"Wan'er!Wan'er! get up" said a woman around 50 years of age. She had delicate features and spoke with as much grace as she did when she walked. She was no other than Mi Furen the wife of the great preceptor of the SuXian kingdom.
" No mother. I am tired let Wan'er sleep a little longer...please?" said the young lady sleeping on the mahogany bed. She was Qu Wan the only daughter of the preceptor and decreed princess of the kingdom.
She was a gentle girl with a shy personality. Her parent and brothers loved her so much even if bad rumours aroused about her.
" You cannot today. It is your birthday and you better go to the ancestral shrine to ask for blessings from your ancestors and then go meet your grandmother for her blessing." The furen said while calmly shaking the young girl.
" Yes furen." She said exaspersted and stood from the bed. "I hope the emperor does choose a husband for me this year. I am already 20 and I have no wish to live forever as a single lady" said the woman while taking her bath.
"Miss what colour will you wear today?" Asked a maid who stopped bathing her in order to look for clothing.
" The red one with sunflowers pattern." She answered. Red was her favourite colour but since it was a too feasty colour she wore it only on such special occasions.
The maid removed the clothes and helped her to wear it.
"Of course you can't. However the emperor's time is the best. He is taking all this time because it is difficult to find someone as good as Rong Wang... " the mother said before abruptly stopping. She knew how sensitive the late Wang's subject was to her daughter. The girl tried acting strong on this day and she the mother forgot how deeply she still feels for him especially on this day.
" It is alright mother. You are right no one is as go..good as R...RRong Wang. But I will do my best to love and make him happy" said the missus with tears in her eyes. All the maids were crying too so she excused them and stayed alone with her mother.
" That is good. You are a sensible child let's not cry come I will arrange your hair. " said the mother as she checked inside the jewerly box in order to fix her hair.
"Use the fish pin." Said the missus to her mother.
" That is what I was looking for. You wear it on every birthday since you were 7. Fish is your favourite fush right?" Said her mother.
" yyyes mother." Acknowledged the girl even though that wasn't the case.
This pin was the first present se received from her beloved. He had met her for the first time during her 7th anniversary and asked to have a walk with her and talk in private. She had been nervous at the time but his first words calmed her immediately " I am the future king of this kingdom. I will be master to all except you. I will be above all and below you only. My imperial mother said you are to be my queen and I should cherish you, so take this pin as my first present to you amongst many more to come"
After that he ran away. At the time she thought him so courageous but later learned he had rehearse for days with his imperial mother to be able to talk to her that little.
All her life she had been adored in the front and smashed in the back. Apart from her family, she knew no one loved her for she was always sick, weak, stupid and ugly. She didn't have the grace or knowledge girls from her class had but she had all the honours because her mother and the empress were cousins and her father was preceptor to the crown prince.
She had thought he will not like her but tolerate her. She had been wrong for he not only liked her but loved her.
Today she celebrated her birthday, the anniversary of their meeting and his death.