Only after Lu Buwei left the Prince's Mansion did he loosen his clenched hands and reveal an unwilling look.
He thought he had the Yi Ren under control, but now it seemed that the Yi Ren was just using him.
Although he knew rationally that he and Yi Ren were using each other, he did put himself in a higher position than Yi Ren, and Yi Ren was respectful to him and gave him enough face.
Lü Buwei was a wealthy commoner, his family was rich but his status was not high. After helping Yiren, when he thought he had the prince of Qin in his hands, he became drunk.
When Zhu Xiang entered Qin, he sensed something was wrong. However, the development of the situation left him no room for intervention, and he could only watch Yi Ren gradually escape his control by relying on Zhu Xiang's position in the heart of the King of Qin.
Now that Yiren has moved into Zhu Xiang's house, it almost foreshadows the failure of his plan - his status can no longer be as high as he imagined.
Lu Buwei was originally angry with Zhu Xiang, but his reason told him to wait and see what would happen, and he did not do anything to hurt Zhu Xiang.
But Lady Huayang was too stupid, so stupid that others might doubt him. He could only put down his status immediately, declare his innocence to the prince, go to Zhu Xiang's house to meet Yi Ren, and ask Yi Ren not to abandon him after using him.
"I was too arrogant." Lü Buwei smiled bitterly while holding his forehead on the way back in the carriage. "It turns out that Yiren is such a scheming person. Maybe he was the one who pushed Lady Huayang to do this stupid thing, and deliberately threw mud on me and Master Ziqi. Even if there was no Zhu Xiang..."
Even if Zhu Xiang hadn't been there, after Yiren became the King of Qin and had secured the throne, he would have been able to take action against himself easily.
Lu Buwei thought back to the prince's expression. Did the prince of Qin also see everything he did and not be fooled by his loyalty to Yiren
He thought Yi Ren was shallow and incompetent and allowed him to manipulate him, he thought the crown prince was dull and cowardly and allowed him to deceive him, he thought the King of Qin sat high up in the temple and didn't pay attention to his little actions...
"I really felt like I was walking on the edge of a cliff." After lamenting for a long time, Lu Buwei suddenly laughed heartily.
As a businessman who travels all over the country, which huge profit does not risk bankruptcy or even the destruction of his family? It is really unlike him to be negligent and complacent before the profit has arrived. The taste of power and status is really intoxicating.
You still have to be careful and take every step carefully.
"There is still some profit to be made from the money invested in Yiren, so we should stop while we are ahead. The next 'goods' to invest in..." Lü Buwei said with a smile, "Why should I be an enemy of Lord Changping? Lord Changping is the next 'rare good'."
How can a businessman go against profit just because of a momentary impulse? If you see others making money in a certain industry, of course you will join it.
After Xue said those words of warning, Madam Huayang was in no mood to continue receiving Xue, but she did not dare to let Xue leave. Fortunately, Prince Zhu came to rescue her.
"Xue Ji, Duke Zhu Xiang was touched and dreamt that Lin Qing passed away. He was extremely sad." Prince Zhu said, "You should go home quickly."
Xue looked panicked and forgot the etiquette she had learned. She immediately followed Prince Zhu and left.
When Xue returned home, Zhu Xiang had already woken up.
With a stiff face, he stopped Ying Xiaozheng from pouring hot boy's urine into his mouth under the instructions of the imperial physician, and firmly claimed that he was not sick when the imperial physician said that he was lacking in yang energy.
Can a boy's urine bag cure all diseases? Qin's imperial physician, you can't!
"Not crying anymore?" The old King Qin sat aside and watched the fun.
Zhu Xiang hugged the crying Ying Xiaozheng and said awkwardly, "The imperial physician wanted to force me to urinate, and it scared away all my sadness."
When the old King of Qin heard that Lin Xiangru had passed away, he was a little sad. But after hearing Zhu Xiang's words, his sadness disappeared and he almost laughed.
"You..." The old King Qin held his forehead, "I thought you were going to cry for a long time."
Zhu Xiang shook his head: "If I continue to be immersed in sadness, Lord Lin will scold me. Your Majesty..."
"I have sent people to investigate Lin Qing's affairs. You can go to pay respects after you get the news." The old King of Qin interrupted, "You should take care of your health first. Otherwise, if you are tired from running around all the time, your spirit in heaven will not be at peace. He...he came into your dream. What did he say?"
Zhu Xiang recalled the dream. After waking up from a dream, people should forget what happened in the dream. But the things that happened in Lin Gong's dream were still vivid in his mind and his memory was very clear.
