It was late July in the thirty-seventh year of the First Emperor.
Another month passed, and the patrol convoy that had been suspended for many days due to rumors that the emperor was seriously ill had already left Jibei County and entered the neighboring Julu County.
At this time, the convoy arrived at a place full of stories-Dune Palace.
Although it is called Sand Dune Palace, it is not an emperor's palace built by the empire, but an 'ancient building'.
Of course, it is not a truly ancient building that has existed for over 800 years, and it has only been around for less than a hundred years.
Sand Dune Palace is a palace built by Zhao Yong, King Wuling of Zhao in the past. The palace is a permanent residence palace built for the king outside the capital, and it can also refer to the temporary residence of the king when he is on tour.
After a hundred years, this palace has basically decayed and collapsed, and the main remaining structure is a large platform.
However, the reputation of this Tutaizi is not small.
Because King Wuling of Zhao was besieged by his own son and starved to death in the Sand Dune Palace.
The heroic leader of the Zhao family died on the sand dunes in a ridiculous way.
What's more interesting is that King Wuling of Zhao has a surname of Ying, a surname of Zhao, and a last name of Yong.
The first emperor, whose surname is Ying, is Zhao, whose name is Zheng.
Therefore, the patrol team attracted a lot of people's attention when it arrived at the Dune Palace ruins.
But in the final analysis, this was just a coincidence, and everyone just watched it for fun and used it as a casual conversation.
However, coincidence is such a thing. When it happens, it often catches everyone by surprise.
The outbound patrol team has stopped at the Sand Dune Palace platform for a temporary rest and is expected to resume its journey in two days at the latest.
However, the plan was disrupted because the emperor's condition worsened.
In the center of the motorcade, the area where Ying Zheng's bicycle frame was located was uncharacteristically surrounded by many Imperial Guards, and the atmosphere was very gloomy.
Outside the carriage, Prime Minister Li Si, who was accompanying him on the tour, was guarding in front of the carriage together with Zhao Gao, the emperor's most trusted chamberlain, and Hu Hai, the only young son who was taken by Ying Zheng.
Li Si's face was serious and gloomy, his eyes were lowered and emotionless, making it impossible to see any emotion.
However, his seemingly unmoved eyes were actually quietly scanning Hu Hai beside Zhao Gao.
Hu Hai, Ying Zheng's youngest and most favored son.
Ying Zheng's love for this young son can be said to be as high as that of many princes, and he will even take him with him when he goes on patrol - this is a treatment that no other prince has.
If it weren't for the fact that Hu Hai was still young and not weak enough to be crowned the crown prince, this favor alone would have made Hu Hai a popular candidate for the crown prince.
After all, when it comes to who the throne will be passed on to, it's just a word from Ying Zheng.
But even at a young age, Hu Hai still has a group of fans...or it should be said that his teacher Zhao Gao has a group of fans for him.
Although Hu Hai is young, he is still a teenager and will officially become an adult in a few years.
By then, he will truly be qualified to compete for the crown prince position, and he will definitely become a popular candidate.
There are always people who are willing to invest in advance - mainly because other princes seem to have little investment value, and the hope of becoming a prince is not as good as this youngest son who only loves the former.
However, Hu Hai himself did not have contact with any foreign court officials, and everything was handled by Zhao Gao, his teacher.
The reason why Li Si secretly observed the master and apprentice at this time was because of their abnormal behavior.
Although Hu Hai joined the tour with the emperor's favor, his presence has always been low.
This young prince, who was rumored to have a lively and a bit bad temperament, seemed to have suddenly changed his temperament. Apart from often wandering around where the motorcade was resting, he never caused any trouble.
Until a month ago, Ying Zheng became seriously ill.
After that, Hu Hai always followed Zhao Gao.
Of course, the two have a teacher-student relationship, and it's normal for them to get tired of being together, but at this moment, Hu Hai is following Zhao Gao so closely that it's hard not to think too much about it.
Due to physical problems, Ying Zheng had been practicing almost all the time during this period. He had to be free and easy in political matters, and direct communication with officials at all levels was reduced to the extreme. Basically, no one except Li Si, the prime minister, disappeared.
Whenever there are any instructions, they are conveyed through Zhao Gao and several other favored chamberlains.
Therefore, Ying Zheng also restored Zhao Gao's official position as Che Fu Ling.
Therefore, Zhao Gao has been in frequent contact with officials from various departments during this period, and Hu Hai has become familiar with everyone.
Although Zhao Gao did not take this opportunity to build relations with Hu Hai, it was impossible for those officials to side with Hu Hai just because they looked familiar.
