Just as he’d promised, Guangfeng made sure to get Yuelan back to the capital before dark, though it had taken quite a bit of effort to get her to put the scroll down. He took her to Red Orchid Pavilion for a meal, this time going into a private room instead of sitting in the main area. Yuelan felt the prince was being kind and attentive, but still wasn’t sure what to make of him and his previous apology. At least he made sure the food was to her liking and there were only a couple of spicy dishes selected for himself.

The next day, Zhou Xiuya and Zhao Hanju arrived and the three girls sat together in the gazebo talking and laughing and practicing their embroidery. As it turned out, Xiuya and Yuelan were both terrible at it, so most of the ‘practicing’ involved Hanju patiently teaching them and helping them improve while the trio drank tea and ate sweets.

Just before Xiuya and Hanju left the three girls made an agreement to get together again the next week at Red Orchid Teahouse and invite Princess Liling to come along as well. Now that Yuelan knew how the princes were scheduled, she cheerfully picked one of the two days that the first prince was allowed to seek her out to cut back on the amount of time she had to spend with him.

On the third day after coming back from the library, Yuelan slept late. It was nearly noon when she finally woke and got out of bed to eat breakfast and dress for the day. As she didn’t plan to see anyone she chose comfortable, light-weight clothes that suited the weather and had sleeves that reached the edges of her wrists in two shades of blue with simple embroidery.

As she walked out of her courtyard and headed toward her conservatory she saw Long He walking toward her. The dragon wore his usual silver and white robes and had a tired look on his face, but he smiled when he saw Yuelan and quickly approached her.

“I apologize for leaving for so long, Miss Yuelan, but I was summoned back to report on what has been happening for the past several years outside the dragon’s territory,” Long He explained. “After that there was quite a bit of discussion I had to stay for as well and I was gone for longer than I thought I would be.”

Yuelan smiled back at him. “It’s alright. Why didn’t you do that thing you did at the library when I went there a few days ago?”

“The apparition?” the dragon inquired. “That’s a simple question. I am the library’s guardian by contract, so I can appear there even if I’m not physically there. It’s how I can usually handle the library no matter which world I’m in, though it’s easier to do it if I’m here instead of in Kilin. I can’t appear directly in front of you because we haven’t formed a contract yet. Because of your unique constitution and the contract I made with your ancestor I can sense when your life is at risk and travel to you, but otherwise there isn’t anything I can do.”

“So that’s why you didn’t appear when I was being kidnapped,” Yuelan mused. “My life wasn’t actually in danger yet when Guangfeng saved me…”

Long He’s expression immediately darkened. “You were kidnapped?” he growled. The dragon’s hands clenched into fists and his eyes turned stormy.

Yuelan sighed. “Not exactly. Liling and I were attacked and they were actually after her. I pushed her out of the way and helped her escape, so they were going to try and take me to get to her. Fortunately, Guangfeng wasn’t far away, so he rescued me and everything has already been handled. You don’t need to worry.”

Long He growled and his eyes bored into Yuelan’s. “It seems I need to form a contract with you as soon as possible. Obviously the idiots in the imperial family are incapable of seeing to your safety and wellbeing.”

“I have a new hidden guard that Guangfeng assigned to me and I’m sure the emperor has added others, though nobody has said anything to me about it. And I only got some minor bruises. Besides, they weren’t after me. They were after Liling.” Yuelan could feel the pressure in the air changing as clouds started to come in. She looked up at the increasingly darkening sky and let out a sigh. “And here I thought it would be nice weather today and I could play the guzheng by the koi pond…”

The skies continued to darken for a moment longer, before the clouds started to disperse again, drawing a confused frown from Yuelan.

“It’s good that everything is fine and someone is doing something about it,” Long He said, the storm in his eyes starting to settle along with the storm in the sky.

“Weird...I’ve never seen the weather do that before,” Yuelan commented, not really paying attention to what Long He said.

The corner of the dragon’s lips twitched. “Unnatural storms will disappear when their cause is no longer there,” he explained. “As the storm that was coming in was coming in response to my emotions I could naturally disperse it.”

Yuelan blinked and looked over at Long He. “You can control the weather?”

“Not quite. I can summon and disperse storms,” Long He clarified. “Specifically rains and lightning. I usually don’t unless I’ve been angered. I believe you had something you wanted to discuss with me, Miss Yuelan?”

Yuelan gave Long He a suspicious look when he changed the subject after such a brief explanation of the storm phenomenon, but she decided not to push the issue. “I did...I wanted to get your opinions on the princes…and which one you think would make the best ruler…”

Long He laughed. “There’s not much for me to tell you. I’ve no interest in human politics and what I know and do is only in relation to you and my responsibilities in guarding the library and its gate.”

“Will you at least tell me what you do know?” Yuelan asked. Her expression changed to one of pleading and her large, green, almond eyes widened.

“I can only give my opinion on the princes themselves, not on their ability to lead,” Long He gave in, sighing. “I am not human, after all, so that is something you will need to observe for yourself.”

“That’s alright,” Yuelan assured the dragon. “I really just want to know what you know about them right now.”

The dragon nodded and headed for a nearby bench to sit. Naturally, Yuelan followed and sat beside him to listen.

“I have difficulty trusting the first prince,” Long He explained. “His mother controls the harem, and while she appears kind and gentle on the surface she is underhanded and vicious in reality from what I have seen. She has caused the deaths of a number of concubines, servants, and children of the emperor.” He paused and rubbed his chin. “The second prince seems rather ordinary. He works hard, but is difficult to remember outside of academics. However, he has a high learning ability and doesn’t have the arrogance of the first prince.”

Long He’s expression turned to a frown. “The third prince...is difficult to deal with sometimes. He is very intelligent and good at strategy and schemes. I have heard he can be quite ruthless when it comes to dealing with his enemies. He looks and acts like a lecherous playboy, but he has no offspring at all and doesn’t seem to actually dally with women like it appears on the outside. I’ve always suspected that it was a mask he was using to protect himself and he isn’t as lecherous as he seems.

Yuelan nodded and frowned thoughtfully as she listened to what Long He had to say. “And the other three?”

“The fourth prince is steady and patient, but has stated more than once he isn’t interested in pursuing the throne. The fifth prince’s condition may be treatable with the help of magic, but currently there isn’t anyone capable of doing so. As for the fifth prince…” Long He sighed. “He is a tragic case. He started out seeming to be normal, but as he got older it became more apparent there was something wrong with his brain. I don’t think there’s any solution for what happened to the fifth prince.”

Yuelan nodded. “Thank you for your honesty.”

“Was there anything else?” Long He asked.

Yuelan shook her head. “No, I just wanted your opinion on the princes, since I’m being forced to marry one of them.”

Long He smiled. “Still feeling like it’s forced, then?” he asked. “Don’t be in a hurry to make a decision. The emperor is still in good health and you can take your time observing and deciding for yourself if you like one of them. And if you decide you don’t want to marry any of them you can always refuse. The emperor won’t be able to do anything about it.”

She sighed and nodded. “Alright. Thanks, Long He.”