<blockquote>Nihuang with her heart pounding squeezed the Emperor’s hand. She had known before she submitted the report that it might not work. She had already thought of her last resort. She confessed, “I could not choose from the nine good men, your Majesty, because the one I wanted was not there.”</blockquote>
➤ Perhaps not the best idea to end up with a fic focused on questions of identity as your first fic in a fandom but it looked fun so here we are. And it turns out this one is totally readable even if you don't know the characters! Even if I'm sure I'm missing absolute boatloads of nuance. I was still right - it was fun.
