In the opera houses of Republican-era China, for performers to fall in love was a crime.
Red tassels adorned both opera headdresses and warlords' sabers. One word, “bind,” captured the entanglement between them.
Two young men: the senior apprentice played the Conqueror, the junior sang Consort Yu. They vowed to share the stage, become stars, and never part, year after year.
The chaos of war burned away every romance. Gu Jinghuai left the stage to join the army, trading a body tempered in blood and iron for peace across the land. He promised to return home in triumph and spend his life with him.
But just as the smoke of war began to clear, the general was buried on the battlefield, and their promise shattered before dawn.
From then on, Cheng Yanqing rose to the top of the opera world, becoming a legendary star. Yet before a silent, empty hall, he spent his life alone.
At last, peace came. He stripped away his rouge and costume, dressed in a plain white wedding robe, and took a wedding photograph with no one there to witness it.
Onstage, Consort Yu bade farewell to the Conqueror. Offstage, he took his own life, keeping a wedding vow that crossed the divide between life and death.
The world would not accept a performer's love, and the era of war would not allow young men to love.
In the end...
The land was at peace, and both performers became legends, but the two of them would never have a life together.
