The Untamed Princess

Chapter Forty-One: The Third Truth

Ming Yue instantly froze.  She said nothing.  Weisheng was relieved that she did not do him the disservice of trying to deny it.  She knew him well enough to know that he would never have said it so confidently if he was not absolutely sure.

"I suspected it for a while," he said.  "Even though your behaviour in the palace was impeccable, you never really fit in as a maidservant.  Your martial arts ability alone gave me reason to believe you were more than what you claimed to be."

Weisheng watched her warily, but she did not move or make any attempt to speak, so he continued.

"When we were organising the summit, you knew exactly what gifts to buy to please the Jin delegation.  Then, at the summit camp, your reaction towards the Jin princes was strange.  Not at all what I expected."  Weisheng's mind briefly drifted to the way the Jin crown prince and his brother had looked at Ming Yue, but he pushed the thought quickly to the back of his mind.

"Then, there was your winged friend, the falcon.  Whenever I saw him leaving the skies above the palace, it was always to fly east, in the direction of the border with Jin, and usually after some major announcement had been made in the court.  I still couldn't be certain though.  One piece of the puzzle was still missing.  It was as if I knew it, in the back of my mind, but I just couldn't put my finger on it."

"It wasn't until I thought back to the first time I saw you. How you stood out from everyone else. The way you moved, your confidence, and," he paused for a moment. "The way you spoke. Your accent. It was the same as the Jin princes'. Of course, it has faded now after so many months. But I remember it."

Studying her face carefully, Weisheng saw one of Ming Yue's eyebrows raise ever so slightly, and he took the opportunity to hazard a guess at what was going through her mind.

"You are probably wondering why you are not rotting in the palace dungeons right now."

Again, she said nothing.  Weisheng's tone softened.

"I know you are a spy, but I don't believe that you have any ill-intentions towards Han.  If anything, your actions suggest the opposite.  There have been any number of occasions where you could have sabotaged us from within, but you have saved my life several times now, and even trusted me and Luo Jian with your biggest secret.   It is impossible for me to believe you are a threat."  Now finished, he waited, challenging her to contradict his words.

Ming Yue had expected to feel fear at being exposed, but instead she only felt a crashing wave of relief.  She had not realised until this moment how truly exhausting it had been trying to fulfil her duty as a daughter of Jin whilst at the same time trying to avoid lying directly to Weisheng.

She moved over to the table and sat down, aware that this was likely to be a very long conversation.

"You are correct," she began.

Weisheng had been expecting the answer, but it still came as a shock to hear her say it.  Still, he tried his utmost to maintain a neutral expression.

"I am from Jin kingdom," she continued, "but my mission in coming here was only ever a peaceful one.  You are aware that we have spies in Han, just as you have spies in Jin.  This was the case since well before the war even."

Weisheng nodded.  It was common for neighbouring kingdoms to keep an eye on each other in this way.  He nodded again, signalling for her to go on.

"Our spies reported that there were rumours of certain Han palace officials who were against Han forging better relations with Jin, perhaps even encouraging a resurgence of hostilities.  But these were only rumours, so the king did not want to raise the matter with your father directly and risk offending him, in case there was no truth to any of it."