The Dragon Prince's Warrior

Premonitions?

In those luxurious chambers, enveloped in velvety sheets, lay what remained of an Emperor defeated in ego, soul, and heart.

These three days had been the worst he had experienced since An fell ill suddenly and ironically, on an otherwise uneventful evening.

He had no desire to know about the world and its derivatives. His aspirations had died with her that night; the desire to live was dwindling with every passing moment, and he had no intention of avoiding wallowing in his misery, even though he knew that Shun was in a coma, that Jin was acting as Regent Emperor, and that Yun's whereabouts were unknown.

"Your children need you," his conscience occasionally dictated to him, but he ignored it. He had neither the strength to bear his own conflicts, nor those of his children, and much less those of the Chinese people.

Suddenly, one of the servants brought lunch to the bedroom, placed it on the glass table— the one where An and Heng used to enjoy meals on special occasions, like their wedding anniversary—then removed a tray containing the Emperor's untouched breakfast. Without saying another word, the servant withdrew, making a customary bow. It was futile to try to convince the obstinate and depressed ruler.

Heng didn't even look at the food, despite his insides begging for sustenance; the man's thinness was becoming quite evident. The only thing he had the strength for was to let his heavy eyelids fall, to fall asleep for the umpteenth time.

For the first time in three days, sleep felt restorative in the slightest expression, but Heng was definitely resting in a way his body hadn't in over a month, and the fact that he was having dreams felt like a luxury to him.

Heng found himself in a paradisiacal place, far too real to be a mere dream, yet for some reason, he couldn't control his movements, as expected. Still, he was keenly aware of the beauty surrounding him in that moment.

Nature reigned in this place. Everything seemed so real, from the sensation of the wind on his skin to the sound of the leaves of tall trees and a distant waterfall, indicating the presence of a nearby river.

"At last, I can feel at peace... after such a long time."

The Emperor breathed in the pure air that gave him serenity, so much so that he smiled and continued to walk peacefully along a path that seemed to have been trodden by people. The curious thing was that he found no one along the way; it seemed to be a deserted place despite the rich flora and fauna.

He continued walking for an indefinite amount of time, approaching the waterfall that turned into a clear river that vigorously flowed towards some remote destination. A flickering light caught the corner of his eye, and when he turned to look, he found something inexplicable.

If Heng had thought that there were no people at any point, he quickly realized he was mistaken because there, on a tree resembling the one that had stood for generations in his gardens, lay his three sons. They were all dressed in red robes and reclined on the immense rustic trunk.

He couldn't believe it, but... were they asleep, or something worse?

The Emperor hurried to get a better perspective of what his eyes had caught. He hurriedly bent down to check his children, whom he could not touch; It was as if a force did not allow him to do so. He could not speak either, he felt completely mute and limited from taking action.

Jin suddenly opened his eyes, his face looked serene and apparently he couldn't see Heng and that terrified the ruler of China. The young man stood up and sighed as he stretched, after that he walked a few steps and dived into the river.

Heng was distressed to see this, as the current seemed too strong. His son swam with all his might and slowly drifted away, never to return; Witnessing that crushed his heart greatly.

He soon looked back at the tree where his two children were still, or so he thought. Shun remained asleep, but soon woke up and began to struggle to get up, without any success.

When Heng realized it, chains were binding his son's hands and feet. His desperation was so great that he screamed with tears in his eyes. His son was fighting against it and he couldn't help him.

Meanwhile, Yun had woken up just like Jin, but he didn't walk even a step away from the tree area; something caught his attention among the thick foliage. Heng raised his hand and placed it above his eyebrows to try to see what it was about, because the young man was smiling enthralled in that direction.

Suddenly delicate legs landed on the lowest branch; It was a woman of unmatched beauty. She was wearing a red qipao dress, little shoes that protected her feet, and her brown hair was straight and shiny.

She saw her son from above with a wide and confident smile. Yun extended his arms towards the girl and she did not hesitate to jump from above to let herself be caught by her young son.

Heng was astonished at such a sight and analyzed the image of the couple. Despite the undeniable beauty she possessed, the girl did not seem to be of noble birth or anything like that, but that did not seem to matter to Yun, who had his arms clinging to her tiny waist and she wrapped both arms around his neck; That pose evidently denoted an idyll at the very least.

Yun and the young woman smiled at each other in such a way that it denoted too much happiness between them; They said things in each other's ears and laughed with complicity. Slowly their faces got closer to end up touching their lips, which continued to become a kiss in which they both gave themselves tenderly.

Heng felt somewhat embarrassed when this scene was taking place, since his son behaved distant in general, especially with the marriageable maidens who came to suit the three princes at high-born parties; That was out of the ordinary for Yun. It was definitely a dream that was playing very bad tricks on the ruler.

If things couldn't get any worse in that dream, Heng was wrong, because while that tender kiss had transformed into a lascivious one and their bodies pressed closer together with provocative movements, something worse left the Emperor's blood cold.

The woman had pulled out a dagger so quickly and didn't hesitate to stab it hard into his son's back. Heng couldn't even shout to warn Yun, nor move to help him. His son fell to his knees, but not before snatching the dagger from the girl and stabbing it directly into the area of ​​her heart, causing both of them to fall together in a pool of blood.

While that scene was taking place, Shun continued screaming desperately without being able to free himself from the chains. Heng was finally able to exclaim in anguish and realized that he had woken up. His entire body was drenched in sweat and his heart was racing.

"But what the hell was that dream? I can't go on like this, I've been an i***t", he mused as he put his hand to his head and there he realized that his sons needed him.

He got up almost in a leap and headed to Shun's chamber, where the healers were surprised to see Heng standing and concerned about his eldest son.

"Forgive me, son," he muttered tearfully as he embraced him at the foot of his bed.

Everyone was eagerly waiting for the Emperor's actions, who, after several minutes, got up, wiped away his tears, and walked down the long, wide corridor; he needed to see Jin. There was his son, sitting in the royal office, chewing on the eraser of a pencil while reviewing legal documents.

Heng hurried and reached a point where his son could see him. Jin looked up and was astonished.

"Father..." he said in surprise, setting aside his work and standing up to receive his father's embrace, who apologized for his negligence.

"Don't worry about that; you've done everything I couldn't, and I thank you, son," they both chuckled softly. "I'm worried about Yun."

"There's no news of him," Jin replied solemnly.

"Jin... We will request a rescue team right now," demanded Heng, his brow furrowed. "They will search for Yun in every corner of China starting immediately."

They both nodded and wasted no more time, convening an extraordinary council meeting. Prince Yun would officially be considered a missing person, and soon, the entire Forbidden City was informed, spreading the word throughout China.