I Became the Crown Prince of a Ruined Country

42 – Anxiety and Peace

The way back was exceptionally long today.

I always walked fast to save time, but now my stride is short and slow. It was because of a complicated head with many thoughts mixed together.

‘Jeong could become King Jin.’

It is not confirmed.

As Jeong said the other day, Jeong’s father, Yeongjacho, went to Qin and had a child with another woman.

Unlike Jeong, who lived like a beggar in Handan, his half-brother born in Qin must have been well-to-do and received an excellent education. People would have gathered around him, and he would have been treated like Yeongjacho’s only child, and people would have looked up to him like his successor.

If you think so, wouldn’t it still be unlikely that Jung would ascend the throne?

“Is this just my hope…”

Out of frustration, self-talk came out.

If Zheng were to become King Qin, it was very likely that he would be Qin Shihuang due to timing.

It is none other than Qin Shi Huang, whom I will instruct Jing Jia to assassinate.

‘If Jeong is truly the future Qin Shi Huang, what should I do? Should I stick with the current relationship?’

I don’t know much about Qin Shi Huang, but I do know a few famous stories.

For example, while building the Great Wall of China, he made people’s lives fall into disaster by making them build luxurious and splendid palaces.

Also, the books containing the profound teachings of the disciples were burned and the scholars who learned them were buried.

He was afraid of dying and became a mercury addict while pursuing eternal life.

I had heard of such famous stories. There are achievements such as unification of weights and measures that are learned in textbooks, but after unification, tyranny leads to the fall of the Qin Dynasty and opens the era of Chohanji.

‘If Jung really is that person….’

“Dan? What do you think?”

I got out of the swamp of thoughts only after being blocked by someone and stopping.

I hurriedly looked around and saw the familiar scenery of the accommodation. It seems like they just moved their feet randomly, but to find the house accurately, how terrifying the human instinct to go home is.

Jeong stopped me by grabbing the hem of my clothes, and when I didn’t answer, he complained.

“No answer. Usually it’s a bit strange, but today it’s a bit strange.”

“Oh, no. I’ve been busy lately, so I must be a bit tired.”

“Then let’s go in and rest. He said he’s going to meet Pyeongwon-gun in Hankyung-do. Just skip today’s studies, huh?”

Yes. Probably not.

I couldn’t imagine that a girl like this, who smiled and said let’s skip today’s study right in front of me and rest, would be that kind of tyrant in the future.

No matter how much Jeong is the eldest daughter of Yeongjacho, she has a mother from the country of Jo, who is not so great, and she has completely escaped the attention of the state of Jin until now.

Judging from the fact that it has been neglected so far, wouldn’t it mean that Yeongjacho will forget the days of Jo Na-ra and start anew?

Moreover, to say that Yeongjacho married a girl from a noble family in the Qin Dynasty and had her son, I’m not interpreting the situation just for convenience.

“Yes. Then.”

It shouldn’t have been.

§

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Just as the clear sky spreads out after a typhoon passes, Handan also went back to his daily life as if he was confused.

It wasn’t just the case of assassinating the enemy general. The long political struggle between Geonsin-gun and Pyeongwon-gun also finally came to an end.

The winner was Pyeongwon-gun.

The assassination of the enemy general was decisive. Saying that he knew his own shortcomings, Gunsin-gun voluntarily resigned from the upper room and yielded his position to Pyeongwon-gun. Pyeongwon-gun also promised that there would be no purges or reprisals.

King Jo restored Pyeongwon-gun to the upper level, while Geonsin-gun was given the vacant post by Han Hyang after Han Hyang was executed.

Up until now, the separation of the civil and military officials was not very clear, but the state was an official position that was more inclined to the military side.

He could have been appointed to a higher rank right below him, but it seemed like an appointment that respected Gunsingun’s intention to withdraw from the center of politics for a while.

The stability of Handan also worked as a big favor for me.

People of Handan, who suffered from extreme stress amidst anxiety and fear, actively tried to enjoy the given daily life, regardless of social status.

It’s a kind of compensation psychology. People found enjoyment in self-justification, saying that since I endured such a difficult time, it would be okay to enjoy a little amusement.

Such people’s change of heart was something I had been waiting for.

Finally, the chess frenzy that I have been dreaming of has begun to blow.

“hahahahaha! Young master! It’s a great success! It’s not enough to just make it and sell it, and it’s getting in trouble because of the backlog of reservations!”

