Chapter 80 Quanrong: I Can Sing and Dance (End of Chapter 80)
The captured leader knelt before 'Qin'. He calmed down, heard the question, and thought to himself: I've seen a bunch of weaklings.
But what he actually said in response was: "Over there... there are... prosperous cities, many people... and treasures..."
He boasted wildly about what he had seen and heard in the west, while looking up at the 'god' before him with sparkling eyes.
If you hit them, you're not allowed to hit me!
Actually, when he was captured, he didn't quite understand why the Qin army marched across the grasslands as if they were returning home, while they themselves might get lost while marching across the grasslands.
Finding their tracks on the grasslands would be nearly impossible for anyone who wasn't experienced, but the Qin army seemed to have known all along that they would sneak back from that direction, and they ambushed them on their only route, catching them completely off guard.
There are many things that are different from what he imagined. For example, he can't understand any of the buildings that are now being built on the grassland.
Now he understood: the Qin army had divine assistance; how could they possibly win?
Even if he were to fight, shouldn't he at least appease the deity and prevent her from taking sides? Thinking this, his smile became even more fawning.
To be honest, it's quite an eyesore for a bearded grassland man to make that kind of expression. 'Qin' took a deep breath and remained expressionless. Fortunately, it was just a virtual image of her inhaling. This speechless action wouldn't make a sound or be noticed, allowing her to better maintain her image.
The Quanrong chieftain knelt before Qin, a fawning smile on his face, and spoke in his broken Qin Mandarin, using the simplest of words: "You're interested... I'll lead the way... over there..."
He originally had a personal translator, but the translator died halfway through the escape due to acclimatization issues. Given his own mediocre skills, it was already quite an achievement that he could have a normal conversation.
"Oh? So you're saying you want to submit to me?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" The Quanrong leader understood the words and immediately agreed without hesitation.
His life is in someone else's hands now, so he can't just say no...
"As for leading the way, I don't quite trust you," 'Qin' waved his hand, conjuring a map, and lightly tapped it, revealing a golden road. "You took this route before, didn't you?"
"I know this road too, so what value do you have left?"
Qin looked at the man with a half-smile. She didn't intend to kill the prisoner, but rather to give him a warning. This man was the kind who would only suffer for a while and then run away once the Qin army relaxed their guard.
She is a person who can be flexible and adaptable, but she doesn't like this kind of flexibility.
"Well... I can fight!" The Quanrong leader hesitated for a long time before finally coming up with one of his strengths.
'Qin': ...If you can fight, you'll have most of your forces wiped out. Oh, your tribe is so numerous, you might not be the only ones wiped out. If you can escape, that's a kind of victory, isn't it?
She didn't say much, but called Meng Tian over: "Meng Tian, come here." She wanted him to face reality.
Originally, the Quanrong should have been driven to the Mongolian grasslands, but given their immense strength, they couldn't even stay there and had to head west.
Meng Tian was tall and imposing, standing like an iron tower before the kneeling Quanrong leader.
He spoke in a cold voice: "What did you just say?"
Quanrong leader: ...
He struggled for a long time, and finally managed to rummage through his limited knowledge of Qin dialect to find two words: "I can... raise cattle and herd sheep, I... am good at singing and dancing..."
Qin clapped his hands and laughed: "Hahaha, Cai, then today's banquet will be led by this... Quanrong leader, who will lead the dance for all the dancers."
Meng Tian: "Yes."
He immediately gave a signal to one of his personal guards, who then ordered the Quanrong leader to be taken away.
After giving the order, 'Qin' disappeared from the spot. She planned to go and talk to Ying Zheng in the country and invite him to watch the live broadcast.
****
They naturally didn't bring dancers on their marches, but Guo Ling didn't say that the dancers had to be women.
Meng Tian thought that if the Quanrong leader claimed to be good at singing and dancing, then his subordinates must be just as good. So, it would be more than enough for a group of people to capture a few healthy people who could still dance.
As soon as he left the tent, his adjutant was still worrying about where to find dancers, but Meng Tian went straight to the prisoner camp.
The adjutant looked enlightened; when those people returned, there was a group of men and women, and they could probably gather enough from among them.
However, when Meng Tian was looking for people, he did not consider gender. He directly called out the direct relatives of the Quanrong leader and asked who was the leader.
After excluding children, pregnant women, and the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled who were unable to jump, nineteen people were finally chosen, making a total of twenty with the Quanrong leader.
"take away."
Those people might not understand, but they could understand the actions of the soldiers. They wanted to struggle but dared not, and could only be taken away.
Meng Tian immediately ordered these people to be sent to see the Quanrong leader, instructing them to hurry up and rehearse their performance so that they could dance that evening.
****
By evening, the banquet was set up outside, with only one seat at the head of the table reserved for 'Qin'.
