stead it was quiet and peaceful. I ran to the Great Wall desperately, wind was blowing pass my ears and curls of
hair were flapping on my cheeks, my lung exhaled hardly and my feet were painful, but I could smell the scent
of liberty in the air!
However, just when I climbed on the slippery stones, reaching for freedom, a strong hand grabbed my an-
kle unexpectedly, my heart missed a beat and I slipped and fell on the soft grass. I looked up indignantly and in
fear, but was shocked by the person standing in front of me.
That was the first time I met him; he was in a uniform with a silk satin ivory cloak, and the moonlight was
flowing on it, shimmering in the dark. He stretched out his arm and lifted me up; his jet-black hair was tied up
on his head in a silver cylindrical metal clip with patterns in china blue, and his eyes were as warm as spring.
Yet, his scolding woke me up and reminded me that I was in a precarious situation!
“
Who are you? How dare you sneaking around the crowned prince’s residence!” His eyes were now full
with alert.
“
Please,” I begged, “let me go, I am just trying to run away from this dreadful place!’
“
Run away?” he measured me up and down and chuckled, “Where could you go, Princess Qing Lian?”
I gasped when he spoke out my identity, I choked in horror, “Who are you? How did you know me?”
He leaned against the wall and said “I am Qin Qiliang, the crowned prince of Qin, although it’s quite fun-
ny that you didn’t see that out.
I heard that the Princess Qing Lian is coming to Qin; and while I was taking a walk, you showed up, I
have never met anyone in Qin except the royals who are well-dressed, so I guessed you are the Princess. How-
ever, without my help you could never escape from my father’s searching.”
“
You are going to help me?” I doubt, “but I’m going to break our engagement!” I was waiting for Qiliang
to sneer at me, but to my surprise, he didn’t say a thing and walked away.
In the midnight, Qiliang kept his promise and sent a little boy to take me to a hidden house in the coun-
tryside. The boy was called Xiao Zhong and he was only five years younger than me. He had also been my only
companion in this remote place, so I had always treated him as my brother. But the funniest thing is that I had
learned how to be self-reliant, well, it’s really hard not to be independent in this remote place, therefore Zhong
farmed to get food while I started to learn doing the housework.
Qiliang came to visit us regularly too, sometimes he chatted with us pleasantly but sometimes he just
stood by the lake, playing some soft but sad melody with a flute, or sitting silently under the blossom trees with
millions of white buds.
Time fled and one day Qiliang came and brought me to the field, where different colors of lilies were
blooming like fireworks and the warm air was scented with aroma and sweetness; I was amazed by the beautiful
scenery. He picked a snowy white lily, and played it with his fingers.
“
I’ve always had a dream in my heart,” he started, “same like you, I hope that I could leave this place
where lies and intrigues annex humanity, therefore I secretly built this clean and honest haven named as ‘Lilies
Garden’, where I could enjoy the peacefulness for a while.
My life had never been so wonderful until your turn up, I had been attracted by you at the first sight,
however I didn’t want to pull you into this hypocritical palace, I wanted to protect you from the evil secularity”
Qiliang put the lily in my hot palms and continued, “Do you know that Lily represents immaculacy? I
promise that I would protect you like this lily in my palms forever!”
I blushed and butterflies were fluttering in my stomach, I had never felt so exceedingly joyous and I could
feel the deep love between us.
But we didn’t know that on the other hand, the spies in Qi had exposed my true identity to the Emperor
Qin, and danger was waiting for us. Thus, once again fate dallied with me.
When we reached the palace hoping that we could have the Emperor’s approval to get married, the sol-
diers guarding the damper grabbed my arms tightly, I was so shocked, all I heard was Qiliang screaming my
name, and the next thing I knew I was locked in a damp and cold dungeon, but my mind was as cool as the cu-
cumber, because I knew Qiliang would protect me as he promised.
On the following day, Emperor Qin summoned me just as I expected. When I walked into the room, I saw
a man in the bright golden yellow dress sitting imposingly in his chair, which was auric and engrave into the
shape of a dragon. The dragon scales were made by pieces and pieces of pure gold and the eyes of the dragon
were florid rubies. I quickly kneeled down and lowered my head.
At the same time, Qiliang left the room, so I peeked at him when he walked past me, his face was ghastly
and his fists were so tightly held that the joints had turned white. It seemed that he and his father had a tough
argument, and I started to worry.
“
You have committed the crime of beguiling me, and you should be executed as a sentence,” said the
Emperor in a rough voice, “but due to Qiliang’s pleading, your sentence has been lowered to banishment at the