As soon as he heard this sentence from Li Xi, the boy on the ground immediately widened his eyes and retorted: “What do you mean by stealing a panda? Beautiful sister, you cannot slander someone’s innocence out of thin air like this.”
“Out of thin air?” Li Xi repeated his two words carefully, glancing sideways at the tiny one he held high, and asked in return: “Both witness and evidence are present; how can you call it out of thin air?”
Feeling that the two people in front of him seemed to have no pure killing intent toward him for the moment, the boy drew out a hand and pressed Cheng Qiao’s finger down on his branch, then leapt up, rising from sitting on the ground to standing, eyes fixed on the beautiful girl who had just come from the other side, seriously reasoning with Li Xi: “So-called stealing is taking someone else’s belongings without informing them, but the little fellow I came to find has no owner; it is ‘ownerless property.’ How can it be called stealing?”
Hearing this, Cheng Qiao, whose branch had just been pushed down, inexplicably felt that the boy’s words had some merit, so he looked at Li Xi.
Li Xi, however, merely smiled calmly, not following the rhythm the boy was setting, and said lightly: “The little one in your arms is Qin’s property, and you are from Chu. Do you still claim this is not stealing?”
“Moreover,” she said, pausing briefly, scanning the boy from head to toe with her gaze, her tone slightly cool, which in the boy’s ears turned into a chilling sensation: “If I am not mistaken, you… do not have a pass, right? Sneaking across the border, and at this special time when Zhao, Wei, Chu, Han, and Yan are allied to attack Qin—you are certainly bold.”
Hearing this sentence from Li Xi, Cheng Qiao’s eyes immediately became unfriendly again, his gaze full of danger as he looked at the boy who claimed to have come to Qin just to steal a panda.
Feeling Cheng Qiao’s murderous gaze, the boy immediately knelt properly, lowering his head very low, and spoke with strong survival instinct: “Beautiful sister, please examine carefully! I am just an ordinary commoner of Chu; those noble masters’ war matters are beyond my control. I, I, I come from a good family register, not some legendary noble household’s trained assassin, spy, or death soldier!”
Throughout his earnest insistence that he was merely a commoner, every word revealed his fear of death. But what puzzled him was that after he finished speaking, Cheng Qiao’s already dangerous gaze pinned on him became even more fierce, which made the boy anxious.
Cheng Qiao’s anger naturally stemmed from the fact that this boy of roughly his age, while pleading, focused all attention on Li Xi, entirely ignoring him, treating him merely as Li Xi’s follower.
…Although in a certain sense, that was indeed the situation—being thrown to Li Xi as a follower was personally designated by his elder brother.
Even so, Cheng Qiao couldn’t help feeling that the boy’s eyes were unpleasant, showing none of his noble demeanor!
Thinking this, Cheng Qiao’s gaze toward the boy kneeling with the tiny panda became even fiercer. Under such a pressuring stare, the boy secretly lifted his head, glancing at Li Xi—the person he considered dominant and whose words carried weight. To his disappointment, he saw nothing. Li Xi’s expression remained unchanged.
After a while, he finally heard Li Xi speak to him: “Then, tell me, why did you cross two countries to steal a panda? But I advise you to answer carefully, because—” her beautiful peach blossom eyes swept over the panda cub he held, and her final words fell slowly, “only if your answer is satisfactory can you keep your life.”
Hearing this sentence, which felt like a great pardon, the boy immediately lifted his head and looked at Li Xi, explaining obediently for the sake of his life: “Beautiful sister, I came all the way to Qin because of a dream…” Under Li Xi’s gaze, he silently corrected himself, reorganizing his words: “I sneaked into Qin. I dreamed of a large group of these little fellows,” he said, holding up the small black-and-white bundle in his hands, then continued: “In the dream, they were clever, perceptive, intelligent, and particularly good at work, even better at farming than me.”
“After waking, I thought: if I could have one such little fellow to help me work, wouldn’t I then be justified in shutting the mouths of those who call me lazy? Seriously,” he said, and couldn’t help complaining, “those people only know how to speak without effort. I haven’t eaten their grain, so why do they always make trouble for me and criticize my behavior…”
The boy muttered his grievances about terrible neighbors. Halfway through, he suddenly remembered his real-world predicament, so he quickly hushed himself, scratching his head cautiously, looking at Li Xi: “That’s basically the situation…” He smiled pleadingly, “I wanted to bring back a little fellow capable of work to help me, so I came to Qin to find the little fellows from my dream. Does this answer satisfy you, sister?”
