Although Li Xi now looked seriously ill, in the end she was still his own biological younger sister, so aside from doting on her, Li Si had no other choice.
Looking at the little girl whose eyes were now wide open after finally becoming fully awake from the sentence he had taken out of context and interpreted on his own, Li Si said helplessly, “It is the King who is personally taking control of governance starting today, not what you said…” When he reached this point, he did not continue speaking, because the last few words were truly somewhat hard for him to say out loud.
However, by the time Li Si said this much, Li Xi had truly woken up, and she immediately revealed a well-behaved smile, trying to act cute to muddle through her reflexive slip of the tongue just now while she was half-dreaming and half-awake.
Naturally, Li Si would not hold onto a single matter to criticize his sister, so this matter was considered settled.
Afterward, Li Xi simply tidied herself up and changed into a set of clothing that was relatively formal yet not cumbersome or restrictive to her movements, and together with her older brother went into the palace to participate in court deliberations.
However, although it was Ying Zheng’s first day of personal rule, which nominally speaking was a very important day, in reality nothing particularly important happened in the Qin court that day. It was simply mainly to announce one matter—
—Lü Buwei was dismissed from the position of prime minister.
Actually, this could be considered an old operation of the Qin state. According to Qin history, whenever a new ruler succeeded to power, they would dismantle the previous ruler’s SSR minister and obtain a new chance to draw cards, drawing their own SSR ministers.
Duke Xiao of Qin publicly opened the card pool and obtained Shang Yang, and Qin thus began to embark on the path of strengthening the state. Later, King Huiwen dismantled Shang Yang and drew Gongsun Yan, and later used Gongsun Yan to exchange for Zhang Yi. When King Wu ascended the throne, he dismantled Zhang Yi, but the card pool was on cooldown, and it was not unlocked until King Zhaoxiang ascended the throne, making up for King Wu’s lack of SSR by drawing two at once, Bai Qi and Fan Sui.
However, because King Zhaoxiang dismantled his own card, the next ruler, King Xiaowen, had no way to offer a sacrifice or draw cards. Even his grandson King Zhuangxiang, who had his own SSR, had Lü Buwei, this top-tier card, deliver himself, which could not be counted as a draw. So if one were to speak of it, Ying Zheng now was precisely restoring the old Qin tradition…
Just as Li Xi was thinking these random thoughts in her heart, the eunuch beside Ying Zheng in the Qin court was already loudly proclaiming the new list of official appointments.
The former chancellor was dismissed, and Ying Zheng temporarily had no intention of appointing a new chancellor, instead reopening the position of prime minister that had been established in the past after King Wu of Qin, Ying Dang, ascended the throne. Changping Jun was appointed as Right Prime Minister, and Li Si as Left Prime Minister.
This position was extremely high for Li Si, who in theory was just a rookie newly entering officialdom. After all, the other prime minister, Changping Jun, was of extraordinarily noble status. He was a son of King Kaolie of Chu, and his mother was a princess of Qin’s King Zhaoxiang. If one were to calculate kinship generations, even the regent would have to call him a maternal uncle.
It could be seen that Ying Zheng’s appreciation for Li Si was truly very high.
With her own older brother being promoted at work, Li Xi was naturally happy for Li Si. However, this happiness did not last long before it was interrupted by another matter.
Just shortly after court had adjourned, before it had even reached noon, Ying Zheng suddenly received an urgent military report.
Two items were written on it.
The first was the second of the three prophecies Li Xi had spoken to Ying Zheng when she first arrived at the royal palace. The Zhao general Li Mu, who had previously begun large-scale counterattacks against the Xiongnu, had now slain one hundred thousand Xiongnu and inflicted a crushing defeat upon them.
Upon hearing this news, Li Xi could not help feeling somewhat surprised, turned her gaze toward Ying Zheng, and asked, “Did this matter just just happen? I previously thought that when Your Majesty came to seek me out, this matter had already been fulfilled.”
