Starting with ten elixirs of immortality, I led the First Emperor to rebel against the Qin Dynasty.

Upon seeing his father return, Li You immediately sheathed his halberd, stepped forward, and bowed, saying, "Father, you're back."

"Hmm." Li Si nodded, his gaze lingering on his son for a long time.

Previously, he only felt that his son was brave but lacked literary talent, only knowing how to wield swords and spears, and was completely ignorant of the ways of power and strategy.

But now, looking at his son's young and resolute face, he felt a surge of pride.

"You'er," Li Si said gently, "it's been a long time since I've tested your lessons."

"My son, Li Si's son, cannot be just a military man. He must be proficient in both literature and martial arts in order to stand firm in the court and make contributions to the Qin Dynasty."

Li You was somewhat surprised.

His father had never liked him practicing martial arts, considering it the work of a reckless man, and valued his younger brother who was studying at school much more. Why was he suddenly concerned about his studies today?

But he still respectfully replied, "Yes, Father."

Li Si then sat down on a stone bench in the courtyard and inquired about everything from military strategy to laws and people's livelihood.

After testing him, Li Si was pleasantly surprised to find that although Li You was not good at speaking, he had his own unique insights into military formations and tactics, and was also well-versed in the laws and regulations of Qin. He was not as reckless as he had imagined.

In particular, when asked what "loyalty" meant, Li You's answer deeply moved him.

"As a subject of Qin, receiving the king's bounty, it is my duty to share his burdens. As a soldier of Qin, it is my sacred duty to defend the land and protect the country. As long as the country exists, the subject exists; as long as the country perishes, the subject dies. This is loyalty."

If the country perishes, the minister shall die!

Lantian, Zhao Family Village.

The scorching sun baked the earth.

Three figures were working diligently in the fields.

"Brother, hurry up! Haven't you eaten? It's almost noon, and we haven't finished this acre of land yet!"

Zhao Huan, carrying a hoe, looked at the figure not far behind him, bent over and moving slowly, and couldn't help but urge him on.

Upon hearing this, Fusu straightened his aching back, wiped the large beads of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, and gasped for breath.

I feel like my bones are about to fall apart.

Several blisters had already formed on my hands, and they were burning with pain.

As the eldest son of the Qin Dynasty, Fusu had been pampered since childhood and had never done such rough work before.

Today, working in the fields with Zhao Huan and Bai Qi, I truly understood what it means to "every grain is hard-earned".

The words about the hardships of people's lives in books seem so pale and powerless in the face of personal experience.

As the sage said, "When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it will first test their will, strain their muscles and bones, starve their body, and leave them destitute..."

Zhao Huan's mocking voice rang out.

"Do you know what that means, bro?"

"It means that if God wants you to be the boss, He has to make you suffer first, torment you to the point of exhaustion! Make you do the hardest work, starve you to the bone, and be dirt poor! He has tormented you to the point of near death so that you can unleash your potential and defeat all those who bullied you!"

Fusu has gone from initial shock and anger to numbness regarding Zhao Huan's fallacies and heresies.

He simply didn't have the energy to argue.

I just want to finish my work quickly and go back to lie down.

He simply ignored Zhao Huan, letting the words go in one ear and out the other, and buried himself in his work.

Bai Qi watched all of this silently from the side.

She was also helping with the work, but her movements were much more agile than Fusu's, as if she was born to do this job.

Seeing Fusu's unsteady steps and pale face, he coldly said, "Young Master, speed up."

"After you finish planting this land, go back and practice horse stance for an hour."

"My body is too weak."

Upon hearing this, Fusu staggered and almost fell to the ground.

He's still practicing horse stance, and now he feels it's difficult to even stand.

But upon seeing Bai Qi's expressionless face, Fu Su swallowed back the words he was about to say.

He dared not refute. He had no doubt that if he dared to say "no," Bai Qi would not hesitate to "punish" him.

With no other option, Fusu could only grit his teeth and speed up his movements.

While laboriously digging the hole, he planted the cotton seeds that Zhao Huan handed him.

This job seems simple, but the repeated bending, squatting, and standing up is a huge test for his back and legs.

He now looked extremely disheveled; his once luxurious robes were now covered in mud, his hair was a mess, and sweat streamed down his face.

This kind of embarrassment was something he had never imagined.

"Brother Huan," Fusu asked, panting, unable to contain his curiosity, "what's this we're growing... called? Is it like a potato, edible?"

Looking at the seeds in my hand, I saw a layer of soft, white, fluffy material attached to them, which had a peculiar texture.

"This one," Zhao Huan chuckled, keeping everyone in suspense, "is called cotton."

"As for whether it's food... that's a secret for now!"

"You'll find out when it's harvested in the fall. I promise you a huge surprise!"

surprise?

Fusu pursed his lips; he only felt frightened.

Without asking any more questions, I silently sped up.

His only thought now is to finish planting as soon as possible and then go back to rest.

Even practicing horse stance is better than being exposed to the scorching sun.

While the three were engrossed in their work, none of them noticed that in a distant grove of trees, a pair of clear, cool eyes were quietly observing everything in the field through the gaps in the branches and leaves.

Xu Mofu's figure was hidden in the shadows like a ghost.

Following the clues given by Zhao Gao, she arrived at Lantian County.

As a master of the Yin-Yang School, Xu Mofu's movements were ethereal and her aura was concealed, making it impossible for ordinary people to detect her presence.

They soon discovered that Zhao Family Village was different from others.

Compared to the emaciated and desolate villages of other parts of the Qin Dynasty, the villagers here all had rosy complexions, were full of energy, and had clean village roads and well-organized houses.

The strong sense of incongruity aroused Xu Mofu's curiosity, and she also discovered that the Black Ice Platform was hiding in Zhao Family Village.

The fact that these elite spies of the Great Qin Dynasty would appear in such a village indicates that the secrets hidden here are far more significant than she imagined.

Xu Mofu used the secret techniques of the Yin-Yang School to conceal his aura as he entered Zhao Family Village.

Then she witnessed a scene that shocked her.

The crown prince of the Qin Empire, the future emperor, was working under the scorching sun in this rural area, just like a farmer.

Xu Mo forced down the storm raging in his heart, shifting his gaze from Fu Su to the other two people beside him.

One of them, a boy who looked only eighteen or nineteen years old, with healthy wheat-colored skin and a tall, upright figure, was urging Fusu on with a look of disdain.

Xu Mofu completely ignored him.

He's just a country boy, nothing to worry about.

But when her gaze fell on another person, her pupils suddenly contracted.

The middle-aged man, with a stern face and a tall stature, was dressed in coarse linen clothes and working in the fields, but the ruthless and murderous aura emanating from his very bones could not be concealed.

His eyes, in particular, were calm and still, yet seemed to hold within them mountains of corpses and seas of blood.