Kingdom

Shin and Hyou are two slaves who have grown as sword training buddies and pseudo brothers with a common dream of growing up to be great generals.

Xin discovers Ying Zheng, the young King of Qin, who's fleeing his half-brother's uprising. Piao's killer arrives to murder Ying Zheng. Xin, who's learned that Piao died serving as Zheng's stand-in, must decide which to help and which to kill.

Xin and Zheng entrust their escape to young Diao, who knows a secret way out of Heibei Village. Xin still blames Zheng for Piao's death, and even as this simmering conflict boils over, a new and deadly pursuer takes up the chase.

Fleeing pursuit, Zheng and Xin struggle with exhaustion and with each other. When they reach the appointed meeting site, there's no sign of Zheng's sole supporter, Lord Changwen . . . and the murderous tracker Mu Ta is hot on their trail.

Xin, who's vowed in the name of his own ambitions to help the King, must singlehandedly face the treacherous assassin Mu Ta. Meanwhile, General Wang Yi brings a piece of tribute to the Court that seems to spell the end for all young King Zheng's hopes.

Xin hears a tale of Piao's heroism during Wang Yi's ambush, but he also learns that King Zheng has even fewer allies than he'd been told. With little time left to forestall a civil war, Zheng decides on a dangerous path, to seek out unlikely allies.

Xin sets out into the western mountains with Zheng and his handful of soldiers, seeking the aid of the mountain king. The mountain folk, though, have little liking for flatlanders, and when he meets them, King Zheng is forced to make a perilous choice.

In the stronghold of the mountain folk, Zheng treats with their king, who seems determined to kill the young King of Qin in retribution for longstanding grudges. And the arrival of Xin and his companions pushes this confrontation to its crisis.

Zheng and Xin return to where Lord Changwen waits. They make ready to ride to the capital, but they'll need remarkable strategy to overcome the terrible odds. Meanwhile, in the capital, Jie Shi has raised a vast army to face the formidable Lu Buwei.

Zheng, Xin, and their companions arrive at the gates of Xianyang, capital of the Qin Kingdom, with a force far too small to assault such a great fortress. A stratagem may get them inside the walls, but they won't reach the Royal Court without a fight.