The next day, Li Xi met Meng Tian early in the main courtyard. Since they were both martial practitioners, they naturally woke up at about the same time. Today, Meng Tian was not wearing armor, but instead simple clothing, which made him look like he had a bit of the temperament of a noble young man.
As soon as he noticed Li Xi’s gaze, the young man who had previously felt embarrassed from being looked at by her immediately lowered his head shyly.
And the more Meng Tian behaved like this, the more Li Xi wanted to bully an honest person, so she deliberately smiled and said, “Little General Meng, being so shy in front of a woman—if you were on the battlefield and the enemy used a beauty trap, wouldn’t that be a complete disaster?”
In response to Li Xi’s teasing, Meng Tian first straightened his face and said very seriously, “Divine Maiden, please do not make fun of your subordinate.”
Then he added, “On the battlefield, there is no distinction between men and women, only between enemy and ally. Meng Tian will never show mercy to anyone who serves an enemy state.”
Seeing the future number one warrior of China, who had yet to make a name for himself, being so serious and answering her so rigidly, Li Xi felt that it was no longer very fun.
She then sighed lightly, thought for a moment, and was about to suggest sparring with Meng Tian, but before she could say it, she was interrupted by Ying Zheng, who appeared at the other end and looked over with a faint gaze.
Seeing Ying Zheng in the distance, Li Xi immediately curved her eyes and called out toward the youth in black robes, “Your Majesty!”
Hearing this, Ying Zheng walked over, looked at the two of them, and asked as if casually, “Divine Maiden and Meng Tian, what are you talking about?”
This question made Meng Tian unsure how to answer, because no matter how he put it, it felt somewhat strange.
Li Xi, on the other hand, was quite straightforward and directly said, “Actually, it’s nothing. I just think Little General Meng has a good personality, so I couldn’t help bullying him a little.”
This left the honest young Meng Tian dumbfounded, not quite understanding how she could say something like that so confidently.
But for Ying Zheng, this answer was not too surprising, because Meng Tian really did have a face that looked honest and upright, and anyone who had even a little bit of mischief in their heart would want to bully him.
So Ying Zheng said nothing more and directly had Meng Tian withdraw. As soon as the future great general of Qin left, Li Xi immediately turned her head and asked the youth beside her a more straightforward question, “May I ask why Your Majesty has come to Liyang…?”
Hearing Li Xi’s question, Ying Zheng raised an eyebrow slightly and asked in return, “Did Li Si not tell the Divine Maiden?”
Hearing his answer, Li Xi immediately laughed, and there was a bit more teasing in her gaze as she looked at the youth beside her. She said, “So Your Majesty was urged into marriage by the Empress Dowager and ran to me for refuge?”
Hearing this, those long, beautiful phoenix eyes glanced faintly at the pretty girl beside him, then withdrew in an instant, and he said in a tone that sounded somewhat disdainful yet also carried a sense of closeness, “You talk too much.”
Hearing this, the corners of Li Xi’s lips lifted, her smile becoming even more brilliant, and her eyes curved entirely into crescent moons. She said, “I’m probably the only one who dares to say it, right?”
Then she added, “But since I’ve already said it, Your Majesty might as well satisfy one more small curiosity of mine, okay?”
The youth did not answer, but slightly shifted his gaze sideways, using action to indicate that she should go ahead.
Seeing this glance, Li Xi, who was very good at following up, immediately said, “I heard that earlier Your Majesty rejected all the women of the various states that the Empress Dowager proposed to you, so… Li Xi is really curious. Which state’s women does my king like? Qin? Or the state where the Empress Dowager comes from, and where you yourself lived for several years as a child, Zhao?”
“Speaking of which, I’ll boldly guess—could it be that you had some childhood sweetheart in Zhao?”
Perhaps Li Xi’s words suddenly made him think of something. Ying Zheng’s eyes suddenly darkened, and a layer of silent darkness covered those warm brown eyes.
However, looking at Li Xi’s body that could not hide her gossiping aura, the youth in black robes ultimately still answered her question. But the answer was not either of the two she asked about. He said, “Women of Chu are good.”
“?” Hearing Ying Zheng forcefully turn this multiple-choice question into a short-answer question and create his own answer, Li Xi could not help but be stunned for a moment.
