Chapter 1 A Quiet End

The solemn and dignified Qin Zhai Palace was deathly silent. Blood splattered across the plain palace bricks, filling the air with a murderous aura. The head of the Qin Dynasty's current Prime Minister had been severed and rolled to Ziying's feet. Ziying's face was pale with shock as he retreated in fear. The elite warrior, dressed in the robes of a eunuch but unable to conceal his chilling aura, slowly sheathed his sword.

The low hum of the Shu Lou Sword was accompanied by the sound of blood trickling down its spine.

Then came a long silence.

"Zhao Gao has been eliminated. Your Highness can now ascend the throne."

Yuan suppressed his emotions and deeply buried hatred, and said slowly, "This sword should be returned to its rightful owner."

With a wave of his hand, the Shu Lou Sword, one of the most famous swords in the land, landed at Ziying's feet, still humming. Yuan took off the eunuch's uniform, revealing his own simple cloth clothes. He picked up the Qin sword forged in blood and fire, slung it across his back, and walked away.

Ziying only reacted when he had taken more than a dozen steps, suppressing his joy, and said,

"Thank you, brave warrior. I will surely record this event in the annals of history to be passed down to future generations."

"No need. Thank you, Your Highness."

"This, this is a chance to be remembered in history!"

Yuan didn't stop, casually patting Han Tan, who was waiting behind him, on the shoulder, and said,

"If you want to record it, then record it as him."

"As for being remembered in history, we have already achieved that."

"The name of the Qin elite warriors will be remembered by future generations, even after thousands of years."

The last of the Iron Eagle Warriors left these words and departed without looking back.

The gratitude in Ziying's heart was quickly replaced by the joy of ascending the throne. He ordered his sons to come out and lead the last of those loyal to him, wielding weapons and riding chariots that could move within the palace walls, and finally exterminated Zhao Gao's entire clan. He reorganized the court and ascended the throne.

He also learned through the records who had taken action that day.

However, he still kept his promise and only said that the eunuch Han Tan had drawn his sword and killed Zhao Gao. This made the officials think that Ziying had hidden talents around him, and they dared not show the slightest disrespect. Ziying did everything he could. He wanted to seek peace with the nobles like his ancestors in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, even if it meant ceding land, just to secure his throne.

Naturally, this was not agreed upon or permitted.

All the nobles refused.

In the tenth month of the first year of Qin Prince Ziying's reign, only thirty days after he ascended the throne.

Liu Bang's army had already broken through Wu Pass and Yao Pass, and was approaching Xianyang, encamped at Ba Shang, ready to swallow the city at any moment. Many ministers already had thoughts of surrendering. Ziying was at his wit's end, lamenting day after day.

………………

Yuan was sorting out the Black Ice Terrace records he had retrieved from the Prime Minister's mansion.

These were the maps and records of the entire Qin Dynasty, including the mountain ranges and rivers, the locations of various deities, and the mineral and medicinal resources produced in various places. This was all gathered from the original records of the six kingdoms, plus the information collected by the Black Ice Terrace Iron Eagle Warriors during the First Emperor's inspections, and was one of the most valuable things in the entire city of Xianyang.

After the Black Ice Terrace was destroyed by Zhao Gao, these things were moved into the Prime Minister's mansion for him to plunder.

Then Yuan retrieved them.

Yuan quietly read these records. He only accompanied the First Emperor on the first three inspections. He did not know about the later ones, so he could only imagine them through these records. As he finished reading the records from the last inspection, there was a knock on the door.

Yuan put down the records and opened the door.

Outside the door was Han Tan, holding the general's tiger tally, armor, and battle sword.

He knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily, saying:

"The King summons you. Please take the general's tiger tally to resist the allied forces of the nobles."

……………………

Even though it wasn't his first time here, Yuan was still amazed by the grandeur of the Xianyang Palace.

But the one sitting in the palace now was not that emperor who dominated the world.

Ziying was not wearing the black robe of the emperor, but the crown and robes of a feudal lord, majestic and intricate. However, in Yuan's eyes, he still had no aura of a king. Having witnessed the hottest sun and the vastest sky in the world, how could he be easily shaken again?

Yuan listened to Ziying's request for him to conscript troops in Xianyang City to resist the allied forces of the nobles, and then refused.

