Part 1. The Protector of the Golden Branches and Jade Leaves
A thin layer of snow covered the Liuli tiles of the Imperial City. Eight-year-old Crown Prince Xiao Yan gripped a blood-stained mutton-fat jade pendant, watching his younger sister Xiao Yue curl up under the veranda. Her pale cyan pleated skirt was stained with mud, and one of her pearl hairpins had snapped, making her look like a butterfly with a broken wing.
"The Third Brother pushed me again..." Seven-year-old Xiao Yue lifted her face, teardrops still frozen on her eyelashes. The cold wind swept dead leaves across her flushed cheeks, and her purple-tinged lips trembled slightly.
Chapter 221