After travelling for almost three weeks, Ying Yue and everyone was finally reaching the end of the desert. They continued to follow the short cut that the desert tribe had shown them and in doing so they were able to cut their travel time by almost two weeks.
Meanwhile, the Xinjing army had finally reached the desert tribe's village. The crown prince's first general; Cheng Ah was in charge of leading the first group. Cheng Ah was a ruthless man, infamous for finding joy in killing women and children. He was a large man, had a muscular build, tan skinned with dark eyes and hair. Cheng Ah lead his troops into the village and held the village leader hostage unless someone gave them information on Ying Yue.
"Have you seen this woman here?!"
Chen Ah shoves a drawn picture of Ying Yue to the desert leaders face.
"Woman? No woman would dare come to the desert by herself."
"There's rumors of her travelling with people that lived in Jianxiang. Now tell me the truth! Did this woman pass by here?!"
The village leader continues to shake his head and refuses to speak. Even if it meant death, the desert tribe keeps their promises. Mo Jun who was standing at the sidelines quickly interrupts as Cheng Ah was about to kill his grandfather; the village leader.
"Wait! Grandfather wouldn't know since he hasn't seen them. I went on patrol and spot them by chance. They headed in that direction! I don't know where they are headed since I didn't ask them, but please leave us be. That's all I know!"
Cheng Ah smiles and shoves his sword back into is scabbard.
"That's more like it. See how easy that was? I'll be leaving, but if I find out you lied, I will be sure to come back for you."
Everyone watched as the Xinjing army quickly left the village. The village elder runs up to Mo Jun and gives him a slap.
"Slap!"
"What was that for?! I just saved you!"
"At the price of what?! We had a deal with Ying Yue and her companions! You just brought me shame!"
"They'll be fine! An army of one hundred people should be easy for them to handle! Besides! Ying Yue and everyone else is taking the short cut you told them about. They will be long out of the desert before the Xinjing army even finds them!"
"You better pray you're right boy! Otherwise, I will never be able to find rest among our ancestors!"
The village elder heads back inside his home and slams the door in Mo Jun's face.
Night falls and everyone was finally setting up camp for the night. The sisters were off to cook as Ying Yue helped peeled potatoes for tonight's dinner with Su Ru. Duan Da who was preparing the sleeping arrangement for the men walks and seats himself next to Ying Yue.
"How are you feeling? Once we get to Yuanjing we will call for another doctor to check on you. You're less than two months away from giving birth now, you should be more cautious."
"I'm doing fine. It's not so bad anymore. Duan Da, you mentioned Yuanjing. How much longer until we get there? Do you know what the kingdom there is like?"
"Well, we should get there in five days. Also, from what I've heard Yuanjing has been a war zone for the past three years. All I know is the last king was killed in a revolt, so the people right now don't have a leader. It's a bit chaotic, but the people are managing on their own until someone worthy is elected as the next king."
"Uh....Duan Da, are you sure it's safe for us go through that kingdom?"
"It will be fine; the people aren't really hostile. It's just that because of the war they are more on guard. If we make it past Yuanjing, the dragon kingdom should be the next stop. We're moving at a good pace so we should reach the dragon kingdom before you give birth."
"I hope so..."
After dinner everyone decided to call it a night and sleep early to prepare for the long trip. Ying Yue slept on her left side as it was becoming harder to sleep on her back. Ying Yue forces her eyes shut and clears her mind to get some rest.
Weeks go by and they all finally make it out of the desert. Ying Yue had forgotten how much she missed seeing green fields and life. With the carriage parked in the center of a small field with trees, everyone was out and about and preparing lunch for the day. Duan Da soon returns with dry twigs and grass as the other men went off to fish. Duan Da seats himself next to Ying Yue as he tries to start a fire.
"Good thing we got out of the desert. We were running low on food and water. I was starting to get worried."
"I agree, it's a good thing the desert tribe was kind enough to tell us about the shortcut. Duan Da, are we heading to Yuanjing after lunch?"
"Yeah, that's the plan. We don't have to enter Yuanjing, but since I want to get you looked at we are just stopping in quick. Once that's done, we really just need to cross the large bridge at the edge of Yuanjing kingdom, that will lead us towards the dragon kingdom. If we can make it past without any problems, we should make it to the dragon kingdom in less than a month. That should give us some time before you give birth."
"Hmmm....I get a feeling thing won't go as easy as you say."
After lunch, everyone packed up and headed towards Yuanjing kingdom. Just like Duan Da had mentioned, it was definitely a kingdom that was recovering from war. Broken homes, poverty, homeless people and the lack of smiles and laughter. As they arrived into town, Duan Da asked a local man about where to find a doctor. The man pointed to the large building around the corner.
