My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

Chapter 646 Chen Ping's Suggestion
On this day, in the Shaofu Temple of Xianyang Palace.

In the Pre-Qin period, "temple" referred to the place where officials handled cases.

There were several charcoal braziers and several large copper stoves in the temple room.

All the officials were wearing similar black robes. They knelt in front of the desks, their fingers nimbly moving back and forth on the abacus beads, which made crackling sounds.

Cao Shen was so tired that his back and waist ached, and he would beat his waist from time to time.

But when he looked up, he saw Zhang Cang holding a pen and writing briskly on the paper.

Zhang Cang was good at calculations. Faced with the overwhelming bamboo slips and account books, he would not use tools like abacus. He only needed to calculate carefully and he could get an accurate answer.

Cao Shen looked at Zhang Cang and couldn't help but say, "What a monster."

Zhang Cang raised his head and smiled at Cao Shen, "This is my specialty. I have always wanted to work in the Shaofu, but I didn't have the chance. I have always been in charge of the books, but I didn't expect that after all the twists and turns, I finally got what I wanted."

The copper official smiled and said, "I guess the Fifth Doctor is very grateful to the Crown Prince?"

In the history of the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, there was a case where Zhang Cang entered the Prime Minister Xiao He's residence as an imperial censor. Although Zhang Cang was a fifth-rank official, he could go beyond his position and work in the Shaofu for special matters.

Zhang Cang said confidently, "Although the dozen or so ministers around the prince are famous, they are not as talented as me."

Zhang Cang is a legendary figure in the Qin State.

He became a fifth-rank doctor at a young age.

When Cao Shen and the others heard this, they all gave up their plans. They looked at each other and thought that Zhang Cang was too proud.

Tong Cheng listened, stroked his beard and asked with a smile, "Doctor Wu is very free and easy, but in my experience, sometimes people will suffer after they finish talking big."

Zhang Cang laughed and said, "Why should I be afraid? Even His Majesty the Emperor would pity a talent like me, wouldn't he?"

Cao Shen didn't say anything, just lowered his head and smiled.

A few people were chatting and laughing when suddenly a burst of hurried footsteps were heard outside the door.

Not long after, a pig-killing howl came from the Shaofu Temple, "Save me! Save me!"

"Cao Shen! Go ask the prince to save me!"

Cao Shen sat in the room, still holding his abacus in his hand. Looking at Zhang Cang being dragged away, he and everyone else looked at Tong Cheng at the same time.
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Soon, discussions were heard in the palace.

"The Fifth Doctor Zhang Cang has been arrested."

"Well, your majesty should tear the mouth of that foul-mouthed fellow apart."

"Cut off Zhang Cang's tongue so that he can never speak again!"

"Yes! Cut the tongue!"

Everyone was talking about it, and they all wanted to kill Zhang Cang.

Zhang Cang was a true disciple of Xunzi and a successor of Confucianism. Zhang Cang liked Mencius's teachings and always looked down on the powerful. He often spoke arrogantly, relying on Fusu's support.

Ever since Zhang Cang became one of the five great officials, he had to point fingers at everyone he met in Xianyang, Qin State, from a moral high ground.

At first, he was a little hesitant and only talked about it in private. Later, he didn't care about the fact that walls could hear people. He would ridicule anyone who seized farmland. He would stand up and take action when he saw the rich and powerful teaming up to rob women. He even offended Wang Ben's son Wang Lili.

He was most famous for refusing to marry the daughter of a rich and powerful man, but when he found out about the good news later, he married her at lightning speed, and became a relative of the royal family.

The stiffer the back, the sharper the mouth.

Anyway, as long as there is something immoral, Zhang Cang will be active.

Such a cute fat man who is very popular among the people of Xianyang is hated by the powerful.

Xiao He, Xiahou Ying, and Cao Shen also disliked Zhang Cang because he was arrogant and always said things like "all of you combined are not as good as me."

Li Si hated Zhang Cang the most because Zhang Cang openly said that he served his master three times and that he always sided with the powerful when judging cases, and often made small moves to help the nobles and officials escape from disaster. Zhang Cang even made up some jokes.

At this point, Zhang Cang had no choice but to kill him.

Because he is such a person who is hated by both humans and gods.

Even his father-in-law Gong Chengmao was unwilling to rescue him because Zhang Cang said at the funeral that he was not respectful enough and actually slept in front of his old father's coffin.

……

However, someone still told Fusu about this matter.

This person is Chen Ping.

Zhang Cang also disliked Chen Ping. He always said that Chen Ping was sinister. Chen Ping had suffered enough from him.

But Chen Ping was very keenly aware that the purpose of killing Zhang Cang was to kill the crown prince. If he was killed, wouldn't the crown prince's prestige be completely destroyed?

The people below were all opportunists. It was clearly about protecting the crown prince, but after they saw the emperor kill Zhang Cang, they only thought that it was the crown prince who was incompetent.

Therefore, in Chen Ping's view, the most urgent task is to save Zhang Cang's life, so as to demonstrate Fusu's ability in the court.

If he was really killed, Fusu would lose not only his status as a "famous speaker", but also his dignity and face.

"Father wants to kill him?" Fusu was a little surprised when he heard the news. "Father should have done this a long time ago. This damn guy."

Chen Ping was stunned.

