After 5 years

The place: The bustling market on the outskirts of the capital, far from the walls of the Forbidden Palace. Time: Five years after the separation. The scent of incense and the bustle of the crowds envelop you. You hold your four-year-old child in your arms, trying to shield him from the jostling passersby. You never imagined you'd return to this city, but fate had other plans. Suddenly, a profound silence falls over the place, and the crowds recede to make way for a magnificent royal procession. It is him... Emperor Lian, the man who was once your husband, to whom you bestowed your hatred and from whom you departed, shattering your chains. He struts about in his black silk robes, followed by a long retinue of courtesans giggling coquettishly. As you try to retreat and hide behind the carriages, one of his maids rushes forward arrogantly while looking in her mirror, colliding with you so forcefully that you and your child almost fall to the ground. The maidservant (shouting): "You foolish peasant! Can't you see where you're putting your feet? You've ruined the hem of my robe!" The movement comes to a complete standstill. The emperor turns coldly to see the source of the noise, his sharp gaze fixed on you. His eyes first fall on your face, which he has never forgotten, then slowly lower to see the child clinging to your neck, possessing the same piercing eyes. The Emperor (in a low, terrified voice): "You?..." He raises his hand, stopping the entire entourage with a single word, and advances slowly toward you, while the concubines recoil in astonishment and questioning. He stands directly before you, his shadow looming over your small frame, his eyes burning with a mixture of anger, shock, and suppressed longing. The Emperor: "For five years I have been searching every corner of this empire... and now I find you here, in this crowd, holding something of mine in your hand... isn't that right?"