Ming Yue had not involved herself in the consequences of the recent revelations about the traitorous officials, deciding that it was an internal matter for Han, however big a part she had played in the unmasking. In any case, it was best to keep a low profile. Instead, she had focussed all of her attention on the rapidly upcoming nuptials, even though she had very little say in the planning of the big event.
Weisheng's time, on the other hand, had been completely taken up by the stunning revelations about three of his father's most senior officials. King Xuanming had tasked General Tan and Minister Shen with fully investigating the matter - the facts of Minister Xie's testimony and the circumstances of Ministers Guo and Su's arrest were damning, admittedly, but could not be fully relied upon - and the two men had made relatively short work of it. Painstaking searches of all of the properties of those involved had yielded results, however much the wrongdoers had tried to hide the evidence, and a few of their less loyal underlings had been more than willing to throw the men to the wolves if it meant saving their own skins and those of their families.
When all the details of the conspiracy had been laid bare, the only thing left was for the king to pass judgment and, under the circumstances, it was a remarkably lenient one. Still, Weisheng and Minister Shen knew only too well His Majesty's dilemma. To punish the men and their families too harshly would indicate a serious lapse of judgment on his part in allowing them into his inner circle in the first place. Still, traitors had to be dealt with in such a way that it would deter others from taking the same path.
Ultimately, after consulting with his son, the king had decided on a punishment that he felt was suitable in all the circumstances. Ministers Guo and Su could not be let off. After all, they had conspired to murder the crown prince and, consequently, they were languishing in the palace dungeon, not long for this world. Minister Xie had marginally redeemed himself with his testimony, so he and the families of all three traitors were to be banished to separate outlying provinces, all to live under the watchful eyes of reliable governors. Now, all that was left was sweeping up the last few spies from within the palace walls.
One consequence of the delicate political situation was that the planning for the marriage ceremony was progressing at an almost alarming rate. After all, nothing would take the public's mind off the attempted coup like a royal wedding. Consequently, before Ming Yue and Weisheng knew it, the happy event was quickly upon them.
When it came to the day itself, everything passed in a blur. Ming Yue vaguely recalled bowing to Heaven and Earth, their elders, and to each other, but little else. Truth be told, as far as the couple were concerned, it was a formality, albeit a poignant one, performed for the benefit of others rather than themselves. They knew their own feelings well enough, and would have been perfectly happy with a simple ceremony. It was only once they were back in the prince's mansion that the masks of propriety were removed, and they were giggling together like children as they finished their second jar of wine.
Ming Yue reached up and adjusted the neckline of her simple blue dress. She had been very quick to change clothing when they were safely away from curious eyes, and had not cared one bit that it was very much against custom.
"I have never worn anything so heavy," she complained. "And red is most definitely not my colour."
Weisheng smiled.
"It was a little overwhelming," he admitted. "But who are we to argue with hundreds of years of tradition? And it was a very beautiful occasion. Still, now that the formalities are over..." he reached for his new wife and pulled her into his lap.
They had been this close before, but this was the first time they were together as a formal union, each half of one complete whole in the eyes of the world. Ming Yue wrapped her arms around Weisheng's neck and buried her head in his shoulder. After all they had experienced, this moment was more than she could ever have wished for.
They stayed like that for a long moment, until Weisheng grabbed hold of his princess firmly and deposited her unceremoniously on the bed.
Trapping her body beneath his, he barely gave her enough time to take a breath before his mouth was on hers, and for a while the two of them forgot about everything other than each other. When they finally broke apart, Weisheng was surprised to see that Ming Yue's face had turned slightly pink, and she was not quite able to meet his gaze.
"Are you...shy?" he asked, incredulously. It was so out of character that he did not think it could possibly be true but, to his great surprise, she shifted uncomfortably and turned even more red.
The prince looked around at their surroundings.
"We have shared a bed before," he said. "On several occasions if you recall?"
"I remember very well," Ming Yue responded. "But those times were different. Then, we couldn't...I mean we didn't..." she tailed off, and Weisheng smiled playfully.
