Chapter Summaries

After Bai Qi returned to Qin defeated at Luoyi, King Ji of Qin accepted responsibility, restored Bai Qi’s confidence, and gave him his personal sword. As the states failed to unite against Qin and Luo Zai coughed blood while departing, the chapter left Qin preparing to defend itself and Luo Zai’s future uncertain.

• Bai Qi entered the Qin court, admitted responsibility for the defeat, and asked King Ji of Qin to punish him.
• King Ji of Qin blamed himself, reaffirmed his trust in Bai Qi, and handed him his personal sword; Bai Qi vowed lifelong service.
• Bai Qi warned that the six states might form a Vertical Alliance and urged Qin to strengthen its defenses at Xiao-Han.
• Bai Qi said Qin should weaken Han, Wei, and Chu rather than confront Crown Prince Zai directly, and King Ji of Qin accepted his counsel.
• Crown Prince Zai failed to form a Vertical Alliance because Chu needed to secure its reforms and Han and Wei were satisfied with their recovered lands.
• Luo Zai coughed blood, ordered the return to Luo State, and looked back toward Luoyi from his chariot.

After Luo Hong died, Luo Zai succeeded him but collapsed at the funeral as Zhou State’s Mandate of Heaven faltered. Ji Lingjun awakened at Ji Zhao’s command, took the Phoenix from King Yu’s Nine Tripods, and Luo Zai awoke briefly to understand that his own death was near.

• Luo Zai buried Luo Hong according to Luo State’s rites, then vomited blood and fell unconscious at the graveside.
• The Phoenix appeared above King Yu’s Nine Tripods and lamented, frightening the ritual attendants in Luo State’s Ancestral Temple.
• Ji Zhao’s Divine Sense awakened Ji Lingjun and sent her to bring the Phoenix away before Heaven reacted.
• Ji Lingjun appeared in the Ancestral Temple and absorbed the Phoenix, causing its image on the Nine Tripods to vanish.
• Luo Zai awoke, learned from his daughters that Ji Lingjun had taken the Phoenix, and understood that the Nine Tripods had lost the Mandate of Heaven and that he was about to die.

Luo Zai gathered Luo State’s nobles and ordered a voluntary migration to protect its people from Qin’s expected invasion, then died after entrusting them with the plan. His death freed Qin to prepare for an eastward campaign, while the chapter ended with an author’s request for suggestions for a future clan head’s name.

• Luo Zai’s health collapsed after he left the Ancestral Temple, and he told Qiao Cheng and his daughter that he was nearing death.
• Prince Ti learned of Luo Zai’s grave illness, while the states feared that his death would leave them unable to stop Qin and Bai Qi.
• Luo Zai summoned Luo State’s nobles and ordered them to organize a voluntary migration south, prioritizing women, children, and at least half the men.
• Luo Zai died after assigning migration routes and directing the nobles to exchange their stored grain for supplies to sustain the people.
• Prince Fu reported Luo Zai’s death to Nuo, Son of Heaven, who collapsed and died, while King Ji of Qin celebrated the news.
• Bai Qi urged King Ji to prepare to advance east, and the author asked readers to suggest names for a future clan head.

Bai Qi’s Qin army besieged Luoyi, and Son of Heaven Mo rejected the offer of a fief, choosing to defend Zhou State and die for its Altars of State. The city fell three years later, and King Huai died in battle.

• Scions of the Ducal Clan went to Chu State to negotiate safe passage as Luo State prepared to move its women and children away.
• Son of Heaven Mo sent the female members of the Royal House to Zhao City as Bai Qi approached Luoyi with Qin’s army.
• Son of Heaven Mo rejected the King of Qin’s offer of a fief and declared that Zhou State’s royal blood would not surrender.
• Son of Heaven Mo ordered the army mustered and led Luoyi’s defenders into battle against Qin.
• Bai Qi’s forces captured Luoyi in the third year of King Huai’s reign, and King Huai died after suffering more than ten wounds.

