LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

Even she who"d been handling his finances the past month didnt know about him buying a s.h.i.+p and no payment was given from the accounts she knew that he had and it made her wonder how much money he has.

And the name of the s.h.i.+p... Isn"t it kind of my name "Táng" and his pet name "wolf" combined? Maybe I"m thinking too hard?

Xing racked her brain but she couldn"t find any answers. This man is a mystery as always.

"Mummy!", Xing felt the screeching voice she missed for some days that brought her out of her thoughts. She picked him up and hugged him.

"Baobei! Did you come to send mother off?", she kissed his pink cheeks.

"No... I"m going with you,mummy please... Take me with you... ", Baobei spoke in a low pleading voice making Xing"s heart go mushy.

Can I bring him with me?

"He is throwing his usual tantrums and even made a commotion to pack his clothes saying he"s going to join you.... You spoiled him too much and now it is your duty to send him back home. And by the way stupid Xing, where did you p.a.w.n your brain off when you accepted to go on this voyage? You can"t even survive a carriage ride for a couple of days and with what stupid courage did you think you could handle this voyage that might span for months? You do know s.h.i.+ps sway too, right? ", Haru could not help but scold her.

Only then Xing realised that she gets motion sickness in carriage rides and won"t a s.h.i.+p voyage be worse? Sigh! But I did promise Kouki... So I"ll have to push through. I cannot let Kei Takanas.h.i.+ win!

Seeing her thinking hard Haru sighed deeply. Why is she so stupid when it comes to herself? Can"t he take care of her better? Stupid Xing! Who knows what troubles she"s going to bring back after this voyage! That Emperor! Still putting everything over her head... Can"t she be allowed some rest? Well, at least brother Lei will be with her... But will he take care of her like before?

Baobei who was hugging her grabbed her by her cheeks and asked her to bring him to the other side of the port noticing Chenglei coming towards them.

This dirty uncle is still around mummy! I will protect mummy!

Chenglei who"d been avoiding Xing the entire morning noticed Haru and he had to greet him out of common courtesy.

Well, who is he kidding? Since when he worried about common courtesy? He has to pander to him because he is that woman"s brother and he have to ask for her hand to him. Also the Prime Minister... What a complicated relations.h.i.+p she has with people! She has a father and an adoptive brother and yet uses her mother"s surname.

That woman said she"d use Lord Ming"s s.h.i.+p and he had to convince her to use his s.h.i.+p last night. And now that he"d got caught by her this morning doing something to her again... He was worried she"d refuse to travel with him but thankfully she doesn"t seem to mind.

But why doesn"t she care? If it was done other women, they"d have made a scene to make the man take responsibility!

"Lord Li!", Haru gave a bow to Chenglei and Chenglei returned the bow. Then he went on giving advise to Chenglei on how to take care of Xing since she"d get motion sickness and Chenglei was taking mental note of every word Haru said.

Since when did Haru became my grandmother? Xing wondered.

Baobei was still holding on to her and Xing looked at him, "How is your mother?", she asked. Shurei was eight months pregnant and she has a weak composition that worried Haru a lot but Xing knew she"d be fine.

"Mother is fine. She made me a new robe", Baobei was nonchalant making Xing sigh.

"Baobei, will you help mummy? Mummy needs help and I can only count on you... Let"s keep it a secret from your father!", she whispered in his ears holding his hands and Baobei"s eyes brightened up and he nodded with a serious expression.

I will surely help mummy!

" Go back to your Manor and take care of your mother for me. I wanted to but since I have to leave, I cannot. See... I only have you, whom I can trust blindly for taking good care of Shurei. She has your little brother in her belly and no one can take good care of her like you do ... So will you, please? For my sake? ", she talked to him like he is an adult and Baobei who felt like he was given an important mission nodded his head,

" Okay, mummy! I"ll take good care of my mother and little brother until you return ", he had fire in his pretty eyes.

" I really appreciate your help, Baobei! You are the only one I can depend on! Now wait with Ye Mama. I"ll have a talk with your father", she patted his head and he walked with determination towards his nanny and stood by her side obediently.

And just like that the little boy who could throw mega tantrums that could make one hate the land of the living, was pacified and became docile.

Xing walked up to Haru and she could hear him listing her preferences making her eyes roll.

"I can take care of myself, Haru!", she pouted. "But... A maiden like me alone in a s.h.i.+p with a man.... Won"t that create rumours? I don"t know what the Emperor was thinking!", she spoke in a nasal tone and Haru who is very well aware of how much she could act rolled his eyes.

Chenglei didn"t like how she talked about him that way to her brother when he felt the need to impress him, " Miss Táng! What made you think that I"d be impolite with.... ", he paused seeing her staring in his eyes. His heart bubbled with guilt and he didn"t know how to continue.

"Did he do something to you, Xing?", Haru joined in on her act sensing the guilty look from his brother Lei. His face had paled and his heart was racing and he felt like a rat caught in a trap.

"Actually, he... Lord Li....", Xing pursed her lips stopping herself from laughing but for Chenglei it looked like she was controlling her tears.

"Coming!", Chenglei shouted suddenly as if someone called for him when n.o.body did and after politely nodding to Haru turned to leave carefully avoiding Xing"s gaze.

