With the sun on its rear side, a grand carriage makes its way through the crowded streets of New Hope City. Upon passing the city outskirts, the carriage picks up speed, leaving the grand capital behind as it races towards the nation where the sun always rises.
The white curtains, masterfully stitched with a mountain and a sun, flutters to the side, revealing the gentle smile of an elegant lady. She reaches her hands towards the curtains and pulls them aside, allowing the brisk air to enter the carriage without any obstruction. The breeze pushes the loose hairs by her eyes back, sweeping it behind her ears. She leans against the window, causing the jades on her hair to sway along with the motion of the carriage. Gazing out at the scenery passing by, her eyes begin to water as she recalls the recent encounter still fresh in her mind.
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Under the sun’s warmth, a group of guards cluster around a young lady, pushing each other aside as they fight over the last portion of fried rice. Despite the chaos, the guards maintain a respectable distance, making sure to not accidentally harm the young lady. Off to the side, four guards lean against the training field wall, sharing stifled chuckles over the commotion.
“You think they’ll eventually figure out that they won’t have to fight if they just request for it a few days in advance?” One of the guards whispers to the guard beside him.
“Shhhh!” The guard drops a small bunch of rice as he balls his fist, punching the other in the shoulder. “Use your brain, idiot. There’s a limit to how much she can make in one batch. Do you want more competition?”
Amid this banter, four sets of footsteps approach. Initially startled, the guards quickly jump to their feet. Upon noticing the gleaming badges on the newcomers' collars and the symbols on their sleeves, the guards suddenly shift their stance from defensive to respectful, snapping their feet together and lowering their gazes. The two guards glance at each other, a devious smirk sweeping across their face as they await the moment when the other guards recognize the presence of royalty.
Contrary to their expectations, the two figures say nothing about the chaotic crowd, choosing to keep their presence unnoticed as they navigate around the chaos. The figures suddenly pause their steps, glancing at the panicked young lady holding a bamboo container in her hand. Confusion flickers in their eyes at the sight of the crystal swords adorning the young lady’s ears. They turn to each other, confused as to why the daughter of Song looks to be in her twenties. Pushing the confusion to the back of their minds, they turn their attention to the party of four leaning against the wall.
The lady observes silently as a young boy stuffs his face with fried rice. More confusion fills her eyes upon recognizing that young boy to be the second prince of Zhou. Despite the unfamiliar short hair and simple outfit, she could still recognize the boy by his sharp features. She turns to her husband, also once again confused by the strange sight. They exchange knowing looks, rationalizing their confusion by brushing it off as a case where the unfavorable rumors of the young prince were overly exaggerated.
Beside him, a little girl focusing on her chopsticks attracts their interest. Her presence during the Academy's lockdown hints at her importance. Setting that aside, the lady notes the little girl’s tender age, raising even more questions about how a child no older than seven or eight managed to pass the demanding entrance exam.
Despite the unanswered series of questions, the lady continues her observations, setting eyes upon a familiar face assisting the little girl with her chopstick skills. The lady’s brows furrows, trying to remember where she had seen the boy. She turns to her husband who had equally furrowed brows, also trying to recall when and where he had met the boy. After a short moment, their eyes grow bright as they recall their first visit to the infirmary. They snap their eyes back towards the boy to find him staring right back at them.
“Excuse me…” The lady steps towards the boy. “Are you the boy from the infirmary?”
Seeing the pattern on her sleeves and collar, the boy suddenly drops his rice and jumps to his feet.
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“Yi Dan greets the Empress of Qi.” Dan bends from the hips, bowing deeply towards the lady before him.
His greeting snaps all the guards out of their fried rice craze. In unison, they turn towards the lady and snap their feets together, bowing deeper than normal to hide the embarrassment in their face.
“If it’s not too much trouble, would you be so kind as to leave us to chat?” The man accompanying the lady asks with a smile on his face.
“Not a problem at all, Emperor Anlong. We were just about to continue our patrol.”
The guards straighten their backs in unison, carefully tucking their containers of fried rice into their collars, before dispersing. Amidst their departure, one guard lingers behind. Seeing no eyes on him, he takes a step back towards Lia, grabbing the last container of fried rice from her hand. With a sheepish smile and a silent thank you, he hurries off to catch up with his peers.