After Qin State destroyed the Zhou Royal House, Prince Ti secured Zhao State as an ally by offering back the Plateau lands, and Zhao joined Qin in attacking Han. As Bai Qi prepared to use Han as bait and Chu State debated sending aid, a Chu envoy tried to persuade Qi to join the opposition by warning that Qin would eventually threaten it too.

• Bai Qi entered Luoyi after Qin State conquered the Zhou Royal House and waited for Zhao State's response to Qin's plans for expansion.
• Prince Ti offered Zhao State the Plateau lands and an alliance, and the King of Zhao agreed despite Lian Xiang's warning against trusting Qin.
• Zhao State sent troops against Han alongside Qin, leaving Han unable to resist and prompting it to seek help from Qi, Chu, and Yan.
• Bai Qi advanced into Han slowly because he intended to lure the other States into open battle and destroy their armies.
• Xiang Zeng urged Chu State to aid Han and Wei and persuaded the King of Chu to abolish the custom of killing generals after a defeat.
• The King of Qi refused Chu State's request for troops, but the Chu envoy provoked him by invoking the prophecy that Luo State would destroy Qin and warning that Qin would not spare Qi.

Bai Qi used the rainy season and channels dug by Qin Mohists to unleash a massive flood against Chu State’s defenses. The flood devastated Hanyang, killed Xiang Zeng and countless Chu people, and left Chu State facing catastrophe.

• The King of Qi agreed to send troops to Chu State on the condition that Yan State also joined, fearing a Yan attack if Qi’s forces departed.
• Bai Qi left the Central Plains and led Qin State’s elite troops toward Chu State, where Xiang Zeng urged the court to fight.
• Bai Qi waited for the rainy season, then ordered Qin forces to open the channels and flood Chu State’s fortified cities.
• The flood destroyed Chu defenses and swept soldiers and civilians away as Qin troops watched in fear.
• Xiang Zeng sent his retainer to escort the younger members of his family and the King east, but stayed behind and died when the flood collapsed the city wall.

After Bai Qi’s massacre in Chu State, Luo State’s ruling house planned a gradual migration and considered arranging his death. Meanwhile, the King of Zhao’s confrontation with Qin State ended with Yiren persuading him to spare him and promising to help him inherit Qin’s throne, while Zhao’s minister Lian Xiang lost confidence in his ruler.

• Bai Qi vowed to return to the Central Plains and conquer the states after his devastation of Chu State horrified All Xia.
• Luo Ze and Luo Ge discussed moving members of the Luo State ruling house south and helping Chu Youxia kill Bai Qi when Qin’s army returned home.
• The King of Zhao demanded Qin State surrender promised territory after Qin’s envoy was killed, and then threatened to kill Yiren, Qin’s hostage.
• Yiren persuaded the King of Zhao that his father had sent him to be killed and promised to reward Zhao if he helped him inherit Qin’s throne.
• The King of Zhao spared Yiren and promised him beauties and gold, while Lian Xiang decided to leave Zhao State’s court in despair.

Qin State ordered Bai Qi to remain with his army and occupy lands in Han, Wei, and Chu, while Zhao State and the eastern states maneuvered against Qin. After a letter from the King of Han convinced the King of Zhao that war was unavoidable, Lian Po agreed to lead Zhao’s forces against Qin.

• King Ji of Qin praised Bai Qi and ordered him to remain with his troops, take lands from Han, Wei, and Chu, and strike Zhao if it acted.
• Luo Ze urged the Luo Clan to wait for a war, when Bai Qi might become vulnerable outside his camp.
• Han and Wei nobles and officials surrendered territory to Zhao, while their kings and Luo State stoked conflict between Qin and Zhao.
• The King of Han sent the King of Zhao a letter warning that Qin intended to destroy Zhao and arguing that its promise of an enfeoffed rank could not be trusted.
• The King of Zhao called on Lian Po to take the field against Qin, and Lian Po accepted despite his doubts about Zhao’s strength.

