Chapter 7: Farewell to the First Emperor

Until the lesson ended, Su Xu was still somewhat astonished. He thought the progress of this barbarian student was incredibly fast. Were it not for the student's inaccurate pronunciation and stumbling recitations that required his corrections, Su Xu would have suspected that the man had studied the Classic of Poetry before and was merely feigning ignorance.

After finishing today’s teaching, as Su Xu stepped out of the palace chamber, he was called by an attendant.

“Doctor Su, the King summons you!”

The King summons me?

Su Xu immediately realized that the King's summons must have something to do with the person he taught today. He grew even more curious—who exactly was this barbarian to be held in such esteem by the King?

Following the attendant, Su Xu arrived at a palace. Inside, Ying Zheng was attending to state affairs. Seeing Su Xu, he casually inquired, “How is the progress of the person you taught today?”

Su Xu replied, “This individual is advancing remarkably quickly. Were it not for his imperfect pronunciation and occasional stumbles during recitation, I would have thought he had studied before.”

“Oh?”

Hearing this, Ying Zheng’s interest was piqued. He put down his pen and said, “Tell me more.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Su Xu recounted the details of the day’s lesson, which left Ying Zheng somewhat surprised. He thought to himself, ‘Is this person a prodigy?’

After hearing the full account, Ying Zheng asked, “In your opinion, how soon can this person master the Qin script?”

Su Xu considered briefly before replying, “From what I observe, in just one month, he will be able to fluently read the Classic of Poetry, Classic of Documents, Rites, Music, Changes, and Spring and Autumn Annals.”

That was indeed swift progress. An ordinary person might not even recognize all the characters in those texts within a month, yet this man could read all of them fluently in such a short time.

But Ying Zheng was not merely thinking about how soon Li Nian could read these classics; he was contemplating when he could communicate directly with him.

Only through communication could he uncover Li Nian’s origins.

Ying Zheng did not disclose this to Su Xu but said instead, “Teach him well. If this is done properly, great rewards shall be given. You may withdraw.”

Su Xu accepted the order and expressed his gratitude: “Thank you, Your Majesty. I will not fail in my mission.”

After Su Xu left, Ying Zheng asked Meng Yi, who stood nearby, “What is your opinion, Minister Meng?”

Meng Yi replied, “I believe it may not even take a month.”

Ying Zheng looked at him, and Meng Yi explained, “Your Majesty’s hope is to communicate with this person, not necessarily for him to become a scholar with encyclopedic knowledge. The reason you assigned Doctor Su to teach him was to enable rapid mastery of the Qin language. When Doctor Su says one month, he means the time required to learn those classics, not the time until he can speak with the King. For example, when I was a child, I could speak before I could read.”

Ying Zheng understood Meng Yi’s point—reading and speaking were two different things. Literacy could aid in speech, but one could learn to speak without being literate. Learning those texts might take a month, but acquiring basic communication skills might take less time.

Meanwhile, Li Nian was diligently studying the Qin language. The First Emperor was his greatest supporter in this era, so mastering the language quickly was crucial to establishing communication and securing this powerful backing.

Even outside of Su Xu’s lessons, Li Nian continued learning from those around him—asking guards, attendants, and palace maids for the names of various objects, chatting with them, and having them correct his pronunciation and grammar.

Upon learning of Li Nian’s efforts, Ying Zheng smiled and said, “It seems this person wishes to communicate with me as soon as possible.”

Meng Yi added, “Your Majesty is right. This person’s background is likely significant. He must have a great secret to share.”

Someone who appears suddenly in the palace cannot be insignificant.

Ying Zheng said, “I await his secret.”

Yet, he wondered whether Li Nian’s origins would be what he hoped for.

Half a month passed swiftly.

One day, just after breakfast, Guo Dian approached Li Nian and said, “Li Nian, the King requests your presence.”

By now, Li Nian had told others his name.

He was not surprised to be summoned by the First Emperor. After all, his Qin language had improved greatly over the past half-month, allowing him to hold simple conversations.

Of course, speaking as fluently as a local with no communication barriers would take another two and a half years of practice.

During this time, Li Nian also learned that the year was the same as in original history—the First Emperor had just unified the realm and would live for another eleven years.

This was undoubtedly great news for Li Nian, meaning that as long as he gained the First Emperor’s trust, he would have the strongest backing of Qin for the next eleven years.

He had already devised several plans to win the emperor’s trust, and today was the day to put them into action. Whether he lived or died depended entirely on this encounter.

Taking a deep breath and steadying his thoughts, Li Nian followed Guo Dian to the palace chamber where he had first arrived.

Inside, there were few people—at least none openly visible. It seemed the First Emperor preferred to keep his presence discreet. The Qin general Li had seen before was still there.

Li Nian now knew this general’s identity—Minister Meng Yi, one of the First Emperor’s most trusted and close advisors.

How close and trusted?

Meng Yi accompanied the emperor on outings, attended to him within the palace, never leaving his side. Sadly, he was later betrayed and killed by Zhao Gao and Hu Hai.

Li Nian dared not look too long but bowed deeply to Ying Zheng seated on the throne.

“Commoner Li Nian pays respects to the King.”

“Rise,” Ying Zheng said. “You have learned well and progressed quickly.”

Without further preamble, Ying Zheng spoke plainly, “I have summoned you here. Surely you know why.”

Li Nian nodded. “I do, Your Majesty. But before I speak, there is one matter I must ask of you. It is most important and will benefit both Your Majesty and me.”

Ying Zheng found it intriguing that this man would not reveal his origins first but would instead ask a favor, claiming it would be useful to the King.

Curious, he said, “Speak. What do you ask of me?”

Li Nian said, “I cannot disclose this matter directly. I ask Minister Meng to bring pen and bamboo slips, so I may write to him. Then, he can deliver it to Your Majesty. On the way, no one else must see it.”

Why the secrecy? Why must Minister Meng deliver it personally, with no others allowed to see?

This only deepened Ying Zheng’s curiosity. He said, “Minister Meng, as he requests.”

Meng Yi replied, “At once.” A brush and bamboo slips were brought, and Meng Yi presented them to Li Nian. He also had a guard bring a small desk so Li Nian could write comfortably.

Standing by the desk, Meng Yi watched as Li Nian wrote a line with the brush. The handwriting was poor, far inferior to his own, but the content shocked Meng Yi deeply:

“Please, Your Majesty, dismiss all attendants, especially those related to Hu Hai, Zhao Gao, Li Si, and Chunyu Yue... The commoner has urgent matters to report.”

Seeing the string of names, Meng Yi’s heart was thrown into turmoil.

To say nothing of the others, the first three—Prince Hu Hai, Chief of the Chariot House Zhao Gao, and Minister of Justice Li Si—were all heavyweights in Qin, the King’s trusted favorites, men whose power was immense enough to shake Xianyang with a stomp.