LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

"How long were you planning for this? When did you get confirmation from the other side?", the Emperor who was walking behind her holding her sleeves asked in wonder seeing everything around them blurring out the same way as when she brought him to the top of the mountain when they first met. It usually takes at least a week to reach the borders and here they are, just walking for an hour before reaching the Eastern borders.

"Just today", she said making the Emperor confused . If she received the letter today to meet that guy tomorrow, does he knows everything about her too? Didn"t she say she only knew him as a child and that too for only one day..?

Oh, maybe he thought she was near the border or already inside the city... Probably..!

The Emperor decided for himself and almost b.u.mped her when she suddenly stopped with her expression aghast.

The Emperor looked in her direction to see there in the distance in the valley there was a fight going on. He recognised the carriage, it was the carriage of the envoy they sent last week to have another chance to talk with the Earth Kingdom.

On that valley filled with the gentle moons.h.i.+ne, the hair of one particular attacker stood brilliantly as it was glowing in the gentle light of the moon... Of course... she is looking at him!

Xing saw Shengli in the Earth Kingdom"s uniform attacking the carriage and the guards of their Kingdom along with other men in the soldiers uniform and felt a sharp pain in her heart and she held to the trunk of a tree to help herself from falling.

The first thing she felt was incredible happiness that made her heart race because she get to see him after a long time. The way he danced with his sword was incredible and she got reminded of the first time she met him... It was kind of similar too...

All Xing wanted to do was just run down the mountains and hug him closely and kiss him... But she cannot... He is undercover now... It is for his safety...

She felt her heart clench and she clenched the trunk of the tree hard and the bark of the trunk p.r.i.c.ked her hand...

Oh! My Prince! Is this how you felt everytime you watched me from a distance the ten years you stayed away from me?

But then there was another dark voice in her head that said, "Well done, Xing! You had turned a Prince into a lowly henchman of a criminal... All in the name of love! You destroyed him! "

Xing dug her nails into the tree trunk as she felt a sharp pain in her head and she felt like her heart would burst and her head would split open.

"Hey, la.s.s!"

Bai Li flicked Xing"s forehead that brought her back from that nightmare she was having while awake.

"Yeah, let"s move", she walked in the front.

" Do you want to get down so...", the Emperor asked but was interjected by her,

"No need, let"s go", she covered her hair in her cape and walked faster and only heaven knew how much strength she is using to take each step.

Fortunately or unfortunately, She didn"t see Shengli pausing his fighting as he felt someone was watching him and looked in their direction just as they started moving. Sadly, he couldn"t even get a glimpse of anyone there because the entire mountains were covered with trees and the moonlight didn"t reach there much.

Oh! If only she knew how much he is wis.h.i.+ng for a glimpse of her shadow at least! And if he knew she is right in his line of sight!

Bai Li sighed realising the tough position these two lovers were in and there is much more pressing problem now.

Someone is trying to get to her head... Who might that be?

The trio walked past the NanCheng Pa.s.s in minutes to reach the other side of the mountain where they could see the well-built Capital city of the Earth Kingdom with the Imperial Palace in the middle. The Earth capital was as big as the Wind Capital too.

"Bai Li, how are we...."

Before Xing finished asking Bai Li stood in between the Emperor and her, placed his hands on each of theirs shoulders and Xing heard a buzzing noise by her ear as her eyes went blurry and head felt light and when she came to, all of them were inside the capital city in one of the main streets.

"You could have given a warning!", Xing complained after puking her stomach out. She felt like she was falling down from the peak of the mountain with an elephant tied to her neck...

So they found a good Inn for the night stay and Xing was happy that Shengli had given her a lot of gold ingots to use before he left and she had hidden it safely till now. Coins had the seal of the Empire they are from and can be traced back but ingots cannot. It was perfect for secret missions like the ones they are on. Usually there are laws against accepting ingots, but well... People"s greed is the same whichever country you are in and gold speaks a lot anywhere.

So that extravagant inn didn"t bother to check for their ident.i.ty and for the gold she gave provided them with the best accommodation there is.

Xing chose the best of the three rooms and even accepted women to "serve" her making the Emperor roll his eyes hard. Is she here for playing with women?

Xing"s thought was simple, behave the way you dress as! Now she is some rich merchant and it would be weird if she doesn"t accept women to avoid suspicion ... Silly Emperor... Doesn"t know the ways of the world...

Xing slept pretty well that night despite being in an unfamiliar place. What she didn"t know was Fei Lian had put a sleeping spell on her and he is currently discussing with Bai Li.

"Who do you think is getting to her? It"s happening much frequently these days. They are trying to show her future", Bai Li was casually sitting on the windowsill sipping wine as he spoke.

"So what does she say?", Fei Lian sat by her side placing his palm on her forehead, "I cannot see her thoughts as usual... That"s new... ", he took his hands away, "Did she seal her thoughts herself?"

