On an early autumn night, in the sky above Xianyang City, due to the collision of several large dark clouds, several curved and dazzling lightning bolts scurried in the middle of the gaps in the thick clouds like swimming snakes, and a few seconds later, bursts of violent thunder followed. At the moment of flashing, the bright light illuminated the distant sky and the splendid rivers and mountains covering hundreds of miles of Guanzhong, as well as the splendid palace annex and the majestic Xianyang Palace as if it were day. However, the roar of thunder was greatly diminished by the sound of various instrumental music wafting through the palace, and the colorful illuminations and countless high and low candlesticks in the palace were also pale and powerless by the rapid lightning flash. Suddenly, a reckless wind swept up, lifting the bleak dead leaves scattered everywhere into the air, and it was stirred up all over the sky for a while, as if the entire Xianyang Palace was shaking.

Qin II was confused by Zhao Gao and was imprisoned in the palace for a long time, and his actions became more secretive. He spent most of his time in the harem, and the officials wanted to do something, but they didn't know where he lived. In addition to watching songs and dances, this comfortable emperor was also obsessed with parties, juggling, jousting, cockfighting, card skills, games, and safaris. The beauties of the six countries and my fair lady have a night party. Where they live, luxury goods are piled up, such as curtains, bells and drums, strange flowers, different grasses, rockeries, golden tripods, pepper orchids, yaoqin, jade paintings, embroidered silks, carved cases, brocade screens, etc.; Those palace concubines, such as Concubine Song, Qi Jiang, Wu Ji, Zhao Li, Yue Nu, and Qin E abound. Each of the things is wonderful and colorful; The fairy sister is graceful and charming. If the second comes to a place, the place will be lively. The beauties either danced or competed for favor, and the young women would impress the young king with their pure and gentle singing voices or ingenious dances, and they all hoped to be favored by the second emperor, and the beautiful girls all made the adolescent emperor fall in love at first sight. But there are too many beautiful women in the harem, and among those tens of thousands of beauties, most of them can't see the emperor at all, let alone be favored, so they have to lament the misfortune of fate and the fleeting time. Most of the time, these people often lean on the railing and cry sadly, they will think of their relatives in their hometown, childhood playmates, occasionally look at the birds in the sky in a daze, and imagine that one day they will fly to their hometown freely and happily like a bird, and return to their relatives.

In the autumn and July of the third year of Qin II, the emperor summoned Zhao Gao in Xianyang Palace. In the more than two years after Zhao Gao ascended the throne, because of the continuous increase in power, his powerful tall body has gradually become fat and fat, and he has become a little bloated in recent days, and he has stumbled a lot when he walks. When he met the emperor, he talked about some secret anecdotes, and the two of them laughed heartily from time to time. However, the young emperor found that Zhao Gao was in a trance and his attention was not enough, so he asked him if there was anything wrong. Zhao Gao bowed his head and said softly that it was okay. The second asked about the "thieves" in Shandong. Zhao Gao was most afraid that the emperor would ask about this, so he was suddenly shocked in his heart, so he replied: "It's just a small group of thieves making trouble, and the government has already sent people to capture them all!" There are still a few diehards among these people who continue to collude with the government in a vain attempt to create even greater chaos! The second suddenly seemed to remember something, so he asked: "By the way, didn't you say that Li You also secretly communicated with thieves?" also said that Prime Minister Li Si instructed him to do this, this hateful old ghost, on the surface, is loyal, but behind his back! How did I ask you to interrogate the thief? Zhao Gao narrowed his cunning eyes and replied with ill intentions: "Recruit, recruit, can you not recruit?" "However, I think that he is the minister of the first emperor, and he has not been tortured, so there are still some major details that have not been explained clearly." The second snorted and said: "Although the ministers of the first emperor cannot be punished heavily, they can also be punished lightly with whipping, but you must remember that you can't wronged the prime minister, he is a meritorious minister of our Qin State!" Zhao Gao said yes again and again, but there was a subtle smile on the corner of his mouth, and then he withdrew. At this time, the second turned around and saw the beautiful women next to him, and laughed and played with them.

