Wu Dynasty, Cangwu Circuit, Hengchuan Commandery.
Dusk spread across the land. The mountain silhouettes on either side of the official road gradually blurred as a carriage jolted along the rutted dirt track, its wheels creaking over loose stones.
The two horses pulling it had been running for most of the day. White vapor puffed from their nostrils and mouths, and their pace slowed.
A broad-shouldered, thick-waisted man drove the carriage, a thick-backed saber hanging at his waist. He kept urging the horses onward, anxiety threading his voice.
The carriage interior was dim and filled with the smell of medicine.
A plainly dressed woman with disheveled hair held a young girl tightly in her arms, her eyes red as she murmured, "Qian'er, hold on a little longer. The county town is just ahead. We'll be there soon, and we'll find a doctor right away!"
The girl in her embrace was around sixteen or seventeen. Dressed in plain white robes and a white skirt, she leaned against the woman, her face as pale as paper and her lips utterly bloodless.
Her black hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall. Her breathing was faint, as though she no longer even had the strength to open her eyes.
Yet despite her sickly condition, like a candle guttering in the wind, her exquisite, otherworldly beauty remained clear in her features.
A middle-aged man sat beside the woman. Bracing a hand against the carriage window, he seemed about to rise, but sank back down halfway, his eyes full of grief as he looked at the ailing girl.
"I, Nie Shoucheng, have served honestly all my life. I have nothing to be ashamed of before heaven or earth. Being framed by villains with no way to right the injustice is bad enough. Must even my only