Blood dripped from the tip of Feng Yuheng's sword. The last sounds of his enemy had long since disappeared, leaving a silence that was only occasionally interrupted by the cold autumn breeze. Seven bodies lay around him-the assassins sent to take his life. Nothing new for a feared general like himself.
"Kill that man! He's a traitor!" Their leader's last shout still echoed in his ears.
Traitor.
The corners of Yuheng's lips lifted slightly, forming a cold smile that never reached her eyes. Empty accusations thrown by desperate people. For fifteen years, her hands were covered in blood for Emperor Wei. For the throne. For the empire he vowed to protect with his life.
With quick movements, he cleaned his sword of bloodstains before sheathing it again. The full moon shone brightly in the sky, illuminating the path that led to the Emperor's summer palace-a place that should have been a peaceful escape from the political hustle and bustle of the capital. Yet tonight, even here, death had come.
"General Feng." The voice of Lu Wei, his right-hand man, broke his reverie. "There's something strange about them. This is no ordinary attack."
Feng Yuheng nodded. He had sensed the irregularity. These assassins were too well-trained, too coordinated. Not ordinary rebels, but trained soldiers. And they carried the emblem of the black lotus flower-a coat of arms that had long since disappeared from the empire.
"The coat of arms of the Yuan family," she whispered, clutching the black lotus-shaped pendant she found on one of the corpses. "There's no way..."
"The family that was exterminated fifteen years ago? On the Night of Cleansing?" asked Lu Wei in a stifled voice.
Yuheng closed her eyes for a moment. It was a night she didn't want to remember. The night when blood flowed in the palace, when women and children were killed for the "safety" of the throne. A night when he, as a young commander, could only obey orders and watch the atrocities in silence.
"We must report this to the Emperor immediately," he decided.
But before they could move on, Yuheng sensed another presence. His keen instincts warned of danger. With a lightning move, she drew her sword again and turned-only to be confronted by a black-robed figure standing in the shadow of a willow tree.
"Who are you?" he asked sharply, the tip of his sword pointed at the mysterious figure.
The figure stepped forward, slowly removing the hood that covered his face. Yuheng's heart seemed to stop beating.
A woman. With a face so beautiful that it was almost painful to look at. Her skin was as white as jade, contrasting with her long, flowing black hair. But it wasn't her beauty that had Yuheng transfixed-it was her eyes. Those eyes... it was as if he had seen them before.
"Long time no see, General Feng," the woman's voice was soft yet contained an undeniable sharpness. "Still busy killing for the cruel ruler you serve?"
Something in the way the woman looked at her made Yuheng's hair stand on end. There was hatred there. A deep and abiding hatred.
"Who are you?" she repeated her question, this time in a lower tone.
The woman smiled-a smile that did not reach her eyes. "I am wounded, General. Is fifteen years really enough to erase your memory of me?"
Then, with a graceful movement, the woman rolled up the sleeves of her robe, revealing a lotus flower-shaped scar on her wrist. The mark of a noble Yuan family.
Yuheng's blood instantly froze.
"No way," she whispered. "You should already be dead."
A bitter laugh slid from the woman's lips. "Is that what you hope, General? That the little girl you let get away on that bloody night is dead?"
The long-buried memory suddenly came rushing back. A little girl with the same frightened eyes but no tears as the soldiers dragged her out of the palace. The youngest daughter of Prime Minister Yuan, who was expelled rather than killed because of her status as an adopted daughter who did not have the blood of the original Yuan family.
"Mei... Lian?" The name felt foreign on her tongue.
"Yuan Mei Lian died that night, General," the woman replied, her eyes flashing dangerously. "The one standing before you is Mei Lian, the woman who returned to take what was rightfully hers."
Yuheng felt Lu Wei's grip on her arm, warning of danger. But she couldn't take her eyes off the woman-from the ghost of her past who now stood alive before her.
"And what do you want?" he asked, though inwardly he already knew the answer.
Mei Lian's smile widened, revealing a dangerous beauty. "The prophecy, General. 'The Emperor will fall by the hand he trusts, and the throne will belong to the outcast.' Don't you remember it?"
Feng Yuheng felt his throat dry up. The prophecy that had haunted the Emperor for fifteen years until it made him paranoid, the prophecy that was the reason for the mass murder of the Yuan family.
"I returned to fulfill that destiny," Mei Lian continued. "And you, Feng Yuheng, will help make it happen."
"You're crazy if you think I'll betray my emperor," Yuheng retorted, tightening her grip on her sword.
"Crazy?" Mei Lian stepped closer, without the slightest fear of the sword pointed at her. "Perhaps. But aren't madness and power separated by a very thin line, General?"
When the woman was just an inch away from the tip of his sword, Yuheng could feel the scent of plum blossoms emanating from her body. It was a strangely familiar scent, one that made her head swim with deeply buried memories.
"Hold her!" ordered Lu Wei, signaling the other warriors to approach.
But with a lightning move, Mei Lian flicked her hand, throwing white powder into the air. Thick smoke suddenly filled the area, making Yuheng cough and her eyes sting.
