Sorrow In Autumn

Chapter 1. Dream Of You

A purely indulgent fic born from watching The Legend of Mi Yue, insomnia and the violin. For Akai_Seirei. My hero and the best writer.

Note: There are three large countries in this story: Dixing, Shangbei and Southern Haixing. The city states of the semi-unified Middle States, straddle the land between the three.

Each country has a realm of their own, accessed by a gateway but the city states do not. The gates are controlled and managed by the Guardian of Realms Order, traditionally headquartered in the north, governed by Zhao Yunlan and SID.

A war has raged for decades between Southern Haixing and Dixing on and off. Southern Haixing wanted the northern lands for their own.   These lands used to be fragmented but were unified by Zhao Yunlan under the name Kunlun, becoming Shangbei. Lord of Shangbei is one of his titles but he is in fact the king, succeeded by his second Jie Ming.

The second Guardian position, Lord Guardian does not run the gateways but manages the cultivation world like the Chief Cultivator in  Mo Dao Zu Shi. This postilion is held by Ma Gui.

----

In the dialogue Zhao Yunlan is referring to the version of Shen Wei's name. Changing 2nd tone to a 1st tone...so to make this less confusing the names when spoken are in the pinyin form. Shěn Wēi. Other times they just Shen Wei. 

----

Note 2021:  Chapters has been altered to fit better with the latter part of the story. Originally, I simply called Zhao Yunlan's country Northern Haixing. I've since changed it to Shangbei, which means "northern land.'

------- ------------------------------------------- ----------------   --------------- --------------

The nights fell early now that autumn had come to the wide plains. The chill in the air promising a harsh winter, but tonight at least there was no rain. A light breeze danced through the treetops, brushing the tips of the long, wild grasses in the meadow behind the Allies camp.

In daylight it had been beautiful with sweet meadow flowers and the smell of wild grass, with the mountains towering high above them. Though not as high as Da Huang Mountain he was sure. The legendary place of magnificent pines, healing hot springs and waterfalls...righteous heroes and ancient tribes.

The birthplace of Lord Kunlun, king of Shangbei.

Tonight was a night for celebration and Shen Wei felt mellow and warm, stretched out amid the grasses with only the stars as their witness. They listened to the wind and the constant chatter of the cicadas, watching the torches in the distance, the smoke and flickering flames of the small fires back in the camp, just noticeable over the ridge.

It would be the first time they could rest in weeks, with no crisis to manage, no battle strategy to master or a dawn raid to command. Their enemy had over stretched themselves and their forces, leaving this area barely protected. It had not been particularly difficult to use the resources of the Allies and the willingness of the men and women sworn to fight, to free those held captive in another of the temporary prisons. The Dixingian Army had risen to the challenge and with Allies, they had triumphed.

Together with Kunlun, he had led a sizable force, siphoning them into smaller groups to move them past the watching forces, on the Western front. Buoyed by past victories, they followed and in three days had destroyed nine of the enemy's outposts. Thirty one enemy prisoners were now held captive and many more had died at the hands of the army and Shen Wei himself.