In a family on the northern border of Zhao Kingdom, a ten-year-old boy ran into the courtyard carrying a hare that had just been hunted and had blood on it. As he ran, he shouted, "Mother! Mother! You see! I've hit my prey! At this moment a woman came out of the house, although her clothes were tattered, but it was difficult to hide her natural beauty. Seeing the boy coming home, he greeted him with a smile and said, "Zheng'er! As he spoke, he leaned over and wrapped the boy in his arms, and said as if condemning and worried: "Look at you, where have you run away for so long!" ”

The boy brought the prey in his hand to his mother and said happily: "Mother, look! I've hit my prey! After that, I went up to the mountains every day to hunt, and with the prey I brought back, we wouldn't go hungry anymore. ”

The woman looked at the boy with a loving face, touched his head gently, and said, "My son has really grown up. ”

At the same time, above the court of Zhao, the envoys of Qin were visiting King Zhao with the letter of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang, requesting that Zhao Ji's mother and son be brought back to Qin. After King Zhao read the national letter, he put the national letter aside and said: "In the past, when the first king of Qin was alive, in order to show the friendship between the two countries, with the alliance between the two countries, Zichu was proton in Zhao. Later, when the Qin soldiers besieged Handan, Zichu took the opportunity to flee and never returned. Today, he is already the king of Qin, and he will not mention the past. But now that even Zhao Ji's mother and son have to be brought back together, do you want to keep protons in the end? The covenant signed in the past, does it still count? ”

The Qin envoy arched his hand and said, "King Zhao Rongbing." In the past, our king missed his homeland and felt homesick, and he heard that the king personally led his troops under the city of Handan. I miss my close relatives who I haven't seen for many years, so I did a foolish thing. But now that the first king has passed away, and my king has ascended the throne as the new king, as the saying goes, 'the country cannot be without a king for a day', and it is naturally impossible for my king to come back and continue to be a proton, and ask King Zhao for his guilt. However, my king's own flesh and blood son, son and wife, have remained in Zhao and continue to be hostages. Moreover, over the years, Qin and Zhao have always been models of good neighborliness and friendship, and they have always been at peace with each other. Naturally, this covenant still counts. However, since my king left the Zhao Kingdom, he has not seen his wife and children for five years. Therefore, he ordered his subordinates to implore King Zhao to let his wife and son return to the country. ”

King Zhao said with a smile: "The relationship between father and son is so great, I shouldn't have stopped it." However, there has always been a gap between Qin and Zhao, how can I not worry, I put this mother and son on the front foot to return to the country, and the army of Qin State on the back foot will not come to the city? ”

Qin envoy said: "The king's words are worse than this! The contemptible Fang said that Qin and Zhao have always been models of good-neighborliness and friendship, and the last time they used swords was five years ago, compared to the past five years, there have been more than 100 wars between the countries, but among the warring countries, there are no more than two Qin and Zhao. Isn't that reassuring to the king? ”

As soon as King Zhao was about to say more, the old man in the hall coughed lightly twice, and King Zhao glanced at the old man in the hall and said, "This matter is very important, so you can't make decisions without permission." The Qin envoy please go back to the post house to rest first, take my monarch and ministers to discuss the result, and then talk to the Qin envoy in detail. ”

After King Zhao dispersed the courtiers, he came to the side hall, accompanied by the old man who had just coughed in front of the palace to remind King Zhao, that is, the current Xiangguo of Zhao State. King Zhao asked, "I was just about to refute the Qin envoy in His Royal Highness, leaving Zhao Ji's mother and son as hostages. Why did Xiangguo speak out to obstruct it? Could it be that Xiangguo thought that the mother and son should be sent back to Qin? ”

Zhao Xiang smiled and said, "Don't the king still want to keep this mother and son in Zhao Kingdom?" ”

King Zhao said: "With this mother and son in hand, it is equivalent to holding the handle of the King of Qin, not only can the King of Qin not dare to send troops to attack me, once I start a war with other countries, I can also coerce the Qin State to send troops to help, and my Zhao State can take advantage of the fisherman." Why not? ”