With all the guards gone, Lia finds herself standing out in the open. She turns towards the man the guards referred to as “Emperor Anlong” and the lady Dan referred to as “Empress of Qi”. Reading the atmosphere, Lia lowers her head to bow.
The Empress turns towards the man beside Dan, meeting his eyes as he rises to his feet. Expecting to exchange a few words before departing, she opens her mouth to greet the man. Before the words can leave her mouth, the man steps forwards and drops to his knees with a loud thud, shocking her eyes wide open.
“Instructor Sun greets parents of Anning-” Sun pauses, slamming his forehead against the stone-lined walkway. “Apologies for failing to protect your daughter!”
Almost immediately after, Dan and Wei follow suit, slamming their foreheads against the walkway beside Sun. Despite not fully understanding what was happening, Yuyu joins in. Just before her head reaches the walkway, Dan slides his hand out to catch her forehead, preventing it from making contact with the stone.
The sudden sequence of actions startles the Emperor and Empress, catching them off guard. They came to express gratitude, yet unexpectedly received a series of profound apologies instead.
“Instructor Sun…” The Empress holds her tongue, thinking carefully about how to address the two boys and the little girl. After a few seconds of deliberation, she continues. “Friends of Anning… Please rise.”
“Okay! Thank you parents of Anning!” Yuyu jumps to her feet, bowing respectfully before continuing. “My name is Tianyu. Aunty Empress and uncle Anlong can call me Yuyu. Yuyu is Anning’s friend.”
Yuyu’s cheerful introduction, minding nothing of status, lightens up the mood. With a slight smile on her face, the Empress approaches Sun, kneeling before him.
“Thank you, Instructor Sun and friends of Anning.” She lowers her hand towards his shoulders, brushing past the ribbon in his hair along the way, and lifts his forehead from the walkway. “Thank you for protecting our daughter.”
With his face fully visible, the Empress gazes deep into Sun's eyes, attempting to fathom why someone beyond the pinnacle would kneel so willingly. Despite her earnest efforts, all she discovers is emptiness. Retracting her focus from that abyss, she discerns the reflection of a young lady in his eyes, hinting at the answer to her question. Instead of searching within, the Empress realizes that she should’ve been looking around.
“Anning saved me…” Dan’s voice cuts through the silence, drawing the Empress and the Emperor’s attention. “She… she…”
“She risked her life to save us.” Wei finishes Dan’s sentence, picking up shortly after Dan fell silent. He clenches his jaw, trying to brush off the feeling of helplessness as he recalls the long night. “It might’ve been a dream, but I remember hearing her voice very clearly. She said…”
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“...ain’t that right, Empress Bilan?”
The lady swiftly wipes the tears accumulating in her eyes before turning her gaze towards the owner of the voice. Seeing the redness in the whites of her eyes, the elderly man who had called out to her sighs. His sleeve, lined with a ring of mountains surrounding a fist, slides towards his elbow as he lifts a gourd to his mouth. After taking a swig, he puts on his best face.
“Cheer up, Bibi.” A big smile sweeps across his face, hoping to lift the lady from the matters weighing down on her. “My disciple is no weakling. You wanna know what the Ren boy told me?”
“Uncle Fang, thank you…” Bilan pauses, covering her mouth to hide her chuckle. “..but I think you’ve misunderstood me. I’ve never been happier.”
“Eh?” Grandmaster Fang turns towards the man beside her, raising his brow in confusion.
“Tell us, uncle Fang, what did the Ren boy say?” The man tries to suppress his smile as he places his hand on Bilan’s, weaving his fingers with her’s.
“Er… He said-” Grandmaster Fang stutters, realizing that perhaps he had misread the mood. He hesitates, wondering if he should save this one for another time, perhaps when they’re in need of cheering up. After a short deliberation, he sighs, deciding that it would be wrong to keep it from them. “‘Qi Anning died un-’”
“Unbroken.”
The two complete Grandmaster Fang’s sentence together. A moment of silence passes as Grandmaster Fang stares at the two, confused by the rare tranquility in their eyes. Amidst the silence, a rhythmic clinging fills the carriage as they pass over a series of bumps in the road. Hearing the tinkling of gold, Anlong and Bilan smile, glancing at the corner of the carriage before turning outwards to enjoy the passing scenery.