I. Ah Q did not die

1. Ah Q did not die.

Ah Q did not die, and became the first person in history, both ancient and modern, to truly see a ghost, and indulged in the fantasy of being an emperor: first, he sat on the throne of Qin Shi Huang, and then, as Emperor Wu Cheng, he experienced the imperial power of Emperor Wu of Han. Even historical figures of the past were actively sought to be reborn in reverse in Ah Q’s case, making him similar to the historical figures of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han.

In this way, Ah Q, who couldn’t even draw a perfect circle, was indeed considered somewhat lacking in literary talent in the eyes of the great leader Chairman Mao. To know how all this happened, please listen to my detailed account.

Before we begin, please don’t assume that an elderly person in their seventies would speak carelessly. If you can read this novel word for word, and if you have enough life experience to avoid being misled by superficial words, you will agree that there is not a single falsehood in this work. The author poured his heart and soul into it, writing with a love for human society and history. He offered his conscience and moral integrity, not merely seeking sensationalism.

Most people don’t care much about the execution of prisoners, but little do they know that it’s by no means foolproof. The Japanese soldiers in China during the Anti-Japanese War knew this; when executing Chinese people, they would execute them three times in succession to prevent any chance of survival. A group of Japanese soldiers, standing at a distance, would first open fire on a group of unarmed so-called prisoners, then run over and use the bayonets on their rifles to stab each of those lying in pools of blood once, aiming for the heart. If they found even the slightest sign of life after this stab, they would finish them off with a shot to the head. Only then would they pour gasoline on the corpses and burn them. That is to say, they executed a person by shooting, stabbing him in the heart, and burning him.

We might all think: this triple execution method of gun, knife, and fire should be foolproof, right? But I’ll show you: someone survived. My father fought in the War of Resistance against Japan in the Hebei Plain and personally witnessed such a survivor. He said his face and body were covered in scars left by this triple execution method, and he barely resembled a human being. Reports indicate that Mr. Wu Changde, one of the Chinese who testified in the Tokyo court about the Nanjing Massacre, was a survivor of this triple execution method.

On one occasion, the Japanese devils captured eleven or twelve rural Eighth Route Army cadres to execute them. One evening, after releasing them from the east gate of Hejian County, they urged them to run quickly away from the city. Then, a row of Japanese soldiers opened fire on them from the city wall, followed by cavalry stabbings and motorcycle fire. Because it was nighttime, the surviving rural cadre from central Hebei rolled on the ground to extinguish the flames on his body, then crawled into a nearby wheat field to hide and spend the night, thus escaping.

If Mr. Wu Changde was one of the thousands of victims, these rural cadres in central Hebei were a small minority facing a large number of executioners: Wu Changde still had a normal human face and body, but this rural cadre who survived from central Hebei had very little human appearance.

Having said all that, I will now explain how Ah Q managed to escape. You might say, isn’t Lu Xun’s “The True Story of Ah Q” a fictional novel?

That’s an amateurish statement. Just as Jia Baoyu in *Dream of the Red Chamber* might actually be an alter ego of Cao Xueqin, fictional characters often have real-life prototypes. Lu Xun himself was a serious scholar and the first person in China to write modern fiction; how could he possibly fabricate a character out of thin air? According to *The Record of the Xinhai Revolution*, Lu Xun once attended a court hearing where a peasant named Zhao Agui was wrongly accused of theft and innocently made a scapegoat. Of course, there are other versions, such as Li Agui, who wasn’t executed. In any case, there were indeed one or two peasants in Lu Xun’s hometown with similar names and experiences to Ah Q, but only one of them was the prototype for Ah Q in Lu Xun’s works. As for which of those different accounts truly represents Ah Q, only Lu Xun himself knew, and we ordinary people don’t need to take it so seriously. In Lu Xun’s writing, Ah Q is the soul of the Chinese people, and Qin Shi Huang is the first emperor of all time, the originator of Chinese imperial autocracy, hence the saying that two thousand years later, Marx and Qin Shi Huang were combined. In contemporary Chinese society, clashes between Ah Q and Qin Shi Huang are inevitable, and not everyone may perceive them. The author is merely dramatizing this everyday phenomenon for those who are unaware of it.

The story goes that Ah Q was shot in the back of the head and immediately fell into a pool of blood. Afterwards, the examiner came over, still wearing his glasses, and gently tapped Ah Q’s head with his walking stick, saying, “Ah Q died from a gunshot wound to the head.”

The clerk nearby immediately wrote down this sentence for filing. It was a historical record, stored in the local official archives, available for readers to consult. In real life, Ah Q didn’t die, because the gunshot pierced the side of his head, away from his vital organs, and didn’t damage any major blood vessels. His heart was still beating; he was only temporarily unconscious.

Mr. Lu Xun wrote,

“Help,……”

　　However, Ah Q didn’t say anything. His vision had already gone black, his ears were ringing, and he felt as if his whole body was scattering like dust.

　　As for the impact at the time, the greatest was on the squire, because since the stolen goods were not recovered, his whole family wept bitterly. Next was the Zhao family; not only had the scholar’s braid been cut by unscrupulous revolutionaries for going to the city to report to the authorities, but they also had to pay a reward of twenty thousand coins, so the whole family wept as well. From that day on, they gradually began to exude the air of old-fashioned remnants.

　　As for public opinion, there was no objection in Weizhuang. Naturally, everyone said that Ah Q was bad, and being shot was the evidence of his badness: if he wasn’t bad, why would he be shot? But the public opinion in the city was not good. Most of them were dissatisfied, thinking that being shot was not as interesting as being beheaded; and what a ridiculous death row inmate he was, parading through the streets for so long without singing a single line of opera: they had wasted their time following him.

Just as Lu Xun described, Ah Q became omnipotent and omniscient amidst the dust in the air. He simultaneously heard the wailing of the scholar and the entire Zhao family, the gossip in Weizhuang, and the disdain of the city dwellers. Ah Q felt a mixture of pleasure, contempt, and indignation. But only his indignation at the city dwellers’ gossip lingered for a while, prompting him to mutter a few curses: “Damn it!”

It’s unclear whether it was because Ah Q had been cursing for too long, or because his indignation had lingered for too long and thus solidified. Ah Q, who had been floating in the dust in the air, slowly settled and condensed, eventually becoming the body of Ah Q lying on the execution ground: only then did he slowly awaken.

It was late at night. There was no moon, no stars, and not a soul in the pitch-black desolation. When Ah Q got into the heat of his rant, he would inevitably swing his arms. At this moment, his arms were not heavy, but they remained completely still. No matter how emotionally invested or how much effort Ah Q put in, his hands remained motionless.

This is where Ah Q’s greatness truly shines; he learned without a teacher: Ah Q concentrated intently on the omnipotent nothingness, and after eighty-one seconds, using all his strength and the same struggle he had when he was born, he cried out, “Ha yu yu, ha yu yu!” A miracle finally occurred: Ah Q’s hands began to move.

After recovering fully, the first thing Ah Q wanted to do was check if he had really been shot. He touched the back of his head and found a small, round hole. Then he touched his forehead: a piece of his skull had been blown off, triangular in shape, with sides a little over an inch long. Fortunately, the piece of skull hadn’t completely detached, and Ah Q carefully pressed it back into his skull. Ah Q felt the small hole was unsightly, so he kept groping forward until he finally found the bullet that had hit him. Our Mr. Ah Q intended to use it to plug that little hole, to maintain the beauty of a gentleman’s skull.

Around this time, the Rockefeller Foundation in the United States was planning to establish a Peking Union Medical College in China, a college that would be absolutely leading in Asia. Even the most skilled surgeons at this college, trained for over a decade, might not be able to compare to our Dr. Ah Q. After obtaining the bullet, Dr. Ah Q first put it in his mouth and licked it clean with his tongue. Seeing so much grit on it, Dr. Ah Q immediately stopped and began to urinate, tilting his body and pulling down his pants. Dr. Ah Q also knew to avoid the initial stream of urine, using the middle stream of sterile urine to rinse the bullet and his fingers before carefully inserting the bullet into the small hole in his head, making sure it was perfectly sealed.

Even Hu Shi and his followers, who were obsessed with history and textual research, could not find the slightest error or impropriety in any of our Ah Q’s actions after his soul was revived, let alone today’s scientists.

2. Ah Q saw a ghost.

Thus, after the fright, our protagonist, Ah Q, finally regained his senses and his body was perfectly restored. As if he had completed a major project, every cell in Ah Q’s body felt satisfied and content. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and began to rest and enjoy life.

Strangely enough, at that moment, he saw the ox and horse he had once ridden appear before him. If people could make Ah Q anxious and worried, oxen and horses, especially the ones he knew well, made him feel safe and content: he was their master. This was the only time in Ah Q’s life that he could be their master. So when Ah Q saw his familiar ox and horse, it was like suddenly encountering fellow villagers while traveling: “When fellow villagers meet, tears well up in their eyes.”

He immediately stretched out his arms, one hand around the ox and the other around the horse, affectionately calling out to Brother Ox and Brother Horse. The ox and horse seemed not to recognize Ah Q for a moment, hesitated for a moment, then suddenly realized and hugged Ah Q at the same time, like old friends who had not seen each other for many years.

Just then, the ox used what is called sonication, making its voice seem to come from the heavens:

“Friend Ah Q, your address to us, Brother Ox and Brother Horse, reminds us that you are the only human in the mortal world we know who treats us oxen and horses as such close friends. We dare not frighten you, hence this sonic technique. To tell you the truth, we are Ox-Head and Horse-Face, serving before the King of Hell. We are formed from the combined souls of 999 oxen and horses in the mortal world, which is why we couldn’t recognize you at first. Your Brother Horse has had diarrhea for the past two days, and he had to relieve himself on the way, which delayed us by a moment. Unexpectedly, your Brother Horse’s diarrhea brought you back to life and allowed you to see us: you are now the first person in history to truly see a ghost alive.”

Ah Q was startled upon hearing this and asked, “Are you going to turn me into a real ghost?”

Ox-Head and Horse-Face hurriedly explained, “No, no! We really don’t know how to turn a living person into a ghost. We are wandering souls from the underworld, and we have no power to restrain chickens in the mortal world.”

Ah Q pondered for a moment and said, “If you leave me in the world and parade me through the streets, everyone in the city and the countryside will know me. If they catch me, I will be shot again.”

Ox-Head and Horse-Face said, “For many years, we have heard that you are the only confidant among us brothers in the mortal world, and that you give us your own steamed buns. Now that we have seen your living face, how can we part ways? I want to take you to our underworld for a visit, so that you can also see the world where we brothers live.”

Upon hearing this, Ah Q was so overjoyed that he danced with delight, wishing he could immediately visit the underworld, repeatedly saying, “Good, good, good!”

