HCT – Extra 11 The Great Ying Zheng’s Dream (8)

In the days that followed, the First Emperor of Qin hardly had any free time for entertainment.

On top of that, he kept thinking about dreaming, so he didn’t even visit the harem.

Because he stopped “cultivating” in the harem, his body could still handle the workload; his health didn’t collapse from excessive exhaustion.

But the people around him were still deeply worried.

Especially Li Si and Zhao Gao. These two always felt that the moment the First Emperor died, they would be torn apart by five horses the next second.

Zhao Gao always wanted to help Hu Hai ascend the throne. When the relationship between Fusu and the First Emperor soured, he had contributed quite a bit to that.

Even though Zhao Gao, no matter how bold, would never dare plot rebellion while the First Emperor was still alive, he understood the First Emperor well—he knew that the emperor was extremely fearful of and taboo about death; no one dared prepare for his passing in front of him. Therefore, it was highly likely that when the First Emperor truly died, there would not be enough time to formally establish a Crown Prince.

Zhao Gao speculated that the emperor would only issue the decree naming his successor when he was already critically ill. And because Zhao Gao held the imperial seal and was trusted as a close attendant, he was certain that he would be appointed one of the guardians of the royal succession at that moment.

The other one would definitely be Li Si.

If there were a third person, it would be Meng Yi. But if Zhao Gao could join forces with Li Si, Meng Yi would no longer pose a threat.

Moreover, Zhao Gao was born a palace slave, and the emperor preferred to keep him nearby to serve him personally. Because of this proximity, Zhao Gao would be the first to notice any decline in the emperor’s health.

As long as he detected anything wrong, he could find an excuse to send Meng Yi away. Meng Yi looked down on him and would never guess that Zhao Gao could be bold enough to falsify an imperial edict; he would definitely fall for the trick.

At that time, if he and Li Si became the entrusted ministers of the dying emperor, wouldn’t they be able to install whichever emperor they wanted?

But now that the First Emperor had officially named Fusu as Crown Prince, everything Zhao Gao planned had turned to dust.

With Hu Hai’s abilities, Zhao Gao could help him gain favor and resources by pleasing the emperor, but there was absolutely no way Hu Hai could seize the crown once Fusu was already appointed heir.

Originally, Zhao Gao still held a sliver of hope. With how much the First Emperor valued power, even if Fusu were named Crown Prince, perhaps it would only be a symbolic position. Maybe Zhao Gao could continue to exploit the weaknesses between father and son to drive a wedge between them.

A Crown Prince can be appointed and also deposed. As long as he had enough time, he firmly believed he could achieve his goal.

But not only did the First Emperor name Fusu as Crown Prince, he also began granting him authority and personally teaching him how to be an emperor.

A horrified Zhao Gao realized that the First Emperor—whose thoughts used to be practically transparent to him—now seemed like a stranger.

He had once feared the emperor, revered him, and also looked down on him.

Because once the First Emperor accepted someone, he found it difficult to hide his true nature in front of them. Zhao Gao, who rose through the ranks by reading people’s expressions, had always been able to see through him clearly, rising from a simple palace slave to a high-ranking Qin official.

Zhao Gao realized that as long as he pushed in the right direction, he could easily “manipulate” the emperor in some matters.

Even if it were only a few matters, it was enough to inflate his pride and make him secretly mock this lofty emperor.

So that’s all he is, nothing more—nothing more than this.

As the First Emperor aged, his personality’s weaknesses grew more pronounced, making Zhao Gao’s schemes increasingly easy.

And Zhao Gao’s arrogance grew in equal measure.

He mocked again and again—this emperor feared by the world was nothing more than a puppet in his hands.

“What in the world is going on?!” Zhao Gao paced anxiously in his home, crushing goldware under his feet.

He racked his brain, but he could not figure out why the First Emperor had changed so drastically!

Why had Meng Yi replaced him in serving the emperor?

Why was even Li Bo being reused?

Why were Li Si and Zhao Gao—the two trusted the most by the emperor—being pushed farther and farther away?

Where had everything gone wrong?!

Tracing back the source of all the changes, he found that everything began when the fangshi were imprisoned, and the First Emperor confided in him that he intended to send Fusu to supervise the army under Meng Tian.

