LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

It"s been six years after the Consort"s death and everything almost returned back to normal. Except the Emperor didn"t give the phoenix seal to any one, and currently as the highest authority next to the Emperor, Xing was taking care of the inner palace.

Recently, she was grieving for her friend Haru who suddenly pa.s.sed away in an accident. She stayed with Shurei, comforting her and only returned to the capital last week.

Xing still wasn"t in a good mood but she has other tasks at hand.

"Aunty Xing, how old are you?", Huang Ruoxin, Rijun"s daughter who always latches on to Xing everytime she goes to the inner palace, asked with her hands holding her cheek. She was seventeen this year, the same age as Ah Xuan and she had a lively and cheerful disposition to those whom she loves. For others, she is an arrogant and prideful woman with no humility.

"My age?", Xing smiled at the young girl who knew no care. She"s the granddaughter of the Prime Minister, the daughter of a first rank official and the niece of Princess Consort Jin. She is ent.i.tled to be careless.

Yet, there was a little trace of tension in her eyes.

"What do you think?", Xing chuckled.

This young girl, tactless and asking for my age!

"Hmm", she curled her lips and tapped her index finger on her chin. She was rather cute.

"Lianlian is twelve and if you gave birth to him when you were sixteen like any average woman, you should be twenty eight now," she explained seriously. "But aunt, you look like you are twenty five. Is there something I need to know?", she raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"Twenty five?", Xing chuckled and her face got all red. This young girl sure is something.

"You sure know how to make an old lady like me happy, don"t you?", Xing smiled and closed the accounts book.

"I"m not lying, Aunty. You look like my elder sister. Once there was a maid in the Palace, she asked me...."

"Alright, alright", Xing chuckled, "What do you need?" she asked seriously.

This girl surely needs something else and she is showering me with praises.

Seeing Xing"s expression, Ruoxin didn"t hesitate, "Why are you preparing the Duan Manor in full swing?"

She knew her aunt likes straightforwardness better.

"Why else? For the Crown Prince, of course! He is seventeen already and he should be married. The Court officials are suggesting the maidens to take the t.i.tles of his Consort and concubines already. Who knows when the Emperor will announce his wedding? It is wise to be prepared", Xing saw her face getting pale.

Of course Xing knew why the little girl who wasn"t that interested in her as she grew up, suddenly became close to her and would join her everytime she goes to the Palace. Ruoxin also learnt the nuances of the inner palace and the way of handling things from Xing like she was preparing for battlefield and as if her life depended on it. The reason was obvious.

She likes Ah Xuan!

"Seventeen? I"m seventeen too and I"m not married! Why is he, a man getting impatient?", she said hurriedly and stopped herself to curb her emotions going rampant.

" Who would be willing to marry that stone-faced statue who only loves books? I don"t like my name to be included. As if that stone face is not enough, who would like to live in this place filled with jealous women, vying for love of that narcissistic bookworm?"

Ruoxin bit her lips and twisted her fingers in antic.i.p.ation. She said exactly the opposite of what she thought.

Xing could read her like a book and laughed in her heart.

Oh, young love! How adorable!

" Oh, fret not. Your name is not included ", Xing controlled her laughter and spoke casually as Ruoxin tried to hide her utter disappointment. She almost cried in front of Xing.

"You know your grandfather will never send you to the inner palace" Xing added.

Xing was not lying about that. Her father knows Ruoxin"s attraction towards Ah Xuan and he is against it even though Xing tried to explain.

"No daughter from the Huang family will ever enter the inner palace", he proclaimed and Xing could not help but roll her eyes.

" Father, Which one of your children got married according to your wishes? How will your granddaughter be any different?"

This conversation happened when Ruoxin turned sixteen and she started to get marriage alliances.

AoTian still is opposed for her to marry the crown Prince but he still waited for the other side"s reaction. Ah Xuan showed no particular interest towards any woman and he definitely didn"t like Ruoxin. At least that"s what the entire city knows. Both of them will be like cat and dog, fighting each time they meet. Who"d think she likes him? And even if she did, the crown Prince never let anyone believe he has any feelings towards her.