Ox-Head and Horse-Face said, “First, we need to help you get rid of the weight of this human flesh and blood, so that you can walk freely in the sky and on the ground just like us.”

No sooner had he spoken than a bowl of soup appeared in the hands of Ox-Head and Horse-Face. Ah Q, without any instruction, thought to himself, “This is the convenience of the mind bringing things together in the world of tranquility.”

The word “頜神” here means that stillness gives rise to spirit, and that one must be still to become a spirit. It should not be confused with the word “精神” (spirit/essence).

After Ah Q took the bowl, he noticed that the soup inside was slightly milky white, really like a bowl of rice soup that people in the village drank. Ah Q hesitated and asked, “Is this a bewitching potion?”

Ox-Head and Horse-Face said, “You’re a perfectly healthy person, what are you afraid of? That bewitching soup can kill a person’s soul.”

Ah Q drank the bowl of soup in one gulp, and strangely enough, he immediately felt as if he were about to float away.

At this moment, Ox-Head and Horse-Face called out to Ah Q, “Brother Ah Q, come with us!”

Before he finished speaking, Ah Q had already risen into the air along with Ox-Head and Horse-Face; the ground was still pitch black, but the sky was gradually becoming brighter, though there was still an endless expanse of uniform clouds and mist everywhere.

3. Travel to the Underworld

After some time, the outline of a pavilion appeared in the mist ahead. Ox-Head and Horse-Face led Ah Q to the pavilion and onto the railing. Looking down, he saw a scene of Jiangnan landscape. Ah Q recalled a time when he had climbed a mountain and looked out, and it was somewhat similar to what he saw now. In that Jiangnan scenery, Ah Q finally recognized Mo Village, and then the streets in the city where he had been paraded through the streets. Thinking of where he had seen Wu Ma for the last time, a pang of heartache struck him, and he repeatedly said, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

Ox-Head and Horse-Face understood Ah Q’s feelings, so they quickly descended from the Looking-Homeward Terrace. After many twists and turns, Ox-Head and Horse-Face finally led Ah Q to the courtyard in front of a palace, saying, “Brother Ah Q, wait here for a while. We’ll go to the King of Hell to erase your name from the Book of Life and Death, so that you can return to the human world and be reborn as a farmer.”

After Ox-Head and Horse-Face went inside, Ah Q peeked through the crack in the door and saw a stern-looking man resembling Bao Gong sitting inside. He was startled. When Ox-Head and Horse-Face spoke to the man resembling Bao Gong, the stern-looking Bao Gong suddenly became all smiles and amiable. They were only speaking the usual words of Ah Q’s soul reporting his reincarnation.

After the three of them left the Yama King’s Palace, they arrived at the Meng Po Bridge, where a bowl of soup was already placed on the railing. At the gesturing of Ox-Head and Horse-Face, Ah Q picked up the bowl of soup, thinking to himself, “Do I have to drink this bewitching soup twice?”

Ah Q didn’t know that this bewitching soup had to be drunk twice, because he was a living person: the first time to shed his earthly flesh and blood, and the second time to erase his past memories. Ox-Head and Horse-Face didn’t want Ah Q to lose his memory; how could they possibly lose such a close friend, the only one remaining in the universe? They used an illusion to change the color of the soup.

Ah Q saw the bowl of soup was orange-red and smelled it, realizing it was urine. He thought, “Drinking someone else’s urine is bad luck.” Just then, a deer ran by, climbing the steps to the bridge. Ox-Head and Horse-Face rushed over to stop it. In a flash, Ah Q turned and poured the bowl of urine down the bridge. Then, he immediately turned back and urinated into the bowl himself.

At this moment, Ox-Head and Horse-Face had returned. They glanced at each other, smiled knowingly, and pretended not to know Ah Q’s little trick. They gestured for Ah Q to drink their urine and then let Ah Q choose his reincarnation from among the thousands of families and courtyards under the bridge. It was a small favor from their friend.

4. Reincarnation

Ox-Head and Horse-Face pointed to the village houses under the bridge and said, “This is Master Zhao’s house. His scholar’s wife is about to give birth!”

Ah Q shook his head repeatedly.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face pointed down the bridge and said, “This is the home of Master Qian of the Mo Village…”

Ah Q shook his head.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face continued walking and talking:

“This is the home of a scholar from the city…”

“This is…,

“This is…,

…

…

…

“This is the home of President Li in Nanjing, the most noble family in the world.”

Ah Q just kept shaking his head.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face laughed, “You’ve been shaking your head all the way here. Could it be that you don’t want to be reborn and return to the human world?”

Ah Q hummed softly, “I regret that I wrongly killed my brother Zheng Xian.”

Ox-Head and Horse-Face laughed heartily, then said, “So it seems Brother Ah Q is tired of life in this world and wants to be a historical emperor. To tell you the truth, that’s what we both think too. As close friends, we know that Brother Ah Q hums ancient emperor dramas every day, so we’ll give you a helping hand. However, the stories of Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, and Emperor Taizu of Song must be done one by one, starting with Qin Shi Huang. Today, we brothers will let you become the greatest emperor in history, Qin Shi Huang. What do you think?”

Ah Q couldn’t distinguish between Qin Shi Huang and Song Taizu to begin with, so when he heard the words “First Emperor,” he was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, saying, “Okay, okay!”

Ox-Head and Horse-Face said, “These people who were born in the past world are like people who traveled back in time, which is different from those who were born in the present world. Qin Shi Huang was born more than two thousand years ago. Please close your eyes and follow us back to those two thousand years of time and space.”

Ah Q closed his eyes and flew through time and space with Ox-Head and Horse-Face. According to Einstein’s theory, one must exceed the speed of light to reverse time, but fortunately, in this tranquil world, where the mind moves things, exceeding the speed of light is as easy as defecating or urinating on the human world. Ah Q only felt the wind whistling past his ears and didn’t know how much time had passed. He only felt Ox-Head and Horse-Face give him a hard push on the back and say, “Goodbye, Brother Ah Q!”

Ah Q suddenly felt like he was falling from a height, and was a little scared for a moment, but quickly calmed down. In this tranquil world, there was no distinction between up, down, left, or right; falling and drifting were really no different.

Ah Q didn’t know how long he had been falling and drifting like that. He gradually felt uncomfortable all over, but it didn’t feel like he had touched the ground. Suddenly, the discomfort became unbearable, and Ah Q shouted, “Brother Ox, Brother Horse, help me!”

For some unknown reason, Ah Q couldn’t utter a sound no matter how hard he tried. This made Ah Q feel even more unbearable. He used all his strength to shout, and finally, a newborn baby’s cry burst from his mouth: “Wah…”

“Alright, alright, the child is crying.” A chorus of cheers erupted from the women around.

In the 48th year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, 259 BC, in Handan, the capital of the Zhao state, the future Qin Shi Huang was born peacefully.

* * *

The author needs to clarify a few points, distinguishing between three different Ah Qs. The first is the Ah Q in the general reader’s mind, a Dongfang Shuo-esque figure who becomes a source of amusement; the second is the Ah Q in Lu Xun’s works who represents the spirit of the Chinese people, embodying the spirit of traditional Chinese culture, represented by traditional literati, and unrelated to the illiterate peasant masses like Ah Q; the third is the Ah Q who serves as the prototype for Lu Xun’s character, a poor peasant without a house or land, whose Ah Q-like victory strategy is merely a literary exaggeration of the peasant’s self-destructive ideology.

In this book, the soul of Ah Q is the third real Ah Q, and has nothing to do with the first or second Ah Q.

The author divides human society into natural primitive society and artificial secondary society. He found that before the late 1950s, rural China was still a quasi-primitive society that was close to primitive society. Ah Q lived in this kind of society.

II. The Prequel to Ah Q and the First Emperor

1. The birth of Zhao Zheng

Ah Q, a grown man, has now become a weak, crying child, being hugged and pampered by others. Although he will become an emperor for all time in the future, Ah Q is indignant about the present situation.

In his anger and helplessness, Ah Q heard a woman’s voice say, “The child’s father has come!”

Ah Q’s eyes lit up as the door opened and a man entered.

“The father should give this child a name!” the woman’s voice said.

This is Zichu and Zhao Ji, who later became King Zhuangxiang of Qin and Empress Zhao, the parents of Qin Shi Huang. Zichu was originally named Yiren. The merchant Lü Buwei bribed Lady Huayang, who was originally from the state of Chu, with a large sum of money, and she happily adopted Yiren as her son, thus changing his name to Zichu.

“I’ve already decided, let’s name him Zhao Zheng! It’s better to have the surname Zhao when living under someone else’s roof.”

“For the child’s safety, he should take the surname Zhao. After all, we live in the Zhao family.”

Ah Q thought to himself, “Didn’t Qin Shi Huang have the surname Qin? He took his mother’s surname. I never thought Qin Shi Huang’s parents would be so fashionable, talking about his mother’s feminism. A grown man relies on women to survive.” Ah Q was quite disdainful.

“Does a man like that deserve to live in this world? If it were me, I wouldn’t have time during the day, so I’d jump into a well and commit suicide at night too. Damn it!” Ah Q thought angrily.

At that moment, the woman picked up Ah Q, the newborn infant, and held him in her arms, breastfeeding him. The firmness of the pregnant woman’s breasts and the moistness of the young woman’s skin immediately reminded Ah Q of the smoothness of the little nun’s head and the fullness of Wu Ma’s figure. Coupled with the fragrance of the noblewoman’s cosmetics, Ah Q was once again intoxicated.

Now, the word “harmed” is no longer appropriate. This word only applies to Ah Q’s first blissful state, because it was caused by his unsuccessful pleading with Wu Ma and the lingering smooth sensation after stroking the little nun’s head. Now, Ah Q’s sensitive face, hands, and even his whole body are forever immersed in the smoothness of the young woman’s skin and the fragrance of her body. Ah Q can only enjoy it blissfully, or more precisely, he is immersed in the sweetness and lingering in the blissful feeling. He uses this feeling to resist the helplessness of a grown man becoming a child.

What Ah Q found intolerable was that the woman, without his permission, put her nipple into his mouth. Imagine, a grown man nearing forty, sucking on a woman’s nipple—what kind of decorum is that!

Unfortunately, Ah Q hadn’t studied physiology and didn’t know that newborns have an innate reflex to suckle. Ah Q’s disdain and indignation had no effect whatsoever; the baby suckled, making gurgling sounds, and its belly gurgled as it received the milk. For a moment, the gurgling sounds of suckling and the gurgling of the abdomen reminded Ah Q of the bleating of sheep in the village, and he finally forgot the embarrassment of the woman’s nipple.

If Ah Q had truly acted on his own whims and refused to let the infant suckle, there would have been no Qin Emperor in Chinese history.

But history cannot be changed.

