The evening sun tilts westward.
On a dirt road within the Huai River path, a gray donkey snorts, flicking its tail, leisurely pulling a cart laden with thick straw.
The leather collar on the donkey's neck has worn a circle of fur, and the brass bell it holds gently shakes.
Zhao Douan wears a straw hat, flicking a whip, resembling a rustic villager. Behind him, on the piled straw in the cart, sits the only female emperor in the six hundred years of the Great Yu dynasty.
"...Thus, at the critical moment, Eunuch Hai appeared with men to block the pursuing soldiers, and only then was I able to escape," Zhao Douan recounted the story in a low voice, wearing a pained expression:
"I should have met with Your Majesty by noon, but... I accidentally got lost in the mountain forest, went in the wrong direction, and had no choice but to take a big detour to catch up.
