Right before Zi Wei’s mother died, she told Zi Wei
that her real father was the Emperor of China.
Zi Wei's mother gave her some souvenirs to prove she was the Emperor's daughter. After Zi Wei’d buried her
mother, she traveled to Beijing to try to find her father.
She knew it
would be difficult to see her father because Emperor Qiang
Long lived in the Forbidden City. The Forbidden
City was in the middle of Beijing. Common people
were not allowed to go there.
Instead, Zi Wei decided to try to find the emperor
when he was out hunting. However, on her way to the hunting ground, she was hit by an arrow.
The arrow came from Qian Long, the emperor. He did not mean to hit Zi Wei, and
he was very sorry.
The Emperor took Zi Wei back to the Forbidden
City to find a doctor. While she was unconscious, he saw the souvenirs from Zi Wei's
mother. He knew right away that she was his real daughter. He was very happy
that she had returned. He decided to call her
Qing
Zhu Princess.
After Zi Wei recovered, she had time to explore the Forbidden City. The royal
palace was very big. There were 800 buildings and 9999 rooms. The main
color of the Forbidden City was yellow because that was the symbol of the royal
family.
The Forbidden City was divided into two parts. The Outer Court is where
the emperor performed his supreme power over China. The Inner Court was
where he lived with his royal family. As a Chinese princess, Zi Wei would have
to stay in the Inner
Court of the Forbidden city until she married. Until then, she would learn about
music and how to dress and act like a princess.
Map of China. Beijing is the Capital.
The Emperor's Daughter