The “wild” princess of Eastern Wu, Sun Shangxiang, is your destined love, inseparable from you as you roam the martial world and witness its rise and fall.
And you are a young, handsome swordsman, practicing the finest White Horse inner art. It lets you read people’s minds, and as your skill deepens, you can even capture their hearts and souls.
But if you never experience the bittersweet trials of life, its birth, aging, sickness, and death, the pain of wanting what you cannot have, parting from those you love, and meeting those you resent... how could you hope to understand human emotions so easily? So you must still learn through experience, just as we do in life. Fragrance comes from enduring the bitter cold; savor it slowly, and let its lingering sweetness unfold.
This is a serious [martial arts + historical] novel. I hope this little work can keep us company and provide some entertainment, bringing you a smile. If, beyond reading this little story, you also find something that resonates with you, then that would be a small blessing in both your life and mine.
As for history, I have tried to stay faithful to it while taking a few artistic liberties. My abilities are modest, and I may invite the scorn of experts, so I welcome your guidance and indulgence.
“A tiger may dwell in the heart, yet sniff the roses with tender care.” In my imagination, Princess Sun Shangxiang is both quiet and lively, devoted to love and duty, with great ambitions in her heart. (In Records of the Three Kingdoms: Biography of Fa Zheng, Lady Sun is portrayed as “a threat at one’s very side.” One could say she reached a height among diplomatic marriage princesses never before or since attained, which is truly impressive. This image in my mind far surpasses the helpless princess portrayed in Romance of the Three Kingdoms and a host of games, films, and television works. Putting aside those fantasies born of the male gaze, I believe that historical diplomatic marriages were always tragic dramas like that of Jia Tanchun in Dream of the Red Chamber, with Sun Shangxiang the sole exception.)
