Chapter 2030 - 2028: Preparation (No Updates While Traveling to Sanya Tomorrow, Returning The Day After Tomorrow)

"Ha... is it still not working?"

Walking on the forest path, Fang Zheng sighed helplessly. He originally hoped to win Xiang Yu over to his side, but after actually talking with him, Fang Zheng discovered that this man was even more troublesome than he had imagined.

Although Xiang Yu also wanted to overthrow the Qin Dynasty, his thinking was simply to replace it with himself. Fang Zheng originally tried to discuss more in-depth issues with him, but Xiang Yu showed no interest at all...

Well, as they say, paths differ, so you can’t make plans together.

In Fang Zheng’s view, Xiang Yu is like a mountain king who only thinks about being the boss, with no interest in more practical matters, merely saying "such things should be left to those who understand them to handle"...

It seems that historical inevitability is truly bothersome.

He originally thought that by winning over Xiang Yu, it would be easy to start from Xiang Yu’s side, but now it seems that the two sides don’t agree on fundamental views at all. Xiang Shaolong, can you really educate a child? A modern person teaching a child who ends up with a completely ancient mindset is really a failure.

Forget it, after all, relying on oneself is better than relying on others.

Fortunately, Fang Zheng was prepared for this.

"Is this the result of your investigation?"

After reading the intelligence in his hand, Fang Zheng looked up at the people in front of him. Two men and two women stood before him, all appearing eighteen or nineteen years old. These youths were descendants of the refugees who moved into the Carefree Palace from the outside, and they received strictly Fang-style education here, making them way more insightful than second-rate minds like Xiang Yu when it comes to problem-solving.

"Yes, Master."

The leading male nodded.

"That Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall and roads, a project of a hundred years, but constructing the Epang Palace and tomb consumed countless human and material resources, causing the people to wail in grievance, burdened by overly stringent Qin laws, to the point where most of the populace is crying in anguish, unable to make a living."

"Indeed, Lord Fang."

At this, another girl hurriedly spoke.

"Seeing the deeds of those Qin Soldiers, they’re as fierce and vicious as tigers and wolves. When can we start the uprising?"

"Don’t we have many scholars among officials in Qin? Can’t they change the situation?"

"The disciples have inquired."

At this time, a third girl who appeared very quiet reported softly.

"They indeed strive to change the situation, several have repeatedly petitioned to reduce the burden on the people, but Li Si has complete control over the government, making their petitions essentially useless. Some who speak directly are demoted and punished, causing fear both within and outside the imperial court."

It seems history indeed isn’t easy to change.

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng also slightly frowned. Since the time of Qin’s conquest of the six states, the Carefree Palace has been sending large amounts of talent to Qin State, and these talents are partly to maintain the creation and existence of the Qin Dynasty. On the other hand, Fang Zheng hopes these individuals can influence Ying Zheng to see if the fate of the Qin Dynasty can be altered.

After all, the scholars from Carefree Palace also contributed significantly during Qin’s conquest, and many rose to high positions, so they have a certain level of influence. Unfortunately, the tide of history seems clearly difficult to change; although these people have their own reputation and power in the Qin Dynasty, they still fall short compared to Li Si at present.

At this moment, the last man who hadn’t spoken stepped forward.

"I believe, for the sake of the common good, Master should directly go to Xianyang and thoroughly kill the ruthless and brutal King of Qin Ying Zheng to give the people justice!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng chuckled and changed his posture to lean back against the chair.

"You make it sound simple; killing Ying Zheng is indeed easy, then what?"

"Naturally, Master should follow the will of Heaven, obtain the throne, and with the support of our ministers at court, it would be possible to change the dynasty without bloodshed and accomplish the great cause!"

"Hm, well said; it certainly sounds simple."

Fang Zheng nodded, then picked up the tea cup beside him for a drink.

"Though if I wanted to do that, I would’ve done it long ago, but I haven’t. Do you know why?"

Facing Fang Zheng’s question, the four of them looked at each other, and then the first man quietly spoke.

"Because Master said, revolution is not a dinner party."

"Exactly, revolution requires blood and sacrifice."

Fang Zheng nodded.

"Why must there be bloodshed and sacrifice? It is because it is a battle for ideals, both simple and not simple. The issue we need to solve is why are we fighting? Who is our enemy? How is our enemy formed? How do we recognize our enemy? How do we resist our enemy?"

Here, Fang Zheng spread his hands; these were the questions he previously discussed with Xiang Yu, but unfortunately, Xiang Yu showed no interest. Yet for Fang Zheng, to start an uprising, one must have a theoretical foundation that is widely accepted. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang’s rebellion, with the slogan "Are kings and generals born with special qualities?", resounded mightily, but the problem was they didn’t build a complete theory around this slogan. The slogan with promising prospects eventually turned into a bandit mindset of "if you can be a mountain king, so can I"...

