Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Sleepy Stories. I'm your host, Lucy,
Speaker 1: and my friends and I will be reading you a
Speaker 1: sleepy bedtime story every week to relax you and to
Speaker 1: help you to drift off into a RESTful sleep. From
Speaker 1: time to time, we will also read you a relaxing,
Speaker 1: peaceful meditation that will take you somewhere beautiful and calming.
Speaker 1: Once we have read the stories, we will then read
Speaker 1: them a second time, but this time they will be
Speaker 1: ready even slower. This will help you to relax even more.
Speaker 1: Before we begin, I would like you to close your
Speaker 1: eyes and breathe in and out nice and deeply. Take
Speaker 1: a few seconds to inhale, and then hold your breath
Speaker 1: for a few seconds more, and then release and breathe out.
Speaker 1: Do this a few times if you need to. While
Speaker 1: you listen to the music and you listen to my voice,
Speaker 1: give yourself time to let your body relax and your
Speaker 1: mind settle. It's important that we allow time for us
Speaker 1: to feel safe, cozy, and completely at ease. And now
Speaker 1: it's time for this week's story.
Speaker 2: Long ago, in a land of mist covered mountains and
Speaker 2: ancient cedar forests, there existed a kingdom that appeared on
Speaker 2: no map, no traveler could point to its location, no
Speaker 2: merchant could describe the road that led there. No emperor
Speaker 2: had ever claimed it. Yet stories of the Hidden Kingdom
Speaker 2: were known throughout the land. Some believed it lay beyond
Speaker 2: the northern mountains where the clouds touched the earth. Others
Speaker 2: claimed it rested upon an island concealed by silver mist.
Speaker 2: A few insisted it could only be found by those
Speaker 2: who were not looking for it. Whatever the truth, one
Speaker 2: thing remained certain. Nobody who claimed to have visited the
Speaker 2: Hidden Kingdom ever returned quite the same. Some came home wiser,
Speaker 2: some became kinder, some abandoned lives of wealth to become gardeners, artists,
Speaker 2: or teachers. And some simply smiled whenever the Hidden Kingdom
Speaker 2: was mentioned, refusing to say another word. Naturally, these stories
Speaker 2: fascinated Prince Wren. From the highest tower of the Imperial Palace,
Speaker 2: he would often gaze towards hoards the distant mountains and
Speaker 2: wonder what secrets lay beyond them. Wren was the youngest
Speaker 2: son of the Emperor. Unlike his older brothers, he cared
Speaker 2: little for politics or military strategy. He preferred old books,
Speaker 2: ancient legends, maps covered in mysterious markings. His favorite place
Speaker 2: in the palace was the library. There he spent countless
Speaker 2: hours studying scrolls collected from every corner of the kingdom.
Speaker 2: One rainy afternoon, while searching through a forgotten section of
Speaker 2: the library, Wren discovered something unusual. Hidden behind several dusty
Speaker 2: boxes sat a narrow, wooden chest. The lock had rusted
Speaker 2: away long ago. The Prince carefully lifted the lid. Inside
Speaker 2: lay a collection of yellowed papers, most appeared to be
Speaker 2: ordinary records, old inventories, letters, receipts. Then, at the very
Speaker 2: bottom of the chest he found a map. Immediately he
Speaker 2: knew it was different. The paper felt ancient, the ink
Speaker 2: had faded with age. Across mountains, rivers, forests, and valleys
Speaker 2: ran a winding red line. The route ended at a
Speaker 2: symbol unlike anything Wren had ever seen, a circle surrounded
Speaker 2: by seven stars. Beneath it were written four simple words,
Speaker 2: the Hidden Kingdom. The Prince's heart raced for several moments.
Speaker 2: He simply stared. The map looked genuine, yet that was impossible.
Speaker 2: No map of the Hidden Kingdom had ever been found.
Speaker 2: Carefully unfolding the fragile paper, Wren examined every detail. The
Speaker 2: route crossed enormous mountain ranges, dense forests, remote valleys. Several
Speaker 2: places carried names he had never heard before. The further
Speaker 2: he studied the map, the more convinced he became. Someone
Speaker 2: had drawn this after making the journey, someone had actually
Speaker 2: been there. That night, sleep proved impossible. The map remained
Speaker 2: spread across his desk. Moonlight spilled through the window. The
Speaker 2: Prince sat, studying every line and marking. Questions filled his thoughts.
Speaker 2: Who had created the map, how had it found its
Speaker 2: way into the palace library, and perhaps most importantly, did
Speaker 2: the Hidden Kingdom truly exist? Just before dawn, Wren noticed
Speaker 2: something he had missed. Written in tiny, faded characters near
Speaker 2: the bottom corner were several words, words so faint they
Speaker 2: were almost invisible. The journey begins where the river disappears.
Speaker 2: Wren sat upright. He knew exactly what that meant. Far
Speaker 2: to the west of the capital stood a famous valley
Speaker 2: where a great river vanished beneath a mountain. The place
Speaker 2: was real, Travelers spoke of it often for centuries. People
Speaker 2: had wondered where the water emerged again. The princes pulse quickened.
