LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

An entire family being punished is not uncommon, but the emperor leaving the palace for the complaints of the people, made the officials tremble. The Western Province officials were all investigated in the past couple of days and all found guilty were stripped off their posts and their wealth were seized and they were degraded to commoners. The oppressed people were really happy by this turn of events and the hunters became the prey overnight. No one helped the fired officials and they were chased away. Those included some officials from notable families and even their own families didn"t help them fearing they"ll be investigated if they help them.

The officials from other provinces tried to clean their acts and other n.o.ble families tried to change their arrogant ways and underground connections. One visit from the Emperor made many changes. The sheepish people were troubled and the moral people rejoiced and of course there were some evil people who were prudent, who did not care too.

As soon as the Emperor entered his study the next day, he was welcomed by the very crossed Prime Minister with his adopted son Huang Rijun who was the a.s.sistant Civil Affairs minister. Since Rijun was close to the Emperor and the General, he was here to act as a buffer between his father and the Emperor as it was his unspoken duty as his friend.

As the Emperor entered, both of them gave the courtesy bow to greet the emperor. "Prime Minister, what breeze blowed you here this early in the morning?, the emperor sneered. Huang AoTian gritted his teeth and held his fists. His nerves in his forehead were visible and his eyes were red with anger.

" Your Majesty, I"m here because of the storm you created, to educate the implications of your actions this time ",he said controlling his anger. The Emperor sat in his chair and the Prime Minister sat opposite to him with his son standing by his right and the general to his left.

" Zhen"s actions are appreciated by the people. The bad people are being punished, what"s there for you to worry, unless..",he smirked.

"You..",he was about to swear when Rijun interfered, " Your Majesty, you know more than ninety percent of our court officials are from n.o.ble families. If a group of them unite and stopped working or worse - start to act against you, the court will not function and the people would be suffering then too. Our Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Lord Zhong had to work really hard these couple of days to prevent such things from happening. I hope you understand the gravity of the situation we are in", he talked in a soothing way.

The emperor rubbed his temples. " Those n.o.ble families… can"t live with them, can"t get rid of them. So now, how is the situation? "

" Psst, look who"s worried now.. ", Ao Tian sneered. The emperor ignored him and looked at Rijun.

" Your Majesty, we made sure that every official know that only those who are guilty should be worried and if they do anything out of normal, they"ll only look guilty. Those who still protested were investigated and some were arrested and others were suspended. Also Zhong army is also used in addition to the imperial guards for safety of the capital city. This will only appease them on the surface, but they are definitely going to plan something in the future", Rijun replied.

" You are really good at intimidating, Prime Minister AoTian. Just arrange a banquet or something to soothe them", the Emperor smiled.

"If only you were half as clever as your att.i.tude or at least if you had heirs, I would have…", before he had finished, the emperor sighed deeply, which made Lord AoTian"s mouth twitch.

The emperor continued, " Uh! If only more common people could enter the court, we wouldn"t have to care about the n.o.bles. And Prime Minister! why would you have to worry about me making heirs, if you give me your daughter? Sigh! Even you don"t have children except Rijun here. So it"s all your fault for me not having heirs! I wish I had more people like Lord Táng, no, just him would be enough to keep those n.o.bles in check. Umm", he sighed again.

" I won"t give YOU one of my daughters even if I had a hundred of them", AoTian said p.i.s.sed off, this one has to provoke him every single time... "And, Lord Táng? ", Ao Tian asked in surprise. Why am I remembering Táng Ming Ling. She"s been dead for seventeen years.

" Yes, Lord Táng! I met him in the Western Province. He"s good with sword and he gave me the solution to the Ming family problem, and he was really amazing and smart, I wanted to drag him back here.with me ", the Emperor"s eyes became bright.

" Wait, didn"t I.."

"No, His plan was better", the emperor cut him off before he continued.

Ao Tian shook his head, someone who could come up with the same solution as him? He must be good. But why haven"t I heard about him till now?

"Huojin, what do we know about this Lord Táng? I don"t know any n.o.ble family by the Táng name", Ao Tian questioned.

"You cannot get him work for you Lord AoTian! I already made him promise he"ll only serve me! ", the emperor threw his fist on the table proudly.

