[PAST]
War erupts before Ye Jing-e even reaches the main courtyard.
The sound hits first—booming, metallic, layered with screams that echo up the palace walls. Sparks fall from the sky like dying stars as flaming arrows arc overhead, embedding themselves into rooftops with dull, hungry thuds.
Jing-e breaks into a sprint, the heat of fire brushing against his face as he bursts out of the inner wing. The courtyard is chaos—soldiers scrambling into formations, armor half-buckled, blades hastily drawn. Servants dart in terrified spirals, carrying water buckets or fleeing altogether. The once-serene palace grounds glow red under the inferno climbing the northern wall.
A captain spots him and runs over. "GENERAL! The northern battalion breached the Iron Gate—the barrier is collapsing!"
That barrier is supposed to withstand siege-level force for three days.
It lasted barely an hour.
"How?" Jing-e demands.