Speaker 2: This was no fairy tale. This was a clue, and
Speaker 2: for the first time in his life, Prince Wren felt
Speaker 2: a venture calling. Within a week, he had made his preparations.
Speaker 2: He packed lightly, a traveling cloak, a notebook, a compass,
Speaker 2: the mysterious map, and little else. Before sunrise on a
Speaker 2: cool spring morning, he slipped quietly through the palace gates.
Speaker 2: The city still slept. Lanterns glowed softly along empty streets.
Speaker 2: Above him, the sky was beginning to brighten. A head
Speaker 2: lay forests, mountains, forgotten roads, and mysteries older than memory itself.
Speaker 2: Somewhere beyond them waited the Hidden Kingdom. The Prince took
Speaker 2: one final look at the palace. Then he turned towards
Speaker 2: the distant horizon and began to walk. He could not
Speaker 2: know that before his journey ended, he would cross a
Speaker 2: forest where every tree grew perfectly straight. He would discover
Speaker 2: a village that appeared only during moonlight. He would follow
Speaker 2: a pathway of stone lanterns deep into the mountains, and
Speaker 2: he would learn a secret about the Hidden Kingdom that
Speaker 2: would change not only his own life, but the future
Speaker 2: of the entire empire. But those discoveries still lay ahead.
Speaker 2: For now, the adventure had only just begun. For many days,
Speaker 2: Prince Wren followed the route marked on the ancient map.
Speaker 2: The road carried him through quiet, f arming villages and
Speaker 2: forests of towering cedar trees. He crossed rivers by ancient
Speaker 2: stone bridges. He climbed mountain paths where clouds drifted among
Speaker 2: the peaks. Every evening he carefully compared the landscape to
Speaker 2: the faded markings upon the map. So far everything matched perfectly.
Speaker 2: Yet despite his excitement, the Prince found no sign of
Speaker 2: the hidden kingdom, only more questions. One evening, while staying
Speaker 2: at a small mountain inn, he overheard an old traveler
Speaker 2: speaking about a place known as Moonlight Village. According to legend,
Speaker 2: the village appeared only during the full moon. By sunrise
Speaker 2: it vanished again. Most people laughed at the story, but
Speaker 2: Ren remember but the map Moonlight Village was marked upon it.
Speaker 2: The very next night happened to be a full moon,
Speaker 2: so before sunset, the Prince followed a narrow path leading
Speaker 2: deep into the mountains. At first he found nothing, only
Speaker 2: trees and rocks and silence. Then, as moonlight spilled across
Speaker 2: the valley floor, something extraordinary happened. Lights began appearing among
Speaker 2: the trees one by one, like stars emerging in the
Speaker 2: night sky. Soon an entire village stood before him. Lanterns
Speaker 2: glowed beneath wooden rooftops, Gardens bloomed around tiny cottages. A
Speaker 2: stream wound peacefully through the center of the settlement. The
Speaker 2: prince could hardly believe his eyes. The villages welcomed him warmly,
Speaker 2: yet whenever he asked about the hidden kingdom, they merely smiled.
Speaker 2: One elderly woman finally offered a single piece of advice,
Speaker 2: the kingdom cannot be found by following roads alone. Before
Speaker 2: Wren could ask what she meant, the woman quietly returned
Speaker 2: to her garden. The next morning, the village had vanished.
Speaker 2: Only an empty valley remained. The prince continued onward. Weeks passed,
Speaker 2: Spring slowly gave way to summer. His journey led him
Speaker 2: higher into the mountains than he had ever traveled before.
Speaker 2: One afternoon, he reached a forest unlike any he had seen.
Speaker 2: Every tree grew perfectly straight, Each trunk rose towards the
Speaker 2: sky without the slightest bend. The forest seemed almost impossible.
Speaker 2: As he walked beneath the tall trees, he noticed something strange.
Speaker 2: The further he traveled, the quieter his thoughts became. The
Speaker 2: worries that had accompanied him throughout the journey slowly faded.
Speaker 2: His mind grew calm, clear, peaceful. When he finally emerged
Speaker 2: from the forest, he felt somehow lighter, as though he
Speaker 2: had left something behind. The ancient map directed him onward.
Speaker 2: Beyond the forest stood a mountain shaped like a sleeping dragon.
Speaker 2: Hidden among its cliffs, Wren discovered a staircase carved directly
Speaker 2: into the stone. Hundreds of steps climbed towards the clouds.
Speaker 2: At the summit stood seven stone lanterns, the same seven
Speaker 2: lanterns shone on the map. The prince's heart raced. He
Speaker 2: had reached the final marker. The Hidden Kingdom must be close.
Speaker 2: Yet when he looked around, he saw nothing, only mountains,
Speaker 2: only sky, only endless mist. Disappointed, Wren sat beside the lanterns.
