Ying Qingye cast a sidelong glance at Zhao Gao. That bastard truly was no good.
He’s trying to eliminate political rivals!
Ying Qingye’s tutor, Feng Han, was not on good terms with Zhao Gao. Now, Zhao Gao was trying to use Ying Zheng’s hand to get rid of Feng Han. By shifting the blame to the tutor, Zhao Gao could avoid making Ying Zheng look like a child-killer while successfully knocking out a rival—and earning Ying Zheng’s favor in the bargain. Talk about killing three birds with one stone!
“Imperial Father, this matter has nothing to do with my tutor!”
“Everything was done by this child alone!”
Ying Qingye quickly stepped forward. Though he wanted to die, he didn’t want to drag innocent people down into an unmerited disaster.
“Qingye, considering your youth and playful nature, I shall spare your life.”
“However, for toying with me, death may be avoided, but punishment cannot. Drag him outside and give him thirty floggings! As for Feng Han, though his supervision was lacking, considering his advanced age and his years of dedicated service, the flogging is remitted, and his salary is docked for three months.”
Hearing this, Fusu finally let out a sigh of relief.
A flash of disappointment crossed Zhao Gao’s eyes. The only one who wasn’t happy was Ying Qingye.
“Imperial Father, this child cannot agree with your judgment!”
Everyone else: (ﾟOﾟ)
Is he insane?
The emperor just let you off the hook, and you still dare to question him?
You’ve got guts, kid!
Ying Zheng looked at this son in sheer astonishment. He felt like the boy had completely changed. Whenever he used to see him, he was like a mouse facing a cat; now, he dared to question the imperial decree?
“You still have objections?”
Ying Zheng stared at Ying Qingye, asking with a mixture of amusement and curiosity. He wanted to see what kind of nonsense his fifth son would spew next.
“Imperial Father, first of all, you claim my tutor lacked supervision, which is why he is being punished.”
“Yet the saying goes: ‘To feed without teaching is the father’s fault; to teach without rigor is the teacher’s laziness.’“
“If my tutor gets his salary docked for three months, then as my father, what should the Imperial Father do to himself?”
The crowd stared at Ying Qingye in absolute horror.
Was this lunatic straight-up courting death?!
“Fifth brother, stop talking nonsense! Beg the Imperial Father for forgiveness, right now!”
Fusu panicked. This was his most cherished younger brother! What had gotten into him today? Why did he keep hurling himself straight into the line of fire?
The others simply couldn’t comprehend Ying Qingye’s logic. How on earth did he dare speak to Ying Zheng like this?!
“Qingye, do you even know what you’re saying?”
Ying Zheng’s face turned dark.
Today, this son of his was genuinely acting strange, provoking him over and over again. Had he taken the wrong medicine?
Little did they know, the angrier Ying Zheng got, the happier Ying Qingye felt. That was exactly what he wanted—the madder the better. Ideally, the emperor would draw a sword and chop his head off right here so he could finally go back.
“Imperial Father, is what this child said wrong?”
“Are you not my father?”
“Of course I am your father,”
Ying Zheng replied through clenched teeth, struggling to hold back his fury.
“Then why are you only punishing the tutor and not yourself?”
“Insolence!”
Ying Zheng roared with thunderous rage!
When the Son of Heaven is furious, everyone in the grand hall except for Ying Qingye instantly drops to their knees, breaking out in cold sweat.
Seeing Ying Zheng lose his temper, Ying Qingye’s heart leaped with excitement. I’m going home! I’m finally going home!
“Qingye, do you truly believe I cannot deal with you?”
Ying Zheng’s eyes blazed like torches, radiating an overwhelming, boundless aura of majesty.
“Imperial Father, the Son of Heaven, commanding the Mandate of Heaven; of course you can.”
“Since this child has repeatedly offended the Imperial Father today, I beg the Imperial Father to impose the ultimate punishment upon me.”
Ying Qingye said with a completely straight face.
Rather than flying into an immediate rage, these words actually made Ying Zheng pause. He had a nagging suspicion that Ying Qingye’s bizarre behavior must have an underlying reason.
“Imperial Father, please, you mustn’t!”
