Laying on the ground was the limp body of a prince, still warm, but unconscious.The Emperor had servants come and take Prince Ning to his room and he looked at Xiao Jun and Yun Long.
"You two, come up here."
Walking towards the Emperor, neither one of them bowed as they had long threw away their respect for him. The Emperor was not that much better than Prince Ning.
"For two years, the people have thought of you two as dead and now that you are here, I feel relieved." He chuckled.
"Relieved or not, we will not be coming back to your kingdom. We have simply come to rid an annoying pest for the sake of the innocent children and for our sake." Yun Long said, his usual cold expression on his face.
"I suggest you open your eyes and look to see who should actually be the Crown Prince." Xiao Jun said, a sharp glare in her eyes.
Confused, the Emperor looked at her, "What are you talking about?"
Without a word, she turned and walked down the steps, the white dress of hers seemed to glow in the light and there was the small tinkling of the silver jewelry.
Walking out of the doors, the only thing she said was. "Zero."
Smiling at what his wife said, Yun Long simply looked up at the Emperor. "You heard what my wife has said. Zero." he turned and left as well, leaving the Emperor confused as Prince Ling behind him had a smile on inside.
"Zero? What does that mean?" the Emperor questioned, he stared out in the empty hall as Prince Ling turned and left through the back doors, leaving the Emperor by himself.
Outside, Yun Long caught up to Xiao Jun and he made her stop, inspecting her up and down. "Are you alright? Nothing bad happened while I wasn"t there, right?"
She smiled, "I"m alright, just a small scratch from those minions of Prince Ning."
Sighing, Yun Long looked at Xiao Jun, "Do you know how worried I was? I went back to the house and saw that you were gone while some things were on the floor. Good thing that the commoners and vendors around there told me what had happened."
"Well, now you don"t have to be worried since I"m here." Xiao Jun gave a rea.s.suring look to the still worried Yun Long before getting on his horse with him.
"It"s time we got back home to our children." she softly said, deeply missing her two babies that were mischievous little beings.
During these two years back in Han, Yue Qi and Mei"er had brought Liying and Yifeng to visit every few months to make sure the two didn"t feel like strangers to their own children, having been gone for so long. The best parts were when they actually witnessed their children taking their first steps or even when they first started talking. Now when they came over, they yelled for their parents, immediately waddling over with their tiny legs when put down.
Getting back to their little home, they were welcomed now since everyone knew who they were. Past soldiers that had retired once Yun Long had "died" went over and kneeled in front of him, paying their respects while crying just a bit.
Smiling softly, Yun Long told them to get up, announcing that he no longer was Han"s general. He did tell them that even though he wasn"t their general anymore, they had to remember to follow good morals.
Running out from inside the house, two small beings ran out towards them with Yue Qi chasing after them. "Yifeng! Liying! Don"t run! You"ll get- General! Madam!" he looked at the two figures the children had run over too.
"Mother! Father!" the two yelled, Yifeng ran to Yun Long and Liying ran to her mother.
Crouching down, Xiao Jun picked up Liying and Yun Long picked up Yifeng.
"What are you two doing here?" She smiled, pinching the little girl"s cheek.
"Uncle! Auntie!" Liying exclaimed, pointing at Yue Qi. Mei"er came out too after she heard Yue Qi run after the two children and she smiled widely when she saw Xiao Jun. "Big Sister!" she ran over and hugged her, making sure to be careful of the little child within her hold.
Yun Long on the other hand was dealing with a squirmy boy who kept touching his waist pendant and the hilt of his sword. "Be careful, don"t touch that." he said, stopping the boy from touching his sword, as it could be dangerous.
"Big Sister, they"ve gotten so naughty. The other day, Yifeng almost fell into the pond and Liying threw flowers all over the room. Yue Qi and I have almost gone crazy!" Mei"er said, pouting, and huffing.
They all went inside and Xiao Jun set down Liying before pulling Mei"er back outside.
"You and Yue Qi, how have you two been?" she asked, watching as the girl smiled and blushed.
"Yue Qi and I....we"re closer but still keeping our boundaries of course." Mei"er replied, playing with the ribbon on her dress. Within those two years, Yue Qi had given her small gifts that he made himself or had customized for her.
[Just to clarify, Mei"er is now 16 and Yue Qi is 19. Also, Xiao Jun is 20 and Yun Long is 24. The twins are also 2 now. Two years have pa.s.sed since they came to Han again.]
Meanwhile, Prince Ling was kneeling in the palace main hall dressed in new attire as he held his hands up.
All the advisors and ministers were in the room, in disbelief and excitement that there was someone new now.
Now they wouldn"t have to suffer so much!
Or so they thought..