Emperor's already ugly complexion even uglier.
"What are you doing, you brat!"
The First Emperor was filled with shock and anger. Under the protection of Gai Nie, he took a few steps and arrived at Zhao Gao and Ying Chengjiao ahead of the officials.
Looking at Zhao Gao from a close distance, half of his face was stained with blood and his features could not be seen clearly, while the other half was full of humility.
Covering his missing ear due to a gunshot, Chong Shi Huangdi bowed his head slightly, his body swaying from time to time due to his unsteady steps.
"His Majesty."
The First Emperor's eyes were filled with anger and he couldn't bear it.
"Someone come!"
The two front-line eunuchs left the battle formation and ran to the front of the First Emperor as quickly as possible to wait for orders.
"Send Zhao Gao to the Imperial Medical Bureau!"
"only!"
The First Emperor watched as the two eunuchs escorted Zhao Gao to the Imperial Medical Bureau. After walking a dozen steps, he took a few big strides to stand in front of Ying Chengjiao, his hair standing on end with rage.
"You did a good job!"
Ying Chengjiao put the gun in his bosom and asked Gai Nie to take the bamboo slips that he had placed on the stone table. He squinted his eyes and looked at Zhao Gao who was supported by two officials.
"Are you listening to me?" Seeing Ying Chengjiao ignoring him, the First Emperor was furious and said, "I know you hate Zhao Gao, but he has saved . Can't you just let him go for my sake?"
Ying Chengjiao took the bamboo slips handed over by Gai Nie and threw them into the hands of the angry First Emperor.
Pointing at the bamboo slips, he smiled and said, "You didn't even give me face, so we're even, one to one."
The First Emperor was furious. He mistook the bamboo slips in his hand for Ying Chengjiao and swung his arm to throw it to the ground.
Crash~
The bamboo slips were smashed into pieces, and the bamboos that were tied with ropes all fell off and scattered all over the clean and uncluttered bluestone slabs.
The eunuchs in the battle array had come close, pointing their long spears at Ying Chengjiao, with the tips of the spears pointing inwards, forming a circle.
Ying Chengjiao kicked away the bamboo with his name written on it that had landed at his feet, and pointed at the First Emperor with an angry look on his face.
"You tyrant! If I hadn't given you the throne, you would have died under the hooves of the Zhao army! Now you dare not only to disobey my advice, but also to capture me for a eunuch?"
No matter what the officials who gathered around him thought, they all had obvious anger on their faces.
If the master humiliates his soldiers, he will die; if the king humiliates his ministers, they will die.
If you don't want to die, you have to be angrier than your master.
"I have the final say on the selection of officials! Are you dissatisfied?" The First Emperor's eyes were cold as he asked, "You little bastard, are you planning a rebellion?"
Ying Chengjiao showed no sign of weakness, he raised his head and laughed in anger.
"Rebellion? I gave the Qin Kingdom to you. If you are not determined to reform, return it to me and restore order!"
The First Emperor retreated a few steps.
The palace guards quickly filled the vacancy left by the First Emperor and surrounded Ying Chengjiao.
"Catch this bastard for me."
The First Emperor said angrily.
"only!"
The officials said in unison.
"Ying Zheng! How dare you capture me!"
Ying Chengjiao widened his eyes and reached into his arms.
Gai Nie, who was right beside him , drew his sword and pressed his body against Ying Chengjiao's back, with the sharp sword resting on Ying Chengjiao's neck.
All the officials rushed forward and tied Ying Chengjiao's hands behind his back with hemp ropes as thick as an adult's wrists.
"Take him to Xianyang Prison." The First Emperor said coldly.
On that day, the news that Ying Chengjiao was captured by the First Emperor and imprisoned in Xianyang Prison spread throughout the Qin Dynasty's high-ranking officials.
After hearing this, the old Prime Minister Wang Wan spent his days in the Prime Minister's Mansion reading memorials, checking for omissions and filling in the gaps for the First Emperor, acting as a mender of the Qin Empire.
