Empress Dowager Zhao was initially placed under house arrest in Yongcheng Palace after the rebellion, and a year later, the King of Qin listened to the advice of the Taichen and took her back to Zhangtai Palace. For a few years, due to physical reasons, under the advice of the imperial doctor's order, he moved to live in the sunny and dry Qutai Palace. She has aged rapidly in the past two years, and has been sleeping a lot lately! After the consultation of the imperial doctors, it was concluded that the queen mother's return to heaven was only ten days and a half months, so the imperial physician ordered a hurry to send a 600-mile urgent report to the king of Qin.

One day, the Queen Mother suddenly woke up. Let the maids groom her, and eat breakfast. The doctors thought it was a miracle! The Queen Mother said: "My son is back, and the mourning family should dress up beautifully!" The mourning family still has a lot to say to King Qin! ”

Sure enough, just an hour later, King Qin's horse team arrived at Qutai Palace!

King Qin's feelings for his mother are very complicated, and he has loved and hated. Three years ago, the old queen mother of Huayang, who loved him the most, had just died, and now her biological mother was leaving.

Since the beginning of the year, he hadn't seen his mother for five months, and King Qin found that she had suddenly aged a lot, and her face had lost its brilliance! Empress Dowager Zhao took King Qin's hands with her pale and thin hands, and said with a smile: "Silly boy, you never shed tears!" You let Changshi in, my mother has something to tell you! ”

King Qin immediately summoned Shi Feng Zheng, and after a while, Feng Zheng came. After seeing the two of them, they carefully recorded the small case next to them.

Empress Dowager Zhao took King Qin's hand and said, "Actually, your mother's surname is not Zhao, nor is she Zhao Ji." Weiniang's real name is Zhuo Zhao, when she was in Zhao Kingdom, Mrs. Zhuo and Mrs. Zhuo, who love you and love you, are your grandfather and grandmother. Lü Buwei's wife is Zhao Ji!

"W-What's going on with this?" King Qin was also stunned and asked.

Empress Dowager Zhao explained the cause and effect of the matter in detail. Zhao Guozhuo's family is a wealthy merchant famous in the Seven Kingdoms, and when the young Lü Buwei just entered Handan to do business, Zhuo Taigong saw that Lü Buwei was shrewd and capable, and talents were rare, so he married his favorite daughter Zhuo Zhaoxu to Lü Buwei. When the marriage was decided, Zhuo Taigong took out one million gold as a dowry, which caused a sensation in Handan City. Once, Lü Buwei took Ying Yiren to visit his father-in-law Zhuo Taigong, and Ying Yiren fell in love with Zhuo Zhao at first sight and couldn't extricate himself! At first, Lu Buwei thought that Win Yiren was just beautiful, so he spent a lot of money to buy Zhao Ji, who was talented and beautiful, and gave it to Win Yiren! How do you know that Yiren is not moved at all, he misses Zhuo Zhao and becomes ill, and he can't afford to be sick! Later, when I asked, I found out that Win Yiren had been friends with Mengwu since childhood! Both of them love Qin Zheng and learn to play a good kite together. After going to Zhao State as a proton, he never heard Qin Zheng again, and when he arrived at Zhuo's mansion, he heard that Zhuo Zhao also played Qin Zheng well, so he fell in love with Zhuo Zhao deeply. At that time, although Zhuo Zhao had not yet passed the door, he had already fallen in love with the suave Lu Buwei. But Lü Buwei is a person who regards merit as the first, and in order to save Ying Yiren, he still found an excuse to let his wife who had not passed through the door play the kite with Ying Yiren! Zhuo Zhao, who doesn't know the truth, also admires the talent of Win Yiren! After a long time, I also have a heart of admiration. At that time, Win Yiren, not only Qin Zheng played well, but also the talent was famous in Handan, once participated in the Pingyuan Jun and Xinling Jun to entertain the Xunzi master who traveled to Handan, and the words at the meeting were amazing, even Xunzi, who rarely praised people, praised the talent of Win Yiren. If ordinary scholars can be praised by Xunzi, they will immediately become celebrities in the world, and their official fortunes will be prosperous! Because Win Yiren is with Zhuo Zhao every day, his condition immediately improved! Half a year later, after Lü Buwei, Win Yiren, and Zhuo Zhao got drunk together, Lü Buwei sent Zhuo Zhao to Win Yiren's bed!