Speaker 2: Perhaps the map had been wrong after all, perhaps the
Speaker 2: Hidden Kingdom was merely another story. As the sun began
Speaker 2: to set, golden light spilled across the mountains. The mist
Speaker 2: below him started to glow slowly Silently, the clouds parted,
Speaker 2: and there, hidden within a valley far Beneath the mountain
Speaker 2: peaks lay a kingdom unlike any he had ever imagined.
Speaker 2: Its rivers shimmered like silver ribbons, Its gardens stretched across
Speaker 2: gentle hillsides. Its temples reflected sunlight from golden roofs. Cherry
Speaker 2: trees bloomed along winding roads. Waterfalls tumbled from distant cliffs
Speaker 2: the hidden Kingdom. For a long time, Wren simply stared.
Speaker 2: The place was real, all the stories were true. Yet
Speaker 2: something puzzled him. The kingdom appeared peaceful, beautiful, ordinary in
Speaker 2: many ways. There were no magical towers to no dragons,
Speaker 2: no treasures of gold. The Prince descended into the valley.
Speaker 2: The people welcomed him kindly. They seemed unsurprised by his arrival,
Speaker 2: as though they had been expecting him. Over the following days,
Speaker 2: he explored every corner of the kingdom. He visited markets, gardens, temples, libraries.
Speaker 2: The people lived simple lives, yet everyone seemed content. There
Speaker 2: was a sense of peace he had never encountered elsewhere. Eventually,
Speaker 2: Wren met the kingdom's oldest resident, a wise gardener who
Speaker 2: cared for a magnificent orchard. The Prince asked the question
Speaker 2: that had been troubling him. Why is this place hidden?
Speaker 2: The old gardener smiled. Then he led Wren to the
Speaker 2: highest hill overlooking the valley. Together they watched the sunset.
Speaker 2: At last, the gardener spoke, people spend their lives searching
Speaker 2: for extraordinary places. The prince nodded. The gardener gestured towards
Speaker 2: the valley below. But the greatest treasure is not this kingdom.
Speaker 2: Wren looked, confused. The gardener smiled again. The treasure is
Speaker 2: becoming the kind of person capable of finding it. The
Speaker 2: Prince fell silent. Slowly, he understood every part of the
Speaker 2: journey had changed him. The forests, the mountains, the villages,
Speaker 2: the people he had met, the challenges he had overcome.
Speaker 2: The hidden kingdom was never meant to be discovered quickly.
Speaker 2: The journey itself was the lesson. Without it, the kingdom
Speaker 2: would seem ordinary. With it, the kingdom became extraordinary. Wren
Speaker 2: remained in the valley for many weeks. When autumn arrived,
Speaker 2: he finally began the journey home. The road seemed shorter
Speaker 2: this time, not because the distance had changed, because he
Speaker 2: no longer hurried. He noticed every sunrise, every river, every forest,
Speaker 2: every village. At last, he returned to the Imperial Palace,
Speaker 2: his family welcomed him warmly. His father listened carefully as
Speaker 2: Ren described his travels, but when the emperor asked where
Speaker 2: the Hidden Kingdom could be found, the prince simply smiled.
Speaker 2: For the first time, he understood why travelers rarely spoke
Speaker 2: about it. The location was not the secret. The secret
Speaker 2: was the journey. Years later, when Ren became emperor, he
Speaker 2: ruled with wisdom and patience. He often encouraged young people
Speaker 2: to travel to explore, to learn to see the world
Speaker 2: beyond their own doorstep, and whenever someone asked if the
Speaker 2: Hidden Kingdom truly existed, he would look towards the distant
Speaker 2: mountains and smile. Yes. He would say it exists. Then
Speaker 2: he would pause, and the road to it begins the
Speaker 2: moment you decide to take the first step. And though
Speaker 2: many searched for the Hidden Kingdom after he hearing his story,
Speaker 2: only a few ever found it, For the kingdom revealed
Speaker 2: itself only to those who had learned the lesson hidden
Speaker 2: within the journey itself, that the greatest treasures are not
Speaker 2: always waiting at the destination. Sometimes they are quietly gathered
Speaker 2: along the road that leads there the journey to the
Speaker 2: Hidden Kingdom. Long ago, in a land of mist covered
Speaker 2: mountains and ancient cedar forests, there existed a kingdom that
Speaker 2: appeared on no map. No traveler could point to its location,
Speaker 2: no merchant could discribe the road that led there. No
Speaker 2: emperor had ever claimed it. Yet stories of the Hidden
Speaker 2: Kingdom were known throughout the land. Some believed it lay
Speaker 2: beyond the northern mountains, where the clouds touched the earth.
Speaker 2: Others claimed it rested upon an island concealed by silver mist.
