Deer Lad

After three years of severe drought, the floods came. War broke out across the Yan Dynasty.

The land was in chaos, and the lowly could barely survive.

Lu Yao had no choice but to lead her clan, who had raised deer for generations, on a desperate journey to find refuge.

They said the north was under Prince Yu’s rule, where the people were prosperous and ate meat every day. They also said his soldiers were as imposing as mountains, broad-backed and powerful, guarding the north like an iron fortress.

When the people of Lujia Village finally arrived...

Pah!

They got a mouthful of sand.

The bitter wind howled, and the plants had withered yellow. The soldiers guarding the city gate had cracked skin and shivered from the cold. The people inside looked gaunt and wore clothes too tattered to cover them properly. The broken baskets they carried were full of white clay.

They’d had it better back on the road!

The people of Lujia Village: Is it too late to go back?

*

Prince Yu, who guarded the frontier, was ambushed by the enemy and went missing!

The soldiers searched most of the Great Yi before finally finding their prince.

But who was that man being led around in circles by that pretty-faced fellow?

Where had the cold-faced devil of the battlefield gone, the prince whose very name was said to make the children of Great Yan cry?!

*

The north was bitterly cold. Xie Lianqi had gone to the frontier at fifteen and fought for ten years to bring stability to the border. But the court was corrupt and the empire was on the verge of collapse.

The soldiers couldn’t get enough to eat or warm clothes, and life was unbearable.

Xie Lianqi risked a return journey to gather provisions, but was framed by treacherous men. Injured, he was forced to part from his trusted followers.

On the road, someone took him in, and he became a live-in son-in-law.

He planned to explain and leave once his injuries healed. Then he saw his wife heading north, all the way into his territory. She reclaimed the land, planted trees, raised livestock and pigs, and turned wasteland into granaries, solving the greatest problem weighing on his mind.

Lu Yao: “Are you still leaving?”

Xie Lianqi pulled her into his arms. “In life, I’m a member of the Lu family; in death, I’ll be a ghost of the Lu family. Your husband was wrong!”

Blurb written on April 11, 2024

Theme: Work together and overcome hardship.