The Untamed Princess

Chapter One: The Princess Spy

Jiang Ming Yue, youngest princess of Jin, was dangerously on the edge.  On the edge of a rather tall building to be exact.  At least, it would have been dangerous had she not been particularly gifted in martial arts, although her brothers would never give her the pleasure of admitting that to her face.  At the moment, she was delicately balanced on one leg, reaching for a kite stuck in the upper branches of an inconveniently located tree.

Far below, the kite's owner, a small boy of seven, gazed up anxiously from one of the many pathways in the sprawling palace gardens.  Ming Yue gave a reassuring wave and, with the tips of her fingers, tugged the kite from the tree's grasp.  She swung down over the edge of the building roof with one hand to the wooden balcony below, then used her qinggong to descend gracefully, her feet lightly touching the ground below.  She paused to pluck an offending leaf from the wooden frame of the toy, then walked forward to meet the small crowd that had formed while she was performing her feat of acrobatics.

Ming Yue returned the kite to its grateful owner, then sent the boy on his way with a gentle pat on the head.  As the crowd dispersed, she turned away, and the smile on her full-lipped mouth faded quickly.  Instead, a worried frown drew her delicately arched brows downwards towards her hazel eyes, temporarily marring the features of her beautiful face.

Jing Yi, her personal maid and long-time friend, touched the princess's shoulder gently in understanding.

"Don't worry too much about His Majesty, Ming Yue," she said.  "He is used to dealing with these complicated political matters."

Ming Yue gave her friend a grateful look but, in her heart, she knew that this time was different.

Ming Yue's father, the king of Jin, had been troubled recently.  The tenuous peace between Jin and the neighbouring kingdom of Han was on the verge of collapse.  Jin spies outside the palace walls in Han were reporting distressing rumours that influential people in King Xuanming's inner circle were whispering in his ear, sowing seeds of distrust and suspicion between the two kingdoms.  Even now, King Huìwén was locked away with his advisers, trying to think of ways to maintain the fragile harmony that had been achieved at great cost on both sides.

"Our relationship with Han has never been good," acknowledged King Huìwén, "and I was aware of the small skirmishes at the borders every now and then.  But I had believed that, for now, it was stable.  Clearly the situation is much more sensitive than I had originally thought.  Does anyone have any recommendations?"

"Your Majesty", said a senior official, "if it is accurate that some of King Xuanming's own counsellors are responsible for this change of heart then it is difficult for us to confront the matter directly with the king.  Also, these rumours are unconfirmed.  If none of it is true, then we risk angering Han Kingdom over nothing."

King Huìwén nodded.

"I agree," he said.  "Our first priority should be establishing whether there is any truth to the stories.  Only then can we make a decision on the best course of action.  The question is, how do we do this without Han Kingdom's knowledge?  Our spies outside of the Han palace can only do so much without access to the Han royal court."

The king's most trusted confidante, Military Adviser Yu Long, stepped forward.

"I may have an idea," he said, slowly.  "There is a family in the Han capital who have been settled there for many years, since well before the war, but they remain loyal to Jin, the birthplace of the family patriarch."  He continued.

"The second daughter of the family is currently a maidservant in the inner palace.  However, she has recently been struck down by an illness which my spies tell me has affected a number of young people throughout the capital, meaning that there is a shortage of palace staff and replacements are urgently needed.  The family matriarch, whilst not of noble blood, is respected and known to the most senior palace housekeepers.  If she suggests that another daughter of the family who is trained in etiquette enters the palace in the second daughter's stead, it is likely that this would be agreed to."