Speaker 2: A few insisted it could only be found by those
Speaker 2: who were not looking for it. Whatever the truth, one
Speaker 2: thing remained certain. Nobody who claimed to have visited the
Speaker 2: Hidden Kingdom ever returned quite the same. Some came home wiser,
Speaker 2: some became kinder, some abandoned lives of wealth to become gardeners, artists,
Speaker 2: or teachers. And some simply smiled whenever the Hidden Kingdom
Speaker 2: was mentioned, refusing to say another word. Naturally, these stories
Speaker 2: fascinated Prince Wren. From the highest tower of the Imperial Palace,
Speaker 2: he would often gaze towards the distant mountains and wonder
Speaker 2: what secrets lay beyond them. Ren was the youngest son
Speaker 2: of the emperor. Unlike his older brothers, he cared little
Speaker 2: for politics or military strategy. He preferred old books, ancient legends,
Speaker 2: maps covered in mysterious markings. His favorite place in the
Speaker 2: palace was the library. There he spent countless hours studying
Speaker 2: scrolls collected from every corner of the kingdom. One rainy afternoon,
Speaker 2: while searching through a forgotten section of the library, Wren
Speaker 2: discovered something unusual. Hidden behind several dusty boxes sat a narrow,
Speaker 2: wooden chest. The lock had rusted away long ago, the
Speaker 2: prints carefully lifted the lid. Inside lay a collection of
Speaker 2: yellowed papers, most appeared to be ordinary records, old inventories, letters, receipts. Then,
Speaker 2: at the very bottom of the chest he found a map.
Speaker 2: Immediately he knew it was different. The paper felt ancient,
Speaker 2: the ink had faded with age. Across mountains, rivers, forests,
Speaker 2: and valleys ran a winding red line. The route ended
Speaker 2: at a symbol unlike anything Wren had ever seen, a
Speaker 2: circle surrounded by seven stars. Beneath it were written four
Speaker 2: simple words, the Hidden Kingdom. The Prince's heart raced for
Speaker 2: several moments. He simply stared the map looked genuine, yet
Speaker 2: that was impossible. No map of the Hidden Kingdom had
Speaker 2: ever been found. Carefully unfolding the fragile paper, Wren examined
Speaker 2: every detail. The route crossed enormous mountain ranges, dense forests,
Speaker 2: remote valleys. Several places carried names he had never heard before.
Speaker 2: The further he studied the map, the more convinced he became.
Speaker 2: Someone had drawn this after making the journey, someone had
Speaker 2: actually been there. That night, sleep proved impossible. The map
Speaker 2: remained spread across his desk. Moonlight night spilled through the window.
Speaker 2: The Prince sat, studying every line and marking. Questions filled
Speaker 2: his thoughts. Who had created the map, how had it
Speaker 2: found its way into the palace library, and perhaps most importantly,
Speaker 2: did the Hidden Kingdom truly exist? Just before dawn, Wren
Speaker 2: noticed something he had missed. Written in tiny, faded characters
Speaker 2: near the bottom corner were several words, words so faint
Speaker 2: they were almost invisible. The journey begins where the river disappears.
Speaker 2: Wren sat upright. He knew exactly what that meant. Far
Speaker 2: to the west of the capital stood a famous valley
Speaker 2: where a great river vanished beneath a mountain. The place
Speaker 2: was real. Travelers spoke of it often. For centuries, people
Speaker 2: had wondered where the water emerged Again, the Prince's pulse quickened.
Speaker 2: This was no fairy tale, This was a clue, and
Speaker 2: for the first time in his life, Prince Wren felt
Speaker 2: a venture calling. Within a week, he had made his preparations.
Speaker 2: He packed lightly, a traveling cloak, a note book, a compass,
Speaker 2: the mysterious map, and little else. Before sunrise on a
Speaker 2: cool spring morning, he slipped quietly through the palace gates.
Speaker 2: The city still slept. Lanterns glowed softly along empty streets.
Speaker 2: Above him, the sky was beginning to brighten. A head
Speaker 2: lay forests, mountains, forgotten roads, and mysteries older than memory itself.
Speaker 2: Somewhere beyond them waited the hidden Kingdom. The Prince took
Speaker 2: one final look at the palace. Then he turned towards
Speaker 2: the distant horizon and began to walk. He could not
Speaker 2: know that before his journey ended, he would cross a
Speaker 2: forest where every tree grew perfectly straight. He would discover
Speaker 2: a village that appeared only during moonlight. He would follow
Speaker 2: a pathway of stone lanterns deep into the mountains, and
Speaker 2: he would learn a secret about the hidden kingdom that
Speaker 2: would change not only his own life, but the future
Speaker 2: of the entire empire. But those discoveries still lay ahead.
Speaker 2: For now, the adventure had only just begun. For many days,
Speaker 2: Prince Wren followed the route marked on the ancient map.
Speaker 2: The road carried him through quiet farming villages and forests
Speaker 2: of towering cedar trees. He crossed rivers by ancient stone bridges.
Speaker 2: He climbed mountain paths where clouds drifted among the peaks.