Chu and Luo assassins traveled through a torrential storm toward the Qin-Zhao battlefield, while Bai Qi’s campaign forced Zhao to replace Lian Po with Zhao Kuo and ended in the slaughter of surrendered Zhao soldiers. Qiao Yun then shot Bai Qi from six hundred paces away, leaving the assassination’s outcome unresolved.

• Chu archers sheltered in a cave and vowed to kill Bai Qi, while Luo assassin Qiao Yun joined their mission to avenge his wife and family.
• Bai Qi exploited criticism of Lian Po’s cautious defense, and Zhao’s court replaced Lian Po with Zhao Kuo as supplies dwindled.
• Lian Po left the battlefield, acknowledging that he could not resolve Zhao’s predicament under the circumstances.
• Zhao Kuo’s army assaulted a Qin-held city, suffered defeat, and surrendered, but Bai Qi ordered the prisoners slaughtered.
• Bai Qi appeared in the city under heavy guard, and Qiao Yun shot him from six hundred paces away, ruining his own arm.

After awakening from a thousand-year sleep, Ji Zhao negotiated with the Mandate of Heaven over the reward for the Zhou State’s thousand-year dynasty, gaining a Heaven-Tier Heavenly Book and a promise of annual Fortune Points. He then reassured Ji Lingjun that the Luo Clan’s suffering would help its descendants break free of heaven’s constraints.

• Ji Zhao awakened in Chaos, reviewed the Luo Clan’s fortune and divine artifacts, and reflected on its dependence on the Zhou State’s wealth.
• When the system offered only an Earth-Tier reward for the Zhou State’s thousand-year dynasty, Ji Zhao threatened to destroy the world, prompting the Mandate of Heaven to explain its choice.
• The Mandate of Heaven awarded Ji Zhao the Heaven-Tier Heavenly Book and promised ten thousand Fortune Points each year for more than four hundred years, provided he did not use Heaven-Tier Items.
• Ji Lingjun awoke and voiced her concern over the hardships facing the Luo Clan’s descendants.
• Ji Zhao told Ji Lingjun that hardship would temper the Luo Clan and help the Luo State Ruling House break free of the Mandate of Heaven.

Qin Zheng endured abuse in Zhao before Lü Buwei brought him and Zhao Ji back to Qin, where he later became King Zheng and entrusted Lü Buwei with governing. Lü Buwei gathered scholars to compile the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Lü Clan and proposed revising Qin law, drawing opposition from Qin nobles who appealed to the king.

• Qin Zheng was bullied in Handan, but Lü Buwei arrived and brought him and Zhao Ji back to Qin after the Qin king ascended the throne.
• Qin Zheng became King Zheng at thirteen, appointed Lü Buwei Chancellor, and waited to assume personal rule while learning statecraft.
• Lü Buwei invited scholars from the Hundred Schools to Qin to propose changes to its harsh laws, and their writings were compiled as the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Lü Clan.
• Nobles from the six states opposed Lü Buwei's reforms and urged King Zheng to punish him and the scholars criticizing Qin policy.

King of Qin Zheng uncovered the threat posed by Marquis Changxin and Zhao Ji, then crushed the rebellion and exiled his mother. He confronted Lü Buwei over his abuses of power, leaving the Chancellor’s position uncertain.

• Prince Sheng planted doubts in King of Qin Zheng’s mind by telling him rumors about Lü Buwei and Zhao Ji.
• King of Qin Zheng learned of Marquis Changxin’s crimes and Zhao Ji’s role, and his grief hardened into resolve.
• King of Qin Zheng captured Marquis Changxin, had him executed along with his two sons, and exiled Zhao Ji from Xianyang.
• Lü Buwei considered fleeing to Luoyang but entered the palace to meet King of Qin Zheng instead.
• King of Qin Zheng rebuked Lü Buwei for overstepping his authority, and Lü Buwei left after asking him to spare the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Lü Clan.

