Ying Yue ran like she had never before. Her instincts kicked in and told her she needed to get away from this man and as far as possible. Ying Yue finally makes it to the tea shop where Jianyu was.
"Jianyu!"
"Ying Yue? Why are you running like that?"
"We need to talk. It's urgent!"
Jianyu could see that Ying Yue was in a state of shock. Her usual calm demeanor was gone, and her eyes were filled with fear. Jianyu bids farewell to the tea shop owner and grabs hold of Ying Yue's hand and takes her to an empty room on the second floor of the tea shop.
"What happened Ying Yue?"
"I.... I think I saw Bai Chun."
"What? What do you mean?"
"I…. I'm not sure, but he had red hair Jianyu! I saw it! No, more like he purposely showed me!"
"Did he do anything to you?!"
Ying Yue goes on and tells Jianyu of how he was able to sneak up behind her. Ying Yue clenches her fists as she tells Jianyu about how Bai Chun also grabbed her hand.
"He knows who I am, Jianyu. He called me empress before I ran away from him."
"That's not possible.... are you sure you heard him, right? You rarely leave the palace!"
"I don't know! This was my first encounter with him. There was something about him that sent shivers down my spine. Do you think someone told him about me?"
"If what you say is true then there's got to be a spy within the palace leaking out information. Stay here, I'm going to look around the area to see if he's still here."
"Be careful...something about him just didn't feel normal, if that makes sense."
"I'll be right back."
Ying Yue watches as Jianyu exits the room. Watching from the small window inside the room, Ying Yue could see Jianyu running towards the location of the stalls Ying Yue was at earlier. After sitting inside the dark empty room for twenty minutes, Jianyu finally returns.
"How'd it go?"
"He's not here anymore. I asked the stall owners if they saw anyone suspicious and someone matching your description, and no one has."
"You don't believe me?"
"No, I'm not saying that. There's a chance Bai Chun used a spell on you. Maybe you were the only one that could see him. He uses dark arts; I wouldn't be surprised if he did. We're going back to the palace."
Without even listening for Ying Yue's reply. Jianyu quickly creates a portal and pulls Ying Yue in by the hand. Ying Yue opens her eyes and realizes they were standing inside Jianyu's sleeping quarters.
"Jianyu. why did you bring me here?"
"You'll be staying here for a while until I figure out what to do with Bai Chun. If he's in the capital already, that means he's not alone."
Jianyu tells Ying Yue to remain inside his room as he leaves to finish some business.
"Where are you going Jianyu?"
"Calling my generals. I need as much manpower as I can get. Remember, don't leave until I come back. I will be casting a spell on the palace. Anyone with ill intent will not be able to enter."
"Oh…you can do that?"
"I don't do barriers often as it drains a lot of my energy, but until Bai Chun is caught, I'm not risking anything."
Ying Yue watches as Jianyu create another portal and disappears from her sight. With nothing to do, Ying Yue seats herself onto the chair near Jianyu's table where he normally looks over the imperial scrolls. Feeling rather bored, Ying Yue decides to dig around Jianyu's table. Ying Yue opens a lower drawer and see's something familiar.
"It's that black chest!"
Quickly pulling it out, Ying Yue opens the chest and looks over the scroll that was sealed in there. Unlike anything she's read, Ying Yue couldn't understand the contents of the scroll. Scratching her head in frustration she decides she'll just ask Jianyu when he's back.
"How weird.... I guess I'll just sleep for now."
Ying Yue crawls onto Jianyu's bed and sleeps at the wall side. With her back against the bed and her eyes staring at the ceiling, Ying Yue tries to force herself to get some sleep.
"Grumble."
"Ugh...It's been a while since I've felt hunger. All I had was a damn meat skewer."
Tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep with her stomach growling; Ying Yue was about to get up when she hears footsteps coming near the bedroom doors. Ying Yue quickly closes her eyes and tries to fake sleep. Moments later Ying Yue could hear Jianyu talking as he entered the bedroom.
"Ying Yue are you asleep already?"
"............"
"Well, guess I'll eat everything alone then."
Still pretending to be asleep, Ying Yue keeps her eyes closed. It wasn't until she smelled something familiar did Ying Yue finally moved out of bed.
"Jianyu! Why are you eating without me?!"
"Ha Ha! I knew you were faking it! Here, I was thinking I could have everything here to myself."
Ying Yue seats herself across from Jianyu on the table and grabs hold of a meat skewer and white bun to munch on.
"How did you know I was hungry?"
"I just knew. Too much happened tonight. I'm sorry our date ended badly again."
"It's alright, it's not something we can control. Anyways what did you leave to go do?"
"I went to the eastern borders. I had to call back the troops and have Tao Chen and Fu Jia return to the capital."
"It's that bad huh?"
"You have no idea.... he's probably the biggest threat to our kingdom. We don't know if he's aligned himself with anyone or not yet."
"Why would he approach me though? I don't think I've ever done anything to him."
"It's mostly likely due to you being my empress. You have to be careful Ying Yue. I will be assigning Fu Jia to be your guard just in case."
Ying Yue sighs at the idea of having another issue to deal with. Quickly finishing her meal, Ying Yue grabs hold of Jianyu's hand.
"We'll make it through this Jianyu. It's late now, we should get some rest."
Ying Yue stands up first and walks to Jianyu's bed. Seating herself; with her back against the bed and her gaze at the ceilings again, Ying Yue turns her head and watches as Jianyu calls out for maids outside the bedroom to come and take everything away. Jianyu dims out the lights and crawls next to Ying Yue. Turning to his side, he places his arm above her thin waist.
"Ying Yue."
"What is it?"
"Do you regret marrying me?"
"Of course not. It hasn't even been a full week yet. How can I regret something that's barely started?"
"Ha Ha! You have a point."
"I would never regret it even if it's fifty years. Right now, catching Bai Chun comes first."
"Well that's true...but we also have another issue we need to work on."
"What? What other issue, Jianyu?"
"An heir."
In the dark, Ying Yue could feel Jianyu's stares at her. Trying to not overthink anything, Ying Yue turns her back to Jianyu.
"Really, Ying Yue? You should get used to this by now."
"No! It hasn't even been that long, and it hurts!"
"Only the first time."
"Aren't you tired at all?"
"No man is ever too tired for that."
Before Ying Yue could refute, Jianyu pulls Ying Yue closer into an embrace. With the back of her neck visible, Ying Yue could feel Jianyu's light kisses. It's not like Ying Yue hated the idea of being intimate with Jianyu. Ying Yue couldn't help feeling embarrassed; blushing at every touch. Before long Ying Yue could feel Jianyu's hands start to wander elsewhere. Finally caving into the pleasure, Ying Yue wound up not getting much sleep throughout the night.