Qiang Wu rushed to Qinghe’s palace as soon as he got the news that spread through the palace of Youxian’s return.

“Ah-Wu?” Mei Yuan asked as she looked at her brother, who was frantic.

Qiang Wu’s eyes darted left and right as he looked around, asking, “Is brother-in-law here? I heard Youxian has returned with brother. Did you see him?”

She nodded her head slowly. “It’s true.”

Qiang Wu stopped, focussing on her. He asked, “How is he? Is he well? I heard he has a child.”

She nodded her head. “Yes, but I think you should find out yourself? Go visit him. He didn’t seem like he wanted to be back here.”

Qiang Wu scratched his head. He sighed with relief but realised something. “It’s been so long. I wonder if he has changed.”

“Of course he has. All of us have.” She scoffed, but she was worried too. How would things turn out, especially with how Haeun is now?

Qiang Wu nodded his head. “I think I should.”

*

Qiang Wu stopped in front of Changling’s palace and knocked on the door. When the door opened, a manservant opened it. The servant stared at him for a moment. It wasn’t strange for Prince Qiang Wu to come looking for the crown prince. Then he asked, “Are you here to see his highness?”

Qiang Wu shook his head. “No, I’m here to see Hwan Youxian.”

The servant’s eyes widened. He was given strict orders, “I’m sorry, your highness, but His Highness has forbidden his guest from receiving visitors when he is not around.”

“His Highness isn’t around?” He asked.

The servant nodded his head.

“Then can I ask you something?” He said.

The servant nodded his head again, but got distracted by something behind him. When he looked at it, he saw it was a little girl, Xing Guang, to be exact, and she was staring at him.

“Who is it?” She whispered.

He frowned then looked at Qiang Wu saying, “Forgive me, your highness, I have to go.”

Xing Guang frowned and pushed past him. Slipping through the doorway, she bumped into Qiang Wu. Looking up at him; she frowned as she rubbed her head, then dashed off.

“She looks just like Youxian,” Qiang Wu mumbled as he watched the manservant run after Xing Guang and she was fast to boost.

He looked at the door that was left open and snuck inside. Quickly running around, he searched for Youxian but couldn’t find him.

“That’s odd. Why didn’t the servant want me to enter if Youxian wasn’t here?” He asked himself and slowly left the palace.

Youxian jumped down from the ceiling beam in the chamber and looked around. ‘Good timing, I guess.’

It’s not that he didn’t want to see Qiang Wu, but just that he didn’t know how to face him. He wasn’t ready to face anyone, and it was only because he asked Changling to keep everyone away from him that the manservant had told Qiang Wu that no one was to see him.

Sitting on the bed, he sighed. ‘I wonder what he wanted.’

“Did she run away again?” He wondered and smiled. The minute she woke up, she had been looking for her father saying that he promised her he would bring her to the palace garden but Changling had to go address something.

He smiled, shaking his head, ‘I better tell her to behave herself.’

Just as he thought of this, Wulin’s smile appeared, his mind and he grew sad. Placing his hand over his chest, he wondered, ‘Are you alive?’

Tears formed. Biting down on his lip, Youxian buried his face in his hands, praying, ‘Please let him be okay. There is no way he cannot survive. Wulin did so much to protect me and my child. How could Changling repay him like this?’

Removing his hands, he looked ahead at the closet, deep in thought about everything that he had been through.

‘Why do I have to face all of this again? That man is so selfish,’ he thought but realised, ‘This was eventually going to happen. Couldn’t I live in delusion for a few more years? Couldn’t I be happy with Wulin on the island? Will I even be able to face all these people?’

Suddenly the thought of Wulin hugging him from behind and resting his head on Youxian’s right shoulder with a chuckle saying, “Hang in there. You are stronger than you seem. You’ve come far for someone who was loved, abused and neglected.”

He chuckled and leaned back, falling on the bed. Placing a hand over his eyes, he smiled, “You still know how to make me feel better, even though you aren’t here.”