August, the eighth year of Di Xin's reign.
Four months had passed since the rebellion was quelled.
For those four months, Zi Shou had waited quietly.
He had to lie low.
Safety first. His ministers' ingenious ideas had already scared Zi Shou thoroughly.
They thwarted him every day, with "Your Majesty is wise" always on their lips. Who could stand that?
Anyway, during these four months of waiting for Nezha to pull out the Dragon Tendon, there had been no opportunities to generate Foolishness Value. He might as well let Jizi make more preparations. The Fengshan Sacrifice to proclaim himself emperor had to be grander, more overblown.
When he performed the Fengshan Sacrifice on Phoenix Mountain and Chentang Pass was flooded, his day of ascendance would arrive.
That single killing blow would stand in stark contrast to his normal behavior over the past four months, leaving his ministers even more disappointed.
Construction on the Great Wall had begun three months ago, and large numbers of prisoners of war and slaves had already been transported away.
Bi Gan had contributed a great many slaves. When Zi Shou learned of this, he felt conflicted.
You're a rebel. Why are you doing your part for the country?
Fortunately, he heard that Bi Gan had recently gathered his remaining slaves on his estate and stayed behind closed doors. He was probably using his donation of slaves as a ploy to put Zi Shou at ease while stirring up trouble in secret.
Now that's more like it!
If you were a loyal minister, what would I keep you around for?
Chong Houhu, Su Hu, Jiang Huanchu, and several other Feudal Lords who were relatively close to him had all contributed slaves. As for those who refused or used underhanded tricks to deliberately send fewer slaves,