Chapter 1: A Stranger Adrift Like Duckweed

(Prologue)

Many years later, people still refused to turn the pages of the history books recording the twenty-eighth year of the Yongkang era.

That year, the old capital of Bianjing was breached by the Qi people. It was a clear, bright autumn day with crisp air. Behind the palace hall stood a ginkgo tree, half its leaves already turned yellow. A single leaf took a leap of faith, leaving the treetop where it had perched, passing through the bright yellow tiles and glazed rooftops of the nine-layered deep palace, finally drifting down lightly into the fresh blood of the massacred that filled the entire palace.

The Emperor and the imperial clan all became prisoners. The news spread throughout the lands north and south of the great river, carried by fleeing refugees.

Ten years of dreams passed in haste; the fallen kingdom breaks the soul. When speaking of heartbreaking matters, everyone wept bitterly, looking around to find no home to return to.

From then on, the realm fell into great chaos, leaderless, with the Yu Dynasty hanging by a thread between life and death. Fortunately, there was still one imperial prince of the royal bloodline who survived, escaping south to the new capital under the protection of loyal ministers.

If the new Emperor died, the dynasty would perish; if the new Emperor ascended the throne, the dynasty would gain a thread of hope for survival.

The Qi people searched mountains and seas, relentlessly pursuing the new Emperor, while the loyal ministers, virtuous generals, and even common people of the Yu Dynasty all helped the new Emperor flee south. A struggle concerning the dynasty’s life and death was unfolding across this land…

Li Du Mansion was a necessary passage for crossing south. Beyond this place, one would flow into the Yangtze River and drift downstream straight to Jinling. Both the pursuing and escorting sides knew that Li Du Mansion was the final battleground to encircle Prince Ling’an.

A city with only one exit, a task almost impossible to complete. In the darkness, there are always those who support the crumbling edifice, who turn back the overwhelming tide, who act knowing it cannot be done.

From high-ranking officials and nobles down to peddlers and common laborers, everyone could be a link in the plan. Battlefields were everywhere. Spies and intelligence became the key to victory or defeat in this struggle.

In chaotic times, everyone wears a mask, tearing off that mask to become that mask.

Goose-feather snow blanketed the sky and earth. Every household had their doors and windows tightly shut, and not a single pedestrian could be seen on the road leading to the ferry. The snowy ground was extremely quiet, with only a few scattered strings of footprints extending into the distance.

“Stop!”

The sudden sound of pursuit broke the desolate silence. A ragged young woman clutching a bundle ran desperately forward, followed by several fierce-looking servants.

One servant pulled out a slingshot, and a stone flying through the air struck the girl’s leg. She stumbled and fell, her loose hair bun coming undone, with disheveled black hair tumbling over her shoulders.

Nanyi still wanted to get up and run, but a merciless whip lashed down hard on her back, making it impossible for her to stand. Crying out in pain, she pitched forward, and the bundle in her arms scattered open, revealing gold and silver trinkets tangled together in a mess.

A pot-bellied middle-aged man walked up panting heavily, gathered the bundle from the ground back into his arms, and began cursing furiously.

“You little thief, how dare you steal from my shop!” The merchant gave Nanyi a slap across the face without warning, then his sharp eyes suddenly noticed a jade bracelet on her right wrist. Without distinguishing right from wrong, he immediately reached out to pull it off. “You even stole my wife’s jewelry? Hand it over!”

Nanyi panicked and clutched her wrist protectively.

“This is my own!”

“Still dare to lie? How could a lowly person like you possibly have such a bracelet?”

Despite her small frame, Nanyi burst forth with surprising strength, desperately protecting the bracelet on her hand. After several struggles, the merchant couldn’t overpower Nanyi and angrily called for his servants.

“Pry her hands open for me!”

The servants were all burly men who showed no restraint in their actions. Several of them swarmed forward, with one viciously kicking Nanyi in the stomach. As she lay prostrate on the ground in pain, someone immediately seized the opportunity to grab her right hand to remove the jade bracelet. She struggled, her hand clenched into a tight fist, refusing to let them succeed.

A foot then mercilessly stepped on the back of her hand, the sole grinding down with force. Cold, sharp pain, and humiliation all surged over her at once. Tears welled up in Nanyi’s eyes, but she bit her teeth firmly and refused to loosen her grip.

“This really is my own…”

Why would no one believe her? She had once possessed such a wonderful past. The smiling face of that young man appeared in her mind.

Under the setting sun, on the field ridges, the young man in white robes took her hand and slipped a jade bracelet onto her wrist.

