Qingnu explained the concept of cultivation to Fusu with great seriousness.
Fusu listened, his mind in a fog, but the long-standing trust he had for Qingnu led him to follow her words with an attitude bordering on blind devotion. In short, if the teacher said it, it must be right!
This was a sentiment he shared with Ying Zheng, even though Ying Zheng no longer relied on Qingnu to make decisions for him.
The teacher would never harm them, would she?
"Teacher, Fusu understands!"
Fusu bowed to Qingnu. Looking like a proud mentor, Qingnu initially wanted to ruffle his hair, but she realized the boy was already fifteen. Ruffling his hair was no longer appropriate, so she patted his shoulder instead.
"Very good. You are much more well-behaved than your father was back then!"
A child raised within the refined etiquette of the court was indeed different from one who had grown up wild in the city of Handan.
On the day Jing Ke arrived, Qingnu deliberately chose a prime vantage point. However, the spot was so prominent that it directly usurped the original position of the Prime Minister, Lord Changping. Lord Changping stepped back to the side without complaint. As the father of Mi Hua and the Prime Minister of Great Qin, he knew exactly how special Qingnu was.
Seeing this, the civil and military officials of Great Qin did not dare to utter a word.
Qin Wuyang was a coward. Terrified by the majesty of the Qin palace, he clutched the lacquer box containing Fan Yuqi's head and did not dare to step forward.
Left with no choice, Jing Ke ascended the hall alone.
When he saw a young woman in green standing within the Qin court, his originally calm expression flickered with a moment of shock. However, his mental fortitude was excellent; he adjusted his composure within a single breath and knelt respectfully in the center of the hall.
"Jing Ke, envoy of Yan, pays respects to the Great King!"
He presented the head of Fan Yuqi and the map of Dukang to Ying Zheng.
At the end of that map lay a poisoned dagger. Jing Ke seized the dagger, grabbed Ying Zheng's sleeve, and lunged toward him!
Ying Zheng's expression shifted to one of profound shock. He dodged the first strike, shed his royal robe to break free from Jing Ke's grasp, and instinctively ran toward Qingnu. As he ran, he tried to draw his sword!
However, the sword of the Qin King was long, making it difficult to unsheathe in haste.
He saw Qingnu standing ahead and thought to call out to her, but he grit his teeth and turned to run in the other direction instead, circling the pillars of the great hall to evade Jing Ke. Outside, the Qin soldiers killed Qin Wuyang, but they did not dare enter the hall without orders.
It looked as though Jing Ke was about to strike Ying Zheng, yet Xia Wuqie was nowhere to be found.
Qingnu's brow furrowed. She directly unsheathed Lord Changping's sidearm. "Mi Qi, I'm borrowing your sword!"
She threw the sword at Jing Ke in a single motion, knocking the dagger from his hand.
Though Jing Ke was a heroic warrior, how could Qingnu stand by and watch him kill Ying Zheng? However, after throwing that sword, Qingnu experienced a moment of daze and sudden realization.
Could it be that she was the Xia Wuqie of history?
In that instant, Lord Changping shouted, "King, carry the sword on your back!"
Hearing this, Ying Zheng shifted the sword to his back and unsheathed it, severing Jing Ke's left leg. Jing Ke stumbled and fell, yet he managed to hurl the dagger one last time. It struck a bronze pillar, sending sparks flying.
Ying Zheng's expression was frantic. He moved to strike Jing Ke again, but Qingnu stepped in to stop him.
"Teacher?"
Ying Zheng froze, his mind clearing slightly.
Qingnu asked, "Why didn't you run toward me? You knew I could save you."
"I did not dare to trouble the teacher..." Ying Zheng said in a low voice.
Qingnu looked at him with surprise. Was this a rebellious phase? But... he was already this old; how could he still be having a rebellious phase? Qingnu did not understand.
She clicked her tongue and crouched in front of Jing Ke.
Jing Ke's face was deathly pale. He coughed a few times and stared at Qingnu, saying, "If you hadn't blocked me, I would have already executed the Qin King!"