Surely it couldn’t be that the emperor suddenly had an epiphany after being deceived by the fangshi?!

Unable to find an answer, Zhao Gao could only redouble his efforts to curry favor. He even gathered countless beautiful women to present to the emperor.

The First Emperor praised Zhao Gao’s thoughtfulness—and then continued to sleep alone.

He was getting old; his waist wasn’t what it used to be. Beauty was pleasant, but tiring.

Better to enter the dream realm and see what foolish thing Ying Zheng had done again, while receiving wisdom from the elders of another world.

“This stirrup is impressive. Ying Zheng does have some ability.”

“Gunpowder? What medicine is that?! Why doesn’t Ying Zheng learn something so important?!”

“Li Mu, ah Li Mu… Summon Li Bo tomorrow.”

“So naval forces can be this formidable? Unfortunately Qin has already unified the land; it’s useless now.”

“…So naval forces can even dominate the seas?”

“Huang Xie, hmph.”

“Father… to force Grandfather into exiling Prince Zi Xi by harming himself—that is somewhat unfilial.”

“Father—hmph.”

Three months passed, and the First Emperor witnessed another tragic news.

“Grandfather… Grandfather is going to pass away too?” He watched Ying Zheng cry less and less frequently in the dreams and sighed deeply.

The Great-Great-Grandfather passed earlier than in his own world.

Grandfather’s passing occurred around the same time as in this world.

Then what about Father?

From King Zhao of Qin, he had learned not to fear death. From King Renwen of Qin, he learned how to overcome hardness with softness. Next would be the era of his own father.

His father was the only elder who had taught him personally in his own world.

And what was his father like in his own world?

It seemed as though his father plotted and struggled, only to lose everything from a single failure, dying in anger. All the ambitions, the endurance, the hidden calculations—everything seemed like a joke in the end.

He seemed to have lived in the shadow of Lu Buwei, never escaping the label of being Lu Buwei’s “profitable merchandise.” As though he were a mediocre man who became King of Qin simply by chance.

King Zhuangxiang’s world seemed like it belonged to Lu Buwei, not him.

The First Emperor, of course, knew this wasn’t the truth. He had received his father’s teachings; he knew his father’s talent and depth of mind.

But so what? History only judges results. Any plan that failed to materialize would be dismissed as a laughable excuse.

So what about the Qin King Zichu in Ying Zheng’s world?

The First Emperor sank into the dream again, heart heavy yet full of expectation.

And then, he saw Ying Zheng cry once more.

【“She called me a monster again.”

“Why am I sad enough to cry? This weakness disgusts me.”】

Ying Zheng cried again. But this time, instead of sadness, it was self-loathing.

His mother abandoned him early, barely taking part in his upbringing. His maternal uncle and aunt raised him with wholehearted love, spoiling him dearly.

And yet he still longed for his mother’s affection.

He already had his uncle and aunt, yet he still longed for the love of someone who had nearly killed them.

This made him loathe himself—hate himself—feel disgusted with himself.

“This is not your fault. If you didn’t have my memories, you wouldn’t have hoped for her affection.” The First Emperor, after a long time, once again spoke into the dream knowing Ying Zheng couldn’t hear him. “Even after being betrayed, the one who still hoped—it wasn’t you, it was me.”

Don’t believe it? When she dies, you will understand.

As an emperor, the First Emperor understood very clearly—given what she had done, unlike his own father, the Qin King Zichu of this world, now holding full authority, would never allow her to live.

The First Emperor guessed the outcome, but not the process.

He rarely took a day off, yet he had taken one now, coming alone to his parents’ mausoleum with a complicated expression.

“Uncle… actually… petitioned to depose the queen?”

The First Emperor saw that memory and could not believe it.

He thought of himself.

A mother conspires with her lover to rebel, yet when her son merely confines her to another palace, he is denounced as unfilial.

A mother may be unkind, but a son may not be unfilial.

A mother may kill her child, but even harboring resentment toward her is a violation of morality and ethics, deserving the condemnation of all under heaven.

He had always assumed the entire world operated by such rules.

“You have an uncle who would risk the condemnation of the world for your sake. You must not be unfilial.”

