LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

There was a celebration and it was a beautiful scenery to see all those carriages decorated with red, parading through the streets with their dowry and all of the gifts.

If it was a month ago, Xing would have mocked them for being stupid for being happy to be one of the many women willing to be trapped in a cage to compete for the attention of one single man, fighting with other women. But now her only thoughts were for her to not end up in there.

Rijun who tactfully left her alone for a week to let her compose herself after the ordeal during the tournament, joined her for tea that evening and Shengli was with her too.

Xing made tea for them and served them. Shengli was beside her playing with her fingers and drinking tea.

"The problem with water scarcity in the East is getting out of bounds", Rijun said. He was willing to let go of the topic if Xing was not willing but Xing seemed interested.

In fact she had noticed from the accounts of her properties that the produce this year has reduced by thirty percentage than the previous year"s yield. And most of her properties were along the river in the most fertile part of the East. If that is the case for her, then for others, their yield would have reduced much more.

Shengli talked about the problem between two Lords in the east regarding the irrigation ca.n.a.l. They had this feud for years and now it had gone to a next level of turning the people under their feif against each other. He said this could very well lead to civil war in the east if left unresolved and other Lords taking sides creating gangs. So he might have to make a trip there if it gets more serious.

The officials appointed in the East are wet behind the ears and they cannot solve much. Xing"s people has no authority over those areas and cannot interfere. The main reason Shengli decided to act was because it may be s.h.i.+hong"s plan to start a chaos.

Xing felt a tug in her heart when she heard about Shengli"s possible departure but then consoled herself thinking he need not leave if the problem gets solved by itself.

"Brother, to solve the possible food crisis, why not have some trade agreements with the Earth Kingdom?", she asked.

Even though the three kingdoms were once under the same Emperor, after the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor split the kingdoms, they were their own Empires and didn"t bother with each other. They had more animosity among themselves than friends.h.i.+p in the past two centuries.

The Earth Kingdom is east to the Wind Kingdom with the Qingze River as the border and they have a very big fresh water lake in their west and they had the tropical climate suitable for rice and other agricultural products. A very fertile kingdom.

" Trade Agreements will be a good idea. But with war approaching us, we won"t be getting a good deal from them. And our treasury is not that full! ",Rijun stated the facts.

"Brother! ", Xing smirked, "The Earth Kingdom is an entirely inland kingdom with river on one side the Taizi Mountain ridge in the west and water kingdom to the north and the Great deserts to the south. We have plenty of what they don"t have that we can trade them"

"Salt!", Rijun banged the table. Why didn"t no one thought of that. With the salt trade now regulated by the government, the salt prices in the nation has been reduced and they even have a lot of reserves. The Earth Kingdom may have a lot of food reserves but food doesn"t taste good without salt, right?

Xing realised what Haru used to say about salt is true. Salt is important for the Kingdom!

"I"ll announce it in the court tomorrow. We cannot bring rainfall but we can bring food", Rijun stood up to leave happily. As expected, his sister can think outside the box.

"Brother!", Xing stopped him, " Keep it all confidential. Secretly gather all informations regarding the suppliers of salt to the Earth Kingdom. Then you can set the price accordingly. If you announce it first, smugglers will contact the other side first and then the prices of food products will go up too with the smugglers acting as the middlemen. And after that, send proper envoys directly to address the Imperial Court of the Earth Kingdom ".

Rijun paused a full minute admiring the intelligence of his sister. She is amazing!

Rijun patted her head, "You are right", he said and went back to his courtyard to think of a plan. Xing always left the implementation of these plans to others since it consumes too much of her brain cells unnecessarily.

Shengli looked at Xing who came up with a solution for a critical problem within a minute. Of course the implementation would be really hard but still, coming up with such plans is plain wonderful.

But since she can serve the Empire very well from outside the palace, why do the G.o.ds want her inside? But she is adorable like this!

"What?", Xing asked Shengli who was staring at her with his lips curved.

"Nothing", he shook his head, "You are so adorable, my sweet little kitten! "

Xing who took a sip of the tea almost choked. "You know, you should have taken me when I offered myself to you before, then I"d be entirely yours"

"Ha", he sneered, "Who knows what those G.o.ds might have done? We might have ended up in your father"s room and he"d have ended me there and then", he laughed.

Xing saw him joking about that and felt sad in her heart. She caressed his cheeks with her hand,

"I should have stayed away from them. I"ve never asked them for anything. Everything was given by them on their own volition and now they expect something from me? Too bad I"m just a human and I can"t win against them", she said. They haven"t talked about it still. It"s better for him to know what she is thinking.

"Don"t do anything against them. Just wait and see what happens. For some reason they want you safe and sound but willing to make you do against your will", he sighed, "Should you talk to them, may be?", he asked. He knows once she had a bad opinion about someone she"ll never show her face to them for good or bad.

"Eh!", she shook her head refusing as he expected, "I"ll just lay low. May be they"ll get bored of me and leave me alone"

Shengli looked at her with complicated emotions and he didn"t think they"ll leave her alone just like that. They are planning for this from her birth after all.

