Li Lei Shuang walked regally along the long and wide red-tiled hall; it was outlined by several columns supporting the high ceiling with entablatures sculpted with gilded dragon's head to emphasize the dynastic symbol - the golden serpent dragon.

The end of her magnificent flowing royal pink silk robe was held by two royal attendants. The princess' majestic pink robe had yellow borders on the sleeves; its hems were designed with miniature circular geometric patterns that depicted their culture. A sash with a darker shade of yellow was tied around her slim waist. It was so soft that it felt like the river's cool water.

Two royal attendants walked behind her, left and right, to watch for any disfigurement on her royal headdress. The headdress was designed with dangling pearls and silver; it added to its majestic flair. Her plaited long black hair which was obscured by the headdress was tied in a chignon with small jade pins, but a considerable amount of hair was allowed to fall gracefully at her back.

The rest of the attendants walked behind her back lining like dutiful imperial army soldiers on a royal march. All of them were dressed in identical dark orange robes designed with minimal circular patterns on the flowing sleeves and hems; bright orange sashes were tied around their waists. The head attendant, distinguishable by her different hair style, led them to the royal family chamber. The elegantly dressed Imperial Eunuch walked in front of them.

When Li Lei Shuang walked inside the family chamber, she and the attendants bowed in unison the Emperor and the Empress. She had also noticed that the Emperor was having a serious discussion with her mother at the tea table as marked by the soberness of his face. As she came near her parents, she felt that something was not right - both of them seemed to be mourning over a terrible fate.

All of them dutifully kowtowed to the Emperor as a sign of respect. "Greetings, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years! I present to you, the Imperial Princess, Princess Li Lei Shuang."

"Good day, Son of Heaven; good day, Imperial Empress " Li Lei Shuang greeted and bowed respectfully to both of her parents again.

The Emperor anxiously stared at his only child, Princess Li Lei Shuang. After a moment, he turned his gaze to the Imperial Enunuch and attendants, and commanded them to leave. Everyone left hastily at the Emperor's orders.

When everyone left, the Emperor stood from where he was kneeling and hugged his daughter as if he was shielding her from all dangers. At the other side, the Empress was weeping with great remorse.

Li Lei Shuang was utterly confused with her parents' unusual behavior but she did not voice her thoughts.

"My daughter, you are my one and only beloved treasure. All I have in my Empire will never amount to you. I will never allow anyone to hurt you - they should have to face me first." The emperor said.

"Is there something wrong, bà ba?" Li Lei Shuang asked in confusion. She was unable to understand what was amiss - everything felt lugubrious.

The Emperor led his daughter near the tea table and directed her to sit.

Li Lei Shuang's parents' looked morosely dejected as tense silence filled the room. Suddenly, she could not bear the situation and curiosity won the better out of her as she asked her father to break the uneasy silence, "Please tell me what is wrong, bà ba."

At her question, her mother broke into another wave of whimper and the Emperor's eyes glistened with tears. It was as if he was bracing himself over something dreadful yet unavoidable.

"Lord Hsien Mao Dong of the Hsien Clan," the Emperor finally started. "is planning to wage war against our Empire."

"Did he not visit the Imperial Palace to forge an alliance with us, bà ba? I don't understand why he plans to wage war against us." Li Lei Shuang asked utterly confused by her father's statement.

The Emperor paused for a while; the tension never left his face. "Yes. But two weeks after his visit, he sent a letter demanding someone precious to seal the alliance."

Li Lei Shuang became more perplexed by her father's words; her mother never ceased crying. She came beside her mother to comfort her.

"The Hsien clan became the strongest of all the feudal lords of the Empire - they have incorporated several feudal states to theirs through their own brutal means. The feudal states they have accumulated held several people in authority that will possibly crush our Empire if a war will ever take place." The Emperor narrated helplessly. His eyes mirrored intense fear of what could possibly be a future outcome.

"What is there demand, bà ba?" Li Lei Shuang's voice trembled when she asked.

The Emperor lovingly stared at his only daughter. Suddenly, tears began to trickle down from his eyes. It was the first time that Li Lei Shuang had seen her strong father cry. "They demand someone that I can never give them."

The Emperor tried to hold on to what feeble strength of control that despair tried to take away from him. "Lord Hsien Mao Dong wants to you to be a part of his harem. He wants you, my beloved daughter, as his wife."

Li Lei Shuang shuddered as terror razed her body; her father's words thoroughly shocked her. She could not utter any word as if her tongue lost its sense. She could not believe it.

The thought of being married to a man such as Lord Hsien Mao Dong made every living fiber of her body jolt with so much revulsion. There was not much to do after a long moment of silence but to break down and cry. Her mother embraced her and wept along with her.

"Not my daughter!" The Empress sobbed.

The Emperor thought after a moment of tears - a lot had been lost to crying. Suddenly, the Emperor's façade became implacable as if a new strength dawned in him. "I will never allow my daughter to be married to a selfish traitor. If the Hsien clan wanted a war, then I have no choice but to give it to him."

°°°°°

The sun took its descent and the sky looked like a white canvas splashed with a flurry of the lightest shade of blue-grey, silver and orange. It precipitated down the dense moutain, giving it an enchanted aura.

Yan Mei Ling was delighted to go down from the mountain after a very long and grueling meditation. Despite its tedium, it was the certainly the most painful of all her training since she repeatedly lost her balance and fell hard on the stones of the stream.

Yan Mei Ling arrived home feeling drowned with fatigue, her meditation had finally taken its toil on her. She bathed to wash herself out of grime and perspiration.

Yeng, her loyal maidservant, came after she washed herself and put salve on all of the bruises in her body. Unlike the balm that Li Lei Shuang used on the bruise of her face, the salve was soothing creating a cool sensation wherever it was applied.

