LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

"Ummm, Sorry, I just wanted to give this token to Lord Táng ", the Emperor offered the token.

"No need for tokens, he won"t enter this place alone", Shengli said bluntly.

Xing having composed herself pulled his hand down immediately as she heard the word "token" and said, "Don"t be mean to your brother" and then turned at the Emperor and accepted the token with her both hands,

"Even though I won"t enter the palace alone, I will accept his Majesty"s good will with my whole heart. Thank you for trusting me", she bowed her head.

"I wish I could see more of you in the future. Hope you would be loyal to me always ", he smiled hiding his embarra.s.sment wondering,

"How come I am the only one embarra.s.sed! "

Xing bowed in acknowledgement and no one noticed Shengli"s hand fisted inside his sleeves.

"It"s late, you go sleep. Don"t follow us", Shengli said angrily and gave Xing a glance and started to walk. Xing immediately walked beside him and held his hand. She could not understand why he was behaving this way to his brother. Was he mad their kiss got interrupted? But it seems he didn"t like her to talk to the emperor. Then again she interacts with many men. In fact most of her acquaintances are men. She had even slept in the same room as Haru. But why did he hate it when she talks to his brother? May be it must be her misunderstanding. He might be just cranky because he drank too much, she concluded.

She looked at the token that was given, it was a wooden token made with red sandalwood and emitted a mild fragrance. On one side there was the inscription of the emblem of the royal family, in white jade carvings  and on the other side was a white tiger carved in ivory fixed in the wood.

Shengli saw Xing by his side admiring the token and he felt sour. Does she want to enter the palace that much? Is that her destiny? He couldn"t keep calm, "You like that White Tiger Token that much?", he asked with an annoyed tone.

"White Tiger Token? Is this that impressive?", she looked at it closely.

"You know, this has the sigil of the imperial family, the white dragon. There is only one token and it will be given to those who are personally trusted by the Emperor. With this token one can go anywhere in the palace, even the inner palace where the harem is, where no men are allowed except the Emperor ",he explained.

"Can go anywhere? So this is really impressive", she looked at him with her eyes s.h.i.+ning.

"You like to enter the palace that much?", he was rather unhappy with her enthusiasm.

"Oh no", she curved her lips, "Who would like to be here? This entire place reeks of blood and bad intentions. It"s just that Brother mentioned the archives of the Wind Kingdom the other day and I thought if I could enter there with this token. Also I got that Peony token from the Heavenly Flowers Palace and I thought another token from the Emperor would be a nice addition to my collection that"s all. Also why would I enter the palace alone?  There is nothing for me in the palace", she stated as a matter of fact.

Shengli sighed thinking about his stupidity. She is the most simple-minded person he knows. Why is he the one thinking complex thoughts?

But, reeks of blood? Why did she say that? All he could smell was the spring breeze.... Whatever!

"Why do you want to go to the archives? No one except for the Emperor and the record keeper can get in. Also it is not safe for you to be in a library ", he asked.

Hearing this Xing froze in her place, not safe? She remembered the fire in the Caijing Library eight years ago. Could she have caused that fire like she believes? Could he believe that way too?

"Not safe? Maybe..Since the last time I was in a library, it burned", she looked at him with her eyes misty.

Shengli felt a knife pa.s.sing through his heart. What is she saying? He didn"t mean like that. Also that fire was caused by s.h.i.+hong and his fight. What he meant by not safe is that she forgets everything else once she gets to start reading. His hand started shaking. He cupped his jittery hands over her cheeks and pressed his forehead on hers,

" Silly girl, how could you say that? You are not someone who knows to cause harm", he hugged her closely, " What I meant by not safe was that because you forget everything around you when you start reading. You probably don"t still know that I fed you dinner yesterday, while you were binging on the books given by Rijun worrying your father and brother. That"s what I meant by reading books is not safe for you. Nothing else... ", he kissed the top of her head.

Xing hugged his waist. It"s true she doesn"t remember anything happened after she started reading those books and certainly not Shengli in her room. So for her, reading books is also dangerous. "I know", she said and looked at him with a smile.

"My moon, don"t ever think that you would hurt others for no reason and I won"t believe otherwise even if the whole world says so", he kissed her gently and entwined his fingers with hers and started walking. Xing felt relieved and walked with him watching the moon and a bright star was s.h.i.+ning near a purple star.

 As they walked slowly they reached the entrance of the banquet venue and saw AoTian, Feiye and Rijun waiting for them. The Zhong family had already dealing with the aftermath of the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt and Haru had left with Shurei too.

Xing saw a really old man accompanied with his son and the old man conversing with her father. The son was from the Shu family Xing saw at the banquet and the old man must be the elder of their family.

The old man was short with his hair all white as snow and had a walking stick. Her father"s expression was not good and he looked rather defensive. The elder saw Xing approaching them and started to walk towards her.