Ziying couldn't believe it. Yuan recalled the suffering of the people along the way and asked in return:

"How does Your Highness think your talent compares to His Majesty?"

Ziying was silent for a moment and said, "Far inferior."

Yuan then asked, "Then how does Your Highness see my talent compared to General Wang Jian?"

Ziying opened his mouth, comforting him,

"In my opinion, your bravery is not inferior to General Wang Jian."

Yuan shook his head and said:

"Your Highness, you are wrong. I have never compared myself to General Wang Jian in a one-on-one fight, so I don't know. But even if I win against General Wang Jian in a one-on-one fight, so what? A person's strength is limited. What if I can kill ten or a hundred people? What truly influences the general trend of the world are top-notch strategists and generals."

"It is easier to find a thousand soldiers than one general."

"That is a match for ten thousand men, or even a hundred thousand men."

"In the current situation, only His Majesty's resurrection and the reunion of General Wang Jian and Lord Wu'an can whip the six kingdoms and restore the prestige of the Great Qin. But Your Highness is far inferior to His Majesty, and I am just a commoner who does not understand military affairs. If we fight forcefully, we will only let the Qin elders in Xianyang City die with me. I am unwilling."

Ziying's face turned pale, and he slumped down on the throne.

Yuan was still dressed in cloth, and said:

"I will go out of the city alone to meet Liu Bang, and strive to preserve the elders of Guanzhong and your family. This is the limit of what I can do."

He turned to leave. Ziying seemed unable to bear the shattering of hope again, and slammed the throne heavily, roaring angrily as if to vent his anger, "Your grandfather and your three generations have all eaten Qin's grain. The First Emperor was very kind to you. Can you bear to see the Great Qin that the First Emperor created perish?!"

"Perish?"

Yuan's footsteps paused slightly, and he looked at Ziying on the throne, and replied:

"No, His Majesty's empire will not perish."

Ziying was furious: "But Qin! Qin is about to perish!"

"The empire that His Majesty left behind is Qin, but it is not just Qin."

The Iron Eagle Warrior turned around completely, staring at Qin Prince Ziying. He said, "Where in the world is there a dynasty that will not perish? Even the Great Zhou only lasted for eight hundred years. In the years of the Warring States, who still respected that so-called Zhou Emperor?"

"The Great Qin will eventually perish one day."

Ziying was so frightened that he couldn't speak.

Yuan took a step forward, his eyebrows sharp, and said slowly: "But, so what?!"

He was dressed in cloth, but he seemed to still be wearing the black armor of that year. He raised his head, his tone arrogant and condescending, one word at a time, like a heavy hammer hitting the air: "As long as the future of this Divine Land is still governed by law, as long as this Divine Land still has the system of prefectures and counties, as long as there are still county towns after thousands of years, as long as my Divine Land is still one country under heaven after thousands of years, then the era that His Majesty created has not ended!"

"What is a dynasty, and what are bloodlines and ancestral temples?!"

"The Nine Provinces of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors have since been unified. His Majesty's achievements far surpass bloodlines!"

"Even after ten thousand years, even after a hundred thousand years, even if our existence is unknown, even if the feudal lords and kings have turned to dust, as long as the concept that China must be unified and that the Divine Land will eventually be one country still exists, then the people living on this land in that era are all citizens of my Great Qin! They all share that dream of a unified world for thousands of generations with His Majesty!"

"And they will definitely know."

"Where the starting point of this dream is!"

Yuan felt his blood seem to be boiling, but flowing quietly. He stood under this tall and empty royal palace, holding his sword, as if he had returned to the broad world of his youth, as if he had once again seen that lofty figure, seeing him calmly stepping into the distance.

Qin, a kingdom for two generations, and in three generations, they could not even defend their own land.

This world is vast, from ancient times to the present, and even to the future, there will never be a second Qin Emperor.

Throughout the universe, the Qin Emperor is unique.

Ziying, who was too frightened to speak, saw the Iron Eagle Warrior suddenly lower his eyes and raise his hand to knock on his chest, saying:

"Your Majesty, your subject is leaving."

Ziying was stunned. The surprise in his heart at this moment even surpassed his horror. This was the first time the Iron Eagle Warrior under the throne had addressed himself in this way, but he suddenly realized that the one the other party was looking at was never himself, and that the phrase "Your Majesty" was not referring to himself.

