LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

Won"t the usual reaction be shock, surprise and happiness? Isn"t this her end goal in doing all these charity, to be recognised by the Emperor? Or...

He looked at the pride and arrogance s.h.i.+ning in those golden orbs that are said to be owned only by the greatest Emperor of their Kingdom as she handed him his cup of tea and the sweet scent that filled the tent mercilessly taunted him with her doing nothing.

How mesmerising!

The more he looked at her, the more he got sucked in to her. He never had taken a glance that lasted more than a couple of seconds at any woman in his entire life with only his mother as the exception.

It"s not like he had shortage of women around him... Even now there are a bunch of women trying to vye for his attention back in the capital city but he never felt any need to respond to them. He is being told he is engaged to one of them too but he had taken a look at that woman and felt nothing... So why am I this intrigued by this one..? It is not just her beauty right? Why does my heart skip a beat each time she looks at me? Why do I feel the urge to hug her? She looks like she"d be at least twenty... Won"t she already have a man.? Uh! I refuse to believe she has another man!

"Miss Táng! The Emperor wants you in the court immediately", he repeated to get a proper response from her who was now sitting with her back straight and knees together as a proper lady. Her plumpy red lips glistened with the tea she was drinking in the soft and warm lamp lights that stirred his carnal desires. He wanted to keep himself from doing something which he will regret later. If he let his thoughts fulfilled, he"d be pressing her under him, on his bed only few feet away, with both of them feeling the warmth of their bare skin by now.

Oooh! That would be wonderful!

But it is highly inappropriate to think such things about the woman who trusted him enough to join him in his tent for dinner. She looks pure!

He crossed his legs to hide the reaction from his lower body and took deep breaths to control the hotness in his body.

"The Emperor?", Xing curved her lips to a smile and snorted slightly, " Lord Li, do you have an edict?", she asked with her eyes fixed on him and boy did his face twitch!

Does this woman not trust me? Me? Lord Li ChengNuo, whom even the Prime Minister trusts explicitly? She might not know I am the brother of the Emperor but shouldn"t she know my power in the capital city? She thinks I"m just luring her with the Emperor"s name?

Xing who was observing him as much he was observing her, didn"t fail to notice the l.u.s.t swirling in his emerald green eyes as he looked at her.

Oh, how much she loved and missed those wolf eyes that would look at her like she was a prey to be devoured in whole! How adorable are those thin lips waiting to he kissed and those strong, protective arms that would wrap around her and she remembered those kisses they used to share that would make them forget where they were!

But she took a deep breath to compose herself from pouncing on him as every part of her wanted to. For him she is a woman he just met. If she makes pa.s.ses on him, he"d only think of her as a cheap and easy woman and not as the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life.

Thankfully he brought something up to snap me out off my perverted thoughts.!

"Don"t get me wrong, Lord Li! Someone as impressive as yourself, here just to pa.s.s a message of the Emperor... I don"t think it is plausible!", she pursed her lips and watched him getting surprised.

Chenglei looked at her deeply. A woman who thinks rationally along with her transcendent beauty... He wanted her!

" Are you going to tell me why you came to find me, Lord Li? This time... the truth? ", Xing placed her cup on the table and sat leaning on the chair with her legs crossed and her elbows resting on the armrest.

Xing knew there is no possible way someone prominent as Chenglei came here just to track a woman who is supposedly helping the distraught people. The only one possibility that the Emperor might have sent him personally is if he remembered her and wanted his brother to meet her. But that seems not to be the case. So the reason Chenglei might be here is because...

"s.h.i.+hong!", he leaned on the table and tapped his fingers on the table scrutinising her reaction.

His brother was the one who first told him about this woman.. Lady Hur... The wandering helper lady who is doing relief work in the sky Kingdom"s forsaken villages. His brother wanted to bring her to the capital city to meet her and maybe award her business with tax exemption for her spending her own funds in aiding the people the government is supposed to help.

But he was not interested and he felt it beneath him to track a woman but upon his brother"s insistance and the report given by Lin Mubai, he decided to meet this woman. His report said that all the secret bases of s.h.i.+hong"s left in the Sky Kingdom were destroyed one by one before he got to it and when he compared it with the sightings of this mysterious woman... It matched.