"Elder Shu, we are rather tired and we are leaving", Lord Feiye tried to send the elder off but in vain. Even his son wanted to stop his father, but the elder glared at him. Shengli knitted his brows and stood in front of Xing in a defensive manner. But the old man didn"t bother about anyone and kept on walking towards Xing. Xing sensed the tensed atmosphere, remembering the things her uncle said happened at the time of her birth. She took a step forward and stood beside Shengli.

The elder came closer and looked at Xing with pride and joy. Xing could see no blood bonds with the elder, but seeing no one, even her father not stopping him, he should be respectable of higher status of n.o.bility. Even her father wants to give him face, even though he is the one with the highest authority in here. So Xing decided to wait up.

"It is really you", the elder smiled. Most of his teeth are gone and his body was shaking of old age. Xing never met him before. What is he saying? Before Xing could say anything the elder continued and the things he said afterwards made her heart restless.

"You see the bright star, it"s the Golden Tiger Star that had found it"s rightful place beside the Purple Dragon Star of the Emperor. I knew you"d be here today. I was holding my life this long to see you once. Oh My! The promised Golden Tiger. You got where you rightfully belong after this long. Ah! The golden hair.. How long has it been? , eight, no nine  generations. The s.h.i.+ family"s one, in the Huang family now? ", the Elder tried to touch her hair and she pushed his hands away.

"What Shu family"s chosen one, that person is our family"s ", AoTian shouted. Xing could see her father controlling his temper.

"Ha ha, AoTian, your child does have a little Shu blood running through her", the elder said calmly which made AoTian doubt himself. His Huang family has no ties with that family for generations and ever since MingLing disappeared he researched more than nine generations of her to find her and none of her relatives are of the Shu family or it"s branch either . What is this elder spouting?

The elder"s son was awkwardly trying to stop his father from speaking nonsense, but he was pushed away by the elder.

Xing was tensed and her face was frowning hearing the elder saying stuff about her as she saw no relation between them both, while the elder continued,

" That red regal mark should have been awakened by now. Didn"t it? Can you see blood ties like me? Have you met any G.o.ds? Do you know what you have to do? You should bring fortune wherever you go right ? Also can you control the elements? If my guess is right, you should be able to control the wind or fire. "

These words made her more confused. Only Shengli was unmoved while the others were petrified to even move or even breath. Controlling wind? Fire? What kind of things is he saying? Xing felt her heart race and her fists clench. This foul - mouthed oldman. How dare he talk about things like that? What star? What mark? What Golden Tiger? What rightful place? Why can"t she be left alone? Why would he let her family know all this? Won"t they think she is weird and scary and not normal? Why won"t that old man stop talking? Suddenly the whole place got chilly with  whirls of cold air pa.s.sing through and the spring night felt like a winter night. Shengli turned to see her eyes flas.h.i.+ng amber and he immediately held her hands.

Xing felt the hands much colder than hers holding her and turned to see the resolute look on Shengli"s eyes. Also she looked at her family who looked more worried than scared. Her brain started working again, judging by their reactions, they were thinking of protecting her? Fine then, let them protect her. She doesn"t mind. Not one person beside her is a loser. Everyone is powerful and she is no lesser than them. This old man can blabber all he wants.

Her mind calmed down and she looked at Shengli, he mouthed, "I"m here" with that usual smile of his. That"s right, her prince is right beside her and he knows more than anyone. Also she knew she was not normal herself long ago. Let"s go with the flow. Her confidence came back as her heart calmed. The cold wind stopped and only the gentle spring breeze was blowing. She looked sternly at the old man,

"Elder Shu! I have nothing to say about your beliefs, but it"s late and I wish to get back. Please excuse me",she said and turned to leave. The old man banged his walking stick and said in an angry tone,

"You don"t believe me young one? Listen to what I have to say. You will sit on the Dragon Throne and everyone including the Emperor will kneel before you. You will unite the kingdoms just the way it was before. Everything will begin when this year ends. This I swear on my Shu blood that have served the G.o.ds for generations. "

"Impudence! These are talks of treachery! ", AoTian shouted in anger. Rijun gasped and even Shengli was shocked by what he said. The elder"s son immediately kneeled and started begging for forgiveness.

"Me? On the Dragon Throne?", Xing"s mocking voice made everyone silent. She turned and walked towards the Elder Shu. Even though she doesn"t know much about the palace etiquettes, she"s well aware that the Dragon Throne is only for the Emperor to sit and even the Empress or the Crown Prince can"t sit on it. Also women can never be Emperor in this kingdom. She may like to dress as a man for now, but she is a woman and she is not planning to dress like a man for life. She couldn"t help but laugh loudly and the elder only had a calm expression on him.