"We will meet again, General," Mei Lian's voice rang out amidst the smoke. "And when that time comes, you will have to choose-your loyalty to the cruel emperor, or the truth you've been hiding even from yourself."
When the smoke thinned, the woman had disappeared-leaving Feng Yuheng with a racing heart and a muddled mind.
"General, we must report this immediately," Lu Wei urged, still coughing.
Yuheng nodded, but her hand unconsciously grasped the black lotus pendant she had found-proof that her nightmare from the past had returned. The woman he should have protected fifteen years ago has now returned as his enemy.
Mei Lian. That little girl with fearful eyes has now grown into a dangerous woman who threatens the empire. Threatening the oath she had kept for so many years.
And even more terrifying-that woman knew something. Something about her that even Yuheng himself dared not face.
You must choose.
Mei Lian's words echoed in his mind. A choice that, she knew, would determine not only the fate of the empire, but also her own soul.
________________________________________
The red tapestry stretched long in the palace hall. Feng Yuheng knelt before Emperor Wei, his head bowed deeply, his sword placed in front of him as a sign of loyalty.
"So," Emperor Wei's voice echoed in the hushed hall, "the ghost of our past has returned."
Yuheng kept her head down. "Yes, Your Majesty. A woman claiming to be Yuan Mei Lian has appeared. She said..." he hesitated for a moment, "she returned to fulfill the prophecy."
Cold laughter rang out from the throne. "Prophecy? After fifteen years, they still believe in that nonsense?"
But even as he said so, Yuheng could sense the tension in his emperor's voice. Emperor Wei may have ruled with an iron fist for two decades, but the prophecy had always been a haunting shadow.
"How does she look? Is it really Mei Lian?" asked the Emperor, stepping down from his throne to approach Yuheng.
"She has lotus marks on her wrists. And..." Yuheng looked up, looking directly into the emperor's eyes, "her eyes. I still recognize her eyes."
Emperor Wei took a sharp breath. "Are you sure? The little girl we sent to the northern border fifteen years ago?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
There was a moment of silence, before Emperor Wei turned and walked towards the large window overlooking the palace gardens. Outside, the plum blossoms were blooming in the middle of fall-an unusual occurrence, but somehow this year they were blooming earlier. As if it was an omen.
"What does he want from you?"
The question made Yuheng flinch. "From me, Your Majesty?"
"Yes, from you." The emperor turned his body around, staring intently. "He came to see you personally, didn't he? It's no coincidence. He was looking for you."
Yuheng swallowed. It was true. It was no coincidence that Mei Lian appeared before him that night.
"She said..." Yuheng hesitated. Should he tell the whole truth? "She said that I would help her realize the prophecy."
Emperor Wei's face hardened. "I see. He thinks he can pull you over to his side? My best general?"
"I will never betray Your Majesty," Yuheng affirmed, kneeling deeper. "I swear it with my life."
Emperor Wei was silent for a moment, before returning to his throne. "Yuheng, you know what you must do."
"Your Majesty?"
"Find him. And this time, make sure he's really dead." The order was spoken in a tone of undeniable finality.
Yuheng's heart was squeezed. Kill Mei Lian? The woman who was once just an innocent little girl? But wasn't she now a threat to the empire he swore to protect?
"I will, Your Majesty," he replied, though there was a hesitation he could not hide in his voice.
Emperor Wei seemed to catch that hesitation. He stepped down from his throne, approached Yuheng and lifted his chin with his fingertips-forcing the general to look him in the eye.
"Do you doubt, my general?" he asked in a dangerous tone. "Is your loyalty beginning to waver just because of a pretty face from the past?"
"No, Your Majesty. It's just that..."
"It's just what?" the Emperor urged.
"Perhaps there is another way. If we can persuade her, perhaps we can find out who is behind this rebellion. Who is helping the Yuan family."
Emperor Wei paused, considering the suggestion. "You've always been a good strategist, Yuheng. There may be some truth to it." He returned to his throne. "Very well. Find him. Approach him. Find out who's supporting him. And when we have all the information..."
"I understand, Your Majesty," Yuheng bowed deeply, though his heart felt heavy.
"Be careful, my general." The Emperor's voice softened, almost like a father advising his son. "Such women are dangerous not only because of the swords they carry, but because of the charms that can break the loyalty of even the strongest of men."
Yuheng nodded. He knew exactly the danger he faced. Not only to her life, but also to her heart.
As he stepped out of the palace hall, his eyes caught a glimpse of a figure standing behind a pillar-the Young Emperor, son of Emperor Wei, who was looking at him with a look he could not decipher. Was it suspicion? Or was it something more dangerous?
That night, when Feng Yuheng returned to his residence, he could not sleep. Mei Lian's face continues to haunt him-the same eyes he saw fifteen years ago. Eyes once filled with fear, now filled with hatred and... something else. Something that made his heart beat faster than it should.
"I have to find you," she whispered to the night wind. "And this time, I won't let you go again."
Whether it was a general's promise to his enemy, or a man's promise to the woman who had disturbed his heart-even Yuheng herself wasn't sure.
All he knew was that a great storm was coming. And she, along with Mei Lian, would be right in the eye of the storm.