Sky Curtain: A Review of Historical Foes and the Secrets of Ministers

It is highly likely that Fusu was killed by Huhai and Zhao Gao in a joint effort, but the specifics of how Li Si did it are currently unknown.

If this conclusion had been drawn, and it had been Zhu Yuanzhang in the same position, he probably would have turned Xianyang Palace into a slaughterhouse long ago.

But Ying Zheng did not.

His greatest strength has never been his brutality, but rather his unfathomable cunning and his almost abnormal emotional control.

His thoughts seemed to drift back to decades ago.

Those were the darkest and most humiliating years of his life, the days he spent as a hostage in Handan, the capital of the Zhao state.

Back then, he was called Zhao Zheng.

In the Battle of Changping, Bai Qi massacred 400,000 soldiers of the Zhao state, and every family was in mourning, with cries echoing from every household.

As a hostage sent by the Qin state, he became a living target for the hatred of the entire city of Handan.

If he walked down the street, he would be spitting on and pelted with stones by the princes and nobles of Zhao.

In the dead of winter, he was barely clothed and could only huddle with his mother, Zhao Ji, in a drafty, dilapidated house, shivering.

They even fight with wild dogs for a bite of spoiled leftovers.

During that period, he hovered on the edge of life and death every day, and witnessed the ugliest face of human nature every day.

It was in that hellish environment, where one could be beaten to death on the spot, that Ying Zheng's extremely patient and ruthless nature was shaped.

He learned to swallow all his anger, to show the most humble smile to his enemies, and never to reveal his fangs until he could deliver a fatal blow.

Later, he returned to the Qin state and ascended the throne.

He faced the powerful Chancellor Lü Buwei, the corrupt harem, the plotting rebellion by Lao Ai, and even his own mother.

An ordinary young monarch would have lost his composure long ago.

But what did Ying Zheng do?

He endured it for a full eight years!

Until the day he came of age and assumed power, he struck swiftly, tearing Lao Ai apart with five horses, dismissing Lü Buwei, and imprisoning the Empress Dowager.

All of this demonstrates that the First Emperor was definitely not someone who acted impulsively.

"The way of an emperor lies in employing those who are useful. Keep those who are useful and discard those who are useless. Betrayal only occurs when the stakes for betrayal are high enough."

Ying Zheng coldly analyzed the situation in his mind.

He will squeeze every last bit of value out of everything that can be used.

For example, his eldest son, Fusu.

The thought of Fusu made Ying Zheng unconsciously clench his back teeth.

For many years, he had disagreed with Fusu on various issues.

He admired Legalism and believed that only severe laws and punishments could govern the restless people of the former six states.

But what about Fusu?

He was brainwashed by those pedantic Confucian scholars who constantly talked about benevolence, righteousness, morality, leniency, and reducing the severity of punishments. They would argue with him in court at the drop of a hat, driving him half to death with anger.

Ying Zheng wished he could immediately order the execution of all the Confucian scholars who had taught his eldest son to be so womanly and compassionate.

But every time he had murderous intent, Fusu would stubbornly stop him, even threatening suicide, kneeling for a long time, crying with snot and tears streaming down his face, saying that it would violate the way of the ancient sages and might lose the hearts of scholars all over the world.

He's so angry!

My Great Qin Dynasty was won by a strong and iron-blooded army. When did it ever need to be maintained by those scholars who only know how to talk?

"Since I can't control my eldest son who has been poisoned by Confucianism, then so be it..." Ying Zheng looked at the barren sky and a cruel sneer curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Let Heaven shatter Fusu's ridiculous illusions on my behalf!"

He eagerly awaited the day when this all-knowing heaven would reveal the truth of Hu Hai's ascension to the throne.

How interesting Fusu's expression will be.

He wanted to show Fusu how utterly vulnerable his benevolence and righteousness were in the face of this cruel power struggle.

As for Zhao Gao...

Ying Zheng turned his head slightly, his peripheral vision sweeping over the person standing in the corner, hunched over like a docile dog.

"cut."

Ying Zheng scoffed inwardly.

It's nothing more than a vicious dog I keep by my side, an ant I can crush with a flick of my wrist.

Now that I know of your rebellious nature, killing you now would only dirty my hands and cause unwarranted speculation in the court.

It would be better to let him contribute his last bit of energy before he dies.

Thinking of this, the fierceness in Ying Zheng's heart miraculously dissipated, and he became somewhat calm, like a cat playing with a mouse.

Since he doesn't know exactly what happened in the future anyway, he might as well let the sky play out whatever it wants.

Consider it a chance to have some fun outside of the tedious and heavy political affairs, and also to see how the dynasties after the Qin Dynasty rose and fell.

But there was still one thing that he cared about deeply.

"Who exactly is the person behind this celestial curtain?" Ying Zheng's gaze was intense.

Since the sky curtain prompts you before each opening that you can specify the figures and dynasties to be reviewed by rewarding them with treasures.

Does this mean that the immortals behind the celestial curtain have a need for earthly treasures or rare objects?

"If I were to use all the resources of the Qin Dynasty to gather rare and precious treasures from across the land and offer them as a sacrifice to the heavens... perhaps the immortals, in their delight, would bestow upon me the true elixir of immortality."

The moment this thought crossed Ying Zheng's mind, his heart began to pound uncontrollably.

This is far more reliable than Xu Fu's voyage to find the immortal mountains.

"We must prepare early."

Ying Zheng suddenly stood up and turned his gaze to Meng Tian.

"Meng Tian!"

"Your subject is here!"

"Let's set aside the matter of the Heavenly Canopy. Come with me out of the palace to see how Zhang Han's drills are going."

"promise!"

As the First Emperor strode out of the palace, the gears of Qin's destiny, with the intervention of the heavens, began to quietly shift.

......

Wang Xi is experiencing the darkest moment of his life.

"Something's not right...this is really not right!"

Wang Xi's eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the backend on the computer screen, frantically clicking the refresh button.

Just moments before, he was still basking in the euphoria of his video going viral.

He witnessed firsthand the dazzling array of rewards that popped up in the system notification box.

At that moment, Wang Xi had only one thought in his mind: "Never underestimate a young man's potential!"

But now.

When he excitedly and with trembling hands clicked on the earnings in the backend, a few cold, large words were displayed on the screen.

Current account balance: 0.00 RMB

"What the F*CK?!" Wang Xi jumped up from his cheap computer chair.

"Where's my money? Where did all that huge sum of money I tipped go?"

"Is there a problem with the platform? Or is this lousy system trying to steal my money?"

Furious, Wang Xi opened the customer service center and typed furiously, sending out all her anger in words.

I waited for a full fifteen minutes.

"Ding-dong!"

The customer service chat window finally started responding.

Wang Xi excitedly clicked on the link and almost smashed the monitor.

All that could be seen on the screen was a perfunctory automated reply.

[Hello, Customer Service 007! We have received your issue and have forwarded it to our technical department for investigation. We will get back to you with the results as soon as they are available. Thank you for your support, and have a wonderful day! (smiley face.jpg)]