“Sorry, Father, but even if you don’t want to be buried with Mother…”

“The burial is already done. What can you do about it?”

The First Emperor flicked his sleeves and walked away with a spring in his step, utterly free of guilt.

Watching how little Ying Zheng respected Prince Chu of Qin every day, the First Emperor found it harder and harder to feel any respect for his own royal father.

Both his fathers were Prince Chu of Qin.

So this is what you became once you were no longer weighed down by hatred and once you held power alone?

To think you and Uncle Lin would gang up on Minister Cai—isn’t that a bit too much?

Is there any other ruler who torments his only steady minister like this?

And you, behaving like this, still dared to covet the title of “Qin Shi Huang” from Xiao Zheng? You…

Hmm? Actually… that doesn’t sound so bad.

Then the First Emperor suddenly realized something: he wasn’t Ying Zheng.

He was already Qin Shi Huang. That brat, raised in a honeypot, who now entered his dreams every day just to show off—as if holding it in would make him physically unwell—he deserved to be Qin the First!

The First Emperor burst out laughing.

He couldn’t help eating two extra pieces of osmanthus cake.

The cooks had finally perfected the recipe—the cake was indeed fragrant and delicious.

The First Emperor even offered prayers at the ancestral temple, asking the ancestors for their blessings, especially his father’s.

Father, in that other world, if you want to become Qin Shi Huang, please bless him so he succeeds.

I truly don’t mind letting the “me” from another world be Qin the First, hahahaha!

“Father seems very happy lately. He’ll suddenly start laughing while reviewing documents. What happened?”

“Your Highness, this minister does not know.”

“If Meng Yi doesn’t know, then I know even less.”

“Sigh, I wish I knew why Father is happy. Then I could make those things happen more often.”

The First Emperor, passing by and eavesdropping: “…”

He nearly laughed out loud.

Fusu wanted that other Ying Zheng to be Qin the First a few more times?

Hahahahahaha!

That day, Ying Zheng ate a few more pieces of osmanthus cake.

Bloated. Bloated.

He drank digestive medicine.

…

The dreams that followed were almost all things that delighted Ying Zheng.

Except for his uncle defending the city—that part was a bit intense—but since he only saw memories in ten-day intervals, by the time he saw it, his uncle had already driven Xiang Yan away.

Tsk tsk… Li Xin truly wasn’t competent. Even his uncle could easily rout Xiang Yan.

But the most arrogant of all was Ying Zheng.

Watching him charge onto the battlefield, chasing fleeing soldiers all the way to the Huai River, laughing as he pointed his horsewhip at the Chu troops scrambling to jump into the water—Ying Zheng, numb as he had become, still had his defenses shattered again after a long time.

So bitter. It really stung.

Ying Zheng always believed he had good martial skill and excellent riding.

He had also dreamed of personally entering battle once, fighting blood-to-blood, becoming some renowned Warring States general.

But he only ever thought about it—he couldn’t even speak of it.

He became King of Qin at thirteen. And once he became king, he no longer had the chance to enter the battlefield.

The king is the state. A nation can survive one or even multiple defeats, but if its ruler dies, chaos is inevitable.

Compared to the thrill of personally leading troops, Ying Zheng understood clearly what a king should and should not do.

But still—so bitter.

Even though Ying Zheng later got beaten and scolded for it, it was still so, so bitter.

Ever since his father became King of Qin, whether it was Uncle or Ying Zheng, both had been living so joyfully that Ying Zheng could barely stand to watch.

To be fair, Uncle had been very saddened by the deaths of Lord Chunshen and Lord Xinling.

But both Ying Zheng and Great Ying Zheng slapped their thighs laughing in the dream.

Serves them right!

Cough, cough—Uncle truly was sad. He just couldn’t show it.

But still—serves them right!

The King of Chu and King of Wei were truly amazing!

The unification of the realm absolutely deserved a contribution from them too!

Ying Zheng received a letter from his father.

His father feigned regret in the letter, then told him to comfort Uncle and keep Uncle from seeing his gloating.

Obviously, his father was gloating too.

What could be more delightful than foreign kings driving their own great talents to death?

Hahahahaha!

