The Qin Restoration

Also known as: My Great Qin Returns Like Lightning

Blurb One

Like the beginning of every cliched story, Zhao Yuan transmigrated.

In this life, he was born into an ordinary farming family. Before he could even grow up, his father kicked the bucket.

Zhao Yuan: ...

His father died with a quick kick of the legs, leaving behind a sickly mother and equally sickly younger siblings. Everyone in the family was a walking medicine jar, constantly needing remedies for ailments big and small. Their medicine bills turned the family from small landowners into peasants.

Zhao Yuan had just turned ten. Looking at the family's only assets, thirty scraggly acres of land out front, he couldn't help but cry.

The children of the poor grow up early. As the eldest son and the only healthy member of the family, Zhao Yuan had no choice but to shoulder the burden of supporting them. For twelve years since transmigrating, he had risen early and worked late, dutifully caring for his mother and raising his younger siblings, becoming a well-known filial son in the village.

He thought he'd spend his life as a commoner, bent over the soil until the day he died. But one night, when he was fourteen, his mother summoned him to her side, pulled herself together, and revealed a shocking secret.

Mother: Quege, actually, your surname isn't Zhao. It's Ying.

Zhao Yuan: Which Ying?

Mother: The Ying of Ying Zheng.

Zhao Yuan: Mom, please don't lie to me. The First Emperor had no descendants. Xiang Yu, Liu Bang, and Hu Hai killed them all.

Mother: There were survivors. During the chaos at the end of Qin and the beginning of Han, our ancestor secretly escaped Xianyang. He took the surname Zhao to hide his identity. Our family comes from Prince Gao's branch. You're a direct descendant of the First Emperor.

Zhao Yuan: ???

Mother: Your surname isn't Zhao at all. Your real name is Ying Yuan.

Zhao Yuan burst into tears. He thought, Mom, you should've told me sooner! So my mission isn't to farm properly, but to defy fate and rebuild Great Qin!

Ding! System announcement: Player "Zhao Yuan" has changed their name to "Ying Yuan."

Ding! System announcement: Congratulations, player "Ying Yuan," on accepting the quest: Restore Qin. Quest description: Mandated by Heaven, may it endure forever. Conquer the Six Kingdoms and become yourself again!

Blurb Two

Qin Shi Huang was furious.

As the first emperor in Chinese history, he had failed to obtain the elixir of immortality. He died of illness at the Palace of Sand Dunes, and his corpse was tossed among piles of salted fish. The moment he set foot in the underworld, his most prized eldest son was sent down after him by Hu Hai. Then his clan and descendants were wiped out by his enemies and his younger son.

Ying Zheng: ...

Less than two years later, Hu Hai arrived too, bringing news that made Ying Zheng's vision go dark: his Great Qin had fallen after just two generations!

Ying Zheng: …

Ying Zheng burst into tears. That useless brat! Are you sure he's mine? Could my offspring really be that pathetic??

While alive, he'd often fretted that none of his sons and grandsons, from Fusu to Hu Hai, were anything like him. Now he no longer had to worry, because he had no descendants at all.

Ying Zheng was so distraught that all he could do was hang Hu Hai from a tree and beat him every day. One day, as usual, he was beating his son at home when a ghost official rushed in and said:

Stop beating him and come see! Your descendants have restored the kingdom! They're offering sacrifices to you right now!

Ying Zheng: ?

Ying Zheng: ?!!!

Blurb Three

Empress Dowager Zhuang Yi was pregnant. She dreamed of a dark bird carrying a red jade, descending from the nine heavens and sinking into her womb. She awoke in shock. Fourteen months later, she gave birth to the Emperor.

When the Emperor was born, a strange fragrance filled the room, billowing up to the rafters. It lingered for ten years.

The Emperor had a remarkable appearance, eyes like molten gold and a red mark between his brows. The Supreme Emperor marveled and said, "Your mother once dreamed of a dark bird. Now her son has come into the world in answer to that omen. It's auspicious." Thus he was named Zhao Yuan, with the childhood name Que Nu.

The Later Qin Book: Annals of Emperor Taizong Wu

Reader's guide:

*No System, no golden finger. A transmigration light comedy about starting with a single bowl and ending up emperor.

*No female lead and no romance. The protagonist loves the realm, not beauty, and marries only for political reasons.

*There are descriptions of the protagonist's appearance. He's incredibly beautiful, the kind of beauty that dominates an era, and his looks are partly fixed. He won't get tanned or rough-looking from years of campaigning.

*A short-video understanding of history: no research, no historical sources, and a chaotic timeline. The story goes wherever it goes, and the writing is extremely careless. Please don't send historical corrections. People who should already be dead may appear, and things that shouldn't have reached China yet may show up. Just switch off your brain and enjoy the ride.

Theme: Conquer the Six Kingdoms and become yourself again.