"Well?" said Luo Jian, as the two men conversed privately in the prince's study the following day.

Normally, he would never press Weisheng to divulge anything, preferring instead to wait until the prince chose to confide in him, but this time his impatience was getting the better of him.

"She admitted it freely," Weisheng replied.

He gave Luo Jian a mostly full account of his and Ming Yue's conversation the night before, obviously omitting some of the more personal details of their interaction.  Luo Jian showed little emotion at the revelations, only raising his eyebrows and nodding slowly.

"The only thing she wouldn't tell me," Weisheng continued, "was who she actually is."  He pondered further.

"The mission is quite an important one, so she's obviously not an amateur.  And she hasn't been in Han kingdom for long.  She was sent here specifically for this purpose.  Also," he finished, "from the way the Jin princes took such an interest in her, it's clear to me now that they knew her."  At this, Weisheng felt, rather than saw, Luo Jian stiffen beside him.  Immediately, he looked across.

"What is it, Luo Jian?" he asked, and for the first time he saw a slight trace of fear in his friend's eyes.

"Tell me what you know," he said, quietly but insistently.

Luo Jian wavered for a moment.  He knew that he had withheld from Weisheng the scene that he had witnessed back at the border, but he had believed it to be for the best.  Knowing Ming Yue as he did, he was certain that she loved the prince as much as he did her, and he did not want to cause a rift between them over something that could have just been a simple misunderstanding.

However, it was not in his nature to lie, particularly to his closest friend, and now this could have a direct bearing on the matter of Ming Yue's true identity.  Ultimately, he decided, he would come clean and take the consequences.  He took a deep breath and began to speak.

"I think they know each other well," he said.  "Back at the border, I saw Ming Yue and Crown Prince Wang Wei speaking together privately, behind his tent.  When they had finished, before he left, he embraced her."  His explanation was characteristically brief, and he looked across at Weisheng, meeting his eyes guiltily.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," he continued.  "I didn't know what it meant, if anything, and I was certain that it bore no relation to her feelings for you."  Uncomfortable discussing such matters, Luo Jian decided to stop there.

Unbeknownst to the man in black, Weisheng's mind had been pulled back to an incident some time ago, when Ming Yue had whispered the name "Wang Wei" in his study, without using any accompanying honorifics.  Was this the reason she felt she had to return to Jin?  Did the commitments she spoke of include a certain understanding with the impressive young prince?

Weisheng felt his heart tightening in his chest as he considered the unthinkable.  He knew that Ming Yue loved him.  He was not so stupid as to doubt her affection now.  But that did not mean that she did not have some lingering feelings for another, or feel some sense of obligation if promises had been made back home in Jin.  It would explain why she was so reluctant to reveal her true identity.

He jumped to his feet, stumbling slightly.  Luo Jian was alarmed by his friend's uncharacteristic lack of coordination, and immediately put out a hand to steady him.  Weisheng looked at him.

"I have to know," he said.  "Whatever it is, I have to know.  I already misunderstood her once, with Li Jun.  I will not allow it to happen again.  Things must be clear between us."

"If she trusts me," he reasoned, "she will tell me everything."  He walked out of the room into the late morning sunlight and, on this one rare occasion, Luo Jian did not follow.

***

After some enquiries, Weisheng found out that Ming Yue was in the orchard.  He smiled at the irony of confronting her there as he made the way towards the maze of trees.  In some ways, it was almost appropriate that the final barrier standing between them should fall in that place.

As usual, it didn't take long to find her.  She was on her toes, reaching up to pick a ripened plum from an overhanging branch.  In an echo of a moment that had occurred not long after they first met, he came up closely behind her and plucked the fruit from the branch and, just as before, she spun around quickly and looked up at him.

A slow smile spread across her beautiful features and, at that moment, Weisheng did not know whether he wanted to laugh or cry.  Instead, he handed her the plum and stepped back.

Being well-attuned to his moods, Ming Yue sensed that something was not right.

"What is it?" she asked.  Weisheng took a deep breath.

"Last night, when I asked you who you really were, you wouldn't tell me," he said.  "You also said you had commitments back in Jin."  He watched her face closely as he spoke but, at present, it revealed nothing.

