Exactly two weeks from the day he first appeared, the man left, leaving behind a brief note of thanks and the white jade pendant that he had once worn as payment for her help. Sitting in her room, Zi-ning held up the pendant to the light, admiring the intricate carving of the encircling dragon. White jade was rare in these parts and jade of this quality was even rarer. This pendant alone probably cost more than five years' worth of an average person's wages.

"You would think that he would say thank you personally before leaving," Shujin snorted, setting down the fresh pot of tea onto the table. "Rude."

"He was probably in a hurry," Zi-ning replied with a slight smile. She set the pendant back down on the table. "Anyway, I thought you would be the happiest to find out that he's gone?"

"Of course! Good riddance!" Shujin clapped her hands together. "Miss, do you know how worried I was about him being here? I haven't been able to have a good night's sleep for two weeks. There were even a couple of times when I woke up in the middle of the night because I had nightmares of people storming the temple and killing all of us because we rescued that man."

Hana laughed as she continued tidying the clothes in the drawers. "Shujin, you're far too timid. If the young miss said that things will be fine then things will be fine. Look—now the man is gone and we're all still standing here in one piece, aren't we?"

Zi-ning smiled as she watched her two maidservants continue bantering with each other, although a pang of sadness struck her when she heard Hana's words. The two girls trusted her so much, yet she hadn't been able to protect either of them in her previous life. This time around she was determined to ensure that both Hana and Shujin would be able to lead long, fulfilling lives.

"What should we do with this pendant, Miss?" Hana asked, pointing at the white pendant that the man had left behind. "Should I keep it with your other accessories?"

Zi-ning shook her head. "Why don't you tie it together with the white knot that I have and I can wear it at my sash?" She quite liked the carving of the white jade, so since it had been given to her then there was no harm in wearing it.

After the little interlude with the injured man, things fell back to normal. The abbot returned from his pilgrimage and so Zi-ning resumed her lessons with him, but after about a week or so, an unexpected visitor appeared at her front door. It was a middle-aged lady with her hair done up neatly in a bun behind her head. Although she was dressed simply, there was a poise and grace in her manner that immediately suggested that she was different from the people that they were used to seeing around the temple. After reporting to Zi-ning, Hana quickly ushered the lady in to the room.

The lady bowed respectfully when she saw Zi-ning sitting there. "I apologise for the intrusion," she said, "but I have been sent by my mistress to invite you over to her quarters for tea."

"And your mistress is..."

"My mistress is Lady Li, who resides over at the eastern quarters of the temple."

Hana and Shujin exchanged puzzled glances with each other when they heard what the woman said, neither of them having any clue who this mysterious Lady Li was. In the two years that they had been here, they had not heard anyone mention this person before, although it had been told to them that the eastern quarters was strictly out of bounds.

"Lady Li? I never knew there was such a lady living in the temple as well," Zi-ning said, pretending to look surprised. "To what do I owe the honour of such an invitation?"

The lady smiled. "Perhaps you might like to speak to my mistress, and she will be able to enlighten you."

"Well I suppose it's always nice to meet someone new." Zi-ning stood up from her seat, smoothening down the front of her skirt. "Since Lady Li has so kindly invited me over, then I see no reason to reject her good intentions." Smiling in return, she followed the lady out of the door.

After two years of waiting, it seemed like her patience had finally paid off.

#

The eastern sector of the temple was the most isolated from the main compound and it took a five minute stroll down a quiet, bamboo-lined path before the entrance of the quarters came into view. Afraid that their young mistress would catch a cold, Hana and Shujin had insisted that she put on a light fur shawl across her shoulders before they left.

As she followed the woman down the path, Zi-ning took her time to look around at the surroundings. This was the first time she was walking down this way. Although she had come to Taishan with the intention of making the acquaintance of Lady Li, she had not been the least bit hurried about it. She hadn't even sent any of her maidservants down this way, in case all her efforts went down the drain.

Patience was key, and she had plenty of that.

