Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

Through the faint lights in the stone chamber, Li Juan looked at the portrait of Bai Yu Yue, without blinking her eyes.

It was something beyond Li Juan's understanding. 

For all these years she thought it was a dream.

She thought it was her self-reflection.

Even the monk in the monastery said that the queen was the part of her conscious mind. He said that dreams symbolise the repressed feelings of one's unconscious mind. Or they may signal something going on real life. She thought it was her own unconscious mind asking her to save herself.

But the queen was real,

She was her ancestor who existed thousands of years ago.

The blood which once ran through Bai Yu Yue's veins runs through Li Juan's veins. Both of them share the same family tree.

But why did the queen appear in her dreams and requested to save the queen? 

Every time, Li Juan saw Bai Yu Yue in her dreams,

She asked her to save someone- in the first two dreams, the queen asked, Li Juan to save her from death.

But in the last dream, she asked Li Juan to save herself and stand up for herself.

What about the vision she had just a moment ago?

The queen requested to save her family.

Li Juan felt like her mind got meddled with too many questions.

What or who exactly Bai Yu Yue wants Li Juan to save?

"Bai Yu Yue, the last queen who was born in the Bai family line. She was the one who led the war against the Wei Kingdom." Bai Qi's words waked Li Juan from her thoughts.

"She was the one who led the army?" Li Juan repeated the sentence in disbelief. Though the lady in the portrait resembled Li Juan, she appeared younger than current Li Juan. Maybe in her late teens.

"The king had three children- two daughters and a son. As per the rules of the Yu clan, the firstborn girlchild, Bai Ling Yue became the queen. And the youngest daughter, Bai Yu Yue, who was a talented warrior, has become the army general." Bai Qi started to tell a story.

"Army general," Li Juan looked at her grandfather in confusion. "But you said that she was the queen?"

"Yes," Bai Qi agreed to her. "When the Wei Kingdom declared war upon Yu kingdom, the queen was pregnant with her first child. No one wanted the queen led the army when a "life" was growing in her womb."

Bai Qi stopped and turn towards the portrait and continued,

"The Queen abdicated her throne and enthroned her sister on the day before the war."

"So she never ruled the kingdom," Li Juan asked to clarify.

"No, she never ruled the kingdom. She led the army on behalf of the queen."

"What happened to the former queen?"

"Bai Yu Yue and her army evacuated the citizens of Yu clan to a safer place. The former Queen, her brother, was also included in it."

"They came to Yun city?" Li Juan was in doubt. How difficult it must be for the citizens of Yu kingdom to travel to a faraway place.

"No, in the beginning, they took refuge in Mu sect, an ancient school situated in the border of the Guan Kingdom and the Tu mountains. They almost waited for the Queen."

"She never came back?"

"No. Not even a single person who went for the war came back." Bai Qi's voice was filled with melancholy.

"The current Yu clan members are descendants of people who fleed from Jade land. Queen Bai Ling Yue who married a warrior from the Zhang tribe, give birth to a boy. Bai Yu, the prince married a woman from Wu tribe and all of their children were boys. current Bai family is descended from the prince Bai Yu and Zhang Zi Zhong, your uncle he is the direct descendent of queen Ling Yue." Bai Qi explained. 

Li Juan stared at the portrait of the queen and remained silent for a minute.

"But one thing which makes any sense is the reason behind the war." Li Juan asked in confusion.

"The Yu clan didn't reject the proposal of the Wei emperor, the princess even volunteered to become his concubine. Then why did he attack the Jade land?"

"Have you heard the story of a lunar goddess, named "Bai Yue". ? 

Bai Qi's question shook Li Juan's memory.

"No." In her memory, a goddess named Bai Yue never existed in the mythology of C country. "In the mythology of C country," Li Juan tried to explain.

"There is no such deity exists, isn't it?" Bai Qi asked with a faint smile. "I am not surprised anymore, the history, the mythology everything is written from someone's perspective-they never cared about the other side." Bai Qi looked at Li Juan who appeared baffled.

"In ancient lores, Bai Yue was considered, as one of the powerful deities who took care of the rhythm of time. It was said, that she can influence human and animal behaviour, causing intense thoughts, heightened emotions, and some forms of psychosis." 

"One can control emotions," Li Juan repeated in her mind.

"One day, the goddess came down to the mortal realm. She was fascinated by the beauty of the earth and its beings. While she was roaming around in the earth, she fell in love with a demigod.

A demigod who was the protector of the earth and mortal beings.

"The great white wolf-the Wolf God". 

"A wolf god?" Li Juan was in disbelief for a moment. The wolf is considered a predator and bad omen in almost every culture. How can a wolf become a demigod?

"The celestial beings were jealous of their love." Bai Qi continued his narration. "How can a powerful deity like goddess Yue can fall in love with a minor deity who is half-human, half-animal? So they tried to separate the couples. The celestial beings cursed the couple that, they never let them unite in this lifetime." Bai Qi stopped for a moment.

"They created misunderstandings between the Wolf God and Moon goddess.

The wolf god, who once known as, "the protector of the earthly realm was portrayed as a predator and embodiment of evil.

The Moon goddess believed the false accusations against the wolf god left him and went back to the heavenly realm."