He returned home at night, not visiting friends or guests. He would not even see officials he was close to, and even the Imperial Censor Feng Quji was turned away three times at the palace gate.
The civil officials headed by Wang Wan knew that the old prime minister did not care about this matter and did not want them to care.
When the Ying clan heard the news, led by the old man whom the First Emperor called great-uncle, a group of old men who were the First Emperor's great-grandfather and uncle, broke into the Xianyang Palace to demand justice.
These people were furious when they entered the Xianyang Palace, and even angrier when they left.
Considering that Ying Chengjiao was still imprisoned in Xianyang Prison and no imperial decree had been issued to release him, it was obvious that their demands were not approved by the First Emperor.
Upon hearing the news, the newly appointed Prime Minister Li Si moved his office from the Prime Minister's Mansion back to the Supreme Court.
Anyone who dared to come to Xianyang Prison to visit, whether to visit Ying Chengjiao, Gan Luo, or Bao Bailing, was allowed to enter but not leave.
The iron-faced and impartial court judge Li Si used Qin law to seal off the Xianyang prison into a restricted area. It was like a black hole that could only absorb information without letting any of it leak out.
The disciples of the Legalists praised this and believed that the Legalists, who supported the development and growth of the Qin State, should be so strong.
The noble families who should have been the most happy about Ying Chengjiao's capture showed the least joy, almost no expression at all.
They did not gather together for a grand banquet, nor did they submit another petition demanding the execution of Ying Chengjiao.
It is understandable that the Gan family did not take any action because their head Gan Luo was arrested.
But it is a bit strange that the Hu family, Sima family, Wei family, Meng family, Bai family... these aristocratic families that first rose to prominence during the reign of Duke Mu of Qin and became prominent at the latest during the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin did not lack a head of the family, and did not respond.
The First Emperor did not attend court, but his ministers went to work and reported for duty, working hard to achieve performance targets for the new year.
Without official positions, nobles with higher titles would hide in their homes, eat delicacies, drink fine wine, enjoy singing and dancing, and after enjoying the singing and dancing, they would hold open-air parties.
The towers that they used to frequent have become increasingly deserted in recent days.
There is no wall that is impenetrable.
The leader of the noble family, Gan Luo, was arrested. After careful analysis and investigation, the noble family found that the witnesses who were arrested together had one thing in common - they were all frequent visitors to the building.
It is obvious that the building is not safe.
Xianyang entered a long-lost tranquility. Those impeachment memorials that came like snowflakes and those undercurrents beneath the calm surface seemed to have become a thing of the past.
The people of Xianyang took to the streets and returned to their efficient and numb state.
The city defense troops began patrolling as usual and arrested any Xianyang residents who they saw chatting casually.
Everything in Xianyang remained unchanged from before the La Festival.
Ying Chengjiao's words were not forgotten, but were regarded as the ravings of a madman, and became the talk of the people in Xianyang, Yongdi, and even Guanzhong.
The days passed one by one, then another, and finally the third day.
Recently, there is a young regular guest in the lobby of the building every day. He comes to order good food and wine and drinks by himself. He doesn't call her a prostitute or a concubine.
There are such people in the world. Many of them are like this if they are short of money or if they are not interested in women but only in their appetite.
In the Qin State, if common people wanted to eat delicious food and drink fine wine, they could only go to the tower.
But the manager of the building, who was good at observation and not just in the flesh trade, had already discovered through the inconsistency between the skin color and roughness of the man's hands and his face that the man was wearing a human skin mask.
After the building manager reported the matter, he kept an eye on the man for a few days, but didn't find any other actions by him besides eating and drinking, so he let him go.
The manager of the tower knew that beneath the young mask was a face that was no longer young.
But she didn't know that the owner of that face was not a commoner, but Lu Xu, a doctor with an official salary of 600 koku.
There was no aristocratic family with the surname Lu in the Qin State, but Lu Xu was also considered a member of the family, and he was headed by Bao Bailingzhi.
