Six months had gone by since the last time Ying Yue saw Wan Zhe and his little family. With Shangliang nearly back on its feet now; the dragon clan citizens who left to Shangliang were finally returning home. Jianyu had left in the morning with the priest to bring everyone back to the kingdom.
Now that Ying Yue was not far from giving birth; Jianyu refused to let her go out of the royal palace. With nothing to do but have Junjei keep her company, Ying Yue wasted her days away daydreaming.
"I'm so bored lately. Don't you think the world is too peaceful now?"
"Your highness, how about a rest then?"
"Shen An if I sleep anymore I'll go crazy."
"I am just worried for your health, your highness."
Just as Ying Yue was chatting with Shen An in the garden pavilion, little Junjei comes running from the garden after being chased by Li An.
With his little voice and his little legs, he screams out as he runs towards Ying Yue.
"Mama!"
Giggling all the way, he lays himself on Ying Yue's lap as a way to hide from Li An.
"My little Junjei, soon you'll have a little brother or sister to play with."
Junjei was young and barely a year and a half, but he could understand everything Ying Yue told him. Junjei knew his mother was going to have another child any day now.
For nearly half a year nothing has happened. The incident with Xinjing went quiet as the old priest never came back with any answers. With Ying Yue stuck inside the palace she knew she couldn't go explore on her own. Not to mention Jianyu would find her in a heartbeat.
"Alright, the sun is setting. Let's head back."
Ying Yue slowly stands up and walks back towards her residence with her son holding onto her hand.
"Junjei, hold on tight so you don't get lost."
"Ok mama!"
With a smile on his face, he squeezes his tiny hands as he held onto Ying Yue's left pinky. Shen An and Li An who were silent couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the crown prince being so attached to his mother.
"What's so funny ladies?"
"It's nothing your highness, we couldn't help but find the crown prince's attachment rather adorable."
"Is that not common? For a child to be latched onto their mother at a young age?"
"Not in the royal family no. His majesties was raised by midwives and maids. The only time the last empress saw her kids was when she had to feed them as newborns."
"What? Then why did Jianyu allow me to raise Junjei?"
"You might have to ask his majesty that yourself, your highness."
After walking for twenty minutes, Ying Yue and everyone finally made it back to the empress residence. With the sun setting and nothing to do, Ying Yue dismissed the sisters for the night.
"You two may leave. I'll be fine from here on out."
The sisters nod and quickly bids Ying Yue farewell as they walk out of the residence. Ying Yue could feel Junjei swaying as they walked to her sleeping quarters. Just as she was about to carry Junjei to her residence, Jianyu had already beaten her to it.
"Let me."
"Jianyu? When did you get back?"
"Just now."
Jianyu lifts Junjei up onto his shoulders as he slowly dozes off. Using his other hand, he helps lead Ying Yue into her bedroom.
"How's everything in Shangliang? Is everything completed?"
"Everything is pretty much done. Plants are growing and we were able to dig wells throughout the kingdom for its people. The palace took a while but we got it back to its old glory."
"That's great. I'm sure everyone is grateful for your generosity."
"I only did it because you wanted to help them. We dislike getting involve in other kingdoms affairs, but knowing you. You'd never stay put until things go your way."
Ying Yue scratches the back of her head as she knew what Jianyu was saying was true. Stubborn was one thing, and helping the less fortunate was something she couldn't turn a blind eye to.
Jianyu quickly let's go of Ying Yue's hand and props her bedroom door open. He lays Junjei towards the wall and walks back to help Ying Yue onto a chair.
"Hey Jianyu."
"What is it?"
Jianyu pours himself a cup of tea and seats himself across the table from Ying Yue.
"I heard you were raised by midwives and maids. Is that true?"
Jianyu slowly places his cup down and lowers his voice as not to wake up Junjei.
"It was common practice back then. As a child I barely saw my mother, can you imagine how sad a life like that was? I didn't want Junjei to go through the same thing I did. So, I decided to leave raising him in your hands."
"Oh, I see. Well, while you were busy you missed his first word."
"What? What is it?"
"Mama."
"Of course."
"Ha Ha, well maybe if his father spent more time with him. Like I've said before, work can always wait, but not time. He's going to continue growing and someday he'll stop calling for us."
"I know….I hated how my parents neglected me, yet here I am. Doing the same thing to my son."
