1 Banquet

Kingdom of Jin, Capital City.

In a beautifully decorated boudoir with finely crafted timber frames, the laughter and chatter of several women could be heard.

"Lili ah, in the Spring Festival tonight, all the young masters of the noble families will be there. Who do you have your eyes on? Is it the cold and charming Young Master Sun? The gentle and kind Young Master Tang? Or the brave and ferocious Young Master Fen?"

Lili blushed. "Stop it Xiao Ruo, you know my marriage will be decided by my father the emperor."

"Oh come on," Xiao Ruo whined. "You must have taken a liking to one of these boys. Handsome, intelligent, cool, what's there not to like?"

"Xiao Ruo!" Another maid interrupted sternly. "Be careful of what you say inside the palace. If bad rumours spread, it would be the princess that suffers."

Xiao Ruo bit her lips, feeling wronged. "Cui jie jie, you're always scolding me. I didn't do anything wrong."

The other maid looked at her coldly. "Don't forget your place. You are a mere maid and the princess is the master of this palace. You should be more respectful."

Xiao Ruo lowered her head.

"Okay, that's enough fighting," Lili said softly. "On a festive day like today we should be happy, not bickering amongst ourselves." She placed a comb in Xiao Cui's hands and smiled. "Weren't you going to do my hair? I want the red hairpin paired with the necklace mother gave me yesterday."

Xiao Cui bowed. "Of course Your Highness, I will get right to it."

Xiao Ruo pouted. "Your Highness, Your Highness, why be so old-fashioned?"

Lili laughed gently. "Xiao Ruo ah, stop making that face. Maybe by the time tomorrow comes you'd have turned into a pig."

"No way!" Xiao Ruo cried. "Pigs are so ugly. If I were to turn into an animal, I'd rather turn into a butterfly, a beautiful one with sparkly wings."

Lili raised her eyebrows. "Pigs are ugly?"

Xiao Ruo scrunched up her nose. "Of course they are," she replied. "Pigs have big noses and stinky farts. And they roll around in the mud all day."

Lili laughed loudly. "That's just like you to say that."

Xiao Cui who was brushing Lili's hair suppressed a smile.

"Enough now, Xiao Ruo. We don't want to make her highness late for the banquet. You should talk less and work more."

"Fine, whatever you say," Xiao Ruo said, sticking her tongue out.

Lili smiled at the sight. How nice would it be if it were always like this.

…

Festive and joyful music entered her ears as the princess walked into the banquet hall, her two maids following close behind. Lili surveyed the magnificent hall, the golden pillars, then the numerous people that had attended the banquet. It was exactly as Xiao Ruo had said – many young masters had attended the festival with their families. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that everyone who held a title and was currently in the city was present in this Spring Festival banquet.

She then noticed the emperor sitting above on his golden chair. She put on an elegant smile as she walked his way.

"Greetings to the Emperor!" she bowed, her voice loud and clear. "Wishing you good health and fortune."

"You may rise," the emperor said. "Take a seat, my daughter."

The emperor's voice was neither loud nor soft, however it held a certain resonance which made everyone else in the room hold their breaths.

"Thank you, Emperor," Lili spoke, rising gracefully then making her way to the table where her royal brother sat. As she took her seat, she found that her brother was looking at her with a warm smile.

"How are you Lili?" he asked, voice tinged with affection. "I've been very busy with all the work father gave me so I had no chance to visit you these days." He shook his head tiredly and said, "Being the Crown Prince is no easy task."

"You should take more rests, brother. Good work can only be done with good health."

Her brother agreed.

"These days I've been flipping through some of the poetry my teacher recommended."

"Oh?"

Lili chuckled lightly. "Though I still think none of them can compare to the poems you write, brother. They all describe superficial things like large mountains and beautiful rivers, while your poems help increase awareness of our people's circumstances and our country's crises. In my eyes, those poets are all pretentious and foolish, they'd rather dabble in trivial affairs than help serve the country."

Her brother chuckled lightly then flicked her on the forehead.

"Ow," she complained. "Why did you do that?"

"If your teacher heard what you said, he'd surely be boiling with rage."

Lili giggled. "Then you have to keep that secret for me."

Her brother shook his head, amused. "Only you would praise my poems. If those old scholars read my poems they would definitely say – What unglamorous writing technique! What ridiculous nonsense!" He said in a low voice, then laughed at his own imitation of the grumpy old men, and Lili laughed too.

But then he nudged her gently and shook his head. She followed his gaze to their father who was looking at the two of them with a stern gaze. She quickly wiped away her smile, though in her mind she was still laughing.