After following the directions given, Ying Yue and everyone arrived to a large building that looked a little better off than most of the other building. Duan Da motioned for only Ying Yue and Su Ru to follow him inside as everyone else stand out to guard their carriages. Duan Da enters the building first with Ying Yue and Su Ru following behind.
"Hello? Is anyone here?"
An older gentleman looking to be in his forties walks out followed by a young girl who seemed to be around the age of ten.
"Ah, welcome! I am doctor Wan Song. This is my daughter, Meirong."
"Hello and welcome!"
Duan Da shakes hands with the doctors and fills him in on why they are visiting. The little girl walks over to Ying Yue and places her hand on Ying Yue's baby bump.
"It's a baby!"
Ying Yue breaks into a smile and laughs at how honest the little girl was.
"Yes, it's a baby."
"Ah! Meirong what are you doing to our guests!"
The doctors quickly pulls his daughter behind him and apologizes for her behavior. The doctor tells his daughter to head home first as he needed to work. Once, the little girl was out of sight, the doctor motions for Ying Yue to take a seat as he checked on her health.
"Hmmm....your child is fine. You do seem a bit tired, so I will prepare some medicine for you.'
"Oh! Thank you. I did have some, but I've run out."
"Have you noticed any changes in your appetite? Any cravings?"
"Not really. other than eating for two I think I'm okay."
"Good, that's good news. Now, you are pretty close to your due date so please refrain from carrying anything heavy."
"When do you think I'll be due?"
"Well, due to the size and how far along you are, you have about a good month left. Of course, a child can come before then so please be careful."
"Thank you, I will keep that in mind."
Duan Da leaves to go retrieve the medicine and pay for the service as Ying Yue and Su Ru headed back to the carriages. Lin An who was standing around with the other girls walks over to meet Ying Yue and Su Ru halfway.
"How did it go?"
"The doctor says I'm doing fine."
"That's great news! I was worried since we've done nothing but travel for the past month."
"I was worried too but looks like we worried for nothing."
As Ying Yue finished talking to Lin An, Duan Da finally returns with a bundle of medicine.
"Alright, can everyone gather at the front? I need to talk to everyone."
Without saying much, Duan Da hands the bundle of medicine to Ying Yue and leaves to chat with the men. After five minutes, Duan Da returns to Ying Yue and informs them of what he learned from the doctor.
"Ying Yue, the doctor notified me that the bridge to cross to the dragon kingdom is broken."
"What? How are we going to make it there now?"
"There's a mountain path, it'll take an extra week but it's our only shot at making it to the dragon kingdom. No one really uses it as it was a recent war zone so there may still be traps, but it's up to you. We can wait till Yuanjing is finished rebuilding the bridge or we can take the mountain path. If we take the mountain path, it will save us a week."
"Well....how long will it take them to rebuild it?"
"They're halfway there, it will be another two weeks to finish."
"Two weeks?!"
Ying Yue didn't have two weeks to sit around and wait but at the same time, she didn't want to endanger everyone. Taking a deep breath, she decides she was going to leave the decision to Duan Da.
"I'll let you decide what's best for everyone. If it's safer to wait for the bridge to finish, we can wait. If I have my child along the way to the dragon kingdom, so be it."
Duan Da returns to chat with the rest of the crew. Everyone agreed it was too dangerous taking the mountain path as it was a recent war zone. Although Ying Yue was disappointed, she didn't want to put everyone in harm's way for her selfishness.
"Duan Da, where are we staying?"
"I will look around for any running tea shops to see if they are renting out any rooms."
Just as Duan Da was about to leave, the doctor walks out of his residence and offered for Duan Da and everyone to stay at his home as they wait for the bridge.
"My home is not far from clinic. As you can see I probably have the most rooms to house everyone. If you're alright with it, feel free to stay until the bridge is repaired."
"Why are you going out of your way to help us?"
"You're from the dragon kingdom, are you not? My wife is from the dragon clan, so I believe I am your best bet at finding a place to stay. I am closing up for the day so feel free to follow me."
"I will take you up on that offer then. Thank you."
Duan Da motions for everyone to follow the doctor to his home. After ten minutes of riding inside the carriages; the doctor brings everyone to his large home. It reminded Ying Yue of her home back in her world even though it was only half the size.
"Wow, you even have a gate around your residence."
"Heh, it keeps people out. It'll be safe enough for you to leave your carriages unattended also. With these hard times it's not uncommon for people to steal."
