冤家 - His Destined Love

1.1. Forgotten Tunnel

The Forgotten Tunnel was in the middle of the Jin Dynasty, Xue and Hong Clans. Many many years ago when the relationship between these three were good, they wanted to do something to celebrate their friendship. After a long time of thinking, they decided to build this underworld tunnel in the middle of them for trade. At first, its name was the Peace Tunnel and it was exactly two days to arrive at the midpoint from each entrance. The midpoint served as a bazaar where all merchandisers from the clans exchanged their wide range of products; from cotton to chicken... This monthly bazaar animated the economy, reduced the danger of bandits and reinforced the relationships of Jin, Hong and Xue as well as the relations with the other clans.

For almost ten years, there was no problem except time. Naturally, these three leaders were getting old each day and this situation scared everyone. When the rumours about the king of Jin being sick went to the ears of leaders of Hong and Xue, they knew that they had to do something to preserve the good relationship they had before their death. As always, the easiest way was marriage. The king of Jin had only one son (available) while the king of Hong had two daughters (one available) and one son (unavailable) and king of Xue had only one daughter (available). As it was the situation, the only possible marriage was either between Jin and Hong or between Jin and Xue.

As the trio couldn't solve the problem by letters, they got together at Jin Palace. They spent almost ten days on the marriage issue as they couldn't find a solution. The leaders of Hong and Xue wanted the son of Jin to marry both with the daughter of Xue and the daughter of Hong. However, Jin Dynasty never welcomed polygamy so he refused the option. Also, the son of Jin told them that there was a girl he wanted to marry so he didn't want any of the daughters. The tension was rising everyday between them and in order to bring the peace back, the king of Jin found a solution to make everybody happy. According to his plan, his son would marry whomever he wants but the daughters of Xue and Hong would come to the palace as princesses. He promised his friends that he would treat their daughters as his own. Although it wasn't what they planned, the leaders of Hong and Xue accepted the offer so that they could attain peace again.

Twenty days later, the princesses were welcomed to Jin Palace with a great celebration. Hong princess, Hong ZhuSha was given the south part of the Jin palace and Xue princess, Xue Li was given the north part. Both the king of Jin and his son, Jin Xin kept their promise, they treated the princesses as their own kind. Shortly after the princesses arrived at Jin palace, Jin Xin married the girl he loved. Even the princesses attended his wedding ceremony and wished him happiness.

Almost two years passed with great peace in the palace. But then, black clouds gathered around Jin Dynasty. It all started with the death of Jin Xin's wife. It was so sudden that Jin Xin couldn't cope with her death and shut himself into his room for a very long time. Meanwhile the princesses of Hong and Xue started to ask the king for the marriage with Jin Xin. His wife was dead so he must have chosen a new wife.

Seeing his only child in a devastated state and being unable to make the princesses happy eventually broke the king's heart and he was taken ill. Only then, Jin Xin had to leave his room and came back to reality. Taking his father's hand, he promised to try to love one of the princesses and give Jin Dynasty an heir. Knowing his son never lied to him, the king finally found his peace and closed his eyes for the last time.

Indeed, Jin Xin didn't lie to his father. He genuinely tried to love the princesses but he couldn't. Hong ZhuSha was quite selfish and ambitious while Xue Li looked sensible but actually she was very sly. As love was out of question, Jin Xin decided to grant the second part of his promise: heir.

First, Hong ZhuSha gave birth to a boy, Hong Nu. She waited for a humble reward like a marriage but she couldn't get it. Then Xue Li had a boy, Xue ZhiShi and one year later, one more boy, Xue ZhaoZe, so she double expected a marriage with Jin Xin but she couldn't get it either. Jin Xin was very smart to calculate the possible risks if he married one of the princesses, so he told them that he decided to choose who would get the throne after his death. Therefore, he shouldn't marry any of them until one of the children proved him a good heir.

This competition meant more waiting for the queen title. However, both Hong ZhuSha and Xue Li believed the superiority of their clans so they didn't object to Jin Xin's decision. Years passed while princesses and their trustworthy assistants were teaching their sons about politics, history, martial arts, etc. Occasionally, Jin Xin was also giving lessons to the potential heirs. He genuinely liked his children and wished them to be good brothers. However, as the boys grew up, his wish proved itself impossible. No matter how much he tried to keep them in good terms, whenever he turned his back, they started fighting. Eventually, Jin Xin stopped trying when thirteen-year old Hong Nu broke eleven-year old Xue ZhaoZe's arm because he didn't share his sweets with him. Interestingly, when Jin Xin asked Xue ZhiShi why he didn't do anything to stop the fight, he said that it wasn't his fight. Jin Xin lost his hope; Hong Nu was dangerous, Xue ZhaoZe was greedy and Xue ZhiShi was indifferent.

Unable to find a solution, Jin Xin did the only thing he could do; he forbade Hong Nu to meet with Xue ZhiShi and Xue ZhaoZe. From that moment on, he supervised and taught the boys separately in their own part of the palace. They got together only on special occasions. For a while, there was no problem, at least no broken limbs anymore.

However, this was the silence before the thunder. The peace was broken once more when Jin Xin went to the south border to dissolve a dispute between officers and peasants. For the second time in his life, he fell in love. She was the daughter of one of his officers. He brought the girl, Yue Guang with him to the palace and got married with her in fortnight. This marriage caused a total chaos in the palace as well as in the territories of Hong and Xue. The leaders panicked, the princesses were angry and the potential heirs were unaware meanwhile Jin Xin was happy.