The sky turned a metallic gray as the news reached the Central Palace. Dense, low-hanging clouds dragged themselves across the curved rooftops of the imperial complex, heavy omens of misfortune. The Qin Empire, still reeling from recent internal uprisings, now faced an older and more savage threat: the Xiongnu—northern tribes that descended like wolves upon the border villages. They had looted granaries, set temples ablaze, and slit throats without distinction—soldiers and farmers alike. The very air seemed to reek of smoke and blood.
In the Hall of the Celestial Dragon, a solemn chamber with black wooden columns spiraling with sculpted dragons, the emperor rose from his jade throne. He wore a deep purple brocade robe embroidered with golden thread, depicting a dragon ascending through clouds. His face, weathered by age and war, was like marble—harsh, unreadable, impenetrable.
"We will send our best," he said, his deep voice resonating through the hall's very foundation. "This is not a skirmish. It is a message. I want the Xiongnu to fear our empire… even in their nightmares."
Three were chosen.
First, General Wei—a veteran of more campaigns than could be counted on both hands. His face bore deep scars, and his dark eyes seemed to have forgotten how to blink. His iron-plated armor, worn and unadorned, bore the marks of countless battles. He walked with the steady resolve of a man who had survived the impossible.
Next came General Xu Tian—young, sharp-featured, and elegant, a product of the new generation of strategists. He wore a dark blue robe cinched at the waist with a leather belt and always carried a scroll of maps under his arm. His gaze was piercing—his mind, even more so. Everything in him was calculation.
And with them, Wen Meixin.
She entered the hall with the calm of someone who had learned to tame fear. She wore a flowing white hanfu, its wide sleeves embroidered with silver clouds that shimmered under the oil lamps. Her black hair was braided high, and her eyes—dark as old ink—betrayed no fear, no emotion. Her presence among the military elite still unsettled many, but the emperor trusted her. She had proven herself through wit and bravery.
At the next dawn, they departed.
They rode through golden autumn fields, where leaves crunched beneath the hooves of the horses. The wind carried the scent of withering harvests and the distant whistle of geese flying south. Meixin rode with her back straight, her face unreadable. Around her, soldiers and attendants exchanged greetings and small talk—but she did not respond. She simply pressed forward.
Ta Shu, her ever-present shadow, followed closely. He wore light armor—hardened leather and metal plates—and though he still limped from a leg wound, his movements were sharp, watchful, like a silent predator. His eyes never left her. Every shadow put him on edge. Every sound made his hand drift to the hilt of his sword.
Xu Tian noticed. From a short distance, he watched how Ta Shu instinctively placed himself between Meixin and any potential threat, even if it was just a gust of wind rustling the trees.
And Meixin... ignored him entirely.
That night, the camp lay beneath a thin mist. Soldiers lit fires, banners fluttered like sighs beneath the moon, and dogs barked in the distance. Xu Tian sat beside General Wei, sharing a cup of rice wine near a crackling fire. The wine was harsh, like the conversation to come.
Why does she treat him that way?_ Xu asked, frowning as he watched Ta Shu sharpening his blade in silence, not far from Meixin's tent.
Wei didn't answer right away. He drank. The warmth of the wine did not shift his expression.
_They're bound by a painful past. That's all._Does she blame him for something?_It's not that simple.
Xu Tian sighed but pressed no further.
That dawn, the camp slept under a starry sky. Silence was broken only by the whisper of dying embers and the occasional creak of dry branches. While making his rounds, Xu saw her from a distance—Meixin, walking alone between the tents. A figure in her white hanfu, like a mist-born ghost. Her face tilted upward, eyes tracing constellations with a distant expression, as if searching for answers written among the stars. Her usually composed face now showed a sorrow so old, so deep, it seemed carved from lifetimes past. She didn't cry. But something in her expression made more noise than a scream.
Xu Tian lowered his gaze. In that moment, he understood: Wen Meixin had suffered more than she would ever admit.
At sunrise, frost hung in the air and icicles clung to branches. The leaders gathered to plan the next step—they needed intelligence on the enemy.
_We must know their numbers, their weaponry, whether they have heavy cavalry,_ Xu Tian said, spreading a map across a makeshift table._To go in blind would be a death sentence_ added Wei.
_Then I'll go_ said Meixin without hesitation.
All heads turned.
_No!_ Xu Tian stepped forward, his voice laced with urgency he could barely mask. _It's too risky.
_I'm the best suited_ Meixin said calmly. _I move swiftly. I know their dialects. I can blend in among their women. If anyone can do this, it's me.
Wei crossed his arms. His expression was grim… but he nodded._She's right. She'll go.
That night, Ta Shu entered the general's tent. He stood at attention, but his eyes burned with anguish.
_General… I beg you to let me accompany her._No._It is my duty to protect her._You've already done enough. This mission demands stealth. You can't even run yet.
Ta Shu clenched his fists._I don't care if I die, but if anything happens to her… _his voice cracked, _…I couldn't live with myself. Please, General.
There was a long silence.
Wei studied him. He saw beyond the soldier: he saw unspoken love, guilt, a vow never voiced. At last, he sighed.
_Very well. But if you fail to stay hidden… you'll endanger her._I know_ Ta Shu whispered. _I won't fail.
And so, beneath a cloud-covered sky and the biting cold of the north, Meixin and Ta Shu sealed their fates once more—together, heading toward the lands where the wind howls like a beast, where the enemy waits… and where echoes of the past still walk among the snow.