Luo Ze planned to scatter the Luo people and wait for Qin State to collapse under its own laws, while King of Qin Zheng rallied his ministers to resume the conquest of the realm. Wang Jian then accepted Han State’s surrender, marking Qin State’s shift to outright annexation.

• Luo Ze said Qin State would fall within twenty years under its unchanged laws and proposed scattering the Luo people while Qin hunted the ruling house.
• King of Qin Zheng summoned his ministers, invoked Heaven’s mandate, and declared that Qin should destroy the states’ ancestral temples and Altars of State.
• King of Qin Zheng’s ministers pledged to conquer the states, and Qin’s army advanced east under Wang Jian.
• Han State’s surrender faction bound the King of Han and opened the capital’s gates to Wang Jian.
• Wang Jian ordered Han State to renounce its royal title and hand over its maps, while Qin State began annexing the kingdom.

After Han State fell, Zhang Liang helped Han Fei escape toward Luo State while vowing to find Qin State’s weaknesses. King Zheng of Qin captured the King of Han and granted him a fief, then turned his attention to Wei State; in Luo State, Xunzi offered to introduce Han Fei to Luo Ze.

• Zhang Liang urged Han Fei to flee Han State, and Han Fei agreed to seek refuge in Luo State while Zhang Liang set out to investigate Qin State and bring it down.
• The captured King of Han begged King Zheng of Qin for forgiveness, and King Zheng granted him a city and the title of Lord of Han.
• King Zheng’s treatment of the King of Han encouraged nobles in the remaining states to consider surrendering, while Qin’s Spy Network spread money and intelligence across the states.
• King Zheng chose Wei State as Qin State’s next target.
• Xunzi told Luo Ze that Han Fei, his other disciple and a prince of Han, had arrived in Luo State, and Luo Ze agreed to meet him.

The King of Wei resisted Qin State’s invasion, but Zhao State refused to help and Wang Jian’s army besieged Daliang before threatening to flood it. As fear and unrest overwhelmed the city, the King of Wei ordered it to surrender; meanwhile, Han Fei chose to travel to Xianyang after King of Qin Zheng summoned him.

• The King of Wei vowed to resist Qin State, but learned that Zhao State could not send aid because it was fighting Yan State.
• Luo Ze listened as Han Fei dictated his writings, and Han Fei later decided to go to Xianyang to try to save the King of Han.
• Wang Jian defeated Wei State’s elite troops, advanced on Daliang, and began digging channels to flood the city.
• The King of Wei sent troops to attack Qin’s workers, but Wang Jian’s forces repelled them and continued their preparations.
• As news of the coming flood spread through Daliang, the people rebelled and the soldiers took the King of Wei captive.
• The King of Wei accepted that resistance was hopeless and ordered the city gates opened for surrender.

King of Qin Zheng told Li Si and Wang Jian that he sought to become Great Qin’s Sage King by building a lasting system after unification. He resolved to destroy Luo State, and Wang Jian prepared to attack Zhao before surrounding it.

• King of Qin Zheng reflected on the fall of Han and Wei and said he was thinking about what should follow the unification of all under Heaven.
• King of Qin Zheng praised the Sage King’s lasting institutions and questioned whether the Hundred Schools of Luo State would obey Qin or the Luo Clan.
• King of Qin Zheng argued that Luo State’s possession of the Nine Tripods and its authority to sacrifice to Heaven challenged Qin’s sovereignty.
• Li Si supported King of Qin Zheng’s hostility toward Luo State, and Wang Jian pledged to lead Qin’s cavalry against it.
• King of Qin Zheng ordered Wang Jian to attack Zhao State first and then surround Luo State.

Li Mu defended Zhao State against Wang Jian’s Qin Army, while Wang Jian arranged to have Guo Kai bribe the King of Zhao into replacing him. Guo Kai began turning the king against Li Mu, setting Zhao State’s defense up for a political crisis.

