The G.o.d of the Quingze River contemplated for a while about forming a new branch of river just because a human asks him to. But is she really a human? He wondered. That aura he felt sometime ago was pretty strong and it didnt seem entirely like the G.o.d of Wind"s. And obviously Wind G.o.d is in her side and so is the Heavenly Emperor. It won"t be on his best interests if he refuses her when he himself had bent the rules a little for his own sake.While he was thinking hard, the G.o.d of Rain joined him too. Since the Sima Tribe had been promised of their native land, he promised he will do his duty well from then on.
"Even if they were in the wilderness, they never forgot to celebrate the festivals for me", the Rain G.o.d said which made sense to Xing. Even parents have favourites, one cannot blame the G.o.ds for having favourites too.
So with Fei Lian as the moderator, the two G.o.ds reached to an agreement with Xing that since their demands have been met, they will promise to do their duties properly from then on.
As they were about to seal the deal with Xing, she told them to make the deal with their land. Xing was smart to make them promise to the land because she as a mortal has a less lifespan but the land is forever. So their promise is forever too.
So Xing made sure there was adequate rainfall in their lands and the Quingze river split to two before joining the sea flouris.h.i.+ng a wider part of their lands as long as the people, thanking them by celebrating festivals.
Xing was happy by the deal because the tribals who had surrendered who weren"t allowed inside the Kingdom will now be able to benefit from the Quingze River too. As long as everyone is a happy and get what they want, no one will be thinking of war anytime soon right?
The big wall of water gently receded and the water flowed through the land towards the sea. It was a good sight to see with the tribals cheering and some even cried seeing they get to see thks much of clean water in the same place. Even though this branch of the Quingze River was not as wide as the main branch of the river, it still will be useful to a lot of people as something is always better than nothing and they really had nothing in the wilderness before.
When Xing got down, she saw everyone cowering in front of the Emperor and the Emperor seemed.... Really mad....?
What happened here?
Seeing her descending down, the Emperor composed himself and at the same time Minister Zai had finished explaining how that sword is only meant to be carried by the one chosen by the heavens.
"Mingxia, get that sword for me!", the Emperor told Xing to further prove his point that she really is capable of doing everything not because she is a demon but because she is the one chosen by the heavens.
He was relieved when Xing actually listened to him and got that sword off the ground and she even wiped the dust off the blade of the sword while walking towards the Emperor and he handed him the sword when he placed it back in the scabbard.
Those saw the Empress who is obviously powerful than anyone listening to the Emperor as any wife would to her husband and the
impression of her became better. Even if she is better at many things than men, she is humble too, they thought. A good quality for a woman!
The Emperor saw the people kneeling in front of him were relieved to see the water retreating. And when the Empress explained the deal she had made with the G.o.ds for the sake of the people they cheered for her. They weren"t that scared of her as before when she was killing the enemies but they were admiring her as she had solved such a big crisis in the kingdom and her demeanor resonated with them as a fellow soldier and they considered her one of them.
She Really has her way with the people! He thought. All I could muster was their fear but people always adore her! Be it the soldiers or n.o.bles, everyone falls for her charms...
Shouldn"t I have let her show her skills? But... She is better than me.... There is no denial! Should I then keep her with me always?
Just like that a little seed of jealousy was planted in the Emperor"s heart and without knowing he started to feel insecure about himself too. The greed in his heart grew as he wanted to keep her for himself.
No matter how hard he tries he will never be half as good as her. She has it all, from good family, a good love life and good friends and protectors from all realms and the ability to make anyone kneel in front of her without much effort. If he has her, he"ll have everything she has too.
Jealousy is never a lonely feeling as it brings about a horde of other negative emotions with it, after all!
Xing oblivious to the Emperor"s thoughts, noticed the guy lying dead with arrows stuck on his back and could imagine what happened here. So the pull of fate is strong that since the Emperor was not hit by an enemy arrow, his own soldier tried to kill him?
Scary! He needs to be protected really well!
Xing tried to ask the Emperor what happened but he walked towards his tent and Xing followed him.
"We"ll be leaving today!", he said looking back, halting his steps.
His impatient tone surprised Xing and she wondered what might have angered him this much. But she herself was too tired to think about anything and she didn"t bother with what he had in his mind.
" Should we bring Chu Weiye with us now or should we do it properly by.... ?"
"She will not enter the palace"
Xing"s enthusiastic inquiry was cut off by the Emperor"s cold tone.
"Why?",she was confused. Wasn"t there some kind of chemistry between those two? She even heard that the Emperor went to meet her in the middle of the night... So what changed?
" It is of no concern to you. I am still the Emperor and I don"t want your interference in this issue",he spoke in a condescending tone triggering Xing.
"Everything concerns me, Lu Junjie! Do not forget who I am!", she pursed her lips and her eyes were focused on him with scrutiny. She needs to be concerned about everything as that was her only way out of this place she is now and She realised he is now filled with darkness and he is not trying to suppress it as he used to before.
"I will not forget who you are... How could I ever? You are someone I can never have but want to and someone I can never become yet I aspire to ", he spoke in his cold tone and as he spoke he realised what he had spouted.
Want to have her.... ? Did I really say that aloud?
Xing felt a sharp pain in her heart by the Emperor"s words and she stood there frozen.
It happened! It really happened! The one thing that I really wanted not to happen, happened! Why...? Why can"t I have one win and just be happy about it for a while? I just solved the border problem and the rainfall problem and all I wanted to was to take a bath and have a good rest! Is that too much to ask? Why do I have to face new problems each time I take a step towards my Prince?
The Emperor saw her rooted in her spot looking distressed and he wanted to kill himself. Even he didn"t know why he is feeling this way about her. One moment he has no such feelings towards her and the next moment he has to spout nonsense like this as if that is all he was thinking about her. This is wrong, he clicked his tongue, "It is as if someone else is controlling my thoughts! "
"Never mind what I said just now. I"m just tired and blabbered nonsense. Let"s rest and leave tomorrow. I think both of us need good rest now"
Saying this, he just turned and left when Xing who was too overwhelmed didn"t know what to say when she was escorted back by Bai Li who wondered what"s happening too. This kind of thing never happened in the Imperial Palace and is happening only now. So is a G.o.d responsible for all this?