Fan Fiction 3:Masquerade 25 chap (complete)

[sowfoong]

Fan Fiction 3 – Masquerade

Chapter 1

Ancient China

In the library of the Palace, the King was furious and shaking with wrath as his only daughter, Princess Mei Ling had refused to bow to his wishes and stood her ground, “How dare you defy my orders and refused to marry Prince Li? You had been betrothed to him since you were born. If you do not apologize and agree to this marriage, I am going to have you locked up in the dungeon and you are never ever going to see daylight again,” roared the King.

“Fine, lock me up then, but I will never agree to this marriage. I have not seen Prince Li for ages and he was obnoxious and mean to me the one time when I met him. I have also heard that he was a womanizer who had broken thousands of innocent girls’ hearts. I refused to be married to such a dishonorable person! Why can’t I marry someone I love? Why must my happiness be sacrificed for political reasons?” Princess Mei Ling stood her ground fearlessly. She inherited her royal father’s obstinacy and strong will. The King had loved only the Queen and had refused to take any concubines, even if it was just to get an heir, thus Princess Mei Ling, being his only child with his beloved Queen, was his only heir. Princess Mei Ling was lavished with all the love and luxury of the royal family.

“I do not want to hear any excuses. It is a matter of honor. You had been betrothed to Prince Li since birth and you will honor that promise. Go to your room at once and repent. I do not want to see you again until you are ready to apologize and agree to marry Prince Li,” ordered the King.

Princess Mei Ling gave her royal father a hateful look, stomped her feet, and stormed out of the library without another word.

The King shook his head with disgust, “I have spoiled this girl so much that she dared to defy my wishes. What am I going to do? The future of our two countries cannot be put in danger on the whims of a girl. To unite our two countries, Princess Mei Ling must marry Prince Li, no matter happens, otherwise we are lost.”

The King went back to his own rooms, worried about the future of his country. Strong neighbors who were eyeing his little country with greed surrounded him. He needed a strong alliance in order to preserve peace for his people. King Li from a neighboring country was a good childhood friend and when a son was born to King Li and a few years later a daughter was born to King Chiu, the two friends decided to cement their friendship further by betrothing both their children to each other. Now that Prince Li is of age, it is time to honor that promise and Princess Mei Ling must be persuaded to agree to this union, but how?

Chapter 2

Princess Mei Ling had just turned fifteen, was a stunning beauty, graceful and petite, with large beautiful eyes, flawless complexion, cute nose and a gorgeous smile. With her winsome smiles, Princess Mei Ling had her royal father’s heart in her hands and had gotten away with a lot of her mischievous adventures without punishment. Princess Mei Ling was a mischievous imp, who loves playing good-natured tricks on everyone in the palace and no one had dared to scold her, except for her nanny.

Nanny was a middle-aged widow who had looked after Princess Mei Ling since she was born. Nanny was not from the royal palace; the King found her, pregnant and half beaten to death lying on the road when he was returning from a hunting trip years ago. The King was a kind man and took the injured woman back to the palace to be treated. After she recovered, she worked as a personal maid to the Queen and when the royal princess was born, took on the duties of a nanny. Though Nanny was grateful to the royal family, she never forgot her commoner background and was very down to earth and had taught the Princess to be kind to those around her, “Your Royal Highness, you may play tricks on others as long as no one was harmed by your mischief. I may lose my head to the executioner but I will not be accused of bringing up an evil and cruel person who harmed other less fortunate people.”

Thus though Princess Mei Ling was spoiled by both her royal parents, she remained down to earth and a gentle, kind and generous person at heart. Being an only child, Princess Mei Ling was happy to have a companion in Nanny’s daughter, Wei Sin. Being almost the same age they had become good friends since childhood. Wei Sin was a pretty girl, was more cunning than Princess Mei Ling who was sheltered, naïve and trusting. Wei Sin was also fiercely devoted to Princess Mei Ling and she would do anything for her mistress/friend.

After being sent to her room like a naughty girl by her royal father, Princess Mei Ling had stormed furiously into her room and sat down at the table. She eyed the brass mirror; picked it up and looked at her own reflection, seeing a sulky looking young girl who was pouting because for the first time in her life, her royal father was genuinely upset with her. Princess Mei Ling put the mirror down, annoyed at her own reflection, picked up a cup from the tea tray and threw it at the door. Wei Sin who was on her way in with a washbasin was nearly hit by the cup, “Your Royal Highness, why are you so upset?”

“It is all Prince Li’s fault! I am being forced to marry him because my royal father had to supply him with a mate now that he is of age! I hate him!” Princess Mei Ling blamed Prince Li unreasonably for her predicament.

“Have you met with Prince Li before?” questioned Wei Sin.

“Yes, only once when I was five years old. He was an extremely obnoxious boy. He said that he was not going to play with a girl, when we were together,” Mei Ling recalled.

“Was that all?” Wei Sin asked, knowing the Princess well that there had to be more to that incident for her to remember Prince Li so unfavorably.

“Yes, there was more. I pushed him into the pond and received a severe reprimand from my royal father,” Princess Mei Ling recalled a little ashamed of herself. She did not tell Wei Sin about the kiss Prince Li had stolen from her, which was the reason he was pushed into the pond.

“Prince Li deserved that, if you asked me. Did he do anything to retaliate?” Wei Sin asked curiously.

“No, he just laughed and said that he would get his revenge one day,” Princess Mei Ling recalled. “I am not going to give him the chance to take revenge on me by marrying him. I would rather die!” Princess Mei Ling swore passionately.

The next day, Princess Mei Ling disappeared, no trace of her could be found despite a thorough search of the whole Palace.

Chapter 3

In the Palace of the neighboring country, Prince Li was having the same dilemma, “Father, why must I marry Princess Mei Ling? From what I recalled she was totally unladylike and crazy. She had attacked me for no reason. I have heard that she was unattractive and treated her people unkindly,” Prince Li shuddered.

“My royal son, sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the good of our people. My best friend, King Li is having trouble with his neighbors just like we do. However once our two countries are united by your marriage to Princess Mei Ling, we would be doubly strong and the people of both of our countries would enjoy peace,” King Li explained.

“So my happiness has to be sacrificed? I cannot marry someone whom I love? I have to marry an unattractive and crazy tomboy just so that our people can have peace?” Prince Li asked sarcastically.

“Yes, I am sorry but you and Princess Mei Ling were betrothed since both of you were children, now that you are of age, it is time for you to make good the promise and marry her. I had seen Princess Mei Ling years ago and she was a pretty child so I cannot imagine her being unattractive now. Anyway it is time that for you to marry and prepare to take on more responsibilities instead of wasting your time with that rascal cousin of yours,” King Li was adamant.

Prince Li was in his room, feeling moody when his cousin, Wen Jun came bouncing in, “My royal cousin, guess what? I found a new hunting ground, a couple of miles into the neighboring country of Chiu. Let’s go there tomorrow and have a hunting trip.” Upon getting no response, Wen Jun looked at his cousin more carefully and to his surprise, Prince Li was looking very depressed, “What is wrong with you? Why are you looking so serious and unhappy?”

“It is not something that I want to talk about, I would like to be alone tonight,” Prince Li dismissed his cousin. Then he had a large jug of wine brought into his room and proceeds to get drunk. The next morning, Prince Li disappeared from his room and despite a thorough search of the palace, no trace of him could be found.

Wen Jun was sent by King Li to try to locate his royal cousin and bring him back to the palace. So Wen Jun packed a few sets of clothes and set off to find his missing cousin. Wen Jun was a tall good-looking young man with a devilish charm with a penchant for pretty girls. Prince Li was an honest young man who trusted his cousin totally and had allowed his cousin a lot of freedom to run errands for him. Wen Jun and Prince Li were also similar in looks. Thus Wen Jun had taken advantage of his royal cousin’s trust and had masqueraded as his royal cousin on many occasions had sweet-talked many innocent maidens into sleeping with him. That was the reason that unbeknownst to Prince Li himself, he had a reputation as a playboy who had broken thousands of maidens’ hearts.

Wen Jun was happy to get out of the palace to see the world while trying to find his royal cousin. He went incognito because King Li did not want it be known that his son had disappeared. King Li had to tell an untruth to his best friend King Chiu that Prince Li had to run errands for him in town many miles from the capital and would not be able to pay his respect to his fiancée.

King Chiu, himself was in no hurry to see Prince Li since his own daughter had been missing for a couple of days and he was sick with worry. Queen Chiu was very depressed that Princess Mei Ling had run away and blamed the King for forcing her to such drastic action. For the first time in their marriage, the royal couple had a big disagreement. The King had to find a way to placate his angry and grieving wife and he also found himself missing his royal daughter more and more each day, “Where could the little Imp be? How could she behave so recklessly and run away? We have to find her soon before she comes to any harm.”

The chief of the royal guards, General Yan, who was a martial arts expert, had been sent to locate the missing princess. When Wei Sin found out that Princess Mei Ling was missing, she took it upon herself to leave the palace on her own to find her royal friend and mistress.

Chapter 4

Wei Sin had packed a change of clothes, some money and sneaked out of the palace without telling her mother. She was very worried about Princess Mei Ling who was her mistress and best friend. She knew that Princess Mei Ling was very innocent, trusting and inexperienced in the evils of the world. She was determined to find Princess Mei Ling and be her escort if the princess insisted on staying away from the palace. Wei Sin did find out that Princess Mei Ling had taken some clothes from the stable boy so she knew that the princess was traveling disguised as a man.

Wei Sin traveled many miles the first couple of days without stopping much. She knew that Princess Mei Ling would be in a hurry to put as much distance between the palace and her so Mei Sin knew that she had only a small chance of catching up with the princess. She was tired and irritable from her journey so she was not in a good mood when she stopped at an inn to have a warm meal. A couple of coarse looking men at the next table were eyeing her with lewd interest. She pretended not to notice because she didn’t have time to waste on low lives like those two men. She had just finished her meal and asked for her bill when the two of them sauntered over to her table.

“Ah, what is a beautiful girl like you doing in this inn all by yourself?” one of the thugs questioned Wei Sin.

Wei Sin chose to ignore him and made to move past him to leave the inn, when the thug grabbed her arm angrily. He was upset that Wei Sin had ignored him, “It is rude to ignore a polite question.”

