Qing Qiu's identity was kept secret. Fan Chun saw that she was young and beautiful, so he only regarded her as Fan Li's concubine. As for Princess Chang Le, Fan Chun didn't mind at all that his second brother was involved with the current Empress.
Upon hearing this, Fan Li's old face turned red: "What nonsense are you talking about? How could Princess Chang Le... Her Imperial Majesty possibly share a tent with me? And this Miss Qing Qiu, you can't randomly speculate and taint her innocence."
Tainting her innocence was no big deal, but carelessly leaking information might cost them their lives.
"Huh?" Fan Chun didn't take it seriously at all upon hearing this. Instead, he refuted. "Brother, stop pretending. Right now there's only us around, even the three Han envoys are on the same side as us. Also, I saw you and the Empress traveling together in the same carriage all this way..."
Fan Chun spoke in a honest manner. Fan Li really wished he could kick him.
"Hahaha, your brother is right. This Empress doesn't mind sharing a large tent with Lord Jin tonight," fearing the world wouldn't be chaotic enough, Princess Chang Le put on an act in front of Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan and the others that she and Fan Li were involved.
Qing Qiu had an indifferent personality, disregarding all worldly views. She also said, "Fan Li, I will naturally have to stay by your side day and night. There's no need to arrange separate quarters for me."
Fan Li opened and closed his mouth, unable to utter a single word for quite some time. These two women, one had skin too thick, the other's heart was too pure. He truly had no solution against them!
And so, the most luxurious of the six large tents was politely declined by everyone for Fan Li to use.
"Alas!" Fan Li shook his head and sighed, walking into the spacious tent with a headache while still followed by two women.
"A great man should be like this!" Cao Cao complimented, but failed to win agreement from Liu Bei and Sun Quan.
***
The next day.
Fan Li had just opened his eyes when he heard voices outside the tent.
"Lord, Wang Gong has returned but he is gravely injured!"
Fan Li exited the tent and saw that Wang Gong, leader of Cao Cao's hundred gold digging scouts, lay soaked in blood on the ground.
At this time, Cao Cao had also come out and was kneeling by Wang Gong's side.
"Lord... brothers... all dead..." Wang Gong said with difficulty.
Cao Cao's expression was solemn and he didn't speak, but his eyes were full of expectation.
Wang Gong continued: "Lord... I have verified... the entrance to the emperor's tomb is... is at..."
His voice grew smaller and smaller. Cao Cao hurriedly bent down to put his ear next to Wang Gong's mouth.
Fan Li stood several meters away. From his angle, he could only see Wang Gong's adams apple moving up and down, clearly speaking was already extremely difficult. After another moment, even Wang Gong's adams apple stopped moving.
Cao Cao also slowly straightened his back, but still remained half-kneeling. He stared at the now deceased Wang Gong for a while, then solemnly said, "Your wife and children, I will provide for."
The team immediately set out after locating the entrance to the emperor's tomb!
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan came well prepared. Plus, Great Han had inherited the most from Qin's legacy and grasped a lot of intelligence.
"Lord Jin, if this truly is the tomb of Qin Shihuang at the end of the Qin dynasty, according to the Qin imperial clan's traditions, the emperor's mausoleum could possibly be buried three dozen levels underground."
Fan Li was frightened upon hearing this. Underground for thirty-six levels? The underworld itself was only eighteen levels deep. Was Great Qin planning on digging through the center of the earth?
Seeing his suspicion, Cao Cao also shook his head and bitterly smiled. "This is in no way an exaggeration, Lord Jin must know that the initial First Emperor ended the long Spring and Autumn Period lasting for thousands of years. He is regarded as the once-in-an-eon First Emperor."
"His talent and valiance stood unparalleled in history. Even if Emperor Gao of Han or King of Chu were reborn, they wouldn't be able to compare."
"Before the First Qin Emperor's ascension, fearing failure in ascension, he imitated the thirty-six levels of heaven in the immortal realms and built thirty-six levels of mysterious underground palaces."