"I didn't press you on it then, but I must now.  Do those...commitments have anything to do with Crown Prince Wang Wei?"  At this point, Ming Yue's eyes grew wide, and Weisheng felt a growing sense of despair when she did not immediately deny it.  Nevertheless, he resolved to continue, whatever the consequences.

"I could tell that you knew him.   And today...today Luo Jian told me that he saw the two of you.  Together.  And that he...he...embraced you."  Weisheng's voice broke with his last words, and he looked despairingly at the woman he loved, willing it not to be true.

Ming Yue turned away from him and put her head in her hands.  Her shoulders started to shake.

"She's crying," he thought.  "She's crying because of the Jin crown prince."  He ran in front of her and turned, so that he was now facing her directly, and took her by the shoulders.

To his shock and amazement, however, when she looked up, he saw that she was laughing.  Laughing uncontrollably!  Weisheng stood back, completely at a loss as to how to respond.

From Ming Yue's perspective, she had truly not intended to react in that way.  It was just, well, the very idea of it!  Weisheng thought that she...and Wang Wei?!  It really was too ridiculous.

After she had composed herself, she saw that Weisheng was now completely beside himself, with no idea what to do.  Her thoughts quickly sobered, and she realised that there was no way of explaining away her reaction just now.

She had kept the final piece of the puzzle that was her identity secret from Weisheng because he had already had to deal with so much.  She did not want to burden him with even more.  Also, even if he did know that she was the Jin princess, it would make no difference to their current predicament.  However, she could not have him suspecting that she was having some sort of illicit dalliance with her own brother!  Even if he believed strongly in her love for him, he would always have some sort of nagging doubt, however small.  He would not be human if he didn't.

No, in their relationship, trust was just as important as love, and it was time to come fully clean and have faith in his ability to deal with this final truth.

"I am so sorry, Weisheng," she said.  "I did not mean to laugh, truly.  It's just that you have misunderstood.  But it is not your fault," she rushed to reassure him, "not your fault at all."

Weisheng's eyes looked at her hopefully.

"The truth is, Wang Wei and I do share a close bond."  She saw Weisheng tense when she said her brother's name informally, but she continued on.  "And he did embrace me."

Weisheng's fists clenched involuntarily.

"But..." she took a deep breath.  "He did so out of brotherly affection."

Weisheng's expression was now one of deep confusion.  Seeing him struggling with his emotions, Ming Yue's heart went out to him, so she gathered herself, and shattered the final illusion between them.

"My real identity is Jiang Ming Yue.  I am the princess of Jin that your father wishes you to marry."

For Weisheng, it was like he had suddenly been struck by lightning.  The revelation was far beyond anything he had ever expected, but he had no reason to doubt her words.  Suddenly drained of all energy, he slumped to the ground and sat with his shoulders bowed, and Ming Yue was beside him in a heartbeat.

"I am so sorry I didn't tell you before," she said.  "I didn't even know how to process it myself when you told me your father had suggested the marriage.  It felt like I was stuck in some impossible situation, and I didn't want to burden you with it.  You already had so much weighing you down.  Can you forgive me?  Please?"

Weisheng looked up into her eyes, which were pleading with him to understand.  He reached out to cup her face in his hand, gently caressing her cheek with his thumb.

"No more secrets?" he asked.

"None," she confirmed.  "You know everything now."

He pulled her into his arms, and the two of them sat together on the orchard floor.  After a while, Weisheng tilted her face to look up at him.

"How does the only princess of Jin," he began, "end up as a spy in the Han palace?"

Ming Yue sighed.

"It's rather a complicated tale," she said.  Looking up, she saw the expression on Weisheng's face, and knew that he was not going anywhere for quite a while.  So, shifting her position in his arms to one that was a little more comfortable, she began to tell her story.

***

Weisheng and Luo Jian sat facing each other in the study in a repeat of earlier that day.  Of course, the prince had not hesitated to share the latest revelation with his closest friend, and Luo Jian had, in his usual way, taken the news with stoicism.

Unfortunately for him, Weisheng's initial relief at discovering the final piece in the puzzle that was Ming Yue had now given way to something else.

