Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

"I dreamt about a woman who wore a jade hairpin decorated with five coloured gemstones and a phoenix." Li Juan's ink-black eyes glistened, while speaking, 

"She stood on a battlefield with a bleeding heart and asked me to save her,

I couldn't save her, I yelled at the top of my lungs for help, but nobody came,

She died right in front of my eyes," 

Li Juan's tormented words felt so real as if she is describing a horrific death which she has witnessed in real life.

"When I woke up from the coma, I had no memory, I even forget my mom, The only memory I had was of that woman,

It has been eight years since I saw her.

I have been through temporary amnesia and everything wiped out from my memory. I forgot everything, but not that dream.

Even today, I remember her face,

Due to the head injury, nowadays I constantly live upon the fear of memory loss, 

and not mention that I am unable to differentiate between what is real and what is not. 

For me, only her memory felt real.

I thought I was going to be mad, to keep my sanity, I decided to search for her. 

That's how I ended up in professor Han's team, together, we became three crazy people who were on a quest to find a non-existing city." Li Juan smiled faintly while remembering the time she spent with her team,

"Things were going smooth until one day I found mom lying unconscious at home,

She worked hard without caring about her health so that I could live well, 

She was the only one I had and 

I felt guilty for being alive,

I struggled to stay strong,

In the end, I gave up and tried to kill myself,"

"While lying unconsciously, I saw that dream again and that woman asked me to save her and unfortunately once again I failed to save her.

To be honest, I was the one who is supposed to be saved, How can she ask me to save her?" Li Juan asked her family as if she is looking for a confirmation.

"When I got discharged, I went back to university and rejoined my team in search of her,

Whenever I came across with problems, she recurred in my dream and kept on requesting me to save her. I couldn't forget her or the request. 

I have decided to search for her and finally,

I have found her." Li Juan paused and examined the people in the living room. Heavy sombre silence prevailed in the atmosphere,

"After listening to all this rubbish, you might have thought that I am mad,

I swear I felt that too," She smiled bitterly. 

"But I found her,"

However, seeing Li Juan's delighted face, others remained speechless.

Wu Xuan Yi pursed her lips to control her tears and held on to her sister-in-law in grief,

Li Juan's immediate changes in behaviour have sent chills down her spine.

When her medical reports said that Li Juan was sick, none of them has thought that her condition was this severe, 

Li Juan's words and her demeanour reminded them of a lunatic person,

The gentle and silent Li Juan whom they saw these days was nowhere to see,

For a moment they even thought that Li Juan is mentally ill due to the emotional trauma she has been through,

"I have found her," Li Juan said with a trembling voice, "Here in this Yu palace."

The woman I saw in my dream, 

She looked like me,

It is better to say that I looked like her." She paused for a moment,

"She was none other than the last queen of Jade land, the mother of Yu clan, Bai Yu Yue." Li Juan looked at her grandfather,

"Before coming here, everyone told me that those dreams were like a wake-up call for me. They forced me to believe that it was nothing but something happening in my rotting brain,

"Ah Juan," Bai Qi called his grand-daughter in sorrow, 

It took him a while to realize that the stories and myths about Yu clan which he shared with her, has taken a toll on his granddaughter's mental health. 

"Grandpa, everything is real, 

She is real,

She needs my help." Li Juan said, almost in a maniacal state,

"Ah Juan, it's alright," Bai Qi tried to stop him,

"Grandpa, I am alright," Li Juan looked at her grandfather in shock,

"Hmm,"

"Grandpa, do you think that I am crazy?"

"No, you are complete alright," He vaguely tried to hide his despair. If they had agreed to Bai Ze's decision instead of clinging into their clan's pride, none of this would have happened. He lost his son and almost turned their granddaughter into a psychotic,

"You don't believe me, do you?" Li Juan looked around and saw the sorrow in the faces of her family members. 

Her second aunt has already burst into tears and her cousins appeared shocked to see her transformation,

"They didn't believe her,"

The realization pushed Li Juan into desolation

No one believes her, 

They, They think she has gone mad,

Li Juan turned towards the man who stood next to her with affectionate eyes,

"Do you think that I am insane, Liang?" she asked him in a wretched voice.

"No," He appeared resolute and unswerving," I believe you,"

"Then why aren't they believing me?"

"Elder Bai," Liang turned towards her family. He could guess the torment they have felt when Bai family when they found about the truth about Li Juan.

"It was true that her mental health is weak, but that doesn't mean that she is crazy," He tried to convince them.

Zhang Zhi Jun who remained silent stood up and walked towards her with unwavering steps.

Li Juan looked at him with yearning hope, 

"Zhang Zhi Jun, do you-" Even before Li Juan could complete her words, he pulled her into an embrace.

Within these two days, he has undergone great mental anguish worrying about Li Juan's words. She reprimanded him for staying silent and let others judge her.

He didn't want to repeat his mistake.

"I believe you," Zhang Zhi Jun released her from the embrace and cupped her tear-stricken face, " I am sorry for judging you what I have heard from others,"

Li Juan looked at him with teary eyes and smiled in agreement.

"Grandpa, let's believe her," Zhang Zhi Jun requested,

"Grandpa, my research team, we were looking for a lost city,

A city which has surprisingly vanished from the history of the mainland,

Grandpa, we have found the location of Jade Land." Li Juan declared.

