bookrebus Chapter 223 Eastern Tour - Nightmare
Chapter 223 Eastern Tour - Nightmare
After many ministers left the bedroom one after another, the originally noisy palace gradually became quiet.
At that moment, a guard approached Zhao Gao. He clasped his hands together, bowed respectfully, and said, "Sir Zhao, please stay! His Majesty has ordered you to see him."
Zhao Gao's heart trembled when he heard this, and a trace of surprise and uneasiness instantly surged in his heart. He had never expected that he would suddenly receive a summons from the First Emperor at this time.
The First Emperor was still bedridden, and everyone had just seen him. However, despite his inner doubts, Zhao Gao did not dare to neglect him in the slightest and nodded quickly to indicate that he understood.
Then he took a deep breath, calmed himself down, turned around and followed the guard towards the First Emperor's bedroom.
Along the way, various speculations and thoughts kept flashing through Zhao Gao's mind, and he made up his mind, which was to play the victim and show his loyalty.
As soon as he entered the room, Zhao Gao saw the First Emperor leaning on the back of the bed. His face was pale and there was a hint of fatigue in his eyes.
The First Emperor frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "Zhao Gao, do you know why I summoned you?"
Zhao Gao raised his head, tears blurring his vision. He spoke in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, I do not know. But I serve Your Majesty wholeheartedly and have absolutely no selfish motives."
The First Emperor sighed softly and said, "Meng Yi said today that you were forming cliques within the court and deceiving the emperor. Is this true?"
Zhao Gao quickly shook his head and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, this is pure rumor! My loyalty to you is evident to heaven and earth. This is absolutely not true. Those people are jealous of my trust and are maliciously slandering me. Your Majesty, you must believe me!"
The First Emperor was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Zhao Gao, it's not that I don't trust you. It's just that this matter concerns the stability of the court, so I have to be cautious."
Zhao Gao hurried forward, knelt on both knees, and kowtowed, saying, "I am loyal to Your Majesty. Your Majesty has shown me great kindness, appointing me as Prince Hu Hai's tutor in criminal law. I am deeply honored and deeply grateful. Over the years, I have served diligently and conscientiously. Prince Hu Hai is a man of great talent, and I have only occasionally provided him with guidance. How could I be accused of forming a clique for personal gain? I am wronged!"
The First Emperor looked at Zhao Gao, who was kneeling on the ground with tears in his eyes, and a trace of pity welled up in his heart. He said softly, "I know. You should get up first!"
Zhao Gao stood up as if he had been pardoned and wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve.
The First Emperor asked again, "I can see that Hu Hai has made considerable progress under your guidance."
Zhao Gao quickly replied, "Prince Hu Hai is gifted, intelligent, and studious. I am merely offering some guidance."
The First Emperor nodded and said, "That's very good. I hope you can continue to teach Prince Hu Hai and help him become a prince of great use."
Zhao Gao kowtowed again and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. I will fulfill my mission."
The First Emperor waved his hand, signaling Zhao Gao to leave. Zhao Gao respectfully left the room, secretly relieved.
At night, the First Emperor lay on his bed in his bedroom with his eyes closed and his brow furrowed, as if he was shrouded in an invisible fatigue.
The dissatisfaction and unwillingness in his heart surged like a tide, and the desire for immortality once again ignited in his heart.
With Yu Heng's support, he sat up with difficulty, reached out to pick up the second black pill placed beside the bed, and swallowed it without hesitation.
Yu Heng wanted to stop it, but had no choice but to give up.
However, this time, the First Emperor did not feel as energetic as usual. Instead, a heavy feeling of fatigue and strong sleepiness came over him like a surging wave.
The First Emperor's breathing became rapid and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
He gripped the edge of the bed tightly, trying to fight the sudden drowsiness.
"Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?" Yu Heng asked softly. He stood beside the bed, his face full of concern and worry.
The First Emperor forced himself to open his eyes, glanced at Yu Heng, and said in a low voice, "I feel extremely tired. This elixir seems to have no effect."
The maids brought hot water and towels. Yu Heng quickly wiped the sweat from the emperor's forehead and said softly, "Your Majesty, perhaps you have been overworked recently and need a good rest."
The First Emperor shook his head and muttered to himself, "No, I cannot rest. I want to live forever and rule the world forever."
Yu Heng looked at the First Emperor's determined eyes, and a trace of sadness welled up in his heart. He knew that the First Emperor's obsession with immortality had reached a crazy level.
That night, the First Emperor woke up from nightmares several times.
Every time he woke up, his face was as pale as paper, and his expression was horrible, as if he was swallowed by a nightmare. Yu Heng stayed by the bed, looking at the First Emperor anxiously, but he could do nothing.
"I dreamed of countless dead souls, they were asking for my life, my kingdom is about to collapse..." The First Emperor's voice was filled with fear and despair.
The palace maids knelt down one after another, and Yu Heng comforted them, "Your Majesty, this is just a nightmare, everything will be fine."
The First Emperor closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. He knew that his pursuit had put him in an impossible predicament, but he was still unwilling to give up his desire for immortality.
It turned out that the First Emperor had several bizarre dreams.
In one, in a desolate mountain, there was a man dressed in coarse cloth, his face as pale as dust, his eyes as cold as ice, filled with despair, and he uttered a vicious curse: "My descendants will not have a good end."
In the second, a young man with a weathered face and half a head of white hair like frost coughed and cursed: "Zhao Zheng, you have used treacherous ministers to sow discord among the Zhao brothers. One day, the people of Zhao will surely exterminate your descendants."
Third, a prisoner's cart was robbed, and the prisoner's clothes were splattered with blood. Before dying, he used up his last bit of strength to curse: "After I die, my body will stink in the cart. Qin Zheng, you little boy, will be punished by heaven and will follow in my footsteps. I am waiting for you in the underworld."
Fourth, in front of a city, the Qin army paraded a burly man wearing a crown, hoping to force the defenders to surrender. The king remained unyielding, his eyes filled with endless shame, and he cursed, "Even if there are only three households left in Chu, Chu will be the one to destroy Qin!"
Fifth, inside the ancestral temple, an old man gently stroked a headless, helmeted corpse, wailing and cursing, "Qin Zheng, you will have no descendants!" Then, with his hair disheveled, the old man sat in the prison cart and cursed again, "Qin Zheng, you little boy, you will die suddenly on the road."
In the sixth scene, in a thatched hut in the mountains, an old man holds a starving child in his arms. The wind blowing through the pines and cypresses makes a sound like weeping and complaining. The old man looks up to the sky and curses: "I have died a tragic death without any sin. You will also die suddenly without any disease. I will wait for you in the underworld. Within ten years."