In the time of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qian Long ruled all of China, he got the most power, the most money, the most properties, the most wives and of course therefore the most children. He had so many children he probably can't even remember some of their names. But there are some of his children who didn't even have the opportunity to see him, Zi Wei was one of the them (by Lin Xin Ru).
Zi Wei was born 19 years ago in Jinan. The emporer went to Jinan to see how the people were living in his country and it started raining.( thanks to the rain because without the rain, this beautiful story would never have happened!!)The Emporer had no shelter so he went to the nearest peasant's house and was preparing to stay until the rain stopped but he couldn't leave afterwards because he had fallen in love with the peasant's daughter (Xia Yu He) who was Zi Wei's mother. Zi Wei was born 10 months after that. She was not lucky enough to see her father because he had returned to Beijing (The Imperial Palace).
He had promised Zi Wei's mother that he would come back for her but he never did, not even after Xia Yu He (Zi Wei's mother) died from sorrow. (note: he didn't know that she was pregnant when he left) Zi Wei didn't know about her father until her mother was dying, there she said to her daughter " take this fan and scroll of painting which your father had drew for me to he and ask him:" do you still remember the Xia Yu He you met 19 years ago at and the riverbanks of Jinan." Zi Wei sold her home in Jinan and started out for her long journey to Beijing with her maid Jing Suo (Jing Suo was more like good friend than a maid).
They arrived in Beijing 1 whole year later and tried to get into the Imperial Palace but of course no one would believe them and treated them like dirt. Just before Zi Wei's money was all used up she met Xiao Yan Zi (by Zhao Wei) and became best friends with her. Zi Wei and Jing Suo went to live in Xiao Yan Zi's big nursing home and found out that Xiao Yan Zi lived in a big but poorly built house with all those other old and young people.
Xiao Yan Zi was a poor girl too, she doesn't know who her mother or father is and doesn't even know what her surname is or when she was born. The kind Zi Wei asked her if she wanted to be her sister and allowed Xiao Yan Zi to take her surname which is Xia and her birthday which is on the 2nd of August. Xiao Yan Zi gladly took the offer but she didn't take Zi Wei's birthday, she wanted to be older so she said she wanted to be born on the 1st of August. Now they were sisters, Zi Wei told Xiao Yan Zi everything about herself even the part of herself having a royal father. Xiao Yan Zi was so shocked to hear that, but after a while she said she wanted to help.
Xiao Yan Zi brought Zi Wei and Jin Suo to the bottom of a cliff one day and said that the Emperor is on the other side of the cliff hunting and crossing the cliff is the only way that Zi Wei will see her father but Zi Wei and Jing Suo couldn't. They tried and tried and tried until the sky was nearly dark. Zi Wei finally made up her mind and said to Xiao Yan Zi;" you are the only one who is fit enough to cross the cliff, you have to go over by yourself. Take this fan and scroll of painting and bring it to my father and ask him :" do you still remember the Xia Yu He you met on the riverbanks of Jinan 19 years ago??"
