I started on a deserted island and encountered Ying Zheng, who insisted I was an immortal.

Meng Yi was more refined, but he was quick with his chopsticks.

Ying Zheng ate to his heart's content, forgetting most of the pain in his calf, and let out a comfortable burp.

He picked up a piece of golden-brown eel and put it in his mouth. The fresh, fragrant, spicy, and numbing flavor gave him a jolt.

good to eat.

It's so delicious!

He never imagined that this "long worm," commonly found in ditches, could be so delicious after cooking.

"Sir, this thing... this long worm, can it be eaten?" Ying Zheng couldn't help but ask.

"What 'long worm'? This is called an eel." Zhang Ying rolled her eyes at him.

Wang Ben mumbled in agreement from the side, "That's right, that's right, there's plenty of this stuff in the rivers where we live, nobody eats it."

In the minds of these top elites, eels, like loaches, are considered unworthy of being served in public.

Although some alchemists studied how to eat eels during the Warring States period, in the Qin Dynasty, ordinary people were lucky to be able to eat pork, and these nobles even considered pork to be "cheap meat," let alone eels.

"You don't know what's good for you." Zhang Ying curled her lip.

"This eel is a valuable ingredient; it can be used as medicine. It clears heat and detoxifies, cools the blood and relieves pain, and also replenishes qi and blood."

He pointed to Ying Zheng's leg.

"You've been poisoned by snake venom; this is perfect for you."

Zhang Ying was inwardly complaining that these wild yellow eels were all fifty or sixty centimeters long, fat and strong, and very expensive to sell outside. She usually couldn't bear to eat them.

These three country bumpkins are actually looking down on us.

The meal was devoured in a flash.

The plates on the stone table were cleaner than his face.

Zhang Ying leaned against the stone wall and pointed to the mess of cups and plates.

"Old Meng, go wash the dishes."

Meng Yi, who was rubbing his belly and savoring the delicious taste, suddenly froze with a smile.

He was the Grand Censor of the Great Qin Dynasty, with the power to supervise and impeach all officials. The Meng family had been loyal and virtuous for three generations. When had he ever done such menial work?

Under heaven, only this "disciple of the immortals" dares to order him around like this.

With a bitter expression, and amidst the suppressed laughter of Ying Zheng and Wang Ben, he resignedly picked up the plate and walked towards the pool outside the cave.

"Sir, may I... recite a few more lines?" Meng Yi asked, turning around as he washed the dishes.

Those poems from before still linger in his memory.

"What's so great about reciting it?" Zhang Ying said casually. "Alone in a foreign land, I feel like a stranger, and I miss my family all the more during festivals."

All he could remember were these fragmented sentences from the nine years of compulsory education.

"What a wonderful poem! What a wonderful poem!" Ying Zheng clapped his hands in praise.

Meng Yi nodded repeatedly, his face full of rapture.

Wang Ben also shouted loudly, "Great! That's fucking great!"

Zhang Ying glanced at him sideways and said disdainfully, "Good my ass, do you even understand what I'm saying? All you think about is muscles, talking to you is like casting pearls before swine."

Wang Ben immediately looked aggrieved.

"Since you miss your homeland so much, why don't you try to leave the island?" Ying Zheng changed the subject.

"Do you think I don't want to?" Zhang Ying sighed. "The weather at sea can change in an instant."

He pointed outside the cave: "When the air is heated unevenly, it moves and forms wind. Water vapor evaporates into the sky, condenses when it cools, and becomes rain. The sea conditions around this island are incredibly complex. I tried more than thirty times, and all the rafts I built were smashed to pieces by the waves."

Ying Zheng was completely confused.

Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning are all manifestations of the power of nature, which cannot be fathomed by human effort.

These words further convinced him that Zhang Ying was an immortal who had lost all her magical powers and was trapped here.

If one still possesses magical powers, let alone mere storms, even walking on water would be no problem.

Perhaps, the key to my immortality lies here.

"Rest assured, sir!" Ying Zheng patted his chest, an aura of imperial confidence emanating from him. "I... have been missing for many days. The Qin navy will search the entire world with all its might, and it won't be long before we find this place!"

"Alright, alright, stop bragging," Zhang Ying interrupted him impatiently.

"The Qin Navy? Why don't you just say you're the Jade Emperor?"

"Get out of here, go to sleep. If you keep nagging, I'll get the 'Thunder and Lightning King' to shock you."

......

Halfway through, a wind picked up outside the cave.

The wind howled, carrying the roar of the ocean waves as it crashed against the rocks.

Ying Zheng lay on the "bed" made of dry grass, tossing and turning.

A pale bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky, illuminating the entire cave as bright as day.

Immediately afterwards, a deafening thunderclap rolled overhead.

"Boom!"

Ying Zheng sat up abruptly, his heart pounding.

He remembered Zhang Ying's half-joking remark before she went to sleep.

"If you keep nagging, I'll get the 'Thunder and Lightning King' to shock you."

Thunder King?

Could this thunder have truly been summoned by that celestial official?

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.

This immortal, banished to the mortal realm, has quite a temper. What if I say something wrong and anger him...?

Ying Zheng dared not think any further. He turned his head and lowered his voice.

"Meng Qing, are you asleep?"

From the darkness came Meng Yi's equally suppressed voice.

"Your Majesty, I have not slept."

What is your opinion of Mr. Zhang?

Meng Yi remained silent for a moment, then spoke with absolute certainty.

"Your Majesty, I have never believed in the nonsense of sorcerers and their ilk, and I dismiss it as the foolish tricks of a country bumpkin."

"But this Mr. Zhang..."

"The potatoes and rice he presented were real, living things; the medical skills he used were life-saving methods with immediate effects; and the poems he recited were masterpieces that I had never heard of before."

"I believe that his claim of being a 'banished immortal' is 99% true."

Ying Zheng let out a long sigh of relief.

Even the most pragmatic Meng Yi said so, so it must be true.

Meanwhile, on the dark sea a hundred miles away.

Dozens of enormous ships are struggling to stay afloat amidst the raging winds and waves.

"Prime Minister! The wind and waves are too strong! The sails are almost torn to shreds!"

A boatman, soaking wet, scrambled into the cabin, his voice filled with terror.

"The waves ahead are several meters high; if we go any further, the ship will be destroyed and everyone on board will perish!"

In the main seat of the cabin, Li Si, dressed in a black robe, had a somber expression.

He steadied himself by holding onto the table, his voice colder than the storm outside.

"keep going."

"Prime Minister! You mustn't!"

Li Si raised his head, and his usually shrewd face now showed only an almost insane stubbornness.

"His Majesty has been missing for nearly ten days. Great Qin cannot be without a ruler for even a day! Do you all know that this matter concerns the very survival of the nation!"

How did he rise from a lowly official in the State of Chu, guarding a granary, to a position second only to the emperor in the State of Qin?

It was not only his contribution in assisting the First Emperor to unify the world, but also the emperor's complete trust in him.

If something were to happen to Ying Zheng, everything Li Si had would vanish into thin air.

Therefore, he absolutely would not allow such a thing to happen.

"Raise the sails! Full speed ahead!"