From the drafty mud-brick house in Luofeng Village to the palace-lit courtyard in the imperial capital, Jiang Yongzheng always kept Jiang Yongping behind him. When he practiced swordsmanship, the wind of his blade curved away from his younger brother. When he received rewards, he first asked, "Are there any medicinal herbs suitable for strengthening him?" Even when Qiutang handed him an iron sword, he smoothed the edge of its scabbard first, afraid it might chafe the hand that put it away for him.
Jiang Yongping was always reading by lamplight. Before continuing his writing, the first character his brush touched to the page was "Brother." When Shen Ci came across the poems hidden beneath his pillow while preparing medicine, he found the ink of "May we be twin branches" blurred across the page, much like the softness Jiang Yongping could never hide in his eyes as he watched Yongzheng practice swordsmanship.
When Qiutang first lifted the curtain and saw the brothers, she pitied them for their lonely circumstances. She never expected to witness a journey from "protecting one's younger brother" to "being in love with one's younger brother." Yongzheng said with reddened eyes, "I'm afraid I'll make things hard for him." Yongping clutched his sleeve and said, "As long as I'm with you, Brother." Even Shen Ci couldn't help handing him a restorative pill and gently advising, "Don't wear yourself out. He's waiting for you to come home."
But Dexian's declaration of war finally shattered the peace of the imperial capital. As Yongzheng buckled on his armor, Yongping tucked a little note into the protective charm he'd sewn for him. It read, "Come back and stay by my side." The wind at the palace gates whipped the banners as he heard his brother call, "Wait for me to come back." He also heard the unspoken half of his own heartbeat: "I'll wait for you, no matter how long it takes."
However brightly the capital's lanterns shine, the sword defending the realm must return to its sheath before the man who studies by lamplight can write the words "together forever" into a poem of reunion.
Theme: The brothers begin as outsiders on the fringes of the country of Qiuxian. To survive, they stop a carriage and beg the Imperial Immortal for help, making them passive seekers of survival. But through Qiutang's acceptance and Shen Ci's treatment, they gradually become bound to this country. Yongzheng uses his swordsmanship to defend the border and repel foreign enemies, changing from fighting to protect his brother to fighting for his family and country. Yongping records the flourishing age in poetry and prose and raises morale, changing from a sickly youth hiding behind his elder brother into a cultural guardian who wields his pen as a blade. Their growth is a mutual commitment: "The country gives me a place to belong, and I give everything I can for the country." Individuals are reborn through their country, while the country finds peace thanks to countless ordinary people like them. At its heart is the patriotic ideal that the fate of the land is everyone's responsibility.