At first, he had been elated that the person his father was pressuring him to marry was the very person he had always intended to spend the rest of his life with.  However, Ming Yue had pointed out to him the rather large fly in the ointment.

If she suddenly arrived at the Han palace as Jin Princess Jiang Ming Yue, to all who recognised her it would immediately be apparent that she had previously infiltrated Han under false pretences, which could destroy all of the hard work spent to date on building up the relationship between the two kingdoms.

Having explained the problem to Luo Jian, the two now sat quietly, pondering the tricky conundrum.

The silence was broken when Eunuch Wang entered the room.

"Your Highness, I have the latest memorials from the ministries for you to review."

Weisheng absent-mindedly waved a hand in the direction of a desk in the corner and Eunuch Wang hurried to comply.  Then, he paused for a moment.  Contemplating the expression on the young prince's face, it took only a moment for him to reach a decision.

"I must say, Your Highness," he began, "now that you have all of these new administrative commitments, it is a good thing that Ming Yue is here to assist you."

Weisheng looked up at his chief eunuch in surprise, but Eunuch Wang carried on, undeterred.

"It's a shame that she doesn't get more recognition for her hard work.  I mean, other than the residents of your mansion and a few other servants dotted about the palace, she is barely known to anyone else.  She is always working in the background, behind Your Highness.  One could say that she is virtually anonymous."

Eunuch Wang raised an eyebrow and gave the prince a long look.  Seeing the young man's mouth drop open, he knew that his point had been successfully made, and so he carried on his way out of the study.  Exiting the building, he breathed in the early evening air and allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction.

Eunuch Wang was no stranger to being underestimated and, for the most part, he was happy to avoid unnecessary attention and live a relatively easy life.  Still, despite his present circumstances, he had not forgotten a single thing that he had learned during his many years in the palace, and his instincts had not dulled with age.

He had recognised Ming Yue as being of Jin descent almost immediately.  Before the war, travellers and merchants from Jin had frequently appeared in the capital, and Ming Yue's general look and demeanour was similar to theirs, not to mention her accent which, whilst subtle, was unmistakeable.

Still, Eunuch Wang had said nothing of his suspicions.  Again, before the war, it was not unusual for the citizens of Jin and Han to intermarry.  Consequently, it was entirely plausible that Ming Yue had spent at least a small portion of her childhood in Jin, or that she had picked up Jin traits from one of her parents.  Her Jin heritage alone was not any reason to be wary of her.

Subsequent enquiries had then confirmed his theory, revealing that the Li family patriarch was indeed originally a citizen of Jin many years previously.

By the time he had realised that Ming Yue was in the palace under false pretences, based purely on the fact that she behaved like no other maid he had ever come across in his long life, he had also concluded that she was no threat to the royal family.  In fact, it was quite the opposite.  So, again, he said nothing.

As regards her precise identity, this had been confirmed after the summit with Jin.  He had noticed the immediate rapport between Ming Yue and Eunuch Song, leading him to conclude that she had some relationship with the Jin royals.  Then, he saw the younger Jin prince, Prince Zhixing, standing next to Ming Yue after she had fainted one morning, and he was struck by the physical resemblance between them.

On returning to the Han palace, he had reached out to his informants across both kingdoms.  There was little detailed information about the Jin princess, but from the snippets of gossip and rumour that found their way back to him, he was able to put together a picture of a young woman of striking beauty the same age as Ming Yue, who was reportedly more than a match for her brothers, and had been trained in martial arts by the great Master Zhong.

The similarities were too stark to ignore and, taken together with everything else Eunuch Wang had learned, the final picture became clear.  At this point, however, it was apparent that the Han prince and Jin princess were completely besotted with each other.

Consequently, rather than tossing an explosive into the mix, the eunuch had simply watched quietly as the two people tried to figure things out on their own, only stepping in when it became clear that they had reached what, to them at least, felt like an insurmountable barrier.

Eunuch Wang chuckled. "Young people these days," he said to himself.  They were always so wrapped up in their own emotions.  If they stopped for a moment and thought practically about matters, there would not be half as much romantic angst in the world.  With that final observation, he sauntered off into the darkness.