At sixteen, Pei Wan was born into a prominent family and entered the Eastern Palace, instantly becoming the talk of the town. She married the Crown Prince, and when he later ascended the throne, she became empress at the age of twenty-five.
For the next forty years, she held a position of great honor, but had no children of her own. Even after her death, she was honored with a magnificent funeral.
Returning to the year she was sixteen, Pei Wan made a bold decision. Before the palace's list of candidates for consorts was finalized, she married one of her father's students, escaping the fate of entering the palace. Just as she wished, she got away.
Until, years later, her husband was framed and imprisoned. Pei Wan paid to visit him. In the depths of winter, her carriage wheels rolled over thick snow. The road was silent as they passed through one palace gate after another.
She was led into a hall, familiar yet strange. Cool, slender fingertips brushed her cheek, and she heard a man's voice beside her ear: "What, you don't want me anymore?"
2026.1.04
Theme: The desire for freedom
