The Qin Empire Divided

Duke Xian of Qin died in battle at Shaoliang, and twenty-one-year-old Qu Liang succeeded him before the spirit tablet.

An envoy from Wei demanded the lands west of the Yellow River and pressured Qin to seal an alliance through marriage. The entire court gripped their sword hilts and dared not speak. Qu Liang replied with two words: "She won't marry."

That same year, a young man from the State of Wei knocked on the palace gates at Yueyang. His name was Shang Yang. He meant to establish the law in this land, the poorest and most despised of them all.

His reforms threatened the great clans' fiefdoms, titles, and military power. At court, Gan Long's faction pressed him at every turn. Beyond the court, each new law determined who lived and who died.

And, beyond anyone's sight, a school of thought had been laying its plans for decades. They had drawn a map of the realm and decided Qin was the most useful piece. On their map, Qin's unification of the realm was not the end, but the midpoint.

Ying Yu, a Mohist disciple from Mount Taihua, traveled west to Qin. She sought to investigate the inexplicable death of her father ten years earlier, and to prove one thing: the law need not be tyranny.