Wei Sin was furious that the thug had dared to grab her arm, she grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the table with her other hand and stabbed the thug in his eye. The thug screamed, loosened his hold on her arm and clutched his eye, which started to bleed. “You little vixen,” the other thug came to his friend’s rescue. A fight started with Wei Sin kicking over chairs and throwing plates and jugs at the thugs. She leapt over the banister, ran down the stairs and rushed into the arms of a young man coming up the steps. The momentum knocked the man backwards and the two of them rolled down the rest of the steps. Wei Sin picked herself up and sprinted out of the inn with the young man running after her.

Wei Sin stopped in an alley to catch her breath when she noticed the young man whom she had knocked down the stairs running towards her. “Stay where you are, don’t come any closer,” Wei Sin ordered.

They scrutinized each other closely. “What do you want from me,” Wei Sin questioned the young man.

“I just wanted to know if you were aware of the severity of your crime,” the young man replied.

“What crime? Those thugs were trying to molest me, I have every right to defend myself,” Wei Sin stated righteously.

“I mean the crime of attacking me!” the young man insisted.

“That is ridiculous! I did not attack you. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time. From what I have seen, you are not injured at all, so just get out of my way before you get injured by me intentionally!” Wei Sin tried to walk past the young man. However the young man moved to prevent her from leaving. Wei Sin was getting furious and impatient, she did not have time to play games but it seemed that she had no other choice but to fight this young man in order to leave. Wei Sin used her palms to strike at the man’s chest, but he was agile and blocked her blow with one arm and used his fingers on the other hand to immobilize her by hitting her pressure point.

“So now we can talk,” the young man was laughing at Wei Sin.

Chapter 5
Wei Sin struggled to move but she was immobilized. Fear crept into her heart but she was spunky and refused to show her fear, instead annoyance and anger took over, her face turned crimson and her eyes sparkle with fury, “What do you want from me?’

The young man looked at the pretty girl with admiration. She was gorgeous, indeed she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and he was struck speechless by her beauty. When she was angry her eyes lit up with a fire that he would gladly burn in. In that instant the young man understood the meaning of love at first sight.

The young man was Wen Jun. He had been traveling for a couple of days trying to locate his missing royal cousin. He had just arrived at the town and was going up the stairs to get a table and a meal when Wei Sin came crashing into his arms and caused both of them to roll down the steps. He barely caught a glimpse of her face since she sprinted away so fast but their physical contact had excited him. Wen Jun had always had a penchant for pretty girls and he was curious about the girl so he followed her, “I just want to know your name and an apology from you would be nice.”

“Look, I did not crash into you on purpose and you were not hurt in any way, but if it pleases you, I will apologize. As for my name, it is not important since we won’t be seeing each other again. Just let me go, I am in a hurry,” Wei Sin was anxious to continue on her way. She was afraid that she would not be able to catch up with Princess Mei Ling the longer the princess was on the road.

“Well, I am in no hurry, I will wait until you are prepared to tell me your name,” Wen Jun started to make himself comfortable on an overturned basket nearby.

Wei Sin was getting frustrated at Wen Jun. A sly thought came into Wei Sin’s mind, “If I used Princess Mei Ling’s name, this man is going to be afraid of offending her royal highness and will let me go.” Wei Sin put on her most disdainful look, “Young man, if you were wise you would let me go immediately. My royal escort would be here shortly and you would get your head chopped off when my royal father heard how you have disrespected me.”

Wen Jun looked amused, “You are bluffing. You don’t look like royalty and if you were, you would not be traveling alone.”

“I am Princess Chiu Mei Ling, I have decided to travel ahead of my escorts to be on my own for a little peace. The rest of the entourage would be here within an hour. You should let me go while you have time to escape,” Wei Sin lied.

Wen Jun was shocked to hear that the beautiful girl standing in front of him was his royal cousin’s fiancée. He was disappointed to hear that she was a princess and destined to marry his royal cousin. For the first time in his life, Wen Jun was very envious of his royal cousin.

Chapter 6

A young man was sitting alone at a table, waiting for his lunch and drinking some wine. He was dressed in a gray suit, which fitted his slim and small stature well. He had large beautiful eyes and a cheeky grin. A couple of minutes later a tall very good-looking young scholar stumbled unsteadily and noisily into the inn. He was totally drunk and singing some off tune songs. He sat down gratefully at the next table and grinned foolishly at the young man in gray. He laid his money pouch clumsily onto the table, which promptly fell to the floor. He picked his money pouch up and put it carelessly back onto the table.

A couple of sly looking characters from the next table nudged and whispered to each other, happy to find a potential victim to steal from. The two thieves stood up and pretended to quarrel and then fought with each other. They struggled with each other and one of them bumped into the drunken young scholar as he pretended to fall. He tried to take the money pouch without drawing attention but the drunken scholar fell forward onto the table, thus the thief missed his chance. He tried to move the drunken scholar a little aside to get to his money pouch, when the latter suddenly started to ask him drunkenly to drink with him. Both the thugs boxed the drunken scholar in, pretending to be his friend while trying to take his money pouch.

The young man in gray saw that the drunken scholar was being robbed, walked over to them and warned the two thieves, hitting them with his sword. The two thieves grumbled something about busybodies and that they were just being friendly with the drunken scholar and left the inn sullenly. The man in gray then advised the drunken scholar about the dangers of being drunk. The drunken scholar stood up unsteadily and thanked the young man in gray for his help, bumping into the latter as he sat down. The man in gray shook his head in disgust and walked back to his lunch.

The man in gray had enjoyed his lunch and then asked for his bill. He searched his pocket for his money pouch and to his horror it was gone! The waiter started to get impatient thinking that the guest was trying to get out of paying his bill. The other waiters came for support and grabbed the man in gray to strip him of his clothes. The young man was protesting and crying, when the drunken scholar came forward to pay his bill! The young man in gray was embarrassed and grateful but his gratitude soon turned into annoyance when the drunken scholar advised him instead the folly of being too trusting and interfering with things that did not concern him. When the drunken scholar was leaving the inn, the man in gray decided to follow and interfere in his business just to annoy the drunken scholar.

[sowfoong]

Chapter 7

Princess Mei Ling was extremely upset with her royal father, she had decided that she was not going to marry Prince Li and certainly was not willing to be locked up in the dungeon, “It is all Prince Li’s fault. I hate him!” She paced her room impatiently and decided to leave the palace that very night. She decided to disguise herself as a man so that she would not be recognized and forced to go back to the palace if her royal father sends someone to look for her. She found a gray suit that belonged to the stable boy and slipped into it. It fitted her perfectly. She bundled her hair up in a hat, took some money, a change of clothes and her sword then she sneaked stealthily out of the palace.

She traveled many miles the first couple of days, anxious to put as much distance between the palace and herself. She had stopped at the inn for lunch where she encountered the drunken scholar and later found herself without a cent to her name! To her annoyance, the drunken scholar had dared to lecture her about the folly of being too trusting and interfering in business that did not concern her. She was going to show that arrogant man the folly of being drunk and almost robbed if it weren’t for her kindness and interference! She decided to follow him and see what he was up to and when he gets robbed again, she was going to cheer the thieves on!

The drunken scholar sensed that someone was following him and chuckled to himself. That young girl was so naïve and it was so easy to provoke her into following him. Even though the scholar man was a little tipsy, he was very alert. He knew the thieves were trying to steal his money pouch but he decided to play with them, obstructing them inconspicuously, until that young man at the next table decided to interfere. Oh well! That did put a stop to his fun, but when the young man decided to lecture him about the folly of being drunk, he couldn’t resist playing a trick on him. He pretended to stumble and bump into the young man and stole his money pouch but to his astonishment he discovered that the young man was actually a girl in disguise when he felt the feminine curves! The drunken scholar was bored and curious so he decided to provoke the young girl with words, hoping that she would follow him just to annoy him. The ploy worked and he had the young girl following him. Now he can find out more about his victim!

Princess Mei Ling who was following the drunken scholar had wondered about the stumbling man ahead of her. It was odd that he had managed to stumble along the streets without pushing anyone over or falling flat on his face. They were in the middle of the town square and it was crowded with hawkers who were trying to persuade potential customers to buy their wares. The streets were lined with stalls selling everything imaginable, pots and pans, brass wares, porcelains, colorful cloths, rice, beans, eggs, meats, chickens and pets. Princess Mei Ling was fascinated at the hustle bustle of the town, her eyes were caught by a jewelry stand and momentarily she lost sight of the drunken scholar. She looked all over among the stalls, determined to find him.

The drunken scholar had slipped into a quiet side street and waited for the young girl to catch up with him. He did not have to wait long as Princess Mei Ling finally spied him lurking in the side street and came towards him. “What do you want from me? Are you going to rob me?” the drunken scholar questioned Princess Mei Ling.

“How dare you accuse me of trying to rob you? If it weren’t for me, you would have been robbed by the thieves at the inn,” Princess Mei Ling replied angrily.

“So what was your reason for following me?” questioned the drunken scholar amused, “Were you looking for someone to pay your bills again?”

“I am certainly not asking that of you. I was not trying to cheat the innkeeper of his money. It was an accident. I did lose my money pouch,” Princess Mei Ling protested vehemently.

“So was it an accident that you had been following me around the whole day? Even if I have lots of money, you shouldn’t be trying to take advantage of me to pay your bills for you!” the drunken scholar replied with a smirk to his face.

“Who is trying to take advantage of you? I don’t need your money. If you were a gentleman, you would quit harping on that!” Princess Mei Ling was embarrassed and yet was not willing to let the insult go unchallenged. She stomped her feet, her hands itching to slap that smirk off his face. She turned on her heels and about to leave the drunken scholar when he took hold of her arm and pulled her to him.

Chapter 8

“Who said that I am a gentleman?” with that, the drunken scholar had Princess Mei Ling pinned to the wall. Their faces were inches from each other; they could feel the breath on each other’s faces. The drunken scholar had bent his head to look deeply into her beautiful eyes and was drowned in the bottomless dark liquid pools of her mesmerizing eyes. His eyes traced the delicate beauty of her lovely face, cute nose and lips slightly parted as if inviting him to kiss her. The drunken scholar was totally captivated by her beauty and shook his head to clear his mind. Where were his morals? How could he behave like a lout, by trying to seduce an innocent young girl and a total stranger at that?

