Contents
Chapter Sixteen: The Crownless King, the Heartless Queen
Overview
Sima Yi stages a controlled media debut for Zetian and Li Shimin, forcing them to appear compliant amid a hostile camp still mourning Yang Guang. Training to build synergy fails, tensions boil over at lunch, and Earl-class pilot Wang Shicong assaults Zetian. Li Shimin violently intervenes, escalating their fraught standing with other pilots.
Summary
Descending from the Great Wall for their media debut, Sima Yi orders Li Shimin to hold Zetian to project control. Despite panic and resentment, Zetian complies, recognizing she must appear subdued to appease the army. Reporters swarm them in the camp cafeteria, where the ranking board displays Yang Guang’s obituary, focusing hostility on Zetian.
Over breakfast, Zetian notes the Wall’s complex ecosystem of personnel and the pilots’ celebrity status, while resenting her forced role. Afterward, Sima Yi introduces an “ice dancing” exercise to build partner synergy, but Zetian and Li Shimin repeatedly fall and clash, showing no improvement.
At lunch, a maintenance worker spills hot soup on Sima Yi, sending him away to change, leaving Zetian and Li Shimin under two soldiers’ supervision. A nearby brawl draws a crowd and chaos. Earl-class pilot Wang Shicong of the Sky Dog sits beside them, taunting Li Shimin and confronting Zetian about killing Yang Guang.
When Wang Shicong grabs Zetian’s wrists, Li Shimin slams the table and pulls him off. As Shicong reaches for Li Shimin’s collar-leash, the struggle erupts; food and trays scatter. Li Shimin loops his leash around Wang Shicong’s neck and chokes him, dragging him away from Zetian.
Zetian, simultaneously terrified and vindicated, views Li Shimin’s violent defense as a long-delayed assertion of protection. The incident cements their alienation from the camp while exposing the volatility of their partnership and the failure of Sima Yi’s efforts to tame their image.
Who Appears
- ZetianNarrator; forced into a submissive media posture, endures hostility, fails synergy training, and is harassed before Li Shimin defends her.
- Li ShiminPilot partner; unsteady and bleary, struggles in training, then chokes Wang Shicong with his leash to protect Zetian.
- Sima YiCoach-strategist; orchestrates image control and ice-dance training; leaves after soup spill, missing the cafeteria escalation.
- Wang ShicongEarl-class Sky Dog pilot; water-qi coldness, taunts and grabs Zetian, then is strangled by Li Shimin.
- SoldiersSupervise and escort the pair; briefly leave during cafeteria brawl, allowing confrontation to escalate.
- ReportersCapture the staged debut, intensifying scrutiny and the camp’s hostility toward Zetian.
- Maintenance workerAccidentally spills hot soup on Sima Yi, triggering his absence during the cafeteria incident.
- Xing TianHeadless Warrior pilot; glimpsed glaring in the cafeteria, embodying pilots’ anger over Yang Guang.