The day Mingqi learned to play chess from the old man by the crossroads, she was sent straight into the palace…
The day Mingqi learned to play chess from the old man by the crossroads, she was sent straight into the palace.
She remembered it was an endgame puzzle: a lone pawn capturing the general. Her worth, she figured, could not be traded for a general, but to her parents, sending her into the palace was at least akin to trading a pawn for a steed, wasn't it?
Of course, this question would hardly ever find an answer. After all, her parents never expected their pawn to have a day of return, and having become a palace maid, she would hardly see the day she could leave. Thus, within the crimson walls, she did her duty as a palace pawn, day after day.