Prince Yan is seriously ill.
It is said that one group of imperial doctors after another has gone into the Palace of Heaven and Earth but not one single piece of good news has come out of it.
His Majesty has flared up several times at court and those of good sense could tell that Prince Yan isn"t in a good shape.
Princess Yan only went to see Prince Yan in the palace once.
According to those observant, it was her only visit and she left soon after she arrived at the Palace of Heaven and Earth.
Six or seven days have pa.s.sed after that while Princess Yan hasn"t paid a visit to the palace any more.
It turns out it is true that Prince Yan and Princess Yan don"t get along.
Another few days have pa.s.sed.
There has been news that Prince Beiding wants a divorce between Prince and Princess Yan.
The rumor turns wild while neither Prince Beiding"s Manor nor the palace denies it.
Someone has seen that Prince Beiding has been summoned to the palace and scolded by His Majesty.
Meanwhile, there has been no good news from Prince Yan.
While rumors are flying all over the place, at Prince Beiding"s Manor.
"Princess, here"s a letter for you." Ah Zhao"s maid Zheng-er hands an envelope with flowery smells to her.
Though Ah Zhao has been married for two years, the servants of Prince Beiding"s Manor call her Princess Ah Zhao as usual.
Ah Zhao knows who it is from without even looking at it.
As expected, she sees "My dear wife Zhao Zhao" in the first line when she unfolds the letter.
She doesn"t even have to read it through.
There is going to be nothing more than how much he misses her not being able to see her for all those days in the letter.
Ah Zhao doesn"t know that Zhao Yin could have so much to speak about.
Since she came back from the palace, Zhao Yin has been recovering.
Then from the second day after she was back, there has been one letter a day delivered to her from the palace by secret guards.
And he won"t be happy until Ah Zhao writes him back!
Ah Zhao complains while she is reading the letter: "He has nothing to do all day long and only knows to write those boring stuff to bother me."
Zheng-er smiles with closed lips and thinks to herself that why doesn"t the princess hide her grin while saying that.
Ah Zhao carefully reads through the letter and starts to mutter unhappily: "He asks me to write him back again day after day. I have no idea what I should write about any more."
She suddenly turns around and looks at Zheng-er: "Go and get the paper with plum blossom on it in my chest."
Zheng-er is surprised: "Princess, don"t you begrudge using that paper?"
However, Zheng-er stops abruptly and blinks her eyes. She says with a laugh: "Please forgive me for speaking out of turn."
She"s happy that prince and princess are getting along well as the other servants.
Though Ah Zhao is complaining through her words, she writes down a letter whole-heartedly. The letter is simple. In it, Ah Zhao writes about what she has done and eaten and what news she has heard about for the day.
By the end of the letter, Ah Zhao hesitates for a moment then adds one more sentence: "I miss you very much, too."
Even though there"s n.o.body else watching her, Ah Zhao feels a little embarra.s.sed.
She lets out a breath and touches her feverish face. Then she folds the letter and hands it to Zheng-er.
"I don"t want to write him back at all." She says it one more time.
Zheng-er has no choice but to laugh up her sleeves and says: "Yes, princess. We all know that you don"t want to write him back only that you have no choice."
Ah Zhao nods: "That"s right. He"s so disturbing."
At the Palace of Heaven and Earth.
Though Zhao Yin has mostly recovered, he is still confined in the Palace of Heaven and Earth by Emperor Huizong to restore his health. Now he finally receives a reply.
He unfolds the letter in a hurry and reads it line by line.
When it comes to the last line, he couldn"t hold back his smile any longer.