LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

Xing grinned ear to ear, "d.a.m.n his memory! He still remembers that!"

"Your Majesty, that... I do trip on skirts.. That"s why I avoid wearing them", she smiled hard her cheeks hurt.

"So what should I call you? Lord Táng or Huang first young miss?"

" Just Mingxia is fine",she smiled, "Just like my brother"

Just like my brother! That phrase felt like a sharp knife pa.s.sing through his heart. So I"m a like a brother to you? Well! I should be happy since I wanted a family, right?

The Emperor chuckled masking his sadness and poured her some tea and she drank it as he asked,

"You said your father did not raise you..?"

Xing sighed, "My father really is pitiful! He didn"t even know he had a daughter until I met him a couple of months back. My mother only told me to find my father just before she pa.s.sed away. I forced him to hide my ident.i.ty if he wants me to stay with him. So he and my brother had no choice but to lie to you. So you should not blame them for lying to you", she said looking at the Emperor. She just noticed the birthmark right below his right eye.

Was that always there? I never noticed it before!

"Why?", the Emperor"s mellow voice asked. Xing could see him dazzling in bright aura, "Why did you have to hide your ident.i.ty?". The Emperor had thought that AoTian always knew of his daughter and raised her away from the city.

In fact the Emperor had done an elaborate research in the past few days ever since the commotion AoTian made at the Zhong Manor.

That invoked his memory of his meeting with his father. When his Imperial father died, he had told him two things first to eliminate the Huang family and the Zhong family entirely and secondly not to trust his third brother if ever he returns to his side. He never had much impression about his father as he had met him personally only twice in his life. Once when he was adopted by the Empress and the other time just before his Imperial father"s death.

His Imperial father gave those "commands" and he even told him the story of how Lord Zhong threatened him to rebel, if his youngest son even sneezes or has a scratch on him when he was just months old. The previous Emperor also gave him a weird poem written in Guyu language to him and asked to kill without second thoughts the person mentioned in there," The Golden Tiger", "The Divine Ruler" .

The Emperor knew Lord Zhong was loyal to the throne so he must have had his reasons to threaten the Emperor of rebellion and he did not mind much about that poem as he thought of his father"s words as the muddled ramblings of a dying madman .

But nowas he was intrigued, the Emperor searched for the records of the palace and came up with the record of the New Year Banquet seventeen years back and he felt like a thunder pa.s.sed through him. So his Imperial father must have somehow thought Seiren might be the one mentioned by that elder and tried to hurt him and that made Lord Zhong threaten the previous Emperor that way.

So the Emperor tried to find other children born around that time and found... none. Yep ! None! Even if there were children born around that time, they were deceased somehow by accident, illness or injury. So did my Imperial father had a hand in it?

The only other one close to Seiren"s age was the recently surfaced Huang Mingxia who is seventeen and the legal daughter of AoTian. He remembered Lord Táng mentioning her age as sixteen and she grew up in the village, probably because her mother hid her existence from AoTian as the Emperor was pretty sure she was AoTian"s daughter by the way AoTian acted towards her fighting for her and accepting her as a G.o.dchild and letting her stay in his Manor. So AoTian must have hid his legal daughter for the same purpose as Lord Zhong, to hide her from his Imperial father and didn"t know about the existence of his other daughter till now. That was what he concluded.

That only improved his joy as his wish of him and his brother will marry sister"s will come to fruition. He never even doubted that Lord Táng and Huang Mingxia are the same person as Huojin had seen them both and he never doubted it too. But he should have known by the subtle clues given by Rijun and his brother. Well! It"s no use to cry over spilt milk.

Next he found the poem he had forgotten about all this while and read it to find why his father became paranoid enough to may be kill all children born that year. Somehow while reading that poem he got reminded of Lord Táng but Mingxia is the one matching the age. So he wanted to know more about those two and since Lord Táng was refusing to meet him he made an elaborate plan for them to meet and the Exams were only a little part of his plan. His actual plan was to ask about his findings straight to her face and clear his doubts. But turns out she had lied to him... Again!

Táng JiaXing or Huang Mingxia! Whoever you are, you have only lied to me from the day we met. This is your last chance I give for you to prove if I can trust you or not! I can never hate you or hurt you in anyway as it would hurt everyone dear to me but I won"t trust you ever again. Who knows? I might end up like my father trying to kill everyone I doubt in the future. It"s easy to go that path sitting in the dragon throne. So you have the last say in deciding which path I should take as the Emperor. You are the one who made my brother meet me which made me decide to take my role seriously and my brother probably decided to not take the throne because of you too. So you, "Golden Tiger", decide on how the Emperor should be... The Emperor"s jade green eyes were fixed on Xing.

Xing could feel the sharp eyes of the Emperor on her and stood up from the chair, "Forgive me, Your Majesty, I"ll be more comfortable standing up", she said and as he nodded she contemplated, "I could continue hiding everything to him",she thought, "But I don"t want to! This guy really thinks me as family and keeping secrets are too tiring, my head spins! I"m not that smart! ", Xing who had only simple thoughts concluded without even knowing the impact she had created for the future of the kingdom.

Her simple thought had created a feeling of mutual trust and confidence in the Emperor"s heart and it made him not lose his good heart that aided in the development of the nation! Her simple thoughts gave him a family he always wished for! Her simple thoughts gave him a friend he could rely on! And more importantly, her simple thought helped her change her own fate!

