"The Crowning Ceremony"
Madam, everyone is waiting in the auxiliary hall.
Yes, all right.
Madam...
Begging your pardon.
If only I had been more capable--
your secret would be safe, with all this chaos avoided.
If you have time to weep, Zhao Gao, use it to plot our next move.
Y-Yes, madam.
Just because you were found out doesn't mean
we should wait for Qin's attack.
Our only hope is to raise an army of our own against the huge Qin army
and launch a surprise attack against them.
We need not trouble the Queen Dowager.
Hand down your decision, Lao Ai,
and I, Hu Li, shall put it into action.
Silence will be taken as assent.
Very well.
No!
You... you can't just... run with this!
We'll... we'll...
We'll discuss this together-- with the Queen Dowager. Got it?
As you wish, sir.
How is it in there?
Sir.
It's day ten; any opposing voices have quieted.
One small push now may topple them.
I'd thought we could call up an army
if we left the clever Queen Dowager out of this.
Lao Ai's an unexpected roadblock.
But that's quite all right.
Either way, Ai's rampage is unstoppable.
Why is there still no answer after ten days?
Xianyang's used that time to ready their troops in secret!
W-Well, first we need a line of communication through our envoys...
There are secret children!
There's no talking Xianyang out of their fury on this one!
The relationship between the Queen Dowager and Lao Ai
was a crime that broke the Inner Palace taboo--
and suddenly Ai is home to children with a right to the throne!
Of course they'll come to crush us-- the source of all their misfortune!
We must raise an army!
To think you actually had children!
Take responsibility by raising that army,
Queen Dowager!
But if we take on Xianyang--
if we fight the Qin army, can we even win?
Don't underestimate us, you damn eunuch!
We are Ai, rulers of the entire Taiyuan region!
One word and we can muster tens of thousands of troops!
We already have plenty of skilled generals, like Fan Wuji.
If we strike first, we'll win.
Which is why we're telling you to hurry!
What a mess. Even the aides are caught up in it now.
Minister Hu Li's the one adding fuel to this fire.
I'll bet most of those taking his side were bought and paid for--
but that's not an amount one minister can afford to pay.
He's got his homeland of Chu behind him.
Hu Li's been embedded here as Chu's agent from the very beginning.
"Qin" "Wei" "Han" "Chu"
Chu would be thrilled to see Ai running wild and Qin in chaos.
"Qin" "Wei" "Han"
"Ai" "Zhao"
I'd thought we were sufficiently cautious, and yet...
"Qin" "Wei"
A decision, Queen Dowager, and quickly!
According to Zhao Gao, the discovery of our secret children
is what got everyone swept up in Hu Li's agitation.
I thought we'd kept them perfectly hidden-- right up until we entered Taiyuan.
The Queen Dowager must be wondering how it came to this,
at what point the truth came out about her children.
As it happens, when she bore her first in Yong,
only one person found out about it.
That's all it takes.
Let us finish off this pitiful couple once and for all.
Your anger is certainly understandable,
but we are nearly out of time.
Reaching no conclusion is no different than waiting for the Qin army to arrive.
If Ai falls, our heads and those of our families
will be put on pikes for the crime of treason.
At this point, we can go
one of two ways.
In the first,
we do what everyone has already been calling for:
raise an army for a sneak attack on Xianyang.
Still, can we win with a sneak attack?
Even the coalition army couldn't get close to Xianyang.
We can.
"Ai" "Xianyang" "Wei"
Most troops have left the center of the country, including Xianyang.
A battle with Wei has just started in the east;
many units, big and small, have been deployed there from the center.
"Xianyang" "Chu" "Wei"
Qin has also mustered its mightiest troops
to stave off the Chu army's invasion in the south.
Qin was able to stop the coalition army because they fought with all they had.
But now, the central military presence is scarcity itself.
There can be no better opportunity.
Then we can do it! We can do it!
An attack on Xianyang, Queen Dowager!
Fools.
A-And the second, Hu Li, sir?
In the second,
if we do not raise an army...
