National Guardian's Gone and We're Done

”He standardized weights and measures, currency, and the written script, breaking down regional barriers and allowing for the smooth exchange of culture and commerce.

He built infrastructure and expanded the empire’s borders, securing the livelihoods of the common people and bringing increasing prosperity to the nation.

He reformed the systems of governance and unified the culture and philosophy. Each and every one of these accomplishments was a contribution for the ages.

When I speak of His Majesty, those glorious days of the past feel as if they happened only yesterday.”

Xu Fu grew more and more animated as he spoke, as if he had returned to that passionate and magnificent era,

fighting side-by-side with Qin Shi Huang to write yet another legend.

Chu He’s long, narrow eyes narrowed slightly. He changed the subject. ”But are you aware? There are many who speak with conviction, denouncing Qin Shi Huang as an eternal tyrant.”

”An eternal tyrant?”

Xu Fu shook his head gently.

”For example, in order to consolidate his newly unified empire,

Qin Shi Huang once gave the resolute order to burn the books and bury the scholars.

With a single command, all books were to be destroyed, with a few exceptions: texts on law, which could uphold the principles of the world; medicine, which could alleviate the suffering of the people; divination, which could peer into the secrets of heaven and fate; and agriculture, which could ensure the people were fed and clothed. Only these books of practical knowledge were spared.

All other classics—the vessels of wisdom and the inheritance of civilization—were instantly swept up in a cataclysm.

They were mercilessly devoured by raging fires, the leaping flames trampling wantonly upon the crystallized wisdom of countless ancestors.

Two years later, more than four hundred Confucian scholars—literati with no strength to even tie up a chicken, their minds filled with classics and ethics—were tragically buried alive.”

Chu He paused before continuing, ”Furthermore, to construct the opulent Apang Palace, a project that exhausted the realm of its skilled artisans, a veritable tide of laborers was conscripted.

Countless commoners were forced into this work like ants. In that arduous environment, a true Purgatory in the Mortal World, they suffered the mental and physical torture of overexertion. Hunger was a constant companion, disease ran rampant, and one by one, these vibrant lives were extinguished.

Then there was Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum, a project so vast it was said to be able to contain the rise and fall of an entire dynasty.

Hundreds of thousands were mobilized for its construction, including no small number of slaves who were shackled in iron chains and forced to work.

These poor souls toiled day and night,

all to satisfy an emperor’s ambition to dominate the netherworld even after his death.

And Qin Shi Huang was even more ruthless. To prevent the secrets of his mausoleum from being leaked,

he took extreme measures against all the craftsmen and architects who participated in its construction.

Those innocent people were thus buried forever in the dark corners of history, becoming sacrifices to secrecy without the slightest chance to resist.

Not only that, but during his reign, Qin Shi Huang’s levies were endless, like a greedy beast. The taxes were crushing, and the common people suffered unspeakably, living in a veritable Purgatory.

For these reasons and more, one could list a great many of Qin Shi Huang’s tyrannical acts.

It would fill a ledger written in blood and tears,”

Chu He said.

Xu Fu listened in silence. When Chu He finished, his expression was replaced by a bitter, helpless smile, one that seemed to see through the ways of the world.

He shook his head slightly and said, ”Later generations all proclaim that Qin Shi Huang was cruel and inhumane. But why, then, is he still called the greatest emperor of all time?

Do you know why His Majesty, the First Emperor, sent me to sea?

It was because the situation at the time was already critical, teetering on the brink of collapse. His Majesty’s hand was about to be forced.

Those high and mighty, mysterious figures in the Celestial Palace who control the fate of all mortals would never allow the existence of someone like Qin Shi Huang—a man of great talent and bold vision who dared to challenge destiny and shatter the shackles of divine authority.

At that time, the Mortal World was already in chaos. It was impossible to tell human from ghost, like the disordered world at the dawn of creation.

Undercurrents surged among the various powers. The slightest misstep could drag you into an endless abyss. The situation was impossibly complex.

You underestimate the methods of the Celestial Palace.”

A trace of desolation flickered in Xu Fu’s eyes.

...

Many parts of the White-Red Empire were already shrouded in a storm of blood,

which wantonly devoured the peace and harmony of the land.

The air was filled with an unending chorus of screams and wails.

Amaterasu understood the situation perfectly. Xia Chengli and Yumizakura were accompanying her on her task,

’but to put it bluntly,’ she thought, ’they were placed here by Chu He to supervise me.’

’But things have already come to this. Being indecisive now would just be suicide.’

Yumizakura was also mostly aware of the situation in parts of the White-Red Empire.

Therefore, Amaterasu had no intention of holding back. Since it had to be done, she would see it through to the very end,

swinging a decisive sword to sever all paths of retreat.

...

「After everything was over.」

Qin Shi Huang’s Bronze Coffin was sealed and brought back to the Great Xia Empire.

「A few days later.」

A bombshell piece of news exploded across the globe, like a magnitude ten earthquake that sent violent tremors through the world.

The Great Xia Empire announced:

The White-Red Empire had suffered a ferocious invasion by a terrifying power. It was being trampled by the Demon Legion. The experts within its borders fought to the death but were ultimately powerless to turn the tide. All of them had fallen; none were spared.

To protect the safety and security of the White-Red Empire and demonstrate its responsibility as a great power,

the Great Xia Empire would be dispatching elite forces to stand guard.

The moment the news broke, it instantly sent shockwaves around the world, causing a massive uproar.

In every street and alley, people were abuzz with discussion. Voices of doubt and astonishment rose and fell.

”Everyone knows there’s a deep-seated blood feud between the Great Xia Empire and the White-Red Empire!

Is the Great Xia Empire really being so kind-hearted this time, dispatching elite forces to protect the White-Red Empire?”

”There’s definitely something fishy going on. This might be part of an even bigger conspiracy.”

”Who knows? The state of the world is getting harder and harder to understand...”

...

Zheng Qifeng, Xiang Xiufang, Zheng Bolan, and Zheng Xuezhen, who had already returned to the Great Xia Empire,

naturally saw the news as well.

Zheng Qifeng sat on the sofa in his spacious, well-lit living room, holding a tablet.

After carefully reading the news report from start to finish, he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

He was a man who had been able to establish himself in a foreign country and, through his own wisdom and courage, build a second-tier real estate company. His abilities already far surpassed those of most ordinary people.

So, after reading the news, he had already formed a vague guess.

Something earth-shattering must have happened behind the scenes.

The political maneuvering and conflicts of interest hidden between the lines gradually formed a vague yet terrifying outline in his mind, like a colossal beast lurking in the darkness, enough to make one’s heart pound in fear.

”The White-Red Empire has undergone a complete upheaval,” Zheng Qifeng said. ”From now on, it will exist in name only.”