"What we need to do isn’t simply to replace one ruler with another. What we need to accomplish is to let all the people in the world understand this truth, understand why they fight, and then initiate the uprising voluntarily, opposing feudal oppressors. Indeed, killing Ying Zheng is mere child’s play to me, and it literally wouldn’t take five seconds. But what difference does changing one ruler make? It makes no substantial difference for the common folk, does it? If they don’t understand why they fight, what is the point?"

Here, Fang Zheng squinted his eyes.

"Killing a person is easy, but overthrowing a system is incredibly hard."

At this moment, the three young women from before spoke again.

"I’ve heard that recently Qin Shi Huang, Ying Zheng, has been obsessed with seeking immortality and cultivating the Way. Master, you are a Celestial Being reincarnated, why not enter the Royal Palace and speak with Ying Zheng, using your Celestial status to make him treat the people better. In this way, Ying Zheng would surely be intimidated by your Celestial power and restrain himself."

"Oppression can only last for a while, not forever."

Fang Zheng shook his head, also denying this suggestion from his student.

"You must remember, regardless of how tyrannical and brutal Ying Zheng is, he ultimately unified the Six Kingdoms and achieved the everlasting legacy of Qin Shi Huang. Such a figure cannot be threatened easily. If he could be threatened, then he wouldn’t be Qin Shi Huang."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng again looked over the intelligence before him.

"Continue with the plan as scheduled. In any case, now is not the time."

When Qin Shi Huang dies suddenly and Qin the Second Generation ascends, and when Chen Sheng and Wu Guang’s rebellion occurs, then it will be time for them to act.

However, Fang Zheng did not know that at this moment, Qin Shi Huang in the Royal Palace had a different look.

"Are you sure?"

Ying Zheng stood up, staring fiercely at the General below, who was pale-faced.

"Yes, I personally led people to inspect the corpses!"

This traces back to when Fang Zheng helped Xiang Yu and the others escape capture. At that time, Fang Zheng played "Spring River, Moonlit Night," sending those officers to heaven, and naturally, he left those bodies behind. But the King of Qin couldn’t just leave it at that. Seeing that the troops sent to capture the escapees had not returned for a long time, it was only natural to send people to search. They were shocked to find them all dead upon arrival.

After a preliminary examination of the bodies, everyone knew what had happened.

After all, Fang Zheng’s technique of killing with the Kotone was very easy to identify: first, there would be no survivors, and second, all the dead had died from bleeding from the seven apertures, and only people, no horses, died. Therefore, with just a little inspection, it immediately became clear.

For others, the significance of this might still be unclear, but upon receiving this news, Ying Zheng’s hair stood on end.

He had heard Xiang Shaolong recount tales of this Sword Immortal several times since he was young, and coupled with that incredible strike at Jixia Academy, it had deeply impressed Ying Zheng. So after unifying the Six Kingdoms, Ying Zheng put in great effort to find Fang Zheng. Unfortunately, every attempt ended in failure. But this time, the opponent had reappeared and seemed to be targeting him...

What is going on? Didn’t Grand Tutor Xiang say that the Sword Immortal disliked getting involved in these matters and only dealt with bandits? Why attack the Qin soldiers capturing rebels?

Could it be...

With this thought, Ying Zheng was startled.

"Who are those rebels?"

"Well... my subordinates have already investigated, and they were originally a band of dissenters, without anything suspicious, but..."

At this point, the General hesitated slightly.

"But what?"

This time, Ying Zheng was also glaring at him, asking in a low voice, and the General hurriedly replied.

"But when I was investigating, I heard from the common people that at the execution ground, just before the execution was about to take place, a man suddenly descended from the sky, interrupting the execution. The executioner believed he was colluding with the aforementioned rebels in a conspiracy to raid the execution, or was perhaps some kind of Yokai, thus ordered him to be executed along with them..."

"Descended from the sky?"

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng’s body trembled, and he began to sweat profusely.

Could the man who descended from the sky be a disciple of the Sword Immortal?

If that’s the case, then the Sword Immortal’s intervention makes sense!

Oh, how could it be like this!

Realizing that he might have inadvertently offended the Sword Immortal, Ying Zheng’s heart was troubled. He snorted coldly and stomped his foot hard.

"Exterminate the entire family of that Inspector! Execute his three clans!"

"Ah?"

Hearing Ying Zheng’s order, the General was also taken aback.

"Your Majesty, this..."

"Shut up, aren’t you going to do it?"

"Yes..."

Seeing Ying Zheng in such a furious state, the General dared not say more and quickly accepted the command and left, while Ying Zheng sighed deeply and sat back in his chair.

If things are as he imagined, then... what should he do now?!