Dynasties of Destiny: Silk and Sword

Chapter One

On the 27th of January, preparations for Princess Zhu Xinyi's journey to the Revived Xia Dynasty had been underway since early in the month. Within the palace, diligent Meipo, the palace maids, were meticulously packing the royal family's carriage, crafted from the sturdy wood of an ash tree and elegantly adorned with gold accents. The finest horses were being readied for the journey, and a select contingent of the Jinyi Wei, the imperial royal guard, would provide an escort, ensuring the utmost safety of the princess

s the departure time drew near, a sweet, childlike voice broke the anticipatory silence. Princess Zhu Xinyi turned her gaze to find one of the Meiren, the handmaidens, standing beside her. Petite and exuding an aura of innocence, this was Xiao Mei, a recent addition to the imperial household's staff. She was intelligent and had come from the lands of the Revived Xia Dynasty. This led to some cultural friction between Xiao Mei and what every noble she had made a comment to. Zhu Xinyi couldn't blame her. Adjusting from one life to another is tough.

"The carriage is almost ready, my princess, the meipo have a few things to load, and then we can be off." Zhu Xinyi nodded. She walked outside her head covered by a weimo. The veil obscured her face as was the tradition within the Eastren Ming Dynasty. The last of the luggage of the princess was loaded onto the carriage. The Jinyi Wei saluted Zhu Xinyi, and the meipo bowed. Xiao Mei opened the carriage door, and Zhu Xinyi stepped inside. The inside of the carriage had plush silk cushions and plenty of leg room. The cushions were stuffed with soft down feathers from the birds that were raised by the imperial family. The flooring was a smooth red silk. The silk curtains allowed Zhu Xinyi some privacy. And should they have to travel by night, paper lanterns rest on the outside.

Zhu Xinyi sat down gracefully. She waited until Xiao Mei climbed in and shut the door before she took off her weimo. Her chestnut hair fell to the cushions. Xiao Mei couldn't help but look at her. She knew about the Princess's being born in the wrong body. But since she was so beautiful, the nobles of Eastren Ming did not mind. She had quickly become a symbol of the Eastern Ming Dynasty's traditionalist mindset. Xiao Mei was just happy she was going back to her homeland.

Although Xiao Mei would never say it to the princess, the Eastern Ming Dynasty was nothing like the Xia Dynasty. She had many times where she clashed with the consorts and concubines and their children. The meipo, not under the princess, would also whisper behind her back. Nobody could punish Xiao Mei because of her connection to the princess, who was the favored child of Emperor Zhu Qizhen. But that didn't stop them from gossiping and saying things as if she couldn't understand them. While both Revived Xia Dynasty and Eastren Ming Dynasty had their own regional dialect and also a common dialect, Xiao Mei had learned the Ming Dynasty dialect, known as Língyǔ.

Xiao Mei knew what they said about her. It all came to ahead last year when she was fourteen gè chūnqiū in Língyǔ. One group of meipo had decided in front of both the emperor and princess to call her it Méiyǒu shòuguò jiàoyù de láng háizi, itwas a sentence she hadn't understood at first, until the princess, frowning had in Língyǔ told them how disrespectful it was to call her meiren that. They had apologized, although when she had been leaving with the meipo to get the tea her princess had asked her too, she had heard them whisper to each other, calling the princess a derogatory word so horrible she didn't even want to think about it.

Xiao Mei had seen red. She could take being name called, but she would not tolerate these meipo of the consorts and concubines face slapping her princess. The next second, Xiao Mei had retaliated against the meipo. She would proudly say that in Yǒngwēi, the Revived Xia dialect, zài yī chǎng zhēngchǎo zhōng tīle tāmen de pìgu, or in the common dialect; kicked their ass in a brawl. It had taken six Jinyi Wei to pull her off them.

Xiao Mei knew the rumors would be surrounding her even more, but she didn't care. When they had forced her to kneel for the emperor's judgment, her chest was puffed in pride. Even though she felt bad, the princess had to apologize for her meiren's behavior to the meipo, seeing them crying with their broken, bleeding noses, and the various black eyes had made her proud. The princess had pleaded to the emperor to spare her, but he waved her off and then the Jinyi Wei.