" Well, Huojin walk with me", Ao Tian said and left the Imperial Study not wanting to continue his talk with the Emperor.

Huojin bowed at the emperor and left with him. " Your father"s acting weird! Usually, he would argue back until he wins.. ", the emperor told sipping the tea Rijun poured.

"Your Highness, you should give him some credit. He didn"t even sleep or eat well the last couple of days controlling the situation", Rijun added.

"I know! I know!He is one of the very few I can completely trust"

" But then why do you act to provoke him always? You anger him so much I"m afraid he"ll damage his heart "

"Ah! That would be a bad thing. But, his angered face is so adorable! I can"t help it", he winked.

" You really are the worst", Rijun smiled and stacked a bunch of doc.u.ments he had to sign. The emperor sighed.

"Rijun, do you think common people think differently of me? Like someone distant?"

Rijun sighed, "Now what? You are unapproachable! You are someone high! You are the Son of Heaven! For heavens sake, you really like me saying this everyday to you, don"t you? You narciss.. ", seeing the Emperor"s sulky look, Rijun stopped. "What now?", he asked softly.

"Nothing! I thought me and Lord Táng got along pretty well in the short meeting we had and I expected him to come send me off. But he didn"t", the Emperor said with a pout.

"He wanted something from you, he got it. Why would he come to you again? And it"s not like he would have been allowed to", Rijun said irritatingly. This Emperor is like a little child looking for acknowledgement. He then went and brought a bunch of picture rolls and placed it in front of him,

"Here, this year"s candidates of n.o.ble Ladies to enter your harem. Choose some and stop complaining to me that a man did not come to wave a kerchief to send you off", he was clearly p.i.s.sed.

"Put these away.. I bet these paintings are sent to every n.o.ble family with a son. Wait... let"s compare how many we got similar this year. You would have received these too, right?", he grinned.

Rijun glared at the Emperor for a moment but then he wanted to know too and started comparing. After finding out most of them are the same pictures both sighed.

" Hmm! No one wants just me. They all want my status! ", Rijun said dejected." Women are an enigma to me. They look different, sound different, walk different, smell different, act different and I don"t know how to get along with them! At least you could have many women and you could find at least one close to your heart. But what about me?", Rijun sighed.

" Ah! Your family has that weird "one wife only" rule right? You should fall in love and then marry", the Emperor said in a slight mocking tone.

"Fall in love? Where can I find a woman? Our Manor don"t even have maids. There is only Xu mama who is more than fifty. And sadly, our family has a bad history in love" , he smiled dryly.

"Chop! Chop! Now let"s begin your work. Lord Zhong may visit too. He"ll kill us if he sees us slacking. You have piles of work to take care of", Rijun hurried the Emperor after composing himself.

"Lord Zhong? I wish he doesn"t come here. He"s scarier than wild beasts! ", the Emperor said and started looking at the doc.u.ments immediately.

...

Ao Tian while walking asked Zhong Huojin to tell him about Lord Táng.

" Lord AoTian, Lord Táng is not actually from a n.o.ble family. But since he has long hair and always wears crimson, people call him Lord Táng. He, along with Ming Yushen are famous in the western province as vigilantes called Crimson Jade brothers . But they had never once acted against the government. Also this Lord Táng is only sixteen and is supposed to be married but has many women who fawn over him and there are various rumours around him too and someone said he was cheated by his wife and she is with another man now. He also frequents the Heavenly Flowers Palace".

"Only sixteen?", AoTian mumbled, " This person seems frivolous, why does the emperor likes him this much? You think he may…", he asked Huojin.

" I don"t think so. That person was so charming even though he was annoying. Even I found him…"

"That"s enough", AoTian cut him off. "You young people are really too much. Any other updates?"

"Yes, important news", Huojin confirmed no one"s nearby and whispered, "Lord Ao Tian, Shengli met the emperor back there"

"He was there? And then?"

" Apparently he explained his stance and asked him to take his role seriously. The Emperor also seems to have accepted his words"

"Good then, You may take your leave. Also make sure my stupid son reaches home promptly. He arrived with me today"

" Yes Lord Ao Tian, I"ll prepare a carriage for him", he bowed and left.

AoTian was wondering what would these events lead to in the future and left to his office to pacify the n.o.bles still pestering him and to properly announce for the "Spring Banquet"