Ying Zheng replied, “That day was the second day after receiving news that Li Mu had set out with troops.”
Li Xi tilted her head and blinked her beautiful peach blossom eyes. “Just from hearing that Li Mu had set out with troops, Your Majesty completely believed my words?”
Ying Zheng said, “The matter of Lian Po had already been able to verify the divine maiden’s abilities. If, after obtaining this news, I still harbored doubts and angered the divine maiden into leaving Qin, for me that would be no small loss.”
Hearing him say this, Li Xi smiled, then looked into the young man’s warm-colored eyes and said, “But this is all I am capable of.”
The exquisitely featured young girl slightly lowered her gaze and softly said, “In this great era of contention, the winds and clouds of the world change unpredictably. And the wheels of history roll ever forward, already quietly changing their speed of rotation. There is a saying that human will can overcome heaven, but from now on, Li Xi will no longer be able to prophesy human affairs for my king.”
Hearing this, Ying Zheng did not feel disappointed, but instead keenly grasped the key point of her words. “No longer human affairs—does that mean…” The young man slightly lifted his eyelids, looked at the girl opposite him, and slowly let the final few words fall, “there are still heavenly affairs.”
“Yes.” As the young king’s statement, which should have been a question, fell as an affirmation, Li Xi responded almost without any hesitation.
At this point, the process of unifying the six states would certainly be faster than the pace she knew from history.
And under such a premise, the advantages she once possessed of “foreseeing the future” had all been wiped away at this point—
—The history currently in progress had already begun to change, so how could she still use “past history” as a prophecy? That would be ruining her own reputation.
Therefore, the best way to maintain her persona was to no longer speak in detail about matters concerning the various states and individuals.
The reason game players are called the fourth natural disaster is precisely because of the uncertainty of their actions, and the same principle applies to “people” as well.
From now on, the history she knew could only be used as partial reference in broad directions, but could not be treated as sacred canon.
However, compared to “human disasters,” “natural disasters” were entirely different. Natural phenomena have no life; once they are predetermined, they will arrive as scheduled. It is precisely for this reason that later generations would continuously invent and improve many tools for measuring and avoiding natural disasters.
Thinking of this, Li Xi directly once again told Ying Zheng a new “prophecy”: “Next year, locust plague, pestilence throughout the land.”
Upon hearing this, the gaze of those phoenix eyes instantly sharpened.
Then Ying Zheng looked at Li Xi. “Although I have already asked this once before, I still cannot help wanting to ask this question…” The black-clad youth fixed his gaze, his eyes deep as though they could look directly into a person’s heart. “The divine maiden calculates fortune and misfortune, reveals heavenly secrets, and discloses matters of destiny—does this truly have no effect?”
To this question, Li Xi merely revealed a faint smile and said, “In any case, while I am alive, there will be no effect. As for after death… as long as one enjoys life while alive, why must one speak of matters after death? Does Your Majesty not agree?”
Then Li Xi added, “But compared to this, what I am actually more concerned about is Li Mu… being enfeoffed.”
Hearing Li Xi say this, Ying Zheng turned his head slightly, his peripheral vision resting on the words “Li Mu is enfeoffed as Wuan” on the silk scroll, and said with two parts appreciation, “Wuan means governing the world by military merit and securing the state by prestige and reputation. Zhao general Li Mu, because he defeated one hundred thousand Xiongnu, was enfeoffed; it cannot be said to dishonor this title.”
Hearing this praise, Li Xi turned to look at him and asked, “Is Your Majesty… tempted by another state’s general?”
Upon hearing Li Xi say this, Ying Zheng immediately glanced at her and said lightly, “Meng Tian in the future will not be inferior to him.”
Li Xi smiled and responded, “That is naturally so.”
“However,” Ying Zheng then changed his tone and said, “if one day this person could be used by my Qin state, it would be even better.”
