Eastward Expansion Strategy

The echo of the palace doors closing hummed through the deathly silence, like countless tiny venomous bees beating their wings against his eardrums. The cold jade ring between Cheng Xi's fingers nearly sank into his flesh. The last half-sentence Ying Zheng had left behind was like an ice awl steeped in poison, driving the chill of the deep palace straight into his marrow.

"The wind... doesn't only carry earth energy inside."

He slowly raised his hand. The jade ring gleamed with a ghostly, icy luster in the dim light. This was no toy—it was a death warrant. Ying Zheng had seen through the "exceptional" nature beneath his disguise. Behind that test lay scrutiny, wariness, and a future emperor's instinctive assessment of every potential threat. He needed value—value enough to make this young dragon temporarily sheathe its claws.

[Passive Perception Module continuing operation... Weak intensity of gaze stable... Directional analysis: upper southwest... Elevation: unknown... Attribute tendency: chaotic neutral... Warning! Energy below 0.05%. Module will forcibly shut down...]

The system's cold prompt sounded intermittently in his mind, carrying an alarming weakness. Upper southwest... the southwest of Xianyang Palace? Cheng Xi's gaze instinctively turned in that direction, but the massive palace walls blocked all sight. Was it a cultivator hidden within the deep palace? Or... a glance cast down by that vague and ethereal Heavenly Dao? Was this "gaze" of chaotic neutrality friend or foe?

He forced himself to pull his thoughts back. His most urgent task was to live—to live in this man-eating Qin palace and find a way to restore the system's energy. Ying Zheng's "wind" had already blown in. He had to build his first dam.

"Lord Chang'an," Zhao Gao's slick, snake-like voice sounded beyond the door again, carrying just the right degree of respect, "the Great King summons you to Zhangtai Palace to discuss affairs."

Zhangtai Palace. The place where King Zhuangxiang of Qin handled state affairs. Cheng Xi's thoughts raced. Was it Ying Zheng? No. Though Ying Zheng was favored by King Zhuangxiang, he had not yet taken personal control of the government. The summons could only have come from King Zhuangxiang himself. Why suddenly summon a nine-year-old Royal Brother? Was it related to last night's Nine-Linked Rings? Or had Lu Buwei's hand already reached out in impatience?

He suppressed his churning thoughts and put on the expression appropriate for a nine-year-old Royal Brother—slightly uneasy but forcing himself to remain composed. "Understood. Help me change."

Zhangtai Palace was grander and more solemn than the side hall where Cheng Xi lived. Enormous bronze pillars coiled with dragons supported the lofty dome. The hall was filled with the scent of agarwood, mixed with the ink smell of bamboo slips and an indescribable, oppressive weight belonging to power itself. King Zhuangxiang of Qin, Ying Zichu, sat upon the vermilion steps. His complexion bore the pallor of long illness, but his eyes remained sharp. Lu Buwei, dressed in formal black court robes, stood first on the left below the steps. His broad sleeves and flowing robes gave him an elegant bearing, and a mild smile rested on his face, yet his eyes were unfathomably deep, like an ancient well or a cold abyss. Ying Zheng stood waiting at King Zhuangxiang's side, dressed in black as ink, his face still as water. The instant Cheng Xi crossed the palace threshold, Ying Zheng silently locked onto him.

"Your younger brother Cheng Xi greets Royal Brother." Cheng Xi observed every courtesy. His small body seemed especially thin within the vast hall. He could clearly sense several gazes converging on him: King Zhuangxiang's majestic scrutiny, Lu Buwei's seemingly gentle yet actually cold probing, and beneath Ying Zheng's calm, rippleless expression, a faint and nearly imperceptible consideration.

"Rise." King Zhuangxiang's voice was hoarse with a lack of strength, yet it carried an authority that permitted no doubt. "Cheng Xi, I heard that yesterday you solved the Nine-Linked Rings brought by the Chu envoy. Your technique was exquisite, and you succeeded in moments. At such a young age, you possess a keen mind. This is truly a blessing for our Ying Qin."

"Royal Brother overpraises me." Cheng Xi lowered his head, his voice carrying a child's crispness and just the right amount of nervousness. "Your younger brother merely... thought those jade rings were very pretty and fiddled with them at random. I only happened to solve them by luck."

"By luck?" Lu Buwei's gentle voice sounded, accompanied by the approving smile of an elder as he slowly stepped forward. His gaze settled upon Cheng Xi with a tangible weight, as though he wished to see through the child completely. "Lord Chang'an is too modest. Those Nine-Linked Rings were crafted by ingenious artisans of the State of Chu over several years. Each ring interlocked with the next, concealing profound mechanisms. Even when this old man first saw them, I had to expend much thought and deliberate for a long time. Yet Lord Chang'an solved them in an instant. This is intelligence bestowed by Heaven."

