In the golden years of the Qin Dynasty, that is, in China in the third century B.C., a man of great ambition who unified the six kingdoms and commanded the world stepped onto the stage of history - he was Yingzheng, later known as the first emperor Qin Shi Huang.
The story begins in 259 BC, when a secret spread in a remote corner of the mansion of Chun Shenjun of Chu. Ying Zheng's biological mother, Zhao Ji, has a country-like appearance like Xi Shi, and is a favorite concubine of Chun Shenjun.
However, in Zhao Ji's heart, there is an unknown secret hidden in the deepest part - what she loves most is not the son of her defeated country Chu State, nor the merchant Lü Buwei who sucked her into the Qin State and gave her the status of the crown prince's mother, but the ambitious child she bred: "Ying Zheng".
This love is not just a primitive mother's love, but a mixture of longing for power and the hope that her son can transcend the times.
In the dim regime of the Qin State, Zhao Ji has always walked on thin ice, and she knows that if she is not careful, the fate of her and her son may be crushed by the giant wheel of the times. Therefore, she did her best to overcome obstacles for Yingzheng and established an insurmountable power base.
As time passed, Ying Zheng gradually grew up, not only resembling his mother in appearance, but also showing political talent and strategic vision to give people a glimpse of a king who could reach the pinnacle of power in the future.
Zhao Ji watched her son grow up day by day, and she knew that she had entered the Qin State, not only to save her life, but also to have a kind of revenge and struggle, in order to let her son reproduce the glory of the former Chu State in the world and reach a higher glory.
So, in that turbulent era of men and women marrying and wars, Zhao Ji actively intervened in political affairs, and secretly inspired his own ideas and wisdom in the Yuyu Mansion.
She had already foreseen that only Yingzheng could turn the tide and mediate the power of all sides, and she supported him to rise step by step behind her back.
In 238 BC, Qin Xiaogong died and was succeeded by the young Yingzheng. Although Lü Buwei temporarily assisted the national government, Zhao Ji's manipulation of Yingzheng had already begun.
She set up an ingenious chess game for her son in the depths of the temple to confront the powerful ministers, quell the rebellion, and gradually build the foundation of the empire through her strategy and influence.
Ying Zheng slowly realized that it was not those political allies or the rich Lü Buwei who silently supported him behind him, but his mother, the far-sighted and resolute woman.
The noble love of motherhood has long since translated into the ambition to build an empire. Every decision, every victory, has the participation and support of Zhao Ji's wisdom.
The depth of Zhao Ji's love finally paid off in 221 BC. Ying Zheng's success in bringing the Six Kingdoms under his command marked the birth of the Qin Empire, the first unified and powerful empire in Chinese history.
At that moment, Zhao Ji's dream finally came true in the most majestic form, and she finally achieved results after years of waiting and hard planning.
However, the rest of the light did not reach the heart, and Zhao Ji's life also ended at the peak of his son's power. In the final days, she quietly looked at Yingzheng who was as dazzling as a comet, with both pride and infinite sadness in her heart.
She knows that what she really loves is this man with endless ambition, who not only conquered the world with his wisdom, but also relied on his will and ability to cast the son of the first emperor through the ages - Ying Zheng.
Zhao Ji died, Ying Zheng lost his strong pillar, and the dynasty faced various upheavals soon after.
But the story of the empire inscribed in Chinese history, shaped by the love of a mother, and its founder, Qin Shi Huang Yingzheng, has become a good story for the ages.