[Suggested song for this chapter – Only Love Can Hurt Like This, Paloma Faith]
Meili showed the guards at the palace gate her pass and quickly walked through the thick walls of the Forbidden City.
"Tan Bowen!" she called out to the man with delight.
He stood alongside a Tan family carriage but had been staring pensively into the distance when she finally emerged from that hotbed of plots and intrigue that he so disliked.
There was far too much corruption, violence and greed within those walls for him to ever be at ease while Mei Meili was trapped in there. It was like keeping a priceless masterpiece in a dusty shed… she didn't belong there, and she could easily be damaged.
"Mei Meili!" he responded. "You look so thin," he exclaimed. "Are you eating properly? Have you been unwell?"
"No," she laughed, "I'm perfectly fine, don't worry about me".
