In the emperor's cold study, a group of ministers were gathered around, talking about official matters with the emperor, Li Kang.
"Your majesty, the Yun state is planning on conquering our state but the soldiers are still weak and can't afford a war." A middle-aged minister with a few gray hairs said while bowing down to the 58 year-old emperor Li Kang.
Another minister moved forward his hands trembling. "Your majesty, though Yun state wants to conquer the Wei state, their royal treasury is empty and it'll take years to refill." He said in a shaky voice.
Soon, news that Wei state's military was unstable flew around the palace but was blocked from the outside world.
Li Kang started looking for a capable lord among the state's aristocracy to manage the military affairs since the people's lives were at stake.
Lanlan looked at Li Shuo in astonishment. She opened her mouth but she was at loss for words. Then, to change the subject she turned to look at Li NanYi. "Did lord Shuo ever hit his head somewhere?" She asked him.
Li NanYi looked from Li Shuo to Lanlan in confusion.
"Lanlan" Lanlan heard Li Shuo say her name gently.
Lanlan felt her hands becoming like ice and only one question revolved around her head.
"How did you know that my name is Lanlan?" She asked suspiciously.
"I heard that minister Chu had 2 daughters, Chu QingQing and Chu Lanlan so I just guessed." Li Shuo answered confidently.
Lanlan looked straight into Li Shuo's eyes to detect his level of confidence. Lanlan thought that that was the best way to detect someone's lies. As soon as their eyes met, she found herself in a completely different place. She was in a vast bright blue place with white stars around it.
She was dressed up like a black-armored warrior and held a sword in her hands. She started seeing a blurry male figure dressed up as a white-armored warrior. When his figure became visible, he looked like Li Shuo.
A mask exactly like Yu Tian Lan's appeared on his face and his face started changing from Li Shuo's to Yu Tian Lan's.
When he saw Lanlan, his expression became surprised. "You really are her!"
He said in surprise.
A voice from above suddenly said, "Tian overlord, her fate will be in your hands now."
Yu Tian Lan looked straight into Lanlan's eyes and she also did the same. This time, her eyes turned red. Instead of going back to Chu manor they found themselves in a beautiful meadow in the countryside.
Lanlan was too surprised to think about anything. She couldn't believe that lord Shuo and Yu Tian Lan were the same person. Of all the people, she'd never thought that there'd be such a possibility.
Lanlan moved closer to him slowly by slowly as a confused Yu Tian Lan told her to stop moving. She ignored his order and kept moving closer to him. When they were only a few inches apart, put one of her hands above Yu Tian Lan's eyes and the other below them such as that only his eyes were visible.
"You really are Yu Tian Lan." She said in surprise.
A few men got out of the bushes that surrounded Yu Tian Lan and Lanlan.
They all pointed weapons at Lanlan and Yu Tian Lan. When Lanlan saw the weapons, she tried to negotiate but to no avail.
Another man appeared and looked at Yu Tian Lan grudgingly. When Yu Tian Lan saw him, he was also somewhat surprised. "Yi Wu." He said.
"Yu Tian Lan." He said in the same cold but not calm tone that Yu Tian Lan had used.
The man turned to look at Lanlan and the moment he saw her, tears flooded in his eyes. He grabbed her and hugged her. "Nan Feng, you're still alive!"