Li Xi: “…”
Hearing such a lazy statement, Li Xi was momentarily silent.
She did not think being lazy was bad—after all, who wouldn’t want to be a salted fish if possible? But still…
Cheng Qiao was stunned by the seemingly frivolous reason this Chu boy came all the way to Qin: “So lazy and indulgent, you don’t work, have no income—how do you support yourself?”
Actually, disliking work was not particularly extraordinary; among most people Cheng Qiao knew, few worked. But the difference was that those he knew were mostly noble heirs, born wealthy, destined for a lifetime of affluence. The boy in front of him… judging by his clothing, his family seemed poor.
Thus, seeing a poor boy who did not work to support himself shocked Cheng Qiao.
Hearing this, the Chu boy widened his eyes even more in disbelief: “I won’t starve, so why work hard? Who is naturally fond of working in this world? Isn’t it all for survival? But I am not facing survival danger now, so why tire myself out?”
…This attitude of non-productivity, dislike of labor, and sticking to his own ways reminded her slightly of someone. It felt extremely similar.
Moreover, a little thought suggested the boy’s age matched that person. Everything perfectly aligned, except… in this timeline, he really shouldn’t be in Qin.
So… could he really be that person?
Thinking this, Li Xi’s gaze fell on the boy debating with Cheng Qiao, and she suddenly asked: “Your name?”
The boy immediately replied: “Liu Ji! My name is Liu Ji!”
Ah, indeed.
Hearing this, she vaguely sensed this was the real person. Li Xi did not feel anything strange. But the system reacted differently. Upon hearing the boy say his name, it first said in Li Xi’s mind: “This name feels a little familiar,” then in the next moment screamed internally:
[!! Oh my! Host, host, host! He is Liu Bang!!!]
The system belatedly realized that Liu Ji was exactly the former name of Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the later Han Dynasty, and began panicking.
Li Xi rolled her eyes in silence in her mind, telling it to calm down. Then she stepped forward, took the panda cub from Liu Ji, and skillfully tossed the little fellow into Cheng Qiao’s arms, saying to Liu Ji: “Come with us.”
Although young, Liu Ji was perceptive, reading people well. Seeing Li Xi do this, he obediently said: “I’ll follow whatever beautiful sister says.”
Hearing him call her “beautiful sister,” Li Xi glanced at Cheng Qiao, who had just received a panda, thinking: same age, how could the art of speaking differ so much?
“But,” Liu Ji then looked at Li Xi, then at the small panda in Cheng Qiao’s arms, cautiously probing: “Sister, this little fellow…”
Seeing Liu Ji’s obedient grin, Li Xi gently smiled, then in a warm tone shattered his final hope with just two words: “Confiscated.”
Li Xi thought, it would be better to take this little fellow back to Xianyang as a gift for Ying Zheng. Previously, Cheng Qiao had pursued a pure white fox, not to make a fur coat but to give the rare white fox alive to Ying Zheng. Rare things always have gift value.
As for this hunting trip, by chance encountering Liu Bang—or rather, at this time, just a boy named Liu Ji—Li Xi decided not to let him go, planning to take him back to Liyang for a while, training him to be capable, then send him to work for Ying Zheng.
After all, history shows Liu Bang, putting aside his personal flaws, was an unquestionably competent ruler: resourceful, capable, outstanding in administration. Qin needed capable ministers like him—especially civil officials. Historical balance of military and civil talent in Qin was uneven, partly because Ying Zheng’s generation unified the country, leading to more generals.
So letting Liu Ji, not yet Liu Bang, work for Ying Zheng, was not a hardship. Moreover, even the future Liu Bang would naturally be loyal to Ying Zheng.
Li Xi arranged Liu Ji clearly and properly. Just as she prepared to leave with Cheng Qiao and the two “spoils,” Liu Ji timidly raised his hand: “Um, beautiful sister, I have another friend in this forest. I got separated from him. Can we…?”
Before Li Xi could reply, Cheng Qiao glared and warned: “Do you realize you are our captive?”
