Lian Po did not tell Li Mu about his guess.
He knew that with Li Mu's character, he would not stand against Zhu Xiang even if his own interests were harmed.
But Li Mu was still young, and he was worried that Li Mu would lose his temper after learning that the King of Qin deliberately put Zhu Xiang in danger.
He and Li Mu were both "gifts" from Zhao to Qin. If they angered the King of Qin, they might spend the rest of their lives in Qin.
Lian Po himself didn't care. He came to Qin alone at an old age, and the king of Qin could choose whether to take his life or not. Li Mu was still young and came to Qin with his family, so he couldn't offend the king of Qin.
In fact, if Li Mu was sharp enough, he would have discovered this matter himself when he arrived in Xianyang. Lian Po's concealment might be meaningless.
It’s just that Lian Po always wanted the younger generation to have an easier time, even if it was only for a short while, which was just deceiving himself.
Besides, all this was just his guess. He would have to wait until he arrived in Xianyang and asked Zhu Xiang about the specific situation before he could get the full picture.
Maybe I misunderstood the King of Qin
Lian Po was very upset. When he was upset, he wanted to consult Lin Xiangru.
In the past, he was of noble birth, held a high position and had great power. He was deeply trusted by the king and was also a general relied upon by the State of Zhao. He never thought about these things.
In history, Lian Po never thought about these issues throughout his life.
After the Battle of Handan, the King of Zhao woke up and continued to rely on Lian Po, and Lian Po continued to go smoothly and became the fake prime minister. That's why he was defeated by the political struggle immediately after the new king ascended the throne. The other party only used a provocation to make him flee to another country and lose everything.
In this life, he and Lin Xiangru had Zhu Xiang, a younger generation who needed to be taken care of together, which added many hardships. He had been feeling lonely and lost since the Battle of Changping, so he had no choice but to pick up unnecessary thinking.
"That old man Lin Xiangru is dead."
Lian Po was just about to go to Lin Xiangru to discuss the matter when he remembered the reality.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, wondering who else he could talk to.
Finally, he silently went to get a basin of cold water to wash his face and buried his thoughts in the deepest part.
Lian Po went to find Li Mu, who was curious about Zhu Xiang's fiefdom and wanted to stay in Changping for a few more days: "We have wasted a lot of time. We should enter Qin as soon as possible and not keep the King of Qin waiting for too long. We should speed up."
Li Mu agreed to set off immediately, but was hesitant about speeding up: "The woman is young and can stand the journey. But Lou Huan..."
Lian Po snorted coldly: "If he can't keep up, just go by himself."
Li Mu already knew that Lou Huan and Lian Po disliked each other because of their benefactor. Hearing Lian Po say this, he could only smile bitterly, and then secretly went to Lou Huan to discuss and persuade Lou Huan to leave.
Although Li Mu tried to smooth things over, he firmly stood on the side of Duke Lian.
Lou Huan waved his hand and said, "You go first, the woman and I will follow slowly. It's just right that the King of Qin can go out of the city to welcome you and give you a surprise. If the woman is in the team, who knows, some people might think that the King of Qin is going to welcome her."
Seeing that Lou Huan was so easy to talk to, Li Mu had a much better impression of him.
Although Lou Huan had endangered the State of Zhao many times, the young Li Mu had not received much favor from the King of Zhao, nor had he ever been directly hostile to Lou Huan, so he got along well with Lou Huan.
Of course, he still stood firmly on the side of Lian Gong.
Lian Po didn't expect Lou Huan to be so easy to talk to. Before leaving, he deliberately circled around Lou Huan and whispered to himself, wondering if this old villain Lou Huan had some conspiracy.
Lou Huan rolled his eyes at Lian Po in a good-tempered manner: "Now you and I are both Qin officials, and I'm dying soon. What good will it do me to cheat you? Lian Po, do you still think you are Zhao official?"
Your ancestors! Lian Po was once again provoked by Lou Huan, and Lou Huan once again ran away from Lian Po's raised fist.
Li Mu was very happy to see Duke Lian becoming angry again.
