The King’s Lady

[Version One] Wei Chi Ying always thought that although she had lost both her parents, been adopted, and had an unhappy childhood, she wasn’t someone just anyone could marry. She figured that at least she was a princess in name in the State of Wu, and the King of Wu’s own adopted daughter. She wasn’t someone just anyone could mistreat. She thought a woman shouldn’t marry too far from home. So later, she traveled a thousand miles to marry for peace. She thought she had to be someone’s primary wife. So later, she became someone’s concubine. She thought her husband had to love only her for the rest of his life. So later, someone went right ahead and married another woman... It took her a long time to understand: isn’t life just a series of soaring highs followed by one fall after another? If you’re unlucky, you’re unlucky. See things clearly, accept them, and you’ll be fine. [Version Two] After Zhongli was conquered by Wu, word spread among the people that on his way back to the capital, the King of Wu had found an abandoned baby in the countryside and adopted her as his daughter. Everyone in the Nine Provinces knew that the girl bore the Mandate of Kingship, was exceptionally clever, and even had a prophecy of hers come true. Sixteen years later, she obeyed the royal decree and set off, unwillingly, in a carriage to marry for peace. Rumor had it that the man had murdered his father and elder brother, and committed more sins than other people had eaten meals. She thought marrying this man as his concubine was the worst luck she could have had in eight lifetimes. She thought that for a long time. Until she finally met him. The heroine: I will always remember that year, when snow fell thickly and the world was white from top to bottom. He was so close to me, his figure blending into the scenery around us until everything dissolved together in my tear-filled eyes... Only then was I forced to take another look at the man before me. It seemed he had always held a place in my heart, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t make him leave...