After reacting, she immediately let out a melodious, drawn-out “Oh~” and said meaningfully, “So Your Majesty also likes slim waists?”
However, although Li Xi appeared calm and composed on the surface and could even tease Ying Zheng a little, as if she were truly just a feelingless gossip machine and this answer had no impact on her at all, in reality, the pink little flowers in her heart had already withered in blockbuster, going limp and falling all over the ground.
After all, in this matter, she truly could not compete with those native Chu girls.
Li Xi could not help thinking to herself, Brother Zheng, your own waist is already very slim. There’s really no need to pursue Chu women with such slim waists. The wife you marry might actually have a waist slimmer than yours.
And Ying Zheng seemed to see through the unusual and improper muttering in her heart. His narrow phoenix eyes swept over her, and with a hint of warning, he said, “Don’t think about those nonsensical things in your head.”
Hearing this, Li Xi blinked her beautiful peach-blossom eyes to express innocence.
Ying Zheng was too lazy to argue with her about this improper and unruly behavior, because if Li Xi were a thin-skinned girl, things would not have turned out the way they were now.
Then, as if he remembered something, Ying Zheng said to Li Xi, “Previously, the Divine Maiden invited me to Liyang to observe the summoning of heavenly soldiers and generals. Today, I have also come to invite the Divine Maiden to return to Xianyang together to watch a good show.”
Hearing this, Li Xi was startled and asked, “What good show?”
Ying Zheng said, “The Divine Maiden knows that I intend to pacify the six states. This is also what we Qin people have worked and struggled for generation after generation. But—” At this point, the youth’s clear and cold voice suddenly sank, like a sword leaving its sheath, resounding with force, “To deal with external threats, one must first stabilize the internal!”
Li Xi tilted her head and looked at the youth in black robes beside her, then quietly asked once again the question she had asked from the very beginning, “So, Your Majesty, are you willing to say why you came to Liyang now?”
Hearing this, Ying Zheng first smiled. He was already good-looking, and when he smiled, he was especially handsome, but the words he spoke made people feel a chill down their backs.
“Before coming to Liyang, I had already made arrangements in the palace. For these two days, all major and minor matters in Xianyang are to be decided by Generals Meng Ao and Wang He.”
He continued, “In everyone’s eyes in Xianyang, Ying Zheng is being constrained by Lü Buwei in the palace, and in anger came to Liyang, nominally to clear his mind, but in reality to escape. After all…”
“—How could a young tiger cub just out of the den fight against an old and cunning fox?”
“But from the very beginning, Your Majesty was deliberately showing weakness, exposing flaws, luring those who were restless in the shadows, and identifying the loyal and the treacherous.”
Connecting Ying Zheng’s words with what her elder brother had told her yesterday about the king’s situation in the court being not very stable, in a state of turmoil and unrest, with far too many people there wanting to suppress the King of Qin, it was easy to piece together the truth.
—After Ying Zheng decided to take back power, he had never truly been suppressed by anyone.
It was just that at the very beginning, he was fishing for enforcement. His intention was to draw out all those within the Qin court and aristocracy who harbored disloyal intentions, deal with them all in one sweep, and return himself a clean and thoroughly purged court.
And this time, bringing Li Si and Meng Tian with him and “running away in anger” to Liyang was merely the final closing act of “raising the fishing rod.” So now, within Xianyang…
“Correct.” Ying Zheng responded to Li Xi’s words and said, “Some people, I gave them a chance. They didn’t want it.”
—A coup and palace upheaval were taking place.
Li Xi immediately understood. Everything became crystal clear.
In fact, she herself was also part of his plan.
Raising her up was the very first signal at the very beginning of this matter.
[Oh my god! Host, host of the host! The King of Qin killed people! What do we do, what do we do!] At this moment, the system, finally realizing the situation, could not help screaming in Li Xi’s mind. [The next one to be killed won’t be us, will it?]
At the same time, accompanying the system’s piercing electronic screams was the youth’s clear voice, “Li Xi,” he rarely called her by her name, and asked the girl of the same age in front of him, “Do you think I am cruel?”
Hearing this question, Li Xi simply smiled brightly and said, “Those who eat the king’s pay but are not loyal to the king deserve to be killed. Moreover, Your Majesty already gave them a chance, which is already the utmost benevolence and righteousness. How could this be called cruelty?”
