A month had passed since Ying Yue and Jianyu visited Xinjing. Ever since they returned from Xinjing, Ying Yue has not been able to rest. She would spend her days away contemplating on whether to kill Bai Chun or let him die naturally. As Ying Yue relaxed in the royal garden, she had Shen An and Li An place out a large thick cloth on the ground for Junjei to roll around in. Shen An could tell Ying Yue was in denial.
"Your highness, if something is bothering you. I am more than happy to hear you out."
"Shen An....do you think being left to roam the world till the end of time is too cruel?"
"Your highness is this in regards to Bai Chun?"
"How did you know?"
"I did tell you the story of him using the dark arts to prolong his life. Of course, I would know about the side effects."
Ying Yue had completely forgotten that the twin sisters were the one to tell her the story of how Bai Chun came to be. Taking a deep breath, she walks and sits on the large thick cloth and holds Junjei in her arms. Ying Yue motions for the sisters to also take a seat under the shade.
"Shen An, Li An, please take a seat. I think there's some more things I can learn from you two."
Although the sisters protested against the idea as it was not proper, Ying Yue ordered them to rest with her,
"Your highness what would you like to know?"
"Do you know anything about the side effects of Bai Chun using the dark arts to prolong his life?"
"Not much is known, but one thing for sure is...."
"Is what?"
"He will not be able to reincarnate. That is heaven's way of punishing anyone who dares go against their fate. Bai Chun was fated to die at a young age, but he went against it and prolonged his life using the lives of innocent people and the dark arts."
Ying Yue remained silent for a moment. She was lost in thought and wondered to herself if it was really okay to let Bai Chun become a wandering ghost as he was still part of the royal family.
"Your highness? Are you alright?"
"Ah, I'm alright Shen An....I'm just thinking."
"If something is bothering, please let us know. We will do our best to help you."
"Shen An.....I found out there's a way to help Bai Chun reincarnate."
"What? How is that possible?"
"From what the old priest told me and his majesty, in able to reincarnate he has to die by my hands. As the owner of the divine sword it is my duty to purify things that don't belong in this world."
"The divine sword eh...now that you mention it, it does make sense. What will you do then, your highness?"
"As much as I hate him, I don't its right for me to allow him to become a wandering ghost someday..."
"Your highness, whatever you decide we will support you. Honestly, for the past five hundred years.... if Bai Chun wanted to take over the dragon kingdom, he would've been able to easily. It's hard to read his motives as no one knows what he's after."
"Alright....I've made up my mind. I need to find his majesty then. You two, take Junjei back to my residence. I will be back shortly."
"Your highness, will you be alright on your own?"
"Don't worry. I think I know what I'm going to do now."
Ying Yue stands up and hands Junjei over to Shen An as she quickly heads out towards the throne room. After fast walking for ten minutes, Ying Yue was now in front of the throne room. Without announcing herself, Ying Yue quickly barges in and catches all the ministers and aids off guard. Even Jianyu was shocked to find Ying Yue coming to the throne room on her own.
"Your majesty! I've decided!"
Jianyu breaks into a smile and motions for his ministers to leave as the meeting was now considered over. No matter how unreasonable Ying Yue was; Jianyu was always willing to support her first. Once everyone was out of the room, Jianyu quickly chanted and created a portal to his sleeping quarters. Ying Yue silently followed Jianyu through the portal and seats herself onto the empty seat by his brown table in the center of his room. Jianyu removes his morning robe and seats himself across from Ying Yue.
"What have you decided on, my empress? Seeing as your barged into my morning meeting I'm assuming it's something urgent."
"I... I'm sorry, I won't do it again."
"It's alright. I was getting bored anyways. Now, tell me what's on your mind?"
"Jianyu, I've decided I would like to talk to Bai Chun."
"What brought this on?"
"I've done a lot of thinking for the past month and I think this is something I shouldn't run from. I need to confront him and at least offer him salvation. If he chooses to live out his last remaining years then so be it."
Jianyu places his hand on top of Ying Yue's slightly cold hand and assures her he was willing to go along with whatever she wanted to do.
"If that's what you want, I will be more than happy to help you."
"Thank you, Jianyu. Also, did you find out what that scroll was about?"
"What scroll?"
"The scroll in the black chest that we found a while back. You know, the one from the temple."
"Oh, that. I opened to scroll and everything was written in our old language. It took me a while to decipher it but it looks like an incantation. I haven't tried using it but this was the other thing Bai Chun was after at one point."
"We should bring it to the priest and ask her about it before we leave for Shanliang."
"When do you want to leave for Shanliang, Ying Yue?"
"In two days, will that be okay? I will be busy tomorrow as I'll be visiting Duan Da and everyone at their new home."
"That's fine with me. If you're leaving the palace grounds, I'll have Fu Jia accompany you. I know you're strong, but it puts me at ease."
"Alright, if you say so. I think Lin An will be happy to hear that Fu Jia is coming. I think tomorrow will be a good day for them to finally talk. I think I've taken up enough of your time today. I will be heading back to my residence. Junjei must be hungry now."
"I have other things to attend to, so I won't be able to go with you. But at least let me send you there."
