Chapter 99: Past Events

The bright moonlight cast its clear rays of light, and this cold silver glow illuminates the heavily guarded Xianyang Palace, complementing the other.

Chengjiao Palace.

There were dozens of three-foot-long beekeeper candles emitting bright orange-yellow flames.

Every pillar and every floor tile in the palace was clearly illuminated, and not even a strand of hair could be hidden.

A child about eight or nine years old was sitting on the floor in the palace. In front of him was a pile of colorful transparent beads.

It is not really appropriate to call them transparent beads, because these transparent beads are irregular. They do not have such smooth curved surfaces and perfect spherical shapes.

Some are slightly swollen into transparent oval beads, while others have a defect or an extra piece, making them look like defective products.

The child only picked up one transparent round bead at a time, held it in his little hand, and placed it under the bright candlelight to observe the color inside.

He looked at twenty-seven or twenty-eight of them in a row, and judging by their wrinkled expressions, he didn't seem to have found any that satisfied him.

"Mom, please don't steal the glass balls that I haven't seen. Take them from here. These are the ones I've seen." The child looked helpless, and his little hand pressed on a jade hand that was secretly stretched out from his side.

The owner of the jade hand had a pair of sparkling eyes. Although the child called her "mother", her expression seemed even more childish than the child, and very cunning.

She has an extraordinarily beautiful appearance.

The big eyes flickered, and the upper eyelashes fluttered back and forth like two small fans.

She puffed out her lips and bit her teeth lightly, full of girlish charm.

It is hard to imagine that a woman could give birth to a child who is already seven or eight years old.

There is not much maternal aura around her, but rather she is full of childishness.

"Damn it, I was obviously very careful, how did you see me again? Qiao'er, you have so many glass beads, shouldn't you give some to mother to show your filial piety?"

The woman was caught stealing, but she showed no shame at all. Instead, she turned the tables and questioned her son with confidence.

As he spoke, his other hand began to touch the pile of glass beads that the child had never seen .

The child quickly leaned forward and protected the pile of glass beads that he had not yet looked at, and said with a smile: "It's not that Cheng Jiao won't give it to me, it's just that I haven't finished looking at this pile yet. Mother, you go and pick from the pile that I have finished looking at."

"No, I'm going to pick it here. Get up, I'm your mother, you should let me go."

The woman reached for the child and tried to carry him away so that she could pick among the pile of glass beads where the child was lying.

What kind of glass beads are you going to choose, mother? If you are looking for nice colors, there are plenty of them in the pile of glass beads I have picked out. Why do you keep messing with me?

The child was so angry at his mother that he hugged the woman's arms and said with his face up, "Mom, there are too many. Go over there and pick them."

The woman curled her lips, turned her head away proudly, and said, "Those are all the things you don't want. I don't want the things you don't want either."

Child: ...

It’s said that my mother is good at choosing, but it seems that she doesn’t have any selection criteria.

It is said that my mother is not picky, but she can get to the heart of the problem.

The child was speechless.

The woman's big eyes began to twinkle again, her evil intentions not giving up. She held the small pile of glass beads that had never been seen by the children with both hands.

Judging from his actions, it seems that he is planning to pack up all the glass beads and take them away to look for them slowly when he returns.

"Mom, please don't ruin my plans! If you steal my glass beads again, I'll go to dad to complain!"

"Go ahead, I'll sue you if you want!"

"Why are you suing me? I didn't steal anything from you."

"Why didn't you snatch it?" The woman patted the child's head and said, "When you were a child, you snatched my milk to drink. Now that you grow up, you don't recognize it?"

"Mom, you are so childish."

The woman pulled the child up, and the child was only as tall as the woman's slender waist.

The woman stretched out her hand and compared the child's height, then compared it to her own height, and said, "Look, you are so small, and I am this big. How dare you say I am childish?"

At this moment, the palace gate was pushed open with force.

A man wearing a Tongtian crown and a black Qin king's crown strode into the palace with his head held high.

"Haha, don't bully my little King Qin!"

The man's voice arrives before he arrives.

He picked up the child and lifted him up high, taller than the woman.

"Now our little King Qin has grown up."

The woman was compared to someone taller than her. She looked unhappy and pouted, "The king is partial."

With the help of the man, the child surpassed the woman, but he also looked unhappy and pouted, "Childish!"

The man looked at the woman and the child's pouting mouth, and the face that looked so majestic in the court was filled with an unstoppable smile.

"Hahahahahahaha, the mother is not like the mother, the son is not like the son, only I am like the father! Little King of Qin, you have been playing with the Mohist and Gongshu School these days. You don't come to listen to the ministers' reports, and you have been slacking off in government affairs. If you are so greedy for pleasure, when will Qin be able to unify the world?"