Princess Mei Ling was outraged that the drunken scholar had dared to touch her so inappropriately when she was pinned to the wall. When the drunken scholar bent his face to hers, she could smell hardly any alcohol on him. Oh the beast! He had pretended to be drunk the whole time, fooling the two thieves and her! She was about to scream at him when she looked into his eyes and caught her breath at the expression on his face, his eyes had darkened with passion and she found that she could not break eye contact with him. She could feel the hard muscles of his legs as he pressed close to her and she blushed furiously, her heart beating erratically. Princess Mei Ling had been very sheltered in her upbringing and had never been in such physical proximity with a man before. She was weak in her knees, was able to stand upright only because he was holding her up with his body. She was very afraid of the strange feelings he invoked in her with his physical proximity. She put her hands against his chest and tried to push him away from her.

The drunken scholar realized that she was frightened and swore under his breath and stepped back from Princess Mei Ling, “Well, little brother, if you weren’t interested in my money or for me to pay your bills, why were you following me?”

Glad that her shaky legs were still able to support her, Princess Mei breathed a sigh of relief that the drunken scholar had stepped back. However her body betrayed her by craving the warmth and excitement his physical proximity had provided. Princess Mei Ling was afraid to dwell further on the strange feelings the drunken scholar invoked in her. She dismissed those feelings and took refuge by reacting in anger. “I wasn’t following you at all,” Princess Mei Ling denied. “It was just coincidence that our paths crossed. By the way, you don’t own the town or have the sole right to go wherever you pleased. I have just as much right as you to be in this town! I hope that we don’t ever meet again,” Princess Mei Ling then turned her back on the drunken scholar and stormed off in the opposite direction.

The drunken scholar stared after Princess Mei Ling as she stormed away, “My little Beauty, we will meet again because it is our destiny!”

Chapter 9

Wen Jun was still staring at Wei Sin in shock, why of all the pretty girls he had met, wooed and then abandoned, did he have to fall hard for the one who was betrothed to his royal cousin? Wen Jun suspected that Prince Li had left the palace because he was not willing to marry Princess Mei Ling. He wondered why Prince Li was so set against this union, had Prince Li even seen Princess Mei Ling before? Thinking that Wei Sin was really Princess Mei Ling, Wen Jun envied his royal cousin. Wei Sin was the most beautiful girl he had met in his life and he wasn’t sure if he could give her up for his royal cousin. His royal cousin wasn’t interested in her anyway so what was stopping him from wooing her? If she were a commoner, I would give up everything and marry her.

Wei Sin was concentrating at relieving her sealed pressure point so that she could move again. She did not speak but meditate, feeling her energy flowing through her whole body, stopping at the sealed pressure point, giving it a nudge. She continued to re-circulate her energy, giving her sealed pressure point a nudge each time till she could sense it being unsealed slowly.

Wen Jun was not aware of what Wei Sin was trying to do. He was still trying to think of a way to get this beauty for himself, “Well, even if you were Princess Mei Ling, that doesn’t explain why you are not in the palace but instead roaming the world by yourself.”

Wei Sin did not answer him, she was at the most crucial point of unsealing her pressure point so she closed her eyes and concentrated hard, “At last, my pressure point is unsealed!” Wei Sin was ecstatic with her achievement but she did not show outwardly that she could move again. She just stared at the handsome young man in front of her and waited for a chance to overpower him and leave. After having her pressure point sealed by this handsome young man, she considered him a worthy opponent.

“Well, why won’t you give me an answer, Princess Mei Ling?” Wen Jun asked amused. “Is it because you weren’t Princess Mei Ling after all?” He was hoping that this girl was just a commoner and not his royal cousin’s fiancée.

“It is none of your business what I chose to do. I have some urgent business to attend to. You should let me go and I will forget about your disrespect.” Wei Sin thought it was prudent to be courteous.

Suddenly she spied the two thugs whom she had fought with back in the inn running towards them, “What a nuisance, I will never be able to leave this place if I continued to play with these fools!”

Wen Jun had seen the two thugs at the same time as Wei Sin did. He moved to unseal Wei Sin’s sealed pressure points and was surprised to see her moving before he could touch her, “So you were able to unseal your own pressure points? You have my highest respect.”

They both saw that besides the two thugs, the waiters from the inn were running towards them angrily. Wei Sin turned around to run in the opposite direction with Wen Jun running after her but some town folks decided to block their way and soon they were surrounded by an angry mob. Wen Jun could have walked away but he decided to help Wei Sin, so he fought along side with Wei Sin. They were both very good in hand-to-hand combat, they didn’t want to kill anyone so they immobilized some of opponents and soon were able to fight a way through the crowd. Wen Jun took Wei Sin’s hand and together they ran away as fast as they could. They stopped to catch their breath when they entered the forest just outside the town, “Why did you help me? You didn’t have to fight with them, after all I was the one who started the trouble.”

“I would not dream of letting you get injured by those fools before I can find out exactly who you are and what you were up to,” Wen Jun teased Wei Sin.

“I am not lying, I am Princess Mei Ling. Thank You for your help and since you were kind enough to help me just now, I will overlook your imprudence. I am in a hurry and have to be on my way now,” Wei Sin turned to continue her journey hurriedly.

Wen Jun was disappointed that Wei Sin had dismissed him so off-handedly but he wasn’t going to give up on this pretty girl. “Why would a princess be running around by herself without an escort? Her behavior is definitely suspicious and I am going to find out what she is up to,” with that Wen Jun followed Wei Sin from a safe distance.

Chapter 10

Princess Mei Ling was hungry and feeling depressed. Since she lost her money pouch yesterday, she had not eaten. She didn’t realized how hard it was not to have money to buy the necessities. She was standing at a roadside stall with steamed buns for sale and her mouth watered but she didn’t have any money! She was about to cry when she spied the drunken scholar stumbling ahead of her again. She decided to follow him again to see what he was up to. They walked a couple of miles to the outskirts of the town, with Princess Mei Ling following the drunken scholar at a safe distance. It was getting dark and Princess Mei Ling was tired to the point of exhaustion. Then it started to rain so she sought shelter in the cave where the drunken scholar had disappeared.

The drunken scholar had built himself a fire, singing merrily the same off tune songs. He looked up in surprise at Princess Mei Ling who walked in drenched, looking like a half drowned kitten. Princess Mei Ling was shivering in her wet clothes but was too proud to ask if she could sit with the drunken scholar by the fire. Instead she sat in a corner far away from the drunken scholar, without greeting him and proceeded to ignore him.

The drunken scholar started to roast some sweet potatoes over the fire; the aroma tempted Princess Mei Ling to salivation. The drunken scholar threw a roasted sweet potato over to Princess Mei Ling, which she was grateful to accept. But when he teased her that she was used to eating without paying for it, Princess Mei Ling was so upset that she threw it back at him. She would rather starved than to accept charity from that arrogant, rude beast! She lay down, turned her back to him, curled up into a ball and promptly fell asleep.

The drunken scholar stood up and walked over to Princess Mei Ling. She was so beautiful with an irresistible sex appeal cloaked in her innocence, an allure so potent that he felt intoxicated in her presence. He was glad that she was upset with him because he felt his self-control slipping away every time he was near her. He felt a tinge of remorse over the trick he had played on her, she was so young and innocent. He was tempted to take her in his arms and made passionate love to her but her innocence appealed to the sense of chivalry in him, made him want to protect and keep her safe instead. He took off his outer coat and draped it over Princess Mei Ling to keep her warm, stoking the fire to keep it burning. He wondered about the sleeping beauty and the reason for her disguise. He spent a sleepless night tossing and turning, towards daybreak, he finally got up and went over to Princess Mei Ling. He bent down to give her a fleeting kiss on her cheek and placed her money pouch right by her side and left.

When Princess Mei Ling woke up, she found that she was alone in the cave, but the drunken scholar had left his overcoat to cover her. Then she saw her money pouch by her side and she realized that the drunken scholar had had her money pouch the whole time. “Oh! If I could get my hands on him, I will wring his neck,” swore Princess Mei Ling. But now that she had her money back, she was happy to go into town to get a meal. She devoured her food ravenously and was ashamed to be so unladylike. Oh well, she was famished; she excused herself for the lack of table manners. She finished her meal, happy to have a full belly and continued her way further away from the palace.

On the outskirts of that town, a group of tough looking men accosted Princess Mei Ling; the two thieves who had tried to rob the drunken scholar led them. “So little Punk, we meet again. Bet you are not so brave now, hitting us with that fancy sword of yours,” one of the thieves snickered at Princess Mei Ling.

Princess Mei Ling stood her ground, though she was scared inside, she put on a brave front, “So what do you want? Only cowards attacked like a pack of wolves, using numbers to intimidate others.”

“So he has got a smart mouth as well as the inability to mind his own business. Let’s knock out all his teeth and cut off his tongue and we will see if he will continue to talk smart.” With that, the group of thugs surrounded Princess Mei Ling. Though Princess Mei Ling was well trained in fighting with a sword she was outnumbered and was unable to attack any of the men, she could barely defend herself.

Chapter 11

Unbeknownst to Princess Mei Ling, the drunken scholar had followed her from a safe distance. After leaving Princess Mei Ling that morning, the drunken scholar had found that he missed her and was worried about her safety. He decided to escort her to wherever her destination was, without letting her know that she was being followed, so he doubled back to the cave. He had seen her leaving the cave and had followed her into town, had observed her unladylike table manners and had felt sure that she would be mortified if she knew that he had seen her shoving all the food in like a glutton!

The drunken scholar had followed Princess Mei Ling out of town and had seen the group of thugs attacking Princess Mei Ling. He had crept up to them unobserved and hid behind some trees. Then he chose some pebbles from the ground and aimed at the thugs individually at their pressure points. As each of the thugs was struck on his pressure point, he was immobilized and fell over. Princess Mei Ling was surprised to see the men falling over like logs. Soon she was the only one standing. She looked around, trying to locate the person who was helping her but the drunken scholar had himself well hidden. Unable to find the person who had helped her, Princess Mei Ling decided to leave that place before those men could move again.

