Prologue
In the winter of the first year of the Jingkang era, the Jin cavalry smashed through Bianjing’s defenses. After besieging the city for days, they forced the two emperors, Huizong and Qinzong, to submit letters of surrender. Within the palace walls, the empire was already teetering on the brink of collapse, with each day potentially its last. Thinking of her young daughter, Princess Huanfu, Empress Zhu feared that once the city fell, the Jin invaders would seize her and subject her to untold horrors. She summoned her personal maid, Jin'er, and Jin'er's grandfather, Old Liang, and ordered them to take advantage of the chaos to spirit the princess out of the palace and hide her among the common people, preserving a thread of the Zhao imperial bloodline. Before they left, Empress Zhu tied a dragon-and-phoenix jade pendant around the princess's neck with her own hands. She also brought out several ingots of gold and silver, along with a pair of Ru ware porcelain vases, treasured pieces from the late emperor's collection. Clasping their hands tightly, she urged them earnestly: “These vases were the Grand Empress Dowager's most cherished possessions. They must never fall into Jin hands. When the princess one day returns to her family, they will be incontrovertible proof of her identity.”
Old Liang and Jin'er fled with Princess Huanfu through the smoke and flames of war. The road ahead was uncertain. Could they break through the encirclement and escape the jaws of death? What hardships and dangers would they face along the way? And what would become of the frail maid and the princess of royal blood? Dear readers, settle in and hear what followed in this tragic song of a troubled age.