• Li Mu agreed to lead Zhao State’s army against Qin State, declaring that he fought for Zhao State and its people despite fearing the king would betray him.
• Wang Jian persuaded Zheng, the King of Qin, to bribe Guo Kai so the King of Zhao would replace Li Mu and weaken Zhao’s army.
• Wang Jian’s Qin Army repeatedly attacked, but Li Mu’s forces withdrew safely behind their defenses and held the line for several months.
• Guo Kai visited the King of Zhao and praised Li Mu’s prestige while repeating his declaration that he fought for Zhao State rather than for the king.
• The King of Zhao grew displeased as Guo Kai’s insinuations made him suspect Li Mu’s loyalty.

As Qin’s conquest of Zhao approached, Luo Ze and Crown Prince Ji completed the Luo Clan’s preparations to evacuate its people and preserve its treasures. Luo Ze arranged for Zhao City’s books and sacred relics to be removed or destroyed, leaving the city’s fate unresolved as it neared becoming empty.

• Qiao Yun escorted the last group of Luo State women to Jiangdong, reassuring his daughter A Xiu that he would one day take the Luo Clan’s children back to their homeland.
• Crown Prince Ji told Luo Ze that the Luo Clan’s relocation was complete and that thirty-seven members of its main line would remain in Zhao City until its fall, when the younger children would escape through Peach Blossom Spring.
• Luo Ji reported that the Xiang Clan had helped the Luo people travel through Jiangdong and that other nobles were also seeking refuge from Qin’s unification.
• Luo Ze removed King Yu’s Nine Tripods with the Inheritance Ring and ordered the Repository of Classics’ books, supplies, weapons, and armor prepared for the clan’s survival before the repository was burned.
• Luo Ze and Luo Ji paid their respects at the Ancestral Temple, then discussed the Academy and the Hundred Schools’ Sacred Hall; Luo Ji advised leaving the hall in Zhao City as bait for Qin.

After Zhao State fell, King of Qin Zheng ordered Wang Jian to lead a massive invasion against Luo State, whose Sage King heritage and Way of the King challenged Qin’s authority. Wang Jian pledged to commit six hundred thousand Old Qin People to the campaign and vowed to die if he failed.

• Wang Jian returned to Xianyang with Zhao State’s nobles and King of Qin Zheng’s former enemies after conquering Zhao State.
• King of Qin Zheng sentenced his former tormentors, condemned one who defended them, and ordered his Three Clans exterminated.
• King of Qin Zheng explained that he and the Luo Clan were competing over the Great Way and said they would have to fight because the Luo Clan would not submit.
• Wang Jian proposed striking directly toward Zhao City, cutting off reinforcements, and then withdrawing before the Luo People could retaliate.
• King of Qin Zheng agreed to provide two hundred thousand elite soldiers and six hundred thousand Old Qin People, and Wang Jian vowed to take his own life if he lost.

Qin State mobilized six hundred thousand troops to destroy Luo State, while Luo Ze and the Luo State Ruling House rejected King of Qin Zheng’s surrender terms. Luo Ji led Luo State’s finest soldiers out of Zhao City to strike the Qin force approaching from the north.

• Wang Jian led one hundred thousand elite Qin troops through the Xiaohan Corridor with the sword King of Qin Zheng had given him, recalling Zheng’s charge to eliminate the Zhou Royal House’s last resistance.
• Luo State prepared to resist with thirty thousand veteran soldiers as many Luo People stayed behind, while Luo Ze kept untrained civilians off the battlefield.
• Luo Ze read King of Qin Zheng’s offer to spare Luo State if the Luo Clan surrendered King Yu’s Nine Tripods and submitted to Qin, but the Luo State Ruling House unanimously refused.
• Luo Ji urged Luo Ze to attack the Qin troops arriving from Zhao State before Qin finished assembling its forces, and Luo Ze ordered him to lead the State People and guards.
• Luo Ji led cavalry and chariots carrying bows and heavy crossbows out of Zhao City to attack the one hundred thousand Qin soldiers stationed to its north.