That"s the reason he was here.... To meet the woman who hates s.h.i.+hong as much as he do!

When he heard that she is a little south to the Aram village, he had travelled for two days and two nights straight without even resting to catch up to her. From the looks of it, he"d have missed her if he came a day later since he heard that she is leaving tomorrow morning.

Good that I met her!

Xing who didn"t know his thoughts, smirked as he mentioned s.h.i.+hong"s name.

So he remembers s.h.i.+hong even... Didn"t you get to know s.h.i.+hong for me, my Prince! But now, you forgot me while remembering him still!

"What about him?", she asked back refusing to back down from his scrutinising glare.

Chenglei was surprised as he noticed the tinge of sorrow in her eyes but she hid it pretty well almost immediately.

"How were you affected by s.h.i.+hong, pretty lady?" He wanted to ask her. But,

"Are you really the one eliminating what"s left of s.h.i.+hong"s empire?", he asked back not wanting to get too personal with her.

"Yes! I have a personal vendetta againt him and his so called" Empire ". With him dead, its all house of cards anyway! So... I heard you were the one deeply invested in eliminating him. What"s your beef with him? ", Xing asked with her face calm and eyes focused on Chenglei. But only heaven knew how much she wished for his answer. She wanted to know about his amnesia and how much he remebered of their past. If he just forgot every situation and event she was in or just only her presence in such events.

Why was I so hung up on s.h.i.+hong?

Chenglei realised he had never thought about it till now and as he went to that topic all he felt was a hammering pain in his head. He couldn"t find the answer as when he thought he reached to a place bearing the answer in his mind, the result seemed to skip his mind resulting in that splitting headache.

Right! For my brother, probably!

But why did I decide to make him the Emperor when he really didn"t want to?

Then he felt that splitting headache again. It was like he was standing in the sh.o.r.es closer to the waves... With the waves kissing his feet... The moment he got close to the answer, it receded leaving his thoughts empty.

Xing saw Chenglei in deep thoughts and even though he seemed troubled, she tried to probe further as she really wanted him to remember her, even a little bit. At least in his fleeting dream, she want to be remembered by him.

"And Lord Li! I heard you killed s.h.i.+hong... I really wish to know how pathetically he died and his last words...."

Chenglei noted her expression turning sombre as she stood up from her chair and walked towards him with her fingers trailing along the edges of the table.
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The day I killed s.h.i.+hong..? Chenglei tried to search in his memory but he could not remember that day very clearly.

Did I kill him?

It was in a room... There was a sword... But didn"t s.h.i.+hong die of a lightning strike? No... I stabbed him in the throat... Why did I stab him in the throat when I could have just slashed his artery? Why..?

There was someone else there in chains, right? Who was it..?

Chenglei tried to remember but whenever he got flashes of his memory a sharp pain would appear in his head and the flash of memory would break and disappear as if a hammer would shatter gla.s.s.

When he tried to get a hold of those memories, all he felt was more and more pain. The more he felt pain the more he tried to piece together his memories..

Golden hair... A woman in golden hair...? Who was it...?

"Chenglei..", she called him... It was just a flash... But she had the sweetest smile and his heart was filled with joy looking at her...

Who are you? Let me think further...

But all he felt was more pain and the pain now spread to his chest and he felt it hard to breath.

"... Li.. Lord Li... Look at me...Lord Li... ", the desperate cry of a woman pulled him away out of that deep sinkhole of hurt.

Xing who wanted to probe further realised his face getting pale and he was in deep thoughts holding his head and she saw him groaning and gritting his teeth as he drew up his leg.

He was in deep pain!

Xing didn"t expect him to be in such deep pain trying to remember and she cursed herself for putting him through that pain and called him in an attempt to get him out of that thoughts. Before she knew it her face was filled with tears, seeing him hurt.

Thankfully he was able to snap out of his thoughts and he looked at her with his face filled with perspiration.

Xing wiped her eyes immediately and composed herself and gave a polite smile, "Lord Li, you must be too tired from your arduous travel. I"ll leave you to rest", she bowed and then poured him some water to drink in a cup and gave him.