"Mr. Lin said... the King of Qin protects me, the Crown Prince respects me, and Zichu is still Xia Tong." Zhu Xiang hugged Ying Xiaozheng tightly, unable to hold back tears again, "Zheng'er is smart, Xue Ji is tenacious, and Cai Ze is helping me. I am also on guard against others. He can finally leave with peace of mind."
Zichu, with a sad face, suddenly raised his head, then lowered it again, truly filled with sorrow.
It turns out that Mr. Lin still remembers Xia Tong.
"That's what he would say." The old King of Qin was silent for a while, and suddenly he envied Zhu Xiang who could appear in his dreams and give instructions to his relatives when they were leaving.
He will probably never have any relatives appear in his dreams throughout his life, and when he gets old he won't appear in other people's dreams either.
The imperial physician brought some tranquilizing medicine, and Zhu Xiang's face froze again.
After experiencing the imperial physician asking Zheng'er to feed him boy's urine as a medicine inducer, he was really worried that there was something strange in this bowl of medicine.
Holding the self-deception that "I don't know, so there is nothing", Zhu Xiang drank the strange-tasting medicine in one gulp and felt sleepy again.
The Qin imperial physician is not completely helpless. This bowl of medicine can really calm the mind.
When Xue returned home, Zhu Xiang was still awake. He tried to comfort Xue with a few words before he was forced to close his eyes by the effect of the drug.
Xue knelt beside Zhu Xiang's bed, holding Zhu Xiang's hand and not daring to cry out loud, for fear of disturbing Zhu Xiang's rest.
Ying Xiaozheng crawled into Zhu Xiang's bed again, held Zhu Xiang's arm tightly and refused to leave.
The old King of Qin asked Xue and Ying Xiaozheng to stay and guard Zhu Xiang, while he took the others away.
"When Zhu Xiang entered Qin, he had guessed that Lin Qing and Lian Po were old, and asked me to go to pay homage, and I agreed." The old King of Qin sighed, "I didn't expect Lin Qing to go so soon... Alas, I originally planned to let him take Zheng'er with him, but he just returned to Qin and has been traveling continuously. I'm afraid Zheng'er's body can't bear it. Zichu, you go with Zhu Xiang. Cai Qing, do you want to go too?"
The King of Qin originally asked Zhu Xiang to take Ying Xiaozheng away because Zhu Xiang had to bring Zhenger back to Qin for Zhenger's sake. Now that he found out that Zhu Xiang and Zichu were indeed close friends, he didn't need to bother Zhenger anymore.
Cai Ze said: "Xue Ji and Zheng Er need someone to look after them. I will offer sacrifices to Lord Lin from afar."
He guessed that the old King of Qin would only let Zhu Xiang leave Qin alone. Even if Zhu Xiang was captured by other countries on the way, Xue Ji and Zheng'er were in Qin, so Zhu Xiang would not be used by other countries.
He had not expected that the King of Qin would actually let Zichu go with him. The old King of Qin was closer to Zhu Xiang than he had imagined, and he wondered if he himself had realized it.
"I will take good care of Xue Ji and Zheng Er." Tai Zi Zhu patted his chest and said, "Why not let Xue Ji and Zheng Er live in my house?"
Cai Ze shook his head: "Xue Ji must want to take care of the house before Zhu Xiang comes back. She won't go anywhere else."
Prince Zhu said with a kind look in his eyes: "Xue Ji is indeed a good match for Zhu Xiang."
When the old King of Qin saw Prince Zhu's expression, he guessed that Xue must have behaved well when meeting Lady Huayang.
I don’t know what Zhu Xiang taught Xue Ji that made Dazhu feel so emotional.
Zhu Xiang slept soundly for the whole day, and when he woke up it was already dusk the next day.
The old King of Qin and Crown Prince Zhu had already left, and Xue fetched some water to wipe Zhu Xiang's face.
"Xue, I'm going to pay homage to Lord Lin. The King of Qin will definitely detain you in Qin. You have to use the excuse of mourning for Lord Lin to stay at home and not let anyone in." Zhu Xiang reminded, "Although you have to mourn, you can't not eat meat. Especially Zheng'er, you can't go without eggs, milk and meat for a day."
The nephew looked up from Zhu Xiang's lap and said, "Zheng'er is fat, it doesn't matter if he doesn't eat meat for a month."
"It does matter!" Zhu Xiang tapped Ying Xiaozheng's head gently. "You are growing up, you can't eat vegetarian food. Xue, you too, don't hurt your body because of mourning, Lord Lin will be sad."