This was Ah Q’s first day—or more precisely, Qin Shi Huang’s first day as Zhao Zheng. Ah Q learned what it meant to be reborn in reverse while retaining one’s original soul and consciousness. Ah Q could use this new body to see, observe, and feel, but he had no ability to control it; however, he could think for himself. In short, he had freedom of thought, but not freedom of action.

However, there are exceptions: in rare cases, Ah Q can occasionally direct this body, especially to say something he insists on saying. This requires a great deal of effort from Ah Q, and the infant Zhao Zheng only manages a hoarse utterance. Strangely enough, Ah Q can understand what he wants to say from that hoarse sound. But more often than not, it’s a failure; even a furious outburst is futile.

As for those occasional successes, whether they were coincidences or genuine achievements; whether the words Ah Q seemed to be saying amidst the babbling of his toddlers were real or merely Ah Q’s wishful thinking—these questions gradually became unclear. “It is only hoped that the disciples of Mr. Hu Shi, with their historical and textual research obsessions, might be able to discover many new clues in the future.” (The quote in parentheses is from “The True Story of Ah Q”)

A Westerner from Italy once said, “All history is the history of the present (of people).” (Quote: Croce, 1866-1952)

Ah Q thought, “Bullshit! I can only chime in, and even that takes a tremendous amount of effort. Trying to modernize history? What a pipe dream!”

For the first two years, Ah Q endured the hardships in utter despair. While human breast milk filled his stomach, it offered no real culinary delights, not even as good as the wild vegetables he foraged in the remote village. He could only relieve himself within the swaddling clothes, experiencing nothing but “Damn it, you motherfucker!”

When Zhao Zheng’s child began to stagger and learn to walk, Ah Q felt a little better. The child walked with a wobbly gait, supported and carried by the maids, which reminded Ah Q of the time he rode in an oxcart, bumping along a mountain road.

For Ah Q, these past two years were spent more in Mo Village than at the Zhao family mansion in Handan. In the arms and swaddling clothes, Ah Q could only see other people’s bodies and their faces, and even those bodies were just the side view of their clothes.

As for the scent of women’s cosmetics, Ah Q initially found it somewhat novel, but over time, it became an endless source of weariness. Fortunately, Ah Q could think for himself, so he spent his days daydreaming. Ah Q’s daydreams, of course, returned to his familiar village, Mo Zhuang. He felt that this kind of lingering, permanent recollection made him forget all the unpleasant experiences of the past, and even the Jingxiu Nunnery and the old nun who had twice humiliated him were now only remembered as tranquility and peace.

For some reason, he always thought of Wu’s mother, or perhaps it was the scent of cosmetics on the women around her that made Wu’s mother in his memory even more beautiful, more lovely and approachable.

What bothered Ah Q most was that his daydreams of returning to the village were constantly interrupted by the child’s movements. Even the slightest movement of the child’s hands or feet would startle Ah Q awake, for it was, after all, his own body. Fortunately, the child slept for more than ten hours a day. For Ah Q, living a life of long, dreary days, those ten-odd hours of sleep were a kind of enjoyment.

Here’s a crucial point for readers: when the infant sleeps, Ah Q must also sleep; he cannot sleepwalk through the village while the infant sleeps. The reason is simple: Ah Q thinks using the infant’s brain. Using the infant’s sleeping brain only allows for disjointed thoughts, feelings, and occasional visual dreams. In short, Ah Q must also enter sleep and dreams with the infant. There is an exception: when the infant Qin Shi Huang is in a daze and dreaming, Ah Q is more likely to intervene in Qin Shi Huang’s dreams. Sometimes the intervention is so deep that it’s unclear whether it’s the infant Qin Shi Huang dreaming or Ah Q dreaming. Dream stories only become etched in memory upon the dreamer’s awakening; otherwise, if the dream is altered by Ah Q, neither Qin Shi Huang nor Ah Q will be aware of it.

Some readers might ask: Can a young child’s brain provide the thought processes of an adult like Ah Q? Readers may not know that the human brain is a priority organ for development, resulting in the large brains of children. Furthermore, the brain has a powerful compensatory function; even people who have half their brain removed in early childhood can have normal intelligence and still attend university. In short, that child’s brain is large enough for Ah Q to think, as long as that brain is active.

2. Talking about the past and present during the Qingming Festival

“The rain falls in torrents during the Qingming Festival,” which sounds more like the Jiangnan region today. But in Handan, it was a beautiful day with gentle breezes, bright sunshine, and green willows and blooming flowers.

On this day, Lü Buwei arrived. Zichu and his wife Zhao Ji, along with their three- or four-year-old child, accompanied by Lü Buwei, went to sweep the tombs outside Handan City and then took the opportunity to tour the scenery of the outskirts of Handan.

Through the ears of the young Qin Shi Huang, Ah Q overheard three people telling the story of Duke Wen of Jin and Jie Zitui as they walked along the road. The State of Zhao, one of the Three Jin states, inherited this tradition from the time of Duke Wen: every year during the Qingming Festival, people observed a day of cold food and refrained from using fire, discussing the tragic story of Jie Zitui as a form of inspiration. The many generous and tragic figures in Yan and Zhao are directly related to the tragic heroic tale created by Duke Wen of Jin and Jie Zitui.

Due to court politics, Prince Chong’er of Jin was persecuted by his father, Duke Xian of Jin, and spent nineteen years in exile. During these nineteen years, he cultivated relationships with various feudal lords and recruited scholars. Finally, at the age of sixty-two, he ascended the throne as the renowned Duke Wen of Jin, based on his high status among the feudal lords, and became one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.

After Duke Wen of Jin ascended the throne, he generously rewarded those who had followed him in exile. Jie Zitui, during a time of crisis, cut flesh from his own thigh to feed Chong’er, who was starving. Faced with the scramble for the reward offered by Duke Wen and the others, Jie Zitui resolutely retreated to Mount Mian. Duke Wen ordered the mountain to be burned from three sides to force Jie Zitui to come down and receive the reward. After Mount Mian was reduced to ashes, they found Jie Zitui and his mother embracing a charred tree trunk, both burned to death there. Duke Wen decreed that fire be forbidden on this day every year to commemorate Jie Zitui; this is the origin of the Qingming and Hanshi Festivals.

Upon hearing this story, Ah Q was filled with awe and reverence, enveloped by an unprecedented sense of tragedy and compassion—the very same feeling he had after seeing Wu Ma when he was being paraded through the streets and executed. Mother and son were burned alive, embracing each other; he had seen Wu Ma one last time before his death, and then, through twists and turns, survived despite being separated from her. If Jie Zitui and his mother died together in tears of maternal love, then he and Wu Ma were survivors amidst tears and blood: He hoped Wu Ma was well!

Ah Q’s famous line, “Twenty years later, I’ll be a hero again,” contained so much love and sorrow. Even if it was meant to comfort Jie Zitui’s mother, it was also meant for Wu Ma. Amidst the cheers of “Bravo!”, Ah Q’s heart was broken. Only Lu Xun could interpret the cheers as “the howling of jackals.”

Western tragedies, from the ancient Greek tragedy “Oedipus Rex” to Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” all tell stories of the tragic end of heroes like Ah Q, caused by the social circumstances. Ah Q was shot, and there was nothing he could do about it. In Ah Q’s eyes, the deaths of Jie Zitui and his mother were entirely different.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t be like Jie Zitui,” Ah Q thought. “I would go to Duke Wen of Jin to fight for it and snatch it; I would run down the mountain before they set it on fire.”

Ah Q found the most ridiculous thing to be Duke Wen of Jin: “It’s not hard to find a living person on a mountain. If you give it to me, Ah Q, I can find him in less than a day. Setting fire to the mountain must have been his original intention to burn people to death, just like the storyteller in the village sang: ‘If you see me after death, I will be a martyr and a nobleman; if you see me while alive, I will be torn to pieces.'”

Beside him, Lü Buwei was also deep in thought, letting his thoughts traverse through time, but his thoughts differed from Ah Q’s. Looking at the clear, sunny sky, Lü Buwei thought that the current Warring States period was as clear as the weather outside the city. If the ancients strived for wisdom and morality with unpredictable consequences, then in this era of striving for strength, the consequences are as clear as “the trees of Hanyang standing clearly on the sunny riverbank.” Ordinary people live in cities, their view obscured by their houses, unable to see far, further obscured by morality and emotion. Morality and emotion are like fog; in a fog, what can you see? Nothing more than a white blur before your eyes.

Lü Buwei thought to himself, “We merchants take Tao Zhugong as our ancestor.”

Tao Zhugong helped King Goujian of Yue recover from the brink of death, and eventually even destroyed the powerful enemy state of Wu. However, at that time, his name was Fan Li. After the great success, he went north to the Central Plains, changed his name and went into business, made a fortune, and became famous among the feudal lords.

Lü Buwei thought: “The times have led me, Lü Buwei, down a path opposite to that of Tao Zhugong. Tao Zhugong used his wisdom in the southern barbarian lands and engaged in commerce in the Central Plains, a land of propriety and righteousness. He followed a path of making up for deficiencies, which is why, for hundreds of years, the world has been devoid of heroes, with constant struggles for power. The modern era demands that the weak be taken from the weak to make the strong take over from the weak. Therefore, the path I, Lü Buwei, will take is to enter Qin from the Central Plains, to enter politics from commerce. I will use the power in my hands to seize the wealth of the world to accomplish great things. At that time, wealth and merchants, wisdom and talent will all be utterly vulnerable.”

While feeling pleased with himself, Lü Buwei couldn’t help but feel a little doubtful. He muttered to himself, “If everyone considers themselves superior because of their wealth and wisdom, who will accomplish the great task of conquering the world? Am I the only one who can possess both wealth and wisdom, as well as imperial power?”

Zichu and Zhao Ji doted on their child, often picking him up and cuddling him affectionately. Like the three- or four-year-old Qin Shi Huang, Ah Q longed for freedom: Qin Shi Huang wanted to run wildly through the streets, and Ah Q wanted to see more of the scenery of the Handan suburbs through Qin Shi Huang’s eyes. In his parents’ arms, his view was blocked by their bodies, especially when they bent down to cuddle him. All that remained before him were two faces he already knew, and the scents he smelled were familiar. At that moment, Ah Q craved the aroma of street food and the fresh scent of flowers and willows.

Ah Q heard the term “evolution” from Mao Cai and the fake foreigner. Of course, Ah Q misheard it as “getting into a pulley,” thinking that it was dangerous to have one’s head stuck in a pulley, since pulleys are always moving. Later, through the explanation of the villagers, Ah Q finally understood its meaning: the present is better than the past, and the future will be better than the present.