Speaker 2: Every evening he carefully compared the landscape to the faded
Speaker 2: markings upon the map. So far everything matched perfectly. Yet
Speaker 2: despite his excitement, the Prince found no sign of the
Speaker 2: hidden Kingdom, only more questions. One evening, while staying at
Speaker 2: a small mountain inn, he overheard an old traveler speaking
Speaker 2: about a place known as Moonlight Village. According to legend,
Speaker 2: the village appeared only during the full moon. By sunrise
Speaker 2: it vanished again. Most people laughed at the story, but
Speaker 2: Ren remembered the map Moonlight Village was marked upon it.
Speaker 2: The very next night happened to be a full moon,
Speaker 2: so before sunset, the Prince followed a narrow path leading
Speaker 2: deep into the mountains. At first he found nothing, only
Speaker 2: trees and rocks and silence. Then, as moonlight spilled across
Speaker 2: the valley floor, something extraordinary happened. Lights began appearing among
Speaker 2: the trees one by one, like stars emerging in the
Speaker 2: night sky. Soon an entire village stood before him. Lanterns
Speaker 2: glowed beneath wooden rooftops, Gardens bloomed around tiny cottages. A
Speaker 2: stream wound peacefully through the center of the settlement. The
Speaker 2: prince could hardly believe his eyes. The villages welcomed him warmly,
Speaker 2: yet whenever he asked about the hidden kingdom, they merely smiled.
Speaker 2: One elderly woman finally offered a single piece of advice,
Speaker 2: the kingdom cannot be found by following roads alone. Before
Speaker 2: Wren could ask what she meant, the woman quietly returned
Speaker 2: to her garden. The next morning, the village had vanished.
Speaker 2: Only an empty valley remained. The prince continued onward. Weeks passed,
Speaker 2: Spring slowly gave way to summer. His journey led him
Speaker 2: higher into the mountains than he had ever traveled before.
Speaker 2: One afternoon, he reached a forest unlike any he had seen.
Speaker 2: Every tree grew perfectly straight, each trunk rose towards the
Speaker 2: sky without the slightest bend. The forest seemed almost impossible.
Speaker 2: As he walked beneath the tall trees, he noticed something strange.
Speaker 2: The further he traveled, the quieter his thoughts became. The
Speaker 2: worries that had accompanied him throughout the journey slowly faded.
Speaker 2: His mind grew calm, clear, peaceful. When he finally emerged
Speaker 2: from the forest, he felt somehow lighter, as though he
Speaker 2: had left something behind. The ancient map directed him onward.
Speaker 2: Beyond the forest stood a mountain shaped like a sleeping dragon.
Speaker 2: Hidden among its cliffs, Wren discovered a staircase carved directly
Speaker 2: into the stone. Hundreds of steps climbed towards the clouds.
Speaker 2: At the summit stood seven stone lanterns, the same seven
Speaker 2: lanterns shone on the map. The prince's heart raced. He
Speaker 2: had reached the final marker. The Hidden Kingdom must be close.
Speaker 2: Yet when he looked around, he saw nothing, only mountains,
Speaker 2: only sky, only endless mist. Disappointed, Wren sat beside the lanterns.
Speaker 2: Perhaps the map had been wrong after all, Perhaps the
Speaker 2: Hidden Kingdom was merely another story. As the sun began
Speaker 2: to set, golden light spilled across the mountains. The mist
Speaker 2: below him started to glow slowly. Silently, the clouds parted,
Speaker 2: and there, hidden within a valley far beneath the mountain peaks,
Speaker 2: lay a kingdom unlike any he had ever imagined. Its
Speaker 2: rivers shimmered like silver ribbons, Its gardens stretched across gentle hillsides.
Speaker 2: Its temples reflected sunlight from golden roofs. Cherry trees bloomed
Speaker 2: along winding roads. Waterfalls tumbled from distant cliffs the hidden kingdom.
Speaker 2: For a long time, Wren simply stared. The place was real,
Speaker 2: all the stories were true. Yet something puzzled him. The
Speaker 2: kingdom appeared peaceful, beautiful, ordinary in many ways. There were
Speaker 2: no magical towers to no dragons, no treasures of gold.
Speaker 2: The Prince descended into the valley. The people welcomed him kindly.
Speaker 2: They seemed unsurprised by his arrival, as though they had
Speaker 2: been expecting him. Over the following days, he explored every
Speaker 2: corner of the kingdom. He visited markets, gardens, temples, libraries.
Speaker 2: The people lived simple lives, yet everyone seemed content. There
Speaker 2: was a sense of peace he had never encountered elsewhere. Eventually,
Speaker 2: Wren met the kingdom's oldest resident, a wise gardener who
Speaker 2: cared for a magnificent all way, the prince asked the
Speaker 2: question that had been troubling him, Why is this place hidden?
Speaker 2: The old gardener smiled, then he led Wren to the
Speaker 2: highest hill overlooking the valley. Together they watched the sunset.
Speaker 2: At last, the gardener spoke, people spend their lives searching
Speaker 2: for extraordinary places. The prince nodded. The gardener gestured towards
Speaker 2: the valley below. But the greatest treasure is not this kingdom.
