Xianyang Palace, Chengtian Gate Square.
Before dawn had even broken, the area was already packed with people.
“Hey! Stop pushing! You stepped on my foot!”
“Make way up front! My bowl! My bowl is going to get knocked away!”
An old farmer clutched tightly at the clay bowl in his arms—so clean it was even cleaner than his own face.
The people beside him leaned over, full of envy.
“Old brother, that’s a big bowl you’ve got there!”
The old farmer patted it proudly.
“Of course! Haven’t you heard? Today is the Heaven Sacrificial Ceremony, and Ninth Prince is giving out good food again!”
“Really? Better than yesterday’s fried potatoes?”
“I heard it’s meat! Potato stew with meat!”
“Meat?!”
The crowd’s breathing grew heavier.
One by one, they stretched their necks toward the towering sacrificial platform in the distance.
Their eyes didn’t look like they were gazing at a sacred altar.
More like they were staring at a giant pot that was about to serve food.
“The auspicious time has arrived—!”
“His Majesty arrives—!”
A long ceremonial announcement echoed out.
The crowd automatically parted into a path.
Officials walked in front, armored soldiers behind.
Ying Zheng, dressed in a black dragon robe embroidered with water patterns and wearing a twelve-bead imperial crown, ascended step by step.
His steps were steady, each one seeming to land on the heartbeat of everyone present.
That overwhelming imperial aura instantly silenced the roaring discussions.
Officials bowed. Citizens knelt.
“Long live the Emperor! Long live! Long, long life!”
The voices merged into one unified roar.
Li Si knelt at the very front of the officials and secretly raised his eyes.
His Majesty’s complexion looked even better than a man in his twenties.
He felt reassured.
But the next second, his eye twitched.
Behind Ying Zheng.
A child wearing a miniature dragon robe was swaying as he followed.
The robe was exquisitely made, but on his small frame it looked extremely awkward.
Even more awkward was the bulging blue cloth bag on his back.
And the stick in his mouth—topped with a round ball.
Ying Ziye turned the “candy stick” in his mouth.
The sweetness made him squint comfortably.
The officials’ jaws nearly dropped.
A Heaven Sacrificial Ceremony!
Such solemnity!
What exactly was Ninth Prince doing?!
Everyone’s eyes quietly shifted toward the dragon throne, looking at Ying Zheng.
Ying Zheng acted as if he didn’t notice.
He even casually reached out and wiped the candy stain from Ying Ziye’s mouth.
Ying Ziye naturally sat beside him on a specially made small throne.
From his bag, he took out another piece of something golden and crispy and shoved it into his mouth with a “crunch.”
Officials: “……”
What kind of Heaven Sacrificial Ceremony is this?!
Below the platform.
Wang Jian and Meng Yi exchanged glances.
Both suppressed their laughter without changing expression.
The Minister of the Taichang Temple tremblingly stepped forward.
He held a thick bamboo scroll and cleared his throat.
“In the thirty-seventh year of Great Qin, the year of Jihai…”
He began reciting the long and tedious sacrificial prayer.
His voice echoed across the square.
The common people didn’t understand it.
At first, they knelt respectfully.
After fifteen minutes, some began secretly yawning.
After half an hour, children started crying.
The Taichang official was drenched in sweat, his throat dry.
Just as he prepared to take a breath and continue praising imperial virtue—
“Stop!”
A childish voice, amplified dozens of times by some kind of device, suddenly exploded across the square.
Ying Ziye stood up holding a metal loudspeaker.
“Enough, enough!”
“The Heavenly Emperor is about to get annoyed listening to you!”
“What He wants to hear is the praise of the people—not your dry, sour literature!”
The Taichang official jolted in shock.
The bamboo scroll in his hand dropped to the ground and broke into several pieces.
He froze completely.
Silence swept across the square.
Not a single sound remained.
So quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Ying Ziye didn’t care at all.
He raised the loudspeaker toward the dense crowd below and shouted at the top of his voice:
“Serve the food—!”
