Lü Buwei
In 235 BC, after being implicated in a scandal involving the Queen Dowager Zhao (Ying Zheng's mother) and her illicit lover Lao Ai, Lü Buwei was stripped of his posts and titles and was banished to the remote Shu region in the south of Qin. While in exile, Lü Buwei committed suicide by consuming poison. Apart from his political career, Lü Buwei is also known for sponsoring the "Lüshi Chunqiu", an encyclopaedic compendium of the ideas of the Hundred Schools of Thought that was published in 239 BC.