Love In The Forbidden City (Completed)

Chapter IX - Horse Riding Again - Part II (Revised)

"We should part from here." When night descended, I brought the Eighth Bei'Le to the place where One Sided was waiting for him. "He's waiting behind that Sequoia tree. Be careful."

I watched as he walked around the small spring to the other end of the ravine until he was out of sight. I wanted to stay with him but he asked me to return to avoid any suspicion. While I sat on my bed in my tent, I kept persuading myself that they would be fine. The meeting place was half a mile away from the camp. I was certain that they wouldn't be found. Would they?

"Ruo Xi..." Suwan Guwalgiya Min Min's voice woke me up from my woe. "Ruo Xi, how is your injury?" She walked into my tent and lifted up my hands in anxiety.

"Thanks for your concern. I was in shocked for a time but I'm feeling much better now."

"Ruo Xi," Suwan Guwalgiya Min Min looked at the hearth before saying, "there is something that I want to ask you about. Could you accompany me to have a stroll outside?"

I nodded and we walked to the nearby woods. What did she want to discuss with me about? She was always cheerful but she looked disturbed now. Oh no, did she find out about the princes? No, Ruo Xi, just stays calm. Don't scare yourself. Things will become worse if you panic. They will be fine. They will be fine, I kept comforting myself. The Princess grabbed my hand with a forced smile and led me through the grassland. The white tents became a blurry shade of picture the further we walked. Every now and then, the Qing's soldiers and the Mongolian's guards ran hither and thither. I was worried about the princes when Suwan Guwalgiya Min Min talked.

"I came to disturb you in the middle of the night. Will you be angry with me?"

"You are always straightforward and jovial. Why did you become so polite to me so suddenly?" I teased her with an edgy smile. The black orbs of her eyes were so bright as if they had absorbed all luminescence from the round moon.

"It is because I have just known that you are Kang Xi Emperor's most loved servant. I will be punished if I said something wrong." She winked at me initially but her tone lowered all of a sudden. She halted her steps and leaned on a tree. Looking crestfallen, she caressed the tree bark. "Why didn't the Thirteenth Prince come this time?"

"He wished to come but the decision all depended on the emperor. Don't worry. The Thirteenth Prince is fine."

"I guess so. Are-- Are all of his concubines pretty?"

"Not as pretty as you." I almost chuckled. So this was the thing that she wanted to talk about.

"Really?" She dashed towards me in glee. Her skin shone with vitality. "Don't you think that I always act rudely? I don't know much about the palace's etiquette. Look at you and your female servants. The way you speak is not too fast yet not too slow; the intonation is not too high yet not too low. You walk in grace and elegance, unlike me, who always fling my hands widely."

"I don't know whether I'm graceful or elegant, but I can ensure you that you are a great beauty. Actually, do you like the Thirteenth Prince?"

Suwan Guwalgiya Min Min's brows furrowed and she stomped her feet in nervousness. Biting her lip, she said, "Is it really that obvious?" I nodded and she continued with a confident smile, "No doubt, I like him. I have never heard such a great voice. When he stood there and sang along with me, my heart... My heart had never beaten so fast. I have never seen a man who smiled like that." She leaned against a tree as she reminisced. Admiration filled her face. "He looked as if he was smiling yet he was not. He seemed ignorant yet you could feel his passion burning like a billow of fire. I have never seen a man like that."

"The Thirteenth Prince is definitely an exceptional man."

The glow in Suwan Guwalgiya Min Min's eyes faltered. "My father does not grant our marriage. He said the women in the Forbidden City are not happy and not many of them have a blissful romance life. He said I am a flower in the Wild, and I can only bloom in the Wild."