LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

Seiren stood in front of Lord Zhong, "Father! This does not seem like a simple matter. They must have planned this for long. I know the treasury cannot be robbed that easily, so how did they get coins from the treasury in the first place? But if my prediction is right , they"d have submitted the memorial to the Emperor by now and they"ll ask to search our properties today. So we"ll have to make a move immediately and should not care about how they got that coins but find a way to dispose of them from our properties before the officials from the justice department come. We could... "

" The Emperor will never let them do what they wish. He knows our family will never betray him", Zhong Huojin interrupted.

"You think the " Emperor " is your friend, brother?"

"The Emperor is an Emperor"

Both Seiren and Xing spoke at the same time. Seiren paused and looked at Xing and she continued,

" As an Emperor, he cannot have personal inclinations towards anyone or any family and one cannot expect him to".

Xing meant what she said. If the Emperor sides with someone, then he is failing from his role as the leader of a kingdom. If he receives complaint about someone or a family, he has to investigate it if what they are saying has a base and find out the truth.

Huojin snorted, "That"s rich coming from you!" he said. Huojin really hated the self-righteousness of this evil woman. Does she thinks only she is superior and deserves everything? Doesn"t she use the Emperor and casually lie to him because he accepts her as his brother"s woman?

"Continue", Lord Zhong"s voice broke the tension between General Huojin and Xing.

" We should send the treasury coins back to the Qui family and get them fall in their own trap",Seiren said and Xing smirked. Like She thought, he came to the same solution as her.

Huojin was flabbergasted, "How can we do this? It"s a big chest full of treasury coins. We cannot carry it back to the Qui mansion without being obvious!", he voiced his objection. Making the spy confess would be an easy way out. Why is he complicating things?

"A big chest?", Xing asked surprised and Seiren was surprised too. The treasury coins are the usual silver coins but dipped in some solution that makes them glow in the dark. If the treasury coins are given out, they"ll be washed in another solution and given out only after. Both the solutions are kept under heavy security. Rijun had taught Xing these things.

So if there are glowing silver coins found outside, it could only mean that they are stolen from the treasury. But how did they steal an entire chest? And how did they transport it out of the Palace and to the Zhong Guest Manor without getting caught?

"How did they get it to our Manor then?", Seiren asked. For now, how they got it out of the Palace is not important.

"They used underground tunnels from the Qui Manor to our guest Manor", Huojin sighed.

Xing had seen these tunnels when Shengli took her out to the underground black market and she had read about the tunnels before and Shengli talked about it too.

When the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor changed the capital from Caijing to here, he made these tunnels to safely transfer important doc.u.ments and treasures from there into the Imperial Palace here. The openings of the tunnels were closed but the tunnels itself weren"t destroyed and left alone. But some of the tunnels were discovered by digging and no one had the blueprints of the tunnels, so as of now no one has the complete details about these tunnels.

Well! There is one!

Xing found the map of the tunnels from the rafters of the Caijing Library where she found the GO techniques book that she used to beat Lord Chu in the gambling. She didn"t look into it much but she remembered that page. Having a good memory is helpful at times.

At least I have that going in for me! Xing thought. I can remember maps but cannot read or follow them! She sighed.

"We"ll use the same trick as them. Bring me a big paper and brush", she asked and Seiren immediately listened to her while Huojin was fidgeting as he thought they are wasting time.

Lord Zhong was silently watching all the things unfolding before him. He might lose all the good reputation he had earned by spilling his blood and sweat on the battlefield and be deemed a lowly traitor tomorrow. He tried to compose his heart.

Xing carefully drew the map she remembered and placed it before Lord Zhong, "Oldman, look!", she patted his shoulders and that brought Lord Zhong back from his thoughts, "I don"t know which direction is what. Help me". Lord Zhong was shocked beyond belief that she would have such detailed blueprint that was upto scale in her memory.

Xing saw Lord Zhong"s admiring face and smiled, "Oldman, I found this along with the book about GO techniques of that Scarlet Tiger. Guess he liked to hide things in the rafters like me too", she scratched the back of her head embarra.s.sed . She didn"t know why he was looking at her like that.

"Brat, you are like him", he spoke softly and patted her head. He could not believe he would call the reincarnation of the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor as "brat" and play with her.

"What"s the difference?", Xing asked, "First Uncle corrected me and said "Father looks like Grandmother" when I said "Grandmother looks like Father" . Both mean the same, doesn"t it?", she was confused.

Lord Zhong chuckled softly, "This girl is smart beyond belief but reminds us often that she"s still a child by being silly!"

