Duckling

The crimson plum blossoms that splattered across the fresh snow like blood finally washed away with the melting of a long winter and the first pink petals of peach blossoms danced through the wooden windows to stray into the folds of Yan Zheyun's parchment as he sat reading on the divan. 

It was a lazy spring afternoon in Ai Yun Palace and Yan Zheyun had a military text in hand but his mind had strayed to other more whimsical thoughts. 

The campus of his big city university had always dressed up for spring, the long boulevards stretching between the mixture of colonial architecture and modern glass buildings blushing pink like a bride on her wedding day as the peach trees overhead bloomed. Outside in the refreshing spring breeze, young couples strolled hand-in-hand as they commuted between classes. But for every happily-ever-after, there was a broken young heart and Yan Zheyun had shattered a fair share of his back in his time.