Speaker 2: Wren looked, confused. The gardener smiled again. The treasure is
Speaker 2: becoming the kind of person capable of finding it. The
Speaker 2: Prince fell silent. Slowly, he understood every part of the
Speaker 2: journey had changed him. The forests, mountains, the villages, the
Speaker 2: people he had met, the challenges he had overcome. The
Speaker 2: hidden Kingdom was never meant to be discovered quickly. The
Speaker 2: journey itself was the lesson. Without it, the kingdom would
Speaker 2: seem ordinary. With it, the Kingdom became extraordinary. Wren remained
Speaker 2: in the valley for many weeks. When autumn arrived, he
Speaker 2: finally began the journey home. The road seemed shorter this time,
Speaker 2: not because the distance had changed, because he no longer hurried.
Speaker 2: He noticed every sunrise, every river, every forest, every village.
Speaker 2: At last, he returned to the Imperial Palace. His family
Speaker 2: welcomed him warmly. His father listened carefully as Ren described
Speaker 2: his travels, But when the emperor asked where the Hidden
Speaker 2: Kingdom could be found, the prince simply smiled. For the
Speaker 2: first time, he understood why travelers rarely spoke about it.
Speaker 2: The location was not the secret. The secret was the journey.
Speaker 2: Years later, when Ren became emperor, he ruled with wisdom
Speaker 2: and patience. He often encouraged young people to travel to explore,
Speaker 2: to learn to see the world beyond their own doorstep,
Speaker 2: and whenever someone asked if the Hidden Kingdom truly existed,
Speaker 2: he would look towards the distant mountains and smile. Yes.
Speaker 2: He would say it exists, then, and he would pause.
Speaker 2: And the road to it begins the moment you decide
Speaker 2: to take the first step. And though many searched for
Speaker 2: the Hidden Kingdom after hearing his story, only a few
Speaker 2: ever found it, for the Kingdom revealed itself only to
Speaker 2: those who had learned the lesson hidden within the journey
Speaker 2: itself that the greatest treasures are not always waiting at
Speaker 2: the destination. Sometimes they are quietly gathered along the road
Speaker 2: that leads there. The Journey to the Hidden Kingdom. Long ago,
Speaker 2: in a land of mist covered mountains and ancient cedar forests,
Speaker 2: there existed a kingdom that appeared on no map. No
Speaker 2: traveler could point to its location, no merchant could describe
Speaker 2: the road that led there. No emperor had ever claimed it.
Speaker 2: Yet stories of the Hidden Kingdom were known throughout the land.
Speaker 2: Some believed it lay beyond the northern mountains where the
Speaker 2: clouds touched the earth. Others claimed it rested upon an
Speaker 2: island concealed by silver mist. A few insisted it could
Speaker 2: only be found by those who were not looking for it.
Speaker 2: Whatever the truth, one thing remained certain. Nobody who claimed
Speaker 2: to have visited the Hidden Kingdom ever returned quite the same.
Speaker 2: Some came home wiser, some became kinder, some abandoned lives
Speaker 2: of wealth to become gardeners, artists, or teachers. And some
Speaker 2: simply smiled whenever the Hidden Kingdom was mentioned, refusing to
Speaker 2: say another word. Naturally, these stories fascinated Prince Wren from
Speaker 2: the highest Tower of the Imperial Palace. He would often
Speaker 2: gaze towards the distant mountains and wonder what secrets lay
Speaker 2: beyond them. Wren was the youngest son of the Emperor.
Speaker 2: Unlike his older brothers, he cared little for politics or
Speaker 2: military strategy. He preferred old books, ancient legends, maps covered
Speaker 2: in mysterious markings. His favorite place in the palace was
Speaker 2: the library. There he spent countless hours studying scrolls from
Speaker 2: every corner of the kingdom. One rainy afternoon, while searching
Speaker 2: through a forgotten section of the library, Wren discovered something unusual.
Speaker 2: Hidden behind several dusty boxes sat a narrow, wooden chest.
Speaker 2: The lock had rusted away long ago. The Prince carefully
Speaker 2: lifted the lid. Inside lay a collection of yellowed papers,
Speaker 2: most appeared to be ordinary records, old inventories, letters, receipts. Then,
Speaker 2: at the very bottom of the chest he found a map.
Speaker 2: Immediately he knew it was different. The paper felt ancient,
Speaker 2: the ink had faded with age. Across mountains, rivers, forests,
Speaker 2: and valleys ran a winding red light. The route ended
Speaker 2: at a symbol unlike anything Wren had ever seen, a
Speaker 2: circle surrounded by seven stars, Beneath it were written four
Speaker 2: simple words, the Hidden Kingdom. The Prince's heart raced for
Speaker 2: several moments, he simply stared. The map looked genuine, yet
Speaker 2: that was impossible. No map of the Hidden Kingdom had
Speaker 2: ever been found. Carefully unfolding the fragile paper, Wren examined
Speaker 2: every detail. The route crossed enormous mountain ranges, dense forests,
Speaker 2: remote valleys. Several places carried names he had never heard before.
Speaker 2: The further he studied the map, the more convinced he became.