This answer was not only for Ying Zheng, but also for the system in her mind that was extremely agitated and almost about to explode, to help its little brain that was somewhat suspicious of insufficient memory work more smoothly.
Using thunderous methods to cleanse the Qin court in blood, exterminating all who were disloyal to the monarch.
This was the first time, and perhaps also the last time, that Ying Zheng told everyone—The king they served was by no means a soft persimmon that could be pinched at will or controlled by others. If anyone thought that because he was still young he was easy to deal with or easy to deceive, then they were gravely mistaken.
But hearing Li Xi’s answer, which should have earned extra points, there was no sign of satisfaction on the face of the youth in black robes. Instead, the corners of his lips lifted into a half-smiling arc, and he softly said, “The Divine Maiden has always been… the one beside me who is best at speaking sweet words.”
However, he had always found her sweet words useful.
“Oh, right, Your Majesty,” when it was close to noon, Li Xi suddenly remembered an important matter that she had temporarily forgotten because of the affairs of Xianyang.
At that time, not only were her own elder brother and Meng Tian present, but even Cheng Jiao was there, because he had learned that his royal brother had come to Liyang last night and specially ran over today.
Speaking of the young boy, it had to be said that Cheng Jiao truly kept his word. He said he would report Li Xi to Ying Zheng, and he really did report her, one item after another, everything he could remember, all mentioned. It could be said that he was very childlike. Li Xi did not care about this at all, because the main thing she bullied Cheng Jiao over—the pig-raising matter—she had already reported early on to Ying Zheng. Her young king knew everything and had tacitly approved it.
However, since there were no outsiders present, amid Cheng Jiao’s stream of accusations and complaints, Li Xi directly said, “Regarding the military expenditures of our Qin state, recently I have divined that there is a gold mine within Qin territory that can open new sources of revenue for Qin and provide military funds…”
Regarding the gold mine within Qin territory, Li Xi had originally planned to inform Ying Zheng of this matter. Although she had made this decision at the time under the influence of wanting to sneak in a bit of personal content by inserting a family letter back to Xianyang, now that the matter was already decided, she had no intention of changing it.
Now that Ying Zheng happened to be in Liyang, she took this opportunity to tell him about it, because saying it face-to-face was always clearer than a few brief strokes on silk.
As soon as Li Xi began speaking, everyone at the table was more or less stunned.
Because the news she spoke of was truly too shocking. After all—
—That was a gold mine. That was gold!
Hearing this news, the one with the biggest reaction was the youngest and most mentally immature, Cheng Jiao. In an instant, the young boy’s big eyes went straight.
However, Li Xi did not feel that the child’s reaction was embarrassing. The old Qin people—after all, their ancestors had been poor, and were used to being poor—so Cheng Jiao’s reaction of staring at her wide-eyed and shouting, “Where exactly is it? Hey, hurry up and tell me, you’re going to make me anxious to death!” was very reasonable.
And under Cheng Jiao’s urgent reaction that triggered the instinct engraved in the bones of the old Qin people who had once been poor, Li Xi first looked at Ying Zheng. Only after receiving the young king’s gaze did she unhurriedly continue, “The approximate coordinates should be…”
As Li Xi’s words fell, Cheng Jiao slammed the table and proactively volunteered to Ying Zheng, “Royal brother, let me go! I’ll take people to dig the gold mine!”
When he returned from digging the gold mine, he would surely be able to help royal brother achieve that goal that their old Qin people had struggled and fought for generation after generation!
At this moment, the slightly chuunibyou Cheng Jiao could not help imagining in his heart the famous scene in the future, when they fought against the states of the world and the Qin army domineeringly smashed the enemy to death with gold.
With Cheng Jiao being so enthusiastic, Ying Zheng naturally did not want to dampen his brother’s spirit and thus followed his wishes, saying, “Then go.”
In his heart, he treated it as a reward for the child’s recent hard work raising pigs and supporting himself with his own hands. After all, as a prince of Qin, even if Cheng Jiao went to the mining site, he would not need to personally dig.
Cheng Jiao was immediately overjoyed and said, “Royal brother, rest assured! I will definitely handle this matter well for you!”
However, the young boy’s happiness had only just risen for a short while before it turned into bubbles and was poked and burst, because—
Just as Cheng Jiao had happily obtained the qualification to embrace a gold mine and the matter was settled, the next moment he heard Ying Zheng say to Li Xi, “Tomorrow night, Divine Maiden, return to Xianyang with us.”
