King Zhaoxiang of Qin
In 306 BC, the young King Zhaoxiang ascended to the throne, with his mother Queen Dowager Xuan serving as regent. Knowing Qin could not focus on eradicating Yiqu when it had the hostile eastern states to deal with, and her son's rule was still shaky due to numerous rival princes keen to capture the throne, Queen Dowager Xuan decided to use an approach of pretended conciliation. She invited the king of Yiqu to live long-term in the Ganquan Palace, and consummated a seductive liaison that produced two sons with him. This completely removed the Yiqu King's hostility towards Qin, as the beguiled king had lost all cautiousness around the Queen Dowager. At the same time, King Zhaoxiang was aggressively acting to weaken rival warring states in the east and south, and Queen Dowager Xuan was secretly planning with her son the eventual annihilation of Yiqu.
Qin (state)
According to the 2nd century  historical text "Records of the Grand Historian" by Sima Qian, the Qin state traced its origin to one of the Five Emperors in ancient times, named Zhuanxu. One of his descendents, Boyi, was granted the family name of "Ying" () by King Shun. During the Xia and Shang dynasties, the Ying split in two: a western branch in Quanqiu (present-day Lixian in Gansu) and another branch that lived east of the Yellow River. The latter became the ancestors of the rulers of the Zhao state.