Longping! Longping!

"Of course it was satisfying!"

Zhang Yi laughed and swept his hand through the air, his expression once again brimming with heroic spirit. "Master, look at Great Qin now. It's a nation of tigers and wolves! The Six States of Shandong all fear to underestimate us. Even the rulers of other states must treat the King of Qin's commands with utmost care!"

"Even the Son of Heaven in Luoyang never wielded such prestige!"

"But none of this will have anything to do with you anymore. You're just... an old man. An old man without any status at all."

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

"I know!"

Zhang Yi nodded, then continued, "But Zhang Yi has no regrets! This is the Qin we built together, my King and I!"

"In the future, no one under Heaven will dare speak of Qin in a loud voice!"

"That's enough for me."

"I don't understand what goes on in your people's heads."

Verdant Green Maiden murmured, then waved her hand. "Come on, let's go eat meat. This is the last time you'll eat meat with me. Soon, you won't be able to get any, no matter how much you want it."

Hearing this, Zhang Yi's smile remained unchanged. He bowed his head and said, "Thank you, Master!"

Verdant Green Maiden's roasted meat tasted better than anywhere else in the world. Even the cooks in the Royal Palace couldn't compare.

She was a master who'd lived for more than two thousand years and over a hundred lifetimes!

Zhang Yi ate meat and drank wine with Verdant Green Maiden. But she didn't drink; Zhang Yi was the only one who did.

"It's a pity you don't drink, Master."

Zhang Yi sighed and took another bite of meat. "This meat is so delicious! If only I could still eat your roasted meat in the future! Master, why not teach me how to make it?"

"Even if I taught you, you wouldn't be able to eat it for long. How many years do you have left?"

Verdant Green Maiden casually shot back.

Zhang Yi was taken aback, then burst out laughing. "Master, could you not say such heartbreaking things in front of us mortals? Zhang Yi knows he doesn't have long to live."

Years of exhausting political maneuvering, on top of a lifetime spent traveling under harsh conditions, had left him with little time.

"I'll bring you some when I visit your grave in the future."

Verdant Green Maiden watched Zhang Yi laugh, then added quietly, "If I still remember."

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

Zhang Yi returned to his hometown, where he died of old age. Not long afterward, the King of Qin, Ying Dang, who had driven him away, died young after his attempt to lift a cauldron left him with a broken leg. Qin was thrown into turmoil for a while, until they finally brought Ying Ji back from Yan, where he'd been held as a hostage, and made him King of Qin.

The Warring States Devil King had initialized.

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

"I know you must be chuckling down there. After all, that brat Ying Dang drove you away, so you were bound to dislike him! I think he died in a pretty undignified way, too!"

"But he was still a king. A little chuckling is fine, but at least give the young fellow some face. You two should get along down there."

Verdant Green Maiden rambled on and on, and the roasted meat she'd promised Zhang Yi was piled up in front of his grave.

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

Seeing this, Hong Luan said, "You didn't seem reluctant when you dumped him on Qin back then. But now you come to sweep his grave and you can't bear to leave?"

Verdant Green Maiden pressed her lips together, then glanced back at Hong Luan. Pointing at the meat in front of the grave, she asked, "Hong Luan, can I eat it all before we go?"

Hong Luan stared at Verdant Green Maiden in disbelief, then ruffled her hair in one swift motion. "Stupid Snake! Who steals offerings from the dead? If you want to eat, can't you just roast some more yourself?"

"But Zhang Yi can't eat these, even if I leave them here."

Verdant Green Maiden covered her head and replied to Hong Luan.

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"No, you can't!"

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

"Oh, got it."

Verdant Green Maiden gave a little "oh." She actually thought she was quite respectful to the dead.

She'd talked about digging up other people's graves, but in all these years, she hadn't so much as lifted 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 uneventful era. The brilliant historical figures among the states gradually grew fewer, the political strategists fell into decline, and the rivalries among the Hundred Schools of Thought neared their end. Everything was tilting toward Qin.

In Ying Ji's era, Qin was the undisputed protagonist.

A great many of the Kings of Qin who appeared in schoolbooks were him. The Mianchi Meeting, Returning the Jade...

And so on.

The unstoppable eastward advance of Great Qin was all thanks to him!

Verdant Green Maiden roamed the world. After casting off the name of Ghost Valley, she heard Qin mentioned more than anything else in the marketplace.

The mighty tide of Auspicious Fortune under Heaven was slowly gathering in Xianyang.

Verdant Green Maiden looked up at the sky and murmured, "Soon. Just a few dozen more years. Hong Luan, I'm one step closer to success."

"Got it. Ever since that Ying Ji took the throne, you've been talking about him every day!"

"Is he really that impressive?"

Hong Luan asked.

Verdant Green Maiden nodded. "Of course! Without him, Qin couldn't have laid the foundation for Unify Under Heaven! He's that person's great-grandfather."

The Great Devil King truly lived up to his name. He outlasted who knew how many generations of kings across the Six Kingdoms.

He lived until all under Heaven trembled at the mention of his name.

In the 47th Year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, the Han state ceded the Shangdang region to Zhao. Qin was enraged and sent troops to attack Shangdang. The armies of Qin and Zhao faced each other in the Changping Region, with more than a million soldiers committed between them. The whole world was shaken!

This confrontation was less a test of military strength than a contest of national power!

Both Qin and Zhao had thrown the full might of their states into the fight!

King Zhaoxiang of Qin personally went to invite Lord Wu'an, Bai Qi, to command the expedition to Changping. He ordered that the news of Bai Qi's appointment be kept secret, and that anyone who disobeyed would be executed!

And the result was just as the King of Qin had hoped: Bai Qi won.

He completely surrounded Zhao's four hundred thousand troops!

For this, Ying Ji went in person to Henei Commandery. Every man in Hedong and Henei over the age of fifteen was granted a rank of nobility, conscripted, and sent to the Changping battlefield!

Qin intended to throw the entire nation into the fight!

By then, Changping had become the center of the world's attention, where the winds of fate gathered and countless eyes turned.

Verdant Green Maiden was there, but not with the Qin Army. She was among the encircled Zhao forces, by the side of Zhao Kuo, the commander of Zhao's four hundred thousand troops.

She was curious about this young man who talked of war from books.

For the past few years, she'd been living in Handan, and had known Zhao Kuo for quite some time. So when Zhao Kuo took command and went to war, she followed him!

Today was the tenth day the Zhao Army had been surrounded, and its provisions were almost gone.

Zhao Kuo's face was a little pale. He looked at Verdant Green Maiden and asked, "Verdant Green Maiden, who exactly are you? Qin and Zhao are at war in this perilous place, and our army is surrounded, yet you aren't the least bit nervous. Do you realize that if I fail, we'll all die?"

"I'm not going to die."

Verdant Green Maiden scoffed, swinging her legs as she stretched.

"Zhao Kuo, do you know who your enemy is?"