Zhao Gao withdrew from the main hall, wiped the sweat stains on his forehead with his sleeve, and then hurried back to the mansion. As soon as Zhao Gao returned home, he had a large number of letters and recitals all set on fire. Zhao Gao looked at the fire, and a strange and eerie smile appeared on his face. But this fire seemed to herald that some future fire would also burn down this luxurious city. It turned out that these were all urgent documents sent from all over Shandong to report the military situation of all parties to the imperial court, especially after the end of the Julu War, the Great Wall Army was annihilated, Wang Li died on the battlefield, Zhang Han was defeated one after another, and Liu Bang marched into Luoyang, Yingchuan, etc. On the battlefield of the whole country, in addition to the two armies of Chu State that were violently attacking Qin, the rest of the princes' armies also launched offensives to varying degrees against the garrisons of Qin, and Qin State was already in turmoil. But the second is like a dream, and he knows nothing about it. Zhao Gao is indeed bold and reckless, covering the sky with one hand. In this way, the second did not know about the defeat of the Great Wall Army at all, he just got some understated "some thieves" lies from Zhao Gao, not to mention that Zhao Gao also said some false and whitewashed words on weekdays to confuse him, and the second was ignorant and self-absorbed in the big lie compiled by Zhao Gao, and he knew nothing about the turbulent uprising situation in Shandong. This matter is that Zhao Gao himself can't estimate the situation of the uprising in the whole country, he thinks that it is impossible for the army of Qin to be defeated, although Wang Li is dead, but there is still Zhang Han. Isn't there still 200,000 Qin troops in Zhang Han? Now he should be ordered to start a war with Xiang Yu immediately, and when Xiang Yu is defeated, he should be ordered to come to Sanchuan to fight Liu Bang. In any case, Liu Bang must not be allowed to capture Luoyang and hit Hangu Pass. After Zhao Gao thought about it, he wrote another edict by hand, and immediately sent someone to send it to Zhang Han in Hebei after stamping the seal.

In Zhang Han's camp in Hebei, since Wang Li's death, morale was very low, and Zhang Han himself was also uneasy, and even dreamed that Xiang Yu was chasing him. For some time after that, the Qin army retreated continuously, and finally retreated to the city of Handan. However, Handan City was already dilapidated, and at this time, Zhang Han also remembered that when they first came here, there were many people in the city, and the market was prosperous. However, since the common people were forced to move to Hanoi, it has become desolate everywhere, although the city is hunting with flags, but it always feels that it is a cool breeze, and it is full of sadness and defeat, not to mention that there is no fighting spirit and no fighting spirit. When Zhang Han thought of this, he immediately frowned, and his face showed a sense of vicissitudes. At this moment, the envoys of the imperial court arrived. Zhang Han hurriedly greeted the envoy. After the envoy came to the mansion, he said in public: "Zhang Han, are you guilty?" Zhang Han seemed to be a monk who was at a loss, so he had to be resigned and noncommittal. Then the envoy said:

"As a general of the Qin State, you have been fighting abroad for three years, and you have not been able to defeat the rebels so far, which has greatly disappointed me, what is the reason for this? Is the general unwilling to serve me? I order you to immediately organize the army and send out the division, kill Xiang Yu as soon as possible, end the war in Hebei, and then return to Sanchuan and exterminate Liu Bang, otherwise the law of the country will be ruthless! ”

After listening to these short words, Zhang Han was even more shocked in his heart, and his hands trembled and took the edict. After the envoy left, Zhang Han suddenly felt an inexplicable fear, not knowing what was going to happen? Will he become the second Yang Xiong? I will consult with you. The generals were also filled with righteous indignation, and they all felt inexplicably melancholy. After thinking about it, Zhang Han was a little out of place, so he decided to send Sima Xin, a flexible and eloquent internal historian, to Xianyang to report to the emperor in person, the purpose was to ask the emperor what he really thought in person, and then inquire about the recent situation of Prime Minister Li Si, to see if these accusations and distrust were all from the emperor's original intention, that is to say, Zhang Han already suspected that such an edict might be issued by Zhao Gaofa.