Hearing this sentence carrying the greedy meaning of “I want it all,” Li Xi immediately smiled so that her beautiful peach blossom eyes curved, suppressing her laughter as she said, “That matter will probably be difficult…”
Then she tried to make herself a bit more serious and asked the young king before her, “Does Your Majesty know why I suddenly said those words to you?”
Ying Zheng did not respond verbally, but his gaze turned toward her.
Li Xi continued, “Because in the future I originally saw, Li Mu should not have been enfeoffed at this time, but several years later. At that time he would no longer be a border general, and the reason he was enfeoffed as Wuan was not because of merit in resisting the Xiongnu, but because…” At this point, she paused, and then deliberately stressed the next few words for fear Ying Zheng might not hear clearly, “severely defeating Qin’s army.”
Ying Zheng: “…”
After a brief moment of silence, he could not help asking, “Is my Qin state really that hated?”
After hearing Ying Zheng’s sentence, the one who fell silent next was Li Xi.
The beautiful girl looked at the king opposite her and likewise could not help retorting, “Do you really need to ask me that?”
From the generation of King Huiwen of Qin onward, Qin had shifted to a rogue strategy, and over several decades, almost all six states under heaven had been offended by Qin, especially Chu and Zhao.
—Zhang Yi deceived Chu, turning six hundred li of land into a mere six li. Bai Qi at the Battle of Changping buried alive over four hundred thousand Zhao soldiers.
Hearing Li Xi say this, Ying Zheng could not help falling silent once again. The young man slightly moved his gaze to look again at the silk scroll, as if to divert attention and skip over the topic of Qin truly being widely hated. However, just as his line of sight touched the second piece of news that he had not yet had time to read earlier, in an instant, those long phoenix eyes became sharp and majestic.
Seeing that Ying Zheng’s gaze had completely changed in just a moment, Li Xi could not help asking, “What’s wrong?”
Ying Zheng’s originally clear voice became even colder, as if coated with a layer of ice, carrying a heart-chilling coldness, as he said coldly, “The King of Zhao has invited Chu, Wei, Yan, and Han—the five states’ kings to jointly dispatch troops, forming a vertical alliance… to attack Qin.”
Upon hearing this, Li Xi was first stunned. In her memory, history books indeed recorded this five-state alliance attacking Qin, but it was definitely not this year.
And thinking carefully, the only thing that could cause this to happen earlier seemed to be only…
“Heh.” Li Xi first laughed once, then said with a hint of mockery, “Zhao Yan is getting carried away because Li Mu just crushed the Xiongnu.”
She did not even use the honorific title for the King of Zhao, directly calling the current King of Zhao by name without a trace of politeness, and said with heavy sarcasm, “If they want to fight, then let them fight. A group of rabble who will collapse internally at any time due to uneven division of spoils from benefits they have not yet obtained—what is there for my brave and fearless Qin men to fear? Ridiculous in the extreme, utterly senseless.”
Then Li Xi calmed herself, restrained her sharp tongue a bit, and asked Ying Zheng, “Who has been selected as the commander of this vertical alliance army?”
First of all, the commander of this attack on Qin would certainly not be Li Mu, nor would he even be among the various generals. Because he had just crushed one hundred thousand Xiongnu, and was now firmly pulling the Xiongnu’s hatred toward Zhao, so he had to continue guarding the border. Only if the border general was Li Mu, only if the prime defender at the border was Li Mu who had crushed one hundred thousand Xiongnu cavalry, would the Xiongnu not dare to invade.
Once Li Mu, this strongest deterrent, left Zhao’s border, Xiongnu incursions would be a matter of minutes.
Hearing Li Xi’s question, Ying Zheng directly handed the silk scroll to the girl opposite him, letting her see for herself.
Li Xi reached out and took it. Upon seeing the contents, she immediately laughed. “Oh, the King of Chu is working hard to persuade the King of Zhao and the King of Wei. He is determined to invite Lian Po to come out of retirement.”