"Rumor has it those underground palaces could distort time, reverse life and death itself. Even if the First Emperor failed ascending to immortality, he would still have the chance of rebirth in his palaces."
Fan Li listened dumbfounded. There was actually such a thing?
The First Emperor imitated the thirty-six levels of heaven and built thirty-six underground levels? Qin was actually that powerful? A replica of the immortal realms?
As for the specifics of the First Qin Emperor's underground palaces with indescribable mystical powers, Cao Cao could only vaguely describe.
"Later generations of Qin Emperors, wanting to prove themselves no less than their ancestors, would also build themselves underground mausoleums of thirty-six levels before ascending."
"It's a pity that the techniques for constructing such mausoleums were lost after Qin's downfall. Not even the founding emperors of Han, Chu and Ming managed to recreate Qin's grandeur and magnificence."
Hearing Cao Cao's sighs, Fan Li shook his head inside. The various generations of Qin Emperors really should have been given Ultimate Villain systems. Putting aside other things, missions for massive national construction projects and vainglory would be easy for them to complete.
"Every Qin Emperor requires building such an underground palace, so why must we be digging into Qin Shi Huang's specifically?" Fan Li curiously asked.
Cao Cao's old face turned red, seemingly embarrassed to speak.
Liu Bei wickedly smiled on the side: "Brother Meng spent great efforts training his gold seeking scouts. He once indeed discovered the underground palace of a certain past Qin Emperor. But upon entry, he found the thirty-six levels completely empty, only a stone stele engraved with words remained..."
Sun Quan picked up: "The stele read: 'Due to great chaos in the realm and regional lords in uprising everywhere, we emptied the burial objects from our ancestors' mausoleums to fund military provisions in order to continue Great Qin's legacy and quell the rebellion.' It was signed 'unfilial descendant, Ying Ziying'."
"What?!"
Fan Li truly couldn't have imagined such an occasion even in his dreams. The last Qin Emperor's circumstances must have been extremely dire to have fallen to raiding his own ancestors' tombs?
He looked again at Cao Cao. As expected, this guy's tastes were unique. He had actually discovered a Qin Emperor's mausoleum long ago? His passion for tomb raiding really ran too deep!
It was only now that Cao Cao explained: "Based on our estimates, the previous generations of Qin imperial mausoleums should have all been raided by the last emperor. Only his own tomb possibly still retains the Qin imperial treasures."
"I understand now." Fan Li nodded. He approved of Cao Cao's deduction.
According to historical records, the last Qin Emperor Ziying first lost to Liu Bang of Han, then was killed by Xiang Yu of Chu.
And by Qin conventions, construction of imperial mausoleums began the moment emperors ascended the throne. So the last emperor Ziying definitely had his own tomb.
"Fortunately, the original host Fan Li was well read across many subjects. Otherwise, I wouldn't know that Han inherited most of Qin's legacy while parts were also lost. Not even the founding Chu and Ming Emperors obtained them."
"Now it appears that Qin's remaining legacy could all be hidden inside the last emperor's tomb."
Based on prior agreements, Great Han only desired a single Qin Emperor's Sword. The leftover treasures in the last emperor's mausoleum would belong entirely to Great Chu.
Fan Li's curiosity grew. Could it be that the three Han envoys actually had burial inventory lists? Otherwise how could they determine the Qin Emperor's Sword was surely buried underground?
Could he have been swindled? What if the remaining burial objects were all junk that even combined couldn't compare to a single Qin Emperor's Sword?
While Fan Li was lost in thought, at some point Princess Chang Le had made her way to his side and sent everyone else away.
"Fan Li, could you promise me one thing?"
Hearing the princess address him so warmly all of a sudden sent shivers down Fan Li's spine.
"Princess, just say what you need to say, there's no need for this..."
Princess Chang Le, unusually serious, spoke softly, word by word, "This time, I will fully assist you. But if you find a book in the Emperor's Tomb called 'Records of the First Emperor,' I hope you can give it to me.”