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Synopsis
When the sky screen appeared, Ying Zheng had already spent four hours reviewing memorials.
He frowned and went outside to look. The sky screen was lit up.
The sky screen showed a pot of porridge, but what was cooking in it wasn't rice.
It was Han Chinese people.
During the Upheaval of the Five Barbarians, the northern tribes swept south, and Han Chinese people were captured and used as army rations. A cultural legacy spanning a thousand years nearly came to an end.
A young man named Ran Min said, "In this life, I will kill every last barbarian and restore the Han people's realm."
Then the sky screen showed the First Emperor's fate.
"The Qin dynasty fell in its second generation. Zhao Gao usurped power, Li Si was executed by waist-dismemberment, and Prince Fusu was ordered to die."
Ying Zheng gripped the Tai'e Sword and stared at the words on the sky screen: "An unjustly founded state will inevitably suffer internal strife."
Qin Shi Huang: "The Qin also usurped the Zhou and took the throne. Will my empire end up like this after I die?"
Then Qin Shi Huang saw the rewards: hybrid rice yielding a thousand jin per mu, and future technology that could save an era a thousand years of detours.
Qin Shi Huang stared at the golden rice fields, thinking of the laborers at the Great Wall and the convicts at the Lishan Mausoleum, of all those who had starved to death because there wasn't enough food.
The Star Realm Council said, "Four emperors renowned through the ages, travel to that era, end the chaos, and save the people."
"You cannot bring troops or supplies. You may bring only eight people, and your own lives."
Ying Zheng glanced at Fusu behind him, the eldest son he had never truly valued, the son he had once planned to exile by imperial decree.
"Fusu."
"Come with me to war."
He would save that era and rewrite the fate of the Qin dynasty.
He had no idea what it would cost to change the ending.
At the same time, in three other eras.
In Weiyang Palace, Liu Che saw the words on the sky screen: "The Witchcraft Catastrophe: Crown Prince Liu Ju dies unjustly."
The wine spilled from the goblet in his hand, soaking the floor.
In the Taiji Hall, Li Shimin saw the account of how he had killed his brother and forced his father to abdicate.
Everyone watched him. After a long silence, Li Shimin said, "Go on. You were just talking about the Turks."
In the Fengtian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang saw the golden rice fields and sprang to his feet. "Is that rice real or not?"
Zhu Yuanzhang remembered his parents and siblings, who had starved to death when he was a child, and the bowl of porridge so thin he could see his reflection in it.
Zhu Yuanzhang: "I'll take all of it."
Reader's Guide
1. An ensemble story about four emperors, primarily from Ying Zheng's perspective. Father-son bonds, loyalty between ruler and subject, and mutual respect between rivals.
2. A history-inspired story, not historically accurate, with fictionalized elements.
3. No romance. This is not a historical novel, so please don't conflate it with real history.
Theme: With the spirits of emperors, rekindle the torch of Chinese civilization, and witness its resilience in the darkest hour