While both of them were conversing, Seiren pulled a map of the city and placed it above her map of tunnels and he could see how both are in the similar scale and fit perfectly.

"I"d kiss you if you were a girl!", Seiren shouted in glee. He was too exited to think what he was saying.

"Glad I"m not", Xing answered as a reflex making Huojin and Lord Zhong shocked. Shouldn"t she be offended?

But by looking at the uncaring two, they shrugged it off. Guess this is how the best and second best playboys in the kingdom talk to each other!

Xing went near Seiren and he showed her the tunnel they used to bring the chest from the Qui Manor to the Zhong guest Manor. But they cannot bring back the chest to the Qui Manor as they"ll be guarding it.

"Here", Seiren pointed at a part of the map.

"The red light district?", Huojin asked.

"This brothel belongs to the Qui family. In fact..", he smirked, "This entire street of brothels, gambling casinos and liquor stores were gifted by the Ran family to the families supporting them as a gift"

"Well,well! What a lucky coincidence! ", Xing smirked. They won"t be guarding all the tunnels as they won"t have any idea they have a map of the tunnels too. With this they can bring down the other families supporting the Ran family too.

"But all these Lords are officials of the court and they cannot own businesses", Huojin was surprised.

"That"s why, brother! They run it by using proxies and they are illegal businesses", Seiren said mockingly. Seriously, how naive can his brother be?

Lord Zhong was stupefied by the youngster before him, "Zedong was right! My second son can bring down families with his knowledge about things"

So both Xing and Seiren made the plans on what to do while Huojin watched from the side. Lord Zhong quietly watched the two seventeen year olds making plans like they are preparing for war.

" That informer has to be sacrificed", Seiren said and Xing agreed too. Huojin was against losing his people and refused the plan they made.

Both Xing and Seiren looked at Lord Zhong and he waved to bring in the informant. He looked around thirty five and when explained the plan, he willingly accepted in exchange for a job with less fatality rate for his brother.

"The Qui family destroyed my family and that"s why I was willing to work against them and I will help in bringing down that family. I don"t have kids and my little brother is the only heir left in my family. So that"s why I"m asking for this favour in return", he kneeled.

After Lord Zhong promised him to grant his reasonable request, he left with a decisive look. Xing knew that look- the look of determination that people show to get revenge. He"ll do his job well!

"I"ll go change and come to that brothel", Xing excused herself.

"I"ll go with you", Seiren joined her.

"This is not war to send soldiers to die", Huojin said in an accusing tone. He didn"t like the idea of sending a person to certain death when they could go straight to the Justice Department and confess.

"General Zhong! This is war! War against your family", Xing said. She could not understand why he is this stubborn.

"Brother, you bear the Zhong name and you are supposed to become the next head of our family. Every day is war for you", Seiren said and both of them left.

Huojin went to brief the elite soldiers of their plans. Lord Zhong sat in his study holding his head in his hands when Lady Zhong entered. She saw the disturbed look of her husband and hugged his head and he leaned to her.

"Dear, that brat and our second son actually found a way to save our family. I don"t know if it will work but I"m happy I get to see them work together for the sake of our family", he said with his throat almost closed with tears. Lady Zhong sat with him and tried to comfort him.

Xing and Seiren went to her Manor in a carriage and Xing was surprised to learn that both her father and brother haven"t returned yet. She knew something bad must be going on when Lin Mubai appeared,

"Sister-in-law, the Prime Minister and Official Huang are detained in the place. Huang Rijun is being blamed for stealing somerhing from the treasury and Lord AoTian is being held there to prevent him from not interfering with the investigation of his son ", he said in a panicked tone. His usual chirpiness was missing today and he really was worried.

Xing sent him off to watch out for any abnormalities in the city and went to change.

Xing realised the situation is much more serious than she imagined. But if Lin Mubai knew, Shengli would know too and she felt he was already here. That thought gave her great confidence and she decided to proceed with their plan.

She also wondered how s.h.i.+hong knew about the tunnels and how he got the maps of the tunnels. It was burned in the library fire and before that it was well hidden.

But that was not important now and surely her family"s detainment and the problem with the Zhong family are connected. So solving that problem will help her family too.

Xing sent Seiren out first and wrote a letter to her father that she"ll be staying with the Zhong family tonight as Lady Zhong asked for her to stay and sent it by a servant in their Manor. Her father probably won"t know about the plot against the Zhong family and even if he knew he"ll know she"ll be helping them. Either way it will rest his heart knowing she is not alone in their Manor but with the Zhongs.