The drunken scholar knew that he had done the right thing in following Princess Mei Ling. It was definitely not safe to let loose such an innocent girl into the world without an escort. He would be that escort and when she reached her destination he would be able to breathe a sigh of relief, until then, he would need to keep a closer watch on her. In addition he would be able to find out more about this mysterious girl.

Princess Mei Ling hurried on her way, trying to put a distance between her and the palace in addition to those thugs, “I could have been so happy with my life in the palace, but I had to leave and had such a miserable day being accosted by those thugs. It is all Prince Li’s fault. I hate him!” Princess Mei Ling was thinking about her fiancé and that all her present problems were due to him and she wished that she had drowned him in that pond years ago.

[sowfoong]

Chapter 12

Ten years ago Princess Mei Ling went with her royal parents to visit King Li and his family in the neighboring country. King Li and King Chiu were best friends and they often visited each other but that was the first time that King Chiu took his family with him to visit his friend. After the formal reception, the two monarchs went to the study to play chess and talked about politics while the two queens went to the garden to enjoy the quiet and gossiped. Nanny accompanied Princess Mei Ling, but she was separated from her royal charge when she had to supervise some of the unpacking. Princess Mei Ling wandered around the palace by herself and came to a remote part of the courtyard. A tall good-looking boy was playing with some crickets in a pavilion. Princess Mei Ling went over to him and asked curiously, “Oh, what is that you are playing with?”

The tall good-looking boy was Wen Jun; he turned around to look at Princess Mei Ling, noting her expensive beautiful clothes. Wen Jun knew that King Chiu had come to visit with his family. “So this must be Princess Mei Ling, my royal cousin’s fiancée,” thought Wen Jun. He did not give Princess Mei Ling an answer but turned back to his crickets.

Though Princess Mei Ling was only five years old, she was used to being treated as royalty and was angry that she was not given an answer, “You must be deaf and mute, and otherwise you would have answered my question.”

Wen Jun was upset to be insulted replied rudely, “I am not deaf or mute, I didn’t answer your question because I don’t want to. Go away, I do not have time to play with girls. They are such nuisance and crybabies.”

Princess Mei Ling was angry to be dismissed so rudely so she stuck her tongue out at Wen Jun and gave him a shove. Princess Mei Ling then turned around to run away, but Wen Jun tackled her to the ground and forced a soft kiss on her cheek.

“How dare you kiss me? I am a princess and you will get your head chopped off for disrespecting me!” Princess Mei Ling was outraged.

Wen Jun had always been playful and loved to impersonate his royal cousin to get him into trouble, “Well, little princess, it is rude to stick your tongue out at me and then shove me around. I am Prince Li, and I doubt my head would get chopped off for stealing a kiss from my fiancée. One day you are going to be my bride and have to obey me and I will take my revenge then.” He then helped Princess Mei Ling up and left the courtyard.

Princess Mei Ling ran in the opposite direction to find her nanny but she lost her way. She came upon the real Prince Li who was sitting on a huge rock by a pond, reading a book.

Prince Li looked up to see an adorable little girl, with chubby cheeks and big beautiful eyes that was lit up mischief. She was also very angry looking. “Hey, who are you, and what are you doing here?”

Princess Mei Ling was still very upset with Wen Jun who had pretended to be Prince Li. Wen Jun and Prince Li looked quite similar and to a five-year-old child, they were both the same person. Princess Mei Ling walked up to Prince Li and pushed him into the pond without answering his question, “That was for being mean to me. I hate you and I will never marry you!” With that Princess Mei Ling ran away and she soon found her nanny. She stayed by Nanny’s side during the rest of the royal visit and hadn’t seen Prince Li or Wen Jun after that.

As for Prince Li, he was shocked at Princess Mei Ling’s reckless attack on him without provocation. Prince Li’s impression of Princess Mei Ling was unfavorable and that she was crazy. He went out of his way to avoid seeing her the rest of their visit. He did not know about the altercation between Princess Mei Ling and Wen Jun. Wen Jun did not tell his royal cousin that he had stolen a kiss from his fiancée.

The young betrothed royal couple had made unfavorable impression on each other due to that misunderstanding. Years later, they both had refused to honor their parents’ wishes to get married and both of them had left their homes to seek adventures in the world beyond the palace.

Chapter 13

Wei Sin had been on the road for about a week now and she still had not found a trace of Princess Mei Ling. She was tired and almost ready to give up. She had just reached another town and was walking on the main street when she saw General Yan walking into an inn. Wei Sin was just about to call out to General Yan when she spotted one of the palace guards, named Loo Kan greeting the General.

Wei Sin had disliked Loo Kan because he was a lecherous and dishonest man who used his power to intimidate other servants from the palace. Loo Kan had tried to flirt with Wei Sin once and had received a slap from Wei Sin. Loo Kan had been very upset with Wei Sin but because Wei Sin was very good friends with Princess Mei Ling he had backed down from a confrontation. Wei Sin wondered why the two men were behaving so suspiciously and meeting in the inn so far away from the palace.

Wei Sin followed the two men into the inn, hid behind some plants near their table and eavesdropped on their conversation. General Yan was giving Loo Kan orders to contact a messenger from one of the hostile countries and to give that person a personal letter. “Whatever the contents of that letter were, it couldn’t be good because it was addressed to the enemy. So General Yan is going to betray King Chiu. I must find Princess Mei Ling and get her back to the palace as soon as possible and notify His Majesty,” Wei Sin was more determined to find Princess Mei Ling. She waited until the two men left the inn and then rushed out of the inn, straight into the arms of Wen Jun again!

Wen Jun had been following Wei Sin the whole time and had seen Wei Sin’s odd behavior and had come too close to inn to see what was going on. He had no time to hide or avoid Wei Sin when she rushed out of the inn unexpectedly. “Have you been following me?” Wei Sin asked an embarrassed Wen Jun.

Short of lying outright, Wen Jun decided to be honest, “Yes, I had been following you for the past couple of days. You were lying. You couldn’t be Princess Mei Ling because your escorts were non-existent. So who are you and why are you behaving so secretively?”

Wei Sin was quick-witted; she decided to tell a half-truth. Wen Jun had helped her before and she could use some assistance now, “Well, I am Princess Mei Ling but I am on a secret mission. I have to locate my sworn brother who had been missing for many days. Those two men were evil and meant to harm my sworn brother. It is imperative that I get my sworn brother back to the palace. Will you help me?”

Wen Jun had seen the urgency in Wei Sin’s eyes and he couldn’t refuse her request. It wouldn’t have mattered what Wei Sin’s request was, Wen Jun was happy that she wanted his help and that he could be with her, “I would gladly do whatever I can to assist Your Royal Highness. What does your sworn brother looked like and in which direction was he headed?’

Wei Sin gave him a brief description of how Princess Mei Ling would look like disguised as a male but had to admit that she had no idea where Princess Mei Ling was headed, “We can travel together and whenever we reach a town, we can ask around separately and meet at a scheduled meeting point to share all the information we received, that way we can cover a town faster. Do you have contacts in the Mo Lam?”

“I do have some friends whom I can ask for assistance. By the way I am Li Wen Jun,” he introduced himself to Wei Sin. Together they hurried onto the next town. Wen Jun had totally forgotten about his mission to find Prince Li in his haste and eagerness to help Wei Sin. He was just happy to be able to spend time with this pretty girl.

Chapter 14

After the incident with the thugs, Princess Mei Ling had not stopped at another town but had slept in the open fields. However she had to hurry onto the next town because it started to rain and soon it was pouring heavily. Princess Mei Ling reached the town at a very late hour. She was soaking wet, cold, miserable and hungry, “Innkeeper, do you still serve a warm meal at this late hour?”

“Yes, Sir. We can still cook you a few warm dishes and serve some wine to chase away the chills. Do take a seat,” the innkeeper invited Princess Mei Ling who was still in her disguise to a table.

A few minutes later, the drunken scholar showed up at the inn, “Innkeeper, do you have a room for me?”

“Oh yes, Sir. We still have one room left,” the innkeeper replied. “Ah Choy, take the guest to his room,” the innkeeper ordered his waiter.

When Princess Mei Ling heard that there was only one room left, she was very upset that she had not thought of getting a room first before ordering a meal. She looked up unsmilingly at the drunken scholar, “Innkeeper, I was here first so I should get that room.”

The innkeeper, “No Sir, I am afraid that I cannot give that room to you. You never asked for one, but this gentleman here asked for a room as soon as he came in.”

“Ah, my young friend, so we meet again. Hmm, I see that you have ordered a lot of food, are you going to be able to pay for the meal or will I need to pay for you again?” the drunken scholar teased Princess Mei Ling.

Princess Mei Ling was furious, “Yes, unfortunately we have to meet again. So was there a reason that you were following me around?”

“My dear friend, to quote you: You do not own this town or have the sole right to go wherever you pleased. I have just as much right as you to be in this town. As for your question, maybe I am hanging around so that I may save you from being stripped naked when you do not have the money to pay for your meals again,” the drunken scholar laughed at Princess Mei Ling. He had decided to show himself because he was in no mood to sleep outside in the fields especially with the heavy downpour. He was looking forward to a warm meal and a dry bed to rest his weary bones for the night.

“You are shameless and a crook. You know very well that you were the one who had stolen my money pouch, which was the reason I couldn’t afford to pay my bill. You are lucky that I am in a generous mood; I had been meaning to wring your neck for the trick you played on me. So go away before I change my mind!” Princess Mei Ling was furious with the drunken scholar for reminding her of her humiliation at the last inn.

“Ah, my dear friend, if I may remind you, you will be the one leaving this inn after your meal because you are the one without a room while I have the only room left,” the drunken scholar reminded Princess Mei Ling of her present predicament.

“If you were a gentleman you would let me have the room,” Princess Mei Ling pleaded with her eyes.

“Did I not make it clear to you the last time that I had never claimed to be a gentleman?” the drunken scholar reminded Princess Mei Ling of their last encounter.

“Yes, I remembered your coarse behavior, you are nothing but a drunken lout. I, I hate you,” Princess Mei Ling blushed furiously as she was reminded of the feelings the drunken scholar had invoked in her with his physical proximity the last time they were at that alley. She turned her back on the drunken scholar and concentrated on her meal.