Afterwards, although Zhuo Zhao hated Lu Buwei, he was already deeply in love with Win Yiren! Because of the marriage with Lu Buwei, everyone in Handan has already known, and she can only exchange identities with Zhao Ji! Soon Win Yiren fled back to Qin with the help of Lü Buwei, and Zhuo Zhao, who was pregnant with Liujia, only secretly returned to Zhuo's house to hide, and gave birth to Ying Zheng, because he replaced the identity of Zhao Ji, he was called Zhao Zheng. Due to the need for secrecy, Zhao Zheng grew up in Zhuo Mansion under the love of his grandparents and grandparents, and rarely saw his mother Zhuo Zhao. Six years later, relations between Qin and Zhao eased. The news that Ying Yiren's son was fostered by Lu Buwei in the Zhuo family also spread! Six-year-old Zhao Zheng was taken to Handan City again, and lived with ten-year-old Yan Prince Dan as a proton! The two also formed a childhood friendship! When Zhao Zheng was eight years old, he was taken back to the Qin State, made the crown prince, and changed his name to Yingzheng. At this time, Qin Zhao started to fight again, in order to protect the lives of thousands of people in the Zhuo family, Zhuo Zhao has been living with Zhao Ji by changing names, without changing his identity!

"Mrs. Zhuo and his wife love the widow as a baby, it turns out that the widow is their own grandson!" King Qin was stunned.

"The mourning family and the former king have been together for almost a year before they conceived you, and there are rumors outside that the mourning family was pregnant with you before being given to the former king by Lu Buwei, which is just nonsense. The way you look now is exactly the same as the Inhuman back then. After the death of the first king, the mourning family did something sorry for him, at that time, they hated Lu Buwei and wanted to retaliate against him. The second is that I am the name of Zhao Ji, no matter how bad my reputation is, it is not my own. The third is to mourn and hate the Empress Dowager Huayang. When you were a child, for safety and confidentiality, your mother was rarely by your side. After arriving in Xianyang, the old queen mother of Huayang forcibly protected you by her side because of my identity as Zhao Ji! I can't even see my own son. My mother is bitter! After Empress Dowager Zhao finished speaking, she hugged King Qin and burst into tears.

"Queen Mother, my son will issue an edict to inform the world and correct your name! The State of Zhao is already the county of the Qin State, and no one dares to hurt the people of the Zhuo clan! King Qin said.

"No need, the mourning family has done too many wrongs, and the Zhuo family has not replied to the mourning family for ten years! The mourning family can't lose the face of the Zhuo family anymore! Let the mourning family always call Zhao Ji! Empress Dowager Zhao coughed lightly, took a sip of soup, and said: "The long history drafts an edict, after the death of the mourning family, do not mourn the whole country, everything is simple, don't notify the countries of Shandong, the mourning family doesn't want to listen to those gossips anymore." After speaking, the brilliance of Empress Dowager Zhao's eyes immediately disappeared, and they became cloudy again.

King Qin knew that his grandmother, Empress Dowager Huayang, and his grandmother, Empress Dowager Xia, didn't like his mother, all because of Zhao Ji's identity. Fortunately, the two grandmothers loved them very much, so they did not object to Zhao Ji as the queen.

That night, Empress Dowager Zhao died. The king of Qin summoned the ministers to discuss the future. The ministers looked at the Queen Mother's last words, and they were all moved, and they didn't expect that the Queen Mother still had such a big grievance! In the past, everyone couldn't figure it out, King Xiang of Qin Zhuang was not only talented, but he was appreciated by Xunzi first, and King Zhaoxiang chose Yiren as the son-in-law of An Guojun from more than a hundred grandsons! Designated as their own successor from generation to generation. After Yiren became the queen of Qin, he abided by Qin law and worked hard to develop the economy, which quickly reversed the decadence of King Zhaoxiang in his later years and brought the national strength of Qin back to its peak! It's a pity that his life span is not long, and he died after only three years on the throne! With the eloquence of King Zhuang Xiang, he definitely can't look down on Zhao Ji, who was born in a green building, let alone become a queen!

