Great Qin Unifies the Six Kingdoms

On a snowy night in Handan, four-year-old Ying Zheng is hunted by Zhao soldiers, assassins, and Qin spies. His mother protects him with a poisoned hairpin, while Lü Buwei secretly prepares a way to escape. Amid blood and fire on the snowy plain, Ying Zheng grips an icy seed that will not melt: strike first and survive; strike too late, and your country will perish. Two thousand years of Chinese imperial rule begin with the first heartbeat of an orphaned hostage.