The Rise of Xueyue

At the crack of dawn, when none of the servants were awake, Li Chenyang was the first to check up on his long-term friend.

He was startled to see the empty bed and immediately, he ran through the hallways in search of him.

Where did he go? How could he just vanish?!

Chenyang didn't bother checking the room and after a long thirty minutes of searching every corner, Wen Jinkai was nowhere to be found.

He angrily gritted his teeth and when he was about to walk back, he noticed he was in the wing of Xueyue's room.

Thinking it was best to tell her the news himself, he walked into her room without knocking.

When he stepped in, the familiar scent of Jasmine flowers flooded his nose.

Chenyang walked towards her bed and expected a serene and peaceful face.

Instead, it was the opposite.

Thrashing and tossing in her sleep, Xueyue's conscious was heavily plummeted into another nightmare.

It was the same dream of abuse, but this time it was one of her most daunting memories: hearing the passionate sound of Leiyu and Tianai entangled in bed.

"Xue...yue!" An unfamiliar voice called in her nightmare.

"Xueyue!" The same voice called again, blurring the nightmare until Xueyue finally realized it was only a dream.

"You have to wake up now. It's urgent!" Chenyang was shaking Xueyue awake.

His panicked voice and powerful hands immediately startled Xueyue awake.

"Hm...What's wrong?" Xueyue tiredly grumbled, running a hand through her hair.

She had tossed and turned for a very long time until she finally fell asleep.

She could've sworn she had heard a flute playing when she was beginning to fall asleep, but brushed it off as imagination.

Who would be playing the flute in the dead of the night?

"That bastard ran off in the middle of the night. " Chenyang scowled, angrily crossing his arms.

Xueyue tiredly rubbed her eyes, rolled around in her bed and stared up at him in confusion.

Ran off in the middle of the night? Who did? Wenmin?

"What do you mean, Chenyang?" She tiredly grumbled, burying half of her face into the pillow.

Chenyang didn't mind her sleepy behavior that resembled a yawning puppy.

Wenmin was the same when he was forcibly woken up.

"I woke up to check on him a few minutes ago, and he disappeared! He had taken his robes and everything left behind. He didn't take anything that wasn't his. The room was left untouched except for his clothes." Chenyang was always an early-riser, so for him, it was easy to wake up.

It finally clicked for Xueyue that the injured Commander had left the Manor.

She finally sat up in the bed.

"But he was still injured! Why would he just walk off?" Xueyue huffed, clutching her forehead in annoyance.

"I don't know." Chenyang hissed, running a hand through his hair.

Xueyue noticed his obvious distress, so she climbed out of the bed.

"Let's go to his room, maybe we can find more clues." She said, while tucking her feet into her indoor slippers.

Chenyang nodded and walked with her down the halls and into the room that Jinkai was occupying.

True to Chenyang's words, all of his belongings were gone.

However, she saw the bed was neatly tucked, which meant Chenyang didn't bother to search the bed.

But then again, who would? It's not like someone could hide within the blankets.

When Chenyang began to pace back and fourth in the room, biting his nails, and overthinking, Xueyue noticed something strange.

At the center of the blanket, there was something poking out. Xueyue decided it was best to examine it.

Chenyang hadn't seen Jinkai for years. He was looking forward to seeing his long-term friend, but that brat actually disappeared on him!

The last time they've seen each other was when Jinkai decided to enroll in the Imperial Army.

Wen Jinkai was only twelve years old at that time, and despite his young age, he wanted to further his training to become the finest Commander this country had ever seen.

And indeed, Wen Jinkai was on the right track. Within the span of four years, his achievements were outstanding.

When he was thirteen, he made headlines by becoming the youngest General to grace this country. At the age of fourteen, he led his first army into a complete annihilation of the enemy soldiers. At fifteen, he faced 100,000 men with just 10,000 men on his side. The people thought he'd come out dead, but Wen Jinkai kept not only half of his men alive, but killed all of the enemy soldiers.

And now that he just turned sixteen, the people had extremely high hopes for him.

Chenyang was so absorbed in her pacing, she wasn't paying attention to Xueyue's movements.

Moving the blankets aside, Xueyue was shocked to see an object hidden underneath it.

Sitting perfectly on the center of the bed was a black jade pendant and a note.

Xueyue grabbed the note first.

She slowly unfolded the paper and in an extremely neat ink writing, it said, 'This will keep you safe.'

Picking up the black jade, Xueyue curiously examined it.

Turning the cool stone over, she ran a finger over the carving that took up the entire pendant.

Xueyue didn't know the power of a pendant with the name of one of this country's most powerful man.

Her finger ran over the cold jade, tracing over the name, 'Wen Jinkai.'

She tilted her head at the strange necklace. What did he mean that the jade would keep her safe?

"Chenyang, the man left behind a pendant and a note." She called out, noticing him walking back and fourth.

At the sudden discovery, he immediately walked to her.

"A note? Let me see." He said, picking up the note and pendant.

After reading the five simple words, he scowled.

That's it?

THAT'S IT?!

After worrying for so long, thinking his friend was kidnapped in the middle of the night, he only writes a five letter sentence?

And it wasn't even addressed to him! Even when he was heavily injured, that brat has time to woo a girl?!

"That bastard..." Chenyang muttered under his breath.

He was too blinded by anger and annoyance to even realize the pendant he was holding was one of a kind.

He thought it was just a normal gift and didn't bother to inspect the pendant whose worth and significance was more pricey than the Kingdom itself.