LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

Ever since she knew Xing was not her rival, Maya always stayed by her side, even taking over the duties of Bai Li and she was really adorable and curious about their culture asking questions just like Xing pictured her little sister would be. She wasn"t willing to talk about her past but Xing really wanted to bring her home.

Seiren was displeased that Maya is sticking to Xing like a leech and not even looking at him.

That detestable person can charm women left and right, whether dressed as a man or a woman! How dare she try to charm my woman? He was fuming all along the ride.

The carriage was stopped in a small garden for lunch break with only a couple of days to reach the Western sh.o.r.es where the encampment is and Maya was arranging Xing"s food which contained a couple of really spicy dishes which Xing hated but Maya loved and Xing felt a chill in her neck as if someone was putting hexes on her to see Seiren behind her with a dark expression.

Gee! Can"t you be any more obvious? It"s not like I"m the one forcibly keeping your woman! She wants to stay with me!

"Maya! There is a well nearby that has the sweetest water ever. Will you bring that for me?" ,she told Maya and she ran towards the random direction Xing pointed.

"What?", Xing asked Seiren looking at her with disgust like She did a deplorable thing.

"Really? You don"t even know your own backyard and you know there is a well here?", Seiren was skeptical.

"There really is?", Xing grimaced making Seiren shake his head.

As expected!

"Go help her and thank me later", Xing winked at him happily with her chin up.

See what I did! Bow before me and thank me, you commoner... For this considerate Lord Táng, won you some alone time with the girl you like!

"Don"t treat her like a maid!", he mumbled and ran towards Maya.

Seriously? No thank you?

Xing felt wronged and her mood got worse. I tried to do a favour to him and I am being blamed? Who is treating her like a maid? I"m going to adopt her as my sister!

Just then, Xing received a letter from Ayane saying they did a detailed investigation and found that the herbs that got switched in the pharmacy were directly brought from the fire Kingdom. The ones her cousin bought were only from the middlemen who knew nothing of those herbs as they trade with the fire Kingdom who are the largest suppliers of medicinal herbs.

Xing trusted the investigations conducted by Ayane. But it let her think of a worse possibility. The fire Kingdom might be deliberately sending those switched medicines to sow discord between the Earth and the Wind Kingdom.

Is this what Chenglei"s message meant?

Xing wondered. Then she remembered how the master who trained Chenglei to be an a.s.sa.s.sin was from the Fire Kingdom and s.h.i.+hong and Chenglei belonged to his gang and so s.h.i.+hong might have some connections from the fire Kingdom...

This is all so bad! And will the fire Kingdom join hands with the Sky Kingdom in attacking them now? That is what Chenglie meant right? To show the severity of the situation he had to hurt Seiren.

Without lingering on her thoughts, Xing walked where the Emperor was and only then she remembered what happened between them and she paused her steps outside the small tent they had made for the Emperor to rest making the guards feel uneasy.

Why is the Empress waiting beside us? They were wondering and stood stiffly.

Xing"s heart was beating in her chest not knowing how to react around the Emperor. She was never proposed to before... In fact she never believed that she is attractive to other men enough for them to propose and that"s why when Ryuga proposed she didn"t even realise he was proposing. Haru always treated her like an ugly animal which she believed explicitly and her brother and Seiren too never treated her any different from any normal men they knew. So she never thought of herself as attractive.

Why would men like me? I have a pigface and I"m not womanly... I don"t know how to do embroidery or even cook rice... I am not virtuous, get mad easily, selfish, bratty and every thing a woman should not be... The G.o.ds are being cruel to the Emperor to make him fall for me! Xing felt angry towards the G.o.ds.

Even though she felt it is possible for the Emperor to fall for her, she never guessed he actually will and would be so open about it. She didn"t know what she should do.

I rejected him, right? So how should I react?

Oh! What a complicated relations.h.i.+p I have with him!

Xing took a deep breath. But this information she knew is too important. And she cannot hide from him forever.

Just as she was composing herself to get inside the tent, Zhong Huojin exited the tent in a hurry and seeing her outside, came to a halt immediately,
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"Your highness! I came to find you. Please get inside, it"s important!", he bowed.

Xing entered the tent and the Emperor gave her a letter wordlessly and she read the letter in Guyu language in the writing of the Water Emperor.

Xing sighed reading the letter as the information was terrible enough to send a chill down her spine.

Apparently the Fire Kingdom"s navy is stationed on their Northern seas ready to attack and so they have to send their Navy for defence and so they cannot lend their Navy to the Wind Kingdom.

Xing crushed that paper in her hands and bit her lips contemplating. She didn"t expect this escalation. She expected that the Fire Kingdom would collaborate with Sky Kingdom and attack the Wind Kingdom but why did this happen? This is more devastating!

Are they launching a double attack? The sky Kingdom got news that we might get the help of Water Kingdom and they asked the Fire Kingdom to attack the Water Kingdom so they cannot help?

