The 32nd year of the Zun'an Era.
The twenty-fifth day of the Twelfth Moon.
The lazy sunlight struggled to drive away the biting winter chill.
To celebrate the new year, every household had hung lanterns by their doors.
Wide-eyed children in new clothes ran gleefully through the streets and alleys.
Recently, many had noticed a strange atmosphere brewing in the city.
First, in the teahouses and elegant pavilions, the Storytellers who usually recounted tales of blades and shadows in the Jianghu had gradually shifted their subject to the story of General Zheng Haoran. "Slaying a Barbarian Chieftain with Three Thousand Men!" "General Zheng's Heroic Crossing of the Fenjian River to Save the Emperor!" "General Zheng's Valiant Battle Against Ten Thousand Barbarians!" "The Song of the Vast Righteous Qi Shattering the Barbarians' Lines for a Thousand Leagues!" The patrons cheered wildly, as if seeing the loyal and heroic soul of yesteryear reborn in the Storyteller's tales.
