秦汉英雄传

After the Qin dynasty unified China, Zhang Liang, a descendant of a prominent Han family that had served the state of Han for three generations, plotted an assassination attempt against the First Emperor of Qin to avenge his fallen homeland. However, their conspiracy was detected by the imperial court's judicial authorities. While Zhang Liang was on his way to Xingyang to report the plan to the Han royal descendant and the surviving elders of Han, they were ambushed by the court's hidden sentinels. Yet, Zhang Liang narrowly escaped. The reason was that the Han royal descendant, who had always taken King Goujian of Yue—known for enduring hardship to seek vengeance—as his role model, required each attendee to swallow a snake's gallbladder as a pledge to restore the Han state. The frail Zhang Liang, after consuming the cold-natured gallbladder, immediately felt discomfort in his stomach. While he was in the restroom, the court's sentinels stormed in, and he managed to evade the attack by hiding there. After achieving fame and success, Zhang Liang went to Huangshi Ridge to pay respects to his mentor, Huangshi Gong. There, he unexpectedly encountered Ximen Yan, who had once fought alongside him through life and death. Ximen Yan had fled when the Han royal descendant, after being enfeoffed as the King of Han by Xiang Yu, intended to make her his princess. The two lovers seemed to have much to say but did not know where to begin. They gazed at each other in silence for a long while before Ximen Yan smiled faintly and drifted away, leaving Zhang Liang with a lingering melancholy worth remembering forever...