LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

Also no one would come for a peaceful negotiation having fifty thousand soldiers standing by in the borders ready to attack anytime. But they probably don"t know that the Wind Kingdom has been moving soldiers to the southern borders little by little for the past two months and there are actually twenty thousand of their soldiers in the borders by now. Or maybe s.h.i.+hong already knows!

"Brother, what is the Law of the Land regarding the occupying of lands?", she asked her brother who was walking two steps ahead of her even alongside Mo Chen without fearing him, who was leading the way as both the siblings might get lost.

Isn"t he scared of Mo Chen? Xing thought. But then she realised why he was walking ahead... Even in their own home they were misrepresented. How more so will they be in the inner palace!

"Fifty years", Rijun answered without slowing down, "If someone occupies a land for fifty years, it belongs to them. That is the law of the land"

"So, if a last remnant of a family... Say a boy was driven out when he was five and his family home was occupied by another bad person, that boy cannot get his inheritance back if he doesn"t claim it before he is fifty five?"

"Yes", Rijun smiled knowing why she is asking this now. "That is the law of our Land as imperfect as it may be"

"Hmm", Xing nodded. She knew when she was previously caught by the Sima Tribe, he said that the Chu family used many suppression tactics that made the tribes leave their homeland and out of the Wind Kingdom. She sympathised with them but it had been nearly two centuries since they"d left and the people of the wind kingdom had settled there from then on. So legally those lands cannot be claimed back by the tribes just like that.

Also those lands were captured by the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor under the Wind Kingdom"s banner so it is up to the Wind Kingdom what to do with thise lands.

Although those are the valuable arguments by their side, Xing knew they have broken their promise to protect those tribes. After they had surrendered they naturally were announced as the citizens of the Wind Kingdom but the government failed to protect them leading them to their migration. So both side had valuable arguments and this is a tricky situation.

Legally the Wind Kingdom is in the high ground but the trials were on the moral high ground. It is hard to chose one or the other.

But Xing had thought of a middle ground since most of the lands that belonged to the tribes are owned by her now and she knew her Father would have come to that solution now too.

But the problem lies with both the factions in their own court who aren"t agreeing to each other. The civil officials are advising to give those lands as a Va.s.sal State of their kingdom to those tribes and ask for tributes and taxation from them, avoiding war. War will greatly affect the economy of the country. But the military officials who had fought against that for decades don"t like the idea of losing the land belonging to them, are pus.h.i.+ng for war. They need to keep their pride of their kingdom by not letting the tribals setting foot inside the kingdom.

With the pa.s.sing away of The Great General, the rift between the civil and military officials intensified and no one could bridge it.

As Xing and Rijun entered her father"s office they could hear their noisy arguments. Rijun entered the room first bowing before his father followed by Xing after the announcement of the Empress entering.

Everyone including her father stood up and gave the bow of a superior. Xing saw three tribal leaders and Chief Batukhan on their side and the Minister of Finance, Minister Sheng and the newly appointed Minister of War, Minister Zai. She had seen Minister Zai in the Zhong Manor before as he was a relative to him from his mother"s side and was like a close ally to that Oldman. Minister Zai was also from a small military family who had n.o.bility status and have been working alongside the Zhong family for a long time. She also heard it was the Old man"s recommendation to make him the next minister of War. As for Chief Batukhan, he must be here as a translator.

The entire room went to silence seeing the Empress walking in on an official meeting but since she was with the Emperor"s panther, they could not say anything even though they were itching to send her away. But they cannot so they looked keenly at AoTian to make the right decision.

Xing looked at her father looking at her like he"d burn her with his eyes and smiled, "Daddy! I brought you soup I cooked"

The entire hall, "..."

"Is this really an appropriate time to bring one"s father self-made soup? ", everyone was screaming in their head but Rijun stood beside his father pursing his lips holding back his laughter.

My daughter made soup! Huh... I"d believe if she said "h.e.l.l froze over" before I believe this..! She is here to stir trouble, isn"t she?... But she called me" Daddy"again!

AoTian"s burning rage was put out by a single word from his adorable daughter that was like a bucket of ice and he gave an endearing smile, "Please have a seat, your highness"

Minister Sheng and Minister Zai looked at AoTian who was smiling like a proud father in front of the enemies and sighed not knowing what else to say.

The Envoys looked petrified at the woman who had no fear and looked like she deserved to be there as she was patting the head of the black panther sitting beside her.

Didn"t we hear the Wind Kingdom won"t let their women out and keep them behind curtains? Even the women in the warrior Clans of our Tribes won"t be seen with a panther by their side... Just who is she? This pale and pet.i.te woman who should be a G.o.ddess by their beauty standards... What is the imposing aura she is bearing?

Only Chief Batukhan had a smile in his face. He had recognised her by the mark on her forehead that he could see. So that one he met was really a woman. And he"d already guessed she must be a relative to Huang Zedong for him to come for her personally. So she is the daughter of Huang AoTian and my wife"s cousin and she became the Empress!

Panther..! He snorted. This one drove off thousands of our horses just by her word. What is a single panther to her? And if she is by their side isn"t our defeat confirmed?

As they began their banter once again, Seiren made his entry, "I should have been notified of this meeting", he looked crossed as he entered there pus.h.i.+ng away the guards who were stopping him. Xing was surprised to see him in plain white clothes and it made her remember once again that the Oldman is no more. He looked like a flower in those mourning clothes and for Xing it looked weird as he always wears flamboyant colours.

And boy he is angry!

"On what grounds?", Minister Sheng asked. His tone contained that ridicule that the entire court shared for him. No one took him seriously as the Lord of the Zhong household. Most believed that Seiren must have coerced the Great General for this position and got it by using underhanded means. Isn"t Huojin the perfect Lord of the Zhong family? How could the Zhong family be run by a frivolous pretty boy who knows nothing about war or martial arts?

" Of course, you should have been, Lord Zhong. Please join us... ", Xing welcomed him making everyone else shut up.

Whether they accept it or not Seiren is the Head of the Zhong family and he would be the one sending soldiers from his army for the upcoming war. Shouldn"t they respect him?

Xing pointed Seiren a chair beside Rijun and he greeted her and sat in that chair. He was pretty surprised to see her there too. He knows those people won"t accept him as the Head of the Zhong family and it came as a shock even to him that his father made such a decision but since it is the way it is he should accept his responsibility. He is a Zhong after all!

Chief Batukhan spoke in their language, " It was your ancestors who unjustly made us leave. So we want our lands back for us to form out own kingdom or else we will have to fight this war and you know our military has more than twice of yours in numbers"

" We can agree to a va.s.sal state to our kingdom"

"Let"s have the war then! We"ll see if numbers matter!"

Both Minister Sheng and Minister Zai shouted at the same time and there by another serious discussion ensued.