Contents
Chapter One: A Butterfly that Better not be my Dead Sister
Overview
Zetian prepares to enlist by altering her appearance, revealing her plan to avenge her sister Ruyi by killing pilot Yang Guang. A rare yin-yang butterfly prompts debate on gender roles and the sacrificial system of piloting. She confides in Yizhi, committing to infiltrate as a concubine and murder Yang Guang.
Summary
By a secluded creek, Zetian has her friend Yizhi tweeze her unibrow with his tablet’s projection, preparing to increase her value for army enlistment. Her thoughts fixate on her dead sister Ruyi, whose ashes she and Yizhi secretly released into the creek, and on the social rules that have constrained her.
They witness a newly emerged butterfly with mismatched yin-yang wings, leading them to search how such duality exists in nature. The sight sparks Zetian’s questions about gender, yin and yang, and why girls are the ones sacrificed in Chrysalis piloting, only to hit restricted information.
As they banter, Zetian’s resentment toward prescribed female sacrifice hardens into resolve. She recalls Ruyi’s death at the hands of ace pilot Yang Guang and the family’s fixation on compensation rather than grief, underscoring Zetian’s isolation and purpose.
Unable to keep silent, Zetian tells Yizhi she’s enlisting as a concubine-pilot for Yang Guang. When Yizhi protests, she reveals a hidden hairpin blade and declares her plan: become Yang Guang’s alluring concubine and murder him in his sleep to avenge Ruyi.
Who Appears
- ZetianProtagonist; prepares for enlistment, questions gendered sacrifice, mourns Ruyi, and vows to infiltrate and kill Yang Guang.
- YizhiWealthy friend; helps shape Zetian’s eyebrows, shares tablet knowledge, witnesses butterfly, hears Zetian’s assassination plan.
- RuyiZetian’s deceased sister; murdered by Yang Guang. Her memory motivates Zetian’s revenge; her ashes were released into the creek.
- Yang GuangFamed pilot who killed Ruyi; target of Zetian’s planned assassination by enlisting as his concubine-pilot.