Along the way, Lady Li's maidservant briefly introduced her mistress as a noble lady from the western provinces who had been living here at the temple ever since her husband passed on, mentioning nothing further about her links to the royal family. Zi-ning merely nodded in response, asking no questions. If Lady Li did not wish for her true identity to be revealed, then she didn't need to force the issue.

"Madam, Miss Han is here," the woman knocked at the bamboo door of the eastern quarter's front hall, announcing their arrival.

Unlike her own quarters at the western sector of the temple, which was built from stone much like the rest of the temple, Lady Li's abode was mostly constructed out of bamboo, cut down from the bamboo forests that surrounded the place. There was no disguising the impressed looks on Hana and Shujin's faces as they marvelled at the tastefulness of the place.

"Send her in," a lilting, silvery voice called out from within.

The woman quickly slid open the doors, gesturing for Zi-ning to enter.

The room was not big, with a round wooden table in the middle and a couple of chairs lining the two sides. Across from the entrance were two cushioned seats fitted against the wall, separated by a small table upon which a chess board was now placed. Lady Lee was sitting on one of those seats, her hand raised in mid-air as she contemplated where she should place her next chess piece. Behind her, rays of sunlight were filtering in through the rice paper covering the large, round window with its intricate, geometrical design.

Lady Li didn't look up from her chess board when she heard them enter, simply beckoning to Zi-ning with her free hand. "Come, see if you can help me with this. I seem to have reached a deadlock."

Zi-ning obediently walked over, though she knew better than to sit down before being granted permission. Being invited here was just the first step—this was the real test. If she couldn't help Lady Li solve her chess puzzle, then perhaps the lady would deem her unworthy and she would have wasted two years here at Taishan.

Studying the chess board for a while, Zi-ning smiled and said, "I think you should move this one instead, Madam." She pointed at the white piece sitting at the opposite corner of the board from the one that Lady Li had in her hand. "May I?" When the lady nodded her head, Zi-ning picked up the piece and shifted it backwards.

"You're retreating," the lady remarked, her trimmed brows furrowing slightly. Moments later, her forehead smoothened out and a smile curled upon the edges of her pale lips. "But by retreating, the space has once again opened up. The deadlock has been broken."

Zi-ning bowed her head, remaining politely silent.

"Look at me, I've completely forgotten my manners," Lady Li finally looked up at her and said, gesturing towards the chair across from her. "Have a seat. How terrible of me to make a guest stand for such a long time. It's just that when I'm engrossed with a game of chess I tend to forget my decorum. Do forgive me for that."

The corners of Zi-ning's lips tilted further upwards as she smiled. She had passed the test, which was why she was being offered a seat instead of being shown the door. Chess had never been one of her strong suits, but the fifth prince had been an avid lover of the game and so she had spent days and hours painstakingly learning and bettering her game just so she would be able to be good enough to play with him. That way, he could stay by her side for a couple of hours more. How foolish she had been back then, doing all these things that she hated just to win a single line of praise from him.

"You are one of the young ladies from Minister Han's household, are you not?" Lady Li said, picking up the cup of tea that her maidservant had placed on the table after the chess set had been removed.

Zi-ning nodded. "I am the third in the family. My name is Zi-ning."

"Zi-ning... Lovely name. And what is a young lady like yourself doing all the way out here at Taishan? How long have you been here?"

"Two years ago I met with a small accident back home, so my family thought it would be better if I came here to recuperate. It's much more peaceful and serene at Taishan than it is back in the capital."

"Two years? If I had known that I would have invited you over sooner," Lady Li mused, although she hardly sounded surprised. Zi-ning knew that the lady was merely going through the motions with the questions. From the day that Zi-ning arrived here two years ago, Lady Li probably already knew of her arrival and about the series of events leading to her coming here. Although the lady lived in isolation, she was still very much tuned in to the on-goings in the capital. "Surely you must have had sufficient rest by now. Taishan is hardly the sort of place for a young girl like yourself. You must be at least seventeen or eighteen now?"

