Half a Lifetime at Sea

She is refined and studious, yet whenever she is cornered, she acts decisively, heedless of life or death. All her life, she has been running away: from her family, from the battlefield, from death, from love...

He is resourceful and decisive, bold enough to take responsibility. He is destined to become a Grand Marshal admired by all, amid the acclaim of the masses. But when he begins to dream of great achievements, he discovers that it is not only she who is growing more distant, but also the person he once was...

Half a lifetime of upheaval, of fields turning into seas and seas into fields. The Mongols march south, their swords and warhorses in tow. So many people and events vanish like dreams, only to return as if in a dream. A prestigious family steeped in books, a world of exquisite beauty; broken walls and ruins, their fading splendor chilled by the wind. Through hardship and wandering, through a life adrift, the clouds grow light and the breeze gentle, while old friends remain. The palace? The martial world? Romance? The battlefield? Or was it all one long dream?

Love and hatred amid the transition from the Jin to the Yuan. One after another, they arrive, then take their leave. When the music ends, no one is there, only green peaks rising above the river.