His tone shifted. It remained gentle, but gained an almost imperceptible note of guidance. "Now, Great Qin needs precisely such wisdom. The Great King worries over state affairs, especially the strategy of 'eastward expansion.' Beyond Hangu Pass, the Six States watch us like a pack of wolves watching a tiger. How should we break this deadlock? How should we advance east? The court is filled with endless debate. Since Lord Chang'an possesses such insight, why not... share your 'random' thoughts as well?"

Here it came! Alarm bells blared in Cheng Xi's heart. This old fox Lu Buwei! It sounded like praise, but it was actually a trap! He was forcibly linking Cheng Xi's cleverness in solving the Nine-Linked Rings to grave military and national affairs. A nine-year-old child speaking recklessly about state policy—no matter what he said, it would be wrong! If he spoke well, he was a monster; if he spoke poorly, he was foolish. Lu Buwei wanted to use King Zhuangxiang's hand to crush him, a potential Royal Brother who might affect Ying Zheng's position, beneath the labels of "an ignorant child" or "bewitching words that mislead the masses"!

The air in the hall seemed to freeze. King Zhuangxiang's gaze held scrutiny and a trace of weary expectation. Ying Zheng's eyes grew even deeper, like a hunter waiting for prey to step into a trap. Lu Buwei's smile was so gentle that it sent chills across Cheng Xi's entire body.

Cold sweat silently soaked Cheng Xi's inner robes. He could not retreat, and he could not remain silent. Ying Zheng's "wind" had not yet stopped, and Lu Buwei's blade was already at his throat. He needed value—value sufficient to move King Zhuangxiang, make Ying Zheng reassess him, and make Lu Buwei hesitate, at least for now!

He drew a deep breath and forced himself to ignore the gazes that nearly pierced his soul and the invisible pressure filling the hall. He raised his head, struggling to maintain a child's innocence on his face while gathering, in his eyes, the seriousness expected of a "clever Royal Brother."

"Prime Minister, are you asking... how to go out and hunt?" He deliberately used childish words as his gaze swept across the enormous sheepskin map hanging to one side of the hall. On that crude map, the courses of mountains and rivers and the locations of passes and cities were filled with primitive errors and vagueness from the perspective of modern geography, yet it still represented the finest strategic vision of this age.

Taking small steps, he walked to the map. His little finger pointed at the brown region representing Qin territory, then toward the brightly interwoven blocks representing the six states east of the pass.

"Your younger brother doesn't understand any grand principles." His voice was crisp with childishness as he tried to imitate the casual tone he had used when solving the Nine-Linked Rings yesterday. "I was only looking at this map and thinking... our State of Qin looks like a tiger lying in a big nest."

He pointed at towering Hangu Pass. "This gate, Hangu Pass, is tall and thick. It's very safe. But..." His finger traced downward along the Yellow River and came to rest on the green area representing the vast plain. "If the tiger keeps lying in its nest, then those wild boars, Han and Wei; wild sheep, Zhao; and wild deer, Chu... will keep eating grass and drinking water right outside the tiger's home, taking all the good land. When the tiger gets hungry and wants to go out to catch something to eat, then..."

His finger returned to Hangu Pass. "It can only squeeze out through this gate every time. It takes so much effort to squeeze through, and makes such a big commotion that those wild boars, sheep, and deer hear it from far away. They either run off in fright or... gather together and use their sharp horns, the Vertical Alliance, to gore the tiger!"

This almost childish metaphor made King Zhuangxiang lean forward slightly. Even Lu Buwei's smile froze for an instant. Ying Zheng's eyes sharpened like needles as he stared fixedly at the small figure before the map.

"So your younger brother was thinking..." Cheng Xi's finger followed the Yellow River eastward until it finally reached the broad plain where the Yellow River and Luo River met. He pressed hard on that fertile land later known as Sanchuan Commandery, his voice still carrying a child's "innocence." "Could we... quietly open another small gate beside it? It doesn't need to be very big. Just enough for the tiger to sneak out."

His finger drew a clear line across the map. "We could follow this great river, the Yellow River. Wherever it flows, we quietly build roads. While building the roads, we could also... um, like digging little ditches in a courtyard to water flowers, dig some bigger and deeper ditches—the beginnings of the Zheng Guo Canal—and bring the river water to those dry lands in the Guangzhong Plain, making them wet so they can grow lots and lots of grain."

His finger pointed once more at Sanchuan Commandery, and his voice took on the excitement of a child discovering a secret. "Then the tiger won't have to squeeze through that tall, thick gate every time! It can sneak out through this small gate at the side and suddenly pounce on the closest wild boar, Korea, or wild sheep, Wei! By the time the other wild boars, sheep, and deer hear the commotion and come running to help..."

