Was It Us After All?

What Now?

Ye Hua
I return to my palace. Tian Shu and Jia Yun know something has happened, but I say nothing and I manage to keep my face as cold as I can. I dismiss them. I go into my rooms and throw up a barrier. I'm not even sure if I'm breathing. My own brother betrayed me. Or was it me who betrayed him? He loved her first. Did he even really care about me, or did our Father force him to tend to me? I will never know now. I had never taken the time to go visit him to find out the whole story. Now it doesn't matter any more. 

I decide to visit Zhe Yan and Qian Qian's brother, Bai Zhen. Do I even have the right to call her that? I remember well the first time I called her Qian Qian. I had just discovered, quite by accident, that she was Susu. My Susu. I just didn't want to let her go. I thought she would love me, but she tried her best to get rid of me. I remember shamelessly using Ali to get to her. The day she went to retrieve Mo Yuan and Ali from the Ghost Queen I should have known. How could she give my brother her blood if she didn't love him? Why didn't I just let her go? I know I forced her. In every move I made, I forced her. Third Uncle comes to the door.

 "What has happened?" I lower the barrier and let him in.  I look up at him in despair. How can I even begin to explain that my marriage is broken? How can I face any of them now, but I must. I put on my coldest face and tell him. "Bai Qian has decided today that she is finished with the nine heavens and with me. She has gone to Kunlunxu. You will find her there with my brother." He stares at me. He sees it clearly. They all pushed her away. Her memories of this place were too much for her. I leave him to work it out as I go to the Peachtree Woods to see Zhe Yan, although I know he's probably the one who told her about Mo Yuan. The name sticks in my throat. My own brother.

 
Zhe Yan
I see the young prince as he alights near the Jade pool. So something has happened. I motion for him to sit down and I pour him a cup of wine. He drains it. "So, Ye Hua, what brings you to the Peachtree Woods today?" "Bai Qian has left the Nine Heavens and returned to Kunlunxu. She is with my brother, such as he is." He drains another cup of wine. So it came undone today. If Mo Yuan had just declared himself to her, maybe none of this would be happening now. What will Xiao Wu do now? Is she leaving Ye Hua's side for Mo Yuan? Is she leaving the nine heavens? Oh what a glorious mess we now have!

 What will her father say when he finds out? What a dilemma! I knew when I told her that he loved her that she would confront him. I knew she hated the nine heavens. I knew she would never be happy there, but we basically pushed her into it. We should have withdrawn the alliance, but it's too late. What will Mo Yuan do now? Just what did he do? "Tell me. What happened?" "My brother slept with my wife. He took her." 

I drop my tea cup and it rolls to the ground. I would never in a million years believe it, but here we are. So he just threw caution to the wind when she bombarded him with questions. How did it get out of control? Now I must know just what does Ye Hua plan to do? Will he try to take her back? HaoDe will never stand for this. Is the alliance with Kunlun broken now? "I assume you will try to get her back?" "I don't know. She wouldn't come with me. She stayed with him. She stayed at Kunlun." 

I see it now. War could be on our doorstep before we know it. All because of two brothers that love the same woman. I have to know what he plans to do. The brothers can fight it out, but I will protect Bai Qian. I know well that we pushed her into this situation. Pushed her over the cliff and hoped she would be happy, but it's very obvious that she has been miserable. What had the crown prince done to her to push her away? Was his coldness something he can't conquer? "Does your grandfather know? What do you intend to do?" "I don't even know anymore. I thought she loved me. I thought she loved Ali. Was I wrong? Did I push myself on her? What happened that made her decide this day to leave me and our life together?" 

"Bai Qian is a free spirit, Crown Prince. Her life in the nine heavens has squashed the life right out of her. She came to me not long ago suffering from a malaise that she couldn't seem to get out of. She asked me many questions that only I had the answers to. She said you hardly spend any time with her except to have her in bed. Is this true? Do you have any affection for her? What it looks like here is that there was no mate bond to begin with. If she left you, I'm afraid she is not coming back. I must send a message to her Father right away. He will be quite incensed over this for sure. Return home now. There is nothing you can do at this time. Haode will get upset if you are gone too long." He stands up, bows and leaves to return to the nine heavens. I leave to go to Kunlun.