Camphor and Willow helped Yuelan change and fix her hair then followed her out of the manor and into Guangfeng’s carriage. Byakko changed into his cat-sized form and settled himself in Yuelan’s lap. Guangfeng sat on the opposite side of the carriage as Yuelan and smiled as he watched her.

“Go ahead and rest on the way there. You still seem tired.”

Yuelan smiled at the third prince. “I am, a bit. But I want to see what you’re going to do.” She leaned against the carriage wall and closed her eyes.

“You will. Camphor and Willow will wake you when we arrive,” Guangfeng promised. “You can join in, or just watch and drink tea.”

“Thank you for inviting me to come along, Guangfeng. And for not assuming that because I am tired I shouldn’t go.”

The corner of Guangfeng’s mouth twitched into a smile. “I’m trying to do better. I learned a lot from your father while we were there. And from you.”

She nodded and fell silent. Guangfeng watched her with a smile on his face as she rested the rest of the way to the teahouse.

When they arrived, Camphor and Willow got out first followed by Guangfeng, who stopped and held a hand out to help Yuelan down from the carriage. Byakko hopped out on his own. The group followed the manager to the reserved courtyard and settled themselves on their seats. Byakko returned to his normal size and lay down at Yuelan’s feet.

It didn’t take long for the guests to start arriving. Yuelan didn’t recognize most of them, but she was happy when Xiuya and Hanju arrived. Her two friends started to come over with happy expressions but then became nervous when Byakko opened his eyes and looked at them.

“Y-Yuelan?” Xiuya called anxiously. “He’s not going to attack us, is he?”

Yuelan smiled and shook her head. “No, he won’t. Unless someone gives him a reason to, he won’t hurt anyone. This is Byakko, the White Tiger.”

Both girl’s eyes widened. “The divine beast?” Hanju asked. “Why is he following you?”

“I think Guangfeng will explain that to everyone once they’ve arrived,” Yuelan answered, smiling. “I thought there would have been rumors, though.”

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Hanju and Xiuya looked at each other, then at Yuelan. “You mean the rumors about the dragon priestess of legend being you?” Xiuya asked.

Yuelan nodded. “I’m her descendant, actually, but yes. I’ve taken over her responsibilities.”

The two girls looked at Yuelan in a daze for a moment before they managed to school their expressions.

“We’ve tried to ignore any rumors about you, Yuelan. Most of them have been negative and wrong anyway,” Hanju explained. “So when that rumor started we just thought it was someone trying to build you up to tear you down for being a fake later.”

“I can assure you that she is not a fake,” Guangfeng cut in. “I watched her form the bond and heard the announcement myself while traveling to my sister’s wedding. My father has recognized her as has the emperor of Zhongshu.”

Hanju walked over to Yuelan to give her a hug. “I’m glad. I would hate to see what happened if the rumors were false.”

Xiuya quickly nodded her agreement and joined Hanju in going past Byakko to hug Yuelan.

As the two girls were stepping back again, Chang Biming and Liling walked into the room. Liling hurried over to Yuelan and gave her a hug. “Yuelan, I’ve missed you! I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to come see you since you came back from Ainuan’s wedding!” She leaned back and frowned. “You look so pale and tired! Did you fall ill?”

Yuelan smiled and shook her head. “No, I’ve just been busy as well. I did a couple of things that took a lot of energy recently. I was resting at home when Guangfeng invited me to come with him and I wanted to join in the fun.”

Liling gently pinched Yuelan’s cheek. “You could have stayed home to rest, you silly. It’s important to pay attention to your health! Especially when your position is as important as yours!”

“I’ll be more careful,” Yuelan promised. “I just want to show my support for what Guangfeng is trying to do this time.”

The first princess looked over at her brother. “I knew it! I knew you were up to something. Is everyone here? I want to find out what it is.”

Guangfeng chuckled. “You were the last to arrive, Liling. After everyone gets some tea I’ll explain.”

Liling gave her brother an annoyed huff but smiled right after and shook her head. “Fine. I’ll be good and not make you explain more than once.”

“Thank you, Liling. Though since everyone is here already I wouldn’t be explaining more than once.”

The first princess lifted up her hands and shrugged then took a seat near Yuelan. Xiuya and Hanju sat down next to her and the other young ladies joined them at that table while the young men sat at a different one.

When everyone was settled with a cup of tea, Guangfeng stood up. “The reason I called you all here today is because in the morning I will be putting forth a suggestion in the court. As most of you have heard, Yuelan is the current Dragon Priestess. Thanks to her, Lord Long, and the White Tiger Byakko, I was able to visit her country of Kilin. Things are very different there and I want to implement some of their policies, starting with allowing women and girls to inherit lands and titles from their fathers and enable them to attend schools and become scholars and officials.”