Since Ying-tai left the palace, Jiao Long had been communicating back and forth with Zhao in secrecy. He had a little more freedom to carry out his devious acts without Ying-tai keeping a close eye around the palace.

One night, Xiu Juan was walking with Luli from the library nearby her brother’s chamber and noticed someone sneaking around the palace. Thinking it was either a spy or assassin Xiu Juan told Luli to take cover.

“Stay here, Luli, and don’t come out,” Xiu Juan demanded.

“But princess we need to alert the palace!” Luli protested.

“By the time we alert the others he would panic be gone,” Xiu Juan pointed out. She left Luli in the hiding spot and quietly ran after the intruder.

It was night but she was able to spot him on top of the tiles of the walls around the palace. She could see his shadow among the stars that emitted a little light. She kept his eyes on him and advanced faster. She managed to catch up and when she found the perfect moment, she jumped onto the tiles of the walls, the long layers of her skirt and robe floating after.

“Halt!” She demanded when she landed in front of him. Shocked, he tried to run away but she was too quick for him and knocked him down. He quickly got up and pulled out his weapon on her. He got himself in a stance, ready to strike. Watching the blade that reflected the lamps of the palace shake, Xiu Juan noticed he seemed to be afraid.

“Who are you?” Xiu Juan demanded in a harsh tone, keeping a close eye on his body movement.

He charged at her and she quickly shifted to the side. Immediately, she used the long sleeves of her robe to trap his arm, disrupting his attack, and twisted it. This dislodged the sword from his hand and dropped to the ground. She kicked it away and he struggled from her grip and continued on to attack her. He swung a flimsy punch and this was when she knew he was no spy or assassin. She snapped her sleeve and whipped him in the face in which he faltered and whimpered. She swept the sword up with her foot, snatched it in mid air and pointed it at the intruder. She approached him.

“I’ll ask one more time before I have you killed. Who are you? Who sent you?” She glared.

“Please, spare my life!” The intruder cried. “I am just a messenger!”

“You tell me to spare your life and say that you’re just a messenger while you just tried to kill me? Reveal your face,” Xiu Juan demanded, bringing the blade closer to his face.

He uncovered his face and Xiu Juan tilted the blade to catch the light from the lamps to reflect onto his face. He was just a commoner no older than herself. In fact, he was probably a little younger.

“I’m sorry. I panicked. Please spare my life!” He pleaded.

“Tell me who sent you and why,” Xiu Juan said sternly.

“I come from nowhere and belong nowhere. I was hired to deliver a message from Zhao.”

Her eyes widened. Zhao?! She gasped.

“To who?” She inquired.

“Prince Jiao Long of Qin,” he confessed.

Her heart seemed to have stopped. “What message?” She asked, keeping her voice calm.

“I don’t know. I don’t know how to read,” he cried, still looking down and trembling.

“It’s written?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Hand it over.”

He was still trembling but didn’t move. She pressed the blade up against his throat.

“Hand it over,” She repeated sternly and clearly.

He quickly fumbled through his black garment and pulled out the letter and raised it over his head. She carefully unsealed it.

“Well it doesn’t matter if you know how to read or not,” Xiu Juan said. “It’s coded.” Disappointed, she looked down at the boy.

“You’re the first person who has ever saw and caught me,” he said softly.

“You make a living out of this?” Xiu Juan asked the boy.

“I’m good at what I do,” he said.

“Sneaking inside homes and fortresses is no way to live,” she commented.

He didn’t reply.

“Do you know who I am?” She questioned.

“No,” he quietly answered, sniffling.

“Do you know what your punishment is?”

He shook his head.

“When I call the guards, they will take you and you will march away to your painful death for trespassing,” she informed, looking down at the boy who started quietly crying again. “…And for attacking me,” she continued.

She knelt down and faced him. “The sun you watched rise up today will be the last you will ever see.”

They both noticed a glow of a small lamp licking the stone wall and heard two guards’ muffled talking. They were turning to where they were standing.

“However,” Xiu Juan continued, keeping an eye on the small glow, “I can make you a deal.”

He forced in his sobs and bit his lips to listen.

“If you work for me, I can spare your life right now.”

He wiped his nose and eyes. “Work…for you?”

“I see potential in you,” Xiu Juan commented.

This warmed his heart.

“But if you decline my offer, I will have my men take you away and believe me, my men are strong. You will never see sunrise or sunset again for all eternity.”