In the national prison in Xianyang, the imprisoned desolate minister Li Si was sitting on the ground in a daze, he was carrying a torture instrument, his whole body had been beaten and bruised, and his expression looked a little dull. The cell was small, the walls were dark and dirty, and there was some straw on the floor, which already smelled of mold. The door was made of rusty iron frame, and on top of the iron frame was a pair of large sturdy iron doors, locked with rusty iron locks, and from time to time a few rats sprang out from under the corner. Li Si stared at them blankly, and let out a bitter smile. He had a soft spot for mice, and then he remembered a past incident, which was also an emotion he had back then:

When Li Si was young, he worked as a small official in his hometown of Shangcai County, and once he saw a rat in the latrine eating X things, and when the rat saw someone or a dog approaching, he panicked and ran very scared. However, when Li Si later saw some rats in the official warehouse, the situation was very different, those rats crawled on the big grain pile and ate calmly, and did not pay attention to people or other things at all, and the place where they lived was clean and comfortable, and they looked carefree. Li Si made a comparison between the two mice, and said with great emotion a sentence that influenced later generations of careerists, he said: "It doesn't matter whether a person has a good life or not, it just depends on his position!" It means that it doesn't matter whether a person has talent or not, what matters is what position he is in. It was precisely because Li Si got inspiration from the rat that he later studied hard, studied the treatment of the Legalist, and studied the way of King X from the university. After completing his studies, he went to Qin, and later got the weight of the King of Qin, and the official is getting bigger and bigger, and he has become a prime minister under one person and above ten thousand people, and there is really no waste in this life! But now......

Suddenly, a rush of footsteps interrupted Lees's memory, and when he looked up, he saw three strong jailers approaching, unlocking the locks and entering. One of the fierce-looking guys shouted at him: "I was ordered to interrogate you, did you instruct Li Youtong to be a thief and recruit him from the truth!" Lees cried out that he had been wronged. But the jailer didn't pay any attention to it, and shouted: "Who is in prison who doesn't cry out for wrongdoing? He had the other two jailers knock him down and whip him dozens of times. After a violent beating, Li Si's back and buttocks had been opened, and he passed out in pain after a while. The jailer asked someone to bring a basin of cold water and splash it on his head. Lees woke up with a groan in his throat and a feeling of pain. The jailers yelled at him again and locked them up. Li Si's heart was full of grief, and his face was full of tears.