"Your Majesty, I sense there are no one else around us not even guards or servants", she looked at the Emperor who nodded. He really meant when he said to talk alone!

Xing smiled, "Since things are like this, I"ll be honest with you. You asked me why I hid my ident.i.ty. There are many reasons, the primary reason being I never thought I"ll grow to like the life of a young miss. I didn"t plan to stay here for long as I knew my father is the Prime Minister. But turns out I love my father and brother as much I love my mother and Haru! And there are many other reasons too.. ", Xing then explained how her mother"s death had changed her life and her past life as Lord Táng and the various acquaintances she made in and out of the nation and even how she owns the properties of Lord Chu and the NanCheng pa.s.s. Well! If you decide to be honest and trust someone, do it completely and give your all!

Xing expected the Emperor to become surprised or worried but he was looking at her with a gentle smile and she was the one who ended up getting surprised.

"These are the reasons I hid my ident.i.ty from others because the Prime Minister"s daughter cannot be all that. And the reason I hid it from you because your place has leaks and s.h.i.+hong knows everything happening here. Your brother is extremely careful when it comes about s.h.i.+hong and I for reasons beyond my understanding too. So there you have it", she said and took the white tiger token out and placed it on the table gently,

"Your Majesty! Now you"ve known my ident.i.ty, I think you might want to take this back", she said politely.

The Emperor listened to her lengthy explanations and realised the truth and rationality behind the decisions she and those around her made. But why does she always returning what I gave to her?

"Mingxia! Who am I?", he asked with his eyebrows raised.

"You.... Are the Emperor..?",she said with a tune showing her confusion. Why is he suddenly asking this?

"Exactly!" he banged the table surprising Xing and she looked at him with more confusion, "Royals are weird! Did he forget he is the Emperor? " ,

"So why do you always think I will take back my word?", the Emperor"s words were firm and his eyes sharp.

Xing realised what he meant and took back the token and kept it safe, "Fine then, your Majesty! I won"t return it to you even if you ask me in the future", she said and her feet walked straight to the Yin-yang sword the Emperor keeps in his study.

Xing who is always fascinated by the swords could not keep her hands off it. Last time Shengli was here to stop me but today I definitely will touch you! Xing giggled in her heart and was about to touch the sword. Shengli had already told her out the sword and she knew if the previous Emperor could hold the sword, then this sword really doesn"t have any magical properties and can be touched by anyone. But why is the Emperor displaying this so openly. What if someone got it and stabbed him? He really makes it easy for anyone to kill him!

The Emperor noticed her eyes solely focusing on those swords. He knew those swords had magical properties and only men with direct Lu blood can touch those swords and women cannot. He also knew that if others touch these swords they end up getting seriously hurt.

It was a general opinion that the one selected by the heavens as ruler will be able to hold these swords and many wondered how his Imperial father who committed fratricide would be able to hold the sword but since he was able to hold it, he gained some support in the court.

But only he knew his father had made an exact replica of the original swords and carried the replica hiding the original. He had found the original and as he had never spilled blood he was able to carry those swords with ease. But if she touches it, won"t she be hurt?

"Let"s talk punishment", he said hurriedly to distract her from the sword.

"Eh! Your Majesty! I thought we have put it all behind us", Xing grinned scratching the back of her head. This guy is always dangerous! I must leave immediately!

"Mingxia, Call me by my name. That would be your punishment for lying to me",the Emperor gave an evil grin.

"Name..? His name..? ", Xing wondered, "Now what was his name again..? Lu... Lu. ..Chen... No, no... Lu ...wait I don"t know his name, do I?", she remembered asking Shengli his brother"s name some days before but all he did was held her close and gave a mind-blowing kiss and she couldn"t think straight until he left. This thought made her red and she composed herself seeing the expectant Emperor and then she tried to remember if Shengli had mentioned his name before but all she could remember was "my brother.., my little brother.., my ninth brother" but no names. All her brother says are "his Majesty" and "snotty brat" cannot be his name even if her father calls him that! But wait! Isn"t calling the Emperor by his name a capital offence punishable by death? So he wants to kill me? Isn"t this too much of a punishment? Xing"s face changed expressions as per the thought she had making the Emperor laugh and he secretly laughed closing his mouth with his sleeves.

Suddenly a bell rang in Xing"s ears and she found an answer,

"Your Majesty! I will call you "Kouki" then! ", she said politely bowing in front of the Emperor. She was happy she was brilliant enough to come up with this idea! Well naming is something she is used to! She cannot ask him what his name is as it might hurt or offend him if he was seriously asking her to call him by his name. At the same time if this was a trick question and he meant to punish her after her calling him by his name, he cannot blame her since Kouki won"t be his actual name.

"Kouki?", the Emperor asked her surprised.

"Yes, your majesty! You are bright like the sun and you are the future hope of our nation. So that name fits you perfectly! ", Xing said happily patting herself in the back. Xing! You are a genius!

"You think so?", the Emperor asked a bit skeptical.

"I know so", Xing answered this time with conviction since she knew he is bright and he is different from the previous emperors and the entire nation is depending on him.

"Fine then. I like the name Kouki", the Emperor accepted. He knew she called Lord Ming by another name. So he didn"t think much of it.

Xing was happy that he escaped another problem thrown by the Emperor and just when the Emperor was distracted pouring himself a cup of tea, she just turned to her side and tried to pull out the black sword out from it"s sheath. The Emperor shouted "No" but Xing had already touched the hilt of the sword.

And...