"Yes, your highness," Mei returned the formal bow to her brother and smiled at him warmly. "The new gardens are extremely pleasurable. Our fortuitous encounter today greatly deepens that pleasure."

Mei added softly, "Among my acquaintance there are quite a few with fine character, but there are very few with lofty ideals. The silly ones say it is not necessary for one to become educated. What they aim at is only to make a good marriage in order to show themselves off for a time." Mei dismissed this quickly with a wave of her delicate hand. "Most humble pardons, brother. It is highly unlikely that his majesty is interested in such speculations. Please accept it as my attempt to further express delight in our meeting."

Mei searched Qihu's expression. It seemed that her twin had something important on his mind. Her curiosity was piqued. Perhaps he required a more secluded setting or one in which the guards would be distracted.

Mei added brightly. "Shall we visit the Malindi ch'i-lin together? It is reported that the female will give birth soon."

She was surrounded by foolish people. Foolish and annoying people. The silly girls who attended her, the silly eunuchs who plagued her every move, the silly elders who thought they knew what was best.

The eunuchs disturbed Mei more than the others. They were ever present. They ran circles around her and even more circles around her brother. They smelled everything! Sometimes she wished she was like the other girls ~ anonymous, ordinary, forgettable. It was a silly wish, and disgusted by any possibility of being silly, Mei dismissed it from her mind on a fairly regular basis. She had no wish to be ordinary. She was special. By a genetic stroke of happenstance, Mei had been born under extremely favorable auspices, the most unique known for any female in Chinese Imperial history.

She was the birth sister to Zhu Qihu. They shared the same mother, the same father, the same womb. Unfortunately for Mei she did not share the same sex as her illustrative brother. While Zhu Qihu was born the Son of Heaven, Mei was born a mere girl. It did not matter that she came first from the Empress Hu’s womb. All that mattered was that a boy child was delivered and the reigning Son of Heaven had an heir.

While Zhu Qihu had a wet nurse, Mei suckled at her mother’s breast. Her sustenance came from mother’s milk. She had no conscious memory that while she nourished, her mother whispered over and over in soothing cooing tones, You are the Daughter of Heaven, precious one. You are your brother’s mirror. You are special.

When she returned to her room from classes, Mei did not want to do needlework. She held a copy of The Book of Odes and read aloud: The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady makes an ideal mate for a prince. She is skilled in all the ways of making a harmonious home for her husband.

She threw the book away from her and sighed deeply, "These two sentences display fully the sage’s love in ancient times."

Xiang and GongLi, Mei’s companions, did not understand what the sage’s love was, but they knew Mei very well. GongLi offered, "You’ve studied for quiet a long time. Why don’t you take a break and enjoy yourself?"

Mei thought for a while, then went up to her and said, "Li, how can we enjoy ourselves?"

GongLi knew what was on her mind, and replied without hesitation, "Shall we go to the Peony Garden and enjoy the scenery?"

Li’s suggestion struck the right note, but Mei was worried, "Mother will be angry if she gets word of it."

"Your mother has gone to the countryside for a week. You don’t need to worry." Xiang chimed in.

Mei walked up and down the room slowly, thinking. Suddenly she went to a bookshelf, took out an almanac and said to Xiang, "This will be the first time that I have been to the Peony Garden. I must pick an auspicious day." She thumbed through the pages until she found the right one. "Tomorrow is not suitable. Nor is the day after tomorrow. Three days from now will be auspicious." Mei closed the almanac and turned to the girls. "Xiang, you will tell Master Chen that I’ll make a visit in three days to the Peony Garden. Now, I want to check on something. Follow me."

The three girls ran from Mei’s rooms through the corridor that led to the steps that led to the newly planted bamboo grove. Mei had a penchant for crickets and other insects and had instructed the eunuchs to make sure there would be plenty in residence in the new garden. She cupped her hands quickly around a large praying mantis that turned out to be, on closer inspection, a male and female mating. Mei motioned for Li and Xiang to witness the coupling. They laughed in delight as the female turned its triangular head and bit off the head of the male.

Clear as the bell announcing class, Mei heard her brother call to her.

"You there! Yes, you, the daughter of the Empress. Come away from there, I have something to show you, and you alone!"

She gently brushed the mantis from her hand, turned and walked toward her brother leaving her companions behind.