In Zhiyang Palace, in front of the Empress Dowager Xia

Ying Zheng, who wore linen and filial piety, led the people of the Ying clan to mourn and guard the spirit of the Empress Dowager Xia.

As a rare diligent king throughout the ages, Ying Zheng rarely pushed off all government affairs, kept vigil for three days, did not sleep, did not eat or drink, and almost fell ill in front of the spirit.

Although Ying Zheng also practiced martial arts, after all, he was only in the realm of the second or third rate, and he was already grief-stricken, and he stayed awake for three consecutive days, without eating or drinking, in front of the spirit of the Empress Dowager Xia, and his body naturally couldn't bear it.

But this is the last day, even if Yingzheng is weak, he will send the Empress Dowager Xia on her last journey.

During the Warring States Period, three days after death could be put into the earth, not the seven-day period in later generations, and today is the day when the Empress Dowager Xia entered the earth.

Ying Zheng sat in the car and personally sent the coffin of the Empress Dowager Xia to Dudong.

is completely different from the relationship between the Empress Dowager Huayang and Ying Zheng before, and the Empress Dowager Xia does have extraordinary feelings for Ying Zheng.

Sitting in the car, Ying Zheng couldn't help but recall the bits and pieces of the past with the Empress Dowager Xia.

When he was a child, he returned to China with Zhao Ji, and he experienced all kinds of hardships and hardships since he was a child, and he was extremely precocious, and he could distinguish who approached him out of sincerity and who approached him for profit.

Although the Empress Dowager Huayang at that time recognized Yingzi Chu as her heir, Yingzi Chu was not a parent after all, and her recognition of her son was just a collusion of interests.

As a titular grandmother, the Empress Dowager Huayang still prefers the Cheng Chan born to Ying Zichu and Han Ji to Ying Zheng than Ying Zheng.

Although the Chu people are also regarded as barbarians by the Central Plains countries, the Empress Dowager Huayang, who has learned the etiquette and culture of the Central Plains since she was a child, is different, she likes to be born in Koreans, and she has been taken by her since she was a child, and she is closer to the Chu people and the Cheng Chan of the Chu family.

Of course, the Empress Dowager Huayang is not without a good impression of Yingzheng, but that few good feelings have long since dissipated with Zhao Ji's publicity.

It's just that King Xiaowen saw the returning Yingzheng before his death, so he was amazed by Yingzheng, and gave Xiaogong the sword that was passed down and represented the supreme power of the Qin State as a reward for this beloved grandson, almost openly stating that Yingzheng would be the future heir of the crown prince Yingzi Chu, so the Empress Dowager Huayang chose to have initial contact with Yingzheng.

Different from the utilitarian heart of the Empress Dowager Huayang, the Empress Dowager Xia's affection for Yingzheng, the grandson, is purely out of strong ancestral and grandchild affection.

In order not to affect the future of her own son Yingzi Chu and not arouse the jealousy of the Empress Dowager Huayang, the Empress Dowager Xia did not dare to get close to Yingzi Chu, even if he had already become the crown prince, or even the new king of Qin.

As a result, the Empress Dowager Xia also injected her feelings for her beloved son into her beloved grandson, and Yingzheng was the beloved grandson of the Empress Dowager Xia who vented her family affection.

Everyone believes that the first investment Ying Zheng received came from his teacher Lu Buwei, who also invested in his father, and no one knew that Ying Zheng gave him external support when he needed help the most, but it was his own grandmother who was only a one-sided relationship.

Empress Dowager Xia was not favored in the palace, but she was not without the support of her mother.

Xia's family, the surname of the concubine, after Dayu.

After the fall of the Xia Dynasty, the people with the surname Xia scattered all over the country, and the Empress Dowager Xia was the Wanqiu Xia family, the former Chen royal family, which became a local nobleman after being destroyed, and became the object of marriage between Korea and Qin.

Therefore, Ying Zheng's first batch of people were Koreans, so he had the opportunity to see the "Five Worms", which only had a few copies that had not been disseminated, and he could get Han Fei's other works as soon as possible.

It's just that as Han Ji, who is a member of the Korean royal family, married into the Qin State and became the favorite concubine of Yingzi Chu, the support that Empress Dowager Xia was able to give to Yingzheng became less and less, so that King Han Henghui and Han Ji conspired to perform a political performance - Cheng Chan, who was less than ten years old, entered Han to persuade his grandfather Han Henghui to give a hundred miles of land to Qin

The political drama designed by Han Ji and Han Henghui Wang is not very clever, and the story is too straightforward, even the countrymen in the countryside can see at a glance that it is a bit boring.