Since Zhao Gao asked the second emperor for instructions on the punishment of whipping, such beatings have been commonplace for him, and for some time after that, Li Si was inexplicably beaten by such whipping, and he was asked to confess the guilt. But Li Si didn't have a thief, what did he confess? After being beaten for the last time, he seemed to lose his breath until he woke up in the middle of the night. At this time, it was already late autumn and it was very cold at night. Li Si shivered, struggled to climb under the window, he wanted to see a little light, so he slowly stood up, looked up at the starry sky, and saw that the moon was indeed bright this night, but this could not shine through the hearts of people in the world...... Li Si's eyes were like torches, and his hands tightly held the guardrail in front of the window, he stood for a long time, and then said with tears: "Hey, sad! The King of Virtues! How I regret that you became the emperor and gave you advice, what a foolishness! To this day, it is ridiculous to say that I am a thief! In the past, Xia Wei killed Guan Longfeng, King Shang killed Bigan, and King Wu killed Wu Zixu, weren't these three courtiers loyal? But in the end, they were not spared death, precisely because the king they served was unreasonable! Thinking that my ability is not comparable to the three of them, and the ruthlessness and narrow-mindedness of the Second far surpass them, I did not expect that I would also die for the loyal king! Think about how many people he killed in a frenzy after Hu Hai usurped the throne? He also built many tall and spacious palaces for himself in extreme luxury, and he also collected taxes from the people in disregard of morality and shame. I once tried my best to admonish this kind of unpopular move, but that fool just wouldn't listen. In ancient times, the sages and sages were not allowed to eat three meals a day, have a fixed number of carriages and horses, and have limited palaces and residences, even the decrees and systems they promulgated had to obey the wishes of the people, and even if the king's actions were wrong, the ministers had the right to ask them to correct them. Only loyal ministers and good generals can share the worries of the monarch for the country, and the country can have long-term peace and stability! But this is not the case today, what he has done is too unpopular, otherwise how can he provoke the resistance of everyone in the world? I knew that the number of rebels had spread all over the country, and that the rebels were about to reach Xianyang, but this fool did not know it, and continued to listen to the traitors and continue to mess around. If they treat military affairs like this, how can the country last long? I must wait until the day when the rebels from Shandong invade Xianyang! I must have witnessed how the rebels of Shandong entered Xianyang City! Hey! …… At that time, the whole Xianyang City will become a habitat for elk! God! ......" After Li Si finished speaking, his heart was like a knife, and he fell down involuntarily, and he continued to curl up in that dark and damp corner, looking lonely and helpless, and extremely miserable.

This is retribution, if Li Si is selfless in his heart, and he justifiably assisted Fusu to ascend the throne of God, with his assistance and Fusu's virtuous, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness, he will not lose today's glory and wealth. But he was too careful, he was worried that he would not be able to continue to be at the top of the power from now on, so he partnered with Zhao Gao to kill the virtuous and benevolent eldest son Fusu, as well as Meng Tian, Meng Yi, and all the princes and princesses of the first emperor.

Sima Xin came to Xianyang, couldn't inquire about the emperor's residence, and came to Li Si's house again. But as soon as he reached the gate, he found that the gate had been sealed. Sima Xin is a military general, he is used to fighting on the battlefield, and when he saw this situation, he was furious, so he wanted to break open the door of the mansion and go in to see what was going on. But when he broke down the door, he found that it was a mess, and it was clear that his house had been raided. Sima Xin felt that something was wrong, and he was in trouble, so he hurriedly walked out. At this time, someone outside the door had already told him: "Lang Zhongling wants to see the general." Sima Xin asked, "Where did Prime Minister Li go?" The man said: "The prime minister instructed his son Li You to rebel and has been imprisoned." As a foreign general, you don't know the severity, how dare you trespass on the forbidden land? Sima Xin was shocked and asked, "How could Prime Minister Li Cheng rebel?" I'm afraid you're mistaken! The man rebuked, "Bold, this is a matter for the court, how dare you doubt it?" Sima Xin didn't dare to say anything more, so he had to follow the man to the duty room next to Sima Men. The man told Sima Xin to wait here, and asked the guards to watch him carefully, and then left. Sima Xin waited for a long time, and no one came to summon him, so he had an ominous premonition. It turned out that Zhao Gao had already arrested Zhang Han's family, and he wanted to threaten Zhang Han with this. Zhao Gao was afraid that the news would leak out, so he sent someone to take Sima Xin to this safer place, just to prevent him from running around anymore.

