The Dying Ember

One-on-one | Faux tragedy | Rekindled love | Fully revised

[Once, everyone said flowers should envy me. Now it's my turn to envy the flowers.]

Ji Dingzhou gripped his sharp sword, piercing Hua Ji.

The palace burned, and Dumo, dreaming of becoming emperor, died in the flames, his life complete.

Hua Xian stood atop the city wall, falling toward the sea of fire, swearing to live and die with the Kingdom of Xin.

There was no way to resolve it all.

To trace the cause, we must begin with the late emperor's death.

At the time, the Fifth Prince was fighting on the frontier. The new emperor had taken the throne, but the court officials refused to submit.

Half a month later, the Fifth Prince, Hua Xian, returned to the capital. He hid his princely bearing and posed as the top courtesan of Tianxiang House, using his zither as a weapon and his beauty as a disguise. He went undercover in the pleasure quarters to secretly investigate a covert intelligence network.

The great general corresponded with the enemy kingdom and ultimately rebelled at the welcoming banquet.

The Fifth Prince and the right chancellor had been allies, but during a battle beneath a sky full of snow, love and hatred made them turn against each other in an instant.

Hua Ji was the wind in the snow; Dumo was drunk on his dreams. Mu Jing longed for the winter solstice; Hua Xian wandered among the wild thorns.

A lone little boat drifted down the stream. A promise was made, then easily rewritten. The bright lantern was about to go out; the smoke dispersed, and the ashes drifted away.

[Notice]

This story begins with "Alone, I climb the high tower and gaze to the ends of the earth," and was written to end with an adaptation of the line, "I turn around suddenly, and there they are, in the fading lantern light."

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