The year Qiutang ascended the throne as the new emperor of Qiujing, the border maples were blindingly red, but the hoofbeats of Xixian shattered the newly established peace.
He had been a ruler thrust into power in a time of crisis. Before his sword was even properly belted on, he had to shoulder the burden of the realm. Then he met Shen Ci, the young man carrying a medicine chest.
Some said Shen Ci had a secret, with military manuals tucked among his medical records. Others said Qiutang had gone mad, neglecting the court just to travel the border with a physician. But only the two of them knew that amid the flames at Heishi Pass, Shen Ci had bandaged his wounds, and on a frigid night at Yong'an Pass, Qiutang had kept him company as they boiled medicine.
Later, Xixian sued for peace and Dexian offered an alliance. At last, beneath the maples of Qiujing, the people could smile. Qiutang held Shen Ci's hand as crimson leaves fell over their shoulders. "Back then, they said I couldn't hold on to this realm."
Shen Ci smiled and brushed the maple leaf from his shoulder. "Your Majesty held on to it, and I held on to the person I wanted to protect."
Their journey was full of dangers that set sword against spear, as well as the tenderness of love expressed in a few short lines. Through storms, they walked side by side, from palace walls in the imperial capital to border forts, from war and chaos to peace and prosperity. In the end, the best "Crossing of Tang and Ci" was never a particular ferry. With you by my side, I can cross every hardship in the world.
Theme: Shen Ci breaks the limits of the idea that a physician only treats people. He saves middle-aged women with his medical skills, cures the strange poison afflicting the immortal soldiers, and treats Jiang Yongping's internal injuries. He also rushes to the front lines during the war to save the wounded, linking "healing people" with "healing the country." His choice to give up a free life among the people and enter the imperial capital to serve as Imperial Physician, as well as his actions in war, "using medicine as a blade and benevolence as a shield," embody the idea that a physician's duty to the country is to save individual lives and protect the peace of the land. This echoes Qiutang's defense of the realm with his sword, bringing together civil and military strengths to protect their country.
