Choose Your Game: 

“Xi Shi, darling, you know this is for the best of us. King Gou Jian and I, his advisor and your one true love, will all be eliminated, but if we gift you to the Wu King, we can distract him with your beauty and grace. Besides, think about the honor you’ll acquire. I’ll be able to marry you, at last,” Fan Li said in a quiet, firm tone. His sullen eyes looked down on me, as the moon cast a shadow of us on the calm ripples of the river. 

“Fan Li, we should escape tonight! There’s no promise that the Wu King won’t kill you and that our kingdom will prevail! He may kill me too!” The Wu King had already conquered the Yue kingdom, and their King would surely not show mercy to his enemies’ court. It was rumored he commanded his army to stack the Yue Kingdom’s soldiers’ bodies to form a mountain, forcing our king to surrender. 

“If we flee, King Gou Jian will find us and make me kill you! He’s already shamed me for courting you, but if you embellish as his spy to distract King Fu Chai, he will surely let us be married.” His face darkened, and I knew that I, a lowly village girl, had to do this, for us. Our kingdom will certainly win this war so Fan Li and I can be together. 

                 “Life is like a game of chess, changing with every move”

Player Number: 

The warm spring breeze cupped my face, the sun stretched across the horizons, kissing the delicate faces of his children, and the cherry blossoms swayed, telling each other secrets. Even though I was to be given to King Fu Chai today, I felt as if it was a blessing for me and Fan Li. The servants had washed me with warm rosy water and dressed me in the finest red tunic with fierce, golden dragons at the end of the sleeves. I could hear my heart thump slowly with each hitch on the ground. 

The sun soon etched its reds and oranges on the strips of clouds, the birds flew soundly, afraid of the dark, and the carriage stopped with my heart pulsing faster and my head was heavy with doubt and gold. The coachman shuffled and as the guards marched towards him: dread. 

“King Gou Jian from the Yue Kingdom has sent your majesty, King Fu Chain, a consort. Let me present to you the most beautiful lady in China, Lady Xi Shi.” His voice hitched, and I could hear his breath stop, or was it me? Slowly I stepped out of the carriage and raised my head.

                             “If you go out and seek revenge, first dig two graves”

Difficulty Level:

The trees, once vibrant and green, slowly turned into the soft colors of heaven. It had been half a year since I’ve seen my Fan Li. King Fu Chai regularly came into my chamber, and I had to entertain him, sing to him, and talk to him like he was Fan Li. I hated the way his greedy eyes studied me, the way he would caress my face with his rough fingers, and the way he ate with his mouth open like a pig; he was nothing compared to Fan Li. The nights were never  peaceful: shouts could be heard everywhere as soldiers clashed until their last breath, villages were savagely burned to dust, and advisors rushed in and out of the palace while the Wu King hollered for more soldiers. You could not hear the soft whistling of the wind anymore: winter was around the corner. As night fell, the moon would cast its shadow and I would be reminded of the distance between him and I. When will this war end?

  “There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the view is always the                                                                            same.”

Time Limit:

I heard a small tapping from my window; was it an assassin? No: King Fu Chai had already left my chambers clamoring loudly about the final battle tomorrow. Hesitantly, I slowly rose up and softly shook the curtains to reveal a figure. 

“My love, it’s me. We will win the war tomorrow and finally be united.” I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it was really him. His wrinkles had hardened, and his eyes cast a dark shadow on his handsome face. An endless spring came down my widened eyes,  and I hurriedly opened the wooden bars of the window, allowing him in.

“I’m so joyous you’re here, in front of me. My dissent for this place was nearly too much to bear.”

“My love, don’t shed your tears. Tomorrow, we will be wed.” With those sweet words he left, and the night felt cold again. That night, I couldn’t sleep: I felt my heart thumping the same rhythm it had when I first grew fond of Fan Li. After all the shaming from the court ladies and advisors, I could finally marry my Fan Li. 

I awoke to hollers from the Wu advisors and drums calling the people's attention . “THE WU KING IS DEAD. KING FU CHAI IS DEAD. THE WU KINGDOM HAS SURRENDERED TO THE YUE KINGDOM.” The streams came back again; today was the day I would be free to be in Fan Li’s arms. 

I hastily put on the simple, but glistening, red tunic I had picked for my wedding, not even bothering to tediously shape my hair. The maids soon came in, but I ran past them to the courtroom where I expected my love to be.

                                            “Time won’t come again.”

Ready?: 

“Your majesty, King Gou Jian, Heaven’s son! It was my pleasure to serve as your spy.” The Yue King was in front of me as I kneeled, trembling, with my face almost on the floor. The Wu palace was reduced to ruins: debris was thick in the air, its glorious size turned no bigger than a villager’s hut, and the Wu King laid dead on the floor of his throne. 

“You may rise, my child. You have done well. As your reward, I will grant you the privilege to marry Fan Li.” My face glowed red and all I thought about was the life I would have with Fan Li. 

The bloodied soldiers, our King, Fan Li, and I were sent back to the Yue Kingdom where I was to be set free with him. The sun glistened crimson as it was ready to escape. 

Suddenly I felt a soldier seize my shoulder, pulling me off the carriage. 

“What are you doing? Let go of me, I am Fan Li’s wife.” The rough hands closed on my throat, threatening me to be quiet. Questions swirled in my mind, but no answers could be found in the crimson. 

“Fan Li, what’s happening?”

“Be quiet, you're a bad omen now. Fan Li will marry my daughter and be the heir to the throne when I depart this life. A smart, powerful man should not be marrying a dirty girl like you. Besides, you are already used,” the King laughed, sneering. 

