As I stepped inside I found my father standing there just in front of my grandfather's grave, I didn't expect him to be there and at that moment I felt like my guilty conscience was betraying me. He turned his back to me, and I smiled then placed my eyes down. I was shy and so afraid that he would see right through me of all my plans to escape Xinjiang forever.
"Mingzhu" He called out to me.
"Sire…" I bowed respectfully and he came close to where I stood. He looked at me and placed his right arm just under my left cheek, his eyes were pure and breathtaking. No matter how innocent he was, I knew that wouldn't stop me from leaving.
"You came to talk to him?" He meant my grandfather.
"Yes"
"Good, because I was just telling him about your wedding to Prince Yunshan and…he seems to like him" He said and chuckled softly at the end. I didn't say anything and after a few minutes he left the sacred grounds and I was all alone.
I quickly knelt down and started venting to my grandfather's grave as if he was there, or I imagined him being there listening to me. I told him how he and I have the same passion for adventure and I asked him for his guidance as I invoke on a new journey that I knew nothing about. "Guide me Sire, for my blood is your blood and by blood we shall all cross the bridge to the afterlife" I finished and then stood up, I collected my robe and my fur layers on top then made my way outside.
It was colder than before or perhaps maybe the sacred grounds were warmed up by the dead because I felt warm inside. I started to freeze and headed back to my cave. "Everything is set up! I'm ready to leave…" I said to myself and then I called on my two servants. I ordered them to bring for me roasted meat and I lied I had a guest so I needed a large quantity, I hid that meat inside my other fur coat.
And throughout the day I spent with my mother strolling down the forests in search of fruits and roots. We always did that so she wasn't alarmed when I asked if I could join her, for all I knew she would rather have me by her side instead of training with the warriors. She always said "There's no swordswoman, there's only a swordsman" every time she would see me training and she would even report that to my father but good thing he never listened to her.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my mother but she can be such a pain in the ass and constantly on my business. I am never in hers, but she was always on mine ever since I was just a young girl, teaching me how to sew my robes, how to cook tasty foods and she always mentioned that I was learning so I can be a good wife to my husband. "Argh mother, why would I want to be a good wife? Are men preparing to be good husbands too?" I usually asked and she would get so angry trying to educate me that boys don't need to be trained to be good husbands. If he can swing a sword, bring food home and make babies then that's a good husband.
I had no idea where Prince Yunshan was fitting on all those criteria because he didn't look like he fit in either of those. Maybe the making babies part but still I wasn't sure if he was man enough. We made our way through the forest picking fruits in silence and I was overjoyed with it, I needed silence more than anything in the world to think through my situation but she had to cut me up.
"You and the prince will make such cute princes and princesses" She said smiling at me "He's very handsome…" she added.
I rolled my eyes and grunted, "He looks like a girl mother."
"All boys look the same Mingzhu."
"Not all of them…" I whispered and she asked "What did you say?" and I quickly replied "Nothing." Because I knew how much she hated to be interrupted and criticized.
She turned back and we continued walking "You are lucky Prince Yunshan picked you Mingzhu"
"I thought you said we have been promised to one another since we were infants?" I asked her and to be honest I always felt like maybe the prince had no choice aside from me, maybe he was also forced into this union.
"Yes you were, but he was also promised to Princess Aego of Kwinshao. She is much prettier than you and she doesn't train with men…" My mother said and gave me a side eye, then she picked up a fruit and ate it along the way.
She really did hate my idea of training because she thought it was un-lady like.
"He should've picked her" I said and proceeded forward as I wasn't in the mood to discuss it again with my mother about my marriage to the prince. We continued to pick up the fruits silently afterwards, she was mad at me I could tell.
When we returned back it was already dark but in our empire you could never tell when it's dark or when it's not because it was always foggy and cold. The men had returned back from hunting and there I spotted Lee amongst them, we exchanged awkward glances and I proceeded inside with my mother. If it were the old days, I would join them up and even tease amongst them. But I was engaged already and it was forbidden for even a man to stand close to me, as per my father's words, I belonged to someone else.
Belonging to someone felt so weird to me and I never took it under any consideration, I belonged to myself and I wished I could shout that to my father so he knew that I wasn't someone's wife or lady, I belonged to no one but myself. "Mingzhu" I heard a male voice calling me from my cave and I stood up quickly and at that moment I realized I was lost in my dreams even though I wasn't sleeping.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"It's me, Lee..." Lee said and I barged outside wrapping myself tight with my fur coats as it kept getting colder outside. It was night and everyone had gone to sleep as I waited for the perfect time to escape.
"What do you want?"
"I will come with you, if the royal princess accepts" Lee said to me and then he knelt before me.
I never trusted men who couldn't keep their word, they will always say one thing and then the next time say another thing. "Are you sure?" I asked him.
"Yes princess! Take me with you to the warm land"
I was speechless and utterly confused, I didn't know what I was doing and I was sure neither was he but we seemed determined and I needed a company. I knew I could count on him, after all he was my friend, my good friend and if there was anyone I was ready to explore the lands with then it was him. I walked back inside the cave and took out my belongings, the meat and the fruits. Then I came to him and he was still on his knees "Get up warrior" I said and he smiled, then we both covered ourselves with the heavy fabrics and fled Xinjiang.
Lee knew all the plans and how the security of the empire works, he knew who was on guard that night and where they would be stationed. It was too cold for them as they dozed off in front of a fire and we passed right through them without being noticed. We came upon a forest engulfed in deep snow in such a way we couldn't see where we were going but I held on to Lee's hand as he led us away from my empire and took west direction, like the direction that strange man said before he was beheaded by my father's warrior.
It was dark, so dark and we didn't have an ounce of fire. I asked him perhaps we should get some light if we were to know where we were going and he insisted on going blind. I didn't get it at first as to why we had to travel blindly until after twenty minutes of struggling on the ice where we met ten men scattered and standing still on top of their horses. They were the guards who guarded our empire. "They never sleep" Lee whispered to me and then we made our way down carefully not to cause any attention.
We chose a way where there was only one warrior and I looked up, he was awake and shivering. I felt bad for those men, staying in a cold winter without fire seemed very brutal if you asked me, and His Majesty approved that. We crawled silently until we passed the border and onto another land. When I asked who were those men, Lee said they were the ones who protected Xinjiang's border. They had even sworn an oath that they would die before letting anything gets inside the empire, whether be a roaring jaguar or an army preparing for ambush.