"I'll be eighteen in five months, Madam."

"Eighteen. You are coming of age soon then. And your family hasn't thought to bring you back?"

At the mention of her family, a flash of bitterness momentarily appeared in Zi-ning's eyes, although it was quickly hidden. Lady Min would only be more than happy if she stayed at Taishan forever, where she couldn't get in her and Meiyan's way. Her brother wrote to her from time to time, but he was serving in the military and was away from the capital for long periods, so he didn't really know much about what was going on back home.

"I've been thinking of returning soon, but the serenity of Taishan makes me reluctant to," Zi-ning replied, carefully evading Lady Li's question. Even without her making things too blatant, she knew that the lady would be able to read between the lines.

Although Lady Li appeared frail and gentle, there was a sharpness in her eyes that seemed able to see through anything. She was now in her late thirties, and if her child was still around he or she would be even older than Zi-ning, yet she looked far younger than her thirty-odd years despite all that she had been through during the tumultuous times preceding King Shunde's reign. This was the former crown princess of the kingdom and even though she had long shed that identity and lived a reclusive life here at the temple, she still retained the aura of majesty that could not be overlooked. Zi-ning knew better than to underestimate this woman.

"Indeed. Taishan is a beautiful place. It's a pity that few people are willing to venture out here because of its distance from the capital." Lady Li raised her cup to her lips, taking a sip of her tea. Her gaze travelled down to the white jade pendant hanging at Zi-ning's waist for a brief moment, before she sighed and looked up once more. "What do you usually do here then? The temple life must be rather dull for a young girl like yourself."

"The abbot has kindly agreed to teach me what he knows about medicine, so I've been under his tutelage for the past two years. I also help out with the clinics that the temple organises every month. Other than that I spend my time practising my calligraphy and painting. The temple environment is most conducive for that."

Lady Li looked both surprised and impressed to hear that, her smile broadening slightly. "It takes a great deal of determination and discipline to pick up the art of medicine. You're lucky that the abbot is willing to teach you. His skills are second to none."

"I've only managed to scrape at the tip of the iceberg."

"There's no need to be humble," Lady Li said warmly. "It's already impressive enough that you've managed to keep up the lessons for such a long time and the abbot would not have accepted you as a disciple if you weren't up to his expectations."

"My mistress has been suffering from a chronic ailment that acts up every winter. If not for the abbot's help, the pain would be impossible to bear each time the cold season comes around," Lady Li's lady-in-waiting remarked.

Lady Li clucked her tongue, although she didn't sound displeased with what her serving lady had just said. "Zhulian always likes to exaggerate. It's not that bad. Although I am indeed grateful to the abbot for his assistance. I always feel bad about troubling him though. Perhaps if you might be able to drop by to take my pulse and prescribe some medication from time to time, that way I wouldn't have to keep inconveniencing the abbot? Of course, I could pay you for your services, in silver or in kind."

"That won't be necessary, Madam. I would be most happy to help. After all I'm not doing much here at the temple anyway."

"Since Miss Han is interested in calligraphy and painting, perhaps the madam could help to give her some pointers in return?" Lady Li's maidservant, the middle-aged woman named Zhulian, suggested. "Our lady is extremely well-versed in the four arts." The four arts being the art of calligraphy, painting, chess and music, all of which were skills that every well brought up noble lady aspired towards.

Back in her prime, Lady Li Wanle was the epitome of a talented young woman, excelling in all the four arts and second to none. This, on top of her ethereal beauty, was what eventually earned her the position of crown princess of the kingdom. It was a pity that she was never able to sit on the throne, for there was little doubt that she would have become one of the greatest queens that the kingdom ever had.

"If the madam would be willing to do that then I would be most grateful," Zi-ning said respectfully. "Although I have been practising regularly, I seem to have reached a stalemate and I haven't been able to improve very much."