Because of his mother's comfort, he was not so opposed to entering Qin. But Lian Po had always been gloomy and depressed, and he was very worried about Lian Po. So when he saw Lian Po was furious with Lou Huan and finally returned to his previous bad temper, he was of course happy.
Li Mu was supposed to escort Zhao Ji to Qin. He and Lian Po left first, and no one in the Qin delegation objected.
Bu stayed behind to "escort" Zhao Ji, and gave half of the Qin troops to Lian Po and Li Mu. The Zhao people brought by Lian Po and Li Mu stayed in Changping, and Cai Ze was responsible for settling them.
Li Mu's family also stayed in Lou Huan's team. Li Mu left all the servants he brought with him to protect his family, and went to Xianyang first to find a house for his family to live in.
Lian Po and Li Mu's speed of entering Qin was greatly accelerated, and they reached Hangu Pass in less than a month.
Meng Wu met them at the pass. When he heard that they wanted to reach Xianyang as soon as possible, he prepared good horses and rode into Xianyang with Lian Po and Li Mu.
Lian Po was very confused: "Why don't you ask me why I am in such a hurry to go to Xianyang?"
Meng Wu said honestly: "Besides Zhu Xiang and Zheng'er, who else in Xianyang can you both be concerned about? When Xunzi entered Qin, he wished he could grow wings and fly to Xianyang immediately to give Zhu Xiang a good beating."
Lian Po: “…” Oh, how could he forget that Xunzi was also in Xianyang.
Even though they had met many times, Lian Po was subjectively unfamiliar with Xunzi and hardly spoke to him.
With that temper, it was impossible for him to get along with Xunzi.
Thinking of Xunzi in Xianyang, Lian Po immediately became angry.
Zhu Xiang was pushed into such a dangerous situation by the King of Qin, but Xunzi, you didn't persuade Zhu Xiang not to jump into the pit? Although he couldn't stop the King of Qin, if Zhu Xiang didn't suggest that the generals teach and train the soldiers in the Xianyang Academy, the King of Qin wouldn't have used such a bad idea!
"Useless old man." Lian Po snorted.
Meng Wu's ears twitched and he felt happy.
Li Mu asked, "Are you familiar with Zhu Xiang?"
Meng Wu nodded: "Zhu Xiang is a loner, and he only made me his friend when he arrived in Qin."
Li Mu: “…” Why does this sentence sound weird
The honest child Li Mu did not think too much and worriedly said, "Is Zhu Xiang excluded by the nobles of Xianyang? Zhu Xiang is sincere to others and is not aloof."
Meng Wu said: "The prince often eats and lives at Zhu Xiang's house, and Zhu Xiang has to support Ying Hou and Wu An Jun, so he is forced to be isolated."
Lian Po and Li Mu both had big doubts in their heads.
It's fine that the prince often eats and lives at Zhu Xiang's house. It's probably because Xia Tong and Zheng'er brought him here. Why does Zhu Xiang want to support Ying Hou and Wu An Jun? Don't Ying Hou and Wu An Jun have any children? !
Even if there is no such thing, shouldn't the King of Qin send someone to take care of the meritorious officials? Is this what the Changping Lord of Qin is here to do? !
Lian Po and Li Mu finally understood why Xunzi wanted to have wings. They now felt that riding a horse was too slow.
Meng Wu happily rode back to Xianyang with Lian Po and Li Mu.
He was amazed at Lian Po, who was said to be old and had taken off his armor, but was not tired after riding a horse all day.
I heard that Lian Po is old. Are those people blind
When the King of Qin heard that Meng Wu had sent someone to report in advance that Lian Po and Li Mu were too worried about Zhu Xiang, so they abandoned the main force and rode back to Xianyang, his eyes widened with confusion.
He said to Prince Zhu, who was yawning and looking bitter while helping him check documents, "What are they worried about? Even if they are worried, what can they do by coming to Xianyang?"
Prince Zhu suppressed a yawn and said, "Maybe they don't care whether it's useful or not. They will feel relieved if they see Zhu Xiang sooner."
The King of Qin said: "I want to ask what they are worried about!"