"But you can't just ignore him, Prince. Everyone knows that Zhang Cang is your man. He's your favorite."

"Those are all rumors." Fusu never took Zhang Cang with him when he went out.

"Zhang Cang will be beheaded in the market in three days. The crime your majesty has charged him with is that he alienated you and the king and instigated you to anger your majesty."

Fusu frowned. "Zhang Cang, everyone in Xianyang wants to kill him. He has been taking advantage of the power of others for many years, and his reputation is no less bad than that of Zhao Gao who was by my father's side."

Chen Ping was sweating. Zhang Cang really deserved to die. "Prince, Zhang Cang cannot be compared with Zhao Gao. Zhang Cang is loved by the common people in Xianyang, but hated by the powerful. Zhao Gao is hated by the powerful, and even more despised by the common people."

"Give me a reason to save him."

"Prince, as long as you keep Zhang Cang alive, no one in the court will be unwilling to follow you in the future. Think about it, if the outsiders think that all the people around you are killed by His Majesty, but you do nothing, then if this matter spreads to the world, will there still be people willing to follow you to death?"

Fusu thought about it and realized that this was the case.

If I don't save Zhang Cang, others will easily be disappointed in me and think that I don't care about their lives at the critical moment.

"Okay, okay. People say that Zhang Cang and I are in the same boat. I'll go and help him out."

Chen Ping frowned, "Is the prince going to do it himself?"

"I'll go and apologize to my father." Fusu was actually quite confident. He felt that his relationship with Ying Zheng was not that bad. He just wanted to complete the task given to him by his subordinates - to persuade Ying Zheng.

It was impossible for Ying Zheng not to understand.

However, Fusu still liked the situation where the father and son performed a double act and outsiders followed suit and made a mess.

All demons and monsters will reveal their true colors at this time.

"Prince, you cannot go in person. If you go in person, it would be disobedience to His Majesty. His Majesty would lose face, and it would implicate the Crown Prince."

After Chen Ping said this, Fusu took back his steps.

That seems to be the case.

"Then what do you think we should do?"

Chen Ping offered a suggestion, "I heard that the current emperor's Shangshu Ling Xin was once a teacher and friend to the prince. The Shangshu Ling always advised the emperor with clear words, and sometimes sent the singing and dancing artist Youzhan to advise the king with irony. Many times when the emperor wanted to kill loyal ministers, the Shangshu Ling used this person to save them."

Fusu looked at Chen Ping, "Do you want me to hand this matter over to Xin?"

"Yes, Prince, are you going to stand up for Zhang Cang yourself? If Zhang Cang is rescued, the prince will lose face, and Zhang Cang will become even more lawless in the future because of your words. In fact, Zhang Cang is so hated because you are behind him."

Fusu swallowed and felt a lump in his throat.

He understood Xin's situation very well. This meant that he had to serve two masters at the same time. Ying Zheng was always suspicious, but he would not kill his own son. He had no gratitude towards his subjects for telling the truth.

"No, how can such a thing involve him?"

Chen Ping said in a very calm tone, "If you don't use Lin Xin, Zhang Cang will die. If you go in person, Zhang Cang will also die. The reason why Zhang Cang died is because of your advice to the Crown Prince."

Fusu stared at Chen Ping with eyes wide open, "Do you know what you are saying? You are pushing me down a path of no return."

To be honest, when Fusu saw that Ying Zheng did not take action against him and found a scapegoat, he began to soften his heart for a while.

Chen Ping looked at Fusu, took off his coat, put on his underwear, and bowed to Fusu like a sinner.

"Prince, I am not pushing you forward. Advising is what everyone in the world wants you to do. From the moment you gave your advice, you have made a choice that is in line with the wishes of the ministers and the people."

"If you choose to keep quiet now, it means that you have chosen to back down in front of His Majesty the Emperor. What did you say before you made the remonstrance, Prince?"

Fusu was speechless for a moment. He just wanted to let Ying Zheng see the truth and stop the gossips. Why did Ying Zheng make a mistake and let his son take care of it?

"Now, the eyes of the whole world are on you. It all depends on what you do."

Fusu sat on the seat, his body limp.

He closed his eyes now, and in his mind he saw the future scene of himself and Ying Zheng fighting for power and endless killing.

He wanted to escape.

Want to retreat.

This happened too fast...

"You step back first, let me think about it."

"The prince doesn't have much time left."

The reason why Chen Ping insisted was that he realized that once the prince chose to back down on this matter, the emperor would take advantage of the prince's weakness of cherishing the father-son relationship and attack the prince in every way from then on.

"The prince can only advance, not retreat."

Fusu looked at Chen Ping, and at that moment he really wanted to kill Chen Ping.

Chen Ping never went out, he had to urge Fusu to make this decision.

The two remained deadlocked until the afternoon.

Chen Ping kept persuading him.

Fusu remained silent.

In fact, Fusu was just thinking, if he asked for the letter to save Zhang Cang, then what would happen to Ying Zheng after he slapped him in the face this time.

They are heading towards an irreversible situation, is it good or bad for the empire? There must be someone who wants to take advantage of the situation!

It was not until the sun set that Fusu saw his two sons running, chasing and playing on the ground.

At that moment, Fusu realized that he was no longer young in this era.

"Just do as you say."

(End of this chapter)