"Well, she is mysterious... We haven"t seen anyone like her ever... Who knows what she is thinking? I think she thinks those are dreams and forgets them as she wakes up", Bai Li got down and walked towards Fei Lian, "If you ask me, it is better to tell her who she is. She is someone who appreciates honesty... She is a human no doubt but she is also a..."

"She cannot know... No one can know... It will endanger her... You know, right! Don"t tell her, please", Fei Lian"s voice shook when he spoke.

"Hmpf", Bai Li snorted and swallowed a mouthful of wine, "You and him, both are the same. One day she"ll blow out and you"ll regret it. Don"t tell me I didn"t warn you then. He did a pretty good job helping her suppress the bloodl.u.s.t but still... "

"She"ll be fine... Once she knows about her true ident.i.ty she definitely will challenge the heavens. We cannot let that happen. We need her... Just... Watch over her and protect her. And find out who is trying to meddle with her thoughts...they"ll only provoke her further!", Fei Lian kissed her forehead and disappeared.

Bai Li knew that Fei Lian couldnot hold his love for her anymore and he worried for the future of everyone involved if he expresses his feelings anymore. He did it with him and it backfired only to get Fei Lian hurt and he is doing it with her now too. Will she be different?

They cannot end her because they need her and coddle her because they fear her. Will she let the darkness in her awaken and let it run amok? If she knows the real reason they don"t want her having children, will she be still quiet?

Well... Not my concern! Bai Li shrugged it off.

Next noon, Xing and the Emperor waited in the restaurant Lee Daejung asked her to meet. But for a long time there was no sign of him ever meeting them and the Emperor lost his patience. He knew not to trust that guy!

Bai Li wondered if they might be in a trap if that human tried to stab them in their back but he didn"t find anything weird around that place.

"Did he forget he"d meet you today?", the Emperor asked Xing who was eagerly tasting all the sweet dishes they had in their kingdom. She didn"t mind waiting at all!

"No way!", she pulled out the letter that was written in the Earth Kingdom"s language from her pocket and read it out loud.

"See, one day after you receive the letter... Noon... In the... "

"It"s not one "day" ... It is one "week" from the day you receive the letter..", Bai Li plucked the letter from her hands and read it again.

"Yep! La.s.s... You messed up the dates... You are here six days early...", he could not help but look at the pale faced Xing and laugh. "This word means " week" in their language and "day" in guyu language. Is that why you messed up?", his face could not hide his mirth, "Honestly, how did you expect him to write to you to be in his country the next day you receive the letter... It takes at least a week to get here from there...", he kept on mocking her and laughed.

"How could you...", the Emperor didn"t even know what to say. Would their trip here be wasted?

Xing cursed her stupidity for a while and then got over it.

Everything will work out well for me anyway!

"Let"s have a tour of the capital city", she stood up.

The Emperor thought for a while, well they were here anyway... Might as well look around!

So Xing and the Emperor walked around the Merchant street and food street to look for their culture and traditions while Bai Li spotted up.

"Shall we buy these jewellery as a souvenir for the women in the Harem? It"s made of silver it seems... ", Xing asked the Emperor and he just looked at her like she has three eyes and a horn in her head and just walked away.

There were rumours in the streets that their Emperor was looking for men to "serve" him as he had found a new interest in men even though he had many women in the Harem and the crown prince just celebrated his first birthday recently. There is a banquet in a couple of days for eligible men to try and woo the Emperor.

Xing already loved this Emperor who would blatantly advocate his preferences unlike the one beside her who might be hiding it...

Seeing her looking at him weirdly, the Emperor sighed, "I"m not weird like him..", he was irritated. How many times should he tell her?

"He is not weird... At least he has a son unlike you!", he mumbled and suddenly she got an idea, "Hey, Kouki! We are men",she grinned as if she had solved a great puzzle, " You are somewhat pretty and I am definitely pretty... Look at the way women look at us... The Earth Emperor will definitely like us. Let"s "

The Emperor grit his teeth and spoke, " Nope.. Nope... I will not sell my body for anything"

This crazy woman! How dare she? And how is she a man?

Xing was sad by the reaction of the Emperor. What"s wrong with trying to pretend for a while to meet the Emperor?

Xing who was turned down by the Emperor was looking at another shop with various kinds of shoes that were beautifully embroidered in the Earth Country"s bright colours and wanted to buy it for her father and brother.

"Do you want to be killed by your father? He definitely will, if he knows we are here", the Emperor chided her and Xing was still contemplating hard whether she should buy them or not.

Just then, a big commotion broke out and people were running for their life in the streets and Xing got out of the small shop she was in and saw...

An Elephant....

A big mad Elephant trampling everything in its path and it was running in their direction....