Ah Q disagreed at the time. As a theater enthusiast, Ah Q had only seen period dramas and had developed the prejudice that the past was better than the present since childhood. During the Qingming Festival, he strolled with Qin Shi Huang and his family in the suburbs of Handan. What he saw and heard proved that Ah Q was right. Mao Cai and the fake foreign devil were ignorant, and their “pulley theory (theory of evolution)” was nothing but a deception.

Ah Q noticed that the houses of the wealthy in Handan were larger than those of the rich in his hometown, and that the house of Qin Shi Huang’s maternal grandfather was far more luxurious than the house of the wealthy man Ah Q had worked for. The poor areas of Handan were much better off than those of his hometown.

Ah Q immediately formulated his own theory and doctrine: China, both ancient and modern, has the same number of houses and properties in cities and towns; the population was smaller in ancient times and larger now, hence the ancients were richer while the moderns are poorer. Along the way, Ah Q saw only endless fields of crops and wasteland overgrown with weeds, rarely seeing a single farmer working the land, while the village at the end was teeming with people. This clearly demonstrates the folly of Maocai and the pseudo-foreign devil’s theory of evolution (the theory of the pulley system).

3. Frog catching grasshopper

The story goes that Lü Buwei, his wife Zichu, and their child were enjoying the beautiful scenery of the river and countryside under the bright sunshine. They talked incessantly along the way, and for a while, their three- or four-year-old son, Qin Shi Huang, disappeared from sight. The three adults searched everywhere and found Qin Shi Huang intently observing a frog devouring a grasshopper by the roadside. The three adults, who had lived in the city for many years, were also very interested in this, while only Ah Q scorned their overreaction to seeing a frog and a grasshopper.

The grasshopper was clearly too big for the little frog to swallow easily. It took a lot of effort to swallow the grasshopper’s head first, causing the grasshopper to slowly lose its strength to struggle due to the suffocation.

Zhao Ji glanced at her husband and said with deep feeling, “In this cruel world where wolves devour everything, we have become the grasshoppers being eaten!”

“No!” Lü Buwei retorted, “You are princes and descendants of the Great Qin Kingdom, and at the very least, you are frogs that devour grasshoppers. If you strive to become them, you too can become tigers that devour the entire world.”

After hearing this, Ah Q thought to himself: What kind of talk is this? Frogs eating grasshoppers is the same as people eating pork. Frogs don’t eat frogs, and people can’t eat people. What good would it do for one person to swallow all the people in the world?

Although Qin Shi Huang couldn’t understand what the adults were saying, he clearly realized that they weren’t paying as much attention to the pair of frogs and grasshoppers as he was. He stretched out his foot and stomped the frog and grasshopper flat on the ground, then turned to his parents, meaning: Let’s keep walking!

Unexpectedly, Lü Buwei happily picked up Qin Shi Huang with both arms and said loudly, “Good, well done! You are the future King of Qin, and what you have to do is lead the Qin state to swallow up the entire world.”

Ah Q thought, “In that case, wouldn’t the Zichu couple, who were compared to frogs and grasshoppers by Zhao Ji and Lü Buwei, be trampled to death by this ignorant child?”

But Ah Q didn’t know that in the future, it would be Lü Buwei himself who would be trampled to death by this child.

At this moment, only Ah Q, who has traveled through time, can comprehend the absurdity of human life itself, a world of misinterpretations and contradictions. Only the likes of the pedantic scholar and the fake foreign devil try to find their sophistication amidst the chaos. In Ah Q’s eyes: there has never been any logic in the world.

Just as Lü Buwei was basking in the glory of embracing Qin Shi Huang, countless farmers appeared on the horizon, running towards them. In Lü Buwei’s arms, through Qin Shi Huang’s eyes, Ah Q also saw those panicked people running in the distance. Although the population was smaller in ancient times and couldn’t compare to the crowd when Ah Q was shot, it was still a dense, dark mass. As they drew closer, he heard them shouting, “The Qin army is here! The Qin army has surrounded Handan!”

Lu Buwei set down Qin Shi Huang, straightened his hatband and robes, put on a solemn expression, and slowly bowed ninety degrees towards the refugees in the west. Zhao Ji immediately thought that Lord Lu Buwei was expressing his sympathy to the refugees, and without realizing it, she also bowed.

Only Lü Buwei himself knew that he was thanking the Qin army and the Qin government for deciding to attack Zhao: “I never imagined that Heaven would remember me so kindly! Those Qin rulers who considered Zichu and his wife worthless have helped me so much!” Lü Buwei truly possessed the shrewdness of a merchant and the vision of a politician. He immediately summoned his attendants and brought Zichu and Zhao Ji to his home for refuge. He then led his men to Zichu and Zhao Ji’s original residence to investigate. As Lü Buwei had expected, their residence was also heavily surrounded by troops; Zhao had already issued the order to kill Zichu.

Upon hearing this, Lü Buwei was initially startled, but then his face lit up with a smile. The one who truly wanted Zichu dead was neither the King of Qin himself, nor Lady Huayang, who had no children, but rather the officers’ recklessness and the jealousy and rivalry among Zichu’s many brothers remaining in the country. The Zhao army commander surrounding Zichu and Zhao Ji’s residence knew of Zichu’s close relationship with Lü Buwei. Hearing Lü Buwei’s cries for an audience, the commander immediately laughed, “The God of Wealth has arrived!”

Lü Buwei offered six hundred taels of gold without hesitation. Even six hundred taels of gold was an astronomical sum for this low-ranking Zhao officer. The steward immediately instructed Lü Buwei, “For the safety of Prince Zichu, you should immediately send him to the Qin army camp and then return home!”

Lu Buwei held the steward’s hand tightly for a long time to express his gratitude. Then, after giving the steward a knowing look, he said, “I, Lu Buwei, do not know where Young Master Zichu is. I am merely here as a friend to help him pack his clothes.”

At this moment, Zichu and Zhao Ji, escorted by Lü Buwei’s entourage, were traveling by carriage back to Lü Buwei’s residence when they passed through a chaotic street in Handan. They overheard passersby discussing that the Zhao state had issued an order to kill Prince Zichu of Qin. Upon hearing this, Zichu, who was hiding inside the carriage, turned deathly pale. His lips trembled so much he could not speak, and the words, “In this small city of Handan, I fear I have no chance of escape,” were uttered in a trembling voice over the time it takes to smoke a pipe.

Zhao Ji first choked with grief, then burst into tears. The servants sitting next to her were so frightened that they quickly handed them handkerchiefs to cover their mouths and stop them from crying out loud, and changed their hats so that they would not be recognized.

The thought that the couple had no right to show their faces in this world brought them to a standstill, and tears streamed down their faces in silence. They tilted their heads to the sides to avoid their tears falling on their son, and simultaneously pressed their bodies close to him, each reaching out an arm to embrace him: “What crime has my son committed? Must he also die with us?”

At this moment, the young Qin Shi Huang was immersed in his own world of imagination: he was reliving the moment he stomped the frog and grasshopper to death. He sat between his parents, head down, stomping and grinding with his feet, as if experiencing his own power and the frog and grasshopper’s struggle and helplessness.

On this carriage, only Ah Q could simultaneously understand the grief and fear of Zhao Ji and her husband, and the self-satisfaction of Qin Shi Huang. Ah Q couldn’t help but sigh: Ignorance is more clever, more wise.

Finally, the servants in the carriage comforted him, saying, “Our Lord Lü Buwei is all-powerful; there is nothing he cannot accomplish. You are absolutely safe in Lord Lü’s hands.”

The Zichu couple were skeptical after hearing this, but they stopped crying and adopted a wait-and-see attitude, leaving it to fate.

Several days later, the Zhao state failed to capture Zichu, and the Qin army did not retreat. The Zhao state then issued an order to kill Zhao Ji and her son. For safety reasons, Lü Buwei secretly transferred Zhao Ji and her son to Zhao Ji’s parents, who then tried to send them to a rural village in the mountains in the remote suburbs for safety.

4. Historical records

According to Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian, Qin Shi Huang was born in the first month of the 48th year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin (259 BC). In the 50th year of King Zhaoxiang’s reign (256 BC), Qin troops besieged Handan. In retaliation, the State of Zhao wanted to kill Qin Shi Huang’s father, Zichu. Lü Buwei bribed the guards with 600 taels of gold, allowing Zichu to escape to the Qin army camp. The State of Zhao then wanted to kill Zhao Ji and her son, who remained in Zhao. Only with the help of Zhao Ji’s family was they able to hide. In 250 BC, Zichu was made crown prince, and the State of Zhao then took the initiative to send Zhao Ji and her son back to Qin. Qin Shi Huang was eight years old at the time. This means that Qin Shi Huang spent more than eight years in the State of Zhao, enduring the hardships of living under someone else’s roof and hiding and fleeing for his life. If Sima Qian’s account is reliable, and Zichu escaped back to the State of Qin in 256 BC, then Qin Shi Huang was raised by his single mother, Zhao Ji, for five or six years.

Although Ah Q came from a poor background, no one would ever hunt him and his parents down in their childhood. This life on the run was both close at hand and far away for Ah Q, because he was merely an eye in the mind of the young Qin Shi Huang—a perfectly safe bystander. Realizing this, he thanked Heaven that he was not the real Qin Shi Huang, nor his parents, but a peasant from Mo Village who called himself the “Free King.”

5. Life in the mountain gullies

Zhao Ji’s father was a wealthy man in Handan, so why wouldn’t he hide his daughter and grandson? In addition, Lü Buwei bribed them with gold and silver, so the Zhao government thought that Prince Zichu and his family had all fled back to Qin.

Zhao Ji and her son were settled in a rural house in a remote mountainous area of ​​Handan. There were no more people from Handan city nearby, and the Zhao army would not come here. The young Qin Shi Huang indulged in playing and being mischievous, which suited Ah Q’s mood and hobbies perfectly. As a result, he was happy for several years, feeling that in the homes of the rich and powerful, only the world of children belonged to him, and the rustic charm of the countryside made this possible.

Young Qin Shi Huang often played with several neighborhood children of the same age. When they chased and frolicked, thinking it was child’s play, Ah Q was the happiest. Watching them run wild and shout, Ah Q suddenly remembered himself at the gambling den, squeezing into the crowd to gamble. He must have been part of that same excited and joyful collective emotion. Ah Q actually shouted out, “Five hundred Green Dragons!” (There’s a scene in “The True Story of Ah Q” where Ah Q shouts “Five hundred Green Dragons” while gambling.)

Ah Q didn’t know what was wrong with him. In the past, Ah Q only observed and thought about his own things in Qin Shi Huang’s mind, which did not affect Qin Shi Huang’s behavior, because modern people cannot change history.

This time, the young Qin Shi Huang shouted loudly, “Five hundred Azure Dragons!” Ah Q immediately felt that he had violated the heavenly rules and jade prohibitions of both the Yin and Yang realms, and his heart seemed to skip a beat.

