With the sun not far from setting, and with the orange sky setting behind the figure. Jianyu squints his eyes and realizes the figure belonged to Shen An. A maid he had assigned to Ying Yue. With the soldiers quickly gathering around her, Jianyu motions for them all to leave. Shen An quickly greets Jianyu and catches her breathe.
"Hah....greetings your majesty."
"Shen An? Why are you here?"
"Your majesty...."
Unable to finish her sentence, Shen An cries and falls to her knees. Jianyu's heart was now thumping. Wondering if something had happened to Ying Yue. Jianyu motions for Shen An to follow him to the tent where Fu Jia and Tao Chen was. Slowly wiping away her own tears, Shen An agrees. Silently following Jianyu to Fu Jia and Tao Chen's tent. Catching them off guard, they both quickly sat up and stare back at Jianyu. Fu Jia breaks the silence and asks who Shen An was.
"Your majesty, what's is the meaning of this?"
"Her name is Shen An, she was a personal maid I assigned to Ying Yue. Speak Shen An, why are you here at the eastern boarder?"
"Sniff...Sniff....your majesty please help my sister and her highness, Ying Yue!"
"What do you mean?! What happened?!"
"Li An and I was worried about her highness Ying Yue going to the temple alone, but she insisted on going so we allowed it. We waited all day, but she never returned. Li An got worried and went to the temple the following morning, and she hasn't returned either. Your majesty I think something bad has happened to her highness Ying Yue and my sister Li An! I was scared and no matter who I talked to in the temple they wouldn't tell me anything."
"Who did Ying Yue go see?"
"I...I'm not sure your majesty. Her highness Ying Yue didn't mention anything to me or Li An. Although I did see general Zi Tai leave the temple grounds when I went there."
Fu Jia and Tao Chen were at a lost to what was happening in front of them. Tao Chen unable to stay silent anymore, speaks out.
"Your majesty, I believe Zi Tai has something to do with this!"
"We don't know that for sure Tao Chen! Zi Tai is one of the five generals! He wouldn't dare do anything to harm her highness."
"Fu Jia..... have you forgotten how Zi Tai treated her highness when he found them first in the mountains? It was clear from the start that he didn't like her or the other humans."
Jianyu watched as his two generals bicker away at each other. Choosing to ignore them, Jianyu turns his attention back to the weeping Shen An. Still unable to believe what Shen An was telling him, Jianyu motions for Fu Jia to move off his bed. Seating himself on Fu Jia's bed, Jianyu closes his eyes and sits cross-legged; using his powers to find Ying Yue. Using the same method that he's used before to track Ying Yue, except only this time he was unable to locate her.
"Impossible! No...No....No!"
"Your majesty? Are you not able to locate her highness?!"
Jianyu ignores Shen An's question and tries again. Sitting cross-legged and with his eyes closed, Jianyu focuses again. Once again, not sensing Ying Yue's presence. Feeling anger well up inside him, Jianyu glares at his unsuspecting generals.
"I'm returning to the dragon kingdom. Looks like I have some unfinished business to attend to."
Fu Jia and Tao Chen could only look at each other. Unsure of what happened, Fu Jia begs Jianyu to explain his reasoning for leaving as the original goal was to find Bai Chun.
"Your majesty, please tell us what's going on. Are you not able to find her highness Ying Yue?"
"Sigh....I am unable to locate her. There's only two possibility....one, she's gone back to her world or two....she's dead."
The generals decided that this was something important enough to their emperor. Even more so than finding Bai Chun. Nodding in agreement, the generals stands up and clasps their hands together. In perfect unison, Fu Jia and Tao Chen bids Jianyu farewell.
"Alright, we understand your majesty. Please leave finding Bai Chun to us! We will do what we can and pray you find her highness, Ying Yue."
"I'm counting on you two. Come along Shen An, we're going to go find your sister and my empress."
Wasting no time, Jianyu exits the general's tent and heads back to his tent. Grabbing hold of his sword, Jianyu started chanting away. Soon, a portal was now open, connected to the dragon palace, Jianyu and Shen An makes their way to the empress residence. Looking around the room for anything, Jianyu couldn't help, but shake off the feeling that maybe Ying Yue chose to leave him and return to her world. Jianyu motions for Shen An to call in a meeting with the prime minister, Shi Chen and ZI Tai.
"Shen An, send a message to prime minister Meng Tao for me. Have him bring his daughter and general Zi Tai along. Let them know it's urgent."
"Yes, your majesty."
"Ah! Get me the royal priest as well."
"Yes, your majesty! I'm on it."
Shen An bids Jianyu farewell and runs off to complete her task. Jianyu watched as Shen An ran off. Quickly making his way back to his sleeping quarters, Jianyu tries to locate Ying Yue again. Everything finally made sense now. It explained why his mother has been appearing in his dreams lately. Thinking it was probably a sign to notify him that Ying Yue was in danger. Filled with regret for not taking Ying Yue with him, Jianyu walks to his bed ann lifts his pillow to put his sword away. As Jianyu was about to place his sword under his pillow he sees a note addressed to him.
"What is this?"
Opening the envelope and pulling the letter out, Jianyu could tell it was Ying Yue's handwriting. Reading silently to himself, Jianyu could feel his body go cold and his heart racing.
Dear my love Jianyu,
If you are reading this letter, that means something has happened to me. In case something should happen to me, I at least wanted you to know the truth. Zi Tai and Shi Chen had approached with an offer for me to go home, you see... I will admit I hesitated. I'm a fool I know, for thinking I could live without you. I will be sure to turn them down, but I don't trust them. Hence why I'm writing this note for when you return. If anything should happen to me, please come find me Jianyu.
Love your future empress
Ying Yue Yang
Unable to stay still after reading the letter, Jianyu calls for nearby maids to help him undress from his armor and into a clean outfit. Finally making his way to the throne room. Jianyu could see everyone trying to avert making eye contact with him.
"I'm assuming you all know why I have called you here."