Chapter 15: The Jai Kingdom

The procession reached their first inn at around midnight. Lei stumbled out of the carriage, tired from a full day of travelling. Xiang climbed out behind him and held his hand as they walked into the inn. A servant greeted them and began guiding them to a suite. Lei had thought that he would get his own suite but he was to share a three bedroom suite with Xiang. He would sleep in one room, a servant in another, and Xiang in the last one. 

Lei woke up at 5am the next morning. He realised that having to wake up early for training and events with Xiang had messed with his circadian rhythms. He realised he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep and pulled a book out of his trunk and walked into the living room where he started reading. He had been reading for about an hour when a bleary-eyed Xiang walked out of her room. He looked up at her and saw her messed up hair and bleary eyes and thought that she looked beautiful at that moment. She sat next to him and said, "I heard you moving around and decided to join you. She pulled a small book from her pocket and they began to read together. 

At 6am the servant who had been sleeping walked out of her room and bowed to the couple. "Good morning Princess Xiang and master Lei. I trust you slept well." They both nodded and Xiang answered, "We did. Thank you, Xie." "I'm happy to hear that, your majesty. Would you and master Lei mind making your way down to breakfast. The couple nodded and disappeared to their rooms to get changed out of their sleeping robes. After breakfast the procession set off again.

After days of travel, the procession finally arrived in the city of Shujun. The procession would first stop at the city lord's house and then move on to speaking to Lei's parents. Eventually the procession turned into the courtyard of the city lord's manor. As their carriage came to a stop in front of the manor, a pair of servants rolled a red carpet out from the door of the manor to the door of the carriage. Lei and Xiang climbed out of the carriage. The city lord emerged from his manor as Xiang and Lei stood side-by-side in front of the carriage. Xiang suddenly grasped Lei's hand and whispered, "I hate being a diplomat. It makes me nervous." Lei gave her hand a comforting squeeze and whispered, "You'll be fine. I believe in you." The city lord reached them and bowed. "Good afternoon Princess Xiang and master Lei. I trust that you had a pleasant journey." Xiang smiled and said, "We definitely did." "Please join me inside." 

A few hours later Xiang and Lei emerged from the city lord's manor. Both were mentally drained from having to have small talk with the city lord and his family. They climbed back into the carriage and the procession set off. As they travelled through the city, Lei looked over the place he had grown up in. They were travelling down a street when Lei suddenly spotted Wei's house. Seeing Wei's house made him realise how much he had been missing his friend. He turned to Xiang and said, "Can we stop at this house? It's where my childhood friend lives." Xiang smiled and said, "of course." She opened a small sliding door that connected the occupants of the carriage to the driver. "Driver, can we stop at that house? "Of course, your majesty." The carriage pulled up to the house and Lei and Xiang, accompanied by Captain Xue and five other guards, walked to the door. Lei knocked on the door and Wei's mother opened it. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw Lei. "SHAI, WEI GET HERE RIGHT NOW! LEI IS HERE" She looked at Lei and said, "Good morning Lei, It's been a while since we've seen you. Who is your lady friend?" "This is princess Xiang Mrs Shen." "Pri… Princess Xiang of the Ye kingdom?" Lei nodded and said, "yes, we're here on a diplomatic mission and I thought I would pop in to see everyone." Mrs Shen was too shocked to answer. At that moment Wei and Mr Shen arrived. Wei ran up and embraced Lei and said, "Welcome and what's this I hear about you being an arcane cultivator?" Mr Shen invited everyone in and they all went to sit in the dining room. As they were walking Wei said to Lei, "The princess is very beautiful. I wish I was a prince so I could court her. Do you think I have a chance? Do you think she would go for a commoner like me?" Lei chuckled and said, "She's engaged." Wei's face fell and said, "That's a pity. Who's the lucky man." Lei looked at Wei and said, "Me." Wei stood there in shock before shouting, "SHE'S YOUR FIANCÈE? FIRST YOU'RE AN ARCANE CULTIVATOR AND NOW YOU'RE ENGAGED TO A PRINCESS." Lei turned to Wei and said, "Yep." He then walked up to Xiang and grasped her hand. She leaned into him as he said, "Wei, meet my fiancèe Princess Xiang." Lei heard a smashing sound behind him. He turned around to see Mrs Shen standing next to a broken plate. "Princess Xiang is your fiancèe?" He drew Xiang into a hug and said, "Yes she is. If you don't mind Mrs Shen we're on a very tight schedule. Do you mind if we show ourselves out?" She wordlessly nodded. The young couple walked out of the Shen household, leaving the members standing silently in shock. As they made their way to the carriage Lei said, "I must say I enjoyed that. Wei was always the one great at scaring me. Now I've returned the favour." Xiang gave him a small smack and laughed. "Shame, you may as well have told them that we came to eat their souls. I think they might have been less shocked. He just laughed as they got into the carriage. The carriage pulled off and they wove their way through the traffic. Finally they arrived at Lei's house. They climbed out of the carriage and walked up to the front door and Lei knocked on the door. A few moments later the door opened and Lei's mother stood there. "Hi Mom! This is my fiancèe Princess Xiang." At the words fiancèe and Princess she promptly fainted.