Jianyu stretches out his right arm for Ying Yue to grab onto as he chanted away and created a portal connected to the empress residence. Ying Yue quickly places a kiss on Jianyu's lips before quickly breaking away from his hold and running through the portal, to hide her embarrassment.
Ying Yue returns to the empress residence alone and is greeted by Shen An and Li An who were waiting for her as they cleaned the courtyard.
"Your highness, you're back!"
"Yes, sorry for taking to long. Is Junjei asleep?"
"Yes, your highness. Would you like your dinner now? It is getting late."
"I am feeling a bit hungry, so if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course. We will be right back."
Ying Yue heads back inside her bedroom and could see her son bundled up and sleeping soundly. With nothing to do, Ying Yue rests her head on her brown table in the center of her room. After twenty minutes, the pair of sisters returned with trays of food. They laid out plate after plate of food, some that Ying Yue had never seen before.
"What's with all the food?"
"Ah, the new cook didn't know what you liked so he ended up over cooking."
"What happened to the old cook?"
"He left to get married and moved back to the countryside where his family lived."
"Huh, I see. Well, come and join me ladies. There's no way I can eat ten dishes by myself."
The twins didn't even bother refuting Ying Yue's order as this was something they were used to by now. After an hour of eating and chatting with the sisters, Ying Yue decided to call it a night. Quickly feeding Junjei; she wraps him up and places him towards the wall so he wouldn't fall. Laying on her back and staring into the ceiling, Ying Yue could feel her eyes get heavy. Unable to stay awake any longer, Ying Yue drifts off into a deep sleep. Unlike other nights, tonight she dreamt of a familiar figure. Ying Yue wakes up inside her dream to find herself inside the world of the white tree. Sitting in the center of the large body of water was the former empress; Jianyu's mother.
Ying Yue walks on the water and towards the figure of the former empress that was sitting on a table in the middle of the lake. Seeing as this was a dream anything was possible. Once Ying Yue was standing in front of the former empress, she motioned for Ying Yue to take a seat in front of her.
"Why am I back here?"
"I summoned you here, of course. Something has been brought to my attention that I think you should know."
"Oh…. okay…what is it?"
Jianyu's mother hands over a scroll to Ying Yue and asks for her to read it. Slowly opening up the scroll, Ying Yue glances at the content and breaks into tears.
"Are you alright, Ying Yue?"
"Yes…I'm alright, but how did you get this?"
"It fell through a portal and landed in the waterfall. I happened to notice it and took it. After reading the content, I realized it was addressed to you."
"That's not the only reason you called for me, is it?"
"Your intuition is sharp as ever. I have a favor to ask, Ying Yue."
"What is it? If it's something I can fulfill, I'll do it."
"I want you to help Bai Chun…. he is a really pitiful soul."
"…So you knew, that he had feelings for you."
"Of course, I knew. But I was already in love with Jianyu's father. I never thought he would walk down the path of using the dark arts. I wasn't able to bring myself to kill him five hundred years ago when I had the divine sword, but maybe this is fate. The sword has landed in your hands. So please…. fulfill what I couldn't."
"Why couldn't you do it? Five hundred years ago he was not as strong as he was now. Killing him would've been easy."
"I couldn't. Bai Chun and I grew up together. Asking me to kill him, was like telling me to kill a part of myself. I was a coward and ran away. I became weak and even died, leaving Jianyu who knew nothing of the real world to rule the dragon kingdom."
Ying Yue could see the pained expression on the former empress face. Taking a deep breath, Ying Yue places her hand above Jianyu's mothers' hand.
"Alright, I will do what I can. I can't promise anything, but I will try."
"Thank you, Ying Yue. I'm glad the one Jianyu loves is you. Ah, I want to see my grandson too. Next time you come visit, bring him to see me."
"Alright, I promise to bring him here next month with Jianyu too."
"Good, now off you go. I think I've kept you here long enough."
The moment Jianyu's mother said those words, Ying Yue could feel herself floating. Slowly opening her eyes, Ying Yue could see that it was now morning. In her right hand laid the scroll; she could see that it was more than a dream. With the sun breaking in through the window and Junjei's small cries, Ying Yue knew it was time to get up. As Ying Yue picked up Junjei to feed him; there was a sudden knock at her door.
"Knock Knock."
"Come in."
"Ying Yue!"
"Jianyu?"
In comes Jianyu. Bursting through Ying Yue's bedroom door with a worried look on his face.
"What's wrong?"
"Sigh, I just had a bad dream that something happened to you."
"It's just a dream. While you're here, read this."
Ying Yue tosses the scroll to Jianyu. Unsure what it was about, Jianyu quickly opens the scrolls and reads the content.
"This says Bolin and Zhi Ruo are getting married next month during the harvest season. Are they your friends?"
"They are, but they're back in my world. Can we go when the time comes?"
"If you want to, it shouldn't be an issue."
"Great! Don't forget. I need to get ready and head off to see Duan Da. Are you coming or still have your own plans?"
"I'll be busy, but I'll send Fu Jia over to escort you there."
Jianyu seats himself on the edge of the bed and holds onto Junjei as Ying Yue got herself ready for the day.