Xue forced a smile and said, "You are the one. Look at your white hair. Mr. Lin must be very distressed to see you."
Zhu Xiang touched his hair and said, "Fortunately, the person Mr. Lin saw in his dream was me who had just left Handan."
After sleeping for a whole day, Zhu Xiang recovered from his grief and began to prepare to leave Qin.
Fan Ju originally thought that Zhu Xiang was weak-hearted and would cry for many days and become bedridden due to grief.
Seeing Zhu Xiang cheer up quickly, although he smiled less often, he was not sad every day, and even started to offer advice and work for the King of Qin, he was surprised.
Bai Qi recalled that Zhu Xiang had clearly prepared for death in Changping, but he led the Zhao and Qin soldiers to farm with a smile on his face and even held a New Year celebration for the surrendered soldiers.
"He is a down-to-earth person. Although he values love, he will quickly pick himself up and move forward." Bai Qi said, "Your Majesty's exchange of Handan City for Zhu Xiang is not to praise Zhu Xiang."
Fan Ju sighed repeatedly.
When Zhu Xiang asked him to find craftsmen to improve paper, he not only agreed, but also submitted a memorial to the King of Qin, requesting that the King of Qin gradually replace documents with paper to improve the efficiency of document delivery.
The King of Qin agreed and asked his officials to first copy the stored books on paper and compile them into volumes, which would then gradually replace the bamboo slips.
This cannot be accomplished overnight, and it will take at least one or two years of buffer time. However, it is inevitable that paper will replace bamboo slips due to its convenience and low cost.
When this matter reached the ears of the other six countries, the monarchs of each country, after learning the convenience of paper, all beat their chests and stamped their feet, regretting that they had not gone to pick up Zhu Xiang earlier.
The King of Zhao also sighed. When he saw the Qin State using paper, he knew the benefits of paper.
By promoting paper, Zhu Xiang established a real reputation in Qin. The Qin people no longer viewed Zhu Xiang as "the powerful Duke Zhu Xiang in the legend". He had made real achievements in Qin.
After gaining some initial fame, Zhu Xiang presented the King of Qin with a lunar calendar that combined the lunar and solar calendars, which was later called the Qin calendar. He said that different dynasties had different calendars, and the Qin State should also have its own "Qin calendar".
The Chinese calendar has been a combination of yin and yang since ancient times. The ancient observatory at the Taosi site around 2100 BC was used to observe the position of the sun. The Qin people knew what they were talking about. After Zhu Xiang presented the calendar, the King of Qin immediately ordered the Minister of Rites to gather people to survey and observe.
Although the King of Qin did not immediately use the calendar Zhu Xiang offered, his attitude showed that he was very satisfied with the "Qin calendar" Zhu Xiang offered. Zhu Xiang made another contribution.
After that, Zhu Xiang taught people to improve the technology of making sugar and salt. Qin State's official salt immediately carried out technical reforms, and with the generosity of the King of Qin, the sugar-making technology was written on paper for free and distributed for promotion.
For a time, not only the common people praised Zhu Xiang, but even the Qin nobles praised him.
After this, Zhu Xiang and Prince Zichu, on behalf of the King of Qin, toured the country to instruct on farming and sericulture. It was only April at that time.
When Zhu Xiang learned in his dream that Lin Xiangru had passed away, the old king of Qin had already appointed a captain to accompany him for protection. When Zhu Xiang and Prince Zichu left Xianyang, the old king of Qin replaced the unknown captain with Meng Wu, the son of Shangqing Meng Ao.
Speaking of Meng Wu, you may not be familiar with him. Meng Wu has two sons who are still young boys and not well-known. They are named Meng Yi and Meng Tian.
The old King of Qin was very nervous, and he grabbed Fan Ju's hand and said, "I regret agreeing to let Zhu Xiang go to pay homage to Lin Qing!"
Fan Ju smiled bitterly: "Meng Wu is brave and can definitely protect Zhu Xiang and Prince Zichu. Your Majesty, don't worry."
Bai Qi, who was silent on the side, laughed secretly in his heart.
When Zhu Xiang was waiting for news from Lin Xiangru, he felt a little awkward about leaving Qin without doing anything after arriving there. So before leaving Qin, he wanted to do something to show that he, the Lord of Changping, was not taking a salary for nothing and that he was not fleeing to another country.
Then, he achieved great results within a month, shocking the seven kingdoms and frightening the King of Qin so much that he dared not let Zhu Xiang leave Qin, for fear that the six kingdoms would raise their troops and kidnap him.
This Zhu Xiang is so interesting.
(End of this chapter)