After drinking the herb tea, Ying Yue slowly drifted off to sleep. With her heavy eyes, Ying Yue turned to her left side and dozed off in seconds.
Meanwhile, in the dragon kingdom. Jianyu continues to search for any signs of Ying Yue. With each passing day he became more and more anxious. Unable to sleep without the help of medication now, Jianyu's generals and the old priest woman all worried for his well-being. With the night rolling in, Jianyu remained in his studies reading scrolls from his spies that he sent out to infiltrate the neighboring kingdoms.
"Knock Knock."
"Who is it?"
"Your majesty, it's Fu Jia."
"What do you want?"
Your majesty, please eat something. It's been three days since we've seen you get any proper rest. You will not be able to find her highness like this."
"I can't rest until I find my empress! She's been missing for months and yet no one has found any clues on where she is!"
"I understand your majesty, but I came with good news tonight."
"What?"
"One of the men we sent to Xinjing reported back that there as a woman living in the Xinjing palace that resembled her highness."
"Who said that?"
"A former guard that used to work in the palace. He was wrongfully terminated and started spouting nonsense at a local tea shop in Xinjing. One of our spies happened to overhear him going off about the crown prince of Xinjing sending out troops to find a woman of unknown origins."
"That's it! It has to be Ying Yue! Right?!"
"That's what I thought was well, your majesty. What are you planning to do?"
"Looks like I'm paying some old friends a visit in Xinjing."
"Do you need us to accompany you?"
"No, you may leave. I'll handle everything from here."
"Yes, your majesty."
With a sense of relief, Jianyu walks from his study table and lays down onto his bed. With his eyes unable to open any longer, he too drifted off while thinking of Ying Yue.
Day breaks and Ying Yue finally wakes up from the smell of food. Rubbing her tired eyes open, Ying Yue forces herself to sit up and quickly glances around her. Realizing Su Ru was missing, Ying Yue quickly changed into a pair of new clothing, and walks out of the bedroom.
"Su Ru?"
"Ah! My lady, you're awake! I was just about to come wake you up for lunch."
Everyone but Ying Yue was up and about already, wasting no time, Duan Da already had the men prepare to depart as the women cooked and prepared lunch. Ying Yue walks over to Su Ru and seats herself onto the chair that Su Ru pulled out for her. Once all the food was out and ready, everyone quickly dug in as to not waste time. Ying Yue noticed that Duan Da barely ate anything as he finished before anyone else.
Seeing as it was too sudden after waking up, Ying Yue also ate enough to just keep her from going hungry. Without thinking much, Ying Yue follows Duan Da outside to where the carriages were.
"Duan Da, did you find out something?"
"Oh, I asked the clan leader and apparently there's a hidden path here that will cut our trip by five days if we can make it across."
"Five day isn't a whole lot is it?"
"Right, it's not. But if we want to avoid coming into contact with the Xinjing army then we need to take roads that they don't know about. In exchange for some water, the clan leader agreed to not disclose our location to anyone that should come asking."
"I see.....well, I believe in your judgement then."
As Ying Yue spoke to Duan Da, she noticed that everyone had finished eating and was now getting ready to set off. Mother Zou grabs hold of Ying Yue's hands and places a bag of herb in her hands.
"You will need these for the rest of your travels."
"Thank you, for everything you've done for me. Someday, I will repay you."
"Don't worry Ying Yue, seeing you reminded me of my daughter. That was more than enough."
With those parting words, Ying Yue hops onto the back of the carriage as everyone was waiting on her. Quickly popping her head out of the back, Ying Yue waved farewell to mother Zou as they got further and further away from the desert village.
"What did she give you, Ying Yue?"
"Just some herbs to help calm me at night, Lin An."
Soon, six hours flew by and it was time for dinner and a break. Duan Da had everyone stop at a nearby cave that he randomly noticed. One by one, everyone stepped out of the carriage as the two sisters prepared dinner like usual. Ying Yue walks to Duan Da who was setting up the sleeping arrangements for the men.
"Duan Da, how are there caves here?"
"I believe they were formed here centuries ago when there was still water here. Now they're nothing but empty old rocks that's good for shelter at least."
"Are we really staying the night here? I thought you wanted to travel at night?"
"We should be fine now that we're closer to our destination. We've passed the two-desert tribe so travelling from here on out should be easier."
"Alright! I knew I was right to trust your judgment. How close are we to the dragon kingdom now?"
"Hmm...If we're lucky, we'll get there in another two months."
"Two whole months? I just hope this doesn't come out before then."
Ying Yue rubs her belly and heads off back to camp. Once food was ready; everyone sat around the small campfire that Jin created and shared stories once again. Ying Yue was slowly losing her appetite as the months rolled by; which worried Duan Da.
"Ying Yue, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just haven't been as hungry."
"You should force yourself to eat some more, you have to eat for two people now."
With that being said, Ying Yue holds out her plate for the sisters to give her another serving. Ying Yue forces herself to eat as she knows she needed it to regain her strength.
"Duan Da, are we almost out of the desert?"
"Soon, it'll be another week if we continue on the route the desert leader told me about."
Jin who was eating silently shoves the last bit of his food down his mouth and sips on water before burping.
"Hey, Ying Yue. When do you plan to tell us who you really are?"
"What do you mean?"
"I can't help but get a feeling you're someone of importance to the dragon kingdom."
"I don't know about that. Maybe I'm not as important as I thought I was. There haven't been any other signs of them coming to look for me, so I don't know anymore."
Ying Yue shoves food down her mouth to avoid talking anymore with Jin.
"That's enough Jin. Leave her be."
"I was just curious, no need to get all serious father."
Ying Yue quickly takes her last bite of food and heads back into the carriage as she waited for everyone to finish up. Poking her head out of the carriage, she stared into the night sky as she reminisced of Jianyu.
"Jianyu, please come find me. I'm so tired of everything."