Lady Li reached over and patted her gently on the hand like a caring mother would. "It would be my pleasure. Let's settle on that then. You can come over here every week to check on my health, and we can discuss some calligraphy and art while you're here. A young person like yourself would inject some life to this place," she said.

It seemed far too easy getting Lady Li to agree to teach her the arts of calligraphy and painting, but Zi-ning wasn't complaining. After all, she wouldn't exactly be doing it for free. Checking on the lady's health was merely a small task for her and she would have gladly done so even if the lady hadn't offered her anything in return. When she next returned to the capital, she would no longer be that uncouth, uncultured, spoilt girl that Lady Min had brought her up to be—and it would be her turn to put them all to shame.

#

For the next few months, Zi-ning became a regular visitor at the temple's eastern quarters, spending her afternoons learning the different techniques of calligraphy and painting, and even the occasional zither tune from Lady Li. Much to Lady Li's delight, Zi-ning was able to pick up almost everything she taught almost immediately and within that short period of time the girl's skills were almost as polished as her own. Impressed by her new prodigy's progress, Lady Li even decided to pass on her knowledge of the famed Li family calligraphy technique—a skill that resided uniquely within the Li clan. For years the Li clan had been famous for producing scholars and ladies alike who were not only well-read and cultured, but also wielded the brush with more grace and aplomb than any other family across the kingdom. After the death of the previous crown prince, the patriarch of the clan decided to withdraw his family from government in fear that their links to the prince would be a thorn at the side of the new king, retreating back to their hometown of Guilin in the western provinces—the famed Li calligraphy style had never been seen in the capital ever since.

"You'll be much better than me soon," Lady Li remarked with a smile, glancing down at Zi-ning's latest piece of work. They were out in the garden this afternoon, penning down some lines of poetry on paintings of winter blossoms. Thanks to Zi-ning's prescriptions, the pain in her knees had lessened significantly this winter and the lady was often in high spirits because of that.

It was now the nearing the end of winter and the air outside was still cold and crisp, but it was the best time of year for the winter blossoms to bloom. While bamboo was most common around the eastern quarters, Lady Lee had also grown a few winter blossom trees in her front garden. They were her favourite flowers.

"Flowers that can bloom in adversity are the strongest of them all," she once told Zi-ning.

Zi-ning finished her last character, setting down her brush on the table. "I'm still far from it," she said humbly. "I'd be happy if I'm even half as good as you, Madam."

"Nonsense, you're too modest." Lady Li took hold of her hand, patting it affectionately as she led her to the side where the maids had laid out a fresh pot of tea and snacks. "If you're always so unassuming then people will take it as a sign of weakness. Sometimes, it's necessary to flaunt what you have, else there'll always be those who will try to trample all over you." She picked up a piece of osmanthus cake, taking a small bite. "It'll be your birthday in a week's time, won't it?"

"Yes, Madam."

"A young girl like you shouldn't be spending your birthday at a place like this. Besides, you've been away from home for far too long. Isn't it about time you returned to the capital?" Lady Li looked across the table at Zi-ning, giving her a knowing smile.

Zi-ning shook her head. "I'll leave Taishan when spring comes. That way I'll be able to look after you until the end of the cold spell," she said gently.

"There's no need for that," the lady chided, although her eyes were still smiling. "I know you mean well, but my ailment recurs every winter so I'm already used to it by now. Besides, it's already gotten much better after taking your medicines. Don't let an old lady like myself keep you here. I'm sure there's much that you need to do back home."

"You can hardly call yourself old, Madam." Zi-ning pulled a face. "Everyone thinks that you look like my older sister."

Lady Li's smile brightened even more, though she shook her head in disagreement. "Look at you, always knowing the right things to say. It's a long journey back to the capital, so even if you leave now you might not make it in time for your birthday. Why don't you spend your birthday here then and then leave immediately after? I'll get Zhulian to whip up some of your favourite dishes to celebrate. Birthdays are important occasions—you should at least have a bowl of handmade noodles on that day."