In the former case both their and Water Navy could jointly oppose those two kingdoms but now, there is no other way than both of their navies should fight alone defending their own borders. And the Wind Kingdom has no chance.

Knowing not what to do, the entourage still continued their journey to the West. On the way, Xing was leaning in the wall of the carriage looking at the ring Chenglei last gave her and was thinking about him.

That flower carving on the ring had a nice pink colour and it resembled the plum blossom picture he used to sign his painting that is hanging in the Imperial Study.

Silly guy! Did you think you are putting your signature on me by giving this ring? What happened to the engagement hairpin you promised to give me? Please make me yours soon, My Prince! Other men are trying to get me!

She kissed the ring and a tear drop rolled down her cheek.

She really missed him! His gentle touch that would give her courage and strength... His deep voice that would soothe her heart and make her forget her worries... His gentle smile and his warm breath on her... His rhythmic heartbeat... She missed everything about him!

Are you fine, my Prince?

Where are you?

Did you have your lunch?

I want to see you!

I want to at least have a glance at you!

When will we meet again?

Before she knew it, her tears overflowed and she could not help but sob uncontrollably. She sat hugging her knees to have a sense of security and wondered when it will all end. She felt alone and lonely even though she had people, a lot of them around her!

Since she felt down, she had asked to be left alone and there was no one else inside the carriage and in her lonesome she alieviated her sorrows by crying until her tears dried. She still wasn"t willing to let others see her tears.

What she didn"t know is that the man she was crying for is travelling to the west now to at least have a glimpse of her. Chenglei, who"s been slowly poisoning s.h.i.+hong to lose his mental stability had convinced him to stay in the Sky Kingdom. The reason Chenglie still had s.h.i.+hong alive was for finding Old Rong and also he was sure he could get the antidote of the poison that made Xing sick if he cajoled him enough.

Right now Chenglei has made sure that s.h.i.+hong has the mental integrity of a five year old child and he is highly unstable. Even his subordinates find him loose in the head and that only improved Chenglei"s status in the gang. s.h.i.+hong still has a bit of rationality left and so he is hiding Old Rong from him but soon he will break that little rationality too! Chenglei had vowed to let s.h.i.+hong die pathetically as a nutcase and not as some deplorable criminal mastermind as he wishes he would be!

He will strip off the last shred of dignity s.h.i.+hong has and make him die in humiliation and exasperation since he dared to touch his woman and made her cry!

With Chenglei, he was bringing Prince Kang of the Fire Kingdom who was specifically sent by the Fire Emperor to watch the military might of the Wind Kingdom and report back. He seemed very skilful as he came here with no guards and Chenglei didn"t touch him because he brought his Princess Consort with him. Chenglei could not understand why he brought his wife along in such a dangerous journey but what he did ended up lucky for him since Chenglei felt bad to kill a husband in front of his wife. Also it might cause negative impacts on their kingdom if the Fire Kingdom"s respected Prince dies in their soil.

Xing unknowing to all this was in deep contemplation after her tears dried...

They really had no hope of winning this war and she had no idea how they will win.

The Sky Kingdom is attacking them and they received news that they had already destroyed half of Wing Kingdom"s s.h.i.+ps in one day. If the rest of the navy is destroyed, war will break out on land and entire villages and the port Falin will be in danger. If Port Falin falls, they will lose the important commercial port in their kingdom which would stagnate their economy.

Even now with the war, the salt production has halted causing severe loss in their kingdom. The summertime is a good time for making salt and now entire villages are jobless and their future uncertain.

Their Kingdom really is in a helpless state!

Xing who was leaning on the sides of the carriage hugging her knees felt the swaying of the carriage and combined with her crying previously and the deep thoughts, made her go to sleep and she had the same recurring dream...

Xing was in the same cave... The cave with the resounding noise of a stream and moist walls... The same cave Tians.h.i.+ Emperor found Old Rong and the same cave she was trained...

The dream was so real that Xing could even smell the dampness in the cave and feel the chillness inside the cave...

In that cave there was s.h.i.+hong with the halberd, that is Old Rong... He was wearing all whites mimicking Chenglei and For some reason he was in female outfit... His light brown hair was tied in a ponytail with a lotus hairpin fixed on the top and his face looked serene and calm..

"My wolf accepted me!", s.h.i.+hong smiled gleefully, "He accepted me for who I am!"

Xing could feel that bitter feeling arising from the pit of her stomach but she knew s.h.i.+hong must be lying. Chenglei will never even think about another person!

Even if s.h.i.+hong is not lying, Chenglei must have lied to him to make him believe that he is on his side...

"Then let"s fight for him!", Xing said gritting her teeth. She wanted to erase that smile from s.h.i.+hong"s face. "Winner gets him!", she said cutting her forefinger and the blood summoned the Divine Sword and she saw the look of utter disbelief on s.h.i.+hong"s face and the cowering of the halberd.

And then...