Long Chen sighed, frustration mounting. "Do I have to force myself into this ho?" He wasn’t a normal human, just like his sister, he was a celestial being, a rman. The walls and gates wouldn’t stop him if he truly wanted entry. But Shuyin would never forgive him for causing a scene.
"It’s urgent," he said, changing tactics, letting so of his desperation show. "You have to let in. She’s my sister and our mother is in danger! Please, I just need to see them!"
The gate guard’s expression flickered, conflict warring with duty. Finally, he stepped back. "Wait here."
The panel slid closed. Long Chen heard the muffled sound of a phone call, a terse conversation he couldn’t quite make out. His hands clenched into fists as he waited, every second feeling like an eternity.
Finally, the panel opened again. "You may enter."
The heavy gates swung open with a chanical hum. Long Chen didn’t waste a second, jumping back into his car and driving through the expansive estate. He parked haphazardly in the lot and bolted from the vehicle, taking the front steps two at a ti.
"Kailani!" he called out as he burst through the mansion’s entrance, using his sister’s true na without thinking. "Kailani!"
"Don’t shout, Young Master Long. Have so manners!" A sharp voice cut through his urgency.
Long Chen spun to find two identical n standing in what appeared to be the sitting area, or what would be the sitting area once they finished arranging the new furniture being delivered. The twins looked entirely unimpressed by his dramatic entrance.
Ah Ying smirked, glaring at him with obvious disapproval at the disturbance.
"It’s urgent," Long Chen snapped, too worried to care about courtesy. "I don’t have ti for pleasantries. Where is Shuyin?"
"She is sleeping with her husband," Ah Ling said coolly, not even pausing in his work of positioning a new dark-colored couch. "Don’t you think it’s too early to expect them to be awake?"
Long Chen’s eyes swept the room, taking in the bare floors where carpet had clearly been removed, the sll of cleaning solution still faint in the air, and the workers carrying out damaged furniture. Sothing had happened here. Recently.
"Don’t they have work to do? It’s already eight o’clock," he said, annoyance creeping into his voice even as worry gnawed at him. But he couldn’t just barge into their bedroom, no matter how urgent this felt.
He changed tactics. "A frail woman arrived here last night, older, very weak. How is she? Is she alright?"
"Yeah, she’s also resting," Ah Ling responded, finally glancing at him.
Before Long Chen could press for more details, he heard footsteps from the corridor. i appeared, and the mont she saw him, her eyes widened slightly.
"Young Master..." She bowed her head respectfully, though the movent was careful, pained.
Long Chen’s gaze sharpened, taking in her appearance properly. "i... How’s Mother doing?" Then, with growing concern: "Why are you so bruised? What happened to you?"
i was moving stiffly, clearly in pain, with visible marks on her arms and what looked like barely healed injuries.
"I’m fine, Young Master. It’s just exhaustion," i said, though her voice was strained. "The mistress is doing fine and resting. You don’t have to worry."
She was trying to reassure him, and Long Chen understood why, she knew the King had discovered the Queen was missing and had definitely contacted him. They’d concealed their auras to avoid being tracked too easily, which ant his father had been panicking.
"Fine," Long Chen said, forcing himself to take a deep breath and calm down. "Then I’ll sit here and wait for them to wake up."
He moved to one of the newly arranged couches and sat down heavily, trying to contain his impatience. Almost imdiately, a maid appeared with tea, setting it before him with a quiet bow before retreating.
i gave him one more reassuring nod before returning down the corridor to continue her watch over her mistress.
Ah Ling and Ah Ying went back to their work, directing the furniture delivery and overseeing the sitting room restoration, occasionally glancing at their unexpected guest but otherwise leaving him to his thoughts.
Long Chen sat in the quiet mansion, tea cooling in front of him untouched, his senses reaching out to feel for those two familiar auras upstairs.
Shuyin’s golden presence, steady and strong, though there was sothing... different about it. Depleted, perhaps. As if she’d used enormous amounts of energy recently.
And his mother’s silver essence, faint but stable. Alive. Sleeping.
They were both here. Both alive. Both resting.
He should contact his father imdiately and let him know. But sothing made him hesitate, the cleaned sitting room, i’s injuries, the exhaustion he could sense even from here, the way the household moved around him with the careful quiet of people recovering from crisis.
What exactly had happened here last night?
Long Chen pulled out his phone, staring at it for a long mont before finally typing a ssage to his father instead of calling:
*Found them. Mother and Kailani are both alive and resting. Mother’s condition is stable. Will update when they wake. Don’t co yet, let them rest.*
He hit send before he could second-guess himself, then settled back into the couch to wait.
His eyes drifted around the room again, lingering on the bare patches where carpet had been removed, the faint chemical sll of cleaning solution, and the workers carrying out damaged pieces.
"What happened to this sitting area?" Long Chen asked, his voice casual but his gaze sharp as it fixed on Ah Ling.
Ah Ling didn’t miss a beat, continuing to adjust the position of a new dark-wood side table. "The madam wanted a different couch by the ti she woke up. Different tastes you know."
"Hehehe.... Isn’t it too early for that?" He slightly smirked glaring at them.
"Yes, she was very particular about it," Ah Ying added smoothly, gesturing to the new furniture. "Said the old style didn’t suit her anymore."
"Ooohhh..."
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