LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

It"s been more than a month the last war has ended and and another threat of war would bring the spirits of the people down.

Also does our kingdom has a navy? Xing wondered.

"Do we have a navy, brother?", she asked Rijun.

"This lowly servant does not know", he replied bowing to her and Xing could see the Emperor tensing up. Xing who was surprised to see her brother overly submissive and realised this is what the Emperor meant by him getting scary.

Brother being submissive is truly scary!

Xing didn"t give up and tried to engage more with her brother but he refused to talk to her as usual and Xing felt her heart break.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Drops of tears started falling in the report Xing was holding and the Emperor by her side froze.

"Mingxia! What happened?", Rijun ran to her, "Tell me... Are you hurt somewhere?", he tried to lift her face up but Xing was covering her face with her hands and only her tears escaped through the crooks of her fingers and some drops of her tears fell on Rijun"s hand and he felt like an ant on a hot pan.

" You! Did you do something to her?", he shouted at the Emperor who was as panicked as Rijun. No one had seen her cry this much before.

"Me...? No!", the Emperor winced, "It must be the way you are addressing her that could have hurt her... She is your sister and you are treating her like someone distant afterall"

Seeing him panicking, the Emperor wondered if she is acting to cry...

"No way!", Rijun was not convinced. Since when did his stupid sister care this much?

But Xing started convulsing trying to keep herself from crying out loud immediately after the Emperor said that and Rijun realised that must be the reason.

"Mingxia! Don"t cry... Please... I"m sorry! This brother was angry at you and so I spoke to you like that. I won"t do that ever again", he hugged her head and patted her back to calm her down. He was a bit scared to see her cry like that.

"Really?", Xing spoke in a hoa.r.s.e voice, splitting her fingers and only one of her eyes could be seen by Rijun.

"Yes, I promise!", he patted her head.

So she calmed down and wiped her face with the Kerchief her brother face her and drank a cup of warm water to soothe her throat that has gone dry because of crying.

"Spoony Xia! Why waste your tears for this?", he knocked her head.

Xing just looked at him pouting, "Are you that mad at me, brother?", she asked and he was sad to see her reddened eyes.

"Mingxia... I really love her. I know her brother has connections with s.h.i.+hong... She agreed to it and she doesn"t want any part with him. When I met her on that..."

"Brother, let"s not talk about her", Xing interjected. She didn"t want to hear their love story.

"Sister..."

"You almost spilled my secret to her. How would I ever trust her?", she asked in a nasal tone with her deep dark eyes still had the misty layer over it.
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"Mingxia... I know I got stupid! But I swear I never talked about you or our kingdom to her. She doesn"t even know about Chenglie or that you are Lord Táng",he took a step back and took a deep breath, "Can"t you accept her? For me?", he asked in a pleading tone making Xing"s heart go mushy.

"I tried to hate you.. I tried to hate father... For refusing my happiness. But I really could not. You two are my family... Father raised me with all the love in the world and you... You"ve cured my unhappiness by solving all my insecurities... It won"t be enough to give my everything to you both but please... let me have her... Please ", he placed his palms together and begged her.

Xing knew he has no reason to beg her. All he had to say is" Who are you to tell me what to do? " and be on his way. She really has no say in his life. But he still wants to get her permission...

" Brother, have you bedded her? ", she asked standing up and covering her brothers hands in hers. She was almost in genuine tears now hearing her brother"s feelings as opposed to the big drama she enacted sometime before.

The only person who had seen her genuine tears is Chenglie afterall! And the Oldman who is no more...

" No ", he replied almost immediately.

Xing rubbed her cheeks and sat back in the chair. So brother does love her and is waiting for the family"s approval to actually make her his wife. And it is not for some slip up he is trying to take responsibility for.

This is worse!

"Think about it. I know who I want to marry", he said with certainty.

"Do you really know, Brother..? For all I can see, you are trying to bring a snake into an eagle"s nest. How can you be sure it won"t eat the eggs?", she asked looking into his eyes. She wasn"t trying to demean her but she had no confidence to trust that girl. He loves her and she loves him but.. Still..

" Oh, Mingxia! This is where you are wrong ", her brother patted her head, " She is not a snake you should fear. She is a b.u.t.terfly you should admire.! ", he said and took his leave.

"b.u.t.terflies are more creepier and more useless than snakes", Xing murmured after her brother left.

They don"t make honey like bees or give venom that could be medicinal. They look creepy with their many legs and those big creepy eyes.... The feeling when they creep up on your skin....Xing cringed and felt her scalp go numb.

