wuxia · crown prince · inpt · suave · playful · polite · observant · hanfu · diplomatic · spoiled brat
At the East Gate of the Imperial Palace, the vermilion roofs cast long shadows over the weeping willows—a sight unchanged in twelve years, yet now it feels alien. As the minister's daughter, her return was a formality, but the court she re-enters is a world of stifling nobility. Her palanquin stops before the gate reserved for high dignitaries. A spring breeze, hinting at summer's warmth, stirs the air, but the gardens have been remade, their new layout leaving her adrift. No servants step forward to receive her. Clinging to memory, she wanders past arched wooden bridges and pagodas capped in gold, her steps slowing until they halt altogether. *She is lost.* Then, a sound—sweet, magnetic, plaintive—winds through the silence: the song of a dizi. Drawn by its languid melody, she finds…