Li Xi curved her eyes and responded, “Okay.”
Hearing this, Cheng Jiao’s mind froze immediately. So after reacting, he hurriedly said, “Since the demon… everyone is returning to Xianyang, then I also want to go back! If you all leave, I’ll be the only one left in Liyang. That’s very lonely!”
Hearing Cheng Jiao say this, Ying Zheng casually asked his brother, “Didn’t you want to go see the gold mine?”
Hearing this, Cheng Jiao immediately said loudly with some grievance, “Then I can also go back from Xianyang and then go! Anyway, Qin is not fighting right now, and it’s not short of one or two days. Royal brother, you can’t treat people differently!”
As his words fell, Ying Zheng slightly lifted his eyelids and looked at the only one standing there and waving his arms around, the young boy, and said, “Do you really want to return to Xianyang?”
Cheng Jiao shouted, “Yes!”
Listening to the conversation between the brothers and seeing that Ying Zheng did not seem very keen on Cheng Jiao returning to Xianyang, Li Xi suddenly had a bold guess in her heart.
Xianyang, perhaps… a storm was about to come.
Since it was decided to return to Xianyang for the time being, before leaving she naturally had to arrange the players in Liyang clearly and properly.
Now that the brick kiln firing project was already proceeding in an orderly manner, it was time to move on to the next step.
So Li Xi had someone summon the Magistrate of Liyang and instructed him in two matters. First, to assign a new task to the brick kiln to fire glazed glass. Second, to issue the first major task to the new players entering the game: manufacturing cement.
As for the group of players currently working on the fertilizer task, Li Xi had no intention of assigning them new work for the time being. Although their current task progress did not look like it would fail, in the end, the matter was not yet finished, and being distracted and doing things half-heartedly was not a good habit.
Still the same saying: for the players, “Great Qin” was just an unprecedented and also unparalleled full-dive game, but for them, it was real reality. Moreover, fertilizer was something to be applied to crops, and in a certain sense, something that would ultimately be ingested. This could not be handled carelessly.
Brick kiln.
Upon hearing the “new task” sent by the Magistrate of Liyang, the players at the brick kiln collectively fell into confusion.
“Glazed glass? Is that the thing I’m thinking of, the one that seems to sell for a lot of money in our world?”
“Oh my god, aren’t we still in the newbie village? How did the difficulty of the tasks suddenly become so exciting?”
“Making glazed glass, I think the goddess really thinks too highly of us…”
Amid the chatter of the surrounding companions, the one called Squid Who Eats Cats, who had previously sacrificed himself to discover the resurrection mechanism and benefit everyone, spoke up, “Brothers, calm down. The glazed glass the goddess mentioned should not be the same as our definition. I remember that ancient glazed glass is actually… glass?”
“Damn!” Hearing this, one of the players could not help but curse and complain, “This thing has such a high-end way of saying it?”
“But even though saying glass lowers the prestige a bit, don’t you all feel that… for our group, it’s still way beyond the syllabus?”
“…”
The atmosphere on site fell into silence for a moment due to this statement that was too real to be more real.
After a while, a female player raised her hand and weakly said, “But if we can’t do it, aren’t there still Qin craftsmen here at the brick kiln? Can’t we just do like before when we built the brick kiln and fired bricks—log out, look up the information, then tell the craftsmen everything, and mostly let them do it?”
“…” Girl, what you said really stings.
The key point of this matter was that it made them momentarily question whether they were the ones playing the game, or the craftsmen were playing the game for them.
They had never imagined that one day their intelligence would not even be enough to play a game. Truly, it was a path never before imagined being added.
Forum.
[Holy crap, brothers, have you watched the latest promotional video of that game? I always knew marketing accounts were good at promotion, but I really didn’t expect them to be this good.]
1st floor
I hadn’t watched it at first, but after seeing this post I went to take a look. Hmm… unspeakable, truly worthy of you (deadpan reading).
2nd floor
At this point I’m too tired to curse. I just want to say, where did the boss of Unspeakable find this kind of promotional genius?
3rd floor
I also want to ask, how did they even come up with this kind of promotion method?
4th floor
Feels like those two haters are probably going to be furious. They clearly wanted