The crown prince stares at Ying Yue, hoping to get a response from her. Ying Yue had no idea what the crown prince was expecting, so she kept her mouth shut. The crown prince sighs and places his fan down.
"There's a saying, that whoever wields that sword is the rightful woman to become the queen of Xinjing. Five hundred years ago we discovered it was in the hands of the dragon empress. My ancestor at the time did not pursue her because we had good ties with the dragon emperor then, but I am different. I don't care if you're married to the dragon emperor. So long as you wield that sword, I intend to make you mine and keep you in Xinjing."
"You...you truly disgust me."
"Heh, I'm aware of that."
"You already have a crown princess. If the story you just told is true, I'd have to become the queen of Xinjing as the wielder of the sword, correct? That makes no sense when you already have someone as the future queen."
"Ah, I don't care for the crown princess. It was my father's decision anyways. Once, I tell him of you having the divine sword he will agree to let me wed you."
"You make no sense at all crown prince! Talking to you is like talking to a wall. Nothing gets through to you. I already told you I'm not going along with your stupid idea and I have no intention to marry you. If that's all you have to say I'm leaving!"
Ying Yue slams her hand on the table and stands up. As she was about to walk away, the crown prince grabs hold of her right wrist.
"I didn't want to go to war, but seeing as you're the dragon empress; it looks like we have no choice. You don't understand anything. I need your help to help me secure my position as future king."
"What? You're already the crown prince! Now, let go of my hand!"
Ying Yue jerks her hand out of the crown prince's hold. The crown prince held onto Ying Yue's hand so tightly he left a red marking around her thin pale wrist.
"I have a younger brother who is fighting me for the throne."
"What's that go to do with me? That's your family issues!"
"Heh, so heartless. He's two years younger than me and the original childhood lover of the crown princess. You see where I'm going with this?"
"No, I don't. If the sword is all you need to back you up then take it. Let me return to the dragon kingdom."
"Ah, that's not how it works. You see, that sword not only shows that you're the rightful queen to Xinjing. Since it's an object of the heaven's, wherever it resides that country will flourish even more. Haven't you noticed how well off the dragon kingdom has been lately?"
"I....I don't know."
Ying Yue rarely ever left the palace due to Jianyu not allowing her to. If the sword really did help the dragon kingdom then it only made sense that other kingdoms will come after it. Even if Ying Yue was to escape Xinjing, there was a chance the other kingdoms already knows about her having the sword.
"Just take the sword and let me go home."
"I can't do that. That sword will follow you wherever you go. Why do you think it disappeared all of a sudden five hundred years ago from our kingdom? It's because the dragon clan came into this world and formed the dragon kingdom. In doing so, the sword chose the dragon empress as its new owner. We finally have it again after five hundred years back inside Xinjing. Imagine how much support I would have if I took you, who's the owner of the sword now as my queen."
"We shall see about that....if you think I'm going to sit around quietly and let you do as you please, then you're wrong. Farewell crown prince, and please refrain from bothering me."
"Ha Ha! Oh goodness, my future queen. The funs barely begun."
Ying Yue stomps away and walks back to the rose palace; leaving the crown prince alone in the pavilion. Ying Yue finally makes it back to the rose palace after fifteen minutes of fast walking. Once she got inside her residence, Ying Yue removes the dress, leaving only her thin robe on. Su Ru frantically tries to calm Ying Yue down.
"My lady, what happened? Why're stripping like this?!"
"Su Ru, find me some men clothing. I can't move in these dresses!"
"Al....alright, I'll go. Please don't leave the residence until I return."
Once Su Ru was out of sight, Ying Yue walks to her water bin and uses a wet cloth to wash her hands to get rid of the crown prince's touch.
"That damn disgusting prince. Just wait till I get back to the dragon kingdom."
Ying Yue continues to wash her hands until, all of a sudden she hears someone kick in her bedroom door. Slowly drying her hands, Ying Yue turns around and sees that it was indeed the crown princess and her maids.
"What's the meaning of this?"
"Ugh. Look at how you're dressed! What an embarrassment!"
"Says the person who kicked in my door. You came in uninvited, what makes you think I'd have time to get dress?"
"Hmph, watch that mouth of yours. I'm the crown princess and the future queen! I'd suggest you watch what you say!"
"Oh yeah? Future queen you say? That's not what the crown prince told me. Looks like you're about to lose that position."
"Wha....what do you mean by that?"
"I suggest you ask him. Now get out of my residence."
"How dare a mere concubine talk to our crown princess like that! I'll teach her a lesson!"
One of the maids of the crown princess walks up to Ying Yue and tries to slap her for being rude. After having the crown prince annoy her all day, Ying Yue had just about enough. As the maid raised her hand to slap Ying Yue, she grabs hold of the maids wrist and twisted it; leaving the maid crying and screaming on the floor.
"Ah! My hand! Ahhhh!"
The crown princess watched in horror as her maids wrist flopped from side to side after being broken. Quickly running to hide behind her other maid, she screams out at Ying Yue.
"You...you vulgar human! You dare to harm my personal maid?! Just wait till I tell the crown prince about what you just did!"
"Oh....I'm so scared. If you're done talking, then get out before I decide to break your leg!"
"This....this isn't over!"
The crown princess motions for the other maid to help the fallen maid up as they made a run for it. Ying Yue couldn't help but break into a laughter. She felt much better letting some of her pent up frustration out. Once the crown princess was gone, Su Ru finally returned with a pair of dark blue male clothing.
"My lady, I'm back. I saw the crown princess and her maids leaving, did something happen?"