The fact that I am listening to Nogucheon’s cries of happiness in broad daylight represents my completely different position.

Not only did the people who were watching me disappear, but I didn’t have to worry about the people around me anymore.

Although it was great that Pyeongwon-gun, who had publicly declared a breakup with me but still had trust in each other, became the superior, it was effective that even my antagonist, Geonsin-gun, changed his mind.

If my subordinates don’t mention it, King Jo won’t be interested in me. No matter how hard the officials below work, how busy the king is.

If you are determined and only indulge in pleasure, you will be busy and nothing, but the current King Jo was the type to take care of state affairs diligently.

I don’t know about anything else, but he was strong in his sense of responsibility and ambition as a king. However, it’s a big problem that I ignored the words of the rest of the servants and took care of the work on my own.

Anyway, with the combination of the money accumulated from the hot selling of organs, the tacit protection of Pyeongwon-gun, who rose to a higher position and was in charge of state affairs, and the cooperation of Geonsin-gun, my biggest enemy, I obtained near-perfect freedom.

‘Of course, if King Jo blows candles, he will go out, but even so, King Jo, who is busy with Jin and Wei, would bother bothering me?’

However, it was far from perfect freedom in that the possibility was not 0%.

‘But, well, if you’ve reached this level, you’ve done really well.’

He climbed far from the bottom with nothing but his bare hands.

To be honest, if I were to go back and try this, I wouldn’t have the confidence to succeed.

As material and mental leisure came into being, my interests changed a lot. Not too long ago, the study of writing, which I used to light up, gave up halfway after I beat Jeong by a narrow margin, and I was just taking classes with Hankyung.

And the upper management was also entrusted to Nogucheon. Anyway, for the time being, I had to do everything in my power to popularize and sell organs, so there wasn’t much for me to do.

It wasn’t just playing. I spent the extra time with Jung.

Jeong may be the future Qin Shihuang. That home has never been forgotten.

I didn’t even know the identity of the emotions that surged in my stomach whenever I remembered that thought.

Is it anxiety, fear, or a sense of security that I will be safe?

I saw Jung’s talent in not being able to dismiss my ideas as groundless fantasies. I witnessed it closer than anyone else in the world, in so much detail.

His childhood memories and his ability to learn letters by himself using only the books around him are enough to stick out his tongue, but Jung, like a politician with a presbytery, had insight into the flow of the situation through the conflict between various forces.

So, I guess.

If it’s Jeong, it’s a vague guess that even in these bad conditions, if there’s just a cause, he’ll be able to win the throne.

‘If I take good care of my mental health, wouldn’t there be room for compromise even if Jeong was the real Qin Shi Huang?’

If it really is, let’s pretend that Zheng is Qin Shi Huang. Just as there are many cases in modern times where children who were abused as children grow up to become heinous criminals, isn’t the tyranny of Qin Shi Huang a legacy of such evil habits?

Conversely, if it is true that Qin Shi Huang belongs to such a case, someone may be able to break the chain of evil and guide him to the right path to lead to a better future.

That’s why I paid attention to Jung despite Hankyung’s complaints.

“Like this, I mash the flowers on my nails with salt and put them on my nails. Wrap them well with leaves and wait for a day or two and it’s done.”

“Is this really the end?”

“Yes. Instead, you have to be careful not to peel off the leaves covering your fingers.”

As for what I was doing right now, I was painting balsam on Jung and his nails.

Once upon a time, Shin Leung-gun came to visit me, and at that time, Shin Leung-gun dyed his fingernails a shade of crimson that was brighter than her hair.

Jung said that he had a strong impression after seeing it, so he tried to do it alone, but it didn’t go well, so he found me.

Looking at Jung asking that he want to color her nails too, I looked back at the self that she had been worrying about so far.

Jeong is still a child who is happy to dye her fingernails with balsam, but she is already worried that she will become the tyrannical Qin Shihuang who wages war on all nations and destroys them.

This is an adult disqualification.

If Hyungga saw it, would he have said something?

But it was a peaceful time. To the point where I wish it would go on like this in the future.

But in this Warring States era, where blood and flesh splatter, intrigues and schemes run rampant, such poor days can’t last long.

‘There has been no war for nearly two years. Now, any country will slowly try to stretch itself.’

Contrary to my expectations, however, the upheaval that shook the world, which was like a calm lake, was not a war.

It was a ripple that started with the death of one person.

The loser of the Warring States who made the world tremble in fear.

King Qin finally died.

He was 74 years old.