Diqin Designer

Chapter 12: The "good things" that Hu Hai and Zhao Gao did in those years (Part )
Li Nian thanked him and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!"

He also wanted to see how the First Emperor would react when he learned about what Hu Hai and Zhao Gao had done.
After organizing the words, Li Nian said, "Before I start, I would like to ask Your Majesty a question: Who do you think will inherit the throne after you pass away?"

When this question was asked, Meng Yi also looked at him sideways, thinking that this man was really bold. This question involved two things that might anger the king: one was talking about the king's death, and the other was the position of crown prince.

Would a normal minister dare to ask the king so directly?

I’m afraid the family tree is too thick!

But this person came from later times, so he must have a reason for asking this question. According to the names he wrote before revealing his origins, could it be that it was Prince Hu Hai who eventually ascended the throne?
At this thought, Meng Yi's heart tightened. Their Meng family had placed their bets on Prince Fusu. Although the king had not officially appointed a crown prince, everyone knew that the king favored Prince Fusu.

But if Prince Hu Hai came to power in the future, where would Prince Fusu be? And what would happen to his Meng family?

Thinking about the fact that this person specifically asked him to deliver the bamboo slips, Meng Yi had some bad guesses in his mind...

What Meng Yi could think of, Ying Zheng could naturally think of as well. He said, "I won't hide it from you. In my opinion, Prince Fusu has the ability to inherit the throne."

In fact, Ying Zheng was not very satisfied with Fusu, so he had not officially appointed a crown prince for all these years. But as he was the tallest among the short ones, and his other sons were not as good as Fusu, it was very likely that he would give the throne to Fusu in the future.

This was what Ying Zheng really thought in his heart, but now from what this person said, his idea probably did not come true, and instead Hu Hai took the throne.

Li Nian said: "Many people think so, but it's a pity that it was Prince Hu Hai who ascended the throne in the end!"

Ying Zheng frowned and said, "You mean Hu Hai used some means to ascend to the throne? This matter also involves Zhao Gao, Li Si and others?"

Li Nian nodded, "That's right! In the 35th year of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's reign, Prince Fusu wrote to the king to advise him about the king's killing of illegal sorcerers, but the king was furious and ordered Prince Fusu to go to Shangjun to supervise General Meng Tian and help him build the Great Wall to resist the Xiongnu."

First Emperor?

Ying Zheng keenly noticed the word "Shi Huang" and immediately realized that this must be a name for him, but was it given to him by later generations or did he make it up himself?

Ying Zheng felt that it might be him. When he received the news that King Jian of Qi was taken to Xianyang that day, he thought that his achievements had surpassed the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and he should give himself a higher title - Emperor!
After looking at Li Nian deeply, Ying Zheng became more and more convinced that Li Nian was from the future. He had not told anyone else about his idea of ​​becoming an "emperor", but this person knew about it. He must have learned it from history books.

But why did he want to kill those warlocks?

He could see that sending Fusu to Shangjun was both a punishment and a way for Fusu to learn about military affairs, get close to Meng Tian, ​​gain support from the Meng family, and prepare for inheriting the throne in the future.

At this point, Ying Zheng felt that there was nothing wrong and there shouldn't be anything wrong. So where was the problem?
Li Nian then said, "From Your Majesty's perspective, this arrangement should be fine. Even if there is a problem, it's not a big deal. But this incident has caused a result - Prince Fusu has moved away from you!" "Your Majesty is the ruler of the Qin Dynasty. Although Fusu is a prince, his power actually comes from Your Majesty. His moving away from Your Majesty means moving away from the power center of the Qin Dynasty, giving others an opportunity to take advantage of him."

Ying Zheng's eyes suddenly focused. He probably understood that Fusu's power came from him, so he could naturally deprive Fusu of his prince status and power!
Usually, Fusu and he were both in Xianyang and were close to each other, so if there was anything, the father and son could meet and communicate. Naturally, other people did not dare to frame Fusu blatantly.

But if Fusu stayed away from him, he and Fusu would not be able to communicate directly and in time, which would give others the opportunity to frame Fusu, such as falsely conveying his will to deprive Fusu of his status as a prince, or even forcing Fusu to commit suicide.

Thinking of the latter point, even with Ying Zheng's ability to control his emotions, his face couldn't help but look a little grim, because the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the latter point was likely to happen: since Hu Hai conspired with Zhao Gao and Li Si to come to power, they would definitely try to remove Fusu, the biggest thorn.

Anger arose in Ying Zheng's heart, both at the audacity of those people and at Fusu's stupidity. He knew without much thought that those people must have falsely conveyed his order to let Fusu commit suicide, otherwise, relying on Meng Tian's army in the north, they would have been able to defeat Hu Hai even if Hu Hai had already proclaimed himself king.

According to this person, Hu Hai did ascend the throne and was not hindered by Fusu, so there is only one possibility - Fusu died!
"Stupid and pedantic, how could I give birth to such a foolishly loyal and filial son?"

Having guessed the whole story, Ying Zheng was annoyed at Fusu's foolish loyalty and filial piety, as he committed suicide because of a false decree. At the same time, he was also somewhat relieved that Fusu was so loyal and filial to him.

"In the thirty-seventh year of the First Emperor's reign, the King once again toured the country. In July, he arrived at Shaqiu and became seriously ill. He ordered Zhao Gao, the chariot officer, to write a will to Prince Fusu, which ordered Prince Fusu to return to Xianyang to preside over the funeral and inherit the throne."

"According to some later sources, the will had already been sealed, but the king unfortunately passed away before it could be issued."

"After the king passed away, the Imperial Chariot Officer Zhao Gao, Prime Minister Li Si, Prince Hu Hai and others felt that their chance had come. They thought that since the king had passed away and the will had not been issued, couldn't they change the will?"

"So several people tampered with the king's will and appointed Prince Hu Hai as the crown prince. At the same time, they forged a will and gave it to Prince Fusu. In the edict, they listed the crimes of Prince Fusu and General Meng Tian and ordered them to commit suicide!"

"With your talent, you should be able to guess the outcome. Prince Fusu and General Meng Tian will commit suicide, and Prince Hu Hai will take over the throne!"

Meng Yi was horrified when he heard this. His brother Meng Tian actually died like this?
No, the death of his brother Meng Tian was just the beginning. I’m afraid that other members of the Meng family would not have ended up well, including him.

'No wonder this person asked me to deliver the bamboo slips. He trusts me so much. Isn't he afraid that I am also on Master Hu Hai's side...' Meng Yi thought to himself. Now he finally understood everything.

Now that Fusu is dead, the Meng family who supported Fusu would naturally be liquidated. Moreover, he had offended Zhao Gao. If Zhao Gao got the chance, wouldn't he beat him to death?
His fate will probably be the same as his brother's - death!

Li Nian was a little disappointed. After he said this, the First Emperor did not get furious and immediately summon Hu Hai to beat him up. But after thinking about it, he understood. Who could prove that what he said was true?
What if Li Nian deliberately fabricated the story to frame Prince Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, and Li Si?
It is normal that the First Emperor did not react immediately. It shows that he is calm and rational and will not be fooled by a few words!

(End of this chapter)