The news of the events in Huayang Palace spread like wildfire throughout Qin Kingdom Xianyang. Under the bright sunlight, the streets were abuzz with a mix of awe and disbelief. A young linen-clad vendor leaned toward a diner, his voice a hushed whisper. "Have you heard? This morning, a Heavenly God was born to Ying Zichu, a concubine of the royal family!"
Lu Buwei, chewing on a flatbread, listened with a strange look in his eyes. As Ying Zichu's primary political and financial backer, he was well aware of Concubine Han Ni's pregnancy. He had expected to hear news of the birth, but not this. A Heavenly God? He marveled at Ying Zichu's audacity. This was a political masterstroke, a move to elevate his status in the eyes of the Qin King. If the King truly believed this, Ying Zichu's importance would soar.
However, a knot of worry tightened in Lu Buwei's stomach. What if the Qin King decided to test this "Heavenly God" child? The facade would surely crumble, and if it did, Ying Zichu would face severe punishment. This was an incredibly risky gamble, and Lu Buwei decided he needed to visit Ying Zichu immediately to discuss how to manage the situation and prevent exposure.
Feigning curiosity, he turned to the vendor. "A Heavenly God? That must be a rumor, right?" The two burly guards behind him nodded, their expressions mirroring his skepticism.
Another diner chimed in. "What rumor? What do you know? I heard the Heavenly God child could walk and speak the moment he was born!"
Lu Buwei almost choked on his flatbread. His guards' eyes widened in disbelief. "What nonsense are you talking about?" one of them, a man named Ma Shanhua, scoffed. "How can a baby walk and speak as soon as he's born?"
Their disbelief was met with a chorus of refutations from the surrounding crowd. "What's so special about that? I heard the Young Master was born with knowledge!" a passerby exclaimed. "He took seven steps, pointed one hand to the sky and the other to the ground, and declared, 'Above the heavens and below the heavens, only I am supreme!'"
The guards were dumbfounded. "If that were true, wouldn't he be a true Heavenly God? How could such a miracle exist?" They knew Ying Zichu personally, and the idea of his child being a divine being seemed ludicrous. Lu Buwei's wry smile deepened. Ying Zichu had gone too far. How would they ever explain this? The situation was spiraling out of control, and he knew he had to act fast.
A Stirring in the East
While the people of Qin debated the divine nature of the newborn prince, the rumors spread far beyond the borders of Xianyang. They reached the ears of the powerful kings of the other Warring States—Qi, Chu, Zhao, Wei, Han, and Yan. Most of them scoffed at the reports.
Inside the Wei Kingdom Palace, the King of Wei roared with laughter. "The Qin royal family is truly ridiculous! A natural auspicious phenomenon? A mere child is a Saint, or a Heavenly God?" He and his ministers shared a hearty laugh, believing Qin had stooped to the level of petty deception. They saw it as a desperate ploy for legitimacy, a sign of their weakness. Little did they know that the ripple effect of this "rumor" was already reaching far beyond their comprehension.
The Buddha's Reincarnation
Far from the Central Plains, a caravan of foreign merchants arrived, their journey from Shindu, a region in what is now India, marked by a rich Buddhist tradition. When they heard the tales of the Qin prince's birth, they were filled with shock. A man named Kumar, in his thirties, murmured to his companions, "Born with knowledge, able to walk and speak as soon as he lands, taking seven steps, pointing one hand to the sky and the other to the ground..." His eyes widened in disbelief. "Isn't this the auspicious phenomenon of the Saint, Shakyamuni?"
His companions were equally astonished. As merchants from the cradle of Buddhism, they were all familiar with the story of the Buddha, the enlightened one who, according to scripture, performed these very miracles upon his birth. The Buddha had entered nirvana over two hundred years ago, and yet here, in a distant land, was a story of a birth that perfectly mirrored his. A wild, incredible idea took root in their minds. "Is it possible... that this Qin royal is the Reincarnation of Shakyamuni?"
The conjecture sent a jolt of spiritual fervor through them. The Buddhist faith had not yet been introduced to the Central Plains, and the stories of the Buddha should have been unknown. Could this be a sign? A sign that the Buddha had been reborn in this distant land? Kumar was overcome with emotion. "This must be reported back to India!" he declared. His fellow merchants nodded in fervent agreement.
They quickly finished their business, purchasing goods for their return journey. They had a new, more important purpose now: to rush back to their homeland and inform the faithful that a new era had dawned in the East. They believed that when their people arrived and verified the story, the world would be forever changed.
A Divine Predicament
While the world outside was consumed by these spiraling rumors, inside Huayang Palace, Zane was in a state of utter bewilderment. He was wrapped in a luxurious swaddling cloth, sitting on a cushion, a helpless expression on his face. Before him lay a bizarre assortment of items: exquisite jade artifacts, five grains, fragrant wine, and a pottery incense burner. His parents, Ying Zichu and Han Ni, were on their knees, worshiping and offering sacrifices to him.
"No, does it have to be this exaggerated?" he muttered to himself. He had only intended to create a small auspicious event, a moment of divine strangeness to secure his position. Instead, he had set off a chain reaction that had transformed him from a political pawn into a living deity. The incense smoke filled the air, thick with the scent of sacrifice, and the worshipful gazes of his parents bore down on him. What had he done? He had meant to secure his future, but instead, he had become a god, a figure of worship trapped in a bizarre new reality. He had escaped one trap only to find himself in a far more complicated one. The weight of an entire nation's, and now the world's, spiritual expectations rested on his tiny shoulders.