NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81 – The Records of the First Emperor
What Princess Chang Le said makes sense. How could an imperial gift from the Son of Heaven be casually taken back?
Fan Li was currently impersonating the Qin Emperor. If he immediately satisfies any of Zhao Gao's requests, it would be lacking the demeanor of the Son of Heaven. After thinking these things through, Fan Li put on a stern face and didn't say a word.
Zhao Gao was no doubt someone who had served the First Emperor before, so he naturally understood the logic of 'no achievement, no reward'.
"Your Majesty, Zhao Gao is a slave of great Qin. If you have any orders, I will carry them out even at the cost of ten thousand deaths!"
Fan Li listened with great interest. He really wanted to keep Zhao Gao by his side. After all, this was an expert at the Great Vehicle realm. Fan Li only thought about it and didn't show anything on his face.
This Zhao Gao fellow simply couldn’t leave the area of the First Emperor's mausoleum. How could he possibly be willing to die ten thousand deaths for him?
‘Right, I haven't obtained the Sword of the Qin Emperor and the Writings of the First Emperor yet, can't forget about the main task.’
The mission this time was the two treasures of the First Emperor's mausoleum. The Sword of the Qin Emperor was in Zhao Gao's hands. The Records of the First Emperor were probably only known to him as well.
Fan Li could not directly ask for them. That would not match the dignity of the Qin Emperor after all. After a little thought, he had an idea.
Fan Li sneered, "As the Emperor of Qin, is there anything in this world that can confound me? Why should a mere servant like you pledge your life for me? Have you forgotten that during this inspection of the Mausoleum, there are over two thousand Golden Core guards, not to mention experts in the Nascent Soul Realm, Unity Realm, and Great Vehicle Realm protecting me?"
There was no need for a draft when boasting. Fan Li spewed it out casually.
Zhao Gao would not possibly go check if Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, Qing Qiu, and the others were really his people anyway. Upon hearing this, Zhao Gao seemed to deflate like a popped balloon, unable to even utter a word in rebuttal.
"Your Majesty, your slave... your slave speaks from the bottom of his heart. I'm willing to be loyal to you to the death..."
Feeling that he no longer had any use, Zhao Gao could only wag his tail and beg for mercy, hoping that Fan Li would pity him.
Fan Li continued, "Also, the First Emperor was this One's ancestor. Asking me to tamper with the imperial edicts of my ancestor goes against filial piety in the end. Zhao Gao, do you want me to become an unfilial descendant of the Ying clan of great Qin?"
"This slave does not dare! This slave absolutely does not dare! Your Majesty, this slave would not dare by any means!"
Even though Zhao Gao was a dried corpse at the Great Vehicle Realm, he still trembled all over with fright at this moment as he prostrated on the ground and repeatedly knocked his head into the ground.
Fan Li frightened Zhao Gao a bit, but he would not make the other fall into despair. Otherwise if driven too anxiously, the rabbit bites and the cornered dog jumps over the wall.
"Zhao Gao, actually I still have some doubts in my mind."
"Ah?" Zhao Gao had been frightened out of his wits. He only waited foolishly for Fan Li to reprimand him.
"I dare to speculate about the sacred intentions of our ancestor, the First Emperor. If he truly believed you were unforgivable, he would have annihilated you outright. Yet, he allowed you to remain here, guarding the Mausoleum. Could it be he's hinting at a chance for redemption in the future?"
As a transmigrator, Fan Li often saw a type of over-interpretation worship storyline in his past life. For example, a great literary master once wrote: ‘There are two trees in front of my house, one is a jujube tree, and the other is also a jujube tree.’
Fan Li remembered that a certain university professor actually wrote a research thesis of over one hundred thousand words based on these simple twenty words, deeply excavating the author's inner feelings and state of mind as well as all sorts of metaphoric hints.
Fan Li believed that over-interpreting things in front of Zhao Gao would have great effect.
"Yes, yes, yes! Your Majesty is wise. The First Emperor must have thought this way!" Seeing a ray of hope suddenly descend from heaven, Zhao Gao became so excited he nearly cried. Too bad he was a dried corpse and had no tears to shed.
