LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

A guard from the courtesan quarters reported,

"Madam Shaoyao, there are so much rumours about that s.h.i.+hong and his mistreatment of women spread to the courtesans. All of them are scared of the fact that they might have be in danger in the future", he bowed.

"Tell me where Young Master Seiren is?", Lady Shaoyao asked.

"That... He and the other young master with him were the ones who brought up s.h.i.+hong in the first place. Actually they were casually chatting when some courtesans joined them and they answered them because those women probed them. We cannot blame them entirely ", he answered.

"Of course they were", Lady Shaoyao smiled mockingly, "What about you?", she asked the other guard from the back quarters.

"Lord Táng helped with the childbirth and while chatting casually mentioned that he won"t be able to come here freely and then he spoke about how much he loves...", Lady Shaoyao hust waved her hands to signal him to stop. She knows very well how perfect her acting skills are if she gets into it.

"Look at what your daughter has done, Prime Minister. So much for her saying that she doesn"t care", she chuckled but her eyes had no mirth. This girl creating a problem of this scale! This would clearly p.i.s.s those fox demons off as this is considered a rebellion.

AoTian didn"t know much about this place but he knew that leaving with his children would be the best option. He still didn"t know where his children are.

"Can you control this?", he asked Lady Shaoyao.

"Yes, if I act calmly and smoothly coax them and a.s.sure their safety", she said with a smirk. AoTian felt something was weird in her demeanor.

Lady Shaoyao stood near the gate of her courtyard surrounded by the guards,

"You know what you are doing is rebellion. You will be punished according to the house rules if you do not disperse immediately. The decisions of the management does not concern you and you don"t have the right to know. Scram!!! ", she shouted at the gathered workers. She then asked the guards to prepare to disperse them of they are not moving. But not only the group didn"t disperse, but also the commotion got bigger and they were in the brim of getting violent.

AoTian wondered why Lady Shaoyao was acting stupid and flaming the fans and not trying to control the situation. The crowd lost their control and they were about to break the perimeter formed by the guards. A crowd losing control is predictable as more the people are emotional, more their rationality would be gone and with many people with the same mindset as them, the easier they can act senseless.

Just then,

"Enough!", a loud and crisp voice was heard and everyone looked at the direction of the sound to see Xing standing tall on a wall with an aura of an Emperor commanding respect and loyalty. AoTian"s heart fell as he saw his daughter in such a dangerous place but he couldn"t do anything and he was shocked to see her acting haughtily.

The crowd started to complain about the Heavenly Flowers Palace not following their own rules of having the worker"s safety as their priority and letting in a dangerous person in. Also they expressed their concerns over Lord Táng not able to be visiting anymore too.

Xing listened to them patiently until everyone finished speaking and started to address them,

"This Lord is very pleased that you people love me and care for me this much and it warms my heart. However, me not able to visit here is my personal decision and not because of someone I haven"t even met. Did you think this Lord Táng as a coward to run and hide because of a single person..? ", she smiled at them and the smile dissipated the anger of most of the angry mob and they unitedly said, " No, Lord Táng is no coward"

"Exactly! That"s why you need not worry about me. I will visit whenever I can and I will still sponsor you for the love and care you show me. As for the other issue about s.h.i.+hong,as I always say you should know your place and follow the rules of the place you are in. Your superiors know what they are doing and would never endanger your life recklessly. You are the ones making money for them afterall! They cannot let anyone harm you. Everyone knows whoever visits the Heavenly Flowers Palace have to follow the rules of Heavenly Flowers Palace and s.h.i.+hong would be no exception. If he breaks the rules he will be punished or expelled as per the house rules. So you can rest a.s.sured and go on with your work. This Lord will never allow you to suffer needlessly for my sake", Xing gave a divine smile that calmed down everyone and they felt a.s.surance that they will be safe and they started leaving one by one.

"Lord Táng is right. We cannot act recklessly before anything is actually done"

"You are right, we should trust our superiors. They have protected us this far! "

" We should trust our rules "

Everyone acknowledged these ideas and dispersed not before bowing to Xing and soon the noisy courtyard became quiet.