Ah Q immediately realized his fright was unnecessary, because the children seemed not to hear him at all, continuing to shout, yell, chase, and run. Ah Q could only assume he had misheard.

Ah Q also noticed something unusual, though he said “possibly” because there were other possible explanations. In any case, after the young Qin Shi Huang shouted “Five Hundred Azure Dragons,” a girl beside him turned around and glanced at him.

Ah Q didn’t notice the girl’s unusually surprised expression when she looked back, indicating that she had heard the unfamiliar phrase “Five Hundred Azure Dragons,” rather than the usual shouts of children chasing each other.

After the girl glanced back without any surprise, the young Qin Shi Huang turned and grabbed her arm, which she easily broke free of. Losing his balance, the young Qin Shi Huang fell to the ground, accidentally knocking the girl down with him. However, upon falling, he was holding not her arm, but her legs.

Whether Zhao Ji heard the shout of “Five Hundred Azure Dragons” is left for Hu Shi’s disciples to examine. But at that very moment, Zhao Ji stepped forward, helped the girl up, and turned to reprimand Qin Shi Huang, who had already stood up on his own:

“You can’t fight with girls. When boys fight with girls, it means they’re using their strength to bully them. Zheng’er, apologize to her!”

After the young Qin Shi Huang apologized to the girl, the children nearby stopped playing and gathered around. This was the tenth time Ah Q had heard Zhao Ji give the same lesson in a similar situation.

She first offered another unfounded and unnecessary apology to the children on behalf of Qin Shi Huang, and then said to Qin Shi Huang, “Here, you are the only new guest, while they have lived here for generations and are the true masters. Guests should show courtesy to hosts; how can you not distinguish between them?”

The young Qin Shi Huang was about six or seven years old at this time, long past the age of being held in his mother’s arms. In Ah Q’s eyes, Zhao Ji was no longer the little nun’s scalp or Wu Ma’s plumpness, but rather, but rather… rather, but rather, the wife and young mistress of Master Zhao’s family, or the wife and young mistress of the scholar’s family, because they were, after all, members of the royal family of the Qin Empire! In front of them, Ah Q was just an ordinary child from a rural family. Master Zhao and the scholar’s family had never treated him like Zhao Ji; they only knew how to use Ah Q’s tattered clothes as diapers for their own children.

Perhaps only Wang Xifeng from “Dream of the Red Chamber” truly understood this mystery. She said: “Greatness has its own difficulties.” From ordinary farmers to wealthy people in Handan, then to the princes of Zhao and their noble families, and finally to emperors like Qin Shi Huang, their rise to power was gradual, and so were their difficulties. Thinking of the terror Qin Shi Huang and his family felt upon hearing the execution order from Zhao on their way back to Handan, and Zhao Ji’s constant weeping afterward, it’s clear that the skulls on their shoulders have survived to this day thanks to their fear and caution.

Listening to Zhao Ji’s reprimand of Qin Shi Huang, the three or five rural children stared intently at Zhao Ji, looking confused. Their mouths trembled, as if they wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say.

Ah Q was eager to speak up for them, saying, “We used to be much better off than you! What are you anyway!” (In “The True Story of Ah Q,” there is a scene where Ah Q says to someone, “We used to be much better off than you! What are you anyway!”)

Ah Q didn’t say anything, and the wild children ultimately said nothing either.

From this perspective, Ah Q simply did not understand the hardships behind Zhao Ji’s weeping day and night when she first arrived in this place.

Her father sent her and her grandson to this remote village far from the city for safety. Zhao Ji had to carefully serve the surrounding farmers to avoid arousing their suspicion and reporting her. She brought two or three male and female servants with her and cultivated several acres of wasteland at the foot of the mountain. Fortunately, there were already one or two farming families nearby who had moved here from other places to cultivate the land, and at that time there was still a lot of unclaimed wasteland.

Zhao Ji’s father was a wealthy man in Handan, but Zhao Ji concealed this identity, pretending to be a commoner from the city seeking a living. She dared not bribe her neighbors, as that would expose her true identity, yet she couldn’t afford not to please them. She could only offer small favors to help them, telling them, “We are just ordinary farmers, destined to farm here for generations to come.”

6. As the Crown Prince

In the same year that his father, Zichu, was made King Zhuangxiang of Qin, the young Qin Shi Huang and his mother, Zhao Ji, ended their life of wandering in foreign lands and returned to Qin, where he was made crown prince. Lü Buwei became the prime minister of his father, King Zhuangxiang of Qin, and Lü Buwei’s retainer, Li Si, became the tutor, or Grand Tutor, of the young Qin Shi Huang.

Ah Q originally thought that reading and writing were the noblest and greatest things in the world. The reason why the scholar was considered a scholar, and the fake foreigner was considered fake, and why he was forbidden from revolution, was entirely because they could read. When the young Qin Shi Huang was taught to read by Li Si, Ah Q was genuinely happy for a few days, feeling that he could finally hold a pen and write, no longer just drawing circles shaped like melon seeds on paper. Ah Q soon discovered that this clashed with his lively nature; playing with bamboo sticks all day was boring enough, not to mention that they spoke in classical Chinese that Ah Q couldn’t understand and didn’t need to understand.

Ah Q imagined that the dozen or so bamboo slips laid out side by side on the table, each with characters of similar size drawn on it, was a beautiful picture in itself, like a large tree covered with branches and leaves, or a distant mountain covered with rocks and trees. Reading and recognizing characters from the bamboo slips on the table was like distinguishing the differences between each branch, leaf, and rock. Ah Q thought resentfully: I’m not that bored.

The young Qin Shi Huang and Li Si often faced the bamboo slips and recited them aloud together, their voices like those of a Buddhist chant. Only at these times did Ah Q feel intoxicated and delighted. But they would occasionally stop to discuss the meaning of each word. Ah Q thought this was the meddlesome behavior of scholars, like pursuing the meaning of words while ignoring the beauty of music. Ah Q yearned for the beauty of music, not the boredom of numerous words and meanings.

Unfortunately, amidst the chanting and discussion between Qin Shi Huang and Li Si, Ah Q occasionally managed to understand a phrase or two. In Ah Q’s eyes, it was truly like a fly landing on a painting. On this day, the fly Ah Q identified was: “Taking the king as the way.”

Perhaps because both Confucianism and Taoism, as mainstream cultures, extensively discuss the “Tao,” the illiterate farmers in the village also understood the “Tao” as a mysterious force. They also associated natural disasters and man-made calamities with this mysterious power of the Tao. To the Chinese farmers who called themselves “free kings,” this mysterious force of disaster was another world beyond the heavens, something they didn’t need to worry about at all, but there were exceptions.

The only time Ah Q experienced this mysterious power was when he was young and looked up at a comet with the villagers, feeling both fear and awe. A comet is a rare astronomical phenomenon that farmers can see.

Ah Q remembered that at night, almost everyone in the village would come out and stand on the street, gazing silently at the newly appeared comet in the sky. It was unclear whether they had nothing to say or were afraid of offending the comet. The same was true during the day when conversations mentioned the comet; saying “that star” was enough for everyone to know they were referring to it, and then silence would fall.

Ah Q recalled that those days were the most silent days in the history of Mozhuang. In that silent stillness, people looked up at the comet at night and thought about the comet during the day. In this terrifying silence, people were waiting for an event far greater than natural disasters or man-made calamities, such as the collapse of the heavens and the earth, or the sudden explosion of our world and the universe. But later, everything was normal, nothing happened, not even the slightest natural disaster or man-made calamity.

The oldest man in the village, everyone says, is well over a hundred years old and can’t remember his age anymore. If someone asks him his age, he says, “I’m so senile, why would I care about age?”

The villagers call him “Old Ancestor,” and everyone knows who he is when the name “Old Ancestor” is mentioned.

After this broom star incident, the illiterate ancestor finally said, “This is the Tao!”

The villagers all echoed, “This is the Way!”

Ah Q also chimed in, “This is the Way!”

Now Li Si is telling the young Qin Shi Huang to “take the king as the way,” but isn’t the current king just that Yi Ren Zi Chu who fled to Handan? And won’t he become this mischievous young Qin Shi Huang in the future?!

How absurd and laughable that we sit and rise with the jinx! This is what Ah Q thought.

When Qin Shi Huang was born in Handan, his father was twenty-two years old, living a life of constant hiding and fear, quite like someone at the end of his rope. The fact that Zichu and Zhao Ji had a son was truly a blessing from heaven, a consolation for their misfortunes. After becoming the eldest son and crown prince, Qin Shi Huang discovered that his father had many wives and concubines, and he himself had at least seven or eight younger brothers. Ah Q thought to himself, “This must be like the paradise in the mountains outside Handan where I played with wild children,” but later he learned that it was not at all.

Not long after Qin Shi Huang returned, one day, seven or eight of his younger brothers came to pay their respects to the crown prince. Because it was their first time, the young Qin Shi Huang was overjoyed and ran out to greet them as if flying. This is how Ah Q witnessed the astonishing scene:

Seven or eight boys, from oldest to youngest, lined up in a row from right to left. Before they even saw Qin Shi Huang, they all pounced on the ground, kowtowing and shouting: “So-and-so inquires about the Crown Prince’s well-being!”

“So-and-so” refers to each person’s name, and all Ah Q could hear was a jumble of shouts. Ah Q thought to himself, “How long must these innocent children have practiced and rehearsed to achieve such perfect uniformity!”

The first one on the right is Chengjiao, who is seven or eight years old, and the last one on the left is the youngest brother, who looks to be less than two years old. The way he crawled there and was learning to kowtow made Ah Q feel both amused and pitiful.

No sooner said than done, even Ah Q himself didn’t know how Qin Shi Huang suddenly appeared before them, helping each of his brothers to their feet. He first helped up the youngest brother, and then, with one hand on Cheng Jiao and the other holding the youngest brother, he said, “We are brothers, there’s no need for such formalities. We should play together like the children of the rural areas outside Handan, sharing the joys of brotherhood in ordinary families.”

With that, the young Qin Shi Huang punched Cheng Jiao, then burst into laughter and said to his group of younger brothers, “You run, I’ll chase you, let’s play hide-and-seek together!”

Under Qin Shi Huang’s constant urging, several of his younger brothers actually started running. The young Qin Shi Huang chased after them, making them laugh, and they laughed and chased after him in return. Everyone suddenly became lively.

Ah Q rediscovered himself amidst the boys’ merriment—the self of a carefree peasant from the remote village.

Whether it was genuine or just playful exaggeration, one of the younger brothers fell to the ground, and the young Qin Shi Huang followed suit, falling down beside him and catching his brother’s bottom with both hands. Amidst laughter, several younger brothers did the same, also falling on top of Qin Shi Huang. Now there was a whole group of children lying on the ground, probably finding it amusing, they all laughed and lay there, not getting up for a long time.