Cheng Xi suddenly clenched his small hand, making a grabbing motion. A childlike, slightly sly smile appeared on his face. "The tiger will have already dragged that fat, stupid wild boar back into its nest! Once it's full, it'll be stronger. Then when it goes hunting again, it can catch even bigger prey!"

His childish words echoed through the hall. There were no quotations from ancient texts, no grand speeches—only a child's straightforward talk of "a tiger hunting" and "digging little ditches." Yet the finger that had drawn a line across the map from the Yellow River toward Sanchuan Commandery, the ideas of "opening another small gate," "bringing water to enrich the land," and "striking the nearest enemy by surprise," were like a silent thunderclap that broke open the stagnant air in the hall!

A sharp gleam burst from King Zhuangxiang's clouded eyes, and he involuntarily leaned forward. Lu Buwei's smile vanished completely, replaced by very deep scrutiny and incredulous shock. He stared fixedly at the spot Cheng Xi had indicated on the map—that strategic throatland holding the approaches of Xiao and Hangu, overlooking the Central Plains!

The moment Cheng Xi clenched his fist and made that grabbing motion, Ying Zheng's breathing paused almost imperceptibly. When he looked at Cheng Xi again, there was no longer mere scrutiny in his gaze. Instead, an intensely complicated heat surged within it, as if he had discovered an unmatched piece of uncut jade, along with... an even colder trace of wariness!

"Absurd nonsense!" A low shout suppressing anger suddenly sounded, shattering the dead silence. An old official in military armor, his face red with rage, stepped from the ranks. It was Ying Xi, an elder military general of the royal clan. He glared at Cheng Xi. "Matters of military and state are not to be compared to wild beasts by some yellow-mouthed child! And you dare speak of opening a 'small gate'? The natural danger of Hangu Pass is the National Foundation of Great Qin! If we divide our forces along another route and the Six States exploit an opening, shaking the National Foundation, can you bear the responsibility?!"

The rebuke was like a bucket of cold water, instantly washing away the shock Cheng Xi's words had caused. Many ministers in the hall nodded one after another, and the way they looked at Cheng Xi again carried contempt and disapproval. Of course. A nine-year-old child had solved a toy through a moment of cleverness, then forgotten the immensity of heaven and earth and dared to babble about national policy!

A nearly imperceptible trace of relief and mockery passed through Lu Buwei's eyes. He was about to take advantage of the moment and declare it nothing more than childish nonsense, then quietly let the matter pass.

"Royal Uncle is mistaken."

A clear, cool, steady voice rang out, carrying unquestionable force.

Ying Zheng stepped out from King Zhuangxiang's side. His black robes were dark as ink. His calm gaze swept over Ying Xi before finally falling upon Cheng Xi, whose face had turned faintly pale as if frightened. His voice was not loud, yet it clearly suppressed every murmur in the hall.

"Though Lord Chang'an is young, and though his words are simple, still..." He paused slightly, his gaze sweeping again toward the clear course of the Yellow River on the map and the mountains, rivers, and fertile fields that had been indicated. Then, word by word, like icy pearls striking a jade plate, he said:

"When a fierce tiger leaves its cage, how can it hold fast to a single gate?"

He did not directly affirm Cheng Xi, but that rhetorical question was like a heavy hammer striking every heart! Especially that final phrase, "hold fast to a single gate," which faintly exposed the greatest shackle on Qin's current Eastward Expansion Strategy!

The gleam in King Zhuangxiang's eyes grew brighter. He suddenly slapped the imperial desk. "Zheng'er is right!" His burning gaze turned to Cheng Xi, and the weariness in his eyes seemed to be dispelled by an unusual radiance. "Cheng Xi! Explain your plans for 'digging little ditches' and 'opening a small gate' in detail! I want to hear it!"

The gentle smile on Lu Buwei's face froze completely, like a stiff mask. He gave a deep look at the child before the map, who seemed to have been frightened by King Zhuangxiang and had shrunk back slightly. Then he glanced at the youth beside him, clad in black as ink with a faintly burgeoning presence. Beneath his wide sleeves, his fingers slowly clenched.

Cheng Xi lowered his head, pretending to be frightened by King Zhuangxiang's shout, but his heart pounded wildly in his chest. The first brick of the dam seemed to have... been laid?

However, just as his mind relaxed slightly—

[Warning! Passive Perception Module has detected an abnormal fluctuation! Gaze intensity rapidly increasing! Direction: directly ahead and above! Attribute tendency: chaos → order! Analyzing... bzz... Warning! Encountered high-dimensional concealment!...]

An unprecedented, cold and vast will descended like an invisible iceberg!

Its target was—

King Zhuangxiang of Qin, standing atop the vermilion steps with an excited expression!