Lady Xiang

Xie Xiangjun first met Liang Feiyan in Xuanyang Hall at the Northern Qi royal palace.

It was a bright, sunny morning, yet the cold still cut to the bone. Water froze solid in Northern Qi's winter. Xie Xiangjun was from the south, so how could she possibly bear it? Even so, she waited outside the hall for a full hour before she was finally summoned in.

Liang Feiyan was not the King of Northern Qi. She was his queen, and the true power behind the throne.

Xie Xiangjun took each step with caution. She knew the fate of all Southern Shu rested on her shoulders, but at the time, how could she have known that a mere princess could never bear the burden of a nation on the brink of ruin?

An imagined setting. Some poems are quoted or adapted, but the story is not based on any particular dynasty.

Theme: The queen and her concubines