1 How it all started

"Noooo!" Zhen Zhang screamed at her father. She looked at her mother, horrified at the news she just heard, internally wishing for her mother to object to her father's decision. "Mama, say something, please. You can't let me marry someone I do not know of all people, our enemy," she pleaded to her mama, who's sitting at the right-hand side of her father, the king. But Zhen Zhang's mother looked at her daughter speechless and with tears in her eyes. She felt pity for her daughter, and as much as she wanted to save her only daughter from the marriage she and her father were about to send her to, she couldn't because not only was she a mother, she was also the queen of the Sha I village, and her husband, Bao Zhang, is the king of the village. That is, their subjects safety comes first before family, and they can't make decisions based on emotions.

  The Queen, Yu Zhang, tried to stand up to meet her daughter, Zhen Zhang, but she was stopped by her husband, the king. Zhen collapsed to the floor as she watched her life change drastically before her eyes. The king, Bao Zhang, ordered Zhen's Amah (a nanny in China is referred to as Amah) to take her away. Zhen was partially dragged away because she could not bring her legs to function. She looked numb and kept staring into space without saying anything for more than an hour. Her Amah tried to pet her by gently untangling her ruffled hair. Since she was a child, this is what she always does to help Zhen relax whenever she is in distress, but this time it didn't help Zhen relax; tears kept dropping from her eyes as she stared into emptiness.

Amah has been with Zhang since she was born; she is more like a second mother to Zhen since Zhen's mother could not be with her every time she needed her attention because of her queen duties. Zhen respects and teats Amah like her mother.But unfortunately, she couldn't respond to Amah's touch. She remained blank. All she could think about was how her life was so good until a few hours ago. Zhen is a seventeen-year-old girl. She has long and very dark Asian hair, and unlike most people from her region, she has round eyes and slightly plump lips. She's also the only daughter of her parents, Bao Zhang and Yu Zhang. She has four older brothers who treat her with so much care. Although, in ancient times, there were limited activities in which women could participate, with the help of her brothers, she could learn the basic skills of jujitsu, polo, and archery, but she was better at archery because she really liked it. They mostly train in secret because their father, the king, must not know the prince's are making his only princess engage in any strenuous activity. Zhen is the apple of King Bao's eyes; he treats her with so much care, and even when anyone needs something from him, they go through Zhen because it is almost impossible for him to say 'no' to his little princess.