That Year, the River Fire Illuminated Our Parting Sorrows

That Year, the River Fire Illuminated Our Parting Sorrows Plot:

A Zhao, a boatwoman in Jiangzhou, has guarded her old boat for a decade. Every Zhongyuan Festival, she releases river lanterns into the Yangtze—honoring a "message pact" with Gu Yuan, her scholar lover. Ten years prior, Gu Yuan held her hand and vowed, "Wait for me to pass the exam, and I’ll marry you with a grand sedan." But the next day, only a half jade pendant etched with "Zhao" (her name) remained at the dock—he had vanished without a trace. This year, just as she sends the lanterns afloat, one surges back against the current. Its surface bears the character "Yuan" (his name), written in a familiar hand that makes her heart tremor! She looks up, and there stands Gu Yuan in a green robe on the bow. Yet the wooden box he clutches, wrapped in red cloth, seeps dark brown stains. More chilling still: in the reeds across the river, a shadow grips another identical jade pendant, and in the distance, a line of blood-streaked river lanterns drifts slowly toward them...