He thought long and hard. The glow from the lamp was getting brighter.

“Yes! I will work for you!” He answered.

Xiu Juan raised her head, “Swear your life to me.”

“I swear.”

“If you break your promise, I will kill you with my own hands,” she promised.

“I swear loyalty to you and will cut my own heart out if I fail your trust,” he swore, kneeling his head down on the stone ground.

She knelt on one knee and cupped his chin to raise his head. The glow from the lamp nearing them helped her see his face. He was dark skinned, had big dark eyes, and small lips. He looked younger than his age. When he finally laid eyes on Xiu Juan, the longer he stared the more he gaped. The soft glow made her appear like a goddess. A merciful goddess.

“What’s your name?” She asked softly.

“B-Bo,” he responded.

She smiled, “I’m Princess Xiu Juan of Qin. But my close friends call me Xiu Juan.”

“Princess?” Bo exhaled. Everything that was happening to him was surreal.

“If you keep up to your pledge, I promise to offer you protection and a life.”

His heart leapt. He never felt this way before. Nobody offered him anything but some scraps to eat and money. This is what it must feel like to be a normal human being, he thought.

She stood up and patted the many layers within her dress. “Now, your first mission for me is to get me ink and paper,” she commanded.

Bo smiled and nodded and in a flash, he disappeared right before the guards shined their lights onto Xiu Juan. Not noticing anything, they quickly bowed to her.

“Princess, what are you doing around here this late at night?” One of them asked.

She smiled and turned to them, “Just taking a late night stroll. Sorry I startled you.”

She dismissed them and when they walked away, their light dimming, she gently placed the letter into her sleeve and walked off whilst acting as if nothing happened.

After Xiu Juan retrieved Luli, they headed back to her chamber where she waited for Bo.

“What happened?” Luli asked, still shaking. Xiu Juan did not answer and kept her eyes out in the night. Shortly after, Bo swept in.

“My lady, I’ve returned with the items requested,” Bo announced to Xiu Juan, kneeling to her.

Luli grabbed a hold of Xiu Juan and screeched, “Who is he? An intruder? Call for the guards!”

Xiu Juan, keeping her stern eyes upon Bo, revealed him to Luli.

“Raise your head, Bo,” she ordered him. He raised his head and looked at Xiu Juan and then to the trembling Luli.

“Luli, this is Bo. He works for me now. He’ll be working as my spy and bearer of messages,” she began. “Bo, meet Luli. She is my maid.”

He bowed to her.

Sitting on a stool, Xiu Juan shifted herself to the side and placed her hand on the table. “The paper and ink,” she commanded.

He quickly placed them on the table before her.

“Luli, lamp,” she ordered Luli. She turned around and grabbed a small lamp and glowed it by her. Xiu Juan took out the letter from her sleeve and carefully opened it and laid it flat across the surface of her table. She studied the coded words and copied them down onto her paper. When she finished, she folded the original copy back neatly, placed it inside its envelope, resealed it and creased it so it seemed as though it was never disclosed. She turned to Bo and leaned toward him.

“Here’s what you’ll do now,” she began to explain, “You will continue on with your mission to deliver this letter to its recipient.”

Bo had a questionable look on his face.

“This way, no one will be suspicious. You will immediately stop working for them. They will attempt to find you and catch you because you are already too involved. But I, with the help of some people a close friend of mine introduced me to, will help you fake your death and give you a new identity. They’re the Secret Affairs Unit and will do anything to help you if it is commanded by this friend of mine.”

He nodded and took the letter from her hand.

She dismissed him and he quickly disappeared before their eyes.

“He’s fast,” Luli commented, eyes still wide. “Can we trust him?”

Xiu Juan stood up and shuffled to her paper screen door and looked up into the starry sky.

“Something tells me I could trust him,” she said.

“How do you know for sure?” Luli asked.

“I recognize the eyes of a soldier who swears allegiance to you. He will not be straying unto elsewhere.”

Bo arrived at Jiao Long’s chamber where Shirong was waiting with him.

“Message from Zhao,” he knelt on one knee and announced.

They both shot up, anxious. Shirong approached him and took the letter from Bo’s hands. He opened it and smiled. He turned to Jiao Long.

“What does it say?” Jiao Long anticipated.

“You did it Crown Prince,” Shirong said, “Everything seems to be falling into place for us.”

Their eyes brightened and they both chuckled deviously into the night and poured wine to celebrate their achievement.