And what is Zhao Gao doing at this time? It turned out that he was with the Two. This time, the second didn't know why, he thought of Li Si again, and said to the people around him that he had to send someone to review Li Si, and he must not wronged the prime minister, because Li Si did have a great credit. But these people were all bought by Zhao Gao, and they had already reported this to Zhao Gao. Zhao Gao heard that the second emperor was not at ease with him, and he wanted to send someone to re-interrogate Li Si, so he hurriedly sent someone to interrogate Li Si again. These people pretended to be from the palace, saying that they were ordered to review Li Si. When Li Si heard this, he was very happy, thinking that he might have to clarify his grievances, so he truthfully reported to the officials who interrogated him, saying that he did not instigate Li You to rebel, and that the previous confessions were all made by Lang Zhong Zhao Gaoqu, and Li Si strongly asked the officials to explain these facts to the emperor and avenge him. But after the interrogation, the officials beat Li Si again. Li Si felt inexplicable, so he had to shout: "Wronged! But the more he shouted wronged, the more he was beaten. As a result, a hundred lashes fell, and Li Si was beaten to death again. The jailer poured water on Li Si again, and scolded him for not telling the truth. Li Si was in unbearable pain, so he had to change his words: "I am a Chu person, and I have an affair with a Chu person because I think of the township party!" He also once instigated his son Li You, telling him not to be enemies of the Chu people. When the jailer heard this, he stopped, and said to Li Si: "Remember, whenever someone asks you, you answer like this, and no one will beat you!" Li Si had no choice but to agree. The minions let Li Si draw the charge before leaving. There is a poem lamenting by the predecessors:

Severe punishment and strict law are at the mercy of the king, and it is too late to regret the disaster.

The family will still regret death, and please ask the prophet for the taste of the truss.

That night, Zhao Gao was worried that Li Si would retract his confession, so he instructed an official to go to a secret visit overnight, falsely claiming to be a house slave who had been rescued by Li Si before, and came to visit his master. Li Si couldn't remember when he had helped him, thinking that it was destiny, so he mustered up his strength and wrote a sincere recital with tears, which reads:

The criminal minister served as the prime minister and has been governing the country for thirty years. At the time of the first emperor, the land of Qin was only a thousand miles, and the army was only a few hundred thousand people, and his subordinates did their best to carefully carry out the edicts, secretly sending advisers to the outside world, giving them a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry to lobby the princes; At the same time, he stepped up the training of the army internally, rectified the politics, educated the people, appointed brave and warlike talents as officials, and respected meritorious ministers, and improved the title and fortune, so he finally conquered the six countries and unified the world, and the first emperor became the first emperor, which was the first crime of the minister. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, although the land of Qin was vast, the minister was worried about the invasion of ethnic minorities in the north and south, so he also agreed that the first emperor would send troops to expel the Xiongnu, pacify Baiyue, and make Qin more powerful. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he emphasized the use of virtue and ability, respected the meritorious ministers of the Qin State, improved their titles, and made the relationship between the monarch and the minister more intimate, which was the third crime of the minister. He also helped the first emperor to establish the memorial of Sheji, repaired the worship of the temple, and implemented the county system throughout the country to show the meritocracy of the king, which was the fourth crime of the minister. The minister also changed the style of the emblem and ornamentation of the utensils, unified the weights and measures, formulated the law and the system of etiquette, and also stipulated the standard and writing method of the text, and developed the culture of the Qin State, which was the fifth crime of the minister. The minister also suggested that the first emperor built high-speed avenues throughout the country, improved traffic roads, and built Xianyang, so that the land of Qinchuan in three hundred miles was covered by palaces and Qionglou, like a paradise on earth, which showed the king's ambition, which was the sixth crime of the minister. The minister also suggested that the king relax the criminal law and reduce the people's taxes, so as to satisfy the king's desire to win the hearts of the people, so that the king can be supported by all the people, and he will not forget his grace until his death, which is the seventh crime of the minister. A courtier like Li Si has committed too many crimes, and all of them are capital crimes! But Your Majesty has always favored me, so that I have survived to this day. Ministers Li Si Bai Bai offered!

After Li Si finished writing the recital, he bit his finger fiercely and dripped red blood on it, indicating that he was crying blood and writing with courage. Then he told this person a thousand times, asking him to hand it over to the second emperor himself. The man agreed and took the book with him. Li Si was already an ancient person at this time, and because of exhaustion, he suddenly felt dizzy and fainted again.