The man was the King of Qin, Ying Zichu.

The women are Ying Zichu’s concubines, Concubine Han, and Concubine Han.

The child was the son of Ying Zichu and Han Ji. Everyone in the court called him Prince Chengjiao, Ying Chengjiao.

"Your Majesty, the three words 'Little King of Qin' are inappropriate."

Behind Ying Zichu, there were two people.

A man with a simple and honest face, wearing a black official uniform. Judging from the style and the patterns embroidered on it, in Qin State, only the prime minister can wear it.

This man was the Prime Minister of Qin, Marquis Wenxin, Lu Buwei, who was second only to the emperor.

Xiangbang was the highest civil servant position in the Qin State.

When the Qin State had a prime minister, there was no chancellor. The prime minister was in charge of all affairs of the Qin State and had unlimited power.

The one who spoke up to dissuade him now was none other than Lu Buwei.

"What's wrong with that? It's only a matter of time. I got the throne of the King of Qin thanks to Jiao'er, so what if I call you the Little King of Qin?"

"In Qin, if anyone dares to cause trouble for Master Cheng Jiao, I, Meng Wu, will be the first to disobey."

The second person following behind the King of Qin shouted loudly.

He was wearing armor and looked heroic. He was the leader of the Meng family, the first military family of the Qin Dynasty, Meng Wu.

"Father, please put me down."

Ying Chengjiao felt so ashamed.

He was an adult, yet he was held high in front of two ministers, Meng Wu and Lu Buwei.

"Hahaha, Jiao'er, how can a king always feel ashamed? You should say, father, I am taller than you! Mengwu, take over the little King of Qin!"

As Ying Zichu said this, he threw Ying Chengjiao into the air and threw him to Meng Wu.

"only!"

Meng Wu shouted loudly with full momentum, took three steps forward, and caught Ying Chengjiao with the "moon-grabbing" move.

Although he was wearing armor, he was able to control his strength exquisitely. When he caught Ying Chengjiao, he did not hurt Ying Chengjiao at all.

But Ying Chengjiao, an adult, felt extremely hurt inside when being teased by two people like this, even though he didn't feel any pain physically!

I'm tired!

Destroy it!

Lu Buwei, standing beside him, smiled and shook his head slightly.

He had no other thoughts when he dissuaded others just now. He was just fulfilling his duty as a subject.

In terms of his love for Ying Chengjiao, he is no less caring than Meng Wu, who is always afraid of hurting Ying Chengjiao.

Eh? What's catching my eyes?

When Lu Buwei shook his head, he felt something shining in his eyes.

He looked down and saw colorful beads of various colors lying on the ground.

He was stunned at first, then he looked carefully. The more he looked, the more shocked he became.

He took a step involuntarily, then suddenly came to his senses, stopped quickly, and turned to look at Ying Zichu.

This is Chengjiao Palace, and he has not yet asked the King of Qin whether he can move.

What Lü Buwei saw was Ying Chengjiao, who had a look of despair, a wrinkled face, and a resigned look on his face.

Ying Zichu and Meng Wu were having a lot of fun, throwing General Ying Chengjiao around like a sandbag.

And Han Ji, who was jumping for joy beside them and shouting from time to time, "Throw it higher."

"Tomorrow, bring your Meng Tian and Meng Yi to the palace to play with you and keep you company."

"No, no, my second son is a naughty boy who only knows how to wield spears and sticks and is of no use. I dare not lead him to Master Cheng Jiao and cause trouble for Master Cheng Jiao."

"No, I don't want to. I just want to make myself familiar with you. If you don't know each other well when you are young, how can you become a member of the team in the future?"

"Your Majesty, you are overthinking. Apart from Prince Cheng Jiao, who else in the Qin Dynasty is qualified to inherit the throne?"

"That's true. I am the one who is anxious. There is no rush to train followers for Jiao'er."

"Haha, Your Majesty is suspicious again. The whole Qin State is a follower of Prince Cheng Jiao!"

As Lu Buwei listened to the two people's conversation, he felt that his previous caution was due to a bit of nightmare.

Having been in Qin for such a long time, he still couldn't get used to the Qin people's customs - the king is not a king, the minister is not a minister, how can it be so casual!

"Your Majesty!" Lu Buwei shouted loudly.

He had to speak loudly, because Ying Zichu and Meng Wu were speaking very loudly over there. If he spoke a little more quietly, Ying Zichu would definitely not be able to hear him.

"May I have a closer look at Master Cheng Jiao's things?"