The most that this effort can do is to directly increase Hu Hai's presence in the team, but it seems to be of little use...
But at this sensitive time, Lisdo couldn't help but think about it.
Although he had a lot of cooperation with Zhao Gao in private, he never planned to side with the eighteenth prince Hu Hai, or in other words, he never thought of sided with any prince.
Not only don't want to, but also can't.
Some officials can take sides, even generals like Meng Tian can openly take sides, but he, the prime minister, cannot.
Ying Zheng will not allow him to side with any prince - as long as he dares to show the slightest tendency, he will definitely lose his position as the leader of the hundred officials immediately.
Meng Tian can take sides because the military power of the empire is essentially in the hands of only one emperor, Ying Zheng.
He, the general, is part of the army, not part of the army belongs to him, the general.
Taking sides is nothing more than a choice based on profit considerations - for your own future development and for the expansion and continuation of family interests.
In any case, it does not pose a threat to Ying Zheng - if it does, the problem is by no means limited to Meng Tian.
Therefore, Ying Zheng can let Meng Tian and Fu Su get closer.
But if Prime Minister Li Si, who is the head of a hundred officials, gets involved with a certain prince, it is difficult to say whether some "accidents" beyond Ying Zheng's control will occur.
Although Ying Zheng had been trying his best to retain all the power of the empire in his own person, as a mortal, he really did not have the ability to govern the country by himself, so he had to delegate some of his power to officials.
Prime Minister Li Si is the most powerful person under the emperor and the only one who has the ability to connect hundreds of officials.
To Ying Zheng, Li Si was not a threat, so he could use him with confidence.
But if Li Si intervenes in the matter of establishing the heir apparent, and ends up having a role in serving the dragon, when the new emperor comes to the throne, he, the leader of the officials, will be in great danger.
Zhao Gao stood guard by the carriage and seemed completely unaware of Li Si's hidden probing gaze. He just stared at the carriage door intently, looking like a loyal slave.
Hu Hai, who was born with strange eyes, stood aside boredly with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky, his mind wandering to nowhere.
The three of them waited for a short time before an old man in his fifties or sixties got out of the carriage.
When they saw someone coming out, Zhao Gaolisi immediately surrounded them.
"How is His Majesty the Emperor's health?" Li Si was the first to speak and asked impatiently.
The old man's brows furrowed, and he replied cautiously and tremblingly, "Back to Mr. Li, Mr. Zhao, and His Highness the Eighteenth Prince. His Majesty's condition is getting worse."
"Xiaguan...Xiaguan is also helpless now. He can only use the medicine that Master Nianduan prepared for His Majesty in advance to stabilize the situation temporarily, but I'm afraid...it will only have a temporary effect."
The old man, the imperial doctor who was accompanying him, spoke in a softer voice, his head drooped little by little, and he wished he could shrink into the ground on the spot.
After hearing these words, Li Si's gloomy face turned completely dark, and he waved his sleeves and asked in an impatient tone:
"Stop talking nonsense, how on earth should the emperor's illness be cured!?"
"This..." The imperial doctor almost bent his waist to ninety degrees and replied tremblingly, "I'm afraid we can only ask the Imperial Master or Master Nianduan to do this."
In fact, from the imperial doctor's point of view, even if Nian Duan or even Gu Xun came now, it might not be useful, but he could only pull these two out to stand up to them first.
If he dared to directly say that he was hopeless and waiting to die, Li Si would definitely kill him first to sacrifice to heaven.
After receiving such a nonsense answer, Li Si couldn't help but take a deep breath to calm down.
His Qi-nurturing skills are not bad, but when it involves Ying Zheng's life and death, even he just feels nervous.
He waved his hand to signal the imperial doctor to get out, and then Li Si looked at Zhao Gao:
"Ling Zhao, has Luowang found out the whereabouts of the Imperial Master?"
Zhao Gao shook his head with regret, "In the past year or so, I dare not be negligent for a moment, but it's a pity..."
Although it was an expected answer, Li Si was still a little disappointed, and then asked, "Did you send someone to contact Master Nian Duan?"
"I will arrange manpower to handle it as soon as possible." Zhao Gao nodded and replied.
Li Si frowned, "Why didn't you do it in advance? You didn't think of this problem?"
Li Si rarely spoke so rudely to an emperor's favorite like Zhao Gao, but now that Ying Zheng's life and death were involved, he could no longer control his temper.
Zhao Gao didn't care and replied helplessly, "Master Li, you don't know the attitude of His Majesty the Emperor before. He didn't allow it!"
