The Great Qin Dynasty: The egg of the Black Bird was revered as a national guardian beast.

The next day.

The First Emperor, leaning on his sword, walked out of the main tent.

The civil and military officials who accompanied him, as well as the princes, all stood outside the tent waiting for the emperor.

Xuan Ye, supporting his sword, followed behind the First Emperor.

"Greetings, Your Majesty! May Your Majesty live ten thousand years!"

"Greetings, Father Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

With a whoosh, the people outside the tent bowed in unison, paying their respects to the First Emperor.

No need for formalities.

The First Emperor raised his hand and waved it, looking at the people who had knelt down before him, his eyes lowered and his expression unreadable.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." After responding, everyone stood up.

The First Emperor leaned on his sword, his expression indifferent.

With a wave of his hand, someone quickly presented the compiled list.

I opened the roster and glanced at it briefly.

He said calmly, "The winner of this winter hunt is my loyal minister, Minister Meng Yi."

After he finished speaking, the place fell silent.

Afterwards, the people standing there congratulated him.

"Hehe, Minister Meng is indeed worthy of being the son of Meng Wu; his horsemanship and archery skills are superb."

Meng Yi clasped his hands in thanks.

The First Emperor then announced that the winner of this winter hunt would be awarded two hundred yi of gold as a reward.

Subsequently, the First Emperor issued the list of names.

It served both to show the ministers their findings and to allow everyone to see their own achievements.

"Brother."

At this moment, Jiang Lü walked to Fusu's side.

He smiled, bowed to him, and said, "Brother, my riding and archery skills are inferior to yours."

Fusu smiled.

He patted Jiang Lu on the shoulder and said gently, "Perhaps you were just unlucky. Don't be discouraged, brother."

"Next time we compete, I might not be as good as you."

"Brother is right," Jiang Lu said, bowing his head before taking his leave.

The winter hunt is over.

The First Emperor then led his entourage back to Xianyang.

.........

But after returning to Xianyang.

On the second night, something unexpected happened: the First Emperor had a strange dream.

Upon waking, the First Emperor remained silent for a long time.

He then ordered a shaman to be summoned to the palace to interpret the strange dream for the First Emperor.

A shaman is an expert who specializes in interpreting dreams.

As early as the Yin-Shang period, there were many records of the Yin emperor's dreams in oracle bone inscriptions.

Emperor Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty would always have shamans interpret his dreams to see if they would bring disaster or misfortune.

During the Zhou Dynasty, people became even more fond of interpreting dreams.

It is said that King Wen once dreamed that the sun and moon were on his body.

The sun and moon were symbols of emperors. The Zhou people's shamans and diviners interpreted dreams as auspicious omens, indicating that the emperor had received his mandate from heaven.

The Shang dynasty was tyrannical, and even the Heavenly Emperor could not tolerate it.

The decision to bestow the Mandate of Heaven upon King Wen foreshadowed his inevitable replacement of the Shang dynasty.

The Qin people rose to power in Zhou territory and also preserved the practice of dream interpretation.

Legend has it that back then, Duke Mu of Qin was ill for seven days and dreamed of going to the Heavenly Palace of the Heavenly Emperor, traveling to the heavens, and playing grand music.

After waking up,

This was also seen as an auspicious sign that the Heavenly Emperor wanted him to dominate.

Now, the First Emperor had another dream, and it was such a strange dream. The First Emperor wondered if this was some kind of omen.

When the First Emperor was still the King of Qin

When he was still referring to himself as "寡人" (Guaren, meaning "I, the lonely one") instead of "朕" (Zhen, meaning "I, the emperor"), the First Emperor had shamans interpret his dreams several times.

But since the First Emperor unified the world...

As sorcerers flocked to Qin, the First Emperor gradually favored them and stopped summoning shamans and priests.

Although they have different names, they are in the same profession and also engage in astrology, supernatural matters, and the like.

But the sorcerer was quick-witted.

There is not only a faction that goes to sea to seek immortality and medicine, but also a faction that refines elixirs of immortality using rare medicinal materials.

The First Emperor had always longed for immortality.