But whether it is a political drama or not, the young Cheng Chan did indeed expand the territory for the Qin State, and once overpowered Ying Zheng in the call for the crown prince, but Empress Dowager Xia did not choose to support Cheng Chan, who was also from Korean, but still unswervingly supported Ying Zheng.

And even when she was dying, the Empress Dowager Xia on the sickbed was still thinking about Yingzheng and hoped to be buried alone in Du Dong after her death.

King Xiaowen was buried in Shouling, King Zhuangxiang was buried in Zhiyang, and Du Dong was in between.

"Grandmother, you should be buried with your grandfather."

Ying Zheng's gaze was very firm, and he was willing to listen to Empress Dowager Xia's advice on other things, but in this matter, he couldn't accept it.

Although his father recognized the Empress Dowager Huayang as his mother, as his own grandmother with similar blood, the Empress Dowager Xia was absolutely qualified to be buried with her grandfather King Xiaowen.

But on the sickbed, Empress Dowager Xia, who was already so sick that there was almost only a skeleton left, shook her head, and when she was dying, she still had some clear understanding, and she still chose to keep a low profile as before.

"Look at my son in the east, and look at my husband in the west. After a hundred years, there were 10,000 families next to it. ”

Empress Dowager Xia's reason was that she hoped to accompany her husband and son at the same time after her death, and Yingzheng could not refuse this reason.

It's just that he understands that this is not the real reason.

Empress Dowager Xia just hoped that he could continue to stabilize the Empress Dowager Huayang and the Chu family, and completely transfer the power of the Chu family to his command.

As a popular candidate for the former crown prince of Qin, perhaps the current Cheng Chan has no ambitions, but the power of the Chu family must not continue to stay under his command, this is for the good of Ying Zheng, but it is also for the good of Cheng Chan, and it is also for the good of the Qin State.

Empress Dowager Xia stretched out her hand and motioned for Ying Zheng to come closer, and the old and weak arm slowly raised a little, put Ying Zheng's head next to her lips, and whispered.

"The Chu system is available, but beware."

"Grandmother knows how ambitious my Zheng'er is, in the future, the Qin State and the Chu State will inevitably go to war, and the Chu family at that time may not be loyal to you."

"If it is a war, such as Wei Ran and Mi Rong in the past, they may still be loyal to Qin, but Zheng'er is going to destroy Chu, even if the old man has chosen to accept his fate, Mi Qi and Mi Dian, the two have great talents, but they must be strictly guarded against in the future, and they cannot be entrusted with heavy responsibilities."

Ying Zheng and Empress Dowager Xia's cloudy eyes looked at each other, a little frightened.

At the beginning, the countries were united, and King Chu Kaolie was the commander of the joint column, and Yingzheng took great precautions against the Mi Qi and Mi Dian brothers and the Chu family, but after the death of King Chu Kaolie, the Chu family was also re-accepted and trusted, and the two brothers Mi Qi and Mi Dian also served as the county guard of Shangjun and the county lieutenant of Taiyuan County in the local area, which can be regarded as a great task of sealing Xinjiang.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were not a few examples of a country's scholars going to serve in other countries, and even being an important minister above 10,000 people under one person, even if it was a royal family, and even a country's son serving as an important minister of another country and being an enemy of the mother country was countless, so Yingzheng did not really doubt the loyalty of Mi Qi and Mi Dian.

Looking at Ying Zheng, who was thinking deeply, Empress Dowager Xia opened her mouth to speak, but she still didn't say anything.

There is another person, he will be the biggest hidden danger of the Qin State.

It's just that today's Qin State needs such a person to balance the forces of all parties in the court for Yingzheng.

After waiting for many years, the Qin State finally waited for a courtier who could check and balance the power of the ministers, balance the contradictions between the old Qin scholars and the foreign scholars, the military and the civil servants, and the hundred schools and the Qin State, and even the power of the net was gradually withdrawn.

It's just that such a person will sooner or later become the biggest hidden danger of the Qin State.

Maybe Ying Zheng doesn't know many things about the harem, but as a perennial unfavored and now the queen mother, how can she not know what Zhao Ji, who has been widowed for many years, should look like?

If it weren't for the advice of the old eunuch Ling, how could she tolerate this person's defilement of the palace?

Ying Zheng didn't know what Empress Dowager Xia's last words were that she wanted to say but didn't say, and a certain person who was in the palace followed Ying Zheng to kneel down and bow to Empress Dowager Xia's coffin, and he didn't know that he had escaped a catastrophe.

After getting up, Ying Zheng was controlled by the craftsmen to close the mausoleum a little bit, recalled the last secret words of the Empress Dowager Xia when she was dying, and glanced at Mi Qi and Mi Dian in the crowd.

He didn't know whether Empress Dowager Xia's words were right or wrong, but her words would be remembered by Yingzheng.

(2457 words)

(End of chapter)