"What," 

"What are you saying?" Bai Zhu asked in confusion," there is no such place exists,"

"Yes, it exists, we have found it," Li Juan adamantly said. 

"We have found a lost city in the inner valley of the Tu mountains.

I came to Xi city in order to cross-check whether our findings are the correct.

I was unable to go with my team and I was forced to quit the team,

they even cancelled my scholarship and tried every means to take away my dream from me,

But ended up being here,"

I was looking for Jade land and I found Yu palace, 

I found my family,

Isn't it a coincidence?" Li Juan asked in an excited voice,

"I didn't know anything about Yu clan, I was living in Jing city unaware of the fact that my father belongs to Yu clan and yet I got interlinked to Yu clan through a dream,"

"Grandpa, when you showed me the portrait of Queen Bai Yu Yue, I finally understood the meaning of my dreams.

It was her, grandpa," Her words infused euphoric excitement.

"She wants me to look for her,"

"Yes, somewhere in the Tu valley she is waiting for me, I need to go. I need to go and bring her home." 

"Her home is where her people are."

"You should go," Bai Qi said to her, "But you are not going alone."

"Bai Zhu," He called his son," Inform Meng Yu that we are restarting the expedition to find the Jade land and ask them to return,"

" Yes, father"

"Princess, if you are going to search for the sacred land of Yu kingdom, you will go as the heir apparent to the throne of Yu palace," Bai Qi ordered,

"Bai Jun and Bai Yu," he called his grandsons.

"You are leaving with the princess and her friend."

"Yes, grandpa," they replied in Unison.

"I hope you have arranged for everything?" Bai Qi asked Liang.

"She is the boss." Liang pointed towards Li Juan," She is the one who has to give orders."

Li Juan looked dazed for a moment. "Even if we have a team, we need a navigator to oversee everything."

"He will be here," Bai Zhu assured her,

"Okay. Then I will work out the route." Li Juan replied,

"As per Tae Min's information, they have only climbed the mountain. Why don't we take another route to meet them on the site?" Liang asked her,

"Huh?" Li Juan looked at him in doubt.

"Do we have any other way to reach Tu valley other than climbing the Tu Mountain?"

"As per the legends, there were three gateways to Tu Valley," Bai Qi said.

"South, south-east and south-west," Li Juan said.

"Professor and team are taking the south-west route. Why don't we take the south-east route, it was much easier than the other two routes, we avoided it because it is under military rule and we need permission from higher-ups."

"Leave the official matters to me," Bai Zhu said to her.

"You pack your bags and plan the expedition. The permission letter will be in front of you on the very first morning."

___________________________________

By the afternoon, a group of experts from Bai corporation's mining team from Xi city arrived in the Yu palace,

To the outer world, Bai corporations were the giants in the mining industry, but nobody knew that in the name of mining they were actually looking for their lost homeland.

"First brother, is it true that we are restarting the search for Jade land?" Meng Yu, the supervisor and one of the experienced member in the team asked Bai Zhu.

"Yes, we found someone who knows the exact location of Jade land," Bai Zhu informed them,

"Who?" 

"Good afternoon everyone, my name is Li Juan and I am a PhD scholar from the department of archaeology, Jing university."

Li Juan purposefully avoided her term as the princess of Yu palace.

She bowed before them and presented her research findings so far. In her team, she was the second in charge, even though Cheng Tao was her senior and here Liang wholeheartedly declared that she is the boss.

Bai Qi has called few experts from the Yu clan who worked in the expedition before.

"So are you saying that we are taking the Xi Bei route?" Meng Yu asked her,

"Yes. As far we know, if the weather conditions are good the easiest route is through the Xi Bei restricted area." Li Juan explained the routes.

"Little girl, we need permission to go through that area." One kind looking member said to her with a worried face. Since the mining team used to live in Xi city secluded from others, they didn't know that Li Juan was their princess.

"Father has already talked with the officials for permission." Zhang Zhi Jun, who entered into the discussion room, answered the question. He went to pick up the navigator for their expedition team.

"First young master," Meng Yu and the rest of the team members stood up from their seat. The firstborn of the generation was quite a remarkable position in the Yu clan.

"Elders, please," Zhang Zhi Jun surely had an aura of a powerful figure in the family.

"Did he reach?" Meng Yu asked in anticipated voice,

"Yes, uncle is talking to father,"

"Good afternoon everyone," A man in his fifties entered into the discussion room with a pleasant smile.

The moment Li Juan saw the person who entered the room, her eyes widened in surprise,

"Professor Su Wu?"

"Do I know you, young lady?" Su Wu looked at the girl in glasses who is walking towards him, "Wait a minute, you look familiar,"

"Professor Su, I am Li Juan, Professor Han Guang's assistant,"

"Oh my, what are you doing here Xiao Li? Weren't you supposed to be with Han Guang and team?" 

Su Wu was Han Guang's senior and he was the one who gave them the details about the route map of Jade land.

"Uncle, she is the one whom I mentioned before," Zhang Zhi Jun already gave an introduction about their new princess.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Su Wu bowed and greeted her

"Professor Su, why are you here?"

"Oh dear, call me uncle,"

"He is my mom's brother," Zhang Zhi Jun explained his relation with Su Wu.

"It is just fascinating to know that you actually belonged to Yu clan," Su Wu said with affectionate eyes,

"Bai Ze was my friend, I am sure that he will proud of his daughter."