Once everyone entered the main entrance, the guards standing out front took the horses and carriages to the stables as everyone followed the doctor to the main building. The doctor spoke to maids and ordered them to tend to everyone's needs,
The maids came and splitted the men and women into groups. Once again Ying Yue was roomed with Su Ru, not that she minded of course. The men and women were splitted with the men on the right side of the halls and the women on the left side. Once inside their bedroom, Ying Yue plops herself onto the bed to rests her aching feet that have been swelling.
"My lady, are you alright? Shall I massage your feet?"
"No, I'm alright. Can you ask them where we can go to take a bath? I haven't taken one for two days now and it's starting to bother me."
"Of course, I will be right back my lady,"
Su Ru quickly exits their bedroom and after ten minutes returns with new clothing and wash cloths.
"My lady, they showed me where it is. Would you like to take one now? It looks like everyone else is also leaving to take one."
"Oh, alright. Let's get going Su Ru."
Ying Yue follows Su Ru down a corridor that led to a large bath. Being the last ones there, Ying Yue could see all the other girls relaxing and cleaning themselves. Ying Yue quickly undresses and walks into the pool of warm water. Using a wet cloth she cleaned herself and washed her hair.
"Su Ru, what are you doing? Come and join everyone,"
"Ah, that's okay. I can wait for everyone to finish."
"It's alright Su Ru. It will be a while so just join everyone."
"Alright, my lady."
Su Ru also disrobes herself and jumps into the pool of water. Ying Yue looked around her and could see how happy everyone was to finally be able to relax a bit. Ying Yue then moves to the shallow part of the pool to wash her legs and in doing so; reveals her large baby bump. Lin An swims closer and places her hand on Ying Yue's baby bump.
"It still amazes me how we all watched you grow over time."
"It's been a long journey. I'm glad I was able to share my first experience with everyone."
"So.....Ying Yue. What is your husband like?"
"Heh Heh, he's handsome, tall, well built, He has the most beautiful smile and the warmest heart. He's taught me many things I would've never known."
"Oh? Does he have any brothers?"
"Ha Ha! Sadly no."
"Oh, bummer. Hey Ying Yue, once we get to the dragon kingdom you should help me find a good husband."
"Ha Ha! It's a promise!"
After twenty minutes of bathing, everyone was ready to head out. Quickly drying and dressing themselves; one by one everyone left. Ying Yue, Lin An and Su Ru were the last to leave. As they stepped out of the bath, they were stopped by a middle-aged woman. Ying Yue took one look and could see that she was from the dragon kingdom.
"You must be the doctor's wife."
"Yes, welcome to our humble home. My name is Ping, I heard about your situation. Anyone from the dragon kingdom is welcome here. If it's alright, I would like to speak to you alone."
"Me?"
"Yes."
Ying Yue dismisses Su Ru and Lin An. Quietly following the doctor's wife to a room at the other end of the corridor. It was a small study room, filled with scrolls. To her surprise the doctor and Duan Da were also inside the room; waiting.
"Take a seat Ying Yue."
"What's going on Duan Da?"
Once the doors were closed off, the doctor's wife quickly fell to her knees and kneeled in front of Ying Yue; catching her off guard. Ying Yue quickly stands up and tries to help the woman up.
"What are you doing? Stand up!"
"I cannot do that, your highness. Please excuse me for my rudeness earlier."
Duan Da looked just as shock as Ying Yue. No one had any idea as to why the doctor's wife was on the floor kneeling to Ying Yue. Duan Da looks to Ying Yue and asks her.
"Why did she call you, highness?"
"Sigh...I wanted to wait until we got to the dragon kingdom to say anything. Duan Da, I'm sorry for keeping it from you but I am the dragon empress. The husband I spoke of is the dragon emperor and the child I carry will be the heir to the dragon kingdom someday."
Duan Da looks in shock and falls to his knees before Ying Yue.
"I apologize if I've done anything to offend you."
"You've done nothing to offend me. I owe you more than you owe me. Now, please stand up Ping."
"Thank you, your highness."
"Ping how did you know I was the dragon empress?"
"I am not just a doctor. I used to be a priest apprentice in the dragon kingdom, so you can say I have a six sense. I can feel the energy emitting from you and your child. It's a red aura, that only means one thing."
"Ah...I see. I had no idea people could sense it."
"Normally, it's hard to sense. But since I grew up in the temple, it's a trait we had to learn while there."
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you leave the dragon kingdom?"
"Because I fell in love."
Ping moves and stands next to her husband. With their eyes filled with love for one another, Ying Yue knew she didn't need any more details.
"Duan Da, please don't tell the others what you heard today. I want you to treat me like how you have in the past. I don't want the others knowing just yet."
"If that is what you wish, your highness."