1.
When Wu Xi was fourteen, Princess Shen Yi'an rescued her from a band of marauders. The princess had rosy lips and pearly teeth, and was a charming beauty. Her phoenix eyes captivated Wu Xi, who couldn't stop thinking about her.
So Wu Xi went to the palace to work as a maid, always sneaking over to the princess's side, going on and on about this and that.
But the princess always brushed her away. Under the blazing sun, the princess's gaze was colder than the ice in the pond at the imperial garden in the depths of winter.
"Stay away from me."
Wu Xi walked away sadly.
Then one day, she heard that the princess's lover had come to the palace. They had argued, and the lover had cast the princess aside.
Upset and angry, Wu Xi took the princess's favorite fruit wine and went to see her.
The lowly little maid blushed.
"Your Highness, I could be your lover too."
The little maid kept her head down and didn't see how tenderly the princess looked at her, as if she'd poured all her deep affection and all the years she'd waited into Wu Xi.
"All right."
Silently, she called out:
"My Xi'er..."
1. Shen Yi'an is reborn.
Theme: Everyone is equal, regardless of rank.