If one were to speak of it, the relationship among these three rulers and one minister was truly a huge pot of melodrama.
Although Lian Po was now in Chu, serving as a Chu general and highly valued by the King of Chu, after leaving Zhao, the first place Lian Po went to seek refuge was actually Daliang. However, although the King of Wei did not mind supporting such a person, he was unwilling to use him.
As for Zhao, that naturally goes without saying. The story of “Lian Po is old, can he still eat?” has been included in students’ required textbooks. History has certified that until his death he still wanted to serve Zhao, but the king had no way to employ him, and in the end he could only die in this foreign land of Chu.
In Li Xi’s view, is this not more moving and heart-rending than any novel with endlessly twisting plot, enough to bring people to tears?
Afterward, after Li Xi finished reading with great interest, she straightened the expression on her face and said, “Indeed, the King of Chu’s idea is very good. If the battle-hardened Lian Po were to be commander, the five-state allied army could be somewhat united and cause damage to my Qin state. However, all of this is only established on the great premise that Lian Po can actually take command.”
“With such a threat,” Li Xi said with a smile on her face, gentle in expression though her words were not at all so, “how could we let him take charge of the five-state allied army?”
“Oh?” Hearing Li Xi say this, Ying Zheng slightly lifted his eyelids and asked, “Divine maiden, by this statement, do you have a method to cut this matter off at the root?”
Li Xi said, “Does Your Majesty still remember Guo Kai, who made it so that Lian Po could not return to Zhao?”
Hearing a name from Li Xi’s mouth that was unfamiliar yet not entirely unfamiliar, Ying Zheng pondered for a moment before retrieving from the corner of his memory this Zhao official whose abilities he had never heard of, and said with some doubt, “Guo Kai? Him?”
“Your Majesty must not underestimate this Guo Kai.” Li Xi smiled brightly, blinking her eyes with two parts mystery, and said, “This Guo Kai is truly no ordinary talent.”
She thought to herself that Guo Kai, this favored minister of the King of Zhao, in later generations had the titles of “Qin’s chancellor in Zhao,” and “Qin’s number one war god.” Even the mighty Qin’s Lord of Wuan, Bai Qi, could not compete with him for first place. After all, two of the four great generals of the Warring States fell into his hands. How could such a person be considered ordinary?
Seeing Li Xi deliberately acting mysterious, Ying Zheng was not annoyed, but instead said with very good temper, “Divine maiden, teach me?”
As he turned what was originally a statement into a question, the black-clad youth also slightly tilted his head, inexplicably adding a touch of youthful cuteness, causing pink little flowers in Li Xi’s heart to drift down in a flurry.
Li Xi worked hard to maintain her expression so as not to reveal her attributes and scare him, and said seriously, “Guo Kai is particularly fond of money.” And as long as one gave Guo Kai a sufficient price, there was nothing in Zhao he could not smooth over.
Hearing this, Ying Zheng slightly nodded, with a thoughtful expression. “Money… I understand.”
Then Li Xi seemed to remember something and said, “Oh, right, Your Majesty.”
She looked at Ying Zheng and asked, “Regarding the matter of the five states forming a vertical alliance to attack Qin, does Your Majesty now have a suitable candidate in mind to lead the troops?”
Hearing this, Ying Zheng did not directly answer but instead asked in return, “By the divine maiden’s words, do you have a suitable person you wish to recommend to me?”
Li Xi’s beautiful peach blossom eyes curved into crescents as she smiled and said, “Perhaps the one I wish to recommend is precisely the person Your Majesty has in mind.”
Ying Zheng said, “Then the divine maiden might as well speak it together with me.”
Hearing this, Li Xi lightly nodded. Then the black-clad boy and young girl looked at each other, the clear voice and the crisp, ringing voice falling at the same time, overlapping in an instant, speaking a common name—
“Wang Jian.”