"Kekekeke! Mengwu, do you have a girl in your family? Let's get married."

"Your Majesty has made a promise! You are not allowed to go back on your word. I will work hard in the future !"

"Then you better hurry up. If you delay for a few years, your daughter won't be able to become a queen."

Lu Buwei stood there for three seconds.

Suddenly I understood why Ying Chengjiao looked unhappy.

What kind of country was the Qin State?

Putting those distracting thoughts out of his mind, Lu Buwei walked up to the two spheres that reflected the light of his eyes.

He leaned over, picked up an orange one, and examined it carefully in the candlelight.

After a while, the shocked look in his eyes became ten times more intense than before.

"Peerless glass!" Lu Buwei said in a trembling voice.

Then he lowered his head, picked up another red one, and looked at it carefully under the candlelight again.

Apart from the difference in color and slight differences in shape, the two stones are made of exactly the same material and have almost the same quality.

"This one too! This one is also peerless!"

Lu Buwei took one round bead after another and shone them under the candlelight. In Lu Buwei's opinion, the worst round bead among them was also a top-grade glass.

Before becoming a retainer of Ying Zichu, Lü Buwei was a world-famous businessman.

The Lu's Chamber of Commerce is spread all over the world and is rich in rare treasures. There is no rare item that Lu Buwei has not seen.

His accuracy in appraising treasures is definitely among the best in the world.

There are very few who can match him, and he has always been very proud of his ability to identify treasures.

But today, Lu Buwei doubted himself.

Because he had never seen such a pile of peerless glass beads.

Even though he had authenticated them, he still felt that he had made a mistake and that these peerless glass beads were not real.

Make him believe that these are truly peerless glass beads.

Unless all the peerless glass beads in the world grew wings and flew to Chengjiao Palace by themselves.

"The Prime Minister knows how to pick glass beads?" Han Ji trotted over and asked with a happy look on her face.

"Glass beads? Concubine Han calls these things glass beads?" Lu Buwei asked hurriedly.

Liuli has many nicknames, such as Miaolin, Langxuan, Lulin, Liulin, Gaozi, Yaoyu, Jaryu, etc., but there is no such name as glass.

"Yes, that's what Jiao'er called me. Your Excellency, the Prime Minister, has seen all the wonders in the world and must be the best at choosing treasures. Please choose the best glass bead for me from this pile."

Yes, I was wrong. This thing is glass, not colored glaze.

This world is so wonderful that there are two things that are so similar, almost exactly the same, that even I can hardly tell the difference between them.

But, I have been fooled. How many people in this world can distinguish the true from the false?

If I use glass to make colored glaze and sell it, it will be able to pass for the real thing.

To ensure that there is no mistake, one piece of colored glaze is mixed with five pieces of glass. Then the real one will be real and the fake one will also be real. The Qin State will become very rich!

Lu Buwei's heart, which had originally calmed down, began beating violently again, but he did not show it on his face.

Instead, he followed the direction of Han Ji's jade hand and looked at the small pile of glass beads that Ying Chengjiao had not seen before, and then he looked at the big pile.

Lu Buwei used the method of identifying glass beads to identify the small pile, and it was obvious that the quality of the small pile was not as good as the big pile.

"Based on my eyesight, if I were to choose the best glass, no, glass bead, that one would be of better quality."

"No, no, no, that pile is not good." Han Ji shook her head and denied Lu Buwei without even thinking about it.

Although Lu Buwei was denied in the field he was best at, he did not have any negative emotions at all. He was a meticulous person with an excellent character.

"My identification method is to use the method of colored glaze. Since this is glass, my method is not applicable. May I ask Princess Han, how to identify the quality of these glass beads? Why is this small pile better than the large pile?"

Concubine Han pointed at Ying Chengjiao, who was still being used as a sandbag, and said, "I don't know either, but the big ones are what Jiao'er doesn't want, and the small ones are what Jiao'er hasn't seen yet. These glass beads were made by Jiao'er, so he must know which ones are good and which ones are bad."

"So it was built by Master Chengjiao." Lu Buwei's heart beat faster and faster. Looking at Ying Chengjiao's bitter face, it was like looking at a bitter gourd-shaped gold mountain.

Although this is glass, not colored glaze, if it can be mass-produced, the Qin State can make a lot of money before the difference between glass and colored glaze can be distinguished.

Master Cheng Jiao invented this thing, God bless the Qin Dynasty!

As long as the Qin State has Prince Cheng Jiao, the six kingdoms will have no chance of survival!