Qin appeared only after the banquet was almost finished. She sat at the head of the table, surveyed the entire room, and asked Meng Tian, who was in the first seat on the right, "How are the preparations going?"
"The Quanrong people say they are ready."
“Then let them come up,” Qin said, waiting for everyone to line up in the open space in the middle of the banquet, surrounded by many orbs of light she had conjured for illumination. Instead of telling them to start immediately, she asked, “You wouldn’t mind if my child came along, would you?”
The Quanrong leader tried hard to understand the meaning behind Qin's words, and then realized that she was talking about his children, who were the divine children. It didn't matter if he lost face in front of the gods. The most important thing was that he had no right to refuse, so he respectfully said that he would follow her arrangements.
The Qin people didn't explain what the children specifically referred to, but those who understood had subtle expressions. This wasn't just one or two children; this Quanrong leader was going to bring shame upon the entire Qin state.
After this, he'll be too ashamed to show his face in public even if he becomes a citizen of the Qin state...
Tsk tsk.
****
The people of Qin discovered that a celestial canopy had suddenly appeared in the sky, and the spirit of Qin, their homeland, appeared in the canopy. Some wondered if it was a festival, until the leader of the Quanrong appeared with a group of strong men dressed in tribal clothing.
They all had labels next to them indicating who they were from the Quanrong.
A gasp immediately rippled through the crowd under the canopy. Some wondered if the Quanrong were invading, but they soon noticed that General Meng Tian was sitting in the right row, surrounded by Qin soldiers, while the Quanrong were posing in a somewhat abstract manner.
As soon as the traditional Chinese string and wind instruments began playing, the general public raised many questions.
Watching a group of burly men twist and turn in the sky, the area beneath the canopy remained silent. After a moment, someone exclaimed, "This...this really is dancing..."
Some clueless children tried to imitate the figures on the celestial canopy by swaying, only to be smacked on the head by their parents, who scolded them, "What are you imitating?" It was truly an eyesore.
This art was too advanced for them. They couldn't understand it and were greatly shocked. They also expressed their sympathy for Guo Ling, who had to watch such an ugly dance on the spot. Didn't they see that Guo Ling's brows were furrowed?
****
A banquet was also held in Xianyang Palace, which had been upgraded from a royal palace to an imperial palace, and the participants were all court officials.
Ying Zheng calmly gazed at the sky, his inner thoughts unreadable.
Taishu Jiu had originally intended to offer some praise, but in the end, he could only manage a dry, "This Quanrong dance is quite unique..."
Li Si, standing nearby, endured the discomfort in his eyes and showered the dancers with praise, saying that the dance itself was unimportant, but rather its political significance. How many people in the audience were actually appreciating the dance?
If you really want to see dancers perform at your residence, wouldn't it be better to torture your eyes here?
"This dancer has an extraordinary physique, and the dance she performs carries... a natural beauty. The Quanrong leader must have prepared for this for a long time."
The ministers looked at Li Si with admiration. He was indeed worthy of being the prime minister. His skill in lying through his teeth was superb. What natural beauty? It was nothing but a chaotic dance of demons.
****
Zhu Qing'ai, who was on the scene, was getting restless, but the illusory figure she controlled did not change. Her mind was still on her own panel, and she was working on the sub-program she had some ideas for.
Just like cultivating immortality and creating clones, her creation of clones will also be a major breakthrough.
When Meng Tian walked up to her and whispered that the banquet was almost over, she finally took her attention away from creating her own clone.
He casually hummed in agreement and then ordered the person to be taken away.
****
With the help of the Quanrong leader as a guide, the westward expansion went much more smoothly. Later, with the support of the policy of migrating people to the north, the newly expanded territory was gradually taken into their hands.
Perhaps there would have been some concerns about communication, but with the canopy in place, at least Ying Zheng himself had the privilege of making 'video calls' to officials in various regions at any time.
The use of the sky screen by many officials could only be granted at their discretion, with the highest authority being held by Zhu Qing'ai, and then by Ying Zheng.
Even her rightful host, Taishu Jiu, didn't have as high a level of authority as Ying Zheng, so there was no benefit in 'usurping' this function.
Having occupied the entire contiguous continent and taken over many cities, the next step to expand outwards was to go to sea. However, even after more than seventy years, the shipbuilding technology was still not advanced enough to cross the ocean.
Zhu Qing'ai didn't intend to give someone a cheat code and send them out a whole ship (mainly because she couldn't afford it). The host's body in this world had already reached its limit, and even with the health-preserving medicine she had stolen, Ying Zheng was nearing the end of his life.
Taishu Jiu died earlier than Ying Zheng. In fact, Ying Zheng had already seen off a large number of his ministers. Taishu Jiu was considered to have lived to be a hundred years old. Li Si died even earlier than Taishu Jiu. When he passed away, he was moved to tears and passed away peacefully after hearing Ying Zheng say that he was to be taken to the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Finally, there was the matter of choosing an heir. His sons were all getting old, and even his youngest son was now over fifty.