"Are you nervous?" he asked. "Don't worry. I'll take care of you."
Ming Yue huffed indignantly and, gripping Weisheng around the waist, rolled them over so that he was now the one looking up at her.
"Maybe you are the one who should be nervous," she retorted, raising an eyebrow.
Sensing a challenge, Weisheng's eyes narrowed, and his own grip tightened.
"Very well, my princess," he said. "If you want to play it like that, I am more than happy to oblige!"
He flipped the two of them over again so that he was, once more, looking down into the young woman's sparkling eyes, but she refused to accept her fate, and the two fought for dominance for some time, until the bedcovers were a tangled mess and both were breathing heavily from laughter and exertion. Ming Yue looked across at Weisheng lying beside her.
"Fine," she said. "You win. I surrender. I don't think I have any energy left."
The prince smiled at his wife.
"No problem." He smiled mischievously. "I have plenty of energy left for the both of us."
Without another word, he pulled Ming Yue into his arms and spent the next few hours proving his point.
***
The following day, Ming Yue paced the length of the prince's study as her new husband looked on in amusement.
"Don't think that just because we are married now, I will content myself with sitting around the palace all day sipping on hot beverages and eating cakes," she said, without breaking stride. "I know that as a dutiful daughter-in-law, I have to go and serve tea to your mother today, but think of it as an exception, however fond I am of her. I have never been overly enamoured by the idea of blending herbs for other people to drink for anything other than medicinal purposes. Quite frankly, I can't think of anything worse."
"Don't worry," Weisheng laughed. "I never expected that becoming my wife would tame you. And I like you just the way you are." He took her hand. "Come on, let's go and get this first task over with before you take on tea duty."
Five minutes later, the newly married couple were stood in front of the entirety of the mansion staff.
"I've called you here to apologise to you all. I deceived you. We deceived you. As you can see, the person you knew as Secretary Li is actually the princess of Jin, and now my wife." Weisheng looked around to make sure he had everyone's attention. He needn't have worried in that respect.
"Ming Yue was here for secret discussions about uniting our two kingdoms through marriage. She and I wanted to get to know each other properly, outside of the formality of royal courtship, before we agreed to our parents' wishes, which is why she stayed here under the guise of being my secretary. Consequently, her presence here was a secret, known to only a few people."
Weisheng hated lying, but in order to ensure his and Ming Yue's happiness and the continued peace of both kingdoms, he was more than willing to do it. He looked around at his faithful staff, silently begging them to swallow the extremely far-fetched tale, or at least pretend to for his sake.
"And now, I must ask you all to also keep that secret for us, from everyone else inside and outside of the palace, so that both of our kingdoms can move forward happily with this new alliance." He looked across at Ming Yue, and she stepped forward.
"I echo Weisheng's apology. I did not take any pleasure from deceiving you about my identity. But I am delighted to be back amongst you all now, and to have you see the truth. And I want you all to know that the year I spent in your company, as one of you, was the happiest of my life." She beamed at them all with such joy that not one of them could fail to be moved, and Weisheng gave her hand a gentle squeeze of encouragement before she continued.
"It would be a great favour to me if you would all treat me much the same as you did when I was last here. I am still the same person you knew, and I have never been someone who liked excessive formality, especially in their own home." Finished, she looked at Weisheng.
"Ming Yue and I are married," he said, "and I want you all to share in our good fortune. Tomorrow night, the two of us will host a feast for everyone in our mansion. You are all welcome. We will eat, drink and celebrate." He laughed when he heard the cheers of some of the younger, more boisterous members of staff. It was clear that a little bribery would go a long way.
"Now, we will not keep you any longer. Please carry on as you were."
***
Several days later, Ming Yue was once again pacing the study, in what was starting to become a habit.
