Yuelan enjoyed the rest of her dinner with her father and spent the night in her old bedroom at the prime minister’s manor. When she woke up in the morning she said goodbye and let Ban Li, her personal driver, take her back to the library. She went into her room, changed into clothes from Longuo, and then concentrated on going to that world.

Waiting inside Yuelan’s room in the Longuo version of the library was Willow. The maid looked relieved to see Yuelan when she appeared before her and quickly ushered her mistress to the dressing table to do her hair.

“Why are you so anxious, Willow?” Yuelan asked.

“Miss, you didn’t even wait for the imperial decree announcing your engagement to His Highness the third prince before leaving the capital for almost an entire day!” Willow explained. “What if you’re not there when it arrives?”

“Oh, that? I’m sure it’ll be fine. Once you’re finished with my hair Long He can take us back to the capital,” Yuelan reassured the maid. “Try not to mind it too much.”

Willow frowned and continued working on Yuelan’s hair. “But Miss!”

“What can the emperor do about it? If I’m not there then I’m just not there,” Yuelan pointed out. “It’s not as though not being immediately present is a crime, and I don’t think he’d punish me anyway.”

The maid sighed and continued to look upset by the situation, but didn’t try to argue with Yuelan. She finished doing her mistress’ hair and stepped back.

Yuelan examined herself in the mirror for a bit and stood. “You always do an excellent job with my hair, Willow. Thank you.” Without another word, she headed out of her room to find Long He so they could return to the capital.

Long He was arranging books on one of the shelves and turned when Yuelan approached. “Did you get the answers you needed?” he asked Yuelan.

She nodded. “I did. I had a good talk with my dad as well.” She frowned and lifted a finger to rub her nose. “He...would it be possible to take Guangfeng to Kilin, do you think?”

The dragon frowned and studied her. “Possibly...though I don’t think you’re quite ready for that yet. And you drain your reserves each time you go back, so they’ve never quite reached full capacity. You’ll have to wait until they’re full before you’d be able to handle bringing someone from Kilin back here and you wouldn’t be able to stay there for more than twenty-four hours.”

Yuelan nodded. “Thank you. Dad wants to meet Guangfeng and he thought it would be a good experience for Guangfeng to learn a bit more about me…”

“Then you’ll need to tell His Highness everything,” Long He pointed out.

“I was already going to,” Yuelan assured him. “We’re going to be getting married, so he deserves the whole truth. For now, though, I need to head back to the capital. Willow’s worried about missing the imperial decree announcing my engagement.”

“It hasn’t arrived at the Crystal Moon Residence yet,” Long He replied. “I’ve been keeping an eye on things there while you’ve been gone. We’ll be back in plenty of time.” He set the books back on the cart beside him and headed toward the library’s exit.

Yuelan nodded and followed after the dragon.

***

As it happened, Long He landed in the front courtyard of Yuelan’s residence in the capital and shifted back into his human form just as the imperial decree arrived and Yuelan went forward to receive it. She knelt and listened patiently as Eunuch Tang read the decree in his high-pitched voice and then took the scroll in both hands to receive the decree. Just as she was standing up the gatekeeper hurried over. “Miss Long, His Highness the third prince has arrived to present your betrothal gifts!”

Based on the novels she had read back home, usually a servant was the one who delivered the betrothal gifts in ancient times and not the fiance, so Yuelan was a bit startled. Still, it was a good thing for her, since she wanted to talk to Guangfeng anyway. “Then let him in,” Yuelan told the gatekeeper. She didn’t realize her cheeks had turned a little bit pink or that she was smiling.

The gatekeeper nodded and went to let the third prince in as Eunuch Tang smiled and stepped back, apparently intending to stay and observe before reporting back to the emperor.

A minute later Guangfeng and a couple of servants came into sight. He strode over to Yuelan, a large smile on his face. When he reached her he bowed a little. “This Prince, Xiong Guangfeng, comes to present the betrothal gifts to Miss Long Yuelan. Will Miss Long receive them?” he asked formally.

Yuelan blushed and nodded her head. “I will.”

Guangfeng clapped his hands twice as he turned to face his servants. “Bring in the gifts and read the report!” he commanded.

The servant that always stood at Guangfeng’s side stepped forward and opened a scroll as chest after chest was brought in. “The betrothal gifts for Miss Yuelan are as follows,” he called in a confident tenor. “Five hundred thousand gold taels, five hundred thousand silver taels, three chests of various gems…” The list continued and included paintings, ceramics, accessories, fabrics, some businesses both in and out of the capital that Guangfeng owned, a large chunk of land, a mountain known for its high quality medicinal herbs, and a gem mine.

As Yuelan listened to everything that Guangfeng was giving her she started to feel dizzy and her expression became dazed. Her small, fair hand trembled as she took the scroll with the list from Guangfeng after the prince had taken it from the servant and offered it to her. She stared at the third prince with wide eyes, unsure what to say, even if she could say anything.

Guangfeng’s expression turned anxious the longer Yuelan remained silent. “Is it not enough?” he asked, worried. “I can have more brought over…”

The prince’s words woke Yuelan from her daze. Her cheeks turned red and she hit his arm with the scroll in her hand. “Not enough? It’s too much! What am I going to do with all of it?” she demanded.

Guangfeng relaxed and chuckled as he pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “You can do whatever you wish with it. All of it is yours.”

Yuelan rolled her eyes, but actually leaned into him a little. “Thank you. And I need to talk to you about something. Are you busy, or can you stay for a while longer?” She shifted in his arms and looked up at him. The blush on her cheeks was still there and her jade eyes stared up at him with an earnest, almost innocent expression that made the prince’s heart start to pound.

“I don’t have anything else today,” he told her automatically. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he remembered he’d intended to go and speak with a few people to garner more support in court. “Or at least...not anything that can’t be put off until tomorrow.” He hadn’t actually informed them he’d be coming, so not showing up wouldn’t be a problem.

Behind the couple Eunuch Tang, Long Hes, and Guangfeng’s servants all started to twitch at the corners of their mouths. It looked like they were trying not to smile or laugh.

Yuelan beamed up at Guangfeng. He wasn’t used to her smiling at him, especially not so happily, and his mouth opened a little as he stared. When she stepped back his arms released her automatically and his palm felt like it was burning when she took his hand and started to pull him further into the residence and toward the garden. “Then let’s go. It’s important…”

Guangfeng regained control of his senses and smiled, letting her pull him along.