Unexpectedly, after Qin Shi Huang finally stood up, Cheng Jiao said in a serious tone, “We are an imperial family, how can we be as unruly as children from the outskirts of Handan? After you become king, aren’t you afraid that we will also rebel against you in an unruly manner?” The young Qin Shi Huang obviously did not expect his younger brother to raise such a question about rebellion. He hesitated for a moment, not knowing how to answer. At that moment, Ah Q, who was playing happily behind him, immediately snatched the young Qin Shi Huang’s mouth and said, “Then I will give you the throne.”

“How can you so easily hand over the Qin Dynasty to someone else? What if I don’t have your abilities and make a mess of the Qin Dynasty?”

“What’s wrong with a little mess? It’s the mess that makes it exciting and fun!”

Cheng Jiao was shocked and didn’t know what to say for a moment. After thinking for a while, he said, “There are farmers like those in the outskirts of Handan in the Great Qin Kingdom. If they ruin the country, they will starve to death.”

“Qin has more wasteland than Zhao. The farmers in Zhao say that there are wild vegetables and fruits everywhere, so no one will starve to death. Only when the authorities control the people too tightly, leaving them with no free time and completely disrupting their lives, will people starve to death.”

After listening, Cheng Jiao seemed to have a great understanding and said, “If I still had even a little bit of freedom, I wouldn’t rebel against you. Unless I, like those farmers in the suburbs of Handan, am too tightly controlled by the higher-ups!”

Qin Shi Huang and Ah Q were greatly puzzled upon hearing this. How could the princes of the Qin Kingdom be so restricted even in their own palace? Cheng Jiao finally stammered, “Haven’t you heard of the Chu family, the Han family, and the Zhao family? They’re all in the Qin palace, but their family backgrounds are different, which is why they act like fighting cocks when they meet.”

The young Qin Shi Huang finally realized his mistake and became himself, saying, “I will definitely give the throne to my brother who has no choice but to rebel, unless I also become someone else’s slave, or a slave to someone else’s invisible power.”

The news of the brothers’ antics in the palace quickly reached Empress Dowager Huayang, and then to several ministers, eventually alarming the entire dynasty. In the end, it was decided to take all possible measures to prevent such unruly behavior from being repeated in the palace.

This became the last time Ah Q experienced genuine youthful emotion, like the last beautiful picture before his eyes. After that, there was only endless textual and semantic conflict, and under the guidance of semantic conflict, there was no end to the endless swords and spears.

7. Great Barrier Effect Period

Later, Ah Q recalled his life as Qin Shi Huang, saying that there were two completely different stages of his life: the young Qin Shi Huang and the emperor Qin Shi Huang. The former reminded Ah Q of the sincerity and simplicity of his life in Mozhuang, while the emperor Qin Shi Huang was a completely different world to Ah Q. However, he still remembered it afterwards, but it was only a little unpleasant.

This roughly corresponds to the period when Qin Shi Huang was the crown prince and before he assumed personal rule as king, which is the transitional period between the two life stages mentioned above. During this time, Ah Q still followed Qin Shi Huang day and night, constantly in a daze, which led to many funny incidents.

During this period, as scientists say, early childhood only has immediate memory, not permanent memory; afterwards, it’s a blank. Ah Q said he had fallen into a chasm, a chasm between the natural life of Mozhuang and the life of Qin Shi Huang, the emperor. So today, Ah Q only has one sentence about this period: “I don’t understand, I don’t get it!” The only impressions left in Ah Q’s mind are confusion and endless annoyance. Whether Qin Shi Huang himself felt the same way is unknown.

Or, to put it another way, in the eyes of Ah Q, a man from the village, Qin Shi Huang lived a real life as a human being before he became crown prince. His life as crown prince and before he took control of the country was a mix of truth and falsehood, but his life after taking control of the country was full of deceit and power struggles. In the eyes of the simple-minded Ah Q, it could only be regarded as a royal drama on the stage of the village.

Only in the middle stage, where truth and falsehood intertwine, does Ah Q become confused, unsure whether the person, event, or moment is real or fake, or whether truth and falsehood are intertwined and complementary…

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8. The Qin King’s Internship Period (246-239 BC)

1) The Nine Tripods’ Resolute Decision

Zichu reigned as King of Qin for only three years before his death. Zhao Zheng became the new King of Qin, and Zhao Ji became the Empress Dowager. Because Zhao Zheng was young, the Qin state was ruled by Empress Dowager Zhao Ji and her uncle Lü Buwei.

During the formal morning court session, Zhao Zheng sat on the throne, with his mother, Zhao Ji, sitting to his right. To his left, in front of the throne, was a seat where his uncle, Lü Buwei, sat and gave orders to the court officials.

Ah Q had long known that Qin Shi Huang frequently contemplated what he would do after assuming personal rule and to realize his ambitions. Initially, the eleven-year-old Qin Shi Huang often offered his opinions, even arguing with the Empress Dowager and his uncle. Later, the Empress Dowager and Lü Buwei spoke to Qin Shi Huang two or three times after court, urging him to listen attentively and not to interrupt. After this, when Qin Shi Huang felt things were uninteresting, he often drifted off into daydreams.

As the soul of Qin Shi Huang, Ah Q is an observer; as a peasant from Mozhuang, he is also an observer, only the former is closer and the latter is farther away.

“Yes,” Ah Q thought resolutely, “I was born here to watch a play, or at most to act, not to actually do anything like Qin Shi Huang.”

So, Ah Q had his own interest; he wanted to use Qin Shi Huang’s eyes and ears to appreciate the grandeur and magnificence of this royal court. Ah Q realized that this Qin royal court was completely different from the imperial dramas performed on the stage of the outlaws. There weren’t just a few ministers standing respectfully below, but dozens, and when they kowtowed together, they formed a dense, dark mass. Ah Q hoped to hear them shout “Long live the Emperor!”, but they didn’t. Instead, they uttered phrases like “Greetings, Your Majesty,” and “Greetings, Empress Dowager,” which even Ah Q himself couldn’t quite understand—in short, words of flattery and submission. Thinking of this dark mass of people worshipping him, Ah Q felt an immense sense of pleasure, like swallowing an ice pop on a hot day—comfortable inside and out.

On one occasion, the day after the Empress Dowager’s birthday, when the court officials paid their respects at the morning court, they all said a few words together: “Long live the Empress Dowager! Long live the Empress Dowager! Long live the Empress Dowager!”

Although the story is about the Empress Dowager, Qin Shi Huang was sitting in the main seat. Moreover, the Empress Dowager was just someone who fed Ah Q with her own smooth breasts. At that moment, Ah Q imagined himself as the emperor on the stage of Mozhuang, receiving the kowtows and cheers of all the villagers below the stage.

Perhaps because Qin Shi Huang, like Ah Q, possessed the mindset of an observer, and because Qin Shi Huang was often lost in thought, Ah Q felt it was easier for him to interrupt and dictate what Qin Shi Huang wanted to say—something that would normally be very difficult. Ah Q once believed that Qin Shi Huang’s heart had become closer to his own, and that the two often thought the same thing; it was unclear whether it was Ah Q or Qin Shi Huang speaking.

Once, five states joined forces to attack Qin, and Qin was required to send troops to fight back. At that time, Qin also had five generals to receive orders. They stood in a row in front of the royal court. Qin Shi Huang, contrary to his usual behavior, became very interested and frequently interrupted to ask questions. Because his questions were somewhat irrelevant, the Empress Dowager turned around several times and told Qin Shi Huang not to interrupt.

As the court was adjourning and the five generals were about to leave, Ah Q suddenly wanted to go with them to witness the magnificent spectacle of the six states at war. This time, unlike before, Ah Q didn’t want to say anything, but no matter what, Qin Shi Huang wouldn’t open his mouth. This time, all that could be heard was Qin Shi Huang shouting loudly…

“Generals, come back! I have something to say!”

The five generals quickly turned back, kowtowed, and said, “We are guilty of leaving without permission and are willing to accept Your Majesty’s reprimand!”

All that could be heard was Qin Shi Huang and Ah Q shouting together, “I want to go with you to see how to fight a war.”

Only then did the Empress Dowager and Lü Buwei realize what was happening, and they quickly ordered the generals to adjourn the court, leaving the young Qin Shi Huang’s problems to them.

As the acting King of Qin, Qin Shi Huang already had many requests that were rejected, so he didn’t take this one more time to heart. Shortly afterward, five Qin generals led troops against a five-nation coalition, and after several months, the war became a stalemate with no clear victor. Lü Buwei, the regent, wanted to personally lead the army, but the Empress Dowager insisted on persuading him to change his mind, believing it to be dangerous. However, Lü Buwei was determined to go.

Afterwards, the Empress Dowager personally went to Qin Shi Huang’s residence to inform him of the matter and advised him not to request to go again. Qin Shi Huang found the Empress Dowager’s advice reasonable.

The Empress Dowager said: “Going to war is an extremely dangerous thing. To die on the battlefield is a loss for oneself, a loss for one’s family, and a loss for the Qin state. As a ruler of a country, very few die on the battlefield, because the custom in the world is that rulers usually do not go to war. Moreover, for a great country like Qin, losing its ruler is a major event.” Hearing this, Qin Shi Huang felt a sense of heaviness, as if he bore a responsibility. Ah Q, however, was quite unconvinced. He still viewed this matter as a theatrical performance on a small stage, finding it more dramatic and entertaining for a great ruler to die on the battlefield.

The Empress Dowager reassured him, saying that after the King of Qin came of age and assumed personal rule, he would have the opportunity to observe the battles. He could stand on the nearby mountaintop and watch the grand spectacle of the fighting, while the generals, standing in their chariots, would only see the battlefield right in front of them. This time, Ah Q, like Qin Shi Huang, took the Empress Dowager’s words to heart, feeling that there would be plenty of opportunities in the future and there was no need to rush now.

Unexpectedly, Lü Buwei devised a unique strategy. Upon arriving at the battlefield, he immediately led his troops to bypass the main route and attack the Zhou Dynasty. The five states were using the Zhou Dynasty’s name to punish Qin, and the Zhou Dynasty itself also sent troops to participate in the war. At that time, the Zhou Dynasty was, after all, the universally recognized sovereign state, albeit one lacking true authority. The Qin army could not defeat the allied forces of the five states, but easily destroyed the small Zhou Dynasty, capturing the Zhou king and taking the Nine Tripods, symbols of Zhou authority, back to Qin as spoils of victory. Seeing that the Zhou Dynasty no longer existed and having no hope of defeating Qin, the five states decided to use this as an excuse to withdraw their troops: Qin won without a fight.

