The sun sets late.
Guo Kai came out of Zhao Palace and took a chariot back to his mansion.
The streets of Handan are so quiet. Occasionally, you can see a few pedestrians, all of them walking in a panic and eager to go home.
Ever since it was known that the Qin people had defeated the Zhao army and forced Handan, chaos arose in the city.
Many people wanted to leave the city and escape, but since the afternoon, King Zhao ordered that all those who left the city without permission should be cut in half, and the city fell into a deathly silence.
No one dared to leave the city or go out. They all hid at home, waiting for the moment when the Qin people broke through the city.
Guo Kai was very irritable.
The rapid defeat of the Zhao people was beyond his expectation, and many of his arrangements could not be carried out.
He was thinking about what to do next.
After returning to the mansion, Guo Kai entered the study alone, opened a secret compartment, took out several things, and held them in his hands for inspection.
He had a small wooden box in his hand, and a ball of black air in his other hand.
Guo Kai stared at the thing in his hand, as if he was caught in some kind of memory.
The room was silent and dimly lit.
Suddenly, Guo Kai's face turned serious: "Who?"
A young maid of seventeen or eighteen years old walked in outside the door: "The time has come, and I will come to deliver the medicinal soup to you."
The Zhao clan has been pursuing the art of immortality since King Xiaocheng's later years.
During the period of King Xiaocheng, the Zhao people gained a lot from the Secret Palace of Yin and Shang, among which the masters of Yin and Shang passed it down to explore the elixir of immortality.
After Xiao became king, the two emperors Zhao Yan and Zhao Qian all maintained this habit and secretly collected elixirs and medicinal materials in order to refine the elixir of longevity.
The process of collecting various medicinal materials required Guo Kai's hands.
So Guo Kai was given the opportunity to intercept it privately.
Some of the medicinal materials he secretly withheld were better than those used by King Zhao, so he had some medicinal materials every day and he had to take them on time.
The maid is here to deliver the medicine.
Seeing the waitress coming in, Guo Kai walked over and drank the medicine, and then asked, "What did you see just now?"
Guo Kai was suspicious and worried that the waitress would know about the secret compartment he opened and the process of taking things from it.
The waitress shook her head and glanced down at Guo Kai, seeing that he was holding a small box in his hand and a wisp of black energy in his other hand.
Just one glance at the black aura made the lady feel chilled in her heart, and she exclaimed in surprise: "I didn't see anything."
"Really?" Guo Kai reached out and caressed the waitress's face.
The waitress began to tremble slightly.
Before she came to work as Guo Kai's personal maid, she heard the servants in the house secretly discuss that the people who worked for Guo Kai often disappeared inexplicably.
Some servants said that they also saw ghosts in Guo Kai's study.
At this time, Guo Kai's hand fell on her face. The waitress was inexplicably horrified and instantly got goosebumps.
ah!
The waitress suddenly let out a quick scream, but it was Guo Kai's fingers caressing her face that quietly extended a wisp of black air, which suddenly penetrated the waitress's eyes until the whole finger was completely inserted.
The waitress was imprisoned by a force. She was in excruciating pain but could not make a sound. Her body twitched and she died in the blink of an eye.
The ball of black air held in Guo Kai's hand suddenly filled the air, and the whole room was like a ghost land, with the black air churning and the temperature plummeting.
But it soon returned to normal, except that the maid was gone.
Guo Kai coughed a few times, lowered his head and stared at the small box in his hand: "It would be an advantage for the King of Qin to donate this thing."
He glanced at the sky outside the window and felt that it was almost time to do what he had to do, so he left the house and boarded a carriage.
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"Why did King Qin write separate letters to me and your Majesty before the war?"
In the tent, Li Mu asked his question.
Zhao Huaizhong did not answer but asked: "What does General Li think is the reason?"
Li Mu said with an uncertain tone: "Does the King of Qin want to create a rift between our Zhao people and our ministers to help Qin defeat Zhao faster?"
He used a questioning tone, obviously unsure of his guess, but also unable to figure out Zhao Huaizhong's arrangement.