He was frustrated, but he also felt that it was to be expected.

It turned out that the only one worthy of the Qin elite warriors' loyalty was that person.

"I will go to meet Liu Bang. If possible, I will at least preserve the ancestral temple. If not, I will naturally die first. Please escape through the secret passage, Your Highness, perhaps there is still a chance of survival."

Yuan changed into the uniform of the Iron Eagle Warrior. He rode a horse, carrying a sword, and left Xianyang.

Like an arrow, he galloped towards Ba Shang.

He knocked on the gate, and the guarding general asked who he was, and then heard the reply: "Yuan."

"Yuan, of the Black Ice Terrace Iron Eagle Warriors, led by His Majesty the First Emperor of Qin!"

"?!?!?!"

Hearing this, the Han army was shocked. Even facing one person, they subconsciously drew their bows and unsheathed their swords, and the sound of clanging steel was endless.

The Qin elite warrior, who was surrounded, did not change his expression, but in this situation, there was a burst of laughter: "So it is an official under the First Emperor. I was once a pavilion chief under the First Emperor. In that case, we can be considered colleagues. Please come in quickly."

Yuan drove his warhorse and met Liu Bang.

He was a carefree man with the air of a wanderer, but in his bones, he was still an unparalleled hero. After asking what Yuan could offer, Yuan replied that it was the hearts of the people in Guanzhong, the cornerstone of the world, and the paintings stored in Xianyang City of Qin.

Liu Bang's eyes lit up slightly, and he stood up and replied, "Good!"

This man, who was not young but still had great ambition, raised his wine cup, his expression frank and calm:

"I have made an agreement with the elders that there will only be three laws: those who kill will be killed, and those who injure or steal will be punished."

"What do you think?"

Yuan was surprised by this man's decisiveness, took his wine, drank it all in one gulp, and also saw the white-clothed youth he had chased in his youth. The latter was also in his thirties, smiling and nodding, his expression calm and refined, and no longer had the anxiety of his youth. He saw Fan Kuai, Xiao He, and saw one hero after another.

A chaotic world is a place to hone heroes and brave men.

He thought.

A chaotic world creates these heroes, and the heroes kill each other to choose who is the strongest, and then they quell the chaos.

After Yuan left, the smiling Liu Bang sat directly in his seat, wiping his sweat, and couldn't help but mutter curses. He no longer had the豪情 just now. Fan Kuai looked at Liu Bang and said, "Pei Gong?"

Liu Bang gritted his teeth and said, "What a trade."

Fan Kuai didn't understand: "With the hearts of the people and the maps, this is indeed a good trade."

Liu Bang scolded him twice for being a fool before saying, "There is a third."

"A third?"

Fan Kuai didn't understand.

Zhang Liang said slowly: "There is also the Iron Eagle Battle Sword of the Qin elite warriors within seven steps."

"But Pei Gong didn't show any fear, which is rare."

He joked.

Fan Kuai came back to his senses, slightly angry, but was stopped by Liu Bang's wave. Liu Bang rubbed his legs and said, "It is normal to seek political power in his position. We didn't suffer any losses, but, such a brave person who dares to charge into battle alone is really brave..."

He couldn't help but fantasize about it and sighed hatefully: "I really want to recruit him!"

"If such a great man could be used by me..."

Pei Gong entered the pass and made three laws to stabilize the hearts of the people.

So Ziying surrendered, Liu Bang did not harm him, and also implemented the three laws, becoming the foundation of the Yan Han Dynasty.

Yuan rejected the invitations of Zhang Liang and Liu Bang.

He rode a fast horse, carrying the Qin sword with the Iron Eagle emblem on his back, and left here.

As a commoner, he was powerless to reverse the general trend of the world. Allowing Liu Bang to make three laws and treat the elders of Guanzhong and the old Qin people in Xianyang City well was the limit of what he could do, but as a wandering knight, there were still things he could do.

A man should draw his sword, and when he draws his sword, he should kill!

He was going to seek revenge.

"Xu Fu..."

ps: Today's first update... 3,600 words, thank you w闻雨 for the ten thousand reward, thank you

The Qin chapter is about to end, just a little bit of wrapping up and it will be okay~ lying down