**This is the next one I'll write**
Before Princess Fukang was sent away to marry for political reasons, she stayed for a while at Chongguang Temple.
Back then, she would always sit alone by the window, lost in thought.
She wept at falling flowers and mourned the passing of spring.
Also staying at Chongguang Temple was Xu Cexing, the eldest grandson of the Duke of Zhenguo. They said his birth chart was too weak, so he had to practice at the temple until he came of age in order to live a long life.
One day, she passed by a grand hall that was not open to the public. Young Master Xu was alone, applying gold leaf to the towering Buddha statue.
Beneath the ever-burning lamps, his eyes shone brilliantly.
“I'm going to be sent away to marry,” she said. “I hope you achieve your wish too, and become a great general who campaigns on the battlefield like your father and brothers.”
Standing high on a ladder, Young Master Xu grinned at her. “Then I'll wish for you to be happy every day. You're so beautiful, you ought to smile more.”
*
Princess Fukang thought that would be the last time they ever met.
Until three years later, when the two nations went to war. The Duke of Zhenguo and his sons all died on the battlefield, and his grandson, who was not yet twenty, was given command in their moment of crisis. Months later, framed by treacherous men, he lost the battle at Mount Helan.
When she saw him again, Xu Cexing had become a gravely wounded hostage, barely breathing and close to death.
Spring grass now grew lush. His old sword was mottled with rust, and the thirteen prefectures of his homeland had all fallen.
Xu Cexing tried to die time and again, but failed. Clutching Princess Fukang's hem, he begged her to grant him death.
*
A happy ending where he recovers the land and they grow old together :)
Theme: Life is but a dream within a dream; the affairs of the world are like wind within the wind.