When the maidservant was done with her task, she left leaving Yan Mei Ling entirely alone in her room with nothing but her own vexing thoughts for company.

'Your bothered thoughts have impeded your concentration. If you are unable to control the chaos within your mind, then you will never find serenity in order to achieve balance.' Yan Mei Ling remembered what Master Tang Jiao Quon told her.

'A great warrior is not only skilled in the arts of physical combat; she knows how to control one's feelings and minds in such a way that she can achieve unity with herself.' Master Tang Jiao Quon explained when Yan Mei Ling took her third fall on the stream.

'Meditation is the highest form combat skill because when you are under its trance, you are not fighting someone else but rather the most difficult enemy one can find who is yourself. You must know that, young woman.'

Yan Mei Ling sighed despondently - she did not learn a real combat skill today because of her Master's insistence on meditation. Well, life was certainly damned with that boring meditation; she might as well swept and scrub the palace floor clean.

'Myself? My own enemy? That is certainly absurd.' Yan Mei Ling berated in her mind. She was disappointed because she did not achieve the balance that she had strived hard for. She was absolutely furious with herself because of her inability to get over the terrifying emotion that struck her at Li Lei Shuang's house. It was absolutely unnatural and she would never welcome such emotion - it was immoral!

Yan Mei Ling walked back and forth her room utterly disturbed. She remembered the feeling of her best friend's touch which was something akin to being struck by a thunder only it was gentle, heart-sweeping similar to the caress using a peacock's feathers.

No - she should not feel that way! It could not be. It was unimaginable and utterly insane! She shook her head in denial. How many times should she shake her head to completely purge herself of the lunacy that was trying to control her mind? The lump in her throat was suddenly becoming heavy as if she swallowed the biggest stone in the stream where she had meditated.

She anxiously walked back and forth again, this time thumping heavily on the floor like a warhorse's furious stomp. Her thoughts sank deeper still drowning her mind, making her want to take her heart off her chest to finally put an end to her misery. 'Why do I have to feel this way?' Yan Mei Ling wailed to herself pathetically. 'I can't feel this way to Li Lei Shuang. She is my friend and a friend she shall always remain.'

Yan Mei Ling's distressing thoughts was put momentarily sidetracked when Yeng called in a low voice, warning her, "My lady, your father has arrived. He called you for dinner."

"Oh, no!" Yan Mei Ling cried in panic. "Yeng, you have to help me.. I need to hide the bruises on my face - there should be nothing visible! Quick, we need to put rouge on my face."

°°°°°°

Moonlight was spilled generously on the terrain. It even eclipsed the light emitted by the lanterns hanging on the ceiling outside the huge open windows of the Yan's dining hall. Its sweet glare made the burning oil lamp in the dinner table seemed superfluous.

Yan Mei Ling had done essential preparations before dinner. She made certain that her make-up was thick enough so that her father, Unit Commander Yan Bao Rong , would not notice the bruises on her face. She did not like to be bombarded with sermons if he did.

Dinner between Yan Mei Ling and her father had always been silent and stiff - even uncomfortable at most times. If not for the discreet sound of the chopsticks against porcelain, everything would have been eerily silent.

At every stretch of silence, Yan Mei Ling longed to break it and share the things she'd been doing to her father but every time she glanced at his cold and inscrutable face, she knew she'd regret after. Idle talks were not tolerated in the dining hall except perhaps if it was about imperial or household duties. However, all the talks were mostly her father's, all she had to do was to nod like a brainless and obedient daughter.

With a flat voice and impassive face, Unit Commander Yan Bao Rong started a conversation which surprisingly made Yan Mei Ling silently sighed in relief. "I heard of a boy who dressed himself like a ninja. He always won the town brawls. It would have been an honor in the imperial army to have someone as good as him."

At her father's words, Yan Mei Ling stared onto her father's face. She could not believe that the news about the ninja boy would reach her father. It was quite a shock but it seemed that his stare was rebuking her, as if he knew of her secret. Because of that, she felt guilt razed through her that she choked on her food and hastily drank her tea from her cup.

Unit Commander Yan Bao Rong eyed her daughter with extreme disappointment and firmly admonished her, "You are almost a lady but you have not polished your childish manners yet. You never do anything good but to disappoint me."

Yan Mei Ling was hurt by her father's words and tears started to form from her eyes, "I don't want to be the lady that you want me to be, bà. Why won't you just allow me to join the imperial army?"

Nettled by his daughter's plea, he slammed his fists at the table and stared scathingly at her. "You must know that women will never have any purpose in the military. What kind of foolish thought has come into your mind to tell me of that absurd wish of yours?"

Yan Mei Ling's tears longed to fall from her eyes but she dared not to for that would only prove her weak in her father's eyes. "I am going to prove myself, bà, if you will just give me a chance."

"Stop talking of foolishness and try to put some sense into your head. When will you understand? I do not raise you to become a part of the military. I want you to become the lady that you ought to be."

"But.."

"No buts," Unit Commander Yan Bao Rong sternly cut his daughter's words. "Be as I wanted." He left the dinner table without finishing his food.

Yan Mei Ling was left alone with a heart full of anguish and frustration. The wall that she painstakingly built finally collapsed leaving her defense open. She was left with no other refuge but to succumb to the tears that she had been holding back.

------------------------

te:

For Li Lei Shuang, I choose the Korean actress, Yoon Eun-Hye, for her pretty delicate looks. She is heavenly beautiful. I know she is Korean but I know she would look fantastically lovely when she wears traditional Chinese dresses.

bà ba - [爸爸 ]