After returning to the Imperial Palace, I asked the prince to go to Li Si and make a copy of the relevant documents of the Yingyue case. Zhang Shu turned out to be my attendant, and after Fuliang Palace was renamed the Imperial Palace, he was promoted to the prince's housekeeper, and usually helped me sort out some documents, books and the like.

Hearing my instructions, Zhang Shu didn't ask much, and walked quickly towards the Prime Minister's Mansion. Although the Prime Minister's Mansion is not far from Xianyang Palace, Xianyang Palace is relatively large, and Zhang Shu came back after about two hours.

Unexpectedly, Li Si didn't ask me what I wanted to do with this, but just asked Zhang Shu to transcribe it and bring it to me.

I looked through the dossier, there were officials, there were also Qianshou, there were children of families like Yingyue, and there were ordinary people like Le and Xi who didn't even have a complete name, and they were really nameless.

There were a lot of dossiers, but I read them little by little, imagining what each one of them would be like. They have sinned, and I would not have sympathized with them in the Hereafter, but here I don't know what to say. More than 300 lives were lost like this? Not counting the family, neighbors, and friends who were connected by these more than 300 people, their lives were ended in this way.

Qin's law is strict, and Qin's government is tyrannical! I thought about the conversation with Ying Zheng that night, can a person's two-sided nature be so deeply divided?

Just when I was distracted, Lan'er came in with a cup of tea, bent down slightly and said, "Your Highness, please use tea." It's cold, do I want to add some clothes for you? "I have gradually become accustomed to my way of drinking tea, and I know that I don't like to drink boiled tea, but I like this kind of tea that looks no different from water.

Lan'er said as she put the tea down and stood aside.

"Lan'er." I knelt at the low table and looked up to call her.

Lan'er saluted and said, "Your Highness, the slave is here." ”

I pointed to the seat cushion across from me and smiled, "Sit down and talk to me." ”

Lan'er hurriedly said, "Your Highness, the slave doesn't dare. ”

Looking at Lan'er, whose head was lowered, I smiled: "It's okay, I just want to chat with you, since I fell into the water, my memory is not very good, and I rarely go out and walk, so I am more familiar with you." ”

Lan'er glanced up at me, and then lowered her head again: "Your Highness, there is a difference between respect and inferiority, now that Your Highness is the crown prince, you should keep a distance from us lowly people." ”

Looking at Lan'er looking down, I suddenly felt a chill hit me, and a sense of loneliness surged into my heart like a tide, I don't know if it was because of the sadness of those who were being escorted to the execution ground, or because I couldn't feel a trace of warmth in this inexplicable Qin Dynasty, even the girl standing in front of me, I couldn't be sure if she was real or fake.

Seeing that I hadn't spoken for a long time, Lan'er raised her head and looked at me secretly, making eye contact with me, and quickly lowered her head.

I got up and walked out the door, Lan'er silently following behind me.

There is only one pine tree in the yard, and a row of flowers and plants are planted next to the wall. There are very few plants and trees in Xianyang Palace, and these were planted after Fusu asked Yingzheng many times. After the frost, the flowers and plants have all withered, and it is impossible to tell what kind of species they are.

"What kind of flowers are planted by the wall?" I asked.

Lan'er's voice sounded behind her: "It's His Highness's favorite orchid." ”

"It's a pity that it's withered."

“…… It will bloom again in the spring. ”

I turned my head to look at Lan'er carefully: "Lan'er, I forgot what your name is?" ”

Lan'er still didn't look up: "Your Highness, the slave maid is called Lan'er." ”

She didn't even have a name, and I silently thought about how many people didn't have a name in this era.

I can imagine that Lan'er may be the descendant of a woman with no name and a person named Le and Xi, because the family can't afford to eat, or the family has died under a certain section of the Great Wall due to forced labor, so they have to come to this cold palace city, without relatives and in difficulty.

I stepped over to my seat: "Help me change a hot cup of tea." ”

In the following days, no one mentioned the matter of Yingyue again, and the court meeting was peaceful, and everyone was preparing for Yingzheng's fifth eastern tour.

The lieutenant's office was responsible for preparing the emperor's security guards;

He will be responsible for preparing for the emperor's palace repairs along the way, building bridges when encountering water, and opening roads in the mountains; The general has rushed to Chengshan to repair the big ship for the emperor to hunt Jiaoyu;

The Imperial Order, the Shangyi Order, and the Shangguan Order in the Shaofu ...... and so on, more than a dozen departments were responsible for taking care of the emperor's diet and daily life;

Zhisu Neishi was responsible for the allocation of grain and grass for the emperor's travel;

There are also a lot of people such as Taishi Ling, Taiyi Ling, etc., who are busy for the emperor's travel for about ten years.

In addition, the various ministers who participated in the Eastern Tour were also very busy. Every time Yingzheng goes on a tour, it costs a lot of manpower and material resources, and the farther the distance, the more complicated the route, the more things need to be considered, and these will eventually be passed on to the people.

Speaking of the renovation of the palace alone, it is impossible for Zuo Zhongcheng to follow all the craftsmen and people he needs all the way, and even if people can follow him, the required wood, stone and other building materials cannot be transported so far, so he can only pay levies to the local counties.

Therefore, every time you go to a place, you have to recruit a large number of people to repair the palace, and if there is no palace built before, you must renovate the county office and the county office to rebuild it into the emperor's palace.

After the emperor left, it could not be restored to its original form and function, but was retained as a permanent palace, and the local area had to be repaired and maintained frequently, which brought a great burden to the local area.

After ten years of preparation, in late November, all the preparations were finally made. Although it was already winter, Ying Zheng did not change his mind at all, and after receiving a report from Li Si that everything was ready, Ying Zheng did not hesitate to start his fifth tour of the world.

To my surprise, after the morning court ended the day before departure, Ying Zheng left me, Feng Quji, and Li Si behind.

Following Ying Zheng to the Four Seas Palace, Ying Zheng turned his head and asked Li Si to wait outside the hall, and only took Feng and me into the hall. Li Si said yes and waited outside the hall.

Entering the hall, Ying Zheng did not sit down, and took the lead in saying to me: "Tomorrow I will set off for the eastern tour and Fusu, you stay in Xianyang to supervise the construction of Afang Palace and Lishan Mausoleum, and you can slowly get acquainted with Feng Qujian in political affairs." During the period when I am not in Xianyang, you can discuss small matters with Feng Quji, and those who are undecided on major matters will be presented to me. ”

Then he turned his head to look at Feng Quji: "The prime minister wants to teach the prince to handle political affairs more, and the affairs of the court and the central government are still the same." ”

Yingzheng often takes Li Si with him when he goes on patrol, and Feng Quji, as the right prime minister, stays in Xianyang, and has experience in the first few patrols, so he did not hesitate at the moment: "Your Majesty Xie trusts, and the minister remembers." ”

Ying Zheng waved his hand and said, "Step down and let Li Si come in." ”

Feng went to salute and turned around and exited the Four Seas Palace, and Li Si walked in with him.

Ying Zheng said to me and Li Si: "When I change my clothes, you two will go out of the palace with me." Then he walked to the apse.

Li Si and I glanced at each other, both saw the question in each other's eyes, and bowed, "Yes." ”