Xing jumped down from the wall to see Seiren and Rijun arriving there and Seiren waved to her and left. Both Rijun and Xing entered the Peony Courtyard to see Lady Shaoyao glaring at her. She pointed Xing to get in and she saw her father in there clueless too.

"Xiao Táng, you reckless brat!", she chided her and kept on scolding her which Xing ignored by s.p.a.cing out just like she did with her mother.

Xing originally let it go but seeing Seiren here made her realise the fact that she had met Seiren in the Heavenly Flowers Palace only when Haru was not around. Everytime Haru left to take care of his business, Xing would go to Heavenly Flowers Palace and Seiren would be here. So is he one of Shengli"s people to watch over her, right? That Prince! Even today he didn"t have the guts to come here and sent him here. He must have a plan too. Just as she was having lunch she heard about some maids talking about the bad person called s.h.i.+hong and it dawned on her what Shengli"s plan is. So she extended the drama and made the ma.s.ses riled up too.

A group of people is easy to manipulate and for those people Xing is actually a Lord and they will try to protect her. That was the reason she entered the Heavenly Flowers Palace openly this day too even though it may be dangerous with s.h.i.+hong present here.

With the drama enacted by her today she had riled up the workers of this place and pacified them after some time. So now everyone is aware of the threat s.h.i.+hong is to them and they have not much trust in the management too all the while thinking Lord Táng is the only person they can trust. So if s.h.i.+hong enters this place in the future all eyes would be watching and he will be scrutinised and at that time even a small slip up by him will not be tolerated and the management will have to take action against him and if s.h.i.+hong is the proud person Xing came to know him of, he won"t let himself be bullied and soon he will leave by himself or thrown out by the management itself.

Xing had a proud smirk, s.h.i.+hong! You thought you can be an equal to me? I will show you my importance in here! You cannot dethrone me in here! I won"t give you any leeway to trample on me! I will not let you take a single thing that belongs to me! Soon I will come for you and you will lose everything you have! After you lose everything, I will kill you with my hands! It is a promise!

Sensing Xing was not listening to her, Lady Shaoyao stopped to see her smirking.

Just as she was about to hit her in the head, a woman appeared in front of Xing startling Lady Shaoyao.

She was wearing fiery red clothes and her complexion was fair and smooth like jade and her features were perfect as if she was moulded and she had a coquettish grin on her face that would make any man swoon over her. One look at her flame red eyes and Xing could sense that she is a Fox Demon and Lady Shaoyao immediately knelt down confirming her suspicions.

Xing immediately got in front of her father and brother instinctively.

Not good! Not at all good! Xing"s instincts were screaming.

Xing has been visiting the Heavenly Flowers Palace for almost six years and this is the first time she came face to face with a Fox Demon. This one seemed too powerful too and could very well be a nine tail fox. Xing could confirm by the way that Fox was looking at her that she was not here to chat and drink tea.

"You mortal, decided to start a rebellion in our place?", she asked Xing with her eyes burning with rage.

"No, I was merely trying to protect myself" Xing answered with a clear tone. Even though she stood in front of someone more powerful than her, Xing didn"t feel scared for some reason.

The Fox woman came close to Xing"s face and looked at her eyes deeply. "Huh!", she snorted, "How insolent! Not knowing good or bad! A child! Don"t know what they see in you... Except that you resemble... " she made a full circle around her and that"s when she saw Rijun and her eyes perked up.

Xing could see the faint glow in her seductive eyes and she shook her head in disbelief, she wanted to scream, "Nooooo!".

That Fox Woman had marked her brother and it is said even G.o.ds cannot refuse them once they are marked by a Fox demon. Xing looked at her brother who was standing to her left closely and wanted to grab him and run away. But her brother cannot even run for three minutes. He cannot escape and If he is picked up by that fox, Xing was sure her brother won"t even survive the night.

I don"t want my brother to die!

"What should I do?", Xing tried to get the attention of the Fox but her eyes didn"t waver. Rijun sensed some danger and lowered his head and the Fox Woman grabbed his chin and made him look at her,

"Such a fine mortal! As usual Huangs are the best! Look how innocent and pure he is! Still keeping his chast.i.ty. Makes one want to devour him!", she licked her lips and got close to Rijun.