The power of aristocratic families does not only consist of their children. When there are enough official positions for their direct descendants, they will also recruit others to fill the remaining positions and expand their power.
They are like gluttons who are never full and want every bit of power they see.
Lu Xu was one of the people who joined the aristocratic family.
Not only was his own son murdered, but his enemies even moved to Xianyang City.
Lu Xu, who was bent on revenge, knew about the arrival of the three Lu sisters a month ago. He had the opportunity to avenge his son Lu Shu, but he had been hesitant to take action.
It was not that he was afraid of Qin law. As a doctor of the time and a high-ranking official of the Qin State, it would be easy for him to target a commoner who had just arrived in Xianyang and was unfamiliar with Qin law.
What he feared was Ying Chengjiao.
Ying Chengjiao was able to cause his son to die silently, with even the government being unable to find out the truth. He was also able to bring the family of Lu Wen, a distant relative who had taken his son away, to Xianyang.
He is just a mere doctor and we cannot afford to offend him.
He wanted to avenge his son Lu Shu, but if revenge had to cost his family's lives, he was unwilling to do so.
If you lose your son, you can have another one, but if you lose your life, you lose everything.
With this thought in mind, he had been secretly looking at the three daughters of the Lu family with hatred, waiting for an opportunity for revenge.
PhD students who are not undergoing assessments have a lot of free time and have plenty of time to do other things.
Lu Xu, who had taken refuge with an aristocratic family, had extra income in addition to his annual salary of 600 dan, which was enough to support him in the brothels without ordering girls, day after day.
Lu Xu discovered that the third daughter of the Lu family liked to visit pavilions.
Although he didn't understand the reason, it didn't stop him from sitting back and waiting.
In the past few days, there were always people who came to him, intentionally or unintentionally, to mention the Lu family who had just arrived in Xianyang.
Lu Xu, who knew about the changes in the La Festival, knew that these people were from aristocratic families and wanted to use him as a sharp knife to stab Ying Chengjiao and then throw him away.
Of course Lu Xu would not do that. As long as these people from the aristocratic families did not make it clear and could not support him, he would pretend that he did not understand what these people were saying.
He joined the aristocratic family because he wanted to rise to the top, not because he wanted to die.
Without the support of a noble family, he, a doctor, went to provoke Chang'an Jun, who was extremely rude at the Wax Festival but acted as if nothing had happened.
Either he died under Qin law, or he followed in his son's footsteps and died unclearly.
But what Lu Xu didn't expect was that the enemy Ying Chengjiao, who he feared would kill his son, was arrested and thrown into Xianyang Prison on charges of treason. Didn't this give him a chance for revenge?
Ever since Ying Chengjiao was arrested and imprisoned in Xianyang, his friends never said anything like "There is a family that has just arrived in Xianyang, and the three daughters in the family are all beautiful" or "Brother Lu, is your real surname?" such nonsense.
This also made Lu Xu certain that Ying Chengjiao was really arrested and it was not fake news.
Sitting in the lobby on the first floor of the building, Lu Xu, wearing a human skin mask, raised his wine glass and took a sip.
He said to himself: "You aristocratic families are seeking stability and want to keep things quiet and maintain the status quo, but what about my son's revenge?"
Thinking of the tragic scene of his son Lu Shu being turned into a human pig, Lu Xu, who was trembling with anger all over, still had a hint of fear in his eyes.
He didn't dare to take revenge when Ying Chengjiao was fine. The bloody human pig was one of the reasons. He was afraid that he would also be turned into a human pig.
Lu Xu picked up the dog meat in front of him with chopsticks and stared at the table eight steps away from him out of the corner of his eye.
There is a woman dressed as a man, but anyone can tell that she is the third daughter of the Lu family.
Doctor Lu Xu, who had endured for three days since Ying Chengjiao was arrested and imprisoned in Xianyang, decided to avenge his son today.
