Chapter Thirty-Five: Entering the City! Entering the City!!
Shen Qing helped Qin Lei into the carriage, where Shi Wei was already waiting inside and handed a spittoon to Qin Lei. Qin Lei's mind relaxed, and he hugged the spittoon and vomited violently. Shen Qing stepped forward, wanting to pat Qin Lei's back, but feared touching his wound, and hesitated for a moment.
Shi Wei didn't care about these things, and made an effort to help Qin Lei adjust his collar. After waiting until the vomiting had almost stopped, he picked up a cup of water that had been prepared earlier and handed it to Qin Lei's mouth.
Qin Lei waved his hand, panting and leaning against the carriage wall. He had been in a hurry to rush along the road all day, and hadn't eaten since breakfast. Drinking nearly ten kilograms of strong liquor on an empty stomach was enough to ruin this 16-year-old's body.
His two eyes wandered aimlessly in the carriage, and it took a long time to refocus. Shi Wei handed over clear water again, Qin Lei took it, slowly brought it to his mouth, rinsed his mouth, spat out phlegm, and slowly recovered normally.
The wine fumes filled the car. The three people inside were completely unaware of it and still kept the doors and windows tightly closed.
The carriage stopped for a meal, Shi Wei broke the silence, he said in a low and hateful tone: "Your Highness, this is clearly someone trying to make you lose face. Using such a large cup, and using 'Xianren Zui' which is the strongest wine in Qin State."
Qin Lei looked at him and shook his head: "No one wanted me to make a fool of myself, it's just that I can't hold my liquor."
Even Shen Qing couldn't hold back, excitedly saying: "Your Highness, you were such a hero on the way back to our country, how could you...". He felt that he was being too rash and ultimately didn't say the rest of his words.
Qin Lei chuckled and didn't intend to answer, but he also didn't want to hurt this subordinate whom he liked very much and was extremely loyal. So he opened his mouth and asked: "Then what do you think we should do?"
"Whoever dares to insult Your Highness shall be killed without pardon!"
Shi Wei couldn't take it anymore and slapped Shen Qing's head, scolding: "Nonsense! Do you think we're in some desolate wilderness where you can kill whoever you want?"
Qin Lei smiled and nodded in agreement, saying: "Shi Dage is right, the waters of the capital are deep, no one will resort to arms unless they have no other choice."
"That can't be considered as it is, at least we should beat him severely to vent our anger."
Qin Lei's face gradually darkened and he sternly asked: "I'm asking you, what is the most important thing we came to the capital for?"
Shen Qing saw the emperor's anger and felt anxious, saying in a low voice: "There are still the families of those who died in battle to be comforted, and the heavily wounded comrades to be taken care of."
Qin Lei narrowed his eyes and hummed, "Since you know, then I'll ask you again, do we have any friends or acquaintances in the capital? Do we have any official positions? Do we have a foothold?"
Qin Lei asked a question, Shen Qing shook her head once, and after three times, Shen Qing fell silent.
Qin Lei's expression eased slightly, and he said softly to Shen Qing, "I know you're trying to stand up for me. Wasn't I also arrogant and domineering when I was in the capital?"
Shen Qing recalled the time when His Highness was in Qi, angrily punching the gatekeeper Ding, teasing the good monk Shanhe, and tying up the national teacher's nephew. At that time, His Highness was a hostage in a foreign land, facing a difficult situation, yet he still refused to give in. Thinking of those amusing events, a smile crept onto his lips.
Shi Wei saw Shen Qing walk out of Niujiao and was also delighted: "That's right, now we need to take care of the dead and wounded brothers, and it's not certain who will be used. The real power in Beijing is complex and intertwined, if things go wrong, they will become a stumbling block for us. Brother Shen, rest assured that according to our lord's temperament, after stabilizing the situation, he will definitely make those people look good."
Qin Lei said with a sullen face: "Am I so petty? I've always thought of myself as very magnanimous."
Shi Wei and Shen Qing were amused by Qin Lei's pretended dejected appearance, laughing together. Qin Lei smiled as he watched them, but his mind was completely preoccupied with something else.
He is going to see his own mother, Da Qin Jinfei Niangniang. This is the fifth palace's sixteen years later reunion with his mother, and also Qin Lei's first time seeing the person who will be called "mother".
For this mother, generally speaking, Qin Lei is not averse to her and even has some good feelings. After all, the matter of the prince being held hostage is not something that one concubine can control. After all, her own family had given herself unusually great help, it can be said that she was able to return to Qin country, 90% thanks to the Shen family.
So for Qin Lei who had no inkling of the hardships his mother had endured for sixteen years, he was more than willing to accept this cheap mother.
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Of course, he couldn't go see his mother reeking of alcohol, so Qin Lei instructed Shi Wei to arrange a bath.
The horse carriage continued for another half an hour and they arrived at Zhongdu City.
Qin Lei had seen the city walls of Shangjing, which were not only high and sturdy but also beautifully shaped, luxurious and exquisite. Even all the bricks on the wall were inlaid with beautiful cloud patterns.
When Qin Lei poked his head out of the carriage, a giant city over 15 zhang high suddenly appeared before his eyes.
It was even twice as high as the capital city.
The bluish-green city bricks are two feet long and eight inches wide, which is also twice as large as the city bricks of the upper capital. Such city bricks were built one by one to build this hundred-zhang-high city wall, and it took tens of millions of blocks. The city wall has obvious color boundaries at five zhang and ten zhang. Below five zhang, the color is close to black, above five zhang, the color is bluish-green, and above ten zhang, the city bricks are obviously newer than those below, with much lighter colors.
The Qin state was warlike and its military strength surpassed that of either Qi or Chu, so it often provoked the two states to form an alliance to attack it.
Two fists can't contend with four hands.
The state of Qin had suffered a crushing defeat in history several times, and even the capital city was besieged three times. The most recent one occurred sixteen years ago.
The scars of war sixteen years ago have been largely erased by the wind and rain of sixteen years. But if you look closely, you can still see the pockmarks on the city wall, silently telling the story of its suffering.
Every time it was besieged, the Qin people would redeem their guilt by raising and solidifying the city walls, resulting in its current appearance.
The horse carriage passed through the city gate, and Qin Lei was once again overwhelmed by the persistence of the Qin people. The city gate tunnel was actually five zhang long. In other words, the thinnest part of the city wall of Zhongdu would not be less than three zhang. Qin Lei's weak sigh in his heart, no wonder there wasn't a single mountain within a hundred miles, it turned out that they were all dug up to build walls.
In a daze, I even forgot to savor this historic moment, and before I knew it, I had entered the city of Zhongdu.
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I actually made it onto the history genre newcomer potential list again, thank you everyone. I will use all my might to make it happen, please be more fierce
Go ahead and recommend me, fire away at me. Thanks.