Xing knew the seductive powers of the foxes are great and a glance at their eyes or a whiff of their scent in enough to make many men fall on their knees before them. But her brother seems strong as he was "pure" as she said. But Xing knew once she kisses him even he won"t be able to resist her and he wouldn"t even mind getting killed by her afterwards.

Dear Big Brother! I don"t want you to lose your first kiss, your chast.i.ty and your life in a single night and that too to a Fox Demon! This little sister will try her best to protect your purity.

Xing pulled her brother hard and she let go of her grip on his face,

"Give me your brother!", she hissed.

"Take me instead", Xing said and she could hear her father gasp, "Mingxia!"

"Father! Get out!", Xing shouted. What if she likes her father too? That would get more complicated.

"Ming...."

"GET OUT", Xing glared at her father and her father shuddered. He could say her eyes were like Glowing Amber right now. But he thought he may be hallucinating considering the things happening around him. A woman appeared out of nowhere and she wants to take his son and his daughter asked to take her instead, right? It"s all bonkers! AoTian thought but left anyway and stood right outside the door peeping inside. His daughter seems scarier!

"Brother! Close your eyes and do not open until I say so. Lady Shaoyao, do not interfere", Xing commanded and both of them nodded.

"Take me! I was the one who broke your rules", Xing repeated. Xing knew there was an unspoken rule among the G.o.ds to not hurt her for some reason. She had seen many small level G.o.ds even scared to approach her in the past too. Even though she didn"t know the credibility of such rumour, she knew that must be the reason even animals won"t hurt her. She also knew the Heavens and the Demon Realm are at odds at each other like tensed up arrows in a bow and a single flicker of a feather might make the arrows getting released from both sides resulting in an all out war. So the demon won"t touch her if she is smart but if she does, she can call for the help of G.o.ds. Even though G.o.ds cannot enter the Heavenly Flowers Palace, they can enter the demon realm and here if needed.

But turns out this demon was smart, " I am honoured by your offer. You don"t look half bad either", she inspected her from head to toe that made Xing cringe, " But... I"m in the mood for a man today!", she traced her index finger seductively over her lips. If it was any other day or any other situation, Xing would have admired this voluptuous lady in front of her so forward in getting her needs.

But the situation is different now and that one wants her untainted brother purer than a morning dew on a flower in a spring morning. That cannot be allowed.

That Fox Woman tried to kiss Rijun when Xing pulled him back and Rijun jerked and got behind her. Rijin could feel Xing"s grip on his hands was strong but it was trembling as if she was nervous.

Xing thought of calling the G.o.ds for aid but to summon them one must know their name. Xing had this weird habit of naming everyone as she pleased and calling them like that and she would not even bother to know their real name. She even knew Haru"s name was Ming Yushen only last year.

As such, the one G.o.d she had known as long as she remembered will truly help her but she cannot call upon him as she didn"t know his name. How stupid of me! Xing chided herself.

But then she remembered how when Shengli slashed her when she was six, that G.o.d appeared out of nowhere and was h.e.l.l bent on killing him but she made him promise he will never kill him and only protect him. That G.o.d said that her spilled blood called him or something like that as she remembered.

So if I spill my blood here, there is a possibility that he will come here, right? But it is too risky of a gamble. Would that G.o.d risk war to help me? Also those monthlies cannot be considered as spilling blood? He didn"t appear then! Xing was confused.

"Aww! Don"t be shy! I"ll treat you better and make you see heaven!", that Woman ran her fingers through Rijun"s face and gently traced over his thin lips.

Xing could feel Rijun tensed up and his temperature started to rise. Oh! No! Brother cannot hold on for long! Xing knew.

Xing raised her leg and pulled out the dagger Shengli had bought for her that she kept hidden inside her boots in a secret compartment and pointed at that woman.

"Let him go!", Xing"s voice eluded danger with the dagger pointed at her and made that woman flinch slightly but she was still calm. In the thousand years she had lived, when has she missed her mark and who had dared to stop her?

