It is said that Qin Shihuang was controlled by a daughter

Chapter 421: Disguise, His Prayer

Sikong Ma stood outside the posthouse in Qi clothing, waiting for the special envoy who came from Xianyang to Daliang to contact Xunzi.

After the fall of Wei, the city of Daliang ceased to exist, and Qin established Kaifeng County in its place.

Sikong Ma Yuan had served as an official in the State of Qin, and he knew most of the people in the court. He was able to see the importance of Li Mu to the State of Zhao back then, and in that chaotic environment, he was able to say that "Without Li Mu, the State of Zhao would not last more than three years."

He is by no means a mediocre person.

Xunzi accepted students in the same way as Confucius, who advocated "teaching without distinction". Among all his students, Han Fei was resolute, Li Si was intelligent and cunning, Zheng Guo was pure and upright, Zhang Cang was argumentative and thoughtful... Sikong Ma was the only one who was absolutely clear-headed.

He lived a poor life in Qi State and had been writing and compiling classics with Xunzi for eight years.

Therefore, when his old friends saw the changes in him, they were a little speechless.

"Brother Sikong was so stubborn that he left Qin and went to Zhao. Now we have reached the same destination by different paths," Li Si said in the letter.

After reading the letter, Sikong Ma knew what was going on - Li Si was extending an olive branch to him.

But Sikong Ma knew very well.

King Ying Zheng of Qin is not the King of Qin of the past.

What Ying Zheng cared about was not the gain or loss of territory. The whole land was already within his reach.

There has never been a king who is about to possess such a vast territory.

Ying Zheng wanted a power that could make the whole world call for one voice.

For a general, attacking a city and seizing a pond is always a matter of force, and the art of dominance is the best. The greatest wish of a civil official is that the scale of the world is determined by him.

For a ruler, he expects something that can satisfy his supreme dignity and bring stability to his subjects and peace to the world.

Unparalleled ambition, a broad mind, deceptive tactics of winning over others, and a domineering and humble personality charm, all contradictory and bizarre, are the cornerstones of rule.

Sikong Ma's reply was brief - at least much more concise than Li Si's, who even sought literary grace in his official documents.

He sympathized with Li Si's dilemma of being excluded from the matter because of Han Fei's past. He just told his former colleague about the past - Gu Nianjun's letter of request, and never mentioned Prime Minister Lu's past.

Daliang is close to the inland, so the sun rises later than in Linzi, Qi.

The clouds in the sky have dispersed, and wisps of clouds are like misty threads, drifting in the wind.

"Teacher, I am going to wait for the Qin envoy."

The old man watched Sikong Ma walk out of the pavilion, then lowered his head to look at the scroll in his hand. He stroked his long beard and said, "Who is it? Come out."

Lu Heng smiled, "Old sir, how did you know I was here?"

"Kuang. My eyes are blurry and my ears are hard of hearing, but my heart is not blind." Xunzi did not look up and called himself Kuang. He spoke in a slow tone and therefore clearly.

Lu Heng did not expect that in the subsequent conversation arranged by Ying Hehua, Xunzi did not show any displeasure towards Li Si.

"Everyone has his own path. No external force can change the path of his heart."

The rumor that after Han Fei's death, Xunzi hated Li Si and refused to enter Qin is just empty talk.

"Stop me?"

Xunzi certainly knew that there were many people in Qin who did not want him to come to Qin, and the leader was most likely Li Si.

Xunzi has always held the view that "the blue is derived from the blue, but is better than the blue", and he also wanted to see what had happened after twenty years of absence.

Lu Heng shook his head, "You are invited."

"The King of Qin's men?"

Lu Heng was silent for a moment, "I will protect you in secret."

As long as Ying Zheng puts pressure on Yao Jia and Li Si, Xunzi will be able to move smoothly within the Qin State.

What Ying Hehua is worried about are people with ulterior motives in the six countries.

She wiped out Gu Han, and also Yan Yue who had been missing for a long time. She didn't think the will for revenge was so easy to eliminate.

Being content is a forerunner, and Xunzi may be a trick used by Qi culture to come to Qin.

Nothing must happen to Xunzi.

Outside the posthouse.

Sikong Ma did not know that Dun Ruo had resigned, and the person who came was not Yao Jia.

He was very different from what he saw when he left Zhao State.

At that time, his every move and gesture was full of decadence, but here, Li Xian was still wearing dark clothes.

The official robe he wore was larger than usual, and he wore a black skirt. The intricate patterns on it made his eyes look even more gloomy.

Sikong Ma remembered the certificate of introduction that Li Xian had given him to Li Si, but he accidentally lost it on the way, so he never handed it to Xunzi.

In Sikong Ma's impression, Xunzi would shake his head when he mentioned Li Si.

Xunzi was not one of the other Confucians who were all sentimental. Even though he was in his eighties or nineties and his speech was unclear, he was still able to scold people, and his words were well-reasoned and well-founded.

Before becoming Xunzi's student, Li Si had a sharp personality, and after that, his personality became even worse.

