My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

Chapter 671 A Dog-Eat-Dog World
Xianyang Street...

After Ji Bu made sure that he was safe, he returned to Yiyang with his entourage as soon as possible.

As a railway official, he could not leave Yiyang Iron Mine for too long.

Although Ji Bu was gone, his legend spread in Xianyang City.

In the ears of ordinary people on the street, Ying Zheng's giving up of his eastern tour was just a good thing.

But if this matter was really that simple, Fusu would not have gone to the trouble of handing it over to Ji Bu.

Ji Bu had been gone for more than ten days before the news of Xianyang City gradually spread throughout the world.

During the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the country's communications and transportation were unimpeded, and news spread relatively quickly. This is also the advantage of the county system.

If Fangguo existed, the situation would be very different.

"Have you heard? His Majesty will not be touring the East this year."

"The sun is rising from the west."

"Your Majesty was originally scheduled to tour the east last autumn, but it was postponed due to the death of the late queen. Now, the tour has been postponed again..."

“It’s not postponed, it’s cancelled.”

"It's obviously postponed, not cancelled. Your Majesty still plans to tour the East in the future."

“It’s cancelled!”

"..."

"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"

"You retreat! You retreat! You retreat!"

On the streets of Xianyang, several old men were playing chess under a big willow tree. Suddenly, two of them had an argument. They confronted each other and had a friendly exchange by squatting under the tree.

A canopied carriage was also parked under the willow tree.

The man in the car stroked his beard several times after hearing this conversation.

The person sitting in the carriage was Zhou Qingchen.

Just because he held a low official position, although he was favored by the emperor and had the opportunity to attend court, the ministers looked down on him.

Zhou Qingchen, who couldn't find the feeling of being an official in the court, could only bully his family servants and subordinates, or drive out for a ride and learn from Ying Zheng to go out and have fun.

He was just resting under a willow tree when he suddenly heard this conversation and had a very ominous premonition.

He immediately ran to find Yao Jia.

"Shangqing, have you heard that His Majesty will not be going on the Eastern Tour?"

Yao Jia was not in the group that accompanied the Eastern Tour, so he was not concerned about the matter. But everyone knew that Zhou Qingchen was a flatterer who could praise Ying Zheng to the skies.

Li Si was good at writing presentable inscriptions, while Zhou Qingchen specialized in writing articles praising Ying Zheng and was also a good writer.

The emergence of Han Fu did not happen overnight. In fact, the Qin Dynasty absorbed so many literati and had masters of writing like Han Fei and Li Si. It is not surprising that there were so many masters of writing in Xianyang City.

In short, Zhou Qingchen, as a disciple of Confucianism, was knowledgeable and good at writing articles. He liked to brag about Ying Zheng whenever he had nothing to do, and was deeply loved by Ying Zheng.

Ying Zheng would take him with him almost every time he went on an eastern tour.

He and Zhao Gao praised Ying Zheng on the left and right respectively.

Now that Zhao Gao is gone, Ying Zheng only has him as his happy pill.

Therefore, Zhou Qingchen was summoned by Ying Zheng more and more often.

Of course, some potential crises have also emerged. Zhao Gao has been with Ying Zheng for decades and has maintained his favor. Naturally, he has his own way of dealing a blow to someone who is more talented than him.

Everything has its pros and cons!

Although Zhao Gao was extremely wicked when he was alive, he alone could be said to have prevented other evil villains from emerging.

When he was gone, all kinds of villains began to emerge around Ying Zheng. In order to gain power, wealth and fame, they began to use their own means.

Zhou Qingchen was a beneficiary of Zhao Gao's death.

He now naturally became Ying Zheng's favorite person, and spent three days out of five by Ying Zheng's side.

Ying Zheng suffered a "backstab" from Fusu, and his prestige in the court was greatly damaged for a time. He desperately needed Zhou Qingchen's flattery to restore his self-esteem.

Zhou Qingchen also understood that it was precisely because the First Emperor's plan of eastern tour was terminated that he had not been summoned by Ying Zheng for several days.

He guessed that the Emperor must be very angry at this moment.

So Zhou Qingchen expressed his concerns.

Yao Jia was very upset, "But what does this have to do with me? Besides, I don't have the good luck to worry about whether I can go on the Eastern Tour."

Yao Jia hated Zhou Qingchen, this little thief, very much. He said so many good things about him when he was with him and pretended to have a very good relationship with him in front of the emperor, but he still said bad things about him to the emperor behind his back.

I had asked him to tell His Majesty that he would also go on the Eastern Tour, but Zhou Qingchen refused.

You come to him now, do you think he is a fool?

This is the current situation after Zhao Gao's death. Those who followed Ying Zheng before could just stick to Zhao Gao. Now it is different, anyone has the opportunity to become the new "Zhao Gao", so they started to "fight" with each other.

Ying Zheng has already noticed this problem, but he doesn't have time to deal with it now.

As soon as Zhao Gao died, the first thing Ying Zheng had to face was the joint memorial from the censors and doctors.

He was busy dealing with the mess, so he could only observe slowly and look for new candidates. Zhao Gao's good sword was destroyed by Fusu, and the impact on Ying Zheng was immeasurable.

Many people fail because they do not have a deep enough understanding of the problem. They do not understand what the combination of powerful ministers, treacherous ministers and eunuchs like Zhao Gao means to Ying Zheng and the Qin court.

Yao Jia was unwilling to pay attention to Zhou Qingchen and said some unpleasant words, asking him to leave.

Zhou Qingchen has made it to where he is today, so he is definitely not someone who only knows how to say nice things.

