LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

Also there is the arrival of Shengli at the same time should not be a coincidence too right? After all nothing happening in her life would be concealed from him. So Haru must have told him. Or… Going back ten years, the

Prince who lived peacefully in seclusion, suddenly left for some reason…Why?? As Shengli said last night, he knew about her mark and the Elder"s words and why her mother was in hiding back then. Also in the banquet, s.h.i.+hong called him "My wolf". He was called wolf only just after he left her. So s.h.i.+hong might have known him from back then too. Yes, Shengli even agreed. So that guy s.h.i.+hong was searching for her from back then too? Is that why Shengli left and joined them to know more about them? Then the thing he said he had to do was related to s.h.i.+hong and not to his brother? Also why did his favourite brother end up being the Emperor when he promised him to protect him? Right now his brother is the most targeted person in the entire kingdom.

Just as she was in her thinking process, voices of Shengli and her father woke her up, "Xing, wake up, come on! "

"Mingxia, are you alright?"

Xing woke up squinting her eyes to the light around her. The servants had entered to clear the dishes and serve tea. She stood up suddenly and so she swayed a bit. Shengli got up immediately but Xing steadied herself and motioned him to sit. She raised her voice, "Everyone except my father, Uncle and brother…. Leave.. ".

Immediately everyone left and there was a deep silence while everyone was wondering what she"s upto.

Xing decided to let it all out in the open. Her life is not her life alone. This Prince had already entwined in her life a long time ago and her father should know it right? Especially when he hated him...

Xing rubbed her face to wipe some drowsiness off. She stood in the center and pointed at Shengli, "You!", she smirked, " Lu Chenglie", she snorted.

Shengli gently shook his head with a smile and sat comfortably on the chair excluding the aura of a Prince, unlike his usual nonchalant and calm att.i.tude.

" You, taciturn, elusive and shrewd of a Prince ; you should be called a fox not a wolf, but then you gobble up what you want so you can be a wolf too", she raised her eyebrow. Shengli smirked and sat cross-legged with his arm resting on the armrest, "Now what?", he smiled with mirth on his face. He always like to see her standing tall.

Looks like my little moon has figured something out. But shouldn"t alcohol make people dumber? Then again she is not ordinary, is she?, he thought. Also he remembered Haru saying that being drunk makes her act different.

Rijun who had sobered up by now saw the scene in front of him and got confused, "What is going on?", he asked but got no reply since both his father and uncle were deeply immersed in the drama unfolding before them.

Guess with her here their days are not going to be uneventful, right?

Xing continued, " You left me and the thing you had to do was related to s.h.i.+hong because, s.h.i.+hong searched for the person with the mark, didn"t he? Also even now because his brothers were going to reveal my ident.i.ty you made Haru write that letter to the Emperor didn"t you? But the most amazing thing you did is making your favourite ninth brother Emperor isn"t it? And that too was for my sake since you didn"t expect my father to be a powerful person too right? Also you entering the Huang family, working for the Zhong family and being secretive in spite of all your connections was all for me right?", she looked at him with eyes s.h.i.+ning and filled with emotions of joy and grat.i.tude.

Not bad, she figured it out pretty well, he looked at her with pride and looked at Feiye, AoTian and Rijun all looking flabbergasted and stupefied.

So all this while this is what he did? Can a single person do all this?

"Xing, don"t think too much. It just ended up this way", he said indifferently. It"s true he wanted all of this to happen but it was easily attained too as if it was meant to happen. So he can"t take too much credit right?

"Just ended up that way? ", she muttered in a low voice and took out the silver dragon hairpin he gave her before he left her ten years ago.

This guy won"t admit what he had done for her so far? Can"t leave it at that.

She carefully observed the hairpin in silver in the shape of a dragon with white jade fixed for eyes with four claws and was thicker than usual hairpins. She pressed the eyes of the dragon which released a lock and inside was a seal with the character (瑞王 , Rui w.a.n.g). She smiled and said softly, "Rui w.a.n.g..", then moved to her father, " Father! Isn"t this the official t.i.tle of the third prince?", she walked over and gave the hairpin to her father.

AoTian got it and checked it and it was authentic. He then looked at Shengli who was sitting with the regal elegance as the Prince he is, "You said you lost it", he said accusingly. Feiye was smiling as if he had predicted it already and Rijun was trying to put two and two together.

"As I recall, I said I didn"t need it anymore", Shengli replied with indifference which annoyed AoTian. Xing got it back from her father and kept it back in her pocket.

"You gave this to me after you planned to leave me right? That day you even made me do weird things", she told Shengli looking at her with admiration and an unknown happiness filled his heart. Although he didn"t do anything for her to find out, still the fact that she knows that he didn"t just abandon her gave him high spirits.

"Weird things? What weird things? What did he made you do?", AoTian asked with fervour and seeing Feiye and Rijun were also equally interested, she answered, " Weird.. Like.. , he gave me new red clothes and took me to our secret place and.." as she was talking, AoTian"s hands balled up to fists and her brother looked at her with his mouth open while Shengli was biting his lips to keep him from laughing . But Xing didn"t realise and continued, " He made me do a bow here, a bow there and bow to each other and then drink in cups weird way and there was even a G.o.ddess who appeared tying red clothes and then he made me promise not to forget that and also to keep it a secret".

Xing finished and of course she omitted the part where he kissed her forehead and made her promise that she won"t do it with anyone else. She looked at those three obviously perplexed and AoTian especially mad with Feiye holding him down.