I felt my heart stop, my breaths hitching, and my face set in place. The crimson turned to black, the wind roared, and the flower wilted and died. Fan Li sat in the carriage while his tunic swayed in the coarse winds with his head still, but high, never glancing back. It was cold, the water was cold. There was no point in trying…

                                 “Everything is ready except the east wind”

Go:

Warmth? Was this heaven, or hell? My muscles ached as I tried to sit up and my throat was parched as I tried to muster up a word.

“Looks like you’re awake. I found you thrashing around the river when I went to gather water. You put up quite a fight before you passed out; I had to drag you here,” someone beside me said. I cautiously looked over and saw a girl no older than me: she had a mischievous smile, and her eyes looked like they twinkled with secrets. A long scar ran across her face, from the left side of her forehead to the right side of her cheeks; she had a sort of foxy beauty. 

“You’re in my house, on the rural farmlands of the previous Wu Kingdom. There’s a cup of water to the left of you. I thought you might need it after three days of being passed out.” She looked like she wanted to ask who and what I was doing in the harsh waters of the icy river. 

“How can I thank you? You saved my life.” A teardrop, unexpectedly, dropped on my hands while my head was bent down. 

“Well maybe you can tell me your name and how you ended up in the river.” She smiled again and chuckled softly.

“My name is Guang Xi Shi . After I became a consort in the Wu Kingdom to be King Gou Jian’s spy, he declared me a bad omen and left me to perish in the river.” The words came out before I could think; it sounded like a dream, or nightmare, that I would wake up from soon. Fan Li will come back for me, right? We were each other’s only will to live; I hope he doesn’t hang himself because he thought I was gone. 

Slowly, after each meal, I told her a little about me, and she told me something about her. Her name was Lin Siniang. She was a girl that also grew up poor, and when her father tried to sell her, she ran away and trained in archery to kill the man that bought her. She laughed at me when I told her my story, about Fan Li and me: she said that I “was merely an object he used, got bored of and tossed” and that “I was a fool to be still in love with him.” I tried to ignore her, pushing every one of her words out of my small mind, but I could feel the cold slaps of the wind that told me she was telling the bitter truth. My eyes once spirited turned somber, my smile once sincere turned spiteful, and my soul once bright turned barren. The fruitful destiny I was given was apprehended by the one I loved. I wanted revenge. I was going to kill him.

“If you must play, decide upon three things at the start: the rules of the game, the                                                  stakes, and the quitting time”

Warning: five minutes remaining:
My hands soon became rough and calloused, my eyes gradually lost their pink hue I gazed at that world with, and my mind briskly became as sharp as the arrows I was going to kill Sir Fan Li with. The day Sir Fan Li and Lady Lu Jian were unified was the night, I gave my soul to the Wang Liang. 

            Once more the trees grew bare, the rivers turned bleak, and the heavens shone less and less. Lady Lu Jian was going to conceive on the day of midwinter and on the peak of that day, my sharpest arrow will pierce his eyes, the eyes I had yearned for and the eyes that had deceived me. 

“Are you sure you want to seek revenge? You may not live,” Siniang asked when I told her my plan. She gaped at me at first but told me she understood: she did the same thing. Revenge was the one selfish gift the Wang Liang granted me. I have lived my life for these bastards: as my drunken-father’s servants, always to obey, as Fan Li’s lover, always flaunted, and as King Gou Jian’s “spy”, manipulated and then disposed. I’ve never felt Heaven’s regard or warmth. But this time, I could. Just two more days, and I could feel the warmth of joy. 

                                 “Love is blind, and greed insatiable”

Warning: one minute remaining:

The wind was held by shackles; it remained a whisper. The water below froze, threatening to suffocate those that fell in, and the heaven vaguely appeared behind the thick clouds that towered in the sky. The bridge I was walking on creaked slowly to the melody of the bitter winds.  A cry was heard-- a boy’s cry-- finally, he arrived. There he stood, tall with a smile that taunted me, with the boy I always hoped for: the “one” he held for the entire kingdom to gaze at. 

“THE PRINCE IS BORN. THE YUE HEIR IS BORN.” Drums, the sounds of mockery I heard when all I thought about was marrying him. I pulled an arrow from the three arrows I prepared and gripped the strings ready to shoot. 

“Xi Shi, don’t do it, you’ll regret it. Please. Stay with me and we’ll live a peaceful life, forget about him,” a voice whispered calmly. Siniang? Why was she here? How dare she try to stop this when she did the same thing?

My breaths became sudden, my cheeks flushed, and my eyebrows furrowed. I had to do this; greed is insatiable. Without another thought, my hands thrust the arrow on the bow and I aimed. 

                                            “Remember the rules: be fair”

Checkmate: 

Fear, disgust, and amusement plastered the faces of the mindless people in front of me. The criticism and unspoken words were thick in the air, but I felt free. My knees, scraped now, dug into the wooden, weak, platform; I was finally on top. I stood in front of the palace where Fan Li and I were supposed to be wed, but instead my head would soon be displayed for the sniveling Queen and her newborn prince. The wind howled and pure flakes covered the withered, once-beautiful greenery. My hands turned white, seemingly pure, from the thick ropes that I once envisaged my neck on. The brown blade would soon meet my neck that was once adorned with its weight in gold. Heaven has left his cruel beauty as my parting gift. I could never win this game, could I? Rather, I was the game: used and discarded. 

                                         "Walking death is a going home”