This woman is going to spoil my name! What should I do? Maybe I deserve to be labelled a molester! He prepared his heart for the worst.

"Lord Li!", Xing called and he paused his steps and slowly turned his head.

Will she make her brother punch me in the face in front of everyone?

"Need a hand?", she asked waving her hand and burst out laughing making Chenglei go red with anger and embarra.s.sment.

Is this woman making fun of me?

"No, thanks", he answered gritting his teeth and fisted his hands and turned and walked stiffly with his hands and feet moving together.

This woman! Is everything a joke to her? I am never going to believe her ever again!

He left fuming and Xing with her face filled with laughter looked at Haru.

" Don"t say a word, stupid Xing", Haru shushed her, "I really don"t want to know what you two did",he sighed.

"But Xing, be careful! You are a woman and he doesn"t remember you. A lot can go wrong", he worried for her. What if she gets played by him and rumours start flying and then brother Lei leaves her? She really won"t be able to handle his betrayal.

"What could go wrong?", she chuckled, "It"s not like I"d get pregnant!"

Seeing her laughing, hurt Haru more, "Don"t mention that, stupid! You definitely will get better!", he picked a brooch from his pockets and pinned it on her. It was made from torquise coloured coral and it was shaped as a water lily but when looked closer there was a dragon in the design too.

" This looks old... ", Xing said looking at it.

"Yes, it belonged to mother... She pa.s.sed it to me. She said that this is some family heirloom and it would protect me in the sea",he gently caressed it thinking deep thoughts.

" If it belongs to your mother, you should give it to Shurei. Why are you giving it to me?", Xing tried to get it off. Haru never liked to talk about his mother and she knew he missed her a lot. Then how could she accept such an important thing?

"Stupid! You thought I"m GIVING it to you? I"m only lending it to you! Give it back after you get back! I am going to give it to my wife... What made you think I"m giving it to you?", he mumbled.

This stupid!

"Fine then!", Xing pursed her lips. He should have made it clear.

"Take care of Baobei well... I"ve asked him to be obedient but don"t punish him if he acts up, okay? He"ll miss me. These days I"m leaving him a lot and he"d think I"m not prioritising him... I feel bad... He"s such a good boy! ", Xing spoke with her voice trembling as he waved at him still obediently standing beside his nanny.

" I know ", Haru looked at his son and he was surprised too. That boy acts like a human child only around her. Other times he would be like someone from the animal kingdom.

After looking for the auspicious signs and the Wind measurements, the s.h.i.+ps started their voyage in the western sea towards the island that is said to be the hiding place of the Ouyang Navy.

The s.h.i.+p Xing and Chenglei were on was a merchant s.h.i.+p that depended on the sails to move while the ten navy s.h.i.+ps had three layers of oars along with the sails.

Xing stood by the bow of the Scarlet Wolf s.h.i.+p that had a howling wolf carved on its bow and it was painted in crimson colour.

They had a s.h.i.+p crew and most of them weren"t allowed in the deck as ordered by Chenglei since she spent most of her time in the deck reading and throwing up.

There were a couple of maids arranged for her by Chenglei and their duty has been to feed her immediately after she throws up and help tle distance from her clean up. He didn"t disturb her and even kept a little distance between them and Xing didn"t feel very good about it.

She was given the better room and it was s.p.a.cious and had good quality furnis.h.i.+ngs that were all fixed to the floor and the big bed did seem lonely to sleep alone. During nights she"d sometimes feel the familiar scent near her and when she wakes up, there won"t be anyone beside her.

Ah! I miss him! Xing sighed. Maybe I shouldn"t have made fun if him too much!

The journey went well for a week with no hiccups and the Wind was perfect for their sails and those other seamen, who found her presence in a voyage an eyesore shut their mouth.

But suddenly after a week, there was no wind in the sails and all the s.h.i.+ps stood in the middle of the deep sea unmoving. This situation continued for three entire days when the other navy soldiers started blaming the presence of the female that messed their plan as the G.o.d of sea never accepts women in the sea.

On the fourth day, Xing was on the deck, leaning on the rails, eating the fruit the maids were peeling for her. She looked around to see the water still like a sapphire crystal with no movements and it felt like someone was holding the wind stopping them from moving.

She could hear the murmurs from the other s.h.i.+ps and they all paused seeing Chenglei standing beside her.

"Not waving the White Tiger Token to them?", he asked with a smirk. He got the fruit plate from the maids and sent them off.

He"d been keeping away from her since he had no self-control when he is around her. He knew if he continued acting that way, he would only be misconstrued as a frivolous person and he didn"t want that. So he stopped himself from getting near her and even then with her room right next to his, he couldn"t stop himself from visiting her when she is asleep.

This woman has me tied to her little finger! Can I escape? I don"t want to escape... I want to be captured in the prison of her heart.

"Why bother? They already know I am the commander as appointed by the Emperor and still they couldn"t keep their mouth shut. What difference did the White Tiger Token make?", Xing smiled with no worries accepting the fruit Chenglei gave her.

"Why aren"t we moving?", he asked k owing that she has the answer. She looked like she knew.
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Xing just shrugged.

Oh, Mazu! Are you trying to force me to visit your palace?