After Yuelan returned to her residence Chung Soo informed her that the third prince had requested to spend some time with her the next day after morning court and Yuelan told the eunuch to accept the request. She took a little more time getting dressed than normal the next morning, but still only put on sunscreen to protect her skin and a bit of lip gloss instead of makeup. Once she was dressed she picked up the book she had been reading and went to sit on the swing in the garden of her courtyard to read until Guangfeng arrived.
About midmorning, a servant came to inform Yuelan that the third prince was waiting outside the gates of the residence. Yuelan handed her book to Laurel, who was staying behind this time, and headed to the front gates with Camphor and Willow. She greeted Guangfeng, who was standing outside his carriage, and then let Camphor help her up when Guangfeng indicated she should get inside. Once everyone was settled the carriage started to move and the third prince began to speak.
“I assume Shadow passed on my message, so I’ll just flesh out the rest of the information for you,” Guangfeng told Yuelan. “The country to the south of us is Lanzhou. They’ve been getting greedy for resources lately, but haven’t started an open war yet. We have a standing treaty with Zhongshu to the west. My mother was a princess of Zhongshu and my younger sister, Ainuan, will be going to Zhongshu to marry into their royal family before winter, so Lanzhou is still hesitating. It’s well known that Liling is engaged to one of our most talented young generals. They probably thought they could use abducting her as a way to keep us from retaliating, so she was their target, and not you.”
Yuelan leaned back in the carriage and looked out the window, nodding to indicate she was actually listening. That Liling had been the target had been obvious to her at the time anyway.
“They tried to take you because they intended to use you to threaten Liling. We’re preparing to go to war with them already and Father Emperor and I felt it would be best for you if your reputation wasn’t questioned by making formal accusations against them over the attempted abduction. That doesn’t mean they’re going to get away with it, though. Father Emperor has imposed trade sanctions against them in retaliation.”
Yuelan nodded again and turned to look at him. “Thank you. Where are you taking me?”
Guangfeng smiled a little. “The library,” he admitted. “Long He hasn’t been attending morning court and he didn’t appear when you were abducted. You’re worried about him, right?”
“Well...yes,” Yuelan admitted, startled. “Thank you. I was going to go the day after tomorrow…”
Guangfeng smiled at her. “I know, but I thought you shouldn’t have to wait to ease your mind. He’s a dragon, so he’s probably fine, but you know him better.”
“I don’t actually know that much about dragons. Just what I’ve read about them in the library, and Long He didn’t show me many books and scrolls about them.” Yuelan shrugged her shoulders a little and turned to look out the window again.
“That seems surprising. You seemed well read on the way to the capital from the library.”
Yuelan shrugged. “I’ve studied politics, mathematics, history, language, music...but creatures like dragons weren’t on my list of important studies before.” She turned to look out the window to watch the passing scenery.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Sensing that Yuelan didn’t seem interested in talking about it, Guangfeng dropped the conversation and left her in peace.
The carriage continued moving while its passengers sat in a mostly comfortable silence. That it was a comfortable silence was a bit of a surprise to Yuelan. There were few people she’d felt comfortable enough to be in a room with and not speak with them. Her father was one and a girl who had been in elementary school with her was another. The girl had moved away from the capital after they moved on to jr. high and Yuelan hadn’t been able to see her again since, though they had exchanged letters for a while before eventually stopping. In Longuo there was only her three maids and, apparently, now there was Guangfeng as well.
They reached the library after a couple of hours and Willow helped Yuelan down from the carriage. The group headed up the path leading from the bottom of the mountain and Yuelan was a bit out of breath by the time they reached the library doors. The giant, heavy doors were closed, but Guangfeng walked forward and confidently opened one of them, which allowed Yuelan to enter. She looked around and frowned a little.
“Long He?” she called; her voice sounded a bit shaky and nervous. “Long He, are you here?”
In the middle of the main floor, a silver light appeared and started to pulsate. Yuelan stopped and watched it, apprehensive. The light continued to pulsate until it gradually took the form of Long He.
“Mistress,” Long He said courteously. “This is an apparition, not my physical form. I’m a bit busy and back at the dragon clan at the moment. Is there something urgent?”
Yuelan shook her head. “No...I was just worried because I hadn’t seen you in a while.”
“I apologize. The dragon emperor summoned me and I had to return and report to him. I will return as soon as I can.”
Yuelan sighed. “Alright…”
“Was there something you wished to discuss with me, Mistress?”
“Yes, but I suppose it can wait until you return,” she answered.
Long He’s expression turned thoughtful and he scratched his chin. “Well...perhaps you could speak to your father about it?”
Yuelan shook her head. “I will, but I wanted to speak with you and gather a little more information first.”
“I see. I will hurry back then,” Long He promised. “In the meantime, please be careful.”
“Thank you, Long He.”
Long He gave her a smile. “Of course, it’s my duty, after all. Are you sure you wish to discuss it with me and not your father?”
“I’m sure,” Yuelan answered. “I want to talk to him as well, but not until after I’ve spoken to you.”
The dragon nodded, then turned his head. “I will return soon. I must go.” The image disappeared.
Yuelan let out a sigh. “Well...at least I know he’s alright…”
“Yes, though I wonder why he didn’t ask if anything happened,” Guangfeng mused. “He felt you fall ill and immediately appeared. Why didn’t he show up when you were kidnapped?” He rubbed his chin and frowned, staring at the spot where Hong Le’s image had been before.
Yuelan shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s something I’ll have to ask about when he comes back.” She looked around the library and tilted her head to the side. “I wonder if that scroll I was reading before is still on the table…”
Guangfeng gave her an amused look. “Go find out if you want to. I’ll make sure to take you home before it gets dark.”
“Thanks!” Yuelan happily bounced over to the desk she had been reading at the first day she arrived in Longuo and spotted the scroll right away. It had been carefully placed in a case, but left on the desk. Yuelan sat in the chair and gently pulled the scroll out, unrolling it to where she had been reading from last and almost instantly getting absorbed enough in its contents to not hear what was going on around her.