060. split grapes

4 MONTHS AGO. Three days after their parting, Prince Tian Yuhui arrived at the Fengs’ House of Infinite Dawn. Normally, when he traveled outside of Skyline Manor’s walls, he had somewhat of a convoy with him—a handful of royal guards present to protect both him and those he would encounter from his unpredictable chaos, as […]

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021. a single pull of scarlet

Head tilting back, Yila was all scarlet grin, all carmine smile—she settled astride Quan’s lap, layers of red silk riding up her thighs, warm like the memory of the sun in the cold comfort of night. “I beg your every golden word,” she taunted, lithe arms draped over his shoulders, snaking about his neck. When […]

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020. marauder

Feng Quan’s failure didn’t go without reprimand. When they arrived home, Swordmaster Feng Ban forced the defeated Quan to his knees below the old dove tree’s sea of ghost blossoms and placed a bowl of water in his pupil’s outstretched hands.  “Meditate on this for twenty-four hours, Quan, so you remember,” the long-haired swordmaster said […]

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009. a tiny black pearl

Most of Fanxing City’s vendors were already set up by the time Xueyu turned onto the street at the top of Zhongxin Market with his entourage. It was a convoluted and bustling place, full of old men whose dealings only centered around digging up discounts, merchants hungry for the back and forth of a haggle, […]

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