DLERB -Chapter 214 Is My Great Qin Only a Corner of the World?

Qilin Hall.

A faint, lingering smell of blood still drifted through the air.

Several palace attendants were repeatedly wiping the golden bricks where Zhang Shao’s head had rolled across with wet cloths.

Li Si stood at the head of the civil officials, head lowered, saying nothing.

Behind him, several veteran ministers were trembling uncontrollably beneath their official robes.

The entire morning court was steeped in deathly silence.

Ying Ziye stood there as if the one who had just drawn his sword and killed someone was not him.

Beside him, Gongshu Wan wore the brand-new official robes of the Heavenly Crafts Academy’s dean, making her seem completely out of place in the grand hall.

She did not look at anyone, only holding a rolled animal-hide blueprint in her hands.

Finally, someone could no longer endure the suffocating pressure.

From the ranks, an elderly minister with white hair and beard stepped forward.

It was the Imperial Censor, Zhou Ke.

He struck his head to the ground and knelt in full prostration.

“Your Majesty!”

His voice was hoarse, carrying a tone of resolve.

“This old minister has a memorial to present!”

Ying Zheng raised his hand slightly.

Zhou Ke lifted his head—but he did not look at the dragon throne. Instead, he stared fixedly at Ying Ziye.

“The Crown Prince killed a man in open court. This old minister does not dare comment on that.”

“But the matter of the Academy of Sciences concerns the foundation of the nation!”

His voice rose, each word squeezed out through gritted teeth.

“Three thousand jin of refined copper, five hundred jin of wrought steel! This is enough to equip an entire northern expedition army!”

“Yet now, all of this wealth, all of these lifelines of the state, are to be poured into that illusory ‘Academy of Sciences’!”

“This old minister dares to ask Your Highness!”

He suddenly pointed at Gongshu Wan.

“What exactly do you intend to exchange all this people’s wealth and resources for?!”

“Just because of one woman and a few drawings, you intend to empty Great Qin’s treasury?!”

“If there is no output, this is an act that shakes the very foundation of the state! Can Your Highness bear that responsibility?!”

In the hall, many ministers’ breathing became rapid.

Zhou Ke had voiced what all of them were thinking.

Ying Ziye moved.

But he did not look at Zhou Ke.

Not even a glance.

He merely waved casually toward the attendants outside the hall.

“Bring it in.”

Those three words—spoken lightly—carried more humiliation than any reprimand.

Zhou Ke’s old face instantly flushed a deep purple.

He felt as if his life-risking remonstrance had landed on empty air.

Footsteps echoed from outside the hall.

Eight strong imperial guards carried a massive object into the hall.

It was completely covered by a huge black cloth, its shape unrecognizable—only its immense weight was obvious.

They placed it at the center of the hall with a heavy thud.

“Bang!”

Everyone’s hearts seemed to jump violently with that sound.

Ying Ziye walked to the black cloth and gently patted it.

“Lord Zhou asks what we are exchanging all this for.”

He finally spoke, his voice not loud, but it carried clearly through the entire hall.

“I will tell you.”

“I will use all of this—to exchange for the entire world.”

“The entire world?”

Behind Kong Fu, a young Confucian scholar couldn’t help but let out a mocking laugh.

“What grandiose words! Truly laughable beyond measure!”

“Just another trick of petty crafts and gimmicks!”

Stifled chuckles echoed from the corners of the hall.

Ying Ziye paid them no attention.

He turned and slightly bowed toward Ying Zheng on the dragon throne.

“Father.”

“This son asks to temporarily borrow this hall.”

Ying Zheng looked at him for a moment, then simply nodded.

Ying Ziye straightened.

“Announce it!”

His voice suddenly turned stern and authoritative.

“Shut all the palace doors! Extinguish all the lamps inside the hall!”

“Not a single light is to remain!”

The moment those words were spoken, the entire court erupted in shock.

“What?!”

“Seal the palace doors? Extinguish all lights?”

“What is he trying to do?!”

One official staggered in fear and nearly fell.

Zhou Ke’s expression changed drastically. He pointed at Ying Ziye and shouted,

“In broad daylight, sealing the hall doors—are you trying to assassinate His Majesty?!”

“Protect the Emperor! Quickly, protect him!”

Several royal clan nobles also screamed in panic, and the hall descended into chaos.

On the dragon throne, Ying Zheng’s face was hidden in the shifting light of the candles, unreadable in emotion.

He raised his hand slightly and pressed it downward.

He only said one word.

“Extinguish.”

The voice of the emperor was not loud.

But it was like an invisible imperial decree that instantly suppressed all noise.

Those nobles shouting to protect the emperor swallowed their words.

The imperial guards moved swiftly.

The heavy palace doors were shut one by one.

Creak…

As the final door closed, the light inside the hall rapidly dimmed.

Eunuchs used extinguishing covers to snuff out the long-burning lamps one after another.

The great hall was plunged into absolute darkness—so dark that one could not see even a hand in front of the face.

Panic spread.

In the darkness, only heavy breathing could be heard, along with a faint humming sound coming from the massive object in the center.

Then—

Ying Ziye moved.

From the darkness came a soft click.

As if some mechanism had been activated.

The next moment.

A gentle, pure blue light suddenly burst forth from the center of the hall!

It was not blinding, but it instantly dispelled all darkness.

“Aah…”

An uncontrollable gasp came from one minister’s mouth.

Then came waves of sharp intakes of breath.

Everyone stood frozen in place, as if struck by immobilizing magic.

They saw it.

On that metal base, a massive azure-blue sphere hovered in midair, slowly rotating.

On its surface were swirling white clouds, continuous yellow-brown mountain ranges, and vast deep-blue oceans that seemed bottomless.

The light illuminated every face in the hall—each one frozen, shaken, filled with fear and disbelief.

Wang Jian’s hand tightly gripped his sword hilt, his knuckles turning white.

Li Si’s jade tablet slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a clack, yet he did not even notice.

Zhou Ke knelt there, head raised, mouth wide open, making guttural “heh-heh” sounds like a fish out of water.

The blue light illuminated the steps leading to the highest place.

It also illuminated the figure of the emperor on the dragon throne.

Ying Zheng, at some point, had already stood up.

He walked down step by step until he stood before the rotating light sphere.

He reached out, trying to touch it—but his hand passed straight through the projection.

His body was trembling slightly.

He stared at the enormous blue planet, searching across the vast yellow continent.

Finally, he found it.

He found that familiar land, wrapped in mountains and rivers.

It was… small.

So small that it looked like nothing more than an insignificant patch on a luxurious silk tapestry.

He suddenly raised his head and looked at Ying Ziye.

This Emperor of Qin, who had unified the six states and considered himself ruler of all under heaven, spoke with a voice carrying a tremor and confusion he himself had never noticed.

“Ziye…”

“Tell me…”

“Is this… tiny piece… all of my Great Qin’s… entire realm?”