Zhao Xiang smiled: "Hehe~! At that time, when the current King of Qin and Zhao Ji's mother and son were all hostages in the capital of my Zhao Kingdom, the old Prince Qin led the Qin army to besiege our royal capital for several months, when did he ask about the life and death of his children and grandchildren? Today's King of Qin does not only have a son, Gongzizheng, and I want him to dare not attack me because of this mother and son. Foolish dreams! ”

After hearing this, King Zhao asked anxiously: "Then Xiangguo thinks, why have I been at peace with Qin Guo all these years?" ”

Zhao Xiang smiled: "Weichen is a little foolish, will the king believe it?" ”

King Zhao hurriedly said: "I wish to hear Xiangguo's high view!" ”

Zhao Xiang smiled: "Without him, I just don't want to." ”

"Don't want to?" King Zhao was completely stunned by Zhao Xiang's words, "Why don't you think about it?" ”

Zhao Xiang began to explain to King Zhao in detail: "Today's Qin State is roughly divided into two forces, one is the upstart headed by Qin Prime Minister Lu Buwei; The other is the clan behind Gongzi Chengjiao. These two forces are still balanced in the hands of the current King of Qin, and they will not threaten the internal stability of the Qin State, let alone Zichu's own status. Although Cheng Jiao is his own son, the royal family's family affection is really a joke, and he will never let any of them become big. If Zichu launched the Qin army to attack other countries, victory would be meritorious, and defeat would be guilty, no matter who wins or loses, it will inevitably destroy this balance in Qin. Therefore, there has been peace between the countries and Qin in the past few years. ”

Although King Zhao felt that he was stunned after hearing this, he was still puzzled: "But, what does this have to do with Zhao Ji's mother and son?" ”

"Zhao Ji's mother and son are here to break this balance." Zhao Xiang continued, "No matter how shrewd and virtuous Lü Buwei is, he is an outsider after all, and his henchmen are all people outside the Qin State Office. Now Zichu has only one son by his side, Cheng Jiao, who is a well-deserved king of Qin, and then Lü Buwei will die and have no place to be buried. This is his biggest and unavoidable weakness. To welcome back Zhao Ji's mother and son is to insert a foot in the position of the prince and completely move back to the disadvantage between him and Cheng Jiao. ”

King Zhao asked again: "The dispute between the crown prince has always been a taboo for foreign ministers. How shrewd is Lü Buwei, would he go on this trip to troubled waters? ”

Zhao Xiang smiled again and said, "The people next to him may be a dead end, but for Lu Buwei, it is indeed a way to live." In the past, when Zichu was a proton in my Zhao country, it was this Lu Buwei who gave him all kinds of help. Later, a 'strange commodity can live' made a proton the most noble Qin king in the world - my king forgives sins, which has no intention of belittling my king. ”

King Zhao waved his hand and said, "It's okay, Xiangguo continues." ”

"Thank you, my king." Zhao Xiang continued, "It is precisely because of this extraordinary friendship with the King of Qin that this Lu Buwei was able to rise so quickly as the son of a merchant and without military merits to become the minister of the Qin State. Therefore, even if Lü Buwei touched the palace at this time, King Qin always disliked it but would not embarrass him. But it made him slam in the palace, and faintly overpowered Cheng Jiao and others. ”

King Zhao smiled when he heard this: "I understand, Xiangguo means: let this mother and son return to the country, break this balance, and let Qin have internal turmoil, so that Zhao Guo will have a chance." ”

Zhao Xiang smiled and nodded: "Yes!" ”

King Zhao said again: "Xiangguo, a few days ago, Yan Guo also sent people, hoping that I would let the prince of Yan Guo return to China." Is it the same to let them both return to the country together? ”

Zhao Xiang waved his hand and said, "Definitely!" Qin is strong and Zhao is weak, Zhao and Qin are using a plan, and they need to be slowly figured out. Yan is weak and Zhao is strong, Zhao and Yan are gracious, and slow is resentful. ”

"Okay, I'll arrange it." King Zhao said.

