But things never go as planned.
Not long after Dong Shuang was born, the flames of war began to spread.
Initially, it started from their village. Because they were on the border, they were never at peace.
The village's farmland was destroyed, and most ridiculously, the ones who destroyed it were not soldiers of the Great Yue Dynasty, but the unreasonable soldiers of the minor Qin Kingdom!
Those soldiers of the minor Qin Kingdom, claiming to be the royal army, acted atrociously in the village.
Their blades were not pointed at the soldiers of the Great Yue Dynasty, but at the ordinary citizens of the minor Qin Kingdom.
As long as the citizens did anything that displeased them, they would threaten their lives, making everyone suffer even more.
Dong Shuang's parents felt that with their farmland destroyed and their own home occupied by those soldiers, they could no longer stay in Xiao Yin Village.
That year, they had planned to quietly cross the border and simply enter the Great Yue Dynasty to make a living.
It would be much better than slowly bringing the newborn Dong Shuang to starve or freeze to death in Xiao Yin Village.
But heaven seemed to have not heard the pleas of these pitiable people.
They didn't even have time to leave Xiao Yin Village before the soldiers locked them up in the ancestral hall at the village entrance!
The soldiers said that the Great Yue Dynasty's army was about to attack, and they would be used as bait to lure the Great Yue Dynasty's soldiers in, and then burn them all to death in the ancestral hall.
No matter how the villagers of Xiao Yin Village cried and begged, those soldiers of the minor Qin Kingdom showed no mercy.
With no other option, the villagers of Xiao Yin Village who were locked up together could only think of another way: find a way to send the children out.
There were not many people in Xiao Yin Village to begin with, and many had fled after the war began.
Therefore, on that day, there were only eleven children under the age of ten locked in the ancestral hall, with Dong Shuang being the youngest.
The villagers of Xiao Yin Village unanimously decided to find a way to send the children and Dong Shuang's parents, who were the weakest, out.
Children represented hope, and they entrusted the children to Dong Shuang's parents, asking them to find a way to take them to the Great Yue Dynasty, where they might find a way to survive in the future.
So, the villagers racked their brains and dug a small dog hole under the ancestral hall.
The children could crawl out, but it was very difficult for Dong Shuang's parents.
Dong Shuang heard her mother say that when they crawled out, their bodies were covered in scratches. Dong Shuang's father even voluntarily peeled off a large piece of flesh from his back. Dong Shuang also remembered that her father had a large scar on his back.
Even so, they only managed to send out six children, including Dong Shuang.
This was because the dog hole was quickly discovered by the soldiers and then completely sealed.
Dong Shuang's parents, with the six children, embarked on a journey of escape.
But their escape was not smooth at all.
Before they could leave Xiao Yin Village, they were discovered by those soldiers.
Three of the older children were taken away by the soldiers, while the others were locked in cages.
Dong Shuang's parents, along with Dong Shuang and the other two children, watched with their own eyes as Xiao Yin Village, along with the Great Yue Dynasty soldiers who had entered, turned into a sea of fire the next morning.
The screams of that day would cause Dong Shuang's mother to wake up from nightmares for many years to come.
Later, they were imprisoned by the soldiers of the minor Qin Kingdom for half a year. They did all the hard labor in the army. Dong Shuang's mother was even defiled by a rogue in the minor Qin Kingdom's army. If it weren't for Dong Shuang being young at the time and having three other children to care for, Dong Shuang's mother might not have survived at that time.
Until the minor Qin Kingdom could no longer hold on, they were thrown onto the road, left to fend for themselves, these pitiable "prisoners."
Dong Shuang's father and mother, already covered in wounds, pulled the three children and resolutely walked from the minor Qin Kingdom towards the Great Yue Dynasty—
They found a small village in the Great Yue Dynasty and lived there anonymously.
However, of the three children, including Dong Shuang, only two survived.
One boy, shortly after arriving in the Great Yue Dynasty, due to the immense hardship and having his arm broken by the army of the minor Qin Kingdom, fell seriously ill and died in the Great Yue Dynasty.
But this child was already sensible, and even when he was on the verge of death, he only begged Dong Shuang's parents to bury him in the Great Yue Dynasty.
He never wanted to return to the minor Qin Kingdom that had caused him so much suffering.
Thus, Dong Shuang, her "brother," and her parents finally settled down in the Great Yue Dynasty.
They thought that life would continue peacefully. Although their family's life was poor, it was harmonious.
And because they had experienced hardship, their family became even more united and harmonious.
Dong Shuang's brother was even more promising, studying very well, and said he wanted to take the imperial examinations when he was old enough.
He didn't want to be an official; he only wished to return to his village and open a school to teach. At that time, he could also help the family financially, and their lives would surely improve.
This continued until Dong Shuang was ten years old—
One night, during a torrential downpour, their door was kicked open.
Bandits from the mountains descended and killed Dong Shuang's parents and brother.
If they hadn't hidden Dong Shuang in the cellar, Dong Shuang would have also perished.
And Dong Shuang heard the words of these bandits very clearly!
They were not from Great Yue, but deserters from the minor Qin Kingdom who had fled to the Great Yue Dynasty!
Dong Shuang's first half of her life had been ruined by these soldiers of the minor Qin Kingdom.
Ten-year-old Dong Shuang hid in the cellar, watching the blood of her loved ones seep down, her heart filled with despair.
If it weren't for Qiu Qing's father coming to help collect the bodies later and finding Dong Shuang, who had been living in the cellar for who knows how long, and taking her home, there would be no Dong Shuang in this world.
Speaking of this, a misty haze covered Dong Shuang's beautiful eyes. "So returning here today, I also feel a sense of emotion. I left this place when I was young and have no memory of it. But this is where my father and mother lived for half their lives, and it is considered stepping onto my homeland. I always feel like there are lingering souls calling out. My other relatives were all burned to death here."
She looked at the ruins of the ancestral hall. "Perhaps their bones are still intertwined. And the fact that I survived is the greatest joy in my heart. It was the lives of so many people that exchanged for my life!"