LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

Xing could not make left or right and held on to Shengli who was pretty used to that place. He must be very acquainted with this terrain as he wasn"t even using a map to navigate. Xing knew that even a person with good directional sense would be lost here as they cannot see the sun and all the trees looked the same. No wonder this place is deemed as mysterious.

As they reached further and Xing felt like they might have walked in for almost a day, they entered a place with tall trees and Xing was surprised to see many houses built on the trees connected by rope bridges.

Xing was curiously staring at everything around them when they were met with an elderly man and some others. Xing knew there were myths about a barbaric tribe secretly living in these forests and never would she had imagined that these tribes were real and they were as cultured and well-dressed as the people outside.

The Elder who is the Cheif of the village welcomed them in and Xing was taken aback by the fact that they were speaking the Guyu language,every one of them. So they live segregated here for almost a millennium? Xing was astonished.

Xing who thought she knew everything learned for the first time that there are things weirder than what she knew out there. There were an entire community of people living there from old to young and they treated both of them as equals.

For some reason the people were under the impression that Shengli and Xing were married and Shengli didn"t correct them and Xing just followed suit.

They were given a sumptuous meal that was full vegetarian but that didn"t lose to the royal banquet dishes. They even had arranged a hanging room that looked like a weaver bird"s nest for their stay. The entire area had many more hanging rooms and Xing only realised this area was segregated for newly weds later on.

Xing and Shengli got in the room and there was only a single bed given the fact that they were thought to be married and the room looked kind of ambiguous.

After cleaning themselves up, Xing and Shengli lied cuddling on the bed with Xing being the small spoon.

Both of them just quietly enjoyed each others warmth.

"Xing.. ", Shengli whispered in her ears making her ears hot.

"Mmm", Xing turned to look at him knowing what he would do if she turned.

As she expected, Shengli"s warm lips landed on hers and he started kissing her and as Xing returned the kiss, their kiss deepened and Shengli"s hands reached to various places in her body which are considered private and Xing"s hands weren"t idle too. As they were making out, Xing realised their "room" was swaying by their movements.

Xing opened the small window like opening to see the many "rooms" beside them that were swaying too and amorous noises filled the air and somehow she felt.. Embarra.s.sed! Since when did I become this Conservative?

"Aww! Even I find this weird", she buried her head in Shengli"s chest with her face reddened up and he ended up laughing and fixed her clothes.

How cute!

"Let"s come here after we get married", he said cuddling her. Xing who felt comfort in his firm protective arms nodded.

"Let"s have our first time on our wedding night with everything decorated red, me lifting your veil and then.."

"Shengli..!", Xing interrupted him in an embarra.s.sed tone and she still had her face buried in his chest.

Seeing her like bashful like this only made Shengli want to tease her more but he refrained himself fearing she may leave the room.

"You said you"ll take me to the western seash.o.r.e before", Xing broke the long silence. Both of them were lying so close with his arms wrapped around her.

"I"m building us a Manor there ", Shengli said kissing her hair, " On the mountains near the sea with forests surrounding near to Yushen"s mother"s place, as you like it"

Xing who was listening to his heart beat was happy hearing it. So he is making plans for us!

"Mmm, ok", Xing said and kissed his Adams apple and adjusted her position as she could feel his body stiffening.

"Xing, stop moving around or I may not be able to restrain myself from eating you. Even the situation is perfect and the noice from outside is not helpful at all! ", he said in a deep, sultry voice that made Xing freeze and she didn"t even move a muscle afterwards.

Xing didn"t knew when she slept but when she woke up, Shengli was staring at her and the outside looked slightly brighter indicating this was morning.

Shengli smiled at her and Xing could see he looked much brighter than he usually does. She traced her fingers along his defined jaw and he had a slight stubble in his chin and Xing felt it fun to rub on it and she was giggling.

Shengli held her hand and kissed her to shut her from laughing and got up to clean himself up. Xing was sitting on the bed with her hand supporting her chin watching him shave.

"Grow out your hair, Shengli! Long hair will suit you the best ", she said with her eyes s.h.i.+ning.

Shengli paused for a moment and as he thought about it, her suggestion seemed acceptable. He had cut his hair to deny being the Prince and as a means for those who had known about the Third Prince to not identify him as the third prince. With his decision to take the role of a businessman who marries the Prime Minister"s daughter and settle in the Western Province, him having long hair won"t be a problem.

Of course there will be some people who would murmur that as a commoner he cannot have long hair and that can be settled.