"And then what? A younger Qin King, with even more hatred for the State of Yan, would have taken his place?"
Qingnu countered his claim.
Even if Jing Ke had succeeded, the new King of Qin would have been forced to launch a war against the State of Yan to stabilize the throne and appease the ministers. In other words, whether the assassination succeeded or failed, it would not change the fact that the State of Yan was destined to be destroyed by the State of Qin.
Jing Ke fell silent for a moment. He looked at Qingnu, his hand twitching weakly.
"If not for you... how could tyrannical Qin be like this! You are the teacher of the Qin King; you have raised a tiger!"
"You have failed the people of the world!"
Ying Zheng frowned and said coldly, "Do not be disrespectful to the teacher!"
Qingnu waved her hand, signaling that she didn't care. She asked Jing Ke, "Among those 'people of the world' you mention, are there any people of Qin?"
Hearing this, Jing Ke fell silent.
He passed away in that silence, falling lifelessly into a pool of blood.
Ying Zheng returned to his throne with a cold expression, looking down at the ministers below. When the ministers met his gaze, they all shrank back. While he was being pursued by Jing Ke, not a single one of them had dared to come forward to stop the assassin!
Heh...
"Wang Jian!"
Ying Zheng's low voice echoed through the solemn and majestic hall of the Qin palace.
Wang Jian stepped forward and cupped his hands. "This official is here!"
"Destroy Yan!"
"As you command!"
When the news of the assassination attempt reached the inner palace, Mi Hua's heart tightened. She hurriedly brought Fusu to visit Ying Zheng.
Seeing that Ying Zheng seemed his usual self, Mi Hua breathed a sigh of relief.
Qingnu asked, "Are you truly alright? Perhaps we should have Xia Wuqie come and take a look, just in case."
"Xia Wuqie?"
Both Ying Zheng and Mi Hua were startled.
He looked at Qingnu and asked in confusion, "Teacher, who is this Xia Wuqie?"
"Isn't Xia Wuqie just..."
Halfway through her sentence, Qingnu froze.
She recalled everything that had happened in the great hall and fell into a long silence. Only after a long while did she begin to laugh. So, Xia Wuqie was her!
In these long two thousand years, even during her time as Guiguzi, she had never felt this way.
Only now did Qingnu realize with a start that she was already a part of history.
"Teacher... what is wrong?"
Fusu saw Qingnu laughing to herself and asked with concern.
Qingnu waved her hand and turned to walk out. She said, "I'm going back to rest."
Ying Zheng walked forward a few steps, watching Qingnu's departing back.
He wanted to say something, but he fell silent. A flicker of contemplation passed through his eyes as he murmured to himself, "The teacher seems to... care a lot about the name Xia Wuqie?"
Fusu looked bewildered and asked, "Is Xia Wuqie the teacher's name?"
When he said those words, Ying Zheng's eyes suddenly lit up. He turned to look at Fusu and then nodded as if he had reached a sudden realization.
"I see. Gua Ren understands!"
Shortly after, the Qin army crossed the Yi River and struck directly at Jicheng! It took only a month to capture the capital of Yan.
King Xi of Yan fled to Liaodong Commandery with the crown prince, the royal family, and the guards.
Meanwhile, Qin captured Chenying in the State of Chu, and Lord Changping, Mi Qi, was sent there to appease the people.
However, just as Ying Zheng intended to promote young generals to cultivate a new military elite loyal to him—due to the inaction of the old generals during the assassination attempt—Lord Changping rebelled!
As the father of Mi Hua and the grandfather of the future King of Qin, he turned against Qin!
After the death of King Fuchu of Chu, he was installed as the King of Chu.
His rebellion caused Ying Zheng's plan to destroy Chu using new generals to fail completely. Ying Zheng was forced to swallow his pride and once again request the veteran general Wang Jian to take the field, placing six hundred thousand Qin soldiers into his hands! This represented nearly every combat-ready soldier in the State of Qin!
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