Therefore, after reading Han Fei's works, Sikong Ma realized that the two of them had truly "long been influenced by their teacher's style."

Seeing Li Xian get off the carriage, he bowed to him.

Sikong Ma looked at him with deep resentment and thought, I don’t know what’s wrong with the Qin State that it actually called Li Si’s son as a special envoy.

“Ah Xian, I advise you not to go in. Xunzi didn’t even speak kindly to your father, I’m afraid it will be difficult for you…” Just as Sikong Ma finished speaking, a woman walked slowly from behind Li Xian.

According to her official rank and the fact that she was an attendant, she had no extra accessories on her skirt.

Although the woman was wearing the clothes of a Qin maid, her beauty could not be concealed.

She smiled and gave him a maid's salute.

"Mr. Sikong."

Li Xian turned sideways, smiled and nodded slightly.

She glanced at him.

This tiny movement made Sikong Ma see the clue. It seemed that Li Xian agreed to let the maid speak, but his eyes shifted slightly and followed her every move.

In Sikong Ma's opinion, Li Xian has been a very arrogant person since childhood.

Perhaps apart from power, there is nothing that can make him bow his head.

Sikong Ma had never met Xu Zhi, but he was an experienced person after all. He couldn't help but wonder if this woman was Li Xian's family member, accompanying him on the diplomatic mission?
But the moment the woman raised her eyes, Sikong Ma was shocked and hastily shattered the idea that had just come to his mind.

Those were a pair of eyes that shocked people.

She laughed, "Sir, why are you standing there? Why don't you let Lord Li come into the hall to greet him?"

A light tone, unquestionable certainty, and a casual and dignified rhetorical question.

This is not a maid.

It is undoubtedly Princess Yong'an.

Why did she dress like this? And why did she speak like this after she was disguised?
Ying Hehua was not stupid. She just wanted him to understand that Li Xian was just a cover, and the real person who came to contact Xunzi was the Qin royal family.

The more intentional thing was that once Li Xian arrived, no matter how unwilling Li Si was, he had to give up.

An hour ago, the carriage drove out of Xianyang.

It was a long time before Li Xian rode in the same car with her again.

She seemed to be asleep, the hairpins in her hair swaying slightly, the warm sunlight enveloped her delicate facial features, a faint halo spread over the tip of her nose, then jumped to her earlobes, and finally spread through her waterfall-like black hair, like silk.

In fact, Xu Zhi didn't sleep at all.

She finally understood Ying Zheng in a true sense.

She didn't know since when, but she couldn't fall asleep when someone was by her side, even with a knife in her hand.

It is no coincidence that you wake up from your sleep in a sweat and in shock.

She didn't feel safe at all.

So she opened her eyes.

"You and I are both on official business and cannot shirk our responsibilities. No one should make things difficult for anyone else, right?"

"That's right, Princess."

The black eyes that looked at each other were like a whirlpool, and neither of them could see the other clearly.

Xu Zhi was very happy to see that Li Xian did not say anything back.

Could it be that this time when he said he wanted peace, he really meant what he said?
She turned her face to the side, hummed, and turned her back to him, trying to treat him as air and have a good rest for a while.

Of course he knew about Ying Hehua's official business - although Ying Zheng seemed not to ask about Li Yang, he was actually giving him a break.

Ying Zheng loved his daughter. But if he had to choose between the stability of the empire and his daughter's beloved, the answer was undoubtedly yes.

If Ying Hehua could not truly forget Zhang Liang and was once lenient towards the anti-Qin forces, she would inevitably lose everything in Xianyang, and it would only be ten years before she would be confined in Yongcheng.

In fact, for Li Xian, in a sense, this life is no different from the previous one.

After all her planning, she fell in love with someone else.

If there is anything that is definitely in common, it is probably only one thing.

He would rather die, with blood on his hands, than let her get hurt.

But both times, he was just like a passer-by in her life, watching her sad, struggling, and collapsing.

The nightmare echoed in his body day after day, and the blood flowing around his waist was like a ferry between life and death.

He looked at her and carefully moved a cushion behind her head.

As expected, Xu Zhi couldn't fall asleep. She immediately turned her head back vigilantly. Li Xian's hand was hanging in the air. She sat up and ignored the meaning of the mat.

She glared at him, "Stay away from me."

She said this, and subconsciously moved to the entrance of the carriage, knelt sideways, and stared motionlessly at the passing grass and trees outside the window again.

Li Xian knew this reaction, it was the aftereffects of running away from too many assassination attempts.

There was nothing he could do.

He watched the light and shadows of the leaves running quickly on her body.

He could only pray that this road would be longer and longer, reaching the end of his life.

Holy Master
【Explanation】至: the most. In the old days, it specifically referred to Confucius. It was established in the ninth year of the Jiajing reign of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty (1530).

[Source] The Book of Rites: The Doctrine of the Mean: "Only the most holy man in the world can unite with the wise and know how to rule." The Book of Rites: The Prince of King Wen: "Anyone who has just established a school of thought must offer sacrifices to the sages and teachers who came before him."