"What are you going to do with a dagger? Are you trying to kill me with that measly piece of blade?", She snickered making Xing grit her teeth.

Xing knew that attacking her would be the stupidest thing she could do. Not only she won"t succeed but also she"d let the Fox clan freely attack her entire family. Having more people to care about means more worries! Xing sulked in her heart, Mother! I"m learning new things every day.

"No", Xing said firmly and placed the dagger on her neck, "But I can do this!" . That made that woman surprised and she took a step back. Of course she knew she cannot let this person get hurt in their turf or else she would incur the wrath of the G.o.ds on her clan and even her clan would abandon her. But she looked at the little girl in front of her firmly holding that dagger on her neck with her eyes glowing golden like a tiger"s eye and she could see this one wanted to live. She would never kill herself! She smirked, How naive of you, little mortal? You think you can cheat this immortal with your cheap tricks?

"Do it", that Fox Woman took a step forward, "Do kill yourself. Do press that sharp blade on your neck and let your warm blood trickle down through your robes and gather around your shoes and let me watch the life leave that bright eyes of yours",she smirked.

Now that made Xing petrified, she called my bluff this soon? Of course Xing didn"t want to die. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with her prince and they have just met after long too. She"d be a fool if she dies now!

But Xing looked at her brother who was looking at her with tears in his eyes by now and begging her to let him go. He still wants to save me! Xing remembered all the good times they had together and how he spoke for her in the banquet and even got his blood sister sick for her and unleashed the guard dogs on those men who badmouthed her.

She really cannot let her brother die! Also she cannot die either!

So the only way is to scare that woman off so she won"t bother them for now. Once they are out of the Heavenly Flowers Palace those Foxes cannot do anything.

Xing took a deep breath. She knew a spot in the abdomen where one can miss all the vital organs and yet there will be a lot of blood when stabbed there. This is the only way! Xing thought, this way she"ll be scared and leave fearing the repercussions.

Brother! You really are worth another scar in my body!

As Xing was about to bring her right hand holding the dagger in her neck to stab herself in the abdomen, she could feel a cold sensation in her hand that pried open her hand and the dagger fell on the floor with a clank.

Xing instinctively looked to her right only to see.... Thin air. But she could feel the entire room had become chilly and the Fox Woman bowed looking to her right.

So she can see that person while I cannot? Xing wondered. That person beside her does not feel like a spirit or a G.o.d. May be he is a demon? Or he could be a G.o.d too, right?

Xing saw the Woman saying something and Xing could not hear a word she was saying. She looked at Rijun and Lady Shaoyao who were equally perplexed as her.

Xing saw that Woman fl.u.s.tered and nodding politely and speaking with reverence to the person beside Xing.

Who could that person be that even a nine-tailed fox have to be this polite? Foxes never respect other clans enough as they consider themselves as superior to others and G.o.ds won"t come here. So it should be some elder from her own clan, right? But whatever! If this person is on her side, then it would be better!

Xing pushed her brother out of the room as that woman was distracted with the invisible person and pushed her brother out along with her peeping father and closed the door.

Whatever it is, let me deal with it myself! I am the one started this mess after all! Xing decided.

But something happened that Xing didn"t expected, that Fox Woman suddenly knelt before her and apologised for not knowing her place and her status and messed with the wrong person and that she won"t get up until Xing forgives her.

Xing was tongue-tied and didn"t know what to say for some time as she was genuinely apologising to her.

I am a mere mortal! What kind of status do I hold? Xing thought. Somehow this made a chill ran through her body and she felt really uncomfortable.

That woman only stood up after Xing a.s.sured that she forgave her and she immediately disappeared.

Xing looked at the direction she felt that invisible person and she could feel a big cold hand ruffling her hair. Xing only felt gentleness from that touch even though it was cold and with a gust of wind, his presence disappeared too. Xing looked through the window fluttering in wind to see an owl flying away. An owl again! She thought. This is the third time she is seeing that owl. Aren"t they said to be of ill-omen? Why do I keep seeing them.?