Money is the ultimate weapon! He can get one or other t.i.tle if he wants to. Who"ll refuse him?

Xing didn"t care about all this, in a kingdom where having long hair is a status symbol, how can her man be looked down by others? He deserves all the respect!

While she had such views about his hair, she had different views about her hair. Usually her hair grows a lot and her braid was as thick as her neck and the thickness didn"t taper towards the tip. So Xing who didn"t care about the societal norms, cut her hair regularly as it would get heavy. That"s one of the reasons she coiled her hair on her shoulders too, to distribute the weight evenly or else she"d end up with neck pain.

Xing always wanted to keep her hair just waist high but because of her mother"s nagging she"d keep it to her knees length. And everytime she cuts her hair, her mother would make her copy those books that talk about the etiquettes of women ten times as punishment but Xing persevered.

Xing knew as a young miss she cannot cut her hair and Xu mama cried and kneeled and begged her not to do it a month back when she decided to cut her hair that had reached her s.h.i.+n.

Shengli saw her picking up the scissors and he immediately knew why. He knew she periodically cut her hair and he knew it was for her convenience but he cannot bear to see it.

"Can you help?", Xing asked knowing he"d refuse but to her surprise he got the scissors from her.

As she was waiting for him to it, she saw his hands trembling and sighed. Of course she knew a married woman"s hair will be cut by others if she decide to be a nun after her husband"s death or if the husband cuts her hair, it would be only because he is shaming her for her infidelity. Such women won"t be allowed to grow their hair back even after their husband divorces them and will be shamed by everyone for life.

Xing didn"t care about those normal practices and found it irrational and idiotic. Men can have a harem and they visit brothels and they cannot be shamed but women can be shamed? Isn"t this male chauvinism?

Xing knew Shengli was deeply conservative in his thoughts and he won"t be able to do it especially to her and tried to get the scissors back from him.

"It"s just hair! It will grow back", Shengli mumbled as if a.s.suring himself and he cut her hair. Then he picked up every single hair of hers and tied it up in a cloth securely as if it was a treasure making Xing laugh.

After breakfast, Shengli and Xing thanked the villagers and took their leave. Shengli took her to the other side of the forest that had the trade route he shared with her uncle.

That path had a pa.s.sage way for carriages to pa.s.s and Xing could sense a lot of watching eyes. So these people were like those greywolves living in the forests protecting their territories, Xing thought.

Before they waited long Xing could see her uncle"s carriages approaching.

Shengli pulled her to face him and wrapped a high quality woollen cape with a hood lined with fox fur on her. The inner layer was lined with fine quality silk that Xing prefers and had many pockets filled with silver coins. Also there were two short swords hidden on the inside of the Cape too.

Shengli tied the cape around her shoulders and pulled on the hood and kissed her on the forehead. Xing could feel her heart clench as she knew they"ll have to part after sometime and they won"t be able to meet for weeks.

"Xing!", He said and Xing could hear his voice break, "Be safe okay! Don"t lose the cape and hide your hair as much as possible when you go out. Don"t use the sword unless your life depends on it. I"ll have people guarding you and there will be your uncle"s people too. So you"ll have no need to use your sword.. ", he added on his instructions as Xing could feel his hands holding her cheeks were getting colder.

" Shengli", she held his hands and cupped it and blowed on it to warm his hands up.

"I promise I"ll keep myself safe", she smiled a.s.suring him, "You too, be safe. Remember, not even a scratch!", she said in a warning tone. She still doesn"t like that Scars that he had on his back.

Shengli nodded and kissed her when the carriage stopped near them.

"Write to me daily, Xing! I"ll be waiting", he said and kissed her more and he didn"t want to let her leave.

"OK", Xing said in between his kisses, " Write me too! ". She didn"t want to let go of him too, "Can"t I come with you to the East?", she asked wrapping her arms around his waist.

"No", he said gently touching her lips with his.

Zedong could not watch those two anymore mindlessly breaking all the rules there is right before an elder of the family and got down from the carriage,

"Mingxia! Get on the carriage, now!", he said in a commanding tone.

"Go!", Shengli pulled her off him with great strength and straightened her clothes,

"Xing! Be safe!", he said and kissed her forehead. Xing nodded and went to the carriage knowing she should leave.

Xing waved looking through the window of the carriage and Shengli smiled at her with his usual smile that reached his eyes making Xing feel less worried and their carriage reached the southern province in a day while Shengli reached the Eastern province.