“Look, I am being generous here. I am willing to share my room with you tonight since it is raining so heavily outside and I hate to see you get sick and I may have to nurse you back to health,” offered the drunken scholar.

Princess Mei Ling was tempted to throw the drunken scholar’s offer back to his face but it was pouring down outside and she did not have a place to go, “Alright, I will share a room with you, just for tonight.”

They were shown to their room, “But there is only one bed!” Princess Mei Ling exclaimed, scandalized.

Chapter 15

The drunken scholar found it hard to conceal his laughter at her scandalized expression, “Look, my friend. It is all right for us to share a bed, we are both men and we are like brothers. I am a quiet sleeper and I do not toss around when I sleep.”

“I would rather not share a bed with you. I do not like sharing a bed with anyone,” insisted Princess Mei Ling. She remembered the strange feelings the drunken scholar had invoked in her and she was afraid.

“Well you can sleep on the floor then, but I must warn you, there may be rats running around,” with that the drunken scholar started to take off his clothes.

Princess Mei Ling was embarrassed and alarmed, she turned her back on the drunken scholar, “What are you doing?”

The drunken scholar, “I am making myself comfortable for bed, I don’t want my clothes to get all wrinkled and they are a little damp. You should take your clothes off too since you are soaking wet and you will catch your death of cold.”

Princess Mei Ling felt trapped, “I do not want to take off my clothes, and I will be fine. But if you were a gentleman, you would have offered me the bed while you sleep on the floor.”

The drunken scholar shook his head, “But I am not a gentleman. You can either sleep on the floor and be bitten by rats or sleep beside me on the bed.”

Princess Mei Ling decided to take a chance on the floor; she changed her mind about keeping the wet clothes on and did take off her wet shirt and put on a dry one hastily under the cover of the blankets. Although it was uncomfortable on the floor she did fall asleep from exhaustion but in the middle of the night, she woke up staring at a monster of a giant rat in the face! She screamed hysterically and the drunken scholar jumped right out of bed and took her in his arms to calm her down. He could feel her uncontrollable tremors as she clung to him desperately, tears streaming down her cheeks. His undershirt was wet with her tears and he felt as if something had pinched his heart. He was sorry for teasing her and making her sleep on the floor, “Hush, it is all right, it was only a rat and it is gone. I am here and I will protect you.” He continued to hold her tightly to his chest; murmured words of apology and comfort to calm her and his body absorbed her tremors of fear.

Soon Princess Mei Ling’s tremors subsided and her sobs slowed down to an occasional hiccup. She was mortified to find herself clinging to the drunken scholar tightly; she could hear his erratic heartbeats and felt slightly overpowered by his masculinity. She pushed herself away from the drunken scholar, not daring to look at him in the eyes, “I am sorry for that outburst, you must have thought I behaved like a girl. But I have a phobia for rats!!”

The drunken scholar was amused at her explanation but did not revealed that he could see through her disguise, “It is all right. There are a few more hours till daybreak. Come to bed, I promise to stay on my side of the bed.”

Princess Mei Ling got onto the bed and stayed as far away from the drunken scholar as possible in the narrow bed and promptly fell asleep. But soon, she rolled over and snuggled comfortably against the drunken scholar and he ended up spending a sleepless night, exerting extreme self-control over his own arousing desires and resisting the temptation presented by the innocent sleeping beauty in his arms.

Chapter 16
The drunken scholar woke up groggily, rubbing his eyes to find Princess Mei Ling standing at the side of the bed, “Wake up, lazybones, it is past mid morning. If you don’t get up soon, you won’t get any breakfast.”

Feeling a little short tempered since he hardly slept a wink, he looked at Princess Mei Ling resentfully. She was dressed in a clean suit, and looking chirpy, “I need a couple more hours of sleep. I will eat some lunch when I get up,” he rolled over to continue sleeping.

However Princess Mei Ling turned him back over, “Come on, you need to get up. I want to be on my way as soon as possible.”

“So? You can go on your way. I have told you that I needed more sleep,” the drunken scholar insisted sullenly.

“But you promised last night to protect me. Are you going to break your promise?” Princess Mei Ling challenged the drunken scholar.

The drunken scholar groaned, “All right, I did promised to protect you last night. But it is now bright daylight, you do not need me.”

Princess Mei Ling was very disappointed and turned away from the drunken scholar. Seeing her dejected figure, the drunken scholar relented, “All right, I am getting up and I will escort you to wherever you are going.” He was rewarded with a radiant smile from Princess Mei Ling, which melted his heart and made him forget about his lack of sleep, “Since we will be traveling together, let me introduce myself. I am Kiu Wai and what is your name?”

Princess Mei Ling was ecstatic that Kiu Wai had agreed to accompany her but she was unwilling to reveal her identity or that she is a girl, “You may call me Brother Chiu.” Princess Mei Ling did not know that Kiu Wai had found out that she was a girl. She had thought her disguise was so good that no one could see through her disguise.

Kiu Wai tried to conceal his smile at her naivety. He decided to play along; he had wanted to keep this beautiful girl with him at all costs, “So Brother Chiu, let us continue our journey. By the way, where are you heading?”

Princess Mei Ling was evasive, “I haven’t decided yet, I just want to see the world.”

“Well, look out everyone, Brother Chiu and I are going to conquer the world!”

[sowfoong]

Chapter 17

Wei Sin and Wen Jun came to the same town that Princess Mei Ling and Kiu Wai were two days after they had left the inn. From the descriptions of the two men from the innkeeper, Wei Sin believed that it was Princess Mei Ling with a man. Wei Sin was very worried about Princess Mei Ling’s safety. Who could that man be, was he aware of Princess Mei Ling’s identity? The good news were that Princess Mei Ling was safe and had an escort, in addition, they were on the right track and soon they would catch up with Princess Mei Ling.

Wen Jun was shocked to hear the descriptions of the two men from the innkeeper. From his description of the other man, it could very likely be his royal cousin, Prince Li that the sworn brother of Wei Sin was traveling with. What a small world! Wen Jun was a little depressed that Wei Sin would soon meet with his royal cousin and he would lose any chance of winning her heart.

Wen Jun and Wei Sin had been getting along quite well, that is Wei Sin had been treating Wen Jun with a little more warmth and had not yelled at him much when he failed to do her bidding fast enough. That was a new experience and an extreme change in Wen Jun’s attitude, usually he was the one who had called the shots and all the girls had flocked to him and he was the one who had walked away, leaving the girls in tears. But since meeting Wei Sin, Wen Jun was a changed man; he had tried to please Wei Sin and had swallowed his pride when she threw tantrums at him for his shortcomings without retaliating.

They were in the next town and had gone on their separate ways to see if Princess Mei Ling was in that town. Wei Sin was in a side street questioning a street hawker selling steamed buns when Loo Kan spotted her. Loo Kan had hated Wei Sin ever since she slapped him but he had not dared to confront her because of her close relationship with Princess Mei Ling. But now is the chance to get his revenge. Loo Kan went to the local magistrate and told him to put Wei Sin in jail for attacking him. The local magistrate was a corrupt official and was easily persuaded to do as Loo Kan requested after Loo Kan had given him the gold coins. The magistrate then sent his guards out and promptly arrested Wei Sin, who was taken by surprise by that attack and had not been able to defend herself.

The guards were dragging Wei Sin to the courthouse when Wen Jun came down the street. He followed them till they reached the building where the magistrate was waiting. “Why am I being arrested? Do you know who I am?” Wei Sin was outraged for their rough handling.

“I don’t care who you are, you are being arrested for attacking a citizen,” the magistrate replied. “Put more guards on for this prisoner, she is a dangerous criminal.” He turned around to find himself facing Wen Jun. “Oh, what a pleasant surprise! Your Royal Highness, Prince Li. What are you doing in our town?” The magistrate had seen Prince Li once many years ago during his trips and had mistaken Wen Jun for Prince Li because of their similarity in looks.

Wen Jun was quick to seize the opportunity to save Wei Sin by masquerading as his royal cousin, “Hmm, do you know whom you were manhandling here?” Wen Jun questioned the Magistrate with a severe expression and pointed at Wei Sin. “That is Princess Mei Ling, my fiancée. We were trying to enjoy the local scenery when we got separated. I was gone for a short time and returned to find her being arrested by you. Do you know the severity of your crime?”

The magistrate was shocked to hear that the woman whom Loo Kan had wanted arrested was Princess Mei Ling and Prince Li; her fiancé had witnessed the whole incident. The magistrate dropped down on his knees, banging his head on the ground, “Please forgive me and spare my worthless life.” The other guards saw their superior had knelt down and begged for forgiveness so they let Wei Sin loose and knelt down beside with their superior.

Wei Sin rubbed her sore arms as she walked towards Wen Jun, giving him a questioning look. She was surprised and a little fearful when she heard the magistrate addressing Wen Jun as Prince Li, “Oh dear, if he is really Prince Li, then I am in big trouble by masquerading as Princess Mei Ling. What rotten luck to have pretended to be Princess Mei Ling to her fiancé!”

Wen Jun took Wei Sin in his arms asked with concern and love, “My dear Princess, are you hurt by these ruffians?’

Wei Sin was a little subdued to hear the concern and love in Wen Jun’s voice but her eyes sparkled with fury when she turned to the magistrate, shaking her finger at him, “I am not physically injured but they have disrespected me!”

“Lock this man up in the prison, I will send someone to sentence him later,” Wen Jun ordered the guards authoritatively. The guards rushed to obey Wen Jun and pulled the magistrate into the prison cell, with the latter begging for mercy.

“Come my dear Princess Mei Ling, let’s go and find somewhere quiet for you to take a rest. Maybe we can get a doctor to examine you for injuries,” Wen Jun took Wei Sin in his arms and led her away.

Once they were alone, Wei Sin extracted herself from Wen Jun’s arms, “Are you really Prince Li?”

“What would you do if I were Prince Li?” questioned Wen Jun. He was anxious to hear her answer; “Would she fall in love with me if I were Prince Li, her fiancé or would she ever fall for me even though I weren’t Prince Li?”

“I don’t believe that you are Prince Li but even if you were, I can tell you now that I would never marry you.” Wei Sin decided to brazen it out.