...we behead the Queen Dowager and Lao Ai right here and now,
likewise their two secret children,
then send all four heads to Xianyang
and beg for their forgiveness.
What are you doing?!
Swords?! Auxiliary or no, this hall is still--
That's just how urgent this situation is. Please understand.
You... you insolent curs! Raising swords against the Queen Dowager...
Lower them at once!
And our children, Hu Li?
As you may have guessed, they are already at my villa.
Out of my way! Move!
You won't get away with this, Hu Li!
--I won't let you, you bastard!
--Halt, or I'll stab you! --I won't let you, you bastard!
Stop that, Lao Ai!
There's no putting it off any longer.
Your decision,
Queen Dowager.
Madam!
Decide at once, Queen Dowager!
Die now or raise an army: what's to hesitate about?
An army? To what end?
Even if we're lucky enough to take Xianyang, then what?
Hu Li mediates us into an alliance with Chu, and we take Qin?
In a pig's eye.
That's exactly what I've found so exhausting.
Still, if we do nothing, it all ends here.
If I'd known my end would be so trifling, I would have met it much earlier.
After all, my life is already in ruins.
Perhaps I was asking too much, coming here to find repose.
Hurry up and--
Very well.
If the heavens want to see me dance,
I'll oblige them till the bitter end.
Then let me ask you something!
Are you all well and truly prepared?
No making excuses that you were put up to this!
If we do this, we do this together--all the way!
We shall crush Xianyang, plunder the throne for my children,
and establish a new dynasty!
Succeed and you shall all be leading figures in the new dynasty,
exceedingly prosperous to a man!
--Let's.... Let's do it! --We'll do it!
We'll do battle and be victorious!
Then it's decided!
When do we strike?
When else?
The ceremony taking place in the old capital Yong in a month's time.
The VIPs--the guest of honor, Lü Buwei, the ministers--will all be in Yong.
With Xianyang empty, it's our perfect chance:
King Ying Zheng of Qin's crowning ceremony!
"Fei"
Xin of the Fei Xin Force! Stop him!
Re-Retreat!
"Wei"
All troops, retreat!
Xin! The enemy's started to withdraw!
Good! What we're really after is Yuan!
Let's get back to Diao's main army!
He Liao Diao! The interior looks mostly under control.
Got it!
Tian Yǒu's group can keep handling the interior.
Send Qiang Lei and the Fei Biao outside.
Get the cavalry out past Huangshan today.
T-today?!
We're taking Yuan and Puyang in parallel with Long Guo's army--
we have to hurry.
We can take two targets with our combined might alone!
Do not hold us back. Got that?
Un-Understood!
Message from the southern forest!
Huh? From Xin?
Xin!
Wait, what?
"Enemy reinforcements: crushed. We're headin' on back!"
You flushed out all those troops? Already?
And you already toppled Shangui.
Man, that Qiang Lei...
Nah, there's not much to it-- it didn't take long.
Honestly, I thought it'd take you till tomorrow at the earliest.
Were you just in the groove, being free from naggy Long Guo and all?
Yeah, that!
But listen, we're movin' the main army on ahead, too.
The enemy's tightenin' up their defenses.
I know.
We'll head to Huangshan.
You and Qiang Lei will take a thousand-troop detached unit
and go on further, to Jishui.
A detached force of a thousand, eh?
We got big, all right.
Right?
Still,
common sense calls for 10,000 to storm a place like Yuan.
Fine by me!
He Liao Diao!
Is He Liao Diao here?
Sun Zhu!
Message from Xianyang-- from the high commander.
From my master?
He told me to hurry--
I've been riding day and night, changing horses on the way.
Wow, have you?
Thanks.
Huh? Hey! The seal's broken!
What's the big idea?
I--I'm sorry!
I did fall off one horse along the way, when it broke its leg.
It must have happened then.
Please don't tell the high commander about this.
If he finds out, I'll lose my messenger job.
C'mon, Sun Zhu, do better!
And? What's Lord Changping have to say?
Hmm? Right...
Huh!
He says to take the Hei road to attack Yuan.
The Hei road?
Yeah. I wasn't sure whether we should take the Hei road or the Yuan road.
