This room normally housed eight people, but to facilitate their recovery, Zhang Han had moved with the others to the adjacent room.
Royal Physician Yu had gone to prepare their medicine, leaving only the two injured men lying on beds in the room.
When Zhao Yuanxi entered, both men attempted to sit up, but she pressed them back down.
“Focus on recovering properly. There’s no need for formalities. I’m relieved to see you’re healing well.”
A Ji hesitated before asking, “Why did Your Majesty personally save me?”
He was neither as clever as Brother Zhang nor as brave as the others. He truly couldn’t understand what made him worthy of the Empress Dowager’s attention.
“It wasn’t me who saved you – it was Royal Physician Yu. I merely offered some suggestions. Besides, do you think your life isn’t important? That it’s not worth saving?”
A Ji lowered his gaze. Of course his life mattered to him, but that was only to himself.
“Then does Your Majesty also consider lives like ours important?” A Ji asked, confused.
Weren’t the nobles the ones who looked down most upon the lives of common people like them?
Born in Zhao State, A Ji had later followed his parents from Zhao territory to Qin. His father was a Zhao soldier who survived the Battle of Changping, having witnessed how human life could be treated as worthless. When tens of thousands of lives meant so little, how much less would anyone care about a mere guard like him?
“Of course.”
Though he received this affirmation from the Empress Dowager, A Ji remained unsatisfied. “If human life is so important, then why is there so much killing? Why must there be war? Why can’t everyone live in peace?”
He voiced the questions that had long haunted his heart.
He was challenging this former ruler of Qin – if she truly valued human life, why did warfare between states continue unabated?
Du, who had been listening nearby, widened his eyes in alarm. “A Ji, stop talking!” he urgently interjected.
Zhao Yuanxi was momentarily taken aback. She looked directly into the young man’s eyes and suddenly smiled. “I don’t mean to shift responsibility, but many things are beyond my control. Even the King of Qin cannot prevent many events from occurring.”
The tides of history inevitably shift between unity and division – this has been the pattern throughout China’s millennia of history. Now that history had reached this juncture, if Qin didn’t unify the six states, another nation would inevitably emerge later.
As Qin’s Empress Dowager, Zhao Yuanxi naturally favored Qin’s unification of the six states, and history had indeed unfolded that way.
“Do you hate war?” Zhao Yuanxi asked.
A Ji seemed to recall something, his eyes dimming. “Yes.”
“That’s unfortunate, because war won’t bend to your will.”
“Not even to Your Majesty’s will?” A Ji asked dejectedly.
“No one’s will can change this. As long as different states exist on this land, war will never cease. Unless—”
“Unless what?”
Zhao Yuanxi sighed wistfully. “Unless there emerges a state that can unify this land and enable the people living here to dwell in peace and contentment. Only then can true stability be achieved.”
“Does Your Majesty mean Qin State?”
Zhao Yuanxi didn’t answer. History had clearly given a negative answer regarding Qin.
Though it was the first state in China to achieve great unification, it clearly failed in the latter aspect, being overthrown after merely fourteen years.
But to A Ji, Zhao Yuanxi’s silence seemed like tacit agreement. Though he still harbored many doubts, he wanted to cling to this hope.
“This humble officer understands!”
“What did you figure out?” Zhao Yuanxi’s heart felt exactly like that famous painting “The Scream.”
Damn, I feel like I’ve corrupted a child.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!” You rushed in, her face pale with panic.
“What happened?”
“Prince Ziying has disappeared!”
You was so distraught she nearly burst into tears. “When Your Majesty asked about Prince Ziying this morning, I went to Lan Palace, but the servants there said the prince never returned last night. His teacher, Teacher Ji, is also missing from the palace.”
Zhao Yuanxi’s expression darkened as she ordered You to summon Zhang Han and the others.
A Ji and the others wanted to help, but were driven back by the returning Royal Physician Yu. “Don’t make things worse. I’m telling you, you’d collapse before even reaching the gate. I can’t be bothered to save you again then.”
Thinking of that child who wasn’t even as old as his younger brother, A Ji gazed outside with deep concern, praying silently for his safe return.
A crowd of servants knelt trembling at the entrance of Lan Palace, all those who attended to Ziying were terrified beyond belief.
When Zhao Yuanxi arrived, they could only beg for mercy, unable to provide any information about Ziying’s whereabouts.
“Did none of you see them?”
“We truly don’t know, Your Majesty. Usually, Teacher Ji is always with Prince Ziying. Yesterday—yesterday the prince went out with Your Majesty, and Teacher Ji said he needed to return home briefly. Neither has been seen since.”
Zhao Yuanxi frowned deeply. Now all clues pointed to this Teacher Ji.
But as Ziying’s tutor, what could he possibly want with the prince?
Wang Ben, who had remained nearby, answered Zhao Yuanxi’s confusion.
She gritted her teeth. “Ji Sheng is Chengjiao’s man. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I just discovered this myself. I’ve already ordered a city-wide search for them. All other exits from Yongcheng have been blocked. The moment we have any news of Prince Ziying, we’ll report to you immediately, Your Majesty.”
Zhao Yuanxi took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She questioned the palace maid who had been on night duty at her door. “What time did Ji Sheng take Ziying away last night?”
The maid trembled, prostrating herself on the ground. “Around the hour of the ox, approximately half an hour before Your Majesty returned.”
The timing was neither too early nor too late—just enough for Ji Sheng to either leave the city when the gates opened or find a hiding place within the city walls.
The entire day passed without any news of Ziying.
No one in the city had seen Ji Sheng, and those searching outside the walls found no trace of them either.
“Could he have grown wings and flown away?” Wang Ben fumed, swinging his halberd so fiercely it whistled through the air.
He had come to investigate a case, but now not only was the case unresolved, the criminal had managed to abduct the King of Qin’s grandson!
This was truly the ultimate humiliation.
“What did you just say?” A sudden realization struck Zhao Yuanxi. Grown wings and flown away!
Growing wings was impossible for Ji Sheng, but going underground—that was simple.
After all, this was Yongcheng! The burial place of thirteen Qin rulers, where every shovel of earth might uncover a tomb.
Zhao Yuanxi’s exclamation stunned Wang Ben, who murmured, “I said he couldn’t have grown wings and flown away…”
“Your Majesty, you mean—!” Understanding dawned in Wang Ben’s eyes as he immediately grasped her meaning.
He began to analyze, “Although there are numerous tombs in Yongcheng, few are suitable for hiding people. The tombs are covered with thick layers of sealed earth, so the only possible hiding places would be the nearby offering halls.”
“Most of the former kings’ tombs are located within Yongcheng, where the flow of people is complex. Ji Sheng would definitely not choose those. Only some of the royal descendants’ tombs, which are both unguarded and located in remote areas, would be suitable.”
Wang Ben clenched his fist. “There’s one place Ji Sheng is certain to want to go!”