northernbook Chapter 533: The Reign of Qin Shi Huang
Chapter 533: The Reign of Qin Shi Huang
The tortoise shell on the bronze candlestick was still crackling. Qi Mo sat in the red flames, watching Su Mohui light the reincarnation candle for the eighty-third time.
In the cycle of national destiny known as "The Reign of Qin Shi Huang," Su Mohui struggled within the vortex thirty-one times. Similarly, thirty-one pale golden rings glowed faintly behind her ears, the marks left by the failures of the previous thirty cycles.
The seventh time, Zhao Gao's poisoned wine exploded in her throat with the taste of rust; the thirteenth time, she was torn to pieces by a wheel while holding a homemade "railway" model. When the wooden wheel crushed her fingers, she was still trying to explain the load-bearing principle of the "railway".
And the thirtieth time, the rammed earth of the Mausoleum of Mount Li poured into her nasal cavity. She was curled up between the terracotta warriors and buried alive. The red soil of Qin bricks would always be embedded in the cracks of her fingernails and could never be washed off.
This time, when she tied the dark blue sash of the eunuch in front of the bronze mirror in Zhangtai Palace, the twelve oriental pearls strung together weighed heavily on her temples.
The reflection in the mirror revealed the dragon pattern embroidered on Su Mohui's sleeves—a work she had spent three months embroidering using a modified Shu brocade needlework technique. Hidden between the stitches were modified diagrams from the Kaogongji (Records of the Imperial Craftsmen). Finally, after a palace banquet one night, it caught Ying Zheng's attention.
At that time, Ying Zheng stroked the dark patterns on the brocade that were identical to those on his imperial robes, and suddenly sneered, "You are much more interesting than those alchemists who talk a lot of mysterious things, as you can see through the secrets of my clothing."
Afterwards, he tossed the jade pendant at Su Mohui's feet. The crisp sound of its fall to the ground was still ringing in her ears. The dragon pattern on it shone coldly under the candlelight. Ying Zheng said in a cold voice, "From now on, you will be my attendant."
When his thoughts returned, the fragrance of pine smoke and ink wafted through the Zhangtai Palace at midnight. Ying Zheng's breathing was slow and steady in the bedroom, while Zhao Gao was standing with his head bowed under the Panlong pillar outside the bedroom.
After Su Mohui received the information from the system and confirmed that Ying Zheng was fast asleep, she silently recited the start command. In just a moment, the power of national destiny turned into invisible ink and seeped into Ying Zheng's dream.
When the scene suddenly changed, she was standing on the Great Wall that coiled around the mountain ridge like a silver dragon. The night dew seeping from the cracks in the blue bricks wet the soles of her shoes.
Ying Zheng stood with his hands behind his back, his black cloak billowing like waves in the night wind. The jade beads hanging from the twelve tassels of the crown on his head tinkled, but they masked the slight trembling of the blade in his sleeve when Zhao Gao approached.
Su Mohui, who was not far away, keenly caught the cold light flashing in Zhao Gao's sleeve - the arc of the poisoned dagger. She had seen Zhao Gao insert it into Ying Zheng's back in the tenth cycle.
"Zhao Gao, what's that on the other side of the mountain?" Ying Zheng's fingertips brushed across the flint tower on the parapet, and he suddenly spoke, but his voice startled the night owl on the cliff.
"Your Majesty, the other side of the mountain is still the territory of my Great Qin." As Zhao Gao bowed, his rat eyes swept over the Taia sword on Ying Zheng's waist.
Ying Zheng seemed oblivious to this and continued, "The alchemists spoke of the Penglai Island, but I'd like to know what's on the other side of the sea."
When he turned around, his crown beads swayed, revealing his tightly pursed thin lips - this emperor who had once asked her "Are there any untamed lands overseas" in reality was now repeating the foreshadowing of history in her dream.
Zhao Gao's rat-like eyes turned in the shadows, his waist almost bent into the curve of a shrimp: "Your Majesty's prestige and virtue spread far and wide, and the whole world belongs to you..."
Before he could finish his words, the clatter of Su Mohui's hairpins could be heard from the east. She deliberately stepped heavily on her boots, letting the clatter of her pearls and jade mix with the echo of the city bricks, startling Zhao Gao so much that he turned around abruptly.
In the moonlight, the silver cloud pattern on her official uniform shone coldly. The word "Wakoku" (Japanese Country) was circled in cinnabar at the edge of the silk map unfolded in her hand, making it particularly eye-catching. "Your Majesty, I have obtained a map of Kyushu and have come to present it to you."
"Those who deceive the king will die." Ying Zheng's voice was mixed with the sound of the scabbard. In the blink of an eye, the Taia sword on his waist was three inches out of the scabbard, and the sword light mixed with cold air had already reached Su Mohui's throat.
Su Mohui did not retreat but advanced. She bit her tongue, and the taste of blood spread in her mouth. At the same time, the power of national destiny turned into mist, blurring Zhao Gao's figure. At the same time, she took out a miniature version of the Qin King's Sword out of thin air.
The Taotie pattern carved on the mini sword is exactly the same as the sword on Ying Zheng's waist. It was given by the Qin Emperor himself in the National Destiny copy.
What shocked the Qin Emperor even more was the silk book stamped with the imperial seal and his personal seal, which densely recorded what the Qin Emperor said in the copy of the national destiny.
When Ying Zheng opened the first page, the draft of the revised county system caught his eye. In the remarks column, written in small regular script: "After Hu Hai ascended the throne, this system was tampered with by Zhao Gao, and local officials were allowed to privately cast seals."
Su Mohui clearly saw that when the emperor's fingertips paused on the word "Hu Hai", the corners of his eyes twitched slightly.
"Another me?" Ying Zheng's Tai'a sword was pressed against the artery in Su Mohui's neck. The tip was already showing traces of blood, and the blade reflected Su Mohui's face in the moonlight.
Su Mohui immediately knelt on the ground. When she said words like "Hu Hai forged the imperial edict", "calling a deer a horse", and "Japan invaded the border", the emperor's sword-holding hand suddenly trembled.
"Your Majesty, I dare not speak nonsense. The other you once asked me to bring you a message, which is written at the end of the silk book." Su Mohui met Ying Zheng's gaze and said.
When Ying Zheng turned to the end of the silk book, he saw a note exactly like his own with the four big characters "Unify the World" written on it. Stamped in the lower left corner were his personal seal and the imperial seal.
"Global?" Ying Zheng suddenly tightened his grip on his scabbard, turning the blade slightly, and the tip of the sword lifted Su Mohui's chin. "Are you talking about the barbarian lands outside of the Nine Provinces?"
Su Mohui met his burning gaze and let the sword blade cut through the corner of her lips: "Thousands of years from now, the Japanese fleet will come from the East China Sea, burning, killing, and looting the descendants of the Qin Dynasty. Their weapons..."
At this point, she stood up and pointed to the easternmost end of the map. "Three times faster than the Qin army's crossbow."
As the words fell, Su Mohui heard the morning drum suddenly coming from the direction of Xianyang City, and spider-web-like cracks began to appear in Ying Zheng's dream.
At the same time, Ying Zheng's figure became transparent, but before disappearing, he grabbed her wrist, the calluses on his palm rubbing against her painfully: "Tomorrow at noon, bring the map and booklet to see me. If I lie..."