Ying Yue could sense the sadness in Jianyu's voice. Unsure of what to do, she pats him on the head to assure him everything was going to be fine.
"Everything will be fine. Just give it some time. By the way Jianyu, have you heard anything from the old priest?"
"You won't run off if I tell you something, would you?"
"Why would I? I'm about to pop anyday now."
"Last month the old priest sent me a letter and asked for my audience. After some digging around, they were able to weaken the barrier that was around the cave. It's not easy to tear down something like that. With so much spiritual energy gathering around for years, it's had time to build up."
"What happens if we destroy it?"
"There's a high chance the crown prince could die from the impact or if he's lucky he'll just lose all the spiritual powers he's gathered for almost three years."
"Well, what're you planning to do?"
"We'll wait until after you give birth to go look at it ourselves. I've been meaning to check in on something in Xinjing for a while."
Ying Yue watched as Jianyu turns his gaze away from her and focused staring at her window.
"What's wrong?"
"Shhh…...something's here."
Without looking back even once, Jianyu dashes out of Ying Yue's bedroom window and heads out to chase down whatever he just saw. After ten minutes Jianyu finally walks in with Fu Jia.
"What? It was just you Fu Jia? What were you doing hanging out around here?"
Jianyu finally let's go of Fu Jia shirt collar and stares him down waiting for an explanation.
"Explain yourself Fu Jia. Why were you hanging around my empress sleeping quarters?"
"I…. I just had a question that I wanted the empress opinion on."
"It's nearly night time and you're lurking around. You're lucky I didn't kill you for eavesdropping."
"I didn't mean to alarm you or her highness."
Ying Yue motions for Jianyu to stop pressuring Fu Jia. Once Jianyu stopped glaring at Fu Jia; he quickly fell to his knees in front of where Ying Yue was sitting.
"Your highness, what should I do?"
"Fu Jia, you don't have to kneel. What's wrong?"
"Lin An has been mad at me for two days. What should I do?"
Jianyu walks up and hits Fu Jia on the head for disrupting them for such a stupid reason. Meanwhile, Ying Yue was laughing at watching a general kneeling and asking her for relationship advices.
"Fu Jia, why is she mad at you in the first place?"
"My father…...had me attend a blind date. Of course, I declined saying I had someone but my father's a stubborn man."
"Let me guess, you went on this blind date and didn't tell Lin An."
"How can I bring myself to tell her? She's terrifying when she's mad ok. I only went on the date to officially turn her down. I thought that was the end of it, but that damn woman found out about Lin An and told her about the date as revenge for turning her down."
"Well, what do you want me to do about it? Fu Jia, you should've told Lin An the truth from the beginning."
"I know I'm the one that was in the wrong, but I couldn't disobey my father. He's the only family I have left."
Ying Yue see's the troubled face Fu Jia and decided she couldn't ignore him.
"Alright…. since you've helped me so many times in the past. I will talk to Lin An tomorrow. I will send a notice for her to visit me tomorrow."
"Thank you, your highness!"
Fu Jia happily stands up and bids Jianyu and Ying Yue a goodnight before running off.
"Jianyu."
"What is it?"
"Can you tell me about Fu Jia's family? I didn't want to ask him since he looked like he didn't want to talk about it."
"I swear Ying Yue, you're going to be the end of me."
Ying Yue pinches Jianyu left cheek in retaliation and glares at him.
"Fine…Fine…. I'll tell you what I know."
"See? That wasn't so bad."
"Fu Jia is an only child. When he was seven his mother ran off and eloped with a travelling doctor. You've actually met his mother."
"What? I have?"
"In Yuanjing."
"You don't mean…..."
"Yeah, the doctors you stayed with."
"Does Fu Jia know?"
"I don't think so. Even if he did, I don't know if he's willing to see her. He did defend Yuanjing from being invaded by Xinjing but I don't know if he realized it was her since he was so young."
"Now that you mention it, how is Yuanjing doing?"
"They've been back on their feet for a while now. Don't forget, you gave them the blessing from the heavens by giving birth to Junjei there."
"I see…. I should find time to pay them a visit someday."
"It is getting late my empress, lets call it a night. You're supposed to be resting more, you know."
"I know….I know…"
Ying Yue heads towards her bed and with Jianyu's help; she was able to lay on her side. Jianyu lightly kisses Ying Yue's forehead and wished her a goodnight before disappearing through a portal.