15. Qin Shi Huangdi Chopped Off His Brothers’ Heads
To take his mistress’ mind off him, and focus her affections on another, Lu Buwei searched for just the right replacement lover who would appeal to Qin Shi Huangdi’s mother, Lady Zhao. He found what he was looking for in a certain Lao Ai, an extremely well-hung young man, whom he presented to the king’s mother. One look at Lao Ai’s big bat, and Lady Zhao fell for him, hard. As in, head over heels out of her mind besotted. So Lu Buwei had all of Lao Ai’s hair plucked out to disguise him as a eunuch, and moved him into the dowager queen’s palace. It was a passionate love affair. The queen was soon pregnant by Lao Ai, and she moved to the countryside to have his babies. She also gifted him with a palace, complete with hundreds of attendants.
It went to Lao Ai’s head, however, and he eventually began conspiring with the besotted dowager queen to have their son ascend the Qin throne, by deposing her elder son and current king. Word got back to Shi Huangdi, who so far had turned a blind eye to his mother’s affair. However, the threat to his throne spurred him into action, and he ordered Lao Ai’s arrest. The latter responded by launching a rebellion, but it was easily crushed. When the dust settled, Lao Ai’s head, and that of his children – Shi Huangdi’s half-brothers – were displayed in public as a warning to other would-be rebels. As to the king’s mother, Lady Zhao was placed under house arrest for the rest of her life.