"I really didn't expect that the dignified Empress Dowager Qin would have to hide her life experience. The minister was fortunate to have heard the Queen Mother and King Zhuang Xiang play the Qin Zheng, which is not inferior to today's famous artists! The minister wondered at that time, how could a woman in a green building have such attainments? Qin Zheng didn't practice hard since he was a child, and with the guidance of famous teachers, it was not good to play. The old lady sighed.

"Since the Queen Mother left an edict, if the funeral is simple, we will follow the edict, but the minister thinks that it is still necessary to notify the Empress Dowager's mother, Zhuo, so that they can come to see the Queen Mother for the last time." Wang Juan said. According to the etiquette, the death of the queen mother must notify the countries of Shandong, and the monarchs of each country will send envoys to the funeral. During the national mourning, the country must stop fighting abroad!

King Qin remembered that when he was a child, the Zhuo family's love for him, he didn't even know that they were his maternal grandfather and grandmother, but when they were Lu Buwei's father-in-law and mother-in-law, he suddenly had mixed feelings! He replied, "As it should be!" Let the prime minister and the Taimiao order preside over the funeral! ”

When Montenegro returned home, his mother checked the luggage brought back by Montenegro, and when a few packs of Chinese medicine were still intact and there was no loss, she scolded angrily and looked for Zhang Jin everywhere to settle accounts! I couldn't find Zhang Jin for a while, and I chased after him to fight Montenegro! Montenegro had no choice but to let his mother get angry with a few blows, which was almost as strong as tickling, which made many family members laugh. At this moment, Zhao Gao came to the mansion to announce the edict, and the king of Qin summoned Montenegro to go to Qutai Palace to see the driver immediately. Montenegro had no choice but to change into a clean official uniform and follow Zhao Gao to Qutai Palace.

It has been three shifts to Qutai Palace, the whole palace has been replaced with white palace lights, white flags are hung everywhere, and all the palace maids and civil and military officials have put on white filial piety clothes! Montenegro also wore a white kudzu robe, with a white kudzu belt on his head, and met the King of Qin and the prime minister, the Taimiao Order, and the long history in the side hall, and saluted everyone one by one.

Feng Qujian told the Queen Mother about the Queen Mother in detail with Montenegro. King Qin said: "I called you here to send you to Zhuozhuang in Handan County to report the funeral." Don't be in a hurry to come back after the funeral, take a good look at the old Zhao counties for the widow, the widow wanted to go in person! ”

"No! Chen, go back and prepare! Montenegro replied.

"Taimiaocheng is already preparing books and gifts! You will set off tomorrow morning and rush to Handan Zhuozhuang as fast as possible! Remember, Zhuo is a relative of the Queen Mother, that is, you can't lose etiquette, and you can't disclose the identity of the Queen Mother. Everything is arranged by Taimiaocheng! Taimiao Ling said.

"No!" Montenegro responded. When he received the king's commandment, he immediately went back and prepared. On the way, I secretly thought that the history books not only wrote the mother of the King of Qin as the singer of the Zhao State, but also wrote the appearance of the Emperor of Qin as a deformed saddle nose, chicken breast, and voice like a jackal. Although Sima Qian did not write the king of Qin as Lü Buwei's illegitimate son, he wrote Qin Shi Huang as a premature child. This may be that the official history of the Qin State was all burned by Xiang Yu! Sima Qian can only write the history of Qin through rumors!

Montenegro first went to the lieutenant's mansion and ordered a thousand cavalry overnight, and then returned to the mansion, woke up Li Shiqi and other cronies, and explained the arrangements, everything was just ready. Dong Jian ran over and said, "Shuai Chief, I stayed behind when you went south to Zhao to fight in the south and Bashu, you should take me with you this time, right?" ”

Montenegro smiled and said, "You better stay!" Things at home are more important. Next time I go on an expedition, I will definitely have a part of you. ”

Dong Jian had no choice but to go.

Just ready, it's dawn. I had to say goodbye to my mother again, and led the team out of Xianyang and set off for Handan!

