May Your Reign Know No Bounds [Ying Zheng X Goddess]

“A forbidden love between a god and a mortal, intolerable to Heaven and Earth.”

[This is the myth of him and her.]

Faithful to history, this is a legendary tale built upon the historical record.

A serious, history-focused story, split evenly between romance and plot.

When he was three, Ying Zheng was abandoned by his father in the State of Zhao and rescued by a woman as beautiful as a goddess. Only later did he realize that the word “as” was unnecessary.

She was a true goddess. Her beauty was like gold and jade, her robes like rosy clouds. She belonged to the mountains and rivers, to Heaven and Earth, but never to any one person. Song Yu wrote of her in the Rhapsody on the Gaotang Terrace, and Qu Yuan immortalized her in the Nine Songs.

He was determined to find her.

Across five imperial tours, he searched the land from end to end, never giving up.

The King of Qin had a dream. Could the goddess have a heart for him?

In his later years, the First Emperor abandoned the title “We” and called himself “Perfected One” instead. (Thus the First Emperor said, “I yearn to be a Perfected One, so I call myself ‘Perfected One’ and no longer say ‘We.’”)

She was a spirit of the mountains and rivers, her heart like grass and trees, spending her twilight years in solitude.

The goddess, who had no desires or yearnings, lowered her eyes. She knew that the gulf between Heaven and Earth would inevitably bring a terrible end, yet she was moved by him and found herself longing for him.

“If one day no more offerings of duckweed and fragrant herbs are placed upon my altar, then the deity has fallen and brought destruction upon herself. But I will not lie, and I will not regret it.”

Holding a torch against the wind, ablaze with passion and grief. A moth flying into the flame, willingly meeting its ruin.

If fate has already carved an ending for us, then let us destroy it together.

The tragic romance of the First Emperor of the Ages and a true goddess

Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, “Basic Annals of Qin Shi Huang”: “The First Emperor was silent for a long while, then said, ‘The mountain spirit surely knows no more than the events of a single year.’”

The heroine is inspired by Qu Yuan’s “Mountain Spirit” from the Nine Songs: “The wind rustles and the trees sigh; I think of my beloved, and only sorrow remains.”

Alongside the hero and heroine, there is Cheng Jiao, the First Emperor’s beautiful, world-weary younger brother (yes, you read that right, Xianyang’s most beautiful young man, haha); Zhao Ji, his flirtatious yet truly pitiful mother; Yiren, his father, whose life was full of hardships and who was deeply devoted yet long-suffering; Crown Prince Dan of Yan, who lets his emotions rule him and has a pessimistic nature; the sharp-edged Li Si and the stuttering, adorable Han Fei, fellow disciples who love and antagonize each other; the cautious Fan Ju and Cai Ze; as well as some original characters by the author: a melancholy, unreliable second male lead who is a river god, and adorable gods, ghosts, demons, and immortals, among others~

Please note:

1. The story respects history, so there are basically no overpowered advantages.

2. The ensemble cast features heavily throughout the narrative.

3. The author's prose is rather ornate and may come across as a little affected.

4. The romance develops slowly and steadily, so it is not especially exhilarating.

Theme: Faithful to history, bittersweet and sweet