How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 710

Li Mountain Hunting Ambush

Zhao Ji returned to the 离 Palace [Likely refers to a specific palace or residence. If further context is available, specify which palace] and immediately summoned Lao Ai to her room to discuss their departure.

“Take the children and leave Xianyang. I will beg the King to spare your lives. Lü Buwei and I will relinquish our power to the King, allowing him to truly rule. I think he will agree. We can find opportunities to meet in secret after that. Okay?” Zhao Ji said.

Lao Ai immediately replied, “Are you sure this will work? How could the King possibly let the three of us go? As a man, I can assure you he won’t. If you let him rule, we’ll lose all leverage to protect ourselves. You can’t be so naive.”

Zhao Ji said angrily, “What else can we do? Even if we do as you say, are you sure you can kill him? He’s not stupid; he’ll be prepared.”

Lao Ai smiled and said, “What we need is a foolproof opportunity. Once it arrives, we’ll succeed.”

“No! I’m ordering you to prepare immediately and leave Xianyang with the children. Otherwise, I won’t protect you anymore,” Zhao Ji said.

Lao Ai’s two children wanted to become the King of Qin. Zhao Ji had to live and continue to control the court. Otherwise, even if he could kill Ying Zheng, neither of his children would have a chance to inherit the throne.

For this reason, Lao Ai didn’t dare to turn against Zhao Ji. He had to appease her until his children became the King of Qin.

“Don’t worry, I’ll listen to you, okay? But I need time to prepare. At the very least, I need to transport some wealth out and buy a house for the children. Most importantly, we need to leave with guards in case the King goes back on his word and hunts us down. So, you need to buy me some time, okay?” Lao Ai said.

Zhao Ji nodded and said, “Okay, that’s fine. Go prepare quickly; the sooner you leave, the better.”

Lao Ai nodded with a smile and turned to leave.

Lao Ai was indeed preparing, but not to leave Xianyang. He was preparing to assassinate Ying Zheng.

That night.

Lao Ai secretly gathered 3,000 retainers for a meeting.

“News from the palace says that the King will go hunting in Li Mountain in a few days. This hunt won’t be a grand affair; he’ll only bring a few dozen Imperial Guards. I’ve already discussed it with Ying Yu, the commander of the Li Mountain garrison. He will keep the garrison from moving, creating an opportunity for us to encircle the King. If all goes well, Ying Yu will even bring troops to help us. So, our chances of success are very high. You are all my good brothers. If we succeed, every one of you will be promoted and enjoy wealth and glory, and your descendants will inherit your titles. If anyone can kill the King, they will be rewarded with ten thousand gold coins, enfeoffed as a marquis with ten thousand households [granted land and serfs, a sign of great honor], and their descendants will inherit the title for generations. Do you all have confidence?” Lao Ai said.

“Lord Changxin [Lao Ai’s title], rest assured, we will do our best to help you succeed!”

“We enjoy the Lord’s patronage. If the Lord needs us, we will do our best.”

“A true man should do something earth-shattering in this world.”

“I became the Lord’s retainer with the goal of assassinating Ying Zheng one day. Now that the opportunity has come, the Lord doesn’t need to make any promises. I will risk my life to complete the mission!”

……

Lao Ai nodded with a smile and said, “Good! With this attitude, I can rest assured. After it’s done, I, Lao Ai, will definitely fulfill my promises. Everyone, prepare yourselves. In three days, we will enter the Li Mountain hunting grounds in advance to lie in ambush. When Ying Zheng enters our encirclement, we will immediately launch an attack and strive to end the battle as quickly as possible.”

Before dawn, Ying Zheng got up to review memorials [official documents]. After he finished, he woke up Yang Chen for breakfast.

Yang Chen said with a smile, “Being a king is hard work. You have to get up before dawn to work.”

Ying Zheng replied with a smile, “You get used to it. Teacher, I have something to discuss with you.”

Yang Chen nodded and said, “Just say it, Zheng-ge [a familiar and respectful way to address someone], no need to be polite.”

“Teacher, Lao Ai has many followers. If I mobilize Meng Wu to send troops, I’m afraid it will alert Lao Ai. What if he doesn’t fall for the trap?” Ying Zheng asked.

“That’s not a big problem. Don’t you have a few dozen Imperial Guards? That’s enough,” Yang Chen said.

“But isn’t a few dozen Imperial Guards too few? Lao Ai has several thousand retainers. Isn’t that too risky?” Ying Zheng said.

Yang Chen said with a smile, “Wait, I’ll show you something good.”

Yang Chen got up, ran out, and took a fully loaded submachine gun from the car. He came back and said to Ying Zheng, “I specially brought weapons to help you. This thing is enough to deal with Lao Ai’s thousands of retainers.”

Ying Zheng looked at it curiously and asked, “Teacher, what kind of weapon is this? I’ve never seen it before.”

“This is called a gun, a submachine gun, specially used to charge at the enemy. I’ll show you its power, and you’ll know why I’m so confident. Let’s go outside!” Yang Chen said.

Yang Chen pointed to several artificial hills a dozen meters away and said, “Zheng-ge, watch carefully. My weapon can smash all those artificial hills!” Ying Zheng said in shock, “Teacher, is that true?”

