The First Emperor: Starting Out as a Zero-Score Candidate

Youth is a bronze dagger stained with blood.

When Zhao Zheng, a failing student, punches the school bully Che Ke, the sacrifice of two destinies is set in motion:

The cold rain of Handan soaks the coarse hemp clothes, and the road of fourteen-year-old Ying Zheng’s flight stretches out beneath his feet;

The icy edge of Yan’s blade is honed into a Fish Intestine dagger, and the murderous intent in Che Ke’s eyes burns fiercer than ever.

Inside Xianyang Palace, the maps of the Six States lie like a pot of soup about to boil.

The assassin shouting “I present the map!” below the steps is his old classmate, the one who will fight him to the death!

“Jing Ke!” The young King of Qin’s black sleeves billow as he hurls down the bamboo slips:

“Answer this history question using what I taught you:

Today, will you die, or will I live?!”

The history books never recorded that on that day, dagger and examination paper shattered together at Zhangtai Palace.

It turned out the first lesson for a tyrant and an assassin was called The Rainy Season at Fourteen.