Those two words were like lighting a fuse in a barrel of gunpowder.
“OHHHH—!”
The crowd instantly erupted in cheers!
They forgot the ceremony, forgot the rituals, forgot fear.
Only pure instinct remained.
“Food’s here!”
“Long live Ninth Prince!”
Hundreds of kitchen troops moved at once in response.
They rushed to dozens of huge black cauldrons and worked together with full force.
“Lift—!”
The lids were thrown open.
Boom!
A rich, indescribable aroma of meat mixed with the soft sweetness of potatoes erupted instantly and soared into the sky.
The fragrance was overwhelmingly overbearing.
It felt like an invisible hand gripping everyone’s throat.
The wind carried the aroma across the entire square, blowing it into every nose present.
Gulp.
The sound of swallowing saliva rose one after another.
The eyes of all the common people turned red.
They stared fixedly at the boiling pots filled with huge chunks of beef.
And at the golden, oil-glossed potatoes soaked in rich gravy.
“Potato stew with beef!”
Ying Ziye’s voice rang out again.
“The Great Qin’s auspicious crop, paired with premium cattle!”
“Eat it, and you’ll have endless strength!”
“Today—eat your fill!”
“Long live!”
“Long live Ninth Prince!”
The cheers of the people were now more than ten times more sincere than when they had greeted Ying Ziye earlier.
Li Si wiped the sweat from his forehead as he watched the scene.
Imperial authority, ritual, etiquette—
In front of a single meal, they all looked pale and powerless.
Ying Zheng looked at the crowd below, at those faces burning with hunger and excitement.
He did not become angry.
Instead, he turned to Ying Ziye beside him.
His eyes carried unprecedented appreciation.
“The time is about right.”
Ying Zheng said calmly.
Ying Ziye nodded in understanding.
“Next.”
At the eunuch’s announcement, the performance segment began.
A group of dancers in Chu-style clothing slowly stepped onto the high platform.
Each of them carried a bronze sword.
Leading them was one man.
Tall, upright, and cold-faced.
Xiang Zhuang.
His gaze passed over everyone and locked tightly onto the dragon throne.
There was no reverence for the emperor.
Only naked killing intent.
Below the platform.
Wang Jian’s hand quietly gripped the hilt of his sword.
The guards behind him also shifted into alert stances.
On the platform.
Qinglong stepped forward, blocking Ying Ziye.
His hand had already pressed onto his embroidered sabre.
“Step back.”
Ying Ziye’s voice was soft.
Qinglong paused, but did not move.
Ying Ziye impatiently pushed him aside.
“You’re blocking my view of the show.”
Only then did Qinglong reluctantly step aside.
But his body had already tightened like a fully drawn bow.
Ying Ziye pulled another crystal-clear grape from his bag.
He slowly peeled off the skin.
Then he brought the juicy pulp to Ying Zheng’s lips.
“Father Emperor.”
His voice was so soft that only the two of them could hear it.
“How is this play? Decent enough?”
Ying Zheng opened his mouth and ate the grape.
The sweet and sour juice burst in his mouth.
His face showed no expression at all.
As if what stood before him was not a group of murderous assassins—but merely a troupe of performers.
On the stage, the music turned intense.
Xiang Zhuang and the others’ sword dance grew faster and faster.
Sword light flashed, carrying chilling gusts of wind.
Their formation constantly shifted.
What looked like chaotic steps was in fact gradually isolating the surrounding guards.
They were getting closer and closer to the dragon throne.
Xiang Zhuang’s eyes erupted with beast-like light.
Now!
He suddenly poured all his strength into his legs.
“Crushing Qin is unjust! Ying Ziye, you brat—die!”
A thunderous roar exploded like lightning across the open ground.
He shot into the air like an arrow released from its bow.
His bronze sword carved a deadly arc through the sunlight.
Sword light like lightning!
Straight toward Ying Ziye on the throne—and the casually seated child beside him!
“Ah——!”
The crowd below screamed in terror.
The entire scene erupted into chaos in an instant.
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