A captive causing trouble? Believe it or not, he’d be cut down.
Seeing Cheng Qiao’s glare, Liu Ji’s hand trembled slightly, then he casually moved a bit closer to Li Xi—he sensed this sister could control someone like Cheng Qiao, who had a temper.
Li Xi, unlike Cheng Qiao, did not lose patience. After hearing Liu Ji, she didn’t refuse immediately but asked first: “What’s your friend’s name?”
She intended just to ask a question as a formality, then return; finding the friend would be up to the guards.
Hearing this, Liu Ji chuckled and replied: “Xiao He. My friend’s name is Xiao He.”
Hearing the unexpected name, Li Xi glanced at Liu Ji. She had expected him to say Lu Wan, his childhood friend, but it turned out to be Xiao He.
If Liu Ji got separated from Xiao He, she had to adjust her plan for the guards to find him. After all, achievements differ by person; although both were contributors from Han, Xiao He was not on the same level as Lu Wan. She wanted to focus on Liu Bang and the Three Heroes of Early Han.
Furthermore, Lu Wan had been a traitor, so she didn’t want to force such a person to work for Ying Zheng—better to be selective.
Li Xi casually asked: “Your Xiao He, is he your age?”
Liu Ji immediately nodded: “Yes! Beautiful sister, both Xiao He and I are thirteen. Look, at such a young age, we dared to sneak into Qin from Chu. Isn’t that brave, showing talent?”
Liu Ji was not stupid. He sensed Li Xi and Cheng Qiao were of high status; from their clothing and demeanor, he knew they were probably noble children. Seeing a pure Chu boy in Qin at this time angered him.
He realized the two in front of him were at least descendants of high Qin officials, maybe major nobles. Nobles often had retainers. If he got in their favor, he could become a retainer and elevate his family status, no longer needing to do farm work.
Although he had already revealed his laziness, few retainers needed to do hard work.
Moreover, he considered himself excellent—at least compared to the two thieves in Meng Changjun’s retainers, he felt superior.
Hearing this, Li Xi lightly smiled and said: “So-so.”
Upon hearing this, the boy’s eyes lit up. Li Xi then said: “Alright, anything else can wait until we find your friend.”
This meant she intended to keep Liu Ji and Xiao He as retainers. Liu Ji was elated, thinking nobles could casually take in two people, even without prior acquaintance—he and Xiao He had struck gold.
Liu Ji led the way to where he and Xiao He got separated, already imagining future success.
They eventually found Xiao He under a tree. Compared to Liu Bang, Xiao He looked smaller, slender, and refined, but Cheng Qiao slapped Liu Ji on the head: “You fool! Didn’t I tell you not to run around with wild beasts in the mountains?”
Liu Ji didn’t mind being hit, cheerfully saying: “No harm done, come, let me introduce him—” pulling Xiao He toward Li Xi and Cheng Qiao: “Beautiful sister, this is my friend, Xiao He, look…?”
“Mm,” Li Xi softly replied: “Seems fine.”
Then she turned lazily: “Since we’ve found him, let’s head out.”
On the way back, positions shifted. Previously, Li Xi and Cheng Qiao were behind Liu Ji, now they were in front; Liu Ji held Xiao He behind them.
Li Xi, trained in martial arts, had good hearing, picking up the boys’ whispered conversation. Xiao He asked Liu Bang: “What happened? Weren’t you chasing the panda?”
Liu Ji explained: “I was chasing the panda and ran into the two young masters and the lady… I’ve already latched onto the big leg, now just follow me to luxury and comfort.”
Although Liu Ji and Xiao He spoke softly, Cheng Qiao didn’t notice, showing only Li Xi’s super hearing caught it, but she ignored it, pretending not to hear the “rich sister” remark.
After all, rich sisters don’t give away their benefits for free—they require work.
The system, hearing their conversation, asked: [Host, do you really want to use Liu Bang? He becomes the future founding emperor of Han…]
Li Xi thought: “Exactly because he’s the future Han Emperor, I know his potential, so I will use him. If it were a common lackey, why pamper him?”
[But wouldn’t this nurture a future threat? What if Liu Bang later rebels against Qin?] asked the system.
Li Xi replied: “Although future peasant uprisings occur in waves, while Zheng lives, no one dares rebel. Zheng is the supreme ruler; even if I create a lethal trap, Ying Zheng can handle it.”
