"The Man Who Was Nothing"
Qin's second...
...great general...
Moving on to our two promotions!
Colonel Wang Ben of the Yu Feng Force!
Colonel Xin of the Fei Xin Force!
Step forward!
All right!
Lord Ben!
Yesss!
You did it, Xin!
Yeah.
But Wang Ben accomplished a lot at Zhuyong.
Do you think he'll go straight to...
Come on, come on...
Given their slaying of Zi Bai and Ling Huang, both Fire Dragons of Wei,
and their efforts defending Zhuyong,
both are hereby promoted to brigadier, commanding 5,000 troops!
All right! Brigadier at last!
Only one more--only one more, Xin!
And Wang Ben got hung up at brigadier, too!
Xin's a brigadier, at long last...
Diao!
I know!
So no one skipped a step to general.
I wonder how close it was.
I expected this for that idiot Xin, but even Wang Ben stopped at brigadier.
I see that dissatisfied look, but this came down from on high.
Me, I'm just gonna be happy.
You just happened to take Ling Huang's head, thinking he was Fengming.
You should be ashamed you failed to slay a commanding general,
but sure, you go ahead and be happy.
The hell did you just say?!
Whoa! Xin!
How dare you speak to Lord Ben like that!
Kill him! Kill Xin of the Fei Xin Force!
Pl-Please! Not during a formal ceremony!
After the ceremony,
"Qin"
"Wei" "Han"
"Meng Wu's Army" "Chu"
Lu Wuwei's army and the Yu Feng Force deployed to the southern front.
They were reinforcements for Meng Wu's army as it battled Chu.
Wang Ben's already under Lu Wuwei.
Huh? "Already"?
Commanding 5,000 troops is nothing like commanding 3 or 4,000.
It's only through a brigadier's eyes, one step below general,
that what a general is comes into fuller focus.
That's why General Teng didn't want Wang Ben to skip that step--
and why he denied his promotion to general.
Huh?
Huh?!
So without your thumbs-down, Wang Ben would be a gen--
I understand the high commander was opposed as well.
That man gets it, all right.
Brigadier is not just a stepping-stone;
it's where you shed your selfishness and get results.
And once you do, you'll both be
honest-to-goodness generals.
The responsibility of defending Zhuyong without Lu Wuwei and Wang Ben
weighs much more heavily now,
Brigadier Xin.
Now steer this defensive battle under Long Guo--and beside him.
The brigadier experience...
Still, I made it to one step away.
Sure, great general is above that...
but general comes first.
Can you make general in five short years?
If so, then five years from now,
the general I mobilize with my very first command will be you, Xin!
I mean,
I'm here for it, but what about you?
Didn't you say next year's crowning ceremony was your marker?
Long Guo.
Which way is Xianyang?
That way.
I guess this Ai place has got you pretty rattled...
Give 'em hell, Zheng.
Ai's growth cannot be stopped!
Even Baiwei and Mingyang are under its banner!
Lots of people and money are moving behind the scenes!
Other nations are sending envoys--
and Ai is doing diplomacy all on their own!
Ai, which reformed Taiyuan without permission and became a nation,
"Yan"
grew more powerful by the day.
Lao Ai's expression, too, changed slightly.
Not a problem, not a problem at all.
Queen Dowager! Lao Ai, sir!
We've received a 5,000-gold donation from the house of Mingli!
Mingli? You mean the Mingli nobles of Zhao?!
The other nations are trying to fatten us up.
All according to plan, but the scale is getting a little out of hand.
Ah, what a waste.
To think we have to send nearly half of this to Xianyang.
Idiot. That's how we protect our own interests.
Still, it's such a waste.
Why don't we put this into our military and take down Xianyang?
Watch what you say.
We'd need ten times the money and manpower to take on Xianyang.
I-It was a joke!
Move!
The Queen Dowager's been in such a bad mood lately...
That stands to reason.
Minister Hu Li?
She is a woman, albeit Queen Dowager.
She would find war talk to be tiring.