“Fifth brother is only acting on impulse!”
Fusu pleaded frantically.
“Imperial Father, this child is not acting on impulse!”
Fusu: (~_~;)
I am utterly defeated by you, you absolute lunatic!
I’m out here risking my life to save you, and you’re fighting tooth and nail to get yourself killed?
You can’t save someone who’s determined to die!
Ying Qingye kept his eyes glued to Ying Zheng. He wanted to die, but he really didn’t want to go through the pain of a flogging. The best outcome would be a clean, swift execution by the sword—pain-free and quick.
“Imperial Father, our Great Qin is founded upon the law. Princes who break the law should be punished just like commoners.”
“Please give the order, Imperial Father!”
Seeing that Ying Zheng was still hesitating to give the command, Ying Qingye decided to throw another log onto the fire.
“Your Majesty, although our Great Qin is founded upon the law, Your Majesty and the Fifth Prince are father and son.”
“A son talking back to his father is a family matter and should not be dealt with by state law.”
Zhao Gao spoke up once more from the side.
“According to the ancestral clan laws, how should this be handled?”
“Thirty floggings, Your Majesty.”
Zhao Gao replied respectfully.
Ying Qingye froze for a second. Why is it flogging again?!
What the! Why does this Zhao Gao always ruin my plans?
After a brief moment of reflection, however, Ying Qingye came up with another idea. What was Ying Zheng most proud of after uniting the six states and establishing a centralized empire?
His monumental achievements!
His merits surpassed the Three Sovereigns, and his virtues eclipsed the Five Emperors! That was why he created the title of “Emperor” and styled himself the First Emperor. If he told Ying Zheng that his achievements weren’t even enough, the emperor would undoubtedly fly into a murderous rage and execute him on the spot.
Yes! That’s it!
To be fair, Ying Qingye had the guts of a giant. He was actually going to critique the achievements of the First Emperor—out of more than 420 emperors in Chinese history, who hadn’t built their empires on the very foundation he laid? To dare criticize him like this… if future generations knew about it, they’d probably beat him to death.
“Guards!”
“Wait!”
“What else do you have to say?”
Ying Zheng stared at him, his brow furrowing deeply.
“Imperial Father, do you consider your accomplishments to be great?”
“What does my achievement have to do with this?”
“Drag him out and beat him! Teach this rebellious brat a proper lesson!”
Ying Zheng refused to humor him further, and the guards immediately hauled Ying Qingye up to drag him away.
“Wait!”
Ying Qingye quickly broke free from the guards’ grip; he had zero desire to have his backside blooming with welts.
“Imperial Father, when I said those things just now, aren’t you even the least bit curious as to why I said them?”
“I am not curious at all!”
Ying Qingye was stunned.
What? Why aren’t you playing by the rules? Shouldn’t you be curious?! This script is all wrong!
The guards grabbed Ying Qingye and hauled him toward the exit once more. Ying Qingye frantically wriggled out of their grasp again.
“No! Imperial Father, you are curious!”
“How can you not be curious?!”
Ying Qingye was getting desperate!
Ying Zheng looked at him in bewilderment. Why was this kid getting so anxious?!
“Fine! Then tell me—why?!”
“Imperial Father, you unified the six states and swept across the eight wastes, but in my eyes, that’s really not worth much.”
Gasp—
Everyone in the hall drew in a sharp breath.
Not worth much?!
He actually dared to say that out loud!
Since the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, who else had ever managed to unify such a massive territory? To this day, apart from Ying Zheng, who else was there?!
You’ve seriously got a death wish!
“Are you saying my achievements are not even worth mentioning?”
Ying Zheng was furious.
“That’s right!”
“What are the six states, anyway?”
“Beyond Great Qin, there are far vaster lands out there.”
“Unifying the six states is no big deal; unifying the Seven Continents—now that is an achievement.”
Everyone in the hall lifted their heads, staring blankly at Ying Qingye.
“The Seven Continents?”
Ying Zheng looked at him in utter perplexity.
“That’s right, the Seven Continents.”
“Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Oceania, and Antarctica—these seven continents.”
“Right beneath our feet is Asia, and the six states are nothing more than a tiny drop in the ocean.”