Suppressing his amusement, Fan Li sighed, "Do not rejoice too soon. I cannot presume to understand the intentions of our ancestor, the First Emperor. Having been separated by millennia, I know little about him..."
Fan Li deliberately paused, teasing Zhao Gao's curiosity.
"To be honest, I've never even seen the writings of our ancestor, the First Emperor."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Gao immediately spoke excitedly, "Your Majesty! The immortal palace contains many ink treasures left behind by the First Emperor. This slave begs that he be allowed the honor to fetch them for Your Majesty to look over!"
Indeed, fell right into his trap!
Fan Li sighed again and said, "When rescuing the Empress just now, you performed some tiny merits. Forget it. I would also be delighted to admire the ink treasures of our Ancestor. Consider it to be your reward."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" It seemed that Zhao Gao feared Fan Li would change his mind. His feet skimmed the floor as he immediately rushed out.
After a little while, Zhao Gao came back carrying two stacks of bamboo slips nearly a person's height high in each hand.
"So many!" Fan Li cried out in feigned anger, "Zhao Gao, do you think my time is very ample, with whole days to idle about doing nothing?"
"Your Majesty, quell your anger! This slave has only fetched everything over. However much Your Majesty wishes to see is completely your own matter. I do not dare to decide for you."
Seeking desperate to be reincarnated, Zhao Gao had upturned all of the First Emperor's ink treasures from the immortal palace. Hearing Fan Li say this, he hurriedly set the bamboo slips down and knocked his head to admit his crimes.
Fan Li went along and continued speaking, "You should have picked some most important ones, and preferably articles that can elucidate our Ancestor's lifelong conduct, personality and habits, as well as inner thoughts. For instance, the First Emperor's diary, essays and the like. For me to read this kind of article would allow me to better grasp our Ancestor's intent. Do you understand?"
"Yes, yes! Your Majesty is completely reasonable. This slave is too foolish!" Zhao Gao listened with delight. After a little thought, he discovered that something like this really existed! He rummaged for a while before presenting a jade tally.
Seeing that it wasn't bamboo slips, Fan Li felt doubtful in his heart, but he didn't reach out to take it.
Zhao Gao hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this is a memoir personally written by the First Emperor."
"Oh?"
Indeed, it was the [Records of the First Emperor]!
Fan Li appeared calm on the surface, but was extremely excited inside. He glanced sideways at Zhao Gao, then suddenly questioned strictly, "Zhao Gao, guarding the imperial mausoleum for many years, have you ever secretly stolen from your watch? Have you presumptuously peeked at the contents within the Records of the First Emperor?"
"No, absolutely not, Your Majesty!" Zhao Gao crashed to his knees on the floor with a 'thud'.
"This slave was heavily punished by the First Emperor to remain here. How could I dare commit another crime again? I beg Your Majesty to believe that this slave has already reformed himself many years ago. I absolutely would never err again."
While kowtowing, Zhao Gao said to himself, ‘He is truly worthy of being the First Emperor's descendant. Their thoughts as emperors are as alike as one. I must be careful serving him, just as I had carefully served the First Emperor back then!’
"Mm." Fan Li nodded his head, his tone still stern.
"I'm not trusting you blindly, but rather placing my faith in our ancestor, the First Emperor. Since he has already disciplined you, I trust you have mended your ways. Furthermore, the Empress still needs to recuperate. While I accompany her, I'll take the opportunity to peruse this record. The rest of the scrolls can be put away for now."
Fan Li put on an appearance of reluctantly and not coveting the treasures of the immortal palace at all. The more he acted this way, the more Zhao Gao believed and respected him!
"This slave does not dare disturb Your Majesty and Her Majesty. This slave will withdraw for now. Tomorrow morning early on, I will come again to serve you." After speaking, Zhao Gao kowtowed three loud times before retreating from the room with bowed posture.
Only after Zhao Gao's figure completely disappeared did Fan Li finally relax with a long exhale. Putting on an act before a Great Vehicle Realm expert really was exhausting.
"Here you go."
Fan Li directly handed the [Records of the First Emperor] to Princess Chang Le without any reluctance.
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