"Listen, Elder Shu, I have no plans to enter  this place reeking of blood ever again. You are old. You should stop speaking nonsense and go home and rest well", she said and turned with her sleeves fluttering when the elder continued,

"Ha! I knew it! Only you could smell the blood that was spilled over the years, the blood calling for vengeance for they have wrongly spilled by family killing family. The blood of the innocents. Only your presence here will make them rest and your good fortune will spread from this palace to the city and the entire kingdom. You were born for this. It is your fate, your destiny. You won"t be able to run away from it"

Xing halted her steps, " Fate? ", she snorted, then she smirked at him,

"My good luck? Look, you old fool! I held my mouth just because of your age. But you really want me to act.. Well....Elder Shu.. You have been awake for too long it made your brain scrambled. You! Stupid old blabber mouth! One who cannot keep your thoughts to yourself and caused troubles for our family! Go and rest. I wish you horrible next lives too. Your entire family is going to pay for what you did too", she said and what he did after infuriated her more.

The elder knelt with his forehead touching the ground in front of her and his son tried to get him up.

"This little one will accept your punishment. I"m just glad I get to see you. I know, your existence will void the necessity of the four high n.o.ble clans. If my family is the first one to wipe out, it"s an honour in serving the will of heavens", he said in a polite manner making Xing cringe hard.

What in the seven h.e.l.ls is that! Why would I end the four n.o.ble clans? Xing thought, It"s better if I leave now, or else this old fool only spout more nonsense.

Xing clicked her tongue and shrugged her sleeves and left the place with her sleeves fluttering and in larger strides and got on their carriage followed by her father and brother.

She wanted to find Shengli and saw through the curtains that Shengli was still standing there and Lord Zhong was there too. She did not like Shengli talking to that elder and she shouted,

"Shengli, don"t you dare say a word to that senile Shu. Come let"s leave this place".

Shengli heard her and get to her, "You leave first, I"ll have to deal with other things. Just go sleep ", he said and smiled prompting the driver to move. She waved her hands and sat quietly in deep thoughts knowing he has to take care of the a.s.sailants that night.

The entire city was on high alert after the attempted a.s.sault and there were more guards patrolling the streets and anyone of suspicion were immediately arrested and there were no one in the streets. As the carriage moved, there was a heavy atmosphere inside and except the sound of the hoofs there was no sound.

AoTian was already planning to make this Elder Shu pay for speaking unnecessary things to his daughter, while Rijun was really confused by everything that happened that day and tried to get a hold of things. Xing got the sword in her hand and gently caressed it.

"Father, this sword, did the previous emperor gave this to you? "

AoTian was startled by the sudden break in silence but seeing his daughter looking fine, he was a bit relieved.

"Ah yes, It was a week before he died. He gave me that sword with "trust" engraved and asked me to protect his youngest son with no political backing. In a way it was an edict and this is the first time this sword has seen the light"

Xing was surprised, so the previous emperor wanted the Ninth Prince to become the emperor all along? But why didn"t he just announce him as the Crown Prince just then? Did he just wanted everyone to pitch against each other for the throne that badly? But these matters doesn"t concern her.

"Guess this sword did its duty today. But I don"t need it anymore ", she returned it to her father. Rijun by her side was shocked and looked at her being indifferent unlike the time she got the sword.

" I thought you liked it", Rijun said. But, She pushed the sword in her father"s hands,

" A simple sword is enough for me. I don"t want anything too impressive. I don"t even want an impressive family either. But one cannot change their family ",, she muttered.

AoTian laughed wryly thinking that nothing related to his girl is unimpressive. Is it because she doesn"t want greatness, greatness follows her?

"Really? What kind of family did you expect?", AoTian asked with a smile in his eyes. He was happy his girl thinks he is impressive.

"A poor one with many kids, one who would expect money from me, probably a sweets stall owner? ", she stretched her body and the entire carriage was filled with laughter. Won"t people dream of having a wealthy relative usually?

" Sorry for not being a sweet stall owner. And speaking of money, both of you get the monthly allowance from me in my study tomorrow morning. I should have given it earlier. MingXia, you can send the bills to the Prime Minister Manor while shopping. I only found out today that you haven"t taken anything from the stores and you haven"t asked for money either. I thought Xu Mama explained everything to you. You are going out often and you need money to spend right? You shouldn"t be embarra.s.sed since it"s all yours anyway. Also Rijun, what is that I"m hearing that you are only spending your salary and refused the monthly allowance from me? Have you gotten that great to refuse your father or is that you think now that you are a second rank official you don"t need your father? Look at all the other family"s children draining their family"s money making their elders worry. But you are adding more money and not spending any. I was happy I got a daughter to spend my money but she makes googly eyes over swords and haven"t spent any of my money in the past few weeks. Mingxia, I heard from Xu mama that you only took a set of hairpins for gifting and nothing else. Also Rijun, I heard that you are now paying for your clothes yourself. Why am I getting such children? Are you both worrying that you"ll deplete the storage of our Manor? Well, you don"t have to worry about it since, your father owns many storages like that. Also…. ", AoTian continued to scold them until they reach their home and didn"t let both of them even explain themselves.

Both of them looked at each other and laughed silently. Xing"s heart felt warm thinking about the love her father has towards them and the awkward way he shows it to them.

When they reached the Manor, AoTian asked both of them for breakfast and to be prepared for appropriate punishment for not being filial and left. Both Rijun and Xing looked at each other, clueless to the punishment and went to their respective courtyards.