Speaker 2: One had drawn this after making the journey, someone had
Speaker 2: actually been there. That night, sleep proved impossible. The map
Speaker 2: remained spread across his desk. Moonlight spilled through the window.
Speaker 2: The Prince sat, studying every line and marking. Questions filled
Speaker 2: his thoughts. Who had created the map, how had it
Speaker 2: found its way into the palace library, and perhaps most importantly,
Speaker 2: did the Hidden Kingdom truly exist? Just before dawn, Wren
Speaker 2: noticed something he had missed. Written in tiny, faded characters
Speaker 2: near the bottom corner were several words, words so faint
Speaker 2: they were almost invisible. The journey begins where the river disappear.
Speaker 2: Wren sat upright. He knew exactly what that meant. Far
Speaker 2: to the west of the capital stood a famous valley
Speaker 2: where a great river vanished beneath a mountain. The place
Speaker 2: was real, travelers spoke of it often. For centuries, people
Speaker 2: had wondered where the water emerged again. The Prince's pulse quickened.
Speaker 2: This was no fairy tale. This was a clue, and
Speaker 2: for the first time in his life, Prince Wren felt
Speaker 2: a venture calling. Within a week, he had made his preparations.
Speaker 2: He packed lightly, a traveling cloak, a notebook, a compass,
Speaker 2: the mysterious map, and little else. Before sunrise on a
Speaker 2: cool spring morning, he slipped quietly through the palace gates.
Speaker 2: The city still slept. Lanterns glowed softly along empty streets.
Speaker 2: Above him, the sky was beginning to brighten. A head
Speaker 2: lay forests, mountains, forgotten roads, and mysteries older than memory itself.
Speaker 2: Somewhere beyond them waited the hidden Kingdom. The Prince took
Speaker 2: one final look at the palace. Then he turned towards
Speaker 2: the distant horizon and began to walk. He could not
Speaker 2: know that before his journey ended he would cross a
Speaker 2: forest where every tree grew perfectly straight. He would discover
Speaker 2: a village that appeared only during moonlight. He would follow
Speaker 2: a pathway of stone lanterns deep into the mountains, and
Speaker 2: he would learn a secret about the Hidden Kingdom that
Speaker 2: would change not only his own life, but the future
Speaker 2: of the entire empire. But those discoveries still lay ahead.
Speaker 2: For now, the adventure had only just begun. For many days,
Speaker 2: Prince Wren followed the route marked on the ancient map.
Speaker 2: The road carried him through quiet farming villages and forests
Speaker 2: of towering cedar trees. He crossed rivers by ancient stone bridges.
Speaker 2: He climbed mountain paths where clouds drifted among the peaks.
Speaker 2: Every evening he carefully compared the landscape to the faded
Speaker 2: markings upon the map. So far everything matched perfectly. Yet
Speaker 2: despite his excitement, the Prince found no sign of the
Speaker 2: Hidden Kingdom, only more questions. One evening, while staying at
Speaker 2: a small mountain inn, he overheard an old traveler speaking
Speaker 2: about a place known as Moonlight Village. According to legend,
Speaker 2: the village appeared only during the full moon. By sunrise
Speaker 2: it vanished again. Most people laughed at the story, but
Speaker 2: Ren remembered the map Moonlight Village was marked upon it.
Speaker 2: The very next night happened to be a full moon,
Speaker 2: so before sunset, the prince followed a narrow path leading
Speaker 2: deep into the mountains. At first he found nothing, only
Speaker 2: trees and rocks and silence. Then, as moonlight spilled across
Speaker 2: the valley floor, something extra ordinary happened. Lights began appearing
Speaker 2: among the trees one by one, like stars emerging in
Speaker 2: the night sky. Soon an entire village stood before him.
Speaker 2: Lanterns glowed beneath wooden rooftops, Gardens bloomed around tiny cottages.
Speaker 2: A stream wound peacefully through the center of the settlement.
Speaker 2: The prince could hardly believe his eyes. The villagers welcomed
Speaker 2: him warmly, yet whenever he asked about the hidden kingdom,
Speaker 2: they merely smiled. One elderly woman finally offered a single
Speaker 2: piece of advice, the kingdom cannot be found by following
Speaker 2: roads alone. Before Wren could ask what she meant, the
Speaker 2: woman quietly returned to her garden. The next morning, the
Speaker 2: village had vanished. Only an empty valley remained. The prince
Speaker 2: continued onward. Weeks passed, spring slowly gave way to summer.
Speaker 2: His journey led him higher into the mountains than he
Speaker 2: had ever traveled before. One afternoon, he reached a forest
Speaker 2: unlike any he had seen. Every tree grew perfectly straight,
Speaker 2: Each trunk rose towards the sky without the slightest bend.
Speaker 2: The forest seemed almost impossible. As he walked beneath the
Speaker 2: tall trees, he noticed something strange. The further he traveled,
Speaker 2: the quieter his thoughts became. The worries that had accompanied
Speaker 2: him throughout the journey slowly faded. His mind grew calm, clear, peaceful.
