Three Lifetimes, Three Worlds, Years Reduced to Ashes

A heart full of love reduced to ashes; after endless years, only longing remains. **#Three-Lifetimes-Tragic-Romance #Splitting-the-Land-and-Opening-the-Sea-to-Steal-a-Bride #Two-Strong-Leads-Tormenting-Each-Other #Love-Unequal-in-Power #The-Water-God's-Long-Road-to-Win-His-Wife-Back**

Across the Four Seas and Eight Desolations, everyone knew that the Water God Lian Song was cold and indifferent, his heart unmoved for ten thousand years.

Only Cheng Yu, the young princess of the Xi dynasty, was the jade hairpin he'd kept hidden in his armor for a lifetime. A peach blossom was carved into its head, but he had never given it to her.

She found an old letter on his desk, every line bearing another name. She asked him about it. He said nothing. She left, and he did not follow.

Later, the emperor's decree commanding a political marriage arrived at Yuanji Palace. He sat there in silence for three days. On the fourth, he wielded his divine power alone to split mountains and sever the land, drawing water from the Four Seas into the rift until he carved out a vast sea to divide the two kingdoms.

He walked up to the red bridal sedan and said, “I was a coward before. The only person I've ever loved, from beginning to end, is Cheng Yu.”

She looked at him without shedding a tear.

“Lian Song, when you wanted me, you split the land to steal me away. When you didn't, you left me to go mad over an old letter. The world is your chessboard. Am I just another piece you pick up on a whim?”

She turned and walked into the foreign kingdom's royal carriage.

The jade hairpin slipped from between the plates of his armor and broke in two.

Later, she found half of the broken hairpin beneath her pillow in the foreign kingdom. A new line had been carved into it:

“I will spend this life carving only this hairpin. I have nothing left to give anyone else.”

Clutching the broken hairpin, she finally wept.

But she did not look back.