With the Queen Dowager's health in mind,
I believe the men ought to draw up a plan alone.
A plan?
Why...
...to attack Xianyang, of course.
But... but that's...
Come inside.
The air has grown quite cold.
This season...
It reminds me of my mother's abuse.
In a Zhao hovel,
both of us in rags.
"This damn season again," she'd say,
and click her tongue.
Sire...
If Ai goes on expanding at this rate, it will collapse.
And when it does...
All this time,
I've been thinking only of defeating Lü Buwei.
But perhaps it's also my role
to quell my mother's anguish.
My role... as her legitimate child by blood.
A New Year's ceremony
was held in the ninth year of the future Shi Huangdi's reign.
Happy New Year!
--Your Highness! --Long live Qin!
It was the year of Zheng's crowning ceremony at last.
Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man...
--Oh, man-- --You look beat.
--Whoa! When'd you show up?! --You look beat.
Now.
What's that about?
The stress of being a brigadier?
Yeah. Or actually,
the stress of dealin' with Long Guo.
Sheesh!
--Why didn't you defend the riverbank? --I had no idea he was such a pain in the ass!
--You fell for their diversionary tactics! --I had no idea he was such a pain in the ass!
Always naggin' and findin' fault and nitpickin'!
Here. Best regards.
What?!
You know, for the new year.
Right.
That reminds me: Long Guo mentioned you, too.
About you becomin' a brigade commander at that ceremony,
with some troops all your own.
With my 5,000, that makes 8,000.
If Qiang Lei remains as the Fei Xin Force's lieutenant,
it'll become an 8,000-troop unit.
And since that is too big for your rank as brigadier,
it doesn't make sense for Qiang Lei's unit to fall under the Fei Xin Force.
Picky, picky.
Right?! He's like that with everything!
His reasoning holds, though.
Still, I won't strike out on my own.
I'm with the Fei Xin Force till the very end.
Yeah, we'll just make up a good excuse Long Guo. Piece of cake!
Construction on this place really is coming along, huh.
Yeah, I guess.
Check it out, Qiang Lei--
once that outer wall they're workin' on is finished,
we'll have the bare minimum of a defensive stronghold.
And then, finally...
We take the offensive?
Yeah.
Zhuyong here was our foothold--
pretty soon we'll be startin' our attack on Wei.
Things sure do seem to be a mess on the inside, though.
It'll get cleaned up this year.
This fabric.
Yes, sire!
Decorated with this dragon.
Yes, sire!
At last, the crowning ceremony...
If that all goes smoothly,
all will recognize His Highness as the legitimate ruler of Qin.
Which means we of the king's faction will be victorious.
Surely Lü Buwei won't wait quietly until then.
Sir!
Another thousand troops have arrived.
Thank you.
Assign them as bodyguards to VIPs like Lady Liu Yi and Si Shi,
bolstering our defenses.
We cannot lose a single one before the ceremony, Bi.
Sir!
Lü Buwei won't get away with the slightest thing--not on my watch.
Lü Buwei, sir.
The watchful eye of the king's faction--of Lord Changwen--
is causing more trouble than expected.
In order to make things happen, we'll need to proceed with extreme care.
That won't be necessary.
We're not the ones making a move.
This is the Zhao king's envoy, Shang Hui!
This is the Chu king's envoy, Bei Liang!
Not a problem, not a problem at all.
The king of Chu rejoices in Ai's prosperity,
and finds you most promising indeed, Lao Ai, sir.
Th-The king of Chu... me?
Furthermore, His Highness said...
"If this is the nation of Ai, is it not right that its ruler,
Lao Ai, go by the title of 'king'?"
Ooh!
I like that!
The king of Zhao has made a similar proclamation!
My goodness!
--Long live King Ai! --Me, king?
Long live King Ai!
You've done too good a job, Zhao Gao.
My apologies, madam.
I'm exercising your law-revising authority to tinker with it a bit.
It's all yours.
More than a few of our ministers are turning into other nations' pawns.
Flush them out.
Madam.
