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#1028 - Chapter 1028: Fame after death

Time flies, and three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

In 247 BC, King Zhuangxiang of Qin, Zichu, passed away.

Ying Zheng ascended the throne.

However, due to his young age, the court was still controlled by Zhao Ji and Lu Buwei.

To appease Lu Buwei, Zhao Ji even had Ying Zheng recognize him as his '仲父' (仲父, literally 'second father', a term of respect).

But at this time, the situation in the palace had undergone great changes.

Almost all the palace maids and eunuchs in the harem were controlled by a man named Lao Ai, who was close to Zhao Ji.

Even Ying Zheng could not walk freely in the palace.

In order to break this deadlock, Ying Zheng came to Lu's residence under the pretext of visiting his '仲父'.

Lu Buwei only regarded him as a foolish young man and did not entertain him seriously.

"仲父, your residence is much better than the palace," Ying Zheng said.

"Your Majesty, you are wrong. How can this humble subject's residence compare to the royal palace?" Lu Buwei corrected him.

But he didn't feel panicked.

"I mean, it's more free here," Ying Zheng explained.

"You are the King. All the land of Qin belongs to you. The world is so big, can't you go wherever you want? How can you say you are not free?"

Lu Buwei's words were all didactic, but Ying Zheng didn't mind and continued:

"The land of Qin is not my land, but my mother's land, and that of Lao Ai," Ying Zheng said, not following his lead this time, but continuing to the point.

Ying Zheng was only 13 years old at this time.

A child of this age can say whatever he wants, right?

However, these words shocked Lu Buwei. He found that this Ying Zheng was not as foolish as he had thought.

"You are young, your mother is only managing it on your behalf."

"I don't think so. The other day I heard my mother say that she plans to depose me and pass the throne of Qin to Chengjiao," Ying Zheng fabricated.

"Shhh!" Lu Buwei hurriedly covered his mouth and pulled him into a secret room.

"Is this true?"

"Absolutely!" Ying Zheng replied very positively.

Lu Buwei speculated that this Chengjiao might be Lao Ai's child. However, he had no substantial evidence of his status in the court.

But if the throne were given to Chengjiao, then his position as Prime Minister would probably come to an end.

The rumors in the market were already so unbelievable that they were saying Ying Zheng was his son, Lu Buwei's son. In fact, he spread the rumors himself.

The purpose of doing so was to tie his fate to Ying Zheng's. But what he didn't expect was that this Zhao Ji was so ruthless that she could even harm her own son.

"But 仲父 doesn't need to worry, I have a plan to break this situation."

"What plan do you have?" Lu Buwei didn't believe it.

"I heard that General Meng Ao attacked the Zhao Kingdom and returned victoriously. Why not suggest to my mother that Chengjiao go to Meng Ao's army as a supervisor to enhance his prestige?" Ying Zheng suggested.

"Let him go to the army?" Lu Buwei didn't understand.

Chengjiao was already a threat, and now sending him to the army would make him even more of a threat, wouldn't it?

"In this way, my mother will definitely postpone her original plan," Ying Zheng reminded.

"That's right," Lu Buwei pondered for a moment and replied.

"I have two more things to discuss with 仲父 today."

"Please instruct me, Your Majesty."

"仲父's talent is unparalleled in the world, but 仲父's name has caused many misunderstandings in the world. I want to do something for 仲父 to correct 仲父's name."

When Lu Buwei heard this, he felt a little relieved.

He hadn't taken care of this little guy much since he was a child. Unexpectedly, now the two of them were in the same boat.

"How to correct it?"

"A small name is the name before death. A great name is the name after death. The name before death is a small matter, and the name after death is a big matter. Do you think that's right?"

"That's right," Lu Buwei thought there was nothing wrong with this statement.

"I have consulted many teachers, and they said that there are only two ways to leave a name behind."

"What two ways?"

"Scholars establish words, and warriors establish merit," Ying Zheng replied.

"I am not good at writing," Lu Buwei shook his head with a smile.

What he meant was that he was not good at writing.

He was just a merchant, how would he know how to write?

He didn't even need to think about establishing merit.

"仲父 can collect all the books in the world and get a unique perspective."

"Collect all the books in the world and get a unique perspective!" Lu Buwei's eyes lit up, thinking this was a good idea.

"I've already thought of a name for you, how about calling it 'Lu Shi Chunqiu' (吕氏春秋, The Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu)?"

"Lu Shi Chunqiu! Very good! Very good!" Lu Buwei was very happy.