Ying Zheng used to insist that it would be dark when he closed his eyes, and no one was allowed to even mention the word illness. Of course, Zhao Gao would not be allowed to go to Nianduan - not to mention that Nianduan had already expressed his inability to do anything before Ying Zheng left the capital.
However, Zhao Gao still lied now - Yingzheng did not explicitly prohibit him from going to Nianduan, but did not actively ask him to do so.
Although Ying Zheng would probably veto it even if Zhao Gao proposed it, there is a big difference between him not mentioning it and not doing it, and the emperor not allowing it.
Li Si naturally didn't care about Zhao Gao's little move at this time, and could only reply in a gloomy tone, "Oh... then you should hurry up."
"Of course." Zhao Gao nodded and immediately left with Hu Hai.
As the two left, Li Si couldn't help but glance at Hu Hai - Ying Zheng was seriously ill and dying. Hu Hai, the most beloved son, had not made any statement from just now to now, looking completely unconcerned, as if he was about to die.
It's like he has nothing to do with him.
Although now is not the time to mourn, but...you shouldn't have no reaction, right?
What kind of character does this little prince have?
This question flashed through Li Si's mind, and then was quickly forgotten.
Now was not the time to pay attention to such 'trivial matters'. He had to quickly appease the accompanying officials.
The news that the emperor was seriously ill and dying must not spread even half a moment now. He must ensure that no one would notice the clues - at least not in a short period of time.
Neither he nor Zhao Gao mentioned sending Ying Zheng back to Xianyang.
They still had this chance when they were in Jibei County, but it's no longer available now.
It was clear that Ying Zheng's condition could no longer withstand any turbulence. The convoy could only temporarily park at the ruins of the Dune Palace until the symptoms were relieved.
In fact, no imperial doctor explicitly said that Ying Zheng would die if he moved, but... what if?
Who dares to take this responsibility?
Li Si could only stop the team.
Thinking of King Zhao Wuling who was buried here decades ago, Li Si always had a bad feeling, as if an invisible haze covered the sky.
But he had no choice but to take one step at a time.
………………
At the same time, in Fushi City, the upper county in the north.
Han Fei was talking secretly with his 'generals'.
Among them are mainly Chen Ping, Xiao He, Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, Li Shiqi, Sima Shang, Li Zuoche... these "newcomers" that Liusha later recruited one after another.
As for the old people in Liusha, there are only Han Fei himself, Wei Zhuang, Mo Ya and a few others.
This is the first time in so many years that such a scene of "all the talents come together" has happened, so naturally what they did was not a trivial matter.
However, this secret conversation had nothing to do with the sudden change in Sand Dune Palace - the news that Ying Zheng was seriously ill and dying had not yet reached him.
With Li Si and Zhao Gao's tight blockade, even if Liusha wanted to get information, it was hard to say how many days they would have to wait.
The reason why they are gathered together now is because Ying Zheng fell seriously ill for the first time in Pingyuanjin, Jibei County.
But in terms of results, it's not bad.
Except for the cheater Gu Xun and the few people in the Taoist Yin Yang family who play metaphysics, Han Fei is the first person in the world to judge that Ying Zheng's death is not far away.
He paid close attention to all the information about Ying Zheng. He learned about Ying Zheng's physical condition from Nianduan at the beginning of Yingzheng's tour - Nianduan usually would not disclose patient privacy easily, but she
She didn't like Ying Zheng, and Han Fei asked in the name of Liusha, so she didn't hide it for Gu Xun's sake.
Nianduan's reply to him at that time was very clear - if Ying Zheng could rest in peace and cultivate himself for two or three years, he would still have two or three years. This period might be extended after Gu Xun comes back, but if he continues to run around and work hard, I'm afraid that
It has been a difficult year and a half.
Six or seven months have passed since Ying Zheng's tour.
Han Fei would not conclude that Ying Zheng would not live long just because of Nianduan's words, but it happened that Ying Zheng was seriously ill at this time.
After his verification, he found that this was not directed and acted by Ying Zheng, but a solid fact.
With theoretical basis and factual support, it is difficult for Han Fei not to doubt that Ying Zheng will be alive in a few days.
For this reason, he sent someone to contact Nianduan again, and the reply he received was that if Ying Zheng's condition worsened again and he refused to meditate immediately, the next situation would probably be very bad.
Out of the benevolence of a doctor, Nianduan did not directly say that if Ying Zheng did not accept medical treatment, he would die if he started to practice in-depth cultivation, but the meaning was clearly expressed.
Han Fei can naturally understand it and is willing to believe in the judgement.
Since Ying Zheng is about to die, it's time for the quicksand to start moving.