Long Yue jumped off his horse as he neared the gates of Jun Empire. He showed his fake pass and telling the guards that he was visiting family in the Jun Empire, the guards were amicable and let him go through, wishing Long Yue good luck.
As he walked into, he found himself being greeted with a carriage. The man at the front looked at him and asked, "Where will you be going to, sir?"
"I will be going to Beisha if it is not too much trouble?" Long Yue said whilst hopping onto the back of the carriage, grabbing a blanket from a neatly folded pile from the corner of the carriage and wrapping it around his shoulders to protect himself from the evening chill.
"It only takes three shichen to get there [A/N: A shichen is 2 hours so 3 of them is 6, just in case some of you readers didn't know]," informed the man.
"That long?"
"It isn't that long compared to some other places that are circled within the Jun Empire. There are even different checkpoints within the Empire itself!"
Long Yue's eyes widened, "Really?"
"Yep," the man waited for some other passengers to board and get comfy before the carriage set off to Beisha. Long Yue decided to ask one last question before he decided to take a nap.
"Are there any good inns to stay at in Beisha?"
"Yes, there is one that is called the Long Wang Inn, it is known for its excellent service and food. I would recommend going in there!"
"Alright, thank you, sir."
Long Yue relaxed in his seat and got comfortable before falling asleep.
******
"Young Master! Wake up!"
The older man shook Long Yue awake, telling him that they have arrived at Beisha. He had stopped outside a decent inn and helped unload some of Long Yue's stuff.
As Long Yue thanked the older man and walked into the inn; he found that it was beautiful; the interior decor was simple yet elegant and Long Yue found himself fascinated, he walked to the end of the reception desk, reaching into his pocket to check that he had the little card with him. He gripped it tightly; so small, yet so significant.
Long Yue for the first time on his trip, felt lonely. Looking around the inn, his previous fascination with the interior decor faded away. Long Yue finally felt the cold fingertips of reality take hold. Feeling cold; Long Yue was in a completely different empire - far away from the comforts, well the familiarity, of his own home - and he had no one close to him.
Long Yue gulped and inched towards the kind-looking receptionist; taking a deep breath, he rolled his shoulders back, grabbing the handle of his luggage tighter, he made his way as confidently as he could to the desk. Shaking off the loneliness and insecurities.
Gently setting the pouch, filled with money, on the desk in front of the receptionist, "May I have a room for a week?"
The receptionist looked at him, slightly flustered, she answered, "Y-yes, you can. What type of room do you want?"
Long Yue blinked slowly in confusion, "There are different types?"
The receptionist nodded, flushing a deeper shade of red, "We have different aesthetics. They're different colours and the layout of the rooms are different from each other."
Long Yue made a mental note of that before smiling slightly, ignoring the blushing receptionist, "What type of colours can I choose from?"
"You have, crimson, sky blue, forest green and silver."
Long Yue thought for a moment, back in Yue Empire, there were some inns similar to these with different rooms, colours or layouts one could choose them. Long Yue never got to experience them; this made Long Yue extremely excited about this development.
Nodding quickly with a big smile on his face, "I would like to choose the forest green one please!"
"Alright," he watched the receptionist scribble down the room number before handing the clipboard over to him so he could sign; Long Yue was so excited he nearly signed his real name, before stopping himself just in time and wrote down his alibi's name.
When the receptionist took back the clipboard her eyes widened, she looked up multiple times at Long Yue before looking back to the board in her hand. She was marvelling at how beautiful the handwriting was; she then looked intently at the male standing in front of her, although he seemed bashful he held himself with confidence. It was confidence in oneself, but not overbearingly so.
"May I have your travelling card? Or something of the sort?"
"Oh, yes!"
Long Yue fumbled for a second before shoving the card into her hands and watch her sign it off before disappearing into the back, then reappearing with a small key with a green ribbon going through the hole at the base of the key.
Long Yue was curious about the chosen colours and decided to ask the girl.
"Why are the four colours the colours they are?"
"They were chosen due to the respect we hold for the Imperial Army! They represent the four factions of the Imperial Army."
Long Yue nodded, eagerly absorbing the information. He waited for the girl to join him before she escorted him the stairs, showing him to his room; Long Yue thank her and waved her farewell.
As he entered the room Long Yue was so surprised by the quality of the content in his room. He loved every second of it. Setting down his luggage as gently as he could, he saw that the room was illuminated by moss, and everything was so soft, the bedsheets were pure silk. Walking around he found the bathroom, it had a tub that was set into the floor and it was already filled with water, around the tub there was some talismans, ones he recognised used to keep something at the same temperature at the start. Touching the water, he found that it was still piping hot. The towels were already folded on the floor next to the tub.
Long Yue settled himself in; quickly and eagerly.