Since it was to inspect Zhao for the King of Qin, in addition to the 1,000 cavalry lieutenant army, there was also an honor guard composed of 200 Lang Wei, carrying all kinds of flags and 20 carts full of gifts for each test. Black Mountain rode the dark clouds and stepped on the snow, with Xiao Hei. He didn't ride a six-foot bronze car with an umbrella cover like Taimiaocheng, because riding in a car in this era was really sinful, and it was very bumpy. The procession set out at dawn every day and rested at dark, and since it was a tour for the king, the magistrate himself greeted and saw off the counties it passed. Montenegro did not stay too long, and arrived in Handan County ten days later.

Handan County Shouxi begged to take the civil and military officials out of the city ten miles away. Xi Qi Guo is a soldier, already over half a hundred years old, enthusiastically and Montenegro, Taimiao Cheng salute, said: "The two kings came from afar, the lower officials prepared some wine and rice here, eat some casually, and entered Handan City for a while, and then washed the dust for the two royal envoys." ”

"You don't have to be polite, let's eat casually here, and immediately go to Zhuo Zhuang to visit Zhuo Taigong's family on the king's orders! You and the others go back to Handan first, as long as you send someone to take us for a walk! Montenegro said, ordering everyone to eat and feed the horses here.

"Two royal envoys, for some reason, the King of Qin wants to send you to visit Prince Zhuo?" Xi begged to ask.

"King Qin was in trouble in the Zhuo family when he was a child, and he was deeply loved by the Zhuo family, so he specially sent us to visit the second elder and his clansmen!" Montenegro said.

"What? Did the king live in Zhuozhuang? Xi begged to hear this, and his head was buzzing. said: "After the spring is busy, the county will build roads and water conservancy. The Zhuo family is a merchant and the maiden family of the criminal official Mrs. Lü Buwei, so it is on the priority list. Zhuo's hundreds of middle-aged males are all within the scope of recruitment, how do you think this is good? ”

"Didn't the king of Qin issue an edict, and the merchant could accept gold instead of conscription?" Montenegro asked.

"We have received an edict, but the Qin Law has not yet been fully implemented here! Therefore, this edict has not yet been implemented. Xi begged and said.

"Personally, I suggest that you should order the whole county at once, that the remainder of this year's merchant servant may be paid a fee. Then send the Zhuo clan back immediately! Do you see these twenty carts of goods? Those are all gifts from King Qin to the people of the Zhuo clan, in case King Qin's childhood playmate has three long and two short, what should the king think? Montenegro said.

"What the royal envoy said is very true, I will do it now!" Xi begged and said.

Coming to Zhuo Zhuang, Zhuangzi leans on the mountain and faces the river, because the Zhuo family is a wealthy businessman, dozens of houses in the village are built very magnificently, the road is also very spacious, and the water wheel mill by the river is being built. The village is full of old and weak women and children, and there is not a single young man in sight. When the people of Zhuang saw that so many officers and soldiers had come at once, they thought that they had come to send conscripts again. Hurriedly ran to report to Zhuo Taigong.

Montenegro asked the guards to stay outside the village, and only brought dozens of people into the village with twenty carts of gifts.

Mrs. Zhuo and his wife are both in their old age, their hair is as white as snow, they are each dressed in silk clothes, and they have an extraordinary bearing, standing at the door of the house with the support of the maid. The scale of Zhuo Taigong's house is larger than that of the Great Mansion in Montenegro, if the Qin Law is implemented, this house can only be sold to the government cheaply, and the house will be rebuilt to live in Sanjin!

Heishan and Taimiaocheng hurriedly took a few steps forward, saluted the two old men, and said, "Zhuo Taigong, Zhuo Taigao, the two of us are here to meet the two of you by the edict of King Qin!" ”

"What do you say? My ears are back, I can't hear clearly, be louder! The old lady asked aloud.

"The two of them were sent by that rabbit cub from Xianyang to see us!" Grandma Zhuo has good ears, and she said loudly into her husband's ear.

"You're sent by the rabbit! Let's have tea in there! That rabbit cub is so ruthless, he didn't come back to take a look when he entered Handan, and sent hundreds of laborers of the Zhuo family to work as coolies, and the two of us hurt him for nothing! Zhuo Taigong scolded.

"I have ordered all the people of Zhuo Zhuang to come back! You can rest assured! Where is the storeroom? These twenty carts were all gifts from the King of Qin! Montenegro said loudly.

"If people don't come back, what are you doing with them, my grave is very small, and it can't hold so many treasures!" Zhuo Taigong scolded in his mouth, and asked the maid to lead the soldiers to pull the things to the warehouse.

