Chapter 14: The Eternal Sovereign—The First Emperor, and the Elated Kings of Old Qin!
Upon seeing the name displayed in the sky, Qianlong’s laughter abruptly ceased.
“Qin Shi Huang? How could such a mere tyrant be compared to me?”
“I am the Perfect Emperor!”
Qianlong clenched his fists in fury as he stared at the glaring characters above.
“Heshen, didn’t you say that our Great Qing is the true final victor? Didn’t you say I am the emperor of all eternity? What’s going on here?”
Heshen, facing the enraged Qianlong, quickly adopted a flattering tone: “Indeed, Your Majesty, your servant spoke no falsehood. Think about it—who among all the emperors in history did not appear last as the grand finale?”
“Moreover, Your Majesty, whether in civil governance or military prowess, you are unmatched... If you are only called the emperor of a thousand ages now, I guarantee you will be crowned the emperor of all eternity in the end!”
“Otherwise, this sky display would be meaningless! Without you, it’s incomplete!”
After such lavish praise, Qianlong floated on air, tilting his head back at a 45-degree angle, as if to say, “You’re right, I love hearing this!”
“Hahaha... Well said, Heshen! Today, I shall reward you with this poem!”
Heshen wiped the sweat from his brow, relieved to have successfully placated the emperor.
Then he glanced at the poem Qianlong had written—utter nonsense—and was left speechless.
His family’s storeroom was filled with Qianlong’s poems—almost two a day.
With such rewards, the study was nearly bursting at the seams!
...
In the Qin dynasty.
“Hahaha... Ha Cai! I never expected I would be the first to appear on the list! Cai!”
Ying Zheng laughed heartily, and the entire court of civil and military officials erupted in joyful cheers, exclaiming, “Your Majesty’s wisdom shines brilliantly; you are truly the emperor of all eternity!”
Li Si stood proudly nearby and stepped forward, saying, “Your Majesty unified the six kingdoms, standardized the script and the chariots. Such achievements are unparalleled in history, so your appearance on the list is only natural.”
Ying Zheng nodded slightly but kept his gaze fixed on the celestial display, pondering what this grand reward truly signified.
Meanwhile, emperors from other eras each reacted differently.
Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, snorted coldly, thinking, “Though Qin Shi Huang unified the world, I led the northern campaign against the Xiongnu and expanded the borders. I am no less deserving.”
Li Shimin furrowed his brow in thought, reflecting, “It seems the criteria for the emperor of all eternity do not merely consider momentary glory.”
...
At the same moment, the celestial screen began to play a video.
In the footage, Qin Shi Huang sat on a throne with six sharp swords hanging above his head.
Suddenly, a voice echoed from outside the hall:
“King Ying Zheng of Qin, have you forgotten the great aspiration of our ancestors to unify the world?”
“Not for a moment... have I forgotten!”
The voice was deafening, unwavering in its conviction.
Then the background music surged as the video cut rapidly between scenes.
“I am now the king of Great Qin, and in the future, the king of all under heaven!”
“My war lasted only ten years, while the wars between the seven states spanned two centuries!”
“Without my unification, how could there be peace?”
“To this day, the world belongs to Great Qin alone!”
...
Ying Yiren, at this moment, held his head high, pride etched across his face: “This is my son! My son!”
Elsewhere, King Xiaowen of Qin watched the display of Qin’s unification on the celestial screen, hearing the words: “To this day, the world belongs to Great Qin alone!”
His face flushed with excitement: “Wonderful… wonderful… wonderful! Our Great Qin is about to rise!”
...
King Zhaoxiang of Qin paced excitedly in the main hall, clapping and exclaiming in admiration.
“Our Great Qin’s dream has finally come true. I never thought I would live to see this day.”
King Wu of Qin said, “Come... come... come, I am thrilled. Let me demonstrate lifting the tripod for everyone!”
...
Meanwhile, a narrator’s voice rose beside the sky screen.
“Emperor Ying Zheng’s father was Ying Yiren, then a hostage prince in the state of Zhao, later King Zhuangxiang of Qin.”
“His mother was originally a concubine of Lü Buwei, who was later given to Ying Yiren as an investment.”
“Together, they bore Ying Zheng.”
“Thus, Ying Zheng’s identity was complicated—both noble and lowly.”
“Noble for carrying the bloodline of Qin’s past kings, but lowly because his mother was no princess or noblewoman, but merely a concubine of Lü Buwei.”
...
Beneath the celestial screen, Ying Zheng clenched his fists, his face cold as frost.
Zhao Ji, his mother, had protected him like a treasure when she was a hostage in Zhao. She spared no effort to raise him.
He once believed he was everything to his mother, and she was everything to him.
But... why... upon returning to Qin, did everything change?
Why did his mother choose her lover over him? To this day, he could not understand why.
To have once possessed and then lost is a kind of pain, like a scar in one’s heart that aches whenever it wills.
Without so much as a chance to resist.
...
The other former kings of Qin frowned deeply upon witnessing this.
They thought to themselves, “He is the son of a hostage?”
They knew all too well the fate of hostage princes—miserable beyond compare.
When wars broke out between two states, the hostage prince was always the first to suffer.
After all, a hostage prince was nothing more than a pawn in a foreign court, utterly powerless.
At that moment, King Zhaoxiang suddenly had a thought: Ying Yiren had been sent as a hostage to Zhao years ago. By now, perhaps his great-grandson had already been born!
This realization drained the color from his face, filling him with anxiety.
He shouted loudly, “Someone! Quickly!”
Attendants rushed over at his call.
With eyes blazing, King Zhaoxiang roared at them, “Find me a messenger at once. Send him immediately to Zhao!”
“Tell them, if they dare harm a single hair on my great-grandson’s head, I will unleash the full might of our nation to annihilate Zhao entirely!”
His voice reverberated through the palace, commanding and furious, stunning all present.
...
Meanwhile, the celestial screen continued its broadcast.
“Although Ying Zheng’s identity was complicated, it did not diminish his destiny to unify the world.”
“Some may think that the rise of the Great Qin Empire and the unification of the world were merely inevitable outcomes.”
“But before this, no concept of true unification existed.”
“Some might claim the Zhou dynasty once unified the world, but the Zhou kings only practiced a feudal system.”
“The so-called feudal system meant absolute rule within your own fiefdom, giving rise to the seven states.”
“It was only after Emperor Qin Shi Huang that the idea of a grand unification emerged—except for that fool Xiang Yu!”
...
Hearing his name mentioned, Xiang Yu frowned sharply and snorted coldly.
“The so-called grand unification was nothing but Ying Zheng’s stratagem.”
“My family has been generals of Chu for generations. The glory of Chu cannot be so easily erased by Ying Zheng.”
Crossing his arms, he looked disdainful.
Other emperors quietly pondered the celestial screen’s discourse on the concept of grand unification.
Emperor Wu of Han nodded slightly, thinking, “This idea of grand unification aligns closely with my campaigns against the Xiongnu and territorial expansions to bring the world under one rule.”
Li Er recalled historical records: Xiang Yu divided the land among the kings, only to be defeated by Liu Bang in the end.
He could not help but nod, “It’s true—he was just a fool!”
After so much effort to unify, the land was again carved into fiefdoms.
What else could such a man be but a fool?
...