Mostly I wanted to fatten up Ai so it couldn't be meddled with so easily,
but it'd be no laughing matter if we lost control and were overthrown, Zhao Gao.
Leave it to me.
"Ai"
This is when we bide our time.
I believe I cautioned you against making
conspicuous moves,
"Ai General - Fan Wuji"
General Fan Wuji.
I haven't done much of anything.
Just a mock battle during our morning drills.
Father,
"Fan Liuji"
it may have been the settlement of some obscure tribe,
but it made for a great drill.
May I remind you, General,
that this is the time for us to hide our fangs from Xianyang's eyes--
in preparation for the main event.
I know, Minister Hu Li.
But we're all ready to go.
If an army like that doesn't let off steam once in a while,
it can lead to internal collapse.
Really breaks the ol' general's heart, eh, Father?
You're the problem here, not committing to a time for the main event.
If you're going to keep wasting our time...
we'll wipe out every last settlement in the area.
Worry not.
"Ai"
We're almost there.
Good morning, Your Highness!
--Greetings, Your Highness! --Ah, Your Highness! --Hello, King Ai!
I told them to stop this "Your Highness" stuff, but the Queen Dowager...
Oh, what's the harm?
It doesn't leave these walls.
--Your Highness! --Your Highness!
It's frightening when you really think about it:
someone like me, suddenly being called "king."
Me, who had no redeeming traits...
I was born to a lower-class official,
bullied as a child despite my size
for being weak in both body and mind.
Lacking courage as an adult, too, I stayed off the battlefield.
No woman would have me, of course.
Somehow I became a lower-class official through my father's connections,
but there, too, I lacked the skill;
the only thing I really did was entertain upper- and mid-level officials,
performing vulgar tricks night after night.
But that's how it all started.
I sneaked into the Inner Palace as a false eunuch
and began entertaining the Queen Dowager instead.
So you're Lao Ai?
Y-Yes, madam!
At first, it was so terrifying I couldn't bear it.
Every night, the Queen Dowager, like a woman possessed...
Then one night... I saw it.
The Queen Dowager, her face twisted in ecstasy,
was crying.
Even a dullard like me
could see those eyes and understand:
This is someone
who has been terribly, deeply hurt.
More deeply than anyone else--
more deeply than I could imagine.
Her wounds lay open all this time,
tormenting her.
I was there to be the outlet for her pain, nothing more.
But I didn't mind.
I could make her happy, even if only as a male prostitute.
For the first time,
I was needed.
And then...
My humble self saw the Queen Dowager as...
You're with child?!
A-A thousand pardons! A thousand pardons!
Lao Ai.
I shall...
...keep it.
But... but you mustn't, madam!
Please--anything but that!
Oh, does it inconvenience you, Lao Ai?
No, madam, not in the slightest!
For--for you to bear our child...
Truly, I'm so happy-- I'm on top of the world!
But you mustn't! There lies the road to ruin!
The road to ruin, eh? Harsh words, Lao Ai.
Forgive me! Forgive me!
My life has been on that road for a long time.
What's a little more ruin now?
M-Madam...
But don't mistake me, Lao Ai.
I'm not looking to hasten my decline.
For some reason,
having this brat inside me has given me the exact opposite desire.
The... exact opposite?
Yes:
the desire to rest my mind.
With that birth, there was no going back for the Queen Dowager.
It led us here, to Ai.
That's what I'd thought.
But that's not the case.
We're here because it's what she was looking for: a place to rest her mind.
My goodness.
I'd better shape up--
so the Queen Dowager never cries again.
Pardon me, Lao Ai, sir.
Minister Hu Li, I hereby forbid this "king" talk.
Make sure everyone complies!
Of course.
Sir, we have received a top-secret report.
The indiscretion between you and the Queen Dowager,
including the secret children you share,
has come to light in Xianyang.
Wha--?!
And now Xianyang is mustering an army to strike at Ai.
We must make the first move--
or everything
will be reduced to ashes.
"The Crowning Ceremony"
Next on Kingdom: "The Crowning Ceremony."