Yang Chen smiled, immediately pulled the safety, and fired a burst at the artificial hills. A magazine of bullets went over, and the artificial hills were immediately disfigured and shattered on the ground.

Ying Zheng looked at the incredible scene in shock. Then he ran forward to check the rubble. He turned around and asked in shock, “Teacher, your weapon is so powerful that it shattered these stones. Its killing power is much greater than bows and arrows.”

Yang Chen said with a smile, “Of course! I have 30 of these in my car, and ten thousand bullets, enough to wipe out Lao Ai’s thousands of retainers. Zheng-ge, you go and decide which Imperial Guards to take. I’ll give them the guns and teach them how to use them.”

Ying Zheng nodded excitedly and said, “Okay. Wait a moment, Teacher, I’ll go take care of it immediately. Haha…”

Ying Zheng was thinking not only about getting rid of Lao Ai but also about how easy it would be to unify the six kingdoms if the Qin army was equipped with such weapons.

That night.

Ying Zheng explained a few things to his wife and then came to Yang Chen’s place.

“Huh? Zheng-ge, why are you here so late at night?” Yang Chen asked.

Ying Zheng said with a smile,

“I want to sleep with Teacher. I want to hear Teacher talk about what the world is like 2,000 years from now.”

“That’s not good. If you want to hear, I can tell you during the day. If you come to my place at night, your wife… oh, the Queen, might misunderstand. Besides, as the King of Qin, you have to produce offspring for the country. Hurry up and have more children. If you sleep here with me, won’t that delay having children?” Yang Chen said.

Ying Zheng said with a smile, “One night won’t make a difference. Teacher, tell me about the weapons of 2,000 years from now.”

Yang Chen came this time to complete the mission and get the mission reward, which is all the technology of the Nantianmen Project [a futuristic technology project].

Since Ying Zheng asked about weapons, he might as well tell him about the Nantianmen Project.

“The weapons of 2,000 years from now are very powerful. The submachine guns we are practicing with are considered low-end weapons. High-end weapons all fly in the sky. A super-large airborne platform flies in space. How big is it? About the size of your Xianyang Palace. It can carry hundreds of airplanes. What are airplanes? I’ll draw one for you to see…”

As Yang Chen explained, he drew for Ying Zheng. Ying Zheng listened in amazement, as if he were listening to a myth.

“We also have bases on the moon. Usually, we just grow vegetables. Once a war breaks out, we can launch laser weapons from the lunar base. In the blink of an eye, we can hit targets on the ground from the moon. Just imagine, in the blink of an eye, the enemy is burned. How powerful is that weapon? If the enemy is exceptionally brutal, then we don’t need to show mercy. We can directly launch nuclear bombs from the lunar base. There’s no way to intercept them. The enemy can only wait to die…”

After listening to Yang Chen’s description, Ying Zheng was full of longing for 2,000 years from now.

“Teacher, after we join hands to unify the six kingdoms, can you take me back to your era to see?” Ying Zheng asked.

Yang Chen nodded and said, “Of course. Work hard, and when you unify the six kingdoms, I’ll take you to see the modern world.”

Ying Zheng nodded happily and said, “It’s a deal!”

Five days later, the Li Mountain hunt began.

Early in the morning, Ying Zheng set off with dozens of Imperial Guards. Yang Chen mingled in the middle, following Ying Zheng to the Li Mountain hunt.

At this time, Lao Ai, who had been lying in ambush in Li Mountain for two days, couldn’t wait to kill Ying Zheng with his own hands.

After about half an hour, Ying Zheng rode his horse into Lao Ai’s ambush.

With a command from Lao Ai, the three thousand retainers who were ambushing here rushed out with weapons, surrounding Ying Zheng and dozens of Imperial Guards.

Ying Zheng said loudly, “I am Ying Zheng, the King of Qin. Who are you? How dare you ambush me here!”

Lao Ai, in full armor, walked out with a smile. He was holding a long spear in his hand, looking quite the part.

“It’s your fake father, Marquis Changxin, Lao Ai, who has been waiting here for the King for a long time,” Lao Ai said with a smile.

Since having children with Zhao Ji, Lao Ai had called himself the King of Qin’s fake father, extremely arrogant.

Ying Zheng sneered and said, “You rebellious traitor, how dare you call yourself my fake father? You don’t even deserve it! I didn’t come looking for you, but you came to my door yourself. What, you brought so many people here to ambush me today, wanting to kill me so that your bastard can ascend the throne?”

Lao Ai immediately said, “Please respect your words, Your Majesty. They are your half-brothers. You say they are bastards, then what are you? You were just a bastard born from the affair between the Queen Mother and Ying Yiren [Ying Zheng’s supposed father]. The Queen Mother was Lü Buwei’s plaything. Lü Buwei gave her to Ying Yiren, and that’s how you came to be. Lü Buwei was able to become the Prime Minister because the Queen Mother contributed greatly. After Ying Yiren died, the Queen Mother and Lü Buwei rekindled their old relationship and often engaged in illicit affairs. Later, Lü Buwei was afraid that you would discover their secret. To get rid of the Queen Mother, he sent me to her. I have to say, the Queen Mother really knows how to play. She quickly gave birth to two sons for this Marquis. Haha…”