Shengli gave her a smooch and left to get more information about the situation in the East from his people.

Xing had dinner and as usual helped her brother with some doc.u.ments in her father"s study. This time most memorials were about the security of the capital city and how the common thiefs have increased.

After finis.h.i.+ng the translation works of the doc.u.ments, Xing went back to her room and changed to her nightwear and drifted to sleep.

Middle of the night she felt someone staring at her and she woke up to see Shengli beside her. The room was dark with only a small lamp illuminating the whole room.

Shengli informed her that he has to leave to the East to tackle the situation as the Emperor is worried too. Shengli felt that he has to be there to see if this is related to s.h.i.+hong.

Xing felt uneasy letting him go but she cannot keep him by her side always. He has his own job he has to do and she cannot stop him.

If he wants to go himself, it should be important and he won"t just casually leave her alone now when the situation is not right. And he knows how much she loves him and he"ll keep himself safe. But that does not mean she cannot worry for him too.

"Be safe! Not even a scratch", she said after taking a deep breath and Shengli understood from her tone that she was worried. He half expected that she"d stop him from going, but she is always that sweet and understanding woman any man would want to have.

Whether it was when she was six or now, she"d never stopped him from his commitments or whine and nag to make him stay with her always. He knows it must be hard for her to let him go but she understands his position too.

"Honestly, what an understanding wife! I"m blessed! " Shengli thought and his face brightened.

Wait! Did I thought "wife"? He smiled. That"s right, whatever happens or wherever she goes, she is my wife! My wife! My wife I married ten years ago!

"Wifey! Send off your husband with a kiss!", he smiled.

"What", Xing gasped. What"s with the sudden change in addressing? This guy surely is shameless!

Shengli got close to her and she creeped back on her bed until her back touched the wall and he moved forward along with her.

" Wifey! I cannot see clearly, Are you blus.h.i.+ng? Wifey, answer me.. ", he said in a deep sultry voice and pushed her on the bed and straddled on her with her lying on her back and he interlocked her fingers with his fingers.

"Let go", she said and she could feel her face burning everytime he called her Wifey. Such a simple word coming from his mouth felt like candied fruit to her. A sweet temptation!

"Call me hubby!", he whispered in her ears and she felt ticklish all over.

"Hubby..", Xing said softly and he sighed, "Unbelievable! Say it again", he said. Wow! This is so freaking awesome!

"Hubby... Be safe", she said again even though her heart was beating in her throat. She liked addressing him like that!

"As you wish, Wifey!", he whispered in her ears and kissed her ears. Sensing her flinch, he kissed her cheeks and then her eyes and gradually got to her lips.

Xing was melting lying under him with his short and sweet kisses and wrapped her arms around his waist. Soon his kisses got deeper and pa.s.sionate and his hands claimed her body as it"s territory too.

Xing knew where this was leading to and didn"t want to stop but she really didn"t want to end up in front of her father as he mentioned before. So she pushed him away even though she wanted him to continue, even though she didn"t want to push him away, even though she wanted to give herself to him entirely.

Shengli who had momentarily lost his senses regained it realising their predicament and let out a deep sigh and hugged her closely,

"Wifey!", he sniffed her hair.

" What, Hubby? ", she wrapped her hands around his back.

"I"ll write you everyday without fail. I"ll be back before my birthday. I want to celebrate it with you. But don"t go on making something and hurt your hand. I just want to see your smiling face, okay! ", he kissed her forehead. His hair fell on her face making her face numb.

"As you wish, hubby!", she said and kissed him.

"Ah.., I could die hearing this!", he sighed.

"You cannot!", she pinched him, she felt like she"ll be punished for being too happy.

"I know, I know!", he surrendered.

"I just wish that you don"t regret it", she murmured inside her mouth but he heard her.

"Regret what?", he asked holding her chin.

Even though he could not see her face clearly, he could see her eyes glistening, "Meeting me on that day in the snow and then in the pond. If not for me, you could have lived a normal life. Maybe you"d be married to many women and have a lot of kids by now", she said. She didn"t know where all of this were coming from but she could not help but say it.

Shengli cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her again and again until she felt her lungs were sucked out of air and when he let her go, she was panting ,

"Listen to me! If not for you, I"d be dead. I know that. I"d be dead in that snow. Don"t say stupid things and don"t make up children for me with other women even as a joke. It irks me. I made a choice. I chose you. I"ll do it a hundred times over without thinking twice.... Only you! Understood..? Wifey..? ", he fixed his gaze on her.

Xing felt tears running down from the sides of her eyes as he spoke every word and she sniffed her nose," Yes, hubby! ", she said and he hugged her back and lied next to her.

" Sleep, I"ll stay here till morning. Love does make you stupid", he said and placed her head on his arms and wrapped his other arm around her waist hugging her from the back and kissed her head.

Xing lied in his embrace and drifted to sleep and both of them ended up in a peaceful slumber.

Next morning before the morning light, Shengli said her byes and left. Xing carried on with her usual routines in the following days.