“Weren’t you going to honor our betrothal?” Wen Jun was disappointed with her answer.

“I don’t want to talk about it. I am still in a hurry to find my sworn brother; in fact it is of utmost urgency now. Will you still help me?” Wei Sin didn’t really care if Wen Jun were Prince Li; she was more interested in finding Princess Mei Ling. She had decided to continue the search by herself if Wen Jun refused to help her. She could not afford to waste any more precious time.

“I have promised to help you find your sworn brother and I will keep my promise. We will talk about our relationship when we find him,” Wen Jun decided to drop the issue, hoping that with time, Wei Sin would fall in love with him. Sometimes he wondered at his patience with Wei Sin but in his heart he knew that he would do anything to win her heart and if he persevere, she would give him a chance.

Chapter 18

Kiu Wai and Princess Mei Ling traveled together amicably, laughing and having fun on the way. It was the first time that Princess Mei Ling was outside the palace by herself and everything was a new experience for her. Her eyes opened wide with wonder at all the events taking place in all the towns, she was fascinated by the street performances from martial artists, monkeys, opera singers and actors. She had never seen such a big crowd and so many stalls with all kinds of merchandise, exotic fruits, bales of cloths with every color of the rainbow, figurines made of dough, pots & pans, porcelain, paintings, jewelry and much more.

Kiu Wai was amused and entertained by her innocent charms and excitement for all the strange and new things she encountered. Kiu Wai had been around more than Princess Mei Ling and had a slightly jaded view of the world but when he was with her, he was able to view things through her eyes and it was a great experience to feel the excitement with her. He had fallen deeply in love with Princess Mei Ling and it was sometimes a torture to keep up the pretense that he was unaware that she was a female. Every time Princess Mei Ling touched him, to draw his attention to something, he had to exert his utmost control over himself physically and hide his expression from her in order not to frighten the innocent girl.

Princess Mei Ling had no idea the effect her physical proximity had on Kiu Wai. She was innocent in the ways of men and women. She was very attracted to Kiu Wai who was tall and handsome with the swoon worthy smiles and he was so patient and gentle with her. Although she didn’t realize that she was falling in love with Kiu Wai, she did know that she was very comfortable with Kiu Wai, that she enjoyed the warmth and excitement his presence provided. She felt safe with Kiu Wai and when they were separated even for a few hours, she would be looking around for him. She would tug at his arm to draw his attention to something and felt the slight trembling and often wondered about that and she also wondered at the expression on Kiu Wai’s face as though he was in pain whenever she touched him. Oh well, she couldn’t understand what went on in Kiu Wai’s mind but she was sure that she hadn’t used any force to hurt him physically.

One day they had just arrived in a big town when they were separated. Princess Mei Ling was walking by herself when she came upon a man fighting with a girl in the town square. A crowd had gathered around them, all of them were very interested in the fight. The girl was losing the fight and Princess Mei Ling was indignant that no one lifted a finger to help the girl. Without bothering to find out why they were fighting, Princess Mei Ling jumped in to fight with the man. Princess Mei Ling was quite skilled in fighting with her sword since expert martial arts instructors from the palace had trained her. Within a few stances, she was able to defeat the man. Every one clapped at the performance and they congratulated Princess Mei Ling on her good luck. She had won the competition and was chosen to be husband of that girl. The girl’s father, Mr. Chen was a rich man and had wanted a son-in-law who was skilled in martial arts for his only daughter. He had arranged the martial arts competition to test the skills of the men interested in his daughter’s hand in marriage. Unfortunately Princess Mei Ling had not bothered to find out what the fight was about before jumping in to fight with the man. To her horror, Mr. Chen insisted that Princess Mei Ling honored the rules of the competition and accompanied them to his home. Mr. Chen had many tough looking servants and guards with him and so Princess Mei Ling was forced to go with them despite her protests.

Kiu Wai came looking for Princess Mei Ling soon after the crowd had dispersed and Princess Mei Ling had been led away by Mr. Chen. Kiu Wai couldn’t find Princess Mei Ling anywhere and was very worried about her safety. He stopped people on the street, asking them about Princess Mei Ling but no one had seen her. Kiu Wai then stopped at an inn for some refreshment. A couple of men at the next table were talking about the competition and that the son-in-law chosen by Mr. Chen was a bit small in size but very skilled in fighting with his sword. From their descriptions, Kiu Wai suspected that Princess Mei Ling was the one they were talking about. “What kind of trouble had that girl gotten into this time?” sighed Kiu Wai, “Whatever the trouble she had gotten herself into was I have to rescue her.”

Chapter 19

Kiu Wai found out the location of Mr. Chen’s mansion, which was heavily guarded. He decided to wait until it was dark to sneak in and see if Princess Mei Ling was in the house.

Princess Mei Ling was put in a room, with a couple of servants guarding her outside. She tried to get out of the room to walk around but the servants were at her heels, dogging her every step until she was so tired of it and decided to go back to her room. Mr. Chen sent a servant to inform Princess Mei Ling that he would like to meet with her and she was escorted to his study, “My dear son-in-law, did you like your room?”

“Mr. Chen, I owe you an explanation. There has been a misunderstanding. I did not fight with that man to win the hand of your daughter. I do not want to get married at all, so I cannot be your son-in-law,” Princess Mei Ling tried to explain to Mr. Chen that there was a misunderstanding of her participating in that fight.

However, Mr. Chen would not hear of it, “ Nonsense. There shouldn’t be any misunderstanding. I had sent out word to everyone in the Mo Lam, everyone knew about the competition. You have participated in the competition and won it so you are going to be my son-in-law. If you break your word now and refuse to marry my daughter it would be a great loss of face and honor for the Chen family. I will not accept that.”

“But I cannot marry your daughter, I am already engaged,” Princess Mei Ling protested.

“Well, you have to marry my daughter first and the other girl could be your second wife,” Mr. Chen was determined that Princess Mei Ling honored her promise to marry his daughter, as a stipulation to the competition. “Ah Tim, bring Mr. Chiu back to his room and help him to get dressed for the wedding ceremony this evening.”

Princess Mei Ling was frustrated and horrified that she was being forced to marry Mr. Chen’s daughter, “Why is it that I am being forced to get married to someone at every turn, first by my royal father and now by this stubborn Mr. Chen? How am I going to get out of this mess? I wish Kiu Wai was here, he would be able to help me escape, but he doesn’t even know where I am being held captive.” Princess Mei Ling was feeling very sorry for herself and started to cry.

It was late in the evening and Princess Mei Ling could hear the music in the hall, the hustle bustle around her with the servants busy with preparations for the wedding. Princess Mei Ling was feeling desperate when she heard a commotion outside of her door. She rushed out to find the two guards standing there motionless, and realized that their pressure points were sealed. She was wondering who had immobilized the guards when she heard more people running towards her room. Before she could form another thought, Kiu Wai was at her side, “What are you waiting for? Let’s make a dash for it.” With that, Kiu Wai took Princess Mei Ling’s hand and used his lightness martial arts skill and jumped up the wall onto the roof with her. Together they jumped down to the other side of the house and ran for their lives.

They didn’t dare to stop until they were well out of that town, with Princess Mei Ling doubling over to catch her breath, “Thank you, Kiu Wai for coming to my rescue. I was being forced to marry Mr. Chen’s daughter and I don’t know if I could have escaped without your help. How did you know where I was?”

“You know well that I couldn’t travel without my little Brother Chiu. Who would provide me with entertainment otherwise?” teased Kiu Wai. “I happened to find out this morning from some gossips in town about the mysterious new son-in-law of Mr. Chen. I thought I would check it out if it were you. I was deliberating if I should rescue you when I saw you crying. I thought that was a strange reaction for a happy bridegroom. Why were you crying? Why didn’t you want to marry Mr. Chen’s daughter? She is a beauty and Mr. Chen is very rich. You would have a good life with them.”

Mei Ling blushed a crimson red, “I don’t want to marry anyone. I want to be my own boss. I don’t want to take any orders from anyone.”

“But you would be the man of the house and your wife would have to obey you, so there shouldn’t be a problem or should there?” Kiu Wai was trying to provoke Princess Mei Ling into confessing her true identity.

“What are you trying to say to me?” Princess Mei Ling looked at Kiu Wai, a little fearfully, wondering if he had somehow found out that she is a girl.

Chapter 20

Seeing the fear in Princess Mei Ling’s eyes, Kiu Wai decided not to press the issue that she would tell him when she was ready, “I am not trying to imply anything. I was just wondering how you could turn down a beauty like Miss Chen and her family’s wealth for a life roaming the world.”

Princess Mei Ling breathed a sigh of relief. She was so afraid that Kiu Wai had seen through her disguise. She had enjoyed being with him and when he finds out that she is a girl, there would be problems. They would have to go their separate ways as they were not married to each other and would have to keep a respectable distance from each other. “I am not ready to marry anyone yet, I just want to roam the world and experience all life has to offer,” she explained.

Kiu Wai accepted Princess Mei Ling’s explanation at face value and together they walked on, growing closer together and falling in love more deeply with each other, though they did not reveal their love for each other for their own reasons.

One night, they stayed at an inn after a long tiring journey. They had separate bedrooms and Princess Mei Ling was fast asleep when a couple of masked dark clothed intruders came into her room. She could barely let out a muffled scream before she was overpowered with her pressure point sealed and immobilized. The two intruders ran out of the room with one of them carrying Princess Mei Ling over his shoulders.

Kiu Wai had always been a light sleeper and for an unknown reason he was restless that night and he heard Princess Mei Ling’s muffled scream and came out to investigate. He saw the intruder carrying Princess Mei Ling over his shoulders and jumping over the wall surrounding the inn. Kiu Wai gave chase, the one carrying Princess Mei Ling could not run as fast and soon Kiu Wai engaged in him in a fight until the other person doubled back to help his friend. Princess Mei Ling was laid down so that they could team up and fight with Kiu Wai. The two intruders were highly skilled in martial arts and a ferocious fight ensued. The two intruders could not win against Kiu Wai so they picked up Princess Mei Ling and used her as a shield. They backed away from Kiu Wai who was hesitant to press forward for fear of hurting Princess Mei Ling. They had been fighting on a hill when the one holding Princess Mei Ling used his palm to strike at her, pushing her down the hill. Kiu Wai jumped over to catch Princess Mei Ling giving the intruders the opportunity to escape. Kiu Wai managed to catch Princess Mei Ling in his arms before she could fall to the ground. He could see that she was injured and her pressure point was sealed. He unsealed her pressure point, “Are you in any pain?” he asked her, concerned at her paleness.

