LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

The day before General Zhong left for battle, there was a military discussion with Minister Zai and Xing intruded the meeting shamelessly as she had something to say.

As expected, those old generals got a bit relaxed after she made tea for them and also since the Emperor was there, no one could say anything straight to her face.

Xing poured the first cup on the floor in memory of the Oldman. She rarely made tea these days and when she made tea, she"d pour the first cup on the ground honouring that Oldman who loved her tea the most.

"Tell our soldiers to not look at the person holding the weapons but the weapon and kill without minding for anything else", she told the generals and they all looked at her weirdly.

This little...! Does she even know what a war is?

"The tribals will be sending women soldiers to fight", Xing explained for them to understand clearly and give them a heads up.

The tribes know the men of the Wind Kingdom are raised to respect women and they won"t be attacking women and they"d feel weirded out, seeing female soldiers and so they will use it to their advantage. Even she was surprised to see women and children with weapons in the Sima village and thought twice about attacking them. But it is war and there won"t be any rules to follow.

But of course the old people didn"t listen to her. The tribes had never brought women to battlefield before why should they now, right?

And on the first day of the war, they saw it with their own eyes and they were ashamed of not listening to their Empress!

The young soldiers stood surprised seeing the army of women and got killed by them before they could compose themselves. The first day of the battle was a terrible loss on their side.

Xing was in the Emperor"s study when Minister Zai brought that news of the loss in the first day of the battle and the Emperor got angered knowing the reason and Minister Zai had to kneel and apologise on their behalf. But what can anyone do of the things that had already happened?

When Minister Zai was about to take his leave, Xing stopped him, "Minister Zai, the tribals... Who do you think they are more angry at? Our government on the whole or a certain family alone?"

Minister Zai who was half kneeling looked at the beautiful Empress complimenting the handsome Emperor by her side with her eyes fixed in him and bowed," Your Highness! In the past war, the loss of the Fish crest wearing soldiers were always higher than the other soldiers"

Xing knew the fish crest belonged to the Chu family. The tribals are really angry at the Chu family more than the Wind Kingdom. They were the one who oppressed the tribals and made their ancestors leave their home. They are the reason the G.o.d of Rain is on the side of the tribals.

"Then see to it as it may please the G.o.ds so that we can win", Xing told Minister Zai and he accepted her advice. He knew if the Great General was here, he"d have agreed to this proposal as he believed in those old tales of people believing in blood for blood. Since the Chu ancestors had destroyed the tribals and that led to the drought in the Eastern lands, the blood of the Chu family should be shed to regain the prosperity of the Eastern lands.

"You will do no such thing. Wait for my orders! You may leave now ", the Emperor sent off Minister Zai.

"Are you going to end the entire bloodline of Chu family?", the Emperor asked angrily at Xing who was just staring at the wall.

It is not like she wants to decide the fates of families.

"Marry Chu Weiye and have children with her. Chu bloodline will live forever!", she said mockingly.

"Is this a joking matter to you? Playing with the fates of people like they are just pieces on a board? Isn"t it a duty of an Emperor to protect everyone in his Empire? An Emperor cannot choose who is deemed to exist or not! Is it not true? "

Xing looked at the Emperor who was looking at her with spite and snorted. Isn"t he a good and genuine person! How I wish I could be just as simple as him! But I"m not here to endorse justice. I have to bring down s.h.i.+hong and also make this empire great as the G.o.ds want me to so that I can leave this place as soon as possible.

Xing knew the the Rain G.o.d acting now of all times must be because of Old Rong too. Or else, why would a G.o.d who had been keeping calm and doing his duty suddenly decide to strike against them? The timing is not that great.

"Will those Tribes even know they are killing the Chu bloodline when they are in the battle? How does that even work? So how can you even say for sure they"ll be satisfied even after we offer them the entire Chu family?", he exuded anger from every inch of his body and his emerald eyes were coldly looking at her. He had seen enough of people killing each other in the name of stupid things. That Eunuch, his brother and even her. He let her talk to the Envoys because he knew they were not here for peace. But isn"t she going really overboard by offering those tribes an entire family of the wind kingdom?

"It"s for the G.o.d of Rain who is by their side. He"ll know bloodlines", Xing answered. He is the one who is angry at the Chu family and punis.h.i.+ng everyone else along with them! It is not like she wants to do this either. But to finish what she has to do, these things are mandatory.

"Don"t you have the G.o.d of Wind by your side? Isn"t he one of the great four and isn"t he more powerful than the G.o.d of Rain? Why don"t you ask him for help? Why must you kill people? You always do this... Only those you like should live in this kingdom and others are unfit to even breath the air you breath, is it not? ", he asked coldly. Will she use those G.o.ds for her own personal welfare alone? She gets clothes and other things from them, why not something for the sake of the kingdom?

Now that tripped the patience switch in Xing"s brain and she stood up and stood in front of him pointing her index finger at him," Yeah right, your Majesty! Why don"t you go and ask Fei Lian for help since you were coronated personally by him? And guess what... G.o.ds never fight in their realm and always take their fights to the mortal realm. Remember the Great Rift of the East and the Great Lake in the Earth Kingdom? The proof of the fight between G.o.ds that killed millions of humans when they were formed! And guess what the fight between the G.o.d of Wind and G.o.d of Rain will bring... Hurricanes... Tornadoes... Devastation... If you want to kill thousands in the place of hundreds.... Go right ahead! You are the Emperor... Do what you want... Leave me alone... Its not like I"m here in this wretched place because I want to... ", she screamed at the Emperor and left the study in long strides. She don"t even want to answer the last part of sentences he spoke. He is not all wrong though!

Mo Chen saw both of them fighting and he whined and stood by the side looking pathetic.

Please don"t fight!

Xing went back to her courtyard and locked herself in and didn"t even care even though the Emperor sent for her. She heard that the river had dried up entirely in the past week and there were heavy rain in the battlefield and the barracks of the Wind Kingdom when the entire Tribal barracks were nice and warm.

The rain got worse everyday making their tents damp, soldiers sick and their food supplies got affected by the humidity and a lot of food went to waste. Only when the soldiers are strong physically and mentally can they win the war. This negative situation made everyone"s morality go south with the nature acting against them. The lands where rain was needed were dry and the battlefield where rain is not needed was puddled with excess rain.

And because of the rain, a mysterious flu was transmitted among the soldiers and many died before the doctors could figure out the medicines.

And so within weeks of the war, many of the soldiers of the Wind Kingdom were killed and wounded and most of the soldiers had lost their motivation to win the war by all the conditions against them.

They are losing!