Xing looked at the depressed back of Ruoxin and sighed. She loved him for long and it would hurt if it isn"t reciprocated.

"Must you be this cruel to that poor girl?", the Emperor who listened to their conversation popped up from the shrub nearby startling the maids around. He was very enthusiastic about making Rijun"s daughter as his daughter-in-law. In fact everyone was enthusiastic, except of course AoTian. And everyone knew AoTian would oppose anyone and everyone and would try to keep his "sweet little grand daughter" in his home. So no one bothered about him.

"Did you talk to Ah Xuan?", she asked him, her eyes a bit sad. If he had no feelings towards Ruoxin, she herself will not let her enter the inner palace.

Ruoxin didn"t want the life of the inner palace and chose Ah Xuan, she learned to like the inner palace because of her love for Ah Xuan. She knows how to behave with other women and till now she does a pretty good job at handling her jealousy towards other women who wants Ah Xuan too. She"d be a good match for Ah Xuan and a good Empress in the future.

Ah Xuan too is a responsible man, in fact he js boringly responsible and he would treat his official wife well like the gentle man he is. And so no one needs to worry for Ruoxin"s well being.

But for a marriage to be successful, along with other compatibilities, there should be love and companions.h.i.+p. In fact they should like each other"s company. If it is absent, it is better not to get married.

She didn"t want Ruoxin to get hurt by marrying a man who doesn"t love her and get stuck here, regretting her decision.

Chu Weiye did marry for the status and lived loveless inside the Palace and that drove her nuts. This is a dangerous place and one has to tread carefully.

"I... generally asked, if he has a girl he liked and he looked at me like I was sick in the head and so I let it go", the Emperor grinned ear to ear implying this duty of learning Ah Xuan"s heart is on her head as well.

In fact, the Emperor who could understand everyone can easily find out what his son"s plans for marriage is. But his brother wanted to let his wife handle it since he wanted Xing to be occupied so that she will not be depressed by the pa.s.sing of her good friend.

"Look... Look..", the Emperor tapped her shoulder and Xing looked at the direction, the Emperor was pointing.

Ruoxin along with her maids was crossing the stone bridge across the fake lake while Ah Xuan walked opposite her.

"Talk about enemies meeting at a narrow bridge!", the Emperor mumbled.

Both of them couldn"t hear what was said but it looked like even though Ah Xuan tried to provoke her as usual, she didn"t respond to him and she even did a polite curtsey.

Xing"s lips curved up seeing the flabbergasted Ah Xuan and it seemed like he tried to touch her forehead trying to check her temperature as she was acting different than usual. But his hands paused midair as she said something and she then pa.s.sed him and stormed off that bridge.

He stood there, alternatively looking at his hand and the back of the girl walking away from him with a complicated expression.

"He tried to touch her, Mingxia! Let"s get them married!", the Emperor gripped Xing"s shoulder hard out of happiness and she looked at him, "Really? He tried to touch her because he loves her?", she smiled and looked at her shoulder and the Emperor recognised the irony of his words and took his hands off her.

"As if people only touch the people they love romantically!", Xing rolled her eyes, "If so, how many do I love?"

"But... The Emperor might be right. Usually in their custom men and women don"t touch each other casually. But trying to touch... Isn"t that a reach? "

"You... are no woman", he mumbled and was met with Xing"s glare and he turned to look at his son as if he didn"t notice her glare.

"Is he looking for me? Why?", Xing noticed Ah Xuan walking towards her and asked turning to look at the Emperor and gritted her teeth seeing him running away with a pot of tea she just brewed.

"What did you do now, idiot?",she shouted and he just waved his hand and ran away.

Xing poured Ah Xuan some of the tea she freshly brewed and Ah Xuan seemed deep in thought.

"Is Miss Huang sick? She seemed... dull. Even after I mocked her makeup, she was polite with me", Ah Xuan mumbled the last sentence. His voice was turning and it was getting deeper by the day.

"Dull?", Xing put on a surprised expression.

So this is what they talk about in private?

"Yes...", Ah Xuan seemed deeply disturbed. Xing has always seen him composed and proper and he rarely would look vulnerable, like he is now.