When the two came to the living room, Montenegro said to the second elder: "King Qin just knew from the Queen Mother that he is the grandson of the two of you!" He was worried about the second elder in his heart, and immediately sent us to see the second elder. King Qin said that he would come back to see you in a while. ”

The second elder was in tears when he heard it! said excitedly: "Count this little rabbit cub and have a little conscience!" It's just that my daughter is bitter! After saying that, the two hid their faces and wept.

Taimiao Cheng took advantage of the absence of the second elder and asked Montenegro in a low voice: "What should we do?" Do you tell the second elder about the Queen Mother? ”

"Let's not tell the second elder first, they are the only relatives of King Qin! If you can't resist it, it's not good! Let's wait for the second elder's child to come back! Montenegro said.

Zhuo Ming is fifty-three years old today, as the eldest son of the Zhuo family and the successor of the Zhuo family, he has never done heavy work! But everything has changed! After Handan, the capital of Zhao State, became Handan County of Qin State, Zhuo's salt, iron, wine and other businesses were forced to sell to the government, and the silk clothes at home could not be loaded! All of them changed into the kudzu cloth clothes that the Zhuo servants didn't wear before! The government also informed that all the mansions of the Zhuo family will be acquired by the government, and Zhuo Zhuang will rebuild dozens of three-entry mansions. The best house that a merchant in the Qin State could live in was a three-entry courtyard. Just after the spring rush, the new government began to recruit Ding to build roads and water conservancy, and the peasants drew one for one month of service, while all the men from the age of 17 to 55 were conscripted, and the service period was two months, which could not be replaced. This made many merchants flee into Qi State, Zhuo Ming originally wanted to take his people to Qi State, Zhuo family also has a lot of industry in Linzi, but Zhuo Taigong did not agree, saying that the world will soon be unified, and it will be the same wherever he flees. As a result, Zhuo Ming and some of his clansmen were assigned to a tun and were responsible for repairing the official road from Yecheng to Handan. Tun Chang Lai San used to be a gangster in Handan City, but after his brother surrendered to the Qin army, he became a commander of a thousand commanders, and Lai San was assigned as a tun chief.

Lai San saw that Zhuo Ming, a rich man who would never look at him before, has now become a civilian man under him, so he thought of a way to torture Zhuo Ming!

Zhuo Ming couldn't stand the suffering, so he had to discuss with Lai San and said, "Lai Ye, you are doing well, let us go, don't send too heavy work, we invite you to drink!" What do you think? ”

When Lai San heard this, he was overjoyed, and the horizontal flesh on his face immediately stretched, and his triangular face formed a line, and said, "Zhuo Ye, do you give less?" ”

"How much does Lai Ye want?" Zhuo Ming asked rhetorically.

Lai San thought to himself, after finishing work in the evening, he returned to the city, and he became the head of the people's battalion, so he invited a group of fox friends and dog friends to eat and drink to celebrate, at least 300 dollars, and he applied for three fingers. Before Lai San could speak, Zhuo Mingli threw over three gold coins.

Lai Ming took a look at the brilliant gold coin, was overjoyed, and said, "Thank you Zhuo Ye for the bounty!" Everyone rests for a while, but the workload of a day is fixed, if it is not completed, the whole tun will be fined, everyone looks at it! ”

Zhuo's Tun is a businessman, and the task to be completed every day is a lot heavier than the people's camp next to the tun, so Zhuo Ming let the man go into the city, bought a lot of dry meat and wine, and waited until the people of Beitun finished their work, and then used wine and meat to ask the people who finished work first to help work! In this way, Quantun is a lot easier.

Lai Sanjian saw that he would not delay the construction period, and he got gold, so he asked Zhuo Ming to manage the whole tun work instead of himself, and he sneaked into the city, where there were many taverns, gambling houses, and brothels in Handan City! Lai San had just spent two days in taverns and brothels, but then he couldn't help but go into the gambling house and lose a lot, so he had to return to the construction site. When Zhuo Ming saw him come back, he immediately gave him hardware again. Lai San was happy again, and went back to the city to continue to spend all day drinking! So for more than ten days.