Zhao Huaizhong said with a smile: "General Li thinks that if the Qin army defeats Zhao, I need to personally take action to drive a wedge between you and King Zhao?"
Li Mu: "I am about to ask King Qin for advice."
Zhao Huaizhong: "I heard that the general's grandfather was Li Tan, and he also entered the Qin Dynasty and became an imperial envoy.
I entered Zhao later, is this possible?"
Li Mu already somewhat understood what Zhao Huaizhong was going to say: "The Master of Qin is right. My grandfather is indeed Li Tan. He once served as an imperial envoy to the Qin Dynasty and then returned to Zhao."
In the Qin Dynasty, the king of heaven and earth had his own teacher, and each minister served one king. The hierarchical concept of serving the king formulated by Confucianism was not as intense as that of later generations.
In this era, famous ministers and good generals often change jobs.
For example, Lian Po, an old general with great talents, was a rare famous general in the entire history of China.
When he ran away from Zhao, he first went to Wei, hoping that the Wei people would reuse him. Later, he was ostracized in Wei and ran to Chu again.
Working hard in various countries, looking for jobs everywhere, it seems that he has lost some of his loyalty to serve one king and one country for his whole life, but the old general is not ashamed.
Mainly because of the social atmosphere at that time and the rising and falling of ideological trends, it was not just about etiquette and respect for one family.
Li Mu's ancestor also entered the Qin Dynasty as an official, and even reached the position of imperial envoy.
His ancestors were not from Zhao.
Including the current Lu Buwei, Shang Yang, Zhang Yi, and Fan Ju who once entered the Qin Dynasty, all of them came to Qin as officials from other countries, and some of them came from hostile countries.
Therefore, one of Zhao Huaizhong's arrangements in the process of conquering Zhao was to avoid the fate of Li Mu being buried with Zhao.
If it was possible, and I said it was possible, he hoped that Li Mu could also join the Qin Dynasty.
Not to mention Li Mu's military talent, he was one of the four famous generals of the Warring States Period, as famous as Lian Po, Wang Jian, and Bai Qi. He was also a saint in the art of war.
More importantly, Zhao Huaizhong's focus is different from everyone else in this era.
In addition to the achievements that the First Emperor should have, what he hopes more is to see the other side of the world.
If it were just to conquer the empire that the First Emperor should have in history, famous generals such as Wang Jian, Wang Ben, Meng Tian and Mengyi would seem to be enough.
But Zhao Huaizhong still hopes that Qin will be stronger.
At least, Uncle Liu Huang must be well equipped. It is not too much to gather five generals of Wang Jian level.
So one of his many planned purposes was to get Li Mu to enter the Qin Dynasty, at least to save his life first.
Although Qin and Zhao were enemies, Li Mu's hope of joining Qin was slim, but in this era, and with the identity and perspective of Saint Li Mu, it was not impossible.
After Li Mu understood Zhao Huaizhong's purpose, he shook his head as expected and said decisively: "I will never serve Qin.
I have been fighting for many years, and many of my subordinates died at the hands of the Qin army.
Although there is no room for mercy in battlefield battles, I cannot enter Qin."
Zhao Huaizhong was not disappointed, or even unexpected, and said calmly: "Then what is General Li going to do next?"
"...I haven't thought about it yet. If King Qin wants to kill me, I won't resist." Li Mu said.
"After Qin took the land of Zhao, since General Li didn't want to join Qin, how about he stayed in Zhao, disbanded his troops and returned to his fields?" Zhao Huaizhong said.
Li Mu showed a look of astonishment.
The Lord of Qin was willing to let him go, and actually let him stay in Zhao, which surprised him very much.
At the same time, he was also shocked by Zhao Huaizhong's courage.
In other words, he was infected by Zhao Huaizhong's strong confidence.
Zhao Huaizhong dared to let him go, obviously because he had absolute confidence and certainty, and was not afraid of Li Mu's repeated attempts.
Zhao Huaizhong and Li Mu chatted for a long time. When the conversation was over and they were about to leave, an attendant came in from outside the door and came to Wang Jian to report in a low voice.
To be continued...