Prince Zhu pretended to be frightened by the King of Qin and curled his lips in his heart. My Lord, you deliberately let the Qin generals who were originally very close to Zhu Xiang complain about Zhu Xiang, and asked them what they were worried about
You can do it yourself, and others cannot be angry or expose it. Is this what a monarch is like
"I heard that after Lian Po learned that Zhu Xiang returned the taxes from Changping to Changping, he angrily scolded Zhu Xiang for supporting Zheng'er." Prince Zhu "guessed", "Li Mu and Cai Ze said that Zheng'er didn't cost much money, and there was also Xia Tong. Lian Po scolded them for talking nonsense."
The King of Qin frowned and said, "Why haven't I heard of this?"
Prince Zhu said, "It was mentioned in the letter Cai Ze wrote to Zhu Xiang. I was there that day."
King Qin's brows relaxed: "So that's how it is."
After he saw through Zhu Xiang's true goodness, he asked people to reduce the surveillance of Zhu Xiang, for example, no longer requiring every letter Zhu Xiang received to be reported truthfully. So he only knew about this interesting thing now.
The King of Qin said, "When Lian Po and Li Mu enter Qin, I will go out of the city to welcome them. When Lian Po meets Zhu Xiang, I hope he will not embarrass him in public and question him for treating Zheng'er badly."
Prince Zhu sighed in his heart. He knew that his father and king would not be fooled so easily. He hoped that Lian Po would be smart enough to scold Zhu Xiang for "treating Zheng'er" after seeing him.
Prince Zhu waited anxiously for the moment when Lian Po and Li Mu arrived in Xianyang.
As expected, the King of Qin went out of the city in person to greet him and brought Zhu Xiang with him.
It was a rare occasion for Zhu Xiang to wear the crown and robes of a feudal lord, and he looked quite respectable.
Lian Po, Li Mu and Meng Wu dismounted in advance, walked to the front of the King of Qin, and kowtowed to him.
The King of Qin quickly helped Lian Po up and said, "Don't be so polite, Lord Xinping. From now on, Lord Xinping will not need to bow to me when he sees me."
He helped Li Mu up again and said earnestly: "Zhu Xiang often praised your talent as being comparable to that of my Lord Wu'an. I will also give you the title of Lord Wu'an of Baigong to guard. I hope that in the future, you can inherit the title of Lord Wu'an of Baigong."
Lian Po and Li Mu were both moved to tears of gratitude, and they wanted to reveal their hearts and livers to such a wise monarch, to show that they would never let the King of Qin down.
When the King of Qin saw Lian Po and Li Mu's tears of gratitude, he was also moved to tears.
Zhu Xiang: “…” He kept digging with his toes, and soon he would be able to dig out a new palace for Zheng’er to use as a secondary residence.
Lian Po glanced at Zhu Xiang sharply.
Zhu Xiang shrank his neck reflexively.
Upon seeing this, the King of Qin immediately changed to a kind smile and said, "Lord Xinping and General Li are tired from the journey, so I will not host a banquet for them today. Zhu Xiang has already prepared a place to stay, so let's go to Zhu Xiang's villa and continue our conversation."
Ying Xiaozheng interrupted: "Uncle Zeng, this is Zheng'er's villa. My uncle said that what belongs to Zheng'er belongs to Zheng'er, and what belongs to my uncle still belongs to Zheng'er."
"You are so talkative!" The King of Qin tapped Ying Xiaozheng on the head. "Come and salute Lord Lian and General Li."
"Mr. Lian! Teacher! Zheng'er misses you so much!" It was impossible to salute, so Ying Xiaozheng just pounced into Lian Po's arms.
Lian Po caught Ying Xiaozheng, was stunned at first, then choked up: "Zheng'er, why are you thinner? You've lost a lot of weight... Zhu Xiang!"
"I'm here, I'm here. Zheng'er has obviously gained weight!" Zhu Xiang hurriedly explained, "He's gained a lot of weight!"
"You fart!" Lian Po cursed.
Prince Zhu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Okay, okay, crisis averted.
(End of this chapter)