Okay, so Hei it is.
The high commander seriously knows these roads from so far away?
You bet he does! Don't underestimate him!
He also says to mind the weather.
The weather? I wonder why?
Does it get that bad out here?
No way does he know the weather here from all the way back in Xianyang!
He does too! Do not underestimate him!
You liar!
Anyway... we take the Hei road.
Speakin' of Xianyang... it's only a few days away now.
Zheng's crownin' ceremony.
Uh-huh. Ten days to go.
It won't be long now.
The big day's comin' at last, Zheng.
"Wei River"
"Northern Road" "Southern Road"
"Xianyang" "Zui"
The old Qin capital of Yong was another 150 km northwest of Xianyang,
"Yong" "Wei River"
"Zui"
between the Qian Mountains to the north and the Wei River to the south.
"Yong, Former Capital of Qin"
It had been the royal capital for 300 years,
from the reign of Qin's 6th king, Duke De,
to that of its 19th, Duke Huai.
Inside, everything had been decorated in blue
in preparation for the crowning ceremony--
blue being the national color of Qin, which deified water.
His Highness has arrived!
It's been nine years...
I haven't seen Yong since I took the throne.
The time's come at last, sire.
Yes.
Wait, I say! Wait!
Th-The Queen Dowager!
Don't look so surprised that I was invited, Lord Changwen.
It's only natural that his mother would be here.
Madam.
We have not yet reached a conclusion on the matter of Taiyuan--
on the Ai declaration.
I know. And look: I came all this way.
We can have a nice long talk after the joyous affair of the day is concluded.
Yes, madam. Understood.
My goodness...
It's nearly upon us, Zheng.
When did this boy get to be so big?
Yes. At long last,
Mother.
The actors are all in place.
The time has finally come to reap the fruits
of that unique chance I took 23 years ago.
Do you know why the crowning ceremony takes place here, in Yong?
It's convention, yes, but there is meaning behind it.
Yong is home
to the ancestral mausoleum of Qin's kings throughout the ages.
I know this, of course.
The crowning ceremony
is considered a political rite, showing those both within our nation and without
the debut of a king, newly of age.
But that's not what it really is.
This ceremony is meant to present the of-age king
to the former Qin kings, all now ascended to heaven,
and secure their recognition and approval.
Is that so.
Yes.
For generations, my people have been tasked with guarding the mausoleum.
Hence it is easy for us to tell:
They have all been overjoyed since morning.
May the powerful grace of your ancestors' spirits
guard you and guide you, Your Highness.
I thank you.
Now, let us be on our way--
"Qinian Palace"
to the crowning ceremony at Qinian Palace.
You made it...
You made it all this way, Your Highness.
Still...
...that's quite the crowd.
There are delegates from six nations in attendance.
My lord!
Look:
The royal Yingyue and his party, from Chu.
The high-ranking Chancellor Pi, from Zhao.
There's Yan and Qi royalty, too-- and Chancellor Zhang, from Han.
Important figures from enemy nations,
coming all this way for a Qin celebration...
They're not only here to celebrate, of course.
They're the eyes of their nations, come to speculate.
This High King of Qin, who'll be taking center stage--
just what kind of person is he?
Which is why this is so meaningful--
today, in the eyes of the Middle Kingdom's seven nations,
His Highness will be recognized beyond a doubt as Qin's monarch!
Isn't that...
Hey...
That must be her--
the Queen Dowager behind the fuss in Ai.
Ah, it's nice and cool in here.
Chancellor Lü.
The man really is larger even than I'd heard he was.
Now, then...
It's time, my lord.
Ah... yes.
So that's him--
the 31st king of Qin: Ying Zheng.
Not intimidating, like Chu's king.
But what's this?
This... all-embracing something...
The hero king, savior of Zui.
I've seen a great many kings in my day, but...
I get it now. This one is different from the rest.
Hey.
Yeah. Maybe it's the lighting in here, but...
...the Qin king looks like he's cloaked in light.
"Three Sides, Unyielding"
Next on Kingdom: "Three Sides, Unyielding."