When Empress Lu Becomes Zhao Ji

[The First Son of the Emperor] Begins After The Legend of Qin Is Finished

They say that when a person dies, their soul returns to the underworld. As Empress Dowager Lu Zhi of the Han Dynasty lay on her deathbed, she let out a faint sigh.

She did not want to go down there and reunite with her troublesome husband and son.

When she opened her eyes again, Lu Zhi was weakly propped up on a bed, cradling a sleeping baby in her arms.

A man in front of her held her hand tenderly. "My dear, you have rendered a great service to the State of Qin. Our child was born in the first month of the year. Why not name him Zheng? Zheng'er is sure to become an extraordinary man!"

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259 BC, Handan, State of Zhao.

Lu Zhi looked at her chubby son sleeping soundly, then at the down-and-out prince of Qin. "..."

She had not reunited with Liu Bang and Liu Ying, but she had become Zhao Ji, the birth mother of Qin Shi Huang.

Little Ying Zheng grew up day by day. He was more obedient than Liu Ying, more clever than Liu Ying, more considerate toward his mother than Liu Ying, and his character was leagues above Liu Ying's.

As she raised him, Lu Zhi could not help herself. On the eve of Lü Buwei and Ying Zichu fleeing Zhao and leaving her and her son behind, she said, "Zheng'er, from now on, you and Mother will have only each other."

Little Ying Zheng threw his arms tightly around her neck.

Lu Zhi gave him a big kiss. "Mother will work hard and try to give you the whole world."

* A semi-alternate-history Warring States era story about Lu Zhi raising young Ying Zheng

* The heroine is ruthless and skilled at wielding power. Do not judge people of the past by modern values.

Synopsis written on August 11, 2023

Theme: The moon over Qin, the passes of Han