Ten years ago, he went from being a woman from Earth to a son-in-law in the insect race.
Nine years ago, the insect race crowned him, calling him the male ruler of the imperial family and the god of the insects.
Though he is more accustomed to machines than a scepter, and more skilled at writing papers than issuing decrees, as the Insect God he is destined to be unable to stay above the fray of power.
So, before he must begin learning to rule, he plans his last long vacation: after injecting himself with an amnesia drug, he leaves the home planet.
In this final chance to catch his breath, he wants to escape everyone's expectations and truly be himself for once.
Then he arrives on a planet the insect race calls "primitive."
When a scientist who believes firmly in atheism enters a land where people invoke fate at every turn, and when a scholar who believes the people matter more than the ruler meets a population that accepts its lot without resistance, what will you do, Garcia, Yan Sijie?
In one corner of Dasheng, the children's clear voices ring out as they read aloud:
"Rat, oh rat, eat no more of my millet!"
"If a ruler treats his ministers like his own hands and feet, they will regard him as the very core of their hearts. If he treats them like dogs and horses, they will regard him as an ordinary person. If he treats them like dirt and weeds, they will regard him as an enemy."
And finally, the female insect declares with conviction:
"When duty calls, I will not yield!"
When the usually gentle male ruler raises the banner of rebellion, when the hermit who vowed to study the classics until his hair turned white takes the path of putting knowledge to practical use, and when the scientist who has no interest in politics gradually becomes a leader embraced by the people, what do the female insects who followed their male ruler feel: joy, unease, or wariness?
Finally, when he discovers at the end of his experiment that every misfortune on this land is connected to the insect race, how will the Insect God choose when faced with an impossible dilemma?
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