Episode 1: The 10 Days Decree

The incense in the Ancestral Hall had not stopped burning in two years.

It smelled like funeral smoke and old blood. Like the day they brought King Li Zheng’s body back in pieces.

Crown Princess Li Zhanyi stood in the center of the hall and did not bow.

She was in black battle leather. Not the silk robes her sisters wore. Not the crown she was supposed to inherit. Her lightning sword was strapped across her back. Her hands were scarred. At 20, she had commanded the border for two years while the Council argued in this hall.

In front of her, Elder Mo slammed his staff on the stone. The sound echoed.

_“Ten days,”_ he said. His voice was dry. Final. _“You have ten days, Crown Princess Li Zhanyi. Find a king. Present him to the Council. Or the Li Kingdom is declared unfit to rule and the throne is dissolved.”_

Silence.

Behind Zhanyi, her sisters moved. *Li Nan*, the elder twin. Soft eyes, diplomat’s mouth. The one the Council wanted on the throne. She looked like she was about to cry. *Li Mei*, the older twin. Healer’s hands. She was gripping Nan’s sleeve.

To Zhanyi’s right stood the only two people in this kingdom who did not flinch when she spoke.

_Li Haku._ Her assistant. 22. Ink on his fingers and maps in his head. He’d been with her since she was 14, when she first picked up a sword and the other servants called her unladylike. He never called her that.

_Lu Mian._ Female general. 20. Scar across her jaw from the day she threw herself between Zhanyi and an assassin at 16. She stood like a wall. No bow. No fear.

_“No ruler may sit the Li throne unless she presents a king,”_ Elder Mo continued. _“It is ancient law. A man capable enough to hold the border. The kingdom will not follow a woman alone. Not after what happened to your father.”_

The word _father_ hit like a blade.

Zhanyi’s jaw tightened. Two years ago, the Eastern Domain had butchered him and sent his head back in a box. The Council called it ‘a tragedy.’ Zhanyi called it war.

*Nan* stepped forward. _“Elder. The people love Zhanyi. She pushed back the border raiders last winter with half the troops you gave her. She deserves—”_

_“The people love peace!”_ Elder Mo cut her off. _“And peace comes from a king. From strength. From a man. Not a girl who brings us more war.”_

Haku’s hand twitched toward his brush. Mian’s hand went to her sword.

Zhanyi lifted one finger. _Stand down._

_“Where am I supposed to find a king in ten days?”_ she asked. Her voice was quiet. That was worse than yelling. _“The neighboring kingdoms won’t send one. They’re waiting for the Li Kingdom to fall so they can carve it up. The only men who would take me are men like Lord Chen. And I’d rather burn.”_

_“That is not the Council’s concern, Your Highness,”_ Elder Mo said. _“The law is the law. Find a king. Or watch your father’s kingdom become pieces by spring.”_

Dismissed.

The hall doors closed behind them with a sound like a tomb.

In the courtyard, the cold hit them. Mian kicked the war table so hard the maps jumped.

_“Ten days is impossible,”_ she spat. _“This is a trap. They want *Nan* on the throne. Soft. Married to Chen’s son by next month. Controllable.”_

_“Then we don’t give them Nan,”_ Haku said. He was already unrolling a map of the northern mountains. His eyes were sharp. _“Your Highness. There is one option.”_

Zhanyi looked at him. _“Say it.”_

_“The Graveyard Pass,”_ Haku said. _“No one goes there. The mist hasn’t lifted in ten years. Not since Zhang Wei of the Eastern Domain died there.”_

Zhanyi went still. _“The Ghost King.”_

_“Murdered by his own brother,”_ Haku nodded. _“Age 19. They say he still sits a throne of bone and frost. If any man wouldn’t fear the Crown Princess of Li... it’s a dead one.”_

Mian stared. _“You’re telling her to marry a ghost.”_

_“I’m telling her to survive,”_ Haku said quietly.

Zhanyi looked at the mountains in the distance. Grey and endless. Ten days.

She looked at her two people. Haku, who would follow her into hell and take notes. Mian, who would burn hell down for her.

_“Ten days to find him,”_ Zhanyi said. _“Haku, you’re with me. Mian, hold the border. If I don’t come back with a king, prepare for war.”_

She paused.

_“And if I do come back with one?”_

Mian grinned, sharp and bloody. _“Then we make the Council regret every word they said today.”_

_“This marriage won’t end in 10 days,”_ Zhanyi said. _“It ends when we have our revenge. When no one in this kingdom can call me ‘just a girl’ and live.”_

Haku bowed. _“When do we leave, Your Highness?”_

_“Now,”_ Zhanyi said. _“Before I change my mind. Before they send Chen’s men to arrest me.”_

Behind them, the Ancestral Hall doors stayed closed.

Ahead of them, the mountains waited. And in them, a dead king.

_Day 1 of 10. The countdown has begun._

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_[END OF EPISODE 1 ]_

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