Changping! Changping!

"Naturally, it's exhilarating!"

Zhang Yi laughed, sweeping his hand with a flourish, his demeanor once again taking on a heroic bearing. "Master, look—Great Qin is now a state of tigers and wolves! The Six States of Shandong dare not underestimate it. Even the monarchs of other states must treat the King of Qin's orders with utmost caution!"

"Such authority is something even the Son of Heaven in Luoyang lacks!"

"But from now on, none of this has anything to do with you. You're just... an old man. An old man without any identity left."

Verdant Green Maiden watched Zhang Yi's smile and spoke slowly.

"I know!"

Zhang Yi nodded, then added, "But Zhang Yi has no regrets! This is the Qin I built together with my king!"

"In the future! No one in this world will dare to speak of Qin in a raised voice!"

"That alone is enough."

"I don't understand the way you people think."

Verdant Green Maiden murmured softly, waving her hand. "Come on, eat some meat with me. This is your last chance to eat with me. After this, you won't get to taste it again."

Hearing this, Zhang Yi's smile did not waver. He bowed his head and said, "Thank you, Master!"

Verdant Green Maiden's roast meat was far more delicious than anything else in the world—even the chefs in the royal palace couldn't compare.

She was a master who had lived over two thousand years, spanning more than a hundred generations!

Zhang Yi ate meat and drank wine with Verdant Green Maiden, though she didn't drink—only Zhang Yi did.

"It's a pity that Master doesn't drink."

Zhang Yi sighed, then took another bite of meat and exclaimed, "This meat is truly incomparably sweet! If only I could eat Master's roasted meat again in the future! Master, why not teach me this skill?"

"Even if I taught you, you wouldn't have long to enjoy it. How many more years can you live?"

Verdant Green Maiden asked casually in return.

Zhang Yi was startled, then burst into loud laughter. "Master, could you please not say such heartbreaking things in front of a mortal like me? Zhang Yi knows he won't live long."

The art of vertical and horizontal alliances had drained his energy endlessly, and years of travel had worn him down. His life wouldn't last.

"I'll bring you some to eat when I visit your grave."

Seeing Zhang Yi laugh heartily, Verdant Green Maiden added softly, "If I still remember to."

After sharing this final meal, Verdant Green Maiden and Zhang Yi went their separate ways.

Zhang Yi returned to his hometown and died of old age. Not long after, King Ying Dang of Qin, who had driven him away, lifted a cauldron and broke his shin, dying young. The entire state of Qin was thrown into chaos for a time, until finally, they brought back Ying Ji, who had been a hostage in Yan, and installed him as King of Qin.

The Warring States Devil King initialized.

Verdant Green Maiden sat before Zhang Yi's grave and told him all this news.

"I know you're definitely laughing down there. After all, that lad Ying Dang drove you away, so you must have found him insufferable! I think so too—he died with absolutely no style!"

"But still, he was a king. Laugh a little and let it go. Give the little fellow some face. You all should get along down there."

Verdant Green Maiden rambled on for a long time, and the roasted meat she had promised Zhang Yi was laid out in front of his grave.

But when it came time to leave, she still felt reluctant.

Seeing this, Hong Luan said, "I didn't see you feeling this reluctant when you first threw him to Qin. Now that you're visiting his grave, you're this unwilling to part?"

Verdant Green Maiden pressed her lips together, turned back to look at Hong Luan, and pointed at the meat before the grave. "Hong Luan, can I eat it all before we go?"

Hong Luan stared wide-eyed at Verdant Green Maiden, then suddenly ruffled her hair. "Stupid Snake! Who steals offerings meant for the dead! If you want to eat, just go roast some more yourself!"

"But these are just sitting here, and Zhang Yi can't eat them anyway."

Verdant Green Maiden clutched her head and said to Hong Luan.

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"That's still not allowed!"

Hong Luan was fuming as she scolded Verdant Green Maiden. "You can't just do whatever you want because you're old! Show some respect for the dead, will you, Stupid Snake!"

"Oh, I get it."

Verdant Green Maiden let out an "oh." In truth, she felt she was quite respectful toward the dead.

She had talked about digging up people's graves, but in all these years, she hadn't even moved a single shovel! She was very well-behaved, wasn't she!

After King Wu of Qin died, the Warring States seemed to enter a relatively ordinary era. Among the states, the shining historical figures gradually dwindled, the strategists declined, and the struggles of the Hundred Schools of Thought drew to a close. Everything was tilting toward Qin.

In the era of Ying Ji, Qin was the undisputed absolute protagonist.

A large portion of the Qin kings that appeared in textbooks were him—the Mianchi Meeting, Returning the Jade...

And so on.

Great Qin's eastward advance was unstoppable, all because of him!

Verdant Green Maiden wandered under heaven. After discarding the name of Ghost Valley, what she heard most in the streets and markets was still Qin.

The vast and surging auspicious fortune of this world was finally flowing slowly toward Xianyang.

Verdant Green Maiden looked up at the sky and murmured, "Soon. A few decades. Hong Luan, I'm one step closer to success."

"You've been muttering about that every day ever since that Ying Ji took the throne!"

"Is he really that formidable?"

Hong Luan asked in return.

Verdant Green Maiden nodded and said, "Of course. If not for him, the momentum for Qin to Unify Under Heaven could never have been established! He is that one's own great-grandfather."

The Great Devil King truly lived up to his name, outlasting who knows how many generations of kings from the six states.

He endured until the realm itself spoke of him with a change in expression.

In the 47th Year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, the Han region of Shangdang was ceded to Zhao. Qin flew into a rage and launched an attack on Shangdang. The two states of Qin and Zhao deployed their armies in a standoff in the Changping Region. The total troops committed by both sides exceeded a million, shaking the realm!

This standoff was less a contest of military strength and more a test of the national power of both states!

Both Qin and Zhao threw their entire nations into the fray!

King Zhaoxiang of Qin personally went to invite Lord Wu'an, Bai Qi, to take command of the expedition to Changping, and issued an order that news of Bai Qi being the general must not leak out—any violator would be executed!

And the result was exactly as the King of Qin had wished: Bai Qi won.

He completely surrounded Zhao's four hundred thousand troops!

For this, Ying Ji personally went to Henei Commandery, granting one rank of nobility to every man in Hedong and Henei Commanderies aged fifteen or older, conscripting them all and sending them to the Changping battlefield!

Qin was determined to fight with the full force of the nation!

At this time, Changping had become the focal point of the realm's winds and clouds, drawing the gaze of all.

Verdant Green Maiden was here, but not among the Qin Army—she was within the besieged Zhao forces, beside Zhao Kuo, the commander of the four hundred thousand Zhao troops.

She was curious about this youth known for his armchair strategies.

In recent years, she had lived in Handan and had known Zhao Kuo for quite some time. So when Zhao Kuo took command on the expedition, she simply followed along!

Today was the tenth day of the Zhao Army's encirclement, and their provisions were nearly exhausted.

Zhao Kuo's face was somewhat pale. He looked at Verdant Green Maiden and said, "Verdant Green Maiden, who exactly are you? In this perilous place of war between Zhao and Qin, with our army besieged, you show not a trace of panic. Do you realize that if I fail, we will all die!"

"I won't die."

Verdant Green Maiden scoffed, swinging her legs and stretching lazily.

"Zhao Kuo, do you know who the enemy you face is?"