Because he was the First Emperor of Qin, unparalleled in history.
Returning to Cheng Qiao’s residence, Li Xi casually summoned two servants to prepare rooms for Liu Ji and Xiao He, saying: “I’m here for autumn hunting, so you two stay here temporarily; later we’ll return to Liyang together.”
“W-wait—” Hearing Liyang, Liu Ji froze briefly, then asked: “Return to Liyang… sister, you mean…”
“I am Li Xi,” she said calmly, unknowingly dropping a thunderbolt into the boys’ hearts.
Li Xi didn’t realize how renowned her name was; she only knew her national status was high, not paying attention to external gossip about “Goddess Arrives in Qin.”
Hearing her name, Liu Ji stammered: “The boy we met earlier?”
“He is the Qin king’s son, now the king’s brother, Cheng Qiao.”
After speaking, Li Xi left, leaving them space.
After she left, Liu Ji’s chest pounded. He had thought Li Xi and Cheng Qiao were high-ranking nobles, but now realized he underestimated them—they were the prince of Qin and the goddess of the palace.
Excited, Liu Ji turned to Xiao He: “We hit the jackpot, Xiao He!”
Xiao He, retaining some reason, said: “But don’t you think it’s odd for two ordinary people to be noticed by Qin’s goddess?”
“What ordinary or odd? Don’t be pessimistic,” Liu Ji snapped, stepping on a stone, hands on hips, proudly: “Being recognized by Qin’s goddess proves we are capable! If not now, later we will be!”
He then pulled his leg back, tugged Xiao He’s face: “Why the frown? This is a huge opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime event, understand?” gesturing: “Besides, why worry? They are Qin’s goddess and prince; we are poor farmers from Chu. What can they want from us?”
“That’s true…”
“Then stop worrying.” Liu Ji spread his hands, rogue-like: “Since I’ve grabbed the legs of Qin’s goddess and prince, no one will take it from me. Whoever tries, I’ll fight!”
Not far away, Li Xi saw a familiar figure. The person looked at her briefly, then shyly turned away.
Li Xi shook her head. She had caught Liu Bang and Xiao He, her “big fish,” so she didn’t bother dealing with the figure’s shyness. She approached Cheng Qiao: “Were you waiting for me?”
The boy walked alongside her without replying.
After a while, Cheng Qiao looked at Li Xi awkwardly: “You seem… to treat those two specially.”
He spoke in certainty.
No one could understand Li Xi’s temper better than him—she seemed gentle but could be deadly when appearing soft.
Li Xi didn’t refute, quietly saying: “Those two boys have extremely high potential for an extraordinary future.”
She could only say this; history now differed in many ways. She couldn’t be certain of Liu Ji’s and Xiao He’s exact paths, but she knew the people were the same, their talents the same—how they are molded depends on the master.
“Extraordinary future?” Cheng Qiao mused, then asked a soul question: “Compared to me, how extraordinary?”
“….” This made Li Xi silent. She thought: according to history, he and Liu Ji were worlds apart. Liu Ji was a cloud in the sky, founding emperor, one of the Three Heroes of Early Han. Cheng Qiao was mud on the ground, only recorded in “Cheng Qiao’s Rebellion” as cannon fodder for Ying Zheng.
Li Xi, having no angel persona, always appeared as a devil in Cheng Qiao’s eyes. She coldly said three words: “No contest.”
Cheng Qiao jumped, glaring: “You demoness! Can’t you say something nice?”
Li Xi calmly replied: “I can deceive you, but you cannot deceive yourself.”
Cheng Qiao: “…”
Cheng Qiao muttered: “You Chu people are all annoying.”
“Huh?” This made Li Xi pause—he was also from Chu?
For a moment, Li Xi was stunned. Although theoretically she knew her brother Li Si was not Qin, living in Qin made her consider herself Qin.
Cheng Qiao, shocked, asked: “You don’t even remember your birthplace?”
Li Xi felt slightly guilty toward Li Si but not conflicting with her self-righteous attitude toward Cheng Qiao.
Cheng Qiao reasoned: “I was confused before, like a child. Now I’m in Qin; forgetting briefly is reasonable, right?”
A fair explanation