When Ying Zheng woke up, he reached for a few more pieces of—

Huh? Where’s my osmanthus cake?

“Father, you really can’t eat any more. Your teeth—Ow! Even if you hit me, I—Ow! Father, you really can’t eat more; look, you’ve already gained weight—Ow…”

That day, Ying Zheng picked up his “filial-father stick” and beat Fusu, who had dared to restrict his food, until he ran around yelping.

Meng Yi covered his eyes.

Li Bo asked, “What are you doing?”

Meng Yi said, “The ruler is the ruler, and the crown prince is also the ruler. I cannot stand by idly while the ruler is insulted, but I also cannot stop a ruler from disciplining his son. Therefore, I must not look upon impropriety.”

That’s how “see no impropriety” is used?

Li Bo hesitated a moment, then closed his eyes too—and covered his ears.

Li Si came holding a stack of documents. He saw the emperor beating the crown prince, and two colleagues with eyes shut and ears covered.

He froze, then seemed to realize something.

Perhaps the reason he hadn’t been favored by the emperor lately… was because he wasn’t considerate enough?

…

Although Iron-Headed Fusu had once again offended Ying Zheng with his blunt admonitions—enough to make Ying Zheng seriously consider abolishing the crown prince—

Overall, he was still in an extremely good mood.

His father’s goal of making Ying Zheng the future Qin the First was getting closer and closer. Even Ying Zheng himself was pondering how to persuade his father not to establish certain rules for future emperors.

He thought the title “Qin Shi Huang” sounded great, but when it came time for him to be “Qin the First,” Ying Zheng realized it sounded awful.

His uncle said that in most dynasties, the greatest emperor wasn’t the founding one, but the second-generation Taizong the Civil Emperor.

Ying Zheng decided that “Qin the First” would not do, but “Qin Taizong the Civil Emperor” might barely be acceptable.

Ying Zheng woke up laughing so hard his stomach hurt.

He asked Fusu, “Does ‘Qin the First’ sound good?”

Fusu innocently replied, “You can choose your own title?”

Ying Zheng asked, smiling, “Which sounds better, Qin the First or Qin Taizong the Civil Emperor?”

Fusu immediately answered, “I choose Qin Taizong the Civil Emp—Ow! Father, why are you hitting me again? What did I do wrong?!”

After finishing his daily beating of his son, Ying Zheng strode away proudly.

Ying Zheng was about to become Qin the First—he deserved another piece of osmanthus cake.

Getting fat? So what?

He was already old; he wasn’t afraid of death—why would he fear getting fat?

Ying Zheng happily drifted into sleep.

The imperial exam system—excellent, he’d remember that and slowly work on it later. If he couldn’t use it, his descendants would.

Salt fields drying salt? Ying Zheng was finally willing to learn some skills—he’d note that down for craftsmen to study.

Zhang Liang? Hmm… he seemed talented. Note that too.

Han Fei… sigh, what was lost was lost; no point dwelling.

Han was destroyed? Good! Ying Zheng was one step closer to becoming Qin the First!

Southern Chu was destroyed? Lord Wu’an truly was formidable—if only Great-Grandfather hadn’t been jealous of him back then.

Just as Ying Zheng was happily watching “Prince Chu of Qin accelerating the unification of the realm, Crown Prince Ying Zheng soon to be reduced to Qin the First,” Ying Zheng entered the dream with a frown.

Disaster had struck both Guanzhong and the east, slowing Prince Chu’s unification efforts.

Ying Zheng was puzzled.

Disasters? Why should that matter? Wouldn’t they just continue fighting?

He specifically checked the disasters of that period.

Starting from his third regnal year, the world had suffered one famine and calamity after another.

Ying Zheng’s timeline now corresponded to his own first regnal year.

In the third year: drought and great famine.

In the fourth year: locusts and great famine.

But he had no way to tell Ying Zheng this.

The dream had limits. Ying Zheng could not see the exact “future.”

But Ying Zheng did not think this was a problem.

He himself had faced even more difficulty yet endured. Surely his father could do even better.

Natural disasters and famine could even help mobilize war. With so many great generals under his father’s command, surely he only needed to accelerate the pace of unification…

“What?! Father stopped the wars?!”

The First Emperor was stunned.