Sir, the Roses Are in Bloom

(Fragile, clumsy Miss Zhi versus the calculating, cruel Prince Xiao. Note: the entire cast has a bad ending, so read with caution.)

He was the finest man in Jinzhou. Father often said, “The fact that he can come and teach you to paint is already a great blessing for our Zhi family. You must cherish it.” I suppose I did make my father proud: I married him. All of Jinzhou said it was a huge joke. They said the teacher had only accepted the marriage because he had no choice. I knew he loved me.

Hah. They seemed to be right. The teacher took a concubine. He... didn't love me at all. He had simply been unable to defy the emperor's will. It had all been a lie. He didn't want me anymore. It seemed that every day I heard A Rong talk about the teacher meeting his concubine, eating with her, and going out with her. These ordinary little things were like sharp swords stabbing into my heart. It was so painful I could hardly breathe. And so spring turned to autumn, and winter passed. The concubine's family rebelled, and the teacher arrested them. He didn't even save her life. The teacher returned to my side, but I didn't know why I was happy. That winter, the Northern Desert invaded, and the court had no one to send. The teacher was a civil official, but he had been to war before. And so he went to the battlefield. He talked with me for a long time. He said he would come back.

Hah, he lied to me again. It was the fifth year since he left. The roses in the courtyard had bloomed so heavily that their branches bent, staining the sky red, but he still hadn't returned. Perhaps the desert winds of the Northern Desert had blinded him, making him lose his way home. In the fifth year after the teacher left, blood-red roses stained the sky.

Little scene:

Zhi Yin: “Xiao Jin, when did you start liking me?”

Xiao Jin pinched Zhi Yin's cheek. “The first time I saw you.”

Zhi Yin crossed her arms. “Oh? Did you fall in love with me at first sight as soon as you entered the Zhi residence?”