Speaker 2: When he finally emerged from the forest, he felt somehow lighter,
Speaker 2: as though he had left something behind. The ancient map
Speaker 2: directed him onward. Beyond the forest stood a mountain shaped
Speaker 2: like a sleeping dragon. Hidden among its cliffs, Wren discovered
Speaker 2: a staircase carved directly into the stone. Hundreds of steps
Speaker 2: climbed towards the clouds. At the summit stood seven stone lanterns,
Speaker 2: the same seven lanterns shone on the map. The prince's
Speaker 2: heart raced. He had reached the final marker. The hidden
Speaker 2: kingdom must be close. Yet when he looked around, he
Speaker 2: saw nothing, only mountains, only sky, only endless mist. Disappointed,
Speaker 2: Wren sat beside the lanterns. Perhaps the map had been
Speaker 2: wrong after all, Perhaps the Hidden Kingdom was merely another story.
Speaker 2: As the sun began to set, golden light spilled across
Speaker 2: the mountains. The mist below him started to glow slowly, silently,
Speaker 2: the clouds parted, and there, hidden within a valley, far
Speaker 2: beneath the mountain peaks, lay a kingdom unlike any he
Speaker 2: had ever imagined. Its rivers shimmered like silver ribbons, Its
Speaker 2: gardens stretched across gentle hillsides, Its temples reflected sunlight from
Speaker 2: golden roofs. Cherry trees bloomed along winding roads. Waterfalls tumbled
Speaker 2: from distant cliffs the Hidden Kingdom. For a long time,
Speaker 2: Wren simply stared. The place was real, all the stories
Speaker 2: were true. Yet something puzzled him. The kingdom appeared peaceful, beautiful,
Speaker 2: ordinary in many ways. There were no magical towers to
Speaker 2: no dragons, no treasures of gold. The prince descended into
Speaker 2: the valley. The people welcomed him kindly. They seemed unsurprised
Speaker 2: by his arrival, as though they had been expecting him.
Speaker 2: Over the following days, he explored every corner of the kingdom.
Speaker 2: He visited markets, gardens, temples, libraries. The people lived simple lives,
Speaker 2: yet everyone seemed content. There was a sense of peace
Speaker 2: he had never encountered elsewhere. Eventuallyren met the kingdom's oldest resident,
Speaker 2: a wise gardener who cared for a magnificent orchard. The
Speaker 2: prince asked the question that had been troubling him, Why
Speaker 2: is this place hidden? The old gardener smiled, then he
Speaker 2: led Wren to the highest hill overlooking the valley. Together,
Speaker 2: they watched the sunset. At last, the gardener spoke, people
Speaker 2: spend their lives searching for extraordinary places. The prince nodded.
Speaker 2: The gardener gestured towards the valley below. But the greatest
Speaker 2: treasure is not this kingdom. Wren looked confused. The gardener
Speaker 2: smiled again. The treasure is becoming the kind of person
Speaker 2: capable of finding it. The prince fell silent. Slowly, he
Speaker 2: understood every part of the journey had changed him. The forests,
Speaker 2: the mountains, the villages, the people he had met, the
Speaker 2: challenges he had overcome. The hidden Kingdom was never meant
Speaker 2: to be discovered quickly. The journey itself was the lesson.
Speaker 2: Without it, the kingdom would seem ordinary. With it, the
Speaker 2: Kingdom became extraordinary. Wren remained in the valley for many weeks.
Speaker 2: When autumn arrived, he finally began the journey home. The
Speaker 2: road seemed shorter this time, not because the distance had changed,
Speaker 2: because he no longer hurried. He noticed every sunrise, every river,
Speaker 2: every forest, every village. At last, he returned to the
Speaker 2: Imperial Palace. His family welcomed him warmly. His father listened
Speaker 2: carefully as Ren described his travels, But when the emperor
Speaker 2: asked where the Hidden Kingdom could be found, the prince
Speaker 2: simply smiled. For the first time, he understood why travelers
Speaker 2: rarely spoke about it. The location was not the secret.
Speaker 2: The secret was the journey. Years later, when Ren became emperor,
Speaker 2: he ruled with wisdom and patience. He often encouraged young
Speaker 2: people to travel to explore, to learn to see the
Speaker 2: world beyond their own doorstep, and whenever someone asked if
Speaker 2: the Hidden Kingdom truly existed, he would look towards the
Speaker 2: distant mountains and smile. Yes. He would say it exists.
Speaker 2: Then he would pause, and the road to it begins
Speaker 2: the moment you decide to take the first step. And
Speaker 2: though many searched for the Hidden Kingdom, after hearing his story,
Speaker 2: Only a few ever found it, for the kingdom revealed
Speaker 2: itself only to those who had learned the lesson hidden
Speaker 2: within the journey itself, that the greatest treasures are not
Speaker 2: always waiting at the destination. Sometimes they are quietly gathered
Speaker 2: along the road that leads there.
Speaker 1: In the bo