Rijun cleared his throat, "But Mingxia, isn"t that a…", wedding ceremony? Before he finished saying Xing continued,

"But that"s not the issue here now" and looked at Shengli who was smiling at her, "You, you gave it to me for my protection in case you failed and for that protection to avail there must be a powerful person you trust in the highest place. What is the highest place other than the dragon throne? And who else will you trust other than your Ninth Brother? So you left him in the wild, protecting him from a distance without showing yourself to him. Was it because of guilt you hid from him? ", she snorted,

" Huh! That"s not it because, if you had showed up he would have made you take the throne and you didn"t want that,did you? All you wanted was to keep me from s.h.i.+Hong. Am I right so far?", she tapped his table gently.

Shengli looked at her with many emotions reminiscing about everything he went through the past ten years. His throat closed up as he was acknowledged by her but he cannot simply agree. He cleared his throat, "Xing, no one"s that clever. I was a bit lucky, that"s all".

Feiye recalled that it"s been six years since Shengli had joined the Huang family and for the first two years was the intense power struggle for the throne going on as and how he would disappear for days and sometimes months before many families who supported other princes and others collapsed with no chance of recovery. So what she says must be true. He even gave a big blow to his mother"s father and that family had no chance of recovery before leaving the capital.

While Feiye was thinking this way about what she said, AoTian was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with anger thinking how such a manipulative and sly person have brainwashed his little daughter into liking him. He should have entrapped her or else why would such a nice girl would like a sc.u.m like him, he muttered.

But Xing didn"t worry about what others thinking and went near him, placed her palm on his table and smiled looking at his jade eyes focusing solely on her, "So My Prince, after you had been sent out from the palace, you decided to take the throne but for some reason, you changed your mind. Later you learned that there are people looking for me because of the crazy ramblings of an elder and left me after giving me the hairpin. You joined their gang and was known as "the lone wolf". But a couple of years later, you somehow managed to change your ways and started helping people out by the name "Snow wolf" and by this time you made many connections which alerted my uncle to get knowledge of you and he came for you"

But why was it a fourth ranked official came to find a Prince? She looked at her uncle who showed no expression in his face. His usual smile was not found that day. Was it around this time Haru introduced me to Lady Shaoyao? Didn"t she say that she was from the Southern Province? So Uncle might have known her? Also only uncle knew of my existence in the Huang family. So he made us meet so he can have an eye on me?

She sighed, just how many people had silently stood by her, protecting her, all this time?

"Uncle you…", she started but Feiye interrupted her, "So after joining our family, he did various things to make his brother Emperor is that it?"

Uncle has more to hide, Xing thought and nodded, " Because s.h.i.+hong somehow disappeared and you wanted a good life for me, you joined Huang family and worked for the Zhong family. I bet my life that s.h.i.+hong knew I was a girl and that"s why you made those rumours about me to appear as a frivolous flower boy. What bothered me till now was your return. If you knew my actual age you would have come for me last year. But it was around that time you started to hear news about s.h.i.+hong"s return, didn"t you? So you decided to postpone your return and catch him first. But unfortunately, Haru"s brothers" issue happened and you had to come back to even if s.h.i.+hong had been handled or not, didn"t you? So what you said that day was true, even though what you wanted to do was not finished, you came for me because you had decided to be by my side. But then the unexpected happened.. My mother"s death and her last wish for me to meet my father. So we had to come here and now I am the Prime Minister"s daughter. Am I right so far?", she asked with a twinkle in her eyes and he decided not to resist anymore and bit his lips. Xing found that extremely attractive and got fl.u.s.tered. This guy, is he trying to seduce me?

She banged the table, "Mark my words Lu Chenglie , I will find out everything about you. Don"t think you can do whatever", she knitted her brows with her finger pointing at him. Still there is the fire... Everything changed after that.. So what does he know about that?

Shengli realised she was fl.u.s.tered, he looked at her seductively and said in a deep whispering voice, "Oh! What can I do, My Love! You are the apple of my eye and my whole body just moves on instinct if it concerns you", he wetted his lips with his red tongue and smirked.

Xings stood frozen with her finger pointing at him and Rijun gaped. Feiye snorted and AoTian snapped, Is that a confession? And he is flirting so openly?

"What..? You are.. Uncouth.. "

Her father"s voice broke Xing"s trance and she moved closer,

"Fine then, I won"t thank you", she said and pinched the tip of his tall straight nose hard. He grunted in pain and she smiled and gave him her handkerchief. He looked at her with eyes watery and nose red and running,

"That hurts, Xing! ", he mumbled like a hurt puppy. Xing smirked and pulled the wine jar from under his table that he hid previously to stop her from drinking and said, "Don"t involve Haru anymore" and went to her seat.

He looked at her, "This time… he only signed and delivered the letter. Everything else was…. ". She interrupted, "I know this time it was necessary, but never again. He has a family now" she said firmly and he nodded obediently , "I know". Truthfully she knew this time Haru needed to send that letter this time personally so that he would be spared from the punishments. But she did not want him to be involved in her issues anymore because he has Shurei now and she has to be his top priority.

Xing said that and started drinking from the jar, while Rijun frowned, " Wow! My sister is something! "

Feiye realised what she was doing and smiled. She was definitely trying to show off to her family the man she chose and the relations.h.i.+p they have.The man who renounced the t.i.tle of a Prince is still a powerful man under wraps and yet he has to bow in front of his woman and the strongest as she is she"d still happily let her man protect her.