"Really? Might be because she is worried about her wedding", Xing lied. There are some people who would show their true feelings to bluntness and Ah Xuan is not one of them. If she asked him about his feelings towards Ruoxin, he"d outright lie and would stand by the lie to keep the honour of his word. So he should be pushed to desperation and made to realise his feelings towards her.

"Her wedding is arranged?", Ah Xuan"s hand shook as he looked at Xing and soon he composed himself masking the sadness he felt in his heart hearing the news.

"Not yet, but talks are going on. My father don"t want her to be married to a political family and is looking for a rich, merchant family. Do you think Baobei will be suitable for her...?", Xing paused as she saw him getting pale.

"Eh, why am I telling YOU this. When did you ever care for her? You"d probably be so happy now, since she"d be s.h.i.+pped off the city soon. So, tell me, why were you looking for me?", Xing waved her hand.

"Eh, no... That... Um, I...", he stuttered and soon he shook off his stupor.

"My father told me he"d be abdicating the throne as soon as I turn twenty and coronate me as the Emperor. He is planning to go into seclusion. And I want him to rule till the last day he lives, for a long time", he said after composing himself.

"He did, huh?", Xing"s eyes got dangerous. No wonder he ran away!

"I"ll make sure he changes his mind", she said patting his hand.

"What else?", she asked as he saw him in serious contemplation.

"Aunty Xing... You know, I love you.. But, I need to ask you something", he gripped her hand and Xing could guess what he might ask. She received news that he met with Chu Weiye recently and he might want to talk about her.

She became mentally unstable and is still alive inside the cold palace with no one visiting her.

"I...You probably know already.. I met my mother, some years back. I wanted to ask you", he looked at her guiltily. His father forbade him to visit her but he disobeyed him and visited her, a long time ago.

"I thought you might want to talk about her", Xing sat straight.

" She... She said a lot of things. I didn"t believe her. But, she said Uncle Cheng is my father"s brother, the exiled Rui w.a.n.g and you were the divine ruler and you were previously married to my father and... Other things", she blabbered a lot and he didn"t care about other things.

Xing looked at the boy who has now grown up well above her height and looked too much like his father. Him looking at her with pleading eyes, reminded her of the day she talked with the Emperor on the peak of the mountain.

"Ah Xuan, is knowing the entire truth important to you?" she asked, " My family will only have the t.i.tle of Prince and will have no claim to the throne, in any situation",she added.

Ah Xuan is smart and he he caught what she meant. What he said is the truth but there is a lot of other details his mother missed. He was a little worried about his Aunty Xing being the Empress Huang and he had a slight doubt that he might be her son. But it seems like it"s not the case.

His father loved Aunty Xing but it was a different kind of love. He had noticed his father never talks to her from a higher platform. Once, his father just got down tens of stairs to just tell her to attend an imperial banquet when he very well could have told her from standing up on the platform. His father respects Aunty Xing and he must respect her even more so.

And so, if she says there are more details and Uncle Cheng is deliberately keeping away from claiming the throne, he"d believe her.
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"So Uncle Cheng is really my uncle by blood? ", he was happy.

Seeing Ah Xuan accepting her words Xing was relieved. She really didn"t want her past to affect her life or her kids life. They are exactly where they want to be.

"Here, choose one from this list and as many as you want from this list", Xing pa.s.sed a couple of booklets to Ah Xuan and he looked at her confused.

"One is for your official wife position and the other is for concubines",Xing came back to the main issue.

"Oh?" he was tongue-tied and just accepted the book and took a quick glance at the names. It is one of his duties as the crown Prince and like he handles everything else, he"d handle this too.

"But why does it feels like something is missing? That girl"s name is really not in the list.

Huang Ruoxin!

This list would have been much better with just her name!

W-wait...

Why did I expect her name on the list?

Is it just because she is the most suitable for the position?

Or because, she is already in my heart? "

Seeing Ah Xuan in deep contemplation, Xing stood up and left.

A month later, an engagement was announced between the Crown Prince and Huang Ruoxin as the Crown Princess Consort.

And she became the well known and well loved Empress Huang in the history of their empire.