After he finished his words of agreement, Lü Buwei suddenly realized something. He turned his head abruptly, staring at Han Ji with a flushed face without any courtesy, and said, "Han, Han, what Han Ji just said was colored glaze, not glass. Was it wrong?"

Han Ji took a step back in fear and said repeatedly, "I didn't say it wrongly. Didn't the Prime Minister just say the word glaze? This object is actually a glazed bead, but Jiaoer insisted on calling it a glass bead. I listened to him for a long time, so I followed Jiaoer and called it that."

This object is actually a glass bead.

Han Ji's words were like a wedge, piercing deeply into Lu Buwei's mind.

Glass is colored glaze... this thing is real colored glaze!

Lu Buwei could no longer conceal his inner feelings; his face turned red and his breathing became rapid.

He turned his head and looked at the King of Qin and Meng Wu who were still having fun tossing Ying Chengjiao, and his hair stood on end with rage.

He rushed forward like an angry bull, without any image.

"You two brats! Put down Master Cheng Jiao! Put down Master Cheng Jiao!"

Ying Zichu saw that one of Lü Buwei's shoes was lost, so he stood between the two of them to stop them from continuing.

Thinking of the last time he saw Lu Buwei lose his composure like this was when they were being hunted by the State of Zhao and were fleeing from the State of Zhao, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha, is this my prime minister? No! This is the merchant named Lu who escaped from Handan!"

"Hahaha, the Prime Minister used to say that we were barbaric, why are you like this today? Today, the Prime Minister is like a Qin person!" Meng Wu hugged Ying Chengjiao and laughed.

Lu Buwei ignored the two people's teasing.

He took two steps at a time and cautiously stepped forward to take Ying Chengjiao out of Meng Wu's arms. He called out softly in a tone that was afraid of scaring a three-year-old child, "Master Chengjiao."

Ying Chengjiao ignored Lu Buwei, sat on the ground, and sulked with a sullen face.

He is furious now and doesn't want to talk to anyone.

He is nine years old physically, but not mentally.

He was a time traveler, and a car accident left him with no soul.

The next time he regained consciousness, he was in Han Ji's belly.

Including the age of thirty in his previous life, he should be thirty-nine years old now.

Any 39-year-old adult would not feel comfortable being tossed around like a sandbag and teased by Ying Zichu and Meng Wu for a whole cup of tea.

Seeing that Ying Chengjiao ignored him, Lu Buwei became so anxious that he circled around Ying Chengjiao.

Seeing this, Ying Zichu's smile disappeared and he frowned.

"Qian'er, how can you be so rude to the Prime Minister?"

As he spoke, he stepped towards Ying Chengjiao, wanting to drag Ying Chengjiao to apologize to Lu Buwei.

Lu Buwei turned his head and glared at the King of Qin. His eyes clearly said, it's all the king's fault!

At that time, the King of Qin was not called Ying Zichu, but Ying Yiren.

When Ying Yiren was a hostage in the State of Zhao, Lu Buwei took a liking to him and became his disciple.

At that time, Lu Buwei was already a world-famous businessman, and doing so would be tantamount to lowering his status.

Someone asked him why he left so many princes and nobles behind and chose to rely on a powerless and abandoned person?

Lü Buwei replied, "This is a rare treasure that can be kept."

People at that time regarded Lü Buwei as crazy.

However, Lu Buwei insisted on his own way and really treated Ying Yiren as his lord, and worked hard to help Ying Yiren return to Qin.

Finally, before the State of Zhao was about to kill Ying Yiren, they got the news and escorted Ying Yiren from the State of Zhao to the State of Qin overnight.

After returning to Qin, Ying Yiren changed his name to Ying Zichu. He eventually succeeded in becoming the King of Qin. Lü Buwei's years of investment finally paid off and he became the Prime Minister of Qin.

From a businessman, he became the prime minister of a country.

The only person in the world who wields supreme power is Lü Buwei.

Although the reward that Ying Zichu gave to Lu Buwei was not small.

But Lu Buwei's kindness to Ying Zichu in giving him a new life and saving his life was even greater.

So this was the first time that Lu Buwei got angry in several years, which made King Ying Zichu of Qin feel a little embarrassed and he stopped.

The King of Qin was secretly surprised.

What happened to the Prime Minister today?

In the past, I was advised not to force things to grow too fast or spoil my child.

Why are you pampering Jiao'er more than me today?

When Lu Buwei saw Ying Zichu stop and turn around, the murderous look on his face turned into a smile.

How sweet is that smile? If there were bees flying around, they would be able to collect honey from his face.

Inside the huge Chengjiao Palace, the powerful prime minister could only be heard speaking cautiously, softly, and flatteringly: "Little King Qin."