The Emperor who dared not to accuse her of fake crying, now understood how tears can be weaponised. Rijun who wouldn"t have been pacified by anything till he gets his wish granted from what he has known well about his friend, was moved by her tears... Most possibly, fake tears...

Thanks for the lesson, Mingxia! He thought. It might be useful for me in the future!

Women truly are scary beings!

He also could not believe that his friend who had gone for less than a month could change this much and say these heartfelt words without laughing hard. Falling in love could change a person this much? He wondered.

Xing learnt that their kingdom"s navy is not that great and only had fifty s.h.i.+ps with not so trained soldiers while the Sky Kingdom had four hundred s.h.i.+ps and they had captured a lot if big cities south to them by attacking them from the sea.

This is clearly not a winning battle! Even if they start building s.h.i.+ps and train for ten years, it would be hard for their navy to beat the Sky Kingdom.

Xing went to her encyclopedia Bai Li for details on why their Kingdom didn"t have a strong navy and he got too drunk and so it was the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor who then explained everything to her.

Apparently there was a family called the OuYang family who had the blessings of the G.o.d of water and had a good fleet of wars.h.i.+ps and Naval tactics second to no one in the entire five kingdoms. But for some reasons after the three kingdoms were split in the time if the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor, they decided to move to the Water Kingdom. They formed a bigger navy in that kingdom but they were victims of the plots of the Jin family who is now having the biggest fleet in the entire three kingdoms with two hundred s.h.i.+ps.

The Tians.h.i.+ Emperor talked about some stories about the Ouyang family that, they had found a secret island in the Western Sea and had hidden three hundred s.h.i.+ps there with crew before the Jin family got to them as they were left in the Wind Kingdom at that time with their branch family and all and those s.h.i.+ps and their crew are still waiting for the heir of the Ouyang family to return and take control of the fleet as it is theri birthright.

Xing was intrigued by this story and wanted to go on an adventure in the sea with the heir of the Ouyang family to find that mysterious island with loads of s.h.i.+ps with trained soldiers that would help them win, in case the war approaches but the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor rained on her parade of thoughts by saying that no one knows where the heir of the Ouyang family is or if there is anyone alive from that family.

What is the use of him being alive all this while? Xing chided him in her heart.

Apparently, the Tians.h.i.+ Emperor was too focused on watching over his generations that he forgot to keep in touch with those other families.

So with that plan meeting a dead end and with more news from the South and the west of a possible attack through the sea, Xing wondered how they might fare.

It was then she received a letter from Yukino, the Empress of the water Kingdom. She had written how terrible she felt when she learnt that Takano had found a Huang, that too Xing"s brother now to bother and asked Xing to be wary of her since she had never trusted her. She and her brother came from the same womb afterall, she had written.

But half way through, Xing noticed the handwriting s.h.i.+fting to a more manly one. Is this the Water Emperor? She also noticed that there are many markings there as if someone disturbed him greatly while writing it. Did Yukino try to stop him from writing all these?

So he had written that Rijun is to take responsibility for taking their woman to his country. He also mentioned that a princess from their kingdom to marry the Prime Minister"s son would only strengthen their relations.h.i.+p and most importantly he had written that if this alliance is made, his kingdom will support the Wind Kingdom in all aspects and would even lend their navy if need arises.

Sc.u.m! Xing threw the letter on the ground. The Water Emperor is trying to use this situation to his benefit completely. He knew their situation that there is a possibility of war between them and the Sky Kingdom and he knows that they don"t have a navy and he is trying to use that to get rid of the woman who is constantly bothering him by trying to take his wife"s place. He cannot go against the Dowager till now and now that a chance has produced itself, he is willing to utilise it for his benefit.

What a smarta.s.s! Xing could not help but cuss him and also she knew he is smart to use this situation to stabilise his wife"s place in his kingdom.

Xing told about this to the Emperor and her father they also felt that they had no choice but to accept their offer for now.

Even if that woman has other intentions, sacrificing one family is better than sacrificing an entire kingdom.

No one could be much happier than Rijun when news about his engagement with the Princess of the Water Kingdom was announced. The court had no other solution to this problem and it was always normal for wedding alliances to be made between kingdoms but all of them had one question.

Why is that the Princess is not sent to the Harem but sent to the Prime Minister"s Manor?

Of course some said it was because of the jealousy of the Empress and some found more reasons but only those who were close to them knew the real reason.