Lü Buwei ordered the nine tripods to be placed in the Qin royal court for all to admire. The Empress Dowager and the court officials, especially the older ones, greatly praised this and were deeply impressed by Lü Buwei’s ingenious and successful plan. As the Empress Dowager spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

Like the young Qin Shi Huang, Ah Q, born into a peasant family, was quite dismissive of the crowd’s praise. They believed that the Nine Tripods were Nine Tripods because they were placed in the Zhou Dynasty court; once subordinates took them and placed them in their own courtyards, they became ordinary objects. Ah Q was willing to hum a few lines of the imperial line, “I will wield my steel whip and beat you,” precisely because the emperor was high above and unattainable. If one were to carry the emperor in one’s own pocket and sing such imperial lines, what would be the point?

This reminded Ah Q and Qin Shi Huang of when Zichu had just ascended the throne as King of Qin, with Lü Buwei as prime minister. The old ministers couldn’t help but gossip: they said one was a hostage forgotten for years beneath the walls of Handan, the other a merchant from the marketplace—petty men who had risen to power and broken the rules, thus frequently engaging in outrageous acts. This time, however, they all praised him, as if possessing the Nine Tripods had truly changed the face of Qin.

2) Does it hurt when someone’s head is cut off?

Some time later, after a long discussion in court, the minister in charge of the imperial household brought in a criminal for punishment. The criminal entered with his head bowed and knelt down to await his fate. When Ah Q and Qin Shi Huang realized that the criminal was someone they knew, they were astonished, their hearts seemingly released from their grip. The man was a servant within the royal court.

The Minister of the Interior recounted how this servant abused his power to easily steal valuables from the royal court, take them home, and then sell them for profit. The Empress Dowager and Lü Buwei didn’t listen carefully; when they heard “sentenced to death,” they both absentmindedly replied, “Granted!”

Qin Shi Huang felt uneasy upon hearing this. There had been many executions in court before, but all involved strangers. Like those court discussions, he considered them matters of the adult world, irrelevant to him. This time, however, was different. Hearing this, Ah Q thought of the murder scenes in the plays at the village theater, hoping it was just a performance. Ah Q also sensed a similar emotion in Qin Shi Huang: he remained silent, contemplating how the servant had been beheaded, his heart heavy. When the executioner returned, kowtowing and reporting, Ah Q, without knowing how, found himself using Qin Shi Huang’s voice to shout:

“Please call him back. I want to ask him: Does it hurt when your head is chopped off?”

A few suppressed laughs rippled through the court, followed by a long silence. Finally, the eldest minister, practically the clan head, Shang Jun, stepped forward, bowed deeply, and said:

“Your Majesty’s concern for his servants and his empathy for their suffering make us feel ashamed. I have instructed my servants to execute criminals as quickly as possible, so as to minimize unnecessary pain for them.”

Lü Buwei disagreed, saying, “Then why do we need to be torn apart by five horses or subjected to slow slicing to death? The punishments in our world are not too severe, but too lenient, insufficient to warn the people. If this official of the royal court had witnessed how thieves were executed by slow slicing before his death, he would not have dared to steal royal court property, and thus would not have been executed!”

Whether this was due to taking advantage of one’s seniority remains to be verified, but Shang Jun interjected sarcastically, “Then let’s change the punishment for theft to slow slicing!”

Lü Buwei said, “You are a senior minister of our Ying family, compassionate and respectable. If we sentence theft to death by slow slicing, how will we deal with the rebellion that is also punishable by slow slicing? Managing affairs of state in such a large country in such a chaotic era is not an easy task. I also have the compassion of a senior minister, but I have no other choice.”

The Empress Dowager said softly, “Using harsher punishments to achieve the goal of saving people out of compassion?!”

Ah Q, however, took the Empress Dowager’s self-talk as a sarcastic question. He thought to himself: “None of the thousands of people in Mozhuang have ever seen being executed by slow slicing, or even beheading. They don’t steal either. I, on the other hand, have seen a beheading once in the city, yet I have stolen.”

Qin Shi Huang took the Empress Dowager’s words as an affirmation. He learned much from the debates between Shang Jun and Lü Buwei, which boosted his confidence after he assumed power: using increasingly severe punishments to achieve his ever-expanding ambitions. “I am the world,” he thought, “I kill to save people; even if I kill everyone in the world, it’s to save future generations.” Thinking this, Qin Shi Huang became arrogant, as if he had suddenly become a great man, the commanding and dashing Qin Shi Huang the Great. He stood up and shouted:

“All ministers, obey my command!”

The Empress Dowager and her uncle Lü Buwei stared at Qin Shi Huang, momentarily at a loss for words. The court officials had already rushed forward, knelt down, and cried out in unison:

“Please give your orders, Your Majesty! We are willing to go through fire and water to carry out Your Majesty’s commands!”

Then Qin Shi Huang said, “I want that servant who was executed to come back. I want to ask him personally whether he resents me for not speaking up to save him before his execution?”

This time, there was no laughter in the court, only a long, unsettling silence. This prolonged silence aroused unease in the Empress Dowager and her regent, Lü Buwei. At Lü Buwei’s repeated prompting, the Empress Dowager stood up, walked over, and helped Qin Shi Huang to sit on the throne. Then she whispered:

“Zheng’er, don’t be stubborn. Once someone dies, they won’t come back. There’s nothing anyone can do about it.”

“Even harsher punishments won’t work? Even dismemberment by five horses won’t work?” Qin Shi Huang asked calmly.

Only then did the court realize that Qin Shi Huang was still questioning the effectiveness of increasing punishments. The Empress Dowager and Lü Buwei, the regent, said at the same time, “Increasing punishments will be useless; the dead cannot be brought back to life.”

At this moment, the old minister Shang Jun stepped forward again, bowed his head and replied, “Please forgive my bluntness. If Your Majesty does not rescind your decree, we ministers will have to endure Your Majesty’s ever-increasing punishments, just like later emperors who demanded that farmers produce 10,000 catties of grain per mu. We ministers will then have no choice but to put on a show to deceive Your Majesty.”

After a pause, Shang Jun added, “As long as everyone in the world faces the cruel torture of being slowly sliced ​​to death, the drama in the pool of blood can be acted out more realistically than the real thing. Your Majesty knows this.”

Only then did Ah Q finally realize what was happening, and together with Qin Shi Huang shouted, “Start immediately! I want to ask that servant if he harbors any resentment?”

No sooner said than done, a shout was heard from below the hall, and two soldiers supervising the execution had already brought the servant to be executed before the court. His clothes and physique were as before, and his face had not changed, at least from the distance and position between Qin Shi Huang and Ah Q: the servant who had been executed had returned, the only change being the wound on his neck and the blood that stained his shirt and part of his face.

The same method was used when murder was staged in the late village: the actor would spray red dye onto the neck of the person being beheaded. The difference was that in the late village, the person being beheaded had to fall down immediately, and the actor who was pretending to be dead could only stand up and return backstage during the curtain call.

Qin Shi Huang asked, “You served me without making any mistakes, yet you are being executed today. I did not save you. Do you resent me?”

The servant hurriedly replied, “Your Majesty’s kindness to his servants is beyond measure. My execution was for a crime I committed behind Your Majesty’s back, and it was a deserved punishment, unrelated to Your Majesty.”

Ah Q, like Qin Shi Huang, believed that the accent belonged to the messenger and asked together, “Does it hurt when your head is cut off? You must answer me truthfully, not with falsehoods.”

Probably not expecting anyone to ask him this question, the servant hesitated for a moment, touching the wound on his neck with his right hand, seemingly trying to recall the situation and feelings at the time, and then slowly said, “It didn’t hurt, not at all. At that point, a person would have been scared out of their wits long ago, so why would they care about pain? Besides, the executioner was incredibly strong; with one stroke, the head immediately fell to the ground. To be honest, even if I try hard to recall, I don’t know when I was scared out of my wits, whether it was before or after the blow?” The Empress Dowager, the regent Lü Buwei, the old minister Shang Jun, and everyone in the court all muttered to themselves, “There is nothing that cannot be done in this world, as long as the punishments are kept increasing.”

But behind this self-talk, different people had different feelings: Qin Shi Huang felt jubilant, Ah Q found it amusing, the Empress Dowager felt helpless, Lü Buwei felt terrified, as if a knife was about to fall on his own neck one day, while the servants and other lowly people felt that there was no light at the end of the world and they were at the mercy of others.

3) Cheng Jiao rebels

If the social pressure created by the threat of death by a thousand cuts or the death penalty can create miracles and confuse truth with falsehood, then Cheng Jiao’s rebellion would be a case of turning falsehood into truth, making it impossible to distinguish between the real and the fake.

When Qin Shi Huang’s father, Zichu, first met Lady Huayang, who was originally from the state of Chu, he deliberately wore clothing in the Chu style. During Zichu’s three years as king, Lady Huayang displayed great power, and many people associated with Chu were promoted. Three years later, the young Qin Shi Huang ascended the throne, and Lü Buwei was able to seize sole power in Qin. This drew the scorn of many senior officials from the Ying clan, who called him a petty man who had gained power. Perhaps because of this perceived petty man’s rise to power, Lü Buwei was not content with controlling the Qin court and wholeheartedly prepared for the unification of the world. Some senior officials with orthodox ideas regarded this idea as treason, while Chu, where Daoist thought was prevalent, maintained its traditions and thus controlled a vast area south of the Yangtze River. These two forces converged, and for a time, the debate intensified. In the end, it affected Lady Huayang, who regretted being deceived by Lü Buwei and falling for his tricks.

It was precisely because of the support and need for these discussions that a self-defeating rumor was able to spread: Qin Shi Huang, Zhao Zheng, was the illegitimate son of Zhao Ji and Lü Buwei.

If it’s difficult to discern children born from extramarital affairs today, then the rumor that Lü Buwei gave the pregnant Zhao Ji to Zichu as his wife forced him to fabricate the lie that Qin Shi Huang, Zhao Zheng, had been in his mother’s womb for over a year. Moreover, this rumor wasn’t raised when Qin Shi Huang, Zhao Zheng, was made crown prince and ascended the throne; its emergence just before his assumption of power clearly reveals its political necessity: once Zhao Zheng, the illegitimate son of Lü Buwei and Zhao Ji, assumes power, he will implement the ambitions instilled by Lü Buwei over a long period. If we don’t stand up to stop him now, when will we?

When Lady Huayang reprimanded her teenage son Chengjiao in her own residence based on this rumor, the young man felt deeply insulted and was momentarily overwhelmed with emotion. With Lady Huayang’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering and the support of many veteran officials, Chengjiao delivered a passionate speech in court, as if the blood of the young patriot of the Ying family was boiling within him, finally securing his position as general leading 80,000 elite troops to attack the Zhao state. Lady Huayang also specially arranged for her trusted confidant, Fan Yuqi, to serve as Chengjiao’s deputy general.

