The Liberation of Lu Yi

When we loved each other most, Jiang Shen and I promised ourselves three lifetimes together. Perhaps our hearts were too sincere in that moment, for Heaven actually granted our wish. In our first life, he and I walked hand in hand through the innocence of youth, stopping only one step short of marriage. In our second, he was reborn as the Crown Prince, second only to the emperor and above all others, while I became the daughter of an impoverished family. I was imprisoned deep within the palace; he galloped across the battlefield. In our third, the wheel of fortune turned, and it was I who became the sovereign. Three lives, three lifetimes. How romantic—and how terribly long. Long enough for me to become meat beneath another’s knife. Long enough for me to become the butcher. And long enough for me to be born anew.