What If...I Remember?

Chapter 49

"Your Majesty."

Xuan Nü flicked her eyes to the feminine-sounding guard in annoyance as she threw a crushed ball of parchment at him, "What is it? You've been standing here for ages like an idiot! Get on with whatever you want to say, and scram!" "Patience is a virtue, your Majesty." The guard spoke, not quite mockingly, but instead a rather gentle tone, and Xuan Nü's head snapped up in an instance. A guard would never have dared to say that to her. "Who are you?" Xuan Nü demanded, her eyes fixing on the guard's figure, "You are not a guard, for all the guards are males." With a slight snicker, the guard nodded, before taking the helmet off and revealing her actual face.

"The Zhao Ren Princess, Su Jin," Xuan Nü scoffed in realisation, though there were some touches of being impressed, "I should've known." "You flatter me, your Majesty. My disguise is nothing; your original trick with the face swapping was much better. It is just sad that I could never use that to win the Crown Prince's heart for myself." Su Jin pulled a set of keys out from a pocket in the guard's cloak, and Xuan Nü gave a smirk as the cell door creaked open, "I never thought that the Celestials' Zhao Ren Princess of the Nine Heavens had the capability of infiltrating the Ghost Realm, much less have the guts to free one of their wanted criminals."

"You underestimate me. I can do anything, in order to get the person I want." Su Jin tilted her chin arrogantly, and Xuan Nü raised her eyebrows, half in scepticism and half in wonder of how the supposedly lovely woman had turned this vile. "You want Bai Qian to suffer, I will help you. But I cannot be of assistance here, where both our magic are suppressed." Xuan Nü stated, waving her arms at the rest of the dungeon, and Su Jin gave a frown, "But where can we flee to? The moment it is known that we have escaped, there will be a hunt after us."

"I know of a cave near Ying Zhou. No one would ever look there, if we really want to hide." Xuan Nü said flatly as she stuck her head out of the cell and past Su Jin, checking the corridors for the other guards before she eyed the Celestial, "The only problem we will have is successfully getting out of here. We can plan everything after we have escaped; there will be time aplenty." "Leave that to me." Su Jin nodded, and Xuan Nü gave a shrug as she sank back down, "And tell me when you're done, Zhao Ren Princess. We have all day."

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"Qian Qian, calm down."

Ye Hua wrapped his arms around his wife, stopping her from all her pacing as she sat on his lap, and Bai Qian gave him a glare as she attempted to wriggle from his arms, "How can I calm down, Ye Hua? I do not understand - what does "Be careful." mean?" "If you do not calm down, I cannot make sense of this either." Ye Hua spoke calmly, his arms still holding Bai Qian down in place, and Bai Qian stilled for a moment, before she sank down into his arms, "Well, what do you think of it?"

"It could mean anything." Ye Hua guessed, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, "He could be just reminding you to take care of yourself." "Or he could know something about Su Jin and Xuan Nü!" Bai Qian continued hotly, and Ye Hua blinked, rather surprised by her thoughts, "Why would you say that?" "He's Dong Hua Di Jun, Ye Hua. He has an omniscient view of everything. What if he knows something?" Bai Qian fretted, struggling to free herself from Ye Hua's iron grip, but her husband didn't relent as he kissed her cheek gently, "Qian Qian, patience is a virtue. If Su Jin and Xuan Nü were already up to something grand, there would already be something happening."

"You don't know Xuan Nü like I do. Before she became the Ghost Queen, she was such a meek person; she didn't act on her own accord. She could easily act meek again, in order to keep herself in disguise." Bai Qian's eyes were pleading as she turned to Ye Hua, "Please, Ye Hua. At least...check on their whereabouts. Make sure she's still in the Ghost Realm. Please."

"I..." Ye Hua couldn't resist the charm in Bai Qian's eyes, and he nodded, "I will send Jia Yun to check-"

But he didn't have to, for Jia Yun came rushing in, gripping a scroll in his hand as he knelt down before Ye Hua, an act that said that he brought urgent news, and even as Ye Hua gestured for his civil assistant to rise, Jia Yun blurted the news out, his eyes averted from the Crown Prince he served.

"Your Highness...there's been an emergency report from the Ghost Lord...the Ghost Queen, Xuan Nü, has gone missing..."

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The silence that befell the room was a terrible one, and Ye Hua could hear his own heart beating in his ears. Bai Qian's eyes bore into his own as he saw them widen with terror, and Ye Hua forced himself to remain calm.

"Jia Yun, send guards to check on the Zhao Ren Princess. Now." Ye Hua rose at last, after finally managing to keep his cool, letting go of Bai Qian as he strode forward, "And send a letter back to the Ghost Lord: I will arrive in the Ghost Realm shortly." "But your Highness..." Jia Yun hesitated, and Ye Hua frowned at his assistant; Jia Yun was not one to hesitate. "What is it?" Bai Qian urged Jia Yun instead, and Jia Yun raised his head to match their gazes, "His Majesty is already here."

"Send him in, then." Ye Hua nodded at once, and Jia Yun exited the room, entering only moments later with the Ghost Lord. "Li Jing greets the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess." Li Jing bowed after he entered the room, and Ye Hua gestured for Jia Yum to leave the three of them alone. "Ghost Lord, what happened?" Was Ye Hua's first question, and Li Jing looked slightly ashamed as he met Ye Hua's eyes, "Someone infiltrated the prison under the guise of a guard, and the person went on the run with Xuan Nü. Other guards have been unable to recall when that had happened, so I have been unable to pin down who the infiltrator was."

"I have a pretty good idea who it was." Bai Qian groaned into her hands, and Ye Hua kept silent as he gazed at his wife, before turning back to Li Jing. "Li Jing, are there possible people or places Xuan Nü might flee to?" Ye Hua questioned, and Li Jing shook his head ashamedly, "I cannot answer that. I constantly spent time away from Xuan Nü, and I know near to nothing about her. But if she is in need of allies, I do think she will try with my little sister, Yan Zhi. Yan Zhi is very trusting of everyone."

"But where is she now?" Bai Qian asked, remembering how trusting the younger sister of Li Jing had indeed been back then when Bai Qian was Si Yin and had been held prisoner by Qing Cang, and Li Jing shrugged, "I allowed her to leave the Ghost Realm to live in the Mortal Realm. She couldn't bear to stay in the Ghost Realm, and I don't blame her. Our realm is nothing near pure enough for her kind heart." "So she's unprotected?" Ye Hua frowned, understanding why the Ghost Princess might then be at risk, and Li Jing nodded, "She wanted freedom, so she took no one with her."

"Then we have to find her." Bai Qian spoke with sudden determination, "Find her before Xuan Nü does." "But-" Ye Hua was interrupted by Jia Yun's arrival again, and the civil assistant bowed upon entering the room, "Your Highness...the Zhao Ren Princess is, too, missing."

And a second round of silence settled in the room, before Ye Hua cleared his throat, determination set in his eyes.

"Then we shall find them. The Ghost Queen, the Ghost Princess, and the Zhao Ren Princess. Send my word, Jia Yun. From now on, have scouts of every domain patrol the perimeters of their lands. We must find them, before a second war breaks out."

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A/N: Shorter chapter oops, but trouble's brewing...😈 Hope y'all liked this!

Z, out.