After a series of persuasive words from the sorcerer, he was immediately drawn in.

Compared to that, shamans are a bit too old-fashioned.

With pheasant feathers stuck in its hair and wearing a feathered coat, it stared wide-eyed and spoke in a cryptic tone that was incomprehensible.

This time, the First Emperor summoned them to interpret his dream.

It was because the sorcerer was tricked and killed that they had no choice but to summon them.

"His Majesty!"

Inside the Xianyang Palace, Zhao Gao entered and stood outside the curtain, bowing his head: "The shamans and sorcerers are here to greet you; they await your summons outside."

"Perfect timing!"

Behind the curtain, those deep within the palace raised their heads.

He waved his hand and said calmly, "Go, summon him in immediately."

After Zhao Gao left.

From behind the curtain, another voice rang out.

"Your Majesty, what kind of dream did you have? Why are you summoning a great shaman and interpreting dreams?"

The First Emperor smiled but said nothing.

He then said, "This dream is very strange. I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse. Let's see what the shaman has to say."

Then there was no sound.

Not long after, Zhao Gao led his men in.

The shaman's swift arrival was perhaps because the First Emperor had not summoned him for decades and did not want to miss this opportunity to meet him.

Upon hearing the First Emperor's summons, he rushed over.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

The First Emperor first waved for Zhao Gao to leave, then told him to dispense with the formalities, and pointed to the soft couch in front of the curtain.

He said, "Great Shaman, please have a seat."

After the shaman sat down, the First Emperor recounted his dream.

The First Emperor dreamed that he was standing alone in the main hall of Yongcheng, the old capital of Qin, walking forward.

The First Emperor liked this place very much.

Because this is where he first took power.

As they walked, they arrived at the steps beneath the throne, and above those steps was the throne that had been sat upon by successive Qin kings.

He was about to ascend the steps and walk toward the throne.

Suddenly, six people appeared before the throne. All six wore crowns and held the Lulu sword.

This is the sixth ruler of the Qin state.

It is also the legacy of the six generations inherited by the First Emperor.

The First Emperor was about to tell them that he had fulfilled the great ambition of unifying the world under the Qin state.

The six figures standing before the throne suddenly drew their swords and pointed them forward...

The sword's edge was pointing directly west.

At this moment, the First Emperor suddenly woke up.

He believed that the dream was a hint or a premonition from his ancestors.

"How was it?" After recounting his dream, the First Emperor asked casually, "What could the great shaman have deciphered?"

Outside the curtain.

The shaman, with pheasant feathers tucked into his hair, squinted and pondered for a moment.

After a long while, he suddenly bowed down: "Your Majesty's dream, this old minister already knows the reason and has explained the reasons."

He raised his head. "Congratulations, Your Majesty! This is an extremely auspicious omen, comparable to Duke Mu's awakening after seven days!"

Upon hearing this answer, the First Emperor became somewhat interested.

"Great Shaman, please elaborate."

The shaman nodded and raised his hand.

With a solemn expression, he said, "I hope Your Majesty will allow me to interpret Your Majesty's dream of yourself in Yongcheng."

"allow."

"Yes." After receiving permission, the shaman thought for a moment and then began his eloquent speech.

"Yong is located between the north and south banks of the Wei River, the place where King Wen and King Wu of Zhou established their royal foundations."

"But the Zhou royal family gave Yong to the Quanrong."

"And promised: The Quanrong are wicked and have invaded and seized the land of Qifeng of my Zhou dynasty. Any lord who can drive out the Quanrong will have that land."

"A branch of the Ying clan, for this promise."

"For generations, people disregarded death and restored the Zhouyuan area near Qishan inch by inch, driving out the Quanrong."

"The Zhou royal family kept its promise."

"Then the descendants of the Ying clan established their first true capital city here, Yong."

"Yong was the site of the royal capital. King Wen and King Wu emerged from here, overthrew the Shang dynasty, and established the Zhou dynasty."

"Several hundred years later, the Qin Dynasty unified the world again."

"Therefore, I believe," the shaman paused, "that Your Majesty's dream last night of being on the royal grounds is an auspicious omen!"