The mother and son on the border of Zhao State are Zhao Ji's mother and son who are hostage to King Xiang of Qin Zhuang in Zhao State, and that boy is Yingzheng, who is known as Zhao Zheng at this time. Zhao Ji washed the rabbit that Yingzheng brought back, and paused for a small bowl. Duan Zhizeng was in front of Ying Zheng, who was reading: "Come, Zheng'er." The meat is stewed, so let's eat it! ”

Ying Zheng looked at the meat in the bowl and swallowed his saliva: "Mother, you eat first." ”

"Mother has eaten it, you can eat it yourself." Zhao Ji said.

Ying Zheng touched the bowl: "Mother lied, the meat was obviously just made, and it was still very hot." Where did the mother eat? ”

Zhao Ji touched Yingzheng's head vigorously and said, "People are small and big!" Okay, wait for the meat to cool down before you eat it. ”

"Nope! My mother doesn't eat it, and neither do I. Ying Zheng said stubbornly.

"Okay, mother will take a bite later, and I'll take a bite, okay?" Zhao Ji sighed and said.

"Nope! As much as the mother eats, the child eats as much as the child! Ying Zheng said. Because he also knew that if he didn't eat it, his mother would definitely not eat it. Instead of this, it is better to retreat and use your stomach to force your mother to eat a few more bites.

The Qin envoy was vaguely passed by King Zhao in the court, and he did not get an accurate answer from whether he could take Zhao Ji's mother and son to Qin Guo. When he was at a loss, he had to bring some belongings and found the residence of Zhao Ji's mother and son by bribing Zhao Guo's officials. Seeing a dilapidated hut from afar, I feel so surprised, although it is a hostage, it is a national office, how can it be so shabby?

The Qin envoy hurriedly came to the hut and asked, "Excuse me, there are Mrs. Zhao and Zheng Gongzi inside." ”

Zhao Ji heard the voice of the person in front of the door, his face immediately darkened, and he said to the door: "It's the Qin people who came?" Come in. ”

When Qin Envoy heard this, he estimated that he would not be wrong, but for the sake of prudence, he still did not recognize them in time. Instead, after entering the door, he arched his hand again and asked, "May I ask if the two of you are Mrs. Zhao and Zheng Gongzi?" ”

Zhao Ji naturally knew what he meant, and took out a piece of jade from his arms and handed it to the Qin envoy, who took the jade with both hands and looked at it carefully. Immediately held the jade in both hands, and at the same time knelt on the ground and bowed: "Qin envoy, knock to see Madame, son!" ”

Zhao Ji took the jade and said coldly: "Get up." Why, Qin State made an alliance with Zhao State again? This time, do you want to send that Zhao as a hostage? ”

"Madam, the villain is on the order of the king to pick up the lady and the son to return to the country!" Qin Envoy said.

"Pick up our mother and son back home?" Zhao Ji said with a smile, "When he escaped from Zhao Country alone, he never thought about the life or death of our mother and son. Why do you still think of our mother and son now? ”

After hearing this, the Qin envoy was speechless for a while, and he didn't know where to start. But he knew in his heart that it was not King Qin's intention to come to pick up Zhao Ji's mother and son to return to the country this time, but Lü Buwei's means to fight for power with Cheng Jiao's family, and King Qin was just climbing Lü Buwei's party to be too disadvantaged, affecting the balance of power in the court and taking advantage of the situation, and no one considered the life and death of Zhao Ji's mother and son.

"Don't bother. Our mother and son live quite well in this mountain and wilderness, Qin State. Whoever loves to go, who goes! Zhao Ji said coldly.

When the Qin envoy heard this, he was immediately shocked, although Zhao Ji's mother and son could not return to the country, and the king of Qin could not take it, but if it was bad for Lu Xiang, the result would be different. The Qin envoy hurriedly said: "Madame, why did you say this! Even if the lady doesn't think about herself, isn't it for the future of the son? If an enemy proton stays in Zhao State, what will be the future? ”

Qin made this sentence hit Zhao Ji's heart by mistake, Zhao Ji didn't say anything, just looked at Ying Zheng who was reading. I didn't look away for a long time.