After some thought, he and 'Qin' wove a dream for their many offspring. The most powerful person in the Qin Kingdom in the dream would be the final choice, and the dream memories, except for the victor, would be erased upon waking.
The final choice was Fusu's youngest granddaughter, who, despite her young age, performed better than his youngest son in the dream.
So Ying Zheng skipped over his youngest sons and daughters, as well as his grandsons and granddaughters, and made his great-granddaughter the Crown Princess.
Incidentally, Fusu was posthumously honored as the Second Emperor of Qin, and Ying Jiaojiao's father was posthumously honored as the Third Emperor of Qin.
The good news is that he didn't have to be the crown prince for fifty years and was directly promoted to emperor. The bad news is that he died before becoming emperor, even after only one year as crown prince.
A strange phenomenon occurred: the First Emperor, who was still on the throne, died before the Second and Third Emperors were buried.
On the day Ying Jiaojiao was enthroned, she went to Xianyang Palace to pay her respects. She remembered everything in her dream and felt both familiar and unfamiliar with the palace before her.
After paying her respects inside the hall, she finally saw 'Qin,' whom she had longed for and whom she had called 'Mother' in her dreams for over fifty years.
"May I have your name?"
Ying Jiaojiao thought that it was normal for Qin not to pay attention to her because she was inconspicuous. As long as she could gain the most attention in the future, that would be fine.
Looking into Ying Jiaojiao's familiar gaze, Qin suddenly felt as if he were seeing the moment many years ago when Ying Zheng told her he was willing to be the sharp blade in her hand...
Are all of you with a nationalistic mindset hereditary?
"Your subject, Qin Shi, is beautiful."
"Jiaojiao? Meaning beautiful appearance..." Qin pondered in his heart, feeling only so-so about the name.
The original meaning of this character is beautiful appearance, but in Mencius, "As for Zidu, everyone in the world knows how beautiful he is." It also has extended meanings such as seductive and insulting.*1
These weren't the main points. 'Qin' spoke up: 'But being an emperor doesn't require good looks, do you know that?'
Ying Jiaojiao, quick-witted, immediately seized the opportunity to plead, "I beg the spirit of the nation to change my name."
What her father named her didn't matter; she was probably the first person to have a name bestowed upon her by the Emperor. Her original name was immediately forgotten.
"China is known for its great etiquette, hence the name Xia; it is also known for the beauty of its clothing, hence the name Hua. Both characters are excellent, so we call it Yingxia."
"Your subject thanks you for bestowing upon me a name!"
Ying Zheng spoke, offering his admonitions and also entrusting his affairs after his death.
****
Zhu Qing'ai waited in this world until Ying Zheng passed away, personally watched him being buried in the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, and saw Ying Xia ascend the throne as emperor. Only then did she leave her clone to operate with minimal energy consumption, mainly to maintain the daily sky screen and issue natural disaster warnings, and gradually began to reduce her activities in front of people.
She spent many years in this world, and had gone from a level two noob to a level three noob. Under the guidance of the former system Ajiu, she broke through space and entered the gap between various worlds.
The previous world is linked in her panel; to use a game analogy, the previous world has become a 'structure' that provides her with energy over a long period.
"Let's choose the nearest world for the next one; it requires less energy."
**The main text is complete. Subsequent chapters are side stories for this world. Please read the titles carefully before purchasing. (This text does not count towards the paid character limit.)**
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Author's Note: *1 When choosing the initial name, I casually searched it up: a phono-semantic character. It's composed of the radical "女" (woman) and the phonetic component "交" (jiao). For variations in the form of "交," see the entry for the character "交." Its original meaning is beautiful appearance. The *Shuowen Jiezi* says, "姣, good." The *Fangyan*, Volume 1, says, "娥, good. From the Guanzhong Plain eastward, between the Yellow River and the Ji River, some call it 姣." The *Mencius*, Book 6, Part 1, says, "As for Zidu, everyone in the world knows he is beautiful." Extended meanings include seductive and insulting. (I was greatly shocked; it can have such extended meanings! It's clearly a character with a beautiful meaning, why did they have to make it like this…)
*2 The Tang Dynasty scholar Kong Yingda wrote in his "Correct Interpretation of the Zuo Zhuan in the Spring and Autumn Annals": "China is called Xia because of its great rites and ceremonies; it is called Hua because of the beauty of its clothing." This means that China is called "Xia" because it is a land of rites and ceremonies, and "Xia" implies elegance; the clothing of the Chinese people is beautiful, hence the name "Hua." The term Huaxia is not only geographical, but also holds a deeper value in terms of cultural accumulation.
Zhu Qing'ai (after thinking it over): Let's change the name to... Ying Xia, meaning to win, how wonderful!
Author: Puns will be penalized!
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