On this day, Lai San lost all his money again, the difference is that this time he borrowed 100 gold from the casino, and he was about to go back to the Minfu camp to find Zhuo Ming to ask for more gold coins to pay back, but he was stopped by his fox friend Lu Si! Lu Si usually takes more than a dozen subordinates to guard the gambling stalls, and sees that Lai San has been generous recently and spends money like dirt. So he called Lai San, asked people to buy wine and food, and invited Lai San to eat wine!

After a few bowls of yellow soup in his stomach, Lai San told the rich merchant Zhuo Ming about his servant in his people's camp. Lü Si was a shrewd man, and he said: "The Qin State's increased forced labor on merchants is to punish merchants, and you have already violated the Qin Law by allowing them to hire people to work for them!" Spread it to the government, and you will be cut off and made a prisoner! ”

When Lai San heard this, he was startled, and immediately coughed up a mouthful of wine, and hurriedly asked, "What should I do?" ”

"Zhao Di will soon fully implement the Qin Law! All of us will become the rogues of the Qin State, and the assets of the Zhuo Ming family are tens of millions of gold, so why don't we knock him out, flee to Linzi of the Qi State, and live the life of a rich man, what do you think? Lu Si said.

Lai San thought for a while, for fear that he would not agree to Lu Si to denounce him. He gritted his teeth and stomped his feet and said, "It's done!" ”

So the two thought of a plan and went their separate ways!

In the afternoon, Lai San and a few people hurried back to the camp, Zhuo Ming was asking other people to help with the work, and when he saw Lai San coming back, he immediately took out the hardware and handed it to Lai San. Lai San pressed the gold, and said anxiously: "Zhuo Ye, it's not good, the matter of you asking someone to live for you has been discovered, and you are going to report it!" What to do? ”

Zhuo Ming was also surprised, although the Qin State had not yet implemented the Qin Law in Zhao, but the fear of the Qin Law was already a common problem of the Zhao people! Hurriedly asked, "Lai Ye, what's the matter?" ”

Lai San pointed to a few people around him and replied: "It's that they know that you have hired someone to work for you, and they ask for 100,000 gold, otherwise they will go to the government to denounce it!" ”

As soon as Zhuo Ming heard it, he knew that it was Lai San who conspired with others to blackmail him! said to Lai San: "Don't you just want money?" What about people? ”

Lu Si laughed and said, "Zhuo's big businessman, it's really happy." To tell you the truth, we can no longer survive in Zhao Di, and we are preparing to take refuge in Qi country, the Zhuo family is a big merchant in the world, and I want to borrow some travel expenses from you, 100,000 gold in exchange for the safety of dozens of people in the Zhuo family, this deal should be very cost-effective. ”

"100,000 gold? It's not that I don't have any money, I'm just giving it to you, and I need several carriages to pull it, do you think the government will let you transport a few carts of gold to other countries at this time? Zhuo Ming said.

"We have our own way to do this, don't worry about Zhuoye!" Lu Si said coldly.

"100,000 gold, why don't you rob it, Zhuo Ye, we would rather go to jail than cure these people for the crime of extortion!" A Zhuo clansman beside Zhuo Ming scolded loudly, and the Zhuo clansmen who were working around also gathered around.

Lai San was a little panicked, but when he thought that he was a tun chief, he immediately became confident and shouted: "What's wrong! Want to rebel? All go back to work. ”

Seeing this, Lu Si said to Zhuo Ming: "We are all people who eat and drink together, Zhuo's family is a big family, why bother to lose both!" ”

"I still have a hundred dollars on me, and I will give you as drinking money! The road goes to the sky! How is it? Zhuo Ming said calmly.

"Let's also take a step back, you give 10,000 gold, we will go to Qi Country immediately, brothers will always remember Zhuo Ye's grace, otherwise we will see you in the government!" How is it? Lu Si said.

"Master Zhuo, don't give a single gold, let's kill them, I'll go to the government to surrender!" A Zhuo man said fiercely, he was about to rush over to beat people when he picked up the hoe, and the young people of the Zhuo family also picked up the hoe and the flat shoulder, just waiting for Zhuo Ming to give the order!

The seven or eight people brought by Lu Si drew their swords one after another! Standing in a circle, they are obviously practicing as thugs in the gambling hall!

The two sides refused to give in to each other, and suddenly quarreled.