Princess Fragrance asked.
"It"s a poem written by the Emperor."
"He"s vile and horrible. Don"t look at it," she urged. She took his hand and they continued on, and soon found themselves walking along an avenue flanked by stone lions, elephants, camels and strange mythical creatures. "I have only this one day left with her so I must make sure she enjoys it," Chen thought. "After today, we will neither of us ever pass another happy day again." So he roused his flagging spirits and smiled.
"You want to ride on the camel, don"t you?" he said and lifted her up onto its back and sat behind her. With shouts and calls, they urged the stone camel forward. Princess Fragrance bent over double with laughter, then after a moment she sighed.
"If only this camel could really run and could carry us back to the Tianshan mountains," she said.
"What would you want to do there?"
She looked into the distance. "Oh, I would be very busy. I would have to pick flowers for you to eat, and look after the goats and feed the small deer. And I"d have to visit the graves of my father and mother and brother to keep them company, and think of some way to find my sister....."
"What happened to her?" he asked.
"She was ill the night the Manchus attacked. We were split up during the battle and I have heard no news of her since."
Chen was silent as they remounted the horse and started on their way. The road wound upwards and before long they arrived at Ju Yong Pass and caught sight of the Wall, writhing like a long snake through the clusters of hills.
"Why did they waste so much effort to build this thing?" Princess Fragrance asked.
"It was to stop the northern enemies from invading," Chen replied. "Countless people must have died on either side of this wall."
"Men are truly strange. Why don"t they all live happily together and dance and sing instead of fighting? I really can"t see the point of it all."
"If you ever get the chance, you must tell the Emperor not to make war on the poor peoples of the border areas. All right?"
"I will never see that evil Emperor again," she replied, puzzled by his sudden solemness.
"But if you were able to make him do your bidding, you must urge him not to do bad things, and to do some good for the people. Promise me!"
"What a funny thing to say. Do you really think I would be unwilling to do anything you asked me to do?"
"Thank you," Chen said, and she smiled.
They walked along a stretch of the wall hand-in-hand.
"I just thought of something," said Princess Fragrance.
"What?"
"I am very happy today, but is it because of this beautiful scenery? No. I know it"s because I am with you. As long as you are by my side, I would think even the most ugly place on earth was beautiful."
The happier she was, the more uncomfortable Chen felt. "Is there anything you would like me to do?" he asked.
"Oh, but you have already done everything. You have always given me everything I wanted, even without asking for it." She pulled the snow lotus from her pocket. The flower was now dry and withered, but it still possessed a strong fragrance.
"There is only one thing you refused to do," she added with a smile. "And that is to sing me a song."
Chen laughed. "It"s true," he said. "I have never sung you a song."
Princess Fragrance pulled a face. "Well, I"m not going to sing for you any more either."
"I remember my mother"s maid servant singing several rhymes when I was young. I"ll sing one for you now, but you"re not allowed to laugh."
She clapped her hands in delight. "All right!