He is super thick-skinned.

"Shangqing, you don't want His Majesty to know about your good deeds, right? You once allowed your son Yao Guang to secretly embezzle the military rations that were escorted to the Baiyue area, and then General Yao Qian sold the military rations."

When Yao Jia heard these words, his face turned dark for a moment.

"you dare!?"

"Your Majesty is in danger now. I wanted to join forces with Shang Qing to help His Majesty through this predicament. But Shang Qing is unwilling to help. We are the kind of people who share the same fate."

Yao Jia sank, "You want to threaten me?"

"Although I have a bad reputation, I don't like to engage in such activities as embezzling military rations."

"Yes, so you colluded with Zhao Gao to withhold the funds for the construction of Lingqu Canal, so you must be more confident than me, right?"

Zhou Qingchen gritted his teeth and looked angrily at Yao Jia's slightly narrowed eyes, with a dagger hidden behind his smile as always.

He knew that Yao Jia had been in various dangerous situations since he was a child, and he managed to escape death every time.

Zhou Qingchen had other plans.

"I heard that Yao Shangqing has a good relationship with the prince. But according to the prince's personality, when he returns in the future, he will definitely use Meng Tian and Xiao He, the new clean-cut people in the court."

"What do you want?"

Yao Jia frowned, he would not be fooled.

The prince is a smart man and will not get into trouble with him.

"I am afraid that the prince will appoint Xiao He as prime minister, or order Meng Yi to investigate corruption. By then, all those who are related to Zhao Gao will be exposed."

Yao Jia was finally convinced by the bastard Zhou Qingchen.

"It's just that I can't go on the Eastern Tour. Is there any need to panic? It seems like the sky is about to fall."

Seeing that Yao Jia finally softened, Zhou Qingchen immediately squatted beside Yao Jia. Yao Jia was bloated and fat like a big bucket. Zhou Qingchen squatted beside him, his mustache flying with laughter.

"If you don't come out and say something, then the sky will really fall."

"You have to give me a reason." Yao Jia hated Zhou Qingchen so much that he wanted to kill him. But facing Zhou Qingchen, he still spoke in a very calm and peaceful tone.

"Think carefully about why Your Majesty suddenly decided to give up this eastern sea tour. Your Majesty has been looking forward to this event for a long time. Your Majesty was planning this even before the attack on Chu was completed."

"Who is that, Your Majesty? I'm sorry to offend the gods, but once Your Majesty decides to do something, it must be done. God will kill God, Buddha will kill Buddha."

"Ji Bu is just a little-known junior! He is a high-ranking official in Yiyang, a small official with no more than a sesame seed. To advise the Emperor to give up his eastern tour is like an ant trying to shake a tree."

"But, in the end, the tree moved on its own. Ordinary people will definitely think that the ant made the tree move, because they themselves are ants, and they are willing to believe this kind of rubbish story that even women won't listen to."

"But Shang Qing, you are one of the Nine Ministers! Can't you see the problem here?"

Yao Jia frowned, "I know what you want to say. The prince is in power, and now the officials in the court are uneasy. The officials who opposed your majesty's administration in the past are now banding together to support the prince."

"Not long ago, your majesty wanted to deal with Chen Ping, who was close to the crown prince. He was the one who secretly used a trick to ensure that the crown prince was safe after killing Zhao Gao. But before your majesty could do anything, Chen Ping had already discovered it. They immediately mobilized the remonstrators to speak."

"Shangqing Meng Yi is a man with sharp eyes. He hates Zhao Gao, and now that Zhao Gao is dead, he naturally worships the crown prince. He also tries his best to protect Chen Ping."

"Now, no one in the court dares to trust each other. No one knows whether their comrades are your majesty's men or the prince's men. Or maybe they are the prince's men today and your majesty's men tomorrow. If your majesty makes the slightest move, they will discover it. This shows your majesty's situation."

Zhou Qingchen felt sad when he heard this.

"Your Majesty is such a good person, but now he is forced by the Crown Prince to stay in the palace and cannot move."

Yao Jia glanced at Zhou Qingchen and said, "I have long guessed that the prince planned this eastern tour. He is a high-ranking official, but he went to Xianyang on his own without the emperor's order."

"How many people do you think are helping the prince behind this?"

"I think Shaofu Zhang Han is also closely related to this matter."

Zhou Qingchen was shocked. "Zhang Han? How is that possible?"

Yao Jia's eyes widened, "How is that impossible?" He then calmed down and stroked his beard, "But I am just suspicious. After all, the Shaofu has always been loyal to Your Majesty and serves Your Majesty almost like a father."

"I'm scared to death." Zhou Qingchen wiped the sweat off his forehead. The only people he could trust now were Yao Jia and Li Si. "I really can't imagine it. If Zhang Han is the prince's man, how dire the situation would be."

"In short, your majesty became afraid because he saw that someone was behind this."

"The point is not what Ji Bu said. It's that the prince was far away at the border, but he was able to operate in secret and easily transfer his people from his fiefdom to Xianyang City. Do you know how big a deal this is?"

"From the moment Ji Bu set foot in Xianyang City, the Crown Prince had already won, and Your Majesty must give up the Eastern Tour. This is the root cause."

Zhou Qingchen swallowed and choked when he heard this.

The prince easily transferred people to the capital...

"Your Excellency is indeed far-sighted. I didn't think of this. I just saw that the ministers forced Your Majesty to cancel the Eastern Tour plan, which was completely suppressing Your Majesty's power. I didn't realize that behind this... it was actually the Crown Prince who was behind this."

Zhou Qingchen was sweating even more.

(End of this chapter)