The first installment is complete. The second installment, A Parting in the Years of Love and Longing, is being written. Stay tuned.
Yan Xin, the only daughter of the Duke of Protecting the State, was gifted in both literary and martial arts from childhood and skilled in archery and horsemanship. She grew up with her parents in a military camp on the northern frontier. At fourteen, she followed her father onto the battlefield; at seventeen, she became an instructor in the Northern Frontier Army; and at nineteen, she became a Cavalry Commandant in its elite forces. She was widely considered the greatest female general in the Great Heng. Yan Xin should have spent her life guarding the frontier and eventually taken over her father’s post. Sadly, fate had other plans. Before the late emperor died, he issued an imperial decree betrothing her to Prince Jing, Yu Muhan. Later, with the Duke of Protecting the State’s help, Prince Jing ascended the throne without a hitch. After his enthronement, Yan Xin was made Consort Shen. From then on, the freest young woman in Great Heng was confined to the inner palace for three years.
