Lü Buwei!

Lü Buwei had always been a complicated man.

Even in this world, where everyone was complicated, he was not the only one. Yet people as complicated as him were indeed rare.

Just like the School of Miscellaneous Thinkers he championed.

In its broadest sense, "miscellaneous" encompassed everything.

Put plainly, it meant knowing a bit of everything without mastering anything.

It could also be called pragmatism.

When faced with a person or an issue, one used whatever method worked best. For instance, in governing a state, if the Legalist School worked, then use the Legalist School; if the Confucian School worked, then use the Confucian School. Adapt measures to local conditions and change with the circumstances.

There were naturally benefits to doing so.

Pragmatists usually did not let themselves suffer losses.

But there were also quite a few drawbacks.

The greatest of them was the lack of a clear position.

In other words, Lü Buwei could repeatedly jump between different camps.

When Prince Cheng Jiao was still alive.

He had been a staunch supporter of Ying Zheng.

He protected Ying Zheng, backed Ying Zheng, and safeguarded his own interests.

It could also be said that he stood with Zhao Ji and her son.

But after Prince Cheng Jiao died, he became the Qin Chancellor who promoted his own ideals—a man whose approach to governing conflicted with Ying Zheng's in certain respects, even one who stood on equal footing with Ying Zheng, the King of Qin.

He went from being one of their own to being an enemy.

From a teacher to an obstacle in the way of Ying Zheng's personal rule.

For Ying Zheng, this was indeed an extraordinarily difficult trial. Precisely because he understood the methods of his former partner, Lü Buwei, so well, he knew all the more clearly