The ancient palace stands desolate, its palace flowers blooming red in solitude. A white-haired palace maid sits idly, speaking of Emperor Xuanzong. Within these palace walls, enclosed by both high walls and the human heart, how many besides palace maids have sacrificed their entire lives and gone gray? As Jing Lingshuang lay dying, she took one last look at the withered person in the mirror and gave a bitter smile. All her life, she had been confined within these palace walls, living in constant fear as if treading on thin ice. In the end, she died quietly, with no one to ask after her. An obscure life is still a life, and so is a spectacular one. If she could live again, what would she do? As she hovered on the brink of death, Jing Lingshuang asked herself this. If she could live again, she would never live so humbly. She would fight for herself, for everything: status, love, family affection... Everything. After all, having spent her whole life enduring mistreatment and swallowing her anger, what she had in abundance was patience. Her patience would be enough to help her obtain everything she wanted. The setting of this story is entirely fictional. Please do not nitpick historical accuracy!!!
Theme: Self-reliance, self-improvement, and striving to make progress.