He said: “Live well, and wait for me to return.”

This was the day before Zhang Yuehui joined the army. He had exchanged most of his family’s wealth for this bracelet, leaving it with her as a token. Though there were no grand vows of eternal love between them, Nanyi firmly believed that when he returned, he would marry her. But the war dragged on year after year, and she still couldn’t wait for her beloved to return.

During these years, her thatched cottage had been demolished by cruel officials, and she wandered the streets with no fixed abode. She decided to take what little remained of her possessions and go to the front lines to find her beloved. Times were harsh, and as a woman alone, she could only survive by stealing, deceiving, and kneeling to beg from others to make her way.

The jade bracelet could not be lost—it was their only token of connection in this vast sea of humanity.

Seeing that several of his subordinates working together couldn’t retrieve a single bracelet, the merchant no longer cared whose the bracelet actually was. He only felt his face had been lost, and in his humiliated rage, he ordered his men: “String up this little swindler and beat her! Let her learn a lesson!”

Nanyi was hung from the branch of a withered tree, thin-clothed and emaciated, like a leaf that could be blown away by the wind.

A horsewhip as thick as a wrist fell upon her body, shaking the tree so that snow fell rustling down from it. A bloody welt bloomed on Nanyi’s body. She cried out in pain, tears and snot streaming down her face, but even though her voice was breaking apart, she still refused to compromise.

“The bracelet… wasn’t stolen…”

Suddenly, a terrified shout came from the distance, carried over on the bitter wind.

“The Qi soldiers are coming—”

Upon hearing this, the merchant panicked. He was a bully who feared the strong, absolutely not daring to face Qi soldiers directly. In his haste, he threw down the whip, grabbed his bundle, and fled with his servants, completely abandoning Nanyi to her fate.

Nanyi was spared by the merchant, but she felt no relief at all. She knew that falling into Qi hands would be a hundred times worse than her current situation.

But she was hung in the tree and could only anxiously twist her body with force, trying to break the withered branch.

The sound of footsteps in the distance grew closer—it was a squad of about ten Qi soldiers.

The branch snapped with a crack, and Nanyi fell to the ground with a “thud.” Enduring the severe pain throughout her body, she tried to bite through the rope on her hands with her teeth, then staggered to her feet and tried to escape.

But with no one around to help and every household keeping their doors shut for self-protection, where could she run?

“Ho, it’s actually a woman.”

The Qi soldiers were tall and strong, with naturally brutal and coarse natures. Seeing Nanyi like a frightened beast, their eyes were full of predatory intent. They toyed with her like playing with a monkey, deliberately leaving her a gap to escape, then blocking her path again.

In her panic, Nanyi chose her path poorly and accidentally bumped into one of the Qi soldiers.

“Come on, don’t run anymore. Save some strength for this master to love you properly.”

The Qi soldiers burst into laughter.

That soldier directly dragged Nanyi behind a tree.

At this moment, Nanyi was like fish on a chopping block, at the mercy of others. She heard the sound of her clothes tearing, and the cold wind immediately penetrated her skin. Instantly, every hair on her body stood on end, and her mind went completely blank.

Nanyi cried and struggled wildly, her hand touching a stone. Almost instinctively, she grabbed the stone with force and smashed it against the Qi soldier’s head.

The soldier was dazed by the blow, staggered back a few steps, then collapsed softly to the ground, with a large bloodstain seeping from his forehead. No one behind the tree had noticed yet, so Nanyi quickly pulled herself up and ran toward the river.

This place was the downstream ferry of the Quling River. The Quling River flowed out from Tiger Crouching Mountain, with mountains embracing both banks.

Only recently, the black-canopied boats traveling back and forth on the river had become fewer. The endless snow fell toward the river surface, bending the withered branches along the riverbank like a dense net almost ready to envelop this stretch of mountains and rivers.

Dusk was approaching, yet the mountaintops still showed not a trace of sunlight. The atmosphere of slaughter in the air had a tendency to darken, presenting a certain gray desolation.

Nanyi ran to the ferry and only then noticed a man sitting by the shore. The man wore a bamboo hat and held a fishing rod, sitting motionlessly, with a fish basket placed beside him.

Full of urgent desperation and without thinking too much, Nanyi ran straight toward the man and knelt beside him, pleading for help.

“Young master, save me.”

Ripples spread in circles across the water surface. Xie Queshan didn’t even lift his head, simply ignoring her completely as he stared at his fishing float, waiting for his fish to take the bait.