I Keep the World Steady with My Beauty, Spring Lanterns in the Snow

In the seventeenth year of the Daheng dynasty, the spring examination results were announced, and the third-place winner rode through the imperial avenue. Xie Xuedeng was seventeen, with snow-white skin and a vermilion mole. When he smiled, he was like a spring lantern, and everyone who saw him lost their senses. He was the last surviving heir of the previous dynasty, and also the freshest blade in the emperor’s hand. Gu Yuanbai said, “My realm needs a living map, a blade that draws no blood, and, more than anything...” He gently tapped the young man’s heart with his fingers. “A lamp to light my way home.” Xue Yuan said, “Seven years ago, I saved a little blind boy. Now he’s grown into the third-place winner, yet he’s willing to risk his life to protect someone else.” The iron-armored general’s eyes reddened as his blade pointed toward the throne. “Gu Yuanbai, you want the realm. I want him.” Chang Yuyan took the wine meant for him, and Chu Wei gave his life in his place. Everyone loved this lamp, but a flame can easily grow cold. On the night the Heart-Locking Gu took hold, Xuedeng vomited blood on the golden steps. Still, he wiped the last drop across the emperor’s brow: “Your Majesty, you want ten thousand generations of glory. Living to nineteen is enough for me.” Later, Chang’an was buried in snow, and a rebellion erupted at the city gate tower. The boy made himself a lamp’s wick, burning away his final sliver of light. Only then did everyone understand that ten thousand miles of territory could never compare to one fleeting glance from him. Fortunately, the spring lantern could be lit again. When Gu Yuanbai awoke once more, his hair had turned white, and Xue Yuan had laid down his armor. The three of them lived in seclusion south of the Yangtze. When the peach blossoms bloomed, the lamp shone once more.