At less than twenty years old, Cheng Jiao became the commander of 80,000 elite Qin troops. On the day he officially left the capital for his campaign, amidst the banners and the sounds of drums and horns, soldiers lined up in Xianyang, and Qin Shi Huang stepped out of the palace to see Cheng Jiao off. Under the military banners, the imposing Cheng Jiao mounted his warhorse and commanded the three armies. Qin Shi Huang, standing below watching Cheng Jiao go, appeared small and humble in comparison.

Led by Shang Jun, the senior ministers of the various families stepped forward to cheer on Cheng Jiao, offering words of flattery about his youthful ambition and promising future. Qin Shi Huang loudly echoed their sentiments from the side.

Although Cheng Jiao initially made a name for himself by leading his troops to attack Zhao, the young Cheng Jiao lacked experience and, unexpectedly, the war turned out to be unpredictable, and he eventually suffered a complete defeat.

The Zhao state, led by the veteran general Li Mu, met the Qin army. Upon encountering the enemy, they would feign a battle before quickly retreating, deliberately allowing Cheng Jiao to steal the limelight. The young and ambitious Cheng Jiao pursued relentlessly, entering Zhao territory. He ultimately fell into Li Mu’s trap; Zhao soldiers were already lying in ambush on both sides, cutting off the Qin army and surrounding Cheng Jiao. However, they did not engage the Qin soldiers. When Cheng Jiao challenged them from his camp, the Zhao soldiers did not respond. When Cheng Jiao led his troops forward, they were fiercely attacked by the Zhao army. This went on for over half a month. Seemingly at a loss, they were too ashamed to return and unable to devise any way to continue the war—a truly awkward situation.

At this moment, rumors spread throughout the army, and a short message on a bamboo slip was shot by the Zhao army with an arrow, saying: “The current King of Qin is the illegitimate son of Lü Buwei. Why are you, Cheng Jiao, fighting for him? If you return to Xianyang and seize your throne, our Zhao state is willing to lend you a hand.”

Holding the bamboo slip that Zhao had shot at him, Fan Yuqi said to Cheng Jiao, “The current King of Qin is not a son of the late King; only you are the legitimate son.”

Cheng Jiao hesitated for a moment, unsure how to answer, his unspoken question being: Is the rumor that Qin Shi Huang was Lü Buwei’s illegitimate son reliable?

Fan Yuqi whispered a reminder: “Can something that even Lady Huayang believes be considered mere hearsay?”

Cheng Jiao then said, “Come with me to the army camp and see how the soldiers are behaving.”

The two men stepped out of the tent. Before Cheng Jiao could even speak, the officers and soldiers all knelt down in unison, forming a dense, dark mass. Even the soldiers standing further back, unaware of what was happening, followed suit. They all shouted in unison, “Long live our King! Long live the King! Long live the King!”

At this moment, the soldiers and officers following Cheng Jiao had already knelt down, and Fan Yuqi also knelt down beside him. Cheng Jiao quickly helped them up one by one, and was extremely excited: If we don’t raise an army now, when will we?

Thus, Cheng Jiao finally rebelled, no longer fighting against the Zhao state, but instead returning to Xianyang under the pretext of punishing the illegitimate son Zhao Zheng.

Qin Shi Huang and Lü Buwei seemed to have anticipated this and were not alarmed. They waited until Cheng Jiao’s army was getting closer and closer to Xianyang before sending troops to defeat the rebels.

Cheng Jiao led tens of thousands of troops to Xianyang, initially encountering no resistance. However, when Cheng Jiao’s army entered an area flanked by low hills, Lü Buwei had already laid an ambush. In the blink of an eye, as Cheng Jiao and his army were focused on reaching Xianyang, the hills were suddenly filled with the imperial banners and troops of Qin Shi Huang. It became unclear which hill truly belonged to Qin Shi Huang.

In an instant, arrows rained down from both sides of the mountain, and shouts shook the heavens: Those who defect and surrender will not be killed!

Most of the stray arrows that fell were bound with bamboo slips, on which were written:

Cheng Jiao, my brother, years ago you said to me in front of all the brothers, “If I had even a little bit of freedom, I wouldn’t have rebelled against you.” I, your elder brother, replied, “I would definitely give the throne to my brother who has no choice but to rebel.” Now you must have lost even a little bit of freedom, being coerced by the soldiers. I, your elder brother, have come to rescue you.

Upon seeing the bamboo slips, the officers and soldiers murmured among themselves, “If those two brothers have no freedom, then who does? We lowly people are the ones who have to constantly be subservient to others. Why should we risk our lives for their temporary squabble?” So the officers and soldiers laid down their weapons, raised their hands, and surrendered.

Fan Yuqi also saw a bamboo slip with the above words written on it. He suddenly felt that the handwriting was somewhat familiar, so he quickly took out the Zhao State bamboo slips that he had hidden on his body. Upon comparison, he found that the two were written by the same person.

Fan Yuqi then threw away the bamboo slips, looked up to the sky and roared, “We have all become his playthings in the battle of the winners.” He then led one army to retreat quickly and surrender to the State of Zhao, while he himself went to the State of Yan. Later, he offered his head to Jing Ke in his assassination attempt on the King of Qin.

At this moment, Cheng Jiao discovered that more than half of his men had been lost, and his deputy general, Fan Yuqi, was nowhere to be found. Young and impetuous, he found himself in a predicament and, without hesitation, climbed to a high place and raised his arms, shouting to his remaining troops:

“Brothers, at this point, only by fighting with all our might can we escape death. Brothers, as long as I, Chengjiao, am here, you brothers will be here too.”

At the end, Cheng Jiao burst into tears, then charged forward. Unfortunately, outnumbered, he was eventually captured by Qin Shi Huang’s army.

Standing atop a mountain, Qin Shi Huang saw a vast plain stretching before him, dotted with various armies. Although he had not yet formally assumed power, Lü Buwei had already discerned his inner urge to take on the task. Before this campaign, he had arranged with Qin Shi Huang to be the commander-in-chief, handling all matters independently, with Lü Buwei merely providing advice. While the ambush plan was Lü Buwei’s idea, the actual battle was directed by Qin Shi Huang.

Once Cheng Jiao and his men were all captured, Qin Shi Huang was able to display his talents and interests. He wanted to stand with his courtiers on the hilltop to watch hundreds of rebel officers being executed. The message behind it was: Before me, the Great Qin Emperor: This may be your fate.

From the mountaintop, Qin Shi Huang looked down as various armies marched in, not to fight, but to carry out executions and beheadings. Executioners, supervisors, and the condemned entered from different valleys, and their sheer number made it resemble a sizable battlefield.

Just as the execution was about to begin, three or five light cavalrymen galloped in from the direction of Xianyang: Lady Huayang had delivered an edict. After receiving it, Lü Buwei walked to Qin Shi Huang’s side and whispered, “Lady Huayang has decreed that she is willing to take responsibility for Cheng Jiao and asks the King of Qin not to execute his own brother.”

Lady Huayang’s words clearly acknowledged Qin Shi Huang’s direct lineage. Qin Shi Huang did not directly answer Lü Buwei, but instead summoned a military officer and loudly ordered:

“Cheng Jiao, taking advantage of the opportunity to lead troops to attack Zhao, gathered a crowd to rebel, and should have been executed. However, I still cherish the brotherly bond that Cheng Jiao has refused to acknowledge, and now Lady Huayang has issued an edict forbidding me from executing my own brother. Therefore, I will show leniency and grant Cheng Jiao the opportunity to hang himself with his body intact. All soldiers who participated in the rebellion will be sent back to their hometowns to farm and will never be allowed to join the army again. All military officers who participated in the rebellion, regardless of rank, will be beheaded.”

For the first time in his life, Ah Q witnessed so many people being beheaded, followed by countless headless corpses strewn about, creating an eternal scene of carnage in his mind, deeply etched into his memory. Lü Buwei, however, felt a pang of sorrow at Cheng Jiao’s death, realizing he wasn’t the brother Qin Shi Huang had grown up with. Lü Buwei began to feel the tragedy of totalitarianism and the leniency of traditional aristocratic politics. Later, he leaned towards the Daoist philosophy of non-interference. Cheng Jiao was forced to hang himself. As far as Ah Q knew, Qin Shi Huang had heard rumors of his illegitimate birth before Cheng Jiao’s expedition, and upon first hearing them, he was indeed wounded by the rumors and berated the emperor. The series of events that followed left Ah Q completely bewildered, as if he had fallen into a fog. What others found utterly incomprehensible, Ah Q found so perplexing that he couldn’t even begin to think about it, and thus, he was neither able to think nor understand it.

Hearing such insulting rumors that even Ah Q would find deceitful, Qin Shi Huang did not try to refute them. Instead, he sent his younger brother, who was even younger than himself, to lead the army into battle, while his own requests to accompany the troops in previous years had been refused. Later, he turned the tables on his own brother, causing a bloodbath, and then executed his young, deceived brother and many military officers.

All of this was for a self-defeating rumor, a rumor that no one in the village believed or even bothered to believe. Ah Q finally understood that the emperors and generals he had imagined for so many years were nothing more than a play performed on the village stage, possessing only aesthetic entertainment value. The real emperors and generals, and their world, were a strange world that Ah Q could never understand, a cruel world of rivers of blood and corpses strewn everywhere.

What puzzled Ah Q even more was that Qin Shi Huang then specially treated Lady Huayang with great respect, promoted the old ministers in her clan, forced Lü Buwei to retire and go home, and took the opportunity to rule in his own right.

From then on, Ah Q understood that he and the Qin Shi Huang before him were not of the same mind and had completely opposite souls; after all, he was just an ordinary farmer from the countryside.

Some scholars argue that the class divisions and struggles in European society turned most people into slaves of slave owners; while Chinese society lacked class divisions, the people were still slaves of autocratic monarchs. How easy is it for an emperor to turn hundreds of millions of peasants into slaves? It would either be like the peaceful reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, or like the Qin and Han emperors, using the threat of mass killings to drive out the peasants, causing unprecedented disaster.

* * *

Historical records state: The Records of the Grand Historian, Annals of Qin Shi Huang, states: “In the eighth year of Qin Shi Huang’s reign, Qin Shi Huang’s younger brother, General Chang’an Jun Chengjiao, led troops to attack the State of Zhao. He rebelled midway and died in Tunliu. All his officers were executed, and the people of General Chang’an Jun Chengjiao’s fiefdom were relocated to Lintao.” (Original text: In the eighth year, the king’s younger brother, General Chang’an Jun Chengjiao, attacked Zhao, rebelled, died in Tunliu, all his officers were executed, and his people were relocated to Lintao.)