Planning the banquet for the mansion staff had been an enjoyable task, and reminded her of happy times when she, Weisheng and Luo Jian had spent many hours putting together the schedule of events for the queen's birthday. And the event itself had been a joyous one, with the couple finding far more fulfilment in the company of the mansion's staff than in the stuffy formality of the marriage rituals. But now that the jubilant occasion was over, and the fuss surrounding the wedding had died down, Ming Yue was bored.
Weisheng was still not back from his meeting with Minister Shen, as the two men tried to contain the fall-out from the revelation that three of the most senior ministers in the court had been traitors to the crown, and Luo Jian was, as usual, at the prince's side. As for Jing Yi, she was probably with Xu Rong. The two young maidservants were quickly becoming firm friends, and the latter had been quick to offer to take the former under her wing and teach her about the inner workings of the palace.
Ming Yue glanced up at the sky. It was perhaps an hour or two before sunset. Lin Yang and Lin Xing Fu would not be far off closing up the clinic for the evening. Perhaps it was time to pay her friends a long overdue visit, but definitely without all of the fuss that came with being the wife of the crown prince.
Her mind made up, Ming Yue's mood brightened considerably as she changed her outfit to something a little less conspicuous. With a bit of luck, she could leave through one of the side gates without being noticed or questioned. After all, her face was not so very well known in the palace yet, and she had the prince's mansion's token, guaranteeing her free movement wherever she wished to go.
She thought about not taking her sword, then quickly realised that Weisheng would already be annoyed at her leaving the palace alone without a guard. Adding the lack of a weapon into the mix was just asking for their first real argument as husband and wife. She reached for bing ling and a heavy travelling cloak.
A short while later, Ming Yue heaved a sigh of relief as she turned a corner taking her out of sight of the palace gates. Her escape had gone relatively smoothly, other than a brief scare when she almost ran straight into Jin Yi and Xu Rong, who were now virtually inseparable.
Making her way quickly through the city streets, Ming Yue soon found herself at the entrance of her friends' clinic, and was pleased to see the lights still burning brightly inside. However, when she pushed open the door, there was no sign of Lin Rong and Lin Xing Fu. Instead, there was only a hunched figure in dark clothes sweeping the floor. She adopted what she hoped was a friendly expression.
"Hello. You must be the Lins' new assistant? I am a friend of the family. I was hoping to visit them this evening."
The dark figure straightened and regarded her seriously. His expression was inscrutable, but that could easily have been due to the large network of scars covering the man's face. Ming Yue tried not to stare as he responded.
"They are out running errands. They shouldn't be too much longer though."
His voice was scratchy and hoarse, and the young woman had to strain her ears to catch his next words.
"You are more than welcome to wait, but I will lock the door if you don't mind, as our trading hours are over."
Ming Yue smiled warmly.
"Of course. As long as you are sure I won't be in your way."
The assistant waved an arm in the general direction of the centre of the room, and then moved quickly towards the door. As the princess walked forward, she heard a heavy bolt drop into place behind her. For some reason, she found the sound a little disconcerting. However, by the time she had turned around, the man had moved away and resumed his sweeping.
For a short while, Ming Yue busied herself with studying the labels on the various jars located around the room, until a male voice demanding her attention pulled her back to her immediate surroundings.
"I'm sorry," she said, with an apologetic smile. "Could you repeat that?"
"I asked," said the man, "do you believe in fate?"
It was an odd question, particularly to ask of someone you had only just met, but Ming Yue considered it carefully.
"I'm not sure," she eventually admitted. "I have always believed that I am in control of my own destiny, but I also believe that some things are just meant to be. Why? Do you believe in fate?"
The assistant moved closer.
"I am convinced of it," he said, and something in his tone of voice put Ming Yue slightly on edge. She waited cautiously for him to speak again.
"If there was no such thing as fate," he continued, "we would not be here like this. The two of us. Alone. Just like last time. Tell me you haven't forgotten me already? I certainly haven't forgotten you."
Ming Yue peered intently at the face in front of her, willing herself to see past the disfiguring scars. It was only when she looked properly into the man's eyes that she was struck with a horrifying realisation.
"It's you!" she gasped.