Li Juan listened to him carefully.

"However, the heartbreak made both of them weak and vulnerable. 

The wolf god who was once the mightiest being on the earth stooped down to a wild beast. When the moon goddess found out that, she was fooled by the celestial beings, the goddess decided to return to the mortal realm. 

However, the celestial gods didn't allow her to leave the heavenly realm."

"They are Gods, why are they getting irked by someone else's actions- how can they feel jealous?" Li Juan thought in her mind.

"The moon goddess was somewhat imprisoned in the heavenly realm. But more than her imprisonment, the goddess was worried about the transformation of Wolf God into evil. His powers started diminishing day by day and he was turning into a wild beast. To save him, the moon goddess decided to give up her powers and immortality and pass them to the wolf god." Bai Qi said with a plain face.

"On the new moon day, the moon goddess created a maiden from her mortal form and enclosed her power in moonstone and sent the maiden to the mortal realm. 

The maiden searched throughout the realm to find out the wolf God and couldn't find him." 

"The wolf God, why couldn't she find him? Where did he go?" Li Juan was curious.

"He went to get revenge against the celestial beings- the gods. 

The god's existence was dependent upon the humans and their prayers. Wolf God started to form alliances with humans and granted their wishes. He solemnly got rid of his physical form and manifested into the human soul." 

Whatever emotions the human vessel harboured, whether it is good or evil, the wolf soul inside the vessel granted it in double." Bai Qi's words appeared solemn.

"The manifestation into the human soul is a two-way deal, the wolf needs to search for the moonstone and the human should carry the blood sacrifice to avenge the Gods."

"It is brutal." Li Juan commented.

"Without fulfilling the purpose of her visit Lunar maiden was unable to go back to the celestial world, so she sought help from Mother Nature and started to live in the so-called heaven on earth as one of her mortal daughters. She got married to mortal and give birth to a girl child.

On her death, the moonstone was handed over to the child. The child was supposed to take care of the It is believed that all girl children born on the lunar maiden's bloodline are keepers of moonstone." 

"How powerful is this moonstone?" Li Juan suddenly asked.

"The moonstone inherits the goddess's power.

It helps one to grow more powerful by soothing the emotional instability and providing calmness to one's soul. It enhances intuition, promotes inspiration, success and good fortune."

"It was made for wolf god to bring back to his glory. Isn't it?"

"Yes, but somehow the world knew about the moonstone, everyone started to search for it making its existence in peril. So the mother nature build a barrier around her abode and protected the lunar maiden.

After thousands of years, one man broke the barriers, overpowered everyone and came for the moonstone. It was the day when the sacred land turned red with the blood. "

"We are the keepers of moonstone?" Li Juan was bewildered.

"Yes, Yu clan, we are descendants of the lunar maiden."

"What the-" Li Juan almost cursed. How many secrets are hidden in this Yu clan? What kind of cult tribe is them? Li Juan tried to calm her mind.

Even ridiculous thing was that the Wei Emperor came for the moonstone and killed thousands of people.

The entire war was over something existed only in folklore?

Li Juan was left speechless.

"This is ridiculous. It would have more sense if they, came for the land or the treasure?"

Li i Juan remembered the story which Bai Qi told her own the day of her arrival in the Yu palace.

"A war with Wei kingdom over the land,"

"It was not just a war over land." Bai Qi corrected her.

"It was a conflict between two clans ruled by different ideologies."

"Two different ideologies?" Li Juan was curious.

"The Wei Kingdom and Yu kingdom were two extremities.

One followed imperialism and other, opposed it.

One believed in elitism and others believed in egalitarianism.

The Wei citizens followed the Patriarchal system and we followed the matriarchal system,

One day or another a conflict was supposed to occur." Bai Qi stated.

"So are you implying that the war was inevitable?" Li Juan asked directly. The conflicts between two different entities were natural.

"Yes."

"This is the twenty-first century, but who is going to believe in these stories?" Li Juan blurted out.

"No, no one believes in these stories anymore." Bai Qi's words sounded sorrowful

"But there is something which still remains as a mystery.

What happened to the Queen and the army?" He asked Li Juan.

"A kingdom itself vanished from the earth. We can ignore it as some fictional stories made by someone. Then but what about us?

Who are we? Why does the Yu clan exist?

Who is she then?" Bai Qi pointed towards the portrait of Bai Yu Yue.

"You look like her, but how are you related to her?

Zhang Li Jun look like Bai Ling Yue,

Bai Yu look like their brother." Bai Qi surrounded Li Juan with numerous questions.

"We can say that she is your ancestor. But where is the proof?"

"We should search for that." Li Juan replied mechanically.

"Yes. Even though it was ancient lore, we still need to find the Wolf God and handover the moonstone. As the queen of the Yu clan, you are supposed to do that?"

"Me?" Li Juan looked at her grandfather dumbfounded. "You mean that I am supposed to look for the wolf god?"

"Yes, but you don't have to worry about it." Bai Qi smiled.

"The wolf must have been looking for his moon."

"The moon?

Did her grandfather call her moon?

"My moon, you belong to me,"

A voice rang in Li Juan's mind.