"Ha Ha! Don't worry about them. I don't think any of them will be bothering us for a while."
Ying Yue dresses herself in the male clothing and walks over to her mirror and washed off her makeup. Ying Yue motions for Su Ru to undo her hair and leave it in a ponytail. She finally smiles in satisfaction after seeing her reflection in the mirror. Feeling like herself again, Ying Yue stands up and pulls Su Ru to side.
"Su Ru, how do I go about leaving Xinjing?"
"What? It's nearly impossible. There's creatures and a large desert trail that needs to be crossed to reach most of the other kingdoms."
"Which kingdom is the closest to here?"
"Ah....I believe Jianxiang Kingdom is the closest. It's the only kingdom where you don't need to cross the desert to get to it."
"How about the dragon kingdom? How far is it from here or Jianxiang?"
"Oh, that's probably one of the farthest places. Not to mention they don't welcome humans easily so no one's ever really done trading or travelled there so we don't have much information on it."
"Damnit! Su Ru! I need a map!"
"Oh, that's simple my lady. The royal library has them."
"Really? Can you take me to it?"
"Of course. You're a concubine, so it's open to you. I can take you there, but I'll wait outside for you to finish."
"Thank you, Su Ru."
"Not at all my lady. You don't need to thank me. Shall we get going?"
Su Ru gestures for Ying Yue to walk first. Making sure to not forget her sword, Ying Yue quickly ties it around her waist and heads out of the rose palace.
"Turn right here, my lady. The library should only be up ahead."
Following Su Ru's instructions, Ying Yue makes her way towards the library. Soon the building was within sight. Ying Yue breathes a sigh of relief at the idea that something in there was going to help her return home. She knew she needed to leave before she become too heavily pregnant. What's worse was the crown prince was now only waiting for her to give birth. With three months to go before she starts showing, Ying Yue knew she needed to act fast.
Su Ru greets the guards and notifies them of Ying Yue and who she was. Once they got the okay from the guards, Su Ru nods for Ying Yue to enter as she waited outside the door. Ying Yue makes her way inside the library of scrolls. It was much smaller than the the basement of the temple back in the dragon kingdom. Quickly glancing at some scrolls, Ying Yue makes a huge discovery.
"Wait, these are in my language back home! Does this mean the first king was someone from my world?!"
Ying Yue pulls out scrolls after scrolls. Hoping to get some information on the neighboring kingdoms or the dragon kingdom. After three hours or no luck; all of a sudden, Ying Yue finds a dirty scroll hidden under the stacks of scrolls that was on a small study table. To her surprise it was in dragon writing.
"This is definitely in dragon writing, but what is it doing here?"
Feeling thankful that she forced herself to learn the writing system, Ying Yue was able to read and understand what the scroll was saying.
"To whoever may stumble across this scroll, I hope this helps you with what you're looking for. My name is Duan Da, I was born and raised inside the dragon kingdom, but fell in love with a human woman named, Su Mei. I ran away from the dragon kingdom and began travelling with her and her family. Along the way, I realized I had been tricked and sold into the Xinjing kingdom as a trophy. I spent my days away as a play thing for the current queen. I finally had enough and planned my escape. Behind the royal library there is a hidden passage. You will have to crawl, but if you can make it out of there it leads you directly to the cold palace. No one guards that area and no one goes there so it's your best shot at leaving unnoticed. There is a hole in one of the back walls behind the cold palace that I created after repeatedly hitting it over and over for weeks. I realized the cold palace was abandoned and old, hence the walls were thinner and weaker. If you're reading this that means you've also been brought here against your will. I hope this scroll helps you in some ways. If you're from the dragon kingdom, come seek me out in Jianxiang kingdom. I've shamed my family and can no longer return to the dragon kingdom, but as a fellow citizen of the dragon kingdom my doors are open for you."
Ying Yue quickly looks at the scroll to examine how long ago this scroll was written. Considering its dirty look and broken edges it had to be more than forty years old. Reading the scroll only gave Ying Yue more determination to leave Xinjiang and seek out this mysterious Duan Da who may still be alive and help her return home.
Ying Yue shoves the scroll inside her sash and continues to read the scrolls within the library about how to get to the other kingdoms. After spending the rest of the day in the library, Ying Yue finally comes across a scroll that spoke about the Jianxiang kingdom.
"Let's see...Jianxiang is thirty day walk usually, but if I can get a horse or a carriage, I should be able to shorten that by half. Looks like it's easier to get inside Jianxiang as they don't require passes. If I can just join a travelling merchant carriage, I may be able to get inside unnoticed."
Ying Yue continues to scan the scrolls for a map. After spending another two hours looking through scrolls, Ying Yue finally finds an drawing of the kingdoms, mountains and deserts.
"This will do. I can't take this one out if I don't want to alert the crown prince that I'm trying to escape."
Ying Yue places all the scrolls back after memorizing the map. Making sure everything looked as it did before, Ying Yue only took back the scroll that was written by the man Duan Da. Should she find him, it was going to be her proof to him that she was from the dragon kingdom.
"Knock Knock."
"My lady are you finished? It's getting dark, and it's time for dinner."
"Yes, I'm done. I'll be right out."
Taking one last glance at the library, to make sure everything looked the same. Ying Yue breaks into a smile and pats herself on the back for accomplishing something today. Ying Yue slowly props the doors open and walks towards Su Ru.
"Sorry, I took much longer than I planned to. I'm sure you're hungry too Su Ru. Let's head back to rose palace."
"Yes, my lady."
Ying Yue bids farewell to the guards and heads off towards the rose palace with her hidden scroll still inside her sash.