“I, I am all right,” Princess Mei Ling couldn’t continue as she fainted in his arms.

Kiu Wai did a quick examination on Princess Mei Ling and found that her ribs were fractured. He decided not to go back to the inn but instead carried her to an abandoned wooden hut nearby. He laid her on the bed and examined her more thoroughly. She had two fractured ribs on her left side but her internal organs were fine, which was a relief. Princess Mei Ling regained consciousness shortly after, she was in a lot of pain but she managed to thank Kiu Wai weakly, “Thank you for rescuing me again.”

“Hush, don’t waste your strength talking. I am sorry for failing to prevent you from getting injured. You have two fractured ribs and I do know how to mend fractured and broken bones. Will you allow me to attend to your injuries?” Kiu Wai sat next to Princess Mei Ling and was concerned about her injuries.

Princess Mei Ling was embarrassed and hesitant to let Kiu Wai tend to her injuries because he would find out that she is a girl, “I will be all right. I can tend to my own injuries.”

“You do not have to be embarrassed. My main focus will be on your injuries, I promised not to have unhealthy thoughts about you during my administrations,” Kiu Wai tried to persuade Princess Mei Ling with his sincerity.

“So, you have known that I am a girl?” asked Princess Mei Ling shyly.

“Yes, I have known that you were a girl from the moment I stole your money pouch at that inn. I am sorry for all the tricks I had played on you. But I am sincere in helping you with your injuries. When we are in the Mo Lam, we have to disregard certain traditions and rules.” Kiu Wai explained.

Princess Mei Ling agreed to allow Kiu Wai attend to her fractured ribs, it was a painful process and she endured the pain without crying out once. As for Kiu Wai, he attended to her fractured ribs with professionalism, concentrating hard on his work and was not distracted by her beauty or her flawless skin. He had a splint tied to her ribs and had prepared herbal medication for her daily. He did go back to the inn to pick up the rest of their belongings, other than that trip he was by her side constantly.

Chapter 21

During the time when Princess Mei Ling was recuperating, the young couple grew very close to each other. Princess Mei Ling told Kiu Wai that her father was a high-ranking official and had forced her to marry someone she didn’t like and because of her father’s position she had ran away from home in disguise. She did not tell Kiu Wai that she was Princess Mei Ling because she didn’t want Kiu Wai to feel the class barrier between them.

As for Kiu Wai, he didn’t tell Princess Mei Ling much about himself. He had fallen deeply in love with Princess Mei Ling but he knew that he would never be able to marry her because he had other obligations. Kiu Wai was Prince Li and he had left the palace to think about his future without the pressure from his royal father. He knew that it was his duty to marry his fiancée and he was an honorable man so despite his protests, he would have returned to the palace and fulfilled his promise. The journey away from the palace was supposed to be his last fling before he had to take on the responsibilities his position as heir to the throne entailed. But since meeting Princess Mei Ling, he was in a dilemma. He knew that he could never love another woman after falling so deeply in love with Princess Mei Ling. It wouldn’t be fair to his fiancée, Princess Mei Ling or himself to force himself to marry someone he doesn’t love. He treasured each day he could spend with Princess Mei Ling but his heart was leaden with dread and fear of losing her.

After a week Princess Mei Ling was feeling much better, could move without hurting too much so they decided to continue on their journey. They were more careful after the incident with the intruders. They couldn’t figure out who those two intruders were or why they were after Princess Mei Ling. They would find shelter in caves or abandoned buildings during day and traveled at night. They found comfort in each other’s company and despite the hardships they encountered, had found happiness and rejoiced in the love they shared.

One day they decided that they had traveled far enough that they could stay overnight in an inn instead of an abandoned building. Princess Mei Ling was still disguised as a man and they had just ordered their meal and Princess Mei Ling was in the restroom when Wen Jun walked in with Wei Sin. Wen Jun saw his royal cousin first, though he was hesitant at first, he went over to Kiu Wai’s table to greet his royal cousin. Kiu Wai was surprised to see Wen Jun but before Wen Jun could greet him formally, “Wen Jun, it is great to see you. What brings you to this small town to visit your poor cousin?”

Wen Jun was surprised to hear Kiu Wai’s greeting but he got the message that Kiu Wai was trying to convey to him, “Kiu Wai, my dear cousin, how are you? This is Princess Mei Ling.”

Kiu Wai looked at Wei Sin with surprise but didn’t show much interest, however he did bowed to her, “Your Royal Highness, please take a seat.”

Wei Sin caught sight of Princess Mei Ling coming out of the rest room and excused herself and went hastily towards Princess Mei Ling, “Your Royal Highness, please come with me,” Wei Sin whispered, pulling Princess Mei Ling back into the restroom.

“Wei Sin, what are you doing here?” Princess Mei Ling was overjoyed to see her friend,

“Hush, I have something to confess. I took the liberty to impersonate Your Royal Highness to get out of a situation. Now my travel companion thinks that I am Your Royal Highness. I deserve to die but there is something else that I have to tell you. General Yan was sent by His Majesty to look for you but I found out that he was going to betray His Majesty. We must return to the Palace and notify His Majesty right away,” Wei Sin told Princess Mei Ling in a rush.

“What are you talking about?” Princess Mei Ling was perplexed.

“I came out of the Palace to look for Your Royal Highness. I was in an impossible situation and had lied that I was Princess Mei Ling. The man with whom I was traveling is Prince Li, though he denied it. We found out that General Yan who was sent by His Majesty to find you was communicating with enemies from another country. We have to go back to the Palace straight away and inform His Majesty so that he can be prepared”; Wei Sin explained the situation to Princess Mei Ling more slowly.

“The man you were with just now is Prince Li?” asked Princess Mei Ling, shocked to see Wen Jun. “Oh Dear Heavens, what am I going to do? The reason I ran away was to avoid him.”

“Well, he thinks that I am Princess Mei Ling so for the moment you are safe. But we must go back to the Palace as soon as possible,” Wei Sin pulled Princess Mei Ling out by a side entrance.

“I have to say goodbye to Kiu Wai,” Princess Mei Ling was resisting Wei Sin’s effort to pull her out of the inn.

“We don’t have much time, we have to go now,” Wei Sin insisted. They ran along the streets without Kiu Wai and Wen Jun noticing their departure.

[sowfoong]

Chapter 22

Wen Jun and Kiu Wai were wondering what took the girls so long and questioned the waiters. They found out that the two girls had left the inn and was very concerned about their safety. They rushed out of the inn to chase after the girls. They found Wei Sin severely injured by the roadside right outside the town. “Where is Brother Chiu?” Kiu Wai asked urgently, shaking Wei Sin who was barely conscious.

“They, they took him with them. You have to rescue him,” Wei Sin pleaded with Kiu Wai.

“Who took him?” Kiu Wai was getting very impatient with Wei Sin, blaming her for the disappearance of Princess Mei Ling.

“General Yan’s people, they went north, towards the enemy camp,” Wei Sin told them weakly.

Kiu Wai got up and was about to leave when Wen Jun exploded, “Prince Li Kiu Wai, you are heartless! How could you leave your fiancée when she is so severely injured?” Wei Sin was shocked to hear that Kiu Wai was Prince Li, her mistress/friend’s fiancé.

“I am sorry, Princess Mei Ling, but I cannot stay with you. Wen Jun will take care of you. I have to go after those men who had taken Brother Chiu otherwise it may be too late,” Kiu Wai excused himself and despite Wen Jun’s effort to hinder him, he went after Princess Mei Ling’s kidnappers.

“Wen Jun, please help Prince Li save my sworn brother,” Wei Sin pleaded with Wen Jun, clutching his hands.

“I cannot leave you here by yourself. You need medical help right away,” Wen Jun, had tears streaming down his cheeks, afraid to lose Wei Sin, he insisted on staying with Wei Sin to take care of her injuries.

“If you don’t help Prince Li save my sworn brother, I will never speak to you again and I won’t be able to die in peace. Please go, he must be saved!” implored Wei Sin. “I will be all right, I can meditate till you come back for me, but Prince Li will need all the help he can get.”

Wen Jun carried Wei Sin to a more concealed spot and ran after Kiu Wai reluctantly. He was torn emotionally. He wanted to stay with Wei Sin but he knew that she was serious about not speaking to him if he didn’t help Kiu Wai. He also had obligations to help Kiu Wai regardless because it was his duty to help his royal cousin as a loyal subject of King Li.

He found Kiu Wai hiding among some bushes, spying on the enemy camp. It was a small camp, but was heavily guarded. It was getting dark and the two cousins discussed the plan to rescue Mei Ling. They noticed that one tent had a flag hoisted and there were constantly two guards standing in front of it. The rest of the guards were patrolling the campsite, “Brother Chiu must be kept in that tent, one of us can create a diversion and the other can rescue him,” Kiu Wai told Wen Jun his plan.

“We could steal a couple of horses, then start a fire and one of us can rescue Brother Chiu,” Wen Jun suggested.

“That is a great idea, we are going to need horses to make a fast escape. In fact we should free all their horses so that they cannot catch up with us,” Kiu Wai agreed with Wen Jun’s plan. The two cousins were very mischievous when they were younger. They had often sneaked into the neighboring country to steal the horses belonging to the generals’ there just as pranks and they were such experts in stealth that they were always successful. Who knew that pranks played during their youth would come in handy today in their rescue mission?

Chapter 23

The two cousins moved stealthily forward towards the camp, they quietly stole two horses and led them back to their hiding place without arousing the attention of the guards who were drinking merrily and gambling right next to the horses. Then Wen Jun broke the corral that enclosed the horses and soon there was a melee, Kiu Wai started a fire to a tent near the tent where he suspected Princess Mei Ling was kept. There was a huge commotion as guards were running around trying to corral the runaway horses and put out the fire.

Kiu Wai took the opportunity to sneak into the tent. He found Princess Mei Ling laying on a daybed, looking deadly pale. He carried her to their hiding place. He helped her onto the horse and got up behind her and rode off hastily with Wen Jun riding behind him to prevent any enemies from getting too close. But no riders came after them because all their horses had escaped. They rode back to where Wei Sin was hiding. Wei Sin was still meditating, was less pale but still seriously injured. She embraced Princess Mei Ling happily but her happiness turned to a frown. Princess Mei Ling was still unconscious. Wei Sin took Princess Mei Ling’s pulse and blanched, “Oh Dear Heavens, she had been poisoned.”

“Poisoned?” exclaimed both Kiu Wai and Wen Jun simultaneously. Kiu Wai took Princess Mei Ling’s pulse and though he was not an expert in the use of poison, the thready pulse did point to poison in her system. He sealed two of her pressure points to prevent the poison from spreading to her vital organs. “I am going back to the camp and get the antidote,” Kiu Wai decided.

“You cannot go back. They are now on high alert and there is no way we could sneak back in there and whom do we threaten to get the antidote?” Wen Jun reasoned.

“Yes, Prince Li. Wen Jun is right. We must bring my sworn brother back to the Palace. Nanny can heal him,” Wei Sin told them firmly.

Kiu Wai rode with Princess Mei Ling while Wen Jun had Wei Sin on his horse and together they rode fast and furious towards the palace. They hardly made any stops, only to give the horses some rest and water. During their last stop, Kiu Wai had Princess Mei Ling lying on the grass; she was slipping in and out of consciousness. He had covered her with his overcoat because she was shivering with cold. He was looking at her worriedly and giving her sips of water to keep her hydrated since she hadn’t been eating. He had left the care of Wei Sin entirely to Wen Jun.

Wen Jun couldn’t understand why his royal cousin was so concerned about the sworn brother of Wei Sin and ignored his own fiancée. He was furious with Kiu Wai but he decided to hold his tongue for the moment. He was worried about Wei Sin. Wei Sin meditated as often as she could but she was still seriously injured. Wen Jun tried to pass some of his internal energy to her, though she had refused in the beginning, she did accept his help after much persuasion.

Wei Sin walked over to check Princess Mei Ling’s pulse. It was hardly palpable and she was still in a serious condition. Wei Sin looked over to see tears welling in Kiu Wai’s eyes; she knew that Kiu Wai was very concerned about Princess Mei Ling’s health. She wanted to test Kiu Wai’s love for her mistress/friend. “Prince Li, why are you showing more concern for my sworn brother than for me? I am your fiancée and we are going to be married soon.”

When Wen Jun heard Wei Sin’s words, he felt as if she had plunged a knife in his heart and twisted it to cause him more pain, “So she is interested in my royal cousin, I cannot blame her because she is a princess and should marry a prince. I thought I had a chance by showing her my love and devotion, I was such a fool!” Wen Jun then walked down to sit by the river.

Chapter 24

Kiu Wai looked over at Wei Sin with tears in his eyes, “Princess Mei Ling, you know as well as I, that Brother Chiu is a girl. Is she related to you? She never told me her identity but it is not important anyway. I love her, desperately and totally. I am sorry but I cannot marry you. When my royal father insisted that I marry you, I left the palace to have a little peace of mind, to think about my future. I would have eventually returned to the palace and married you for the sake of the people of our two countries and our families’ honor. I know that we were betrothed and I should honor our promise to each other. But since meeting Brother Chiu, she had stolen my heart and it is hers forever. I cannot marry you in good faith because I know that I cannot love another woman and I don’t think it is fair for us to be trapped in a loveless marriage.”

Wei Sin pretended to be insulted, “So you would rather be with a woman of unknown origin than to marry a princess? My royal father is going to be very angry with you and there could be a war. Are you willing to give up your rights to the throne for her?”

“For the people of both countries, I hope there would not be a war. I know that King Chiu is going to be very angry with me. It is entirely my fault and I will accept full responsibility. I am willing to accept any punishment even death but I am not willing to do anything to betray my love for Brother Chiu. As for giving up my rights to the throne, I know that my royal father will be very disappointed but I am willing to give up everything to have Brother Chiu healthy again and be with her, with or without marriage.” Kiu Wai declared passionately.

Princess Mei Ling was awake and heard Kiu Wai’s passionate declaration of love and she gave him a weak smile. “Wei Sin, will you please stop teasing Kiu Wai. You had better go to Wen Jun; he looked so miserable sitting by the river with no one to keep him company. Your words must have hurt his feelings. You know that Wen Jun is in love with you.”

Wei Sin was so happy that Princess Mei Ling was alert that she forgot the protocol and gave her mistress/friend a big hug, “Yes, I think I will go to Wen Jun and leave you two lovebirds alone.”

Kiu Wai looked at Princess Mei Ling, perplexed. Princess Mei Ling laughed at his expression, “So you are Prince Li? I heard what you had said to Wei Sin and I am so happy that you love me. I have fallen so desperately in love with you and I was hoping that you would fall in love with me too and not treat me as your little sister.”

“Who is Wei Sin? I thought that was Princess Mei Ling.” Kiu Wai was shaking his head, totally confused.

“You must forgive Wei Sin, she is my Nanny’s daughter and my childhood friend. I am Princess Mei Ling,” Princess Mei Ling revealed her identity. “I ran away from the palace because my royal father had forced me to marry you. I haven’t seen you in ages and I had heard that you were a playboy who had broken thousands of innocent maidens’ hearts. I didn’t want to have my heart broken too, so I ran away.”

“You are Princess Mei Ling? So we were actually betrothed to each other and I do not have to ask your royal father’s permission to marry you? Hmm, what a relief! As for treating you like a sister, you would be shocked to know how much I had wanted to make passionate love to you, so I definitely do not have brotherly feelings for you! I don’t know where you have heard that I had broken thousands of innocent maidens’ hearts, but it isn’t true. I was never interested in girls, they were dangerous, even five-year-olds who had attacked me without provocation.” Kiu Wai teased Princess Mei Ling. Then he became serious, “Now I understand why you were kidnapped. They planned to use you to gain power in your country. We must hurry back to your royal father and to get medical help for you. How are you feeling?”

“I am doing much better. Thank you for saving me again.” Princess Mei Ling reassured Kiu Wai. He took her in his arms and impulsively gave her a passionate kiss, grateful that she was doing better and happy that she belonged to him.


Chapter 25

Meanwhile, Wei Sin went over to Wen Jun who was sitting sadly by the river, “Wen Jun, would you still have loved me if I weren’t Princess Mei Ling.”

“It is a pointless question since you are betrothed to my royal cousin. I wish you best of happiness. I will escort you to the Palace and then be on my way,” Wen Jun did not know that Princess Mei Ling had revealed her identity to Kiu Wai and that Wei Sin was not the princess.

“Will you take me with you when you leave?” Wei Sin asked.

“Why are you torturing me with questions like that? You are going to marry my royal cousin, why would you want to go anywhere with me?” Wen Jun was getting upset with Wei Sin because he thought she was teasing him.

“I want to go wherever you are heading because I want to be with you and because I love you,” Wei Sin told Wen Jun who had the greatest surprise of his life.

“You aren’t going to marry my royal cousin? Though I am related to the royal family, I will never have any rights to the throne and cannot offer you much except my love and devotion,” Wen Jun couldn’t believe that Wei Sin loved him.

“Well, I am not Princess Mei Ling. I am the daughter of the princess’ nanny. Am I still good enough for you?” Wei Sin asked Wen Jun with doubt in her voice.

“Yes, I still love you. I am happy that you are not of royal blood. I just want to be with you. I am going to ask my parents and your mother for permission to marry you,” Wen Jun took Wei Sin in his arms, happy to know that she loved him.

The two pairs of young lovers rode on to the palace with no further incidents. When they reached the palace Nanny was summoned to check out the health of Princess Mei Ling. Thanks to Kiu Wai’s quick action of sealing her pressure points, the poison had not spread. No one knew that Nanny was the famous Lady of Thousand Poisons who had disappeared from Mo Lam years ago. She was an expert in poison and was greatly feared by all the martial arts experts in the Mo Lam. She fell in love with one of the righteous clan member and decided to turn over a new leaf. However, her own evil clan was upset with her and had tried to kill her. She was badly injured and would have died if King Chiu hadn’t rescued her. She was grateful to King Chiu and had served King Chiu, the Queen and Princess Mei Ling well but she had not disclosed her true identity. No one except Wei Sin knew who she was. Nanny prepared some antidote and after consuming a couple bowls of antidote, the poison in Princess Mei Ling was neutralized though she had to spend many days resting to recuperate.

Prince Li Kiu Wai stayed with Princess Mei Ling while she was recuperating. They spent time talking about everything under the sun and strolling in the gardens; happy to be with the one they loved. Princess Mei Ling would sometimes play her Chinese zither with Prince Kiu Wai listening dutifully and then teasing her that she was the only person who could persuade him to sit through the torture. They would have pillow fights, chasing each other around the room. Whenever they could sneak away to their hiding place in a remote garden, Prince Kiu Wai would take Princess Mei Ling in his arms, kissing her passionately which caused her to feel butterflies in her belly and whispering naughty things in her ears that made her blushed crimson red. They were totally in love with each other and the entire palace staff pretended not to notice their princess’ shyness and slightly swollen lips and their sometimes slightly disheveled appearance whenever they came out from their secret hiding place or their princess’ adoration for her handsome prince.

Wen Jun had gone back to King Li to report that Prince Li was with his betrothed. Both King Li and King Chiu were happy that their children were safe and doing well and had fallen in love with each other and there would be no more tantrums, which was a relief. Prince Li and Princess Mei Ling were married in a very grand and happy ceremony with people from both countries wishing them well. A few weeks later Wen Jun and Wei Sin were married with both the monarch’s permission and spent half their time with King Li and half the time with King Chiu.

King Chiu was informed of General Yan’s betrayal. After an intensive investigation, the General was stripped of his position and banished from the country. As for Loo Kan, he dared not return to the kingdom, he died as lonely destitute old man with no one to mourn his death. With the traitors eliminated and both kingdoms united by the marriage of Prince Li Kiu Wai and Princess Chiu Mei Ling, the people of both countries enjoyed peace and prosperity.

THE END