LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

The children are scared to get to the study anymore and even Mo Chen rarely came back from the hunting ground. The twins stayed with their elder brother these days if they are not getting their lessons. Ah Xuan in addition of taking care of the duties of Crown Prince, now became a father to his siblings since their father locked himself in the Imperial Study.

AoTian pa.s.sed through the row after row of memorials that were stacked up. The windows were locked making the entire study dark like it was night.

Aotian made it a habit to visit him during lunch and make sure he eats something, these past few weeks. AoTian was sure the Emperor is only having one meal per day and that too being forced by him.

"Right on time, AoTian! With you visiting me regularly, others might think you are my Consort", the Emperor spoke dryly with a sneer and AoTian didn"t mind him and set the table.

"What"s the menu? Poison?", the Emperor asked and AoTian with gentleness in his eyes, looked at him. This was the one he always considered a son and now that he is hurting, he will try to help him grieve.

The Emperor"s sneer changed to anger seeing AoTian silent. With one swipe of his hand, the Emperor pushed everything on the table on the floor, as usual.

AoTian didn"t even have a change of expression and clapped when another set of food arrived and the Emperor pushed it down too.

And after pus.h.i.+ng down food five more times, may be because he got bored of pus.h.i.+ng them down, he then started to eat.

"When is your daughter returning? She really is resilient, isn"t she? Fortunate too. She never loses anything, does she?", he spoke in a tone that made AoTian uncomfortable.

"She almost lost her life giving birth to the twins", AoTian answered wondering why he brought up his daughter in the conversation now.

"Yeah! ALMOST! She never REALLY loses anything, does she? Her love, her womb... Her life... She was sad she won"t be able to get pregnant and now she made four babies.... Babies of the man who is supposed to be dead!", his voice was filled with hatred and AoTian didn"t answer. He knew whatever he says will only provoke the Emperor. Silence is golden at these times.

"Here, an edict. Send it to her", the Emperor threw an official scroll with silk ta.s.sels hanging by the side.

Reading the edict, AoTian"s hands trembled, "Think twice before deciding, your Majesty", his voice shook.

"I did... Think twice. This is my decision. I"ve thought about why I can"t have happiness and she is the reason. Isn"t her forty days confinement period over? Now send it to your daughter. She is supposed to live with me. She will divorce her husband and will become my Empress", in that dark room with just a single lamp on the table, the Emperor"s eyes flickered with evil.

"Fine then", AoTian stood up holding the edict. He is the Prime Minister and he must be serving the Emperor.

"Throughout history there never was an Emperor who l.u.s.ted for another man"s wife and stayed in his throne for long. I never thought you"d l.u.s.t after your brother"s wife. Guess, I never knew you enough"

Saying this, he turned and left, clenching the edict. He thought by staying close to him in his time of grief, he will be healed but he turned evil.

Then it is war! Let"s see who touches my daughter!

The Emperor smirked and leaned back in the chair and looked at the roof.

Who is my brother? I"m a Lu and he is too. We are not brothers. Finally everything will become how it is supposed to be! She is supposed to be mine! I will have my happiness too!

"Whose there?" he felt someone outside the wooden part.i.tion and growled.

"Answer me!"

Without even confirming who it was, he drew the dark sword on his table and threw it at the source of the noise and it got stuck in the gap between the carvings of the wooden part.i.tion.

"Eek!", a child"s voice was heard making the Emperor"s heart skip a beat.

"Little Zai?" he stood up and went to take a look but there was no one there. He looked outside and saw him running away. A neatly rolled paper was on the floor where he heard the noise.

He picked up the paper and saw a drawing of a plum blossom and he felt his heart squeeze.

"My son, he must have come here to show me the painting he drew and I scared him away. What am I even doing?"

He sat on the floor covering his face.

No, I have to do this! I want her!

---

The Twin girls were sleeping in Chenglei"s lap when Xing"s first uncle entered the room.

"Why are they always sleeping?", he was not pleased. Its been seven weeks since they"ve been born and each pa.s.sing day, they grew up quickly.

Both of them looked identical and no one could differentiate them except their parents and of course, their granduncle.

" Little Yu! " he called softly and one of the twins opened her eyes and blinked, revealing her clear green eyes. The other one, Little Zhu, twitched her face a little as she was disturbed and went back to sleep, keeping her hand in her mouth. Chenglei pulled her hand out of her mouth and wiped the drool off and fixed the dark brown hair falling on her forehead. Both of them had a head full of hair at birth and it grew in an alarming speed,just like their mother"s.

"Come to your grand uncle, Little Yu", Lord Huang picked the neatly swaddled baby not minding the glare of Chenglei.

"See, you look more and more like my mother, aren"t you?", he kissed her forehead and the baby gently kicked and hit his face with her short chubby hands. She was clearly excited hearing his voice. He is her horse.

"Do you love me? Oh, yes, I know. I"ll bring you outside. Let"s see flowers and birds, okay? Or do you want to see grand uncle"s horses today? Grandpa has a lot", he left the room without even turning back.

Chenglei sighed seeing that old guy walking with a skip in his step. The Twins resembled AoTian a lot but their eyes were clear green unlike the Hazel eyes prominent among the Huang family members. Apparently their mother, his aunt had clear green eyes too and Lord Huang was too excited he get to see two girls resembling his mother.

Even though both of them looked identical, their characteristics were entirely different. Little Zhu liked to eat and sleep. She didn"t bother anyone much. Little Yu on the other hand kicked a fuzz for everything and she just wanted to wander around. Others won"t cary her around, fearing her father and since her grand uncle happily shows her around, she got attracted to him.

"Did he bring Little Yu out again?", Xing asked stretching herself after taking a nap.

"Hmm", Chenglei gently placed the baby in her crib and got to Xing, holding a cup of medicine. She got it and drank it pinching her nose.she always hated medicines and even Chenglei was surprised she is drinking medicines properly and taking care of her health.

After her difficult childbirth, she couldn"t even move her legs for a week and it took her almost a month to move around by herself.

Chenglei stayed by her side, and took care of her the entire time.

"Ugh!", she stuck out her tongue finis.h.i.+ng the bowl of medicine and Chenglei placed a sweet in her tongue and she ate it and only then her contorted face became normal.

"Look at all the fat!", she pinched her arm that had gotten bigger and patted her belly that was round.

"You are pretty, love. I wish you stay like this", Chenglei leaned and kissed her gently and soon it became a deep kiss. She is so adorable.
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"Chenglei", she placed her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him away as he tried to disrobe her.

With a sigh he got away from her. She wasn"t fully cured yet and she still was weak. She looked guilty and he a.s.sured her he is fine with a smile.

That time, a bunch of letters were delivered along with the edict.

Chenglei, sitting in the table nearby, read the edict and his hands fisted and his expression went a lot colder.

Xing who was reading the letters addressed to her, felt the coldness emitting from him and when she looked at him, he seemed normal and she got back to her letters.

"Consort Jiang haven"t written back yet", Xing looked at Chenglei who took a deep breath. He didn"t inform Xing of the Consort"s pa.s.sing yet since she was still recovering.

Seeing his expression, Xing knew something was wrong and Chenglei carefully explained about the two letters he received.

"Within hours?", Xing was surprised and she cried unknowingly. She knew it was an unfortunate thing and no one could have done anything in that situation to change the outcome. It might have been different if she was in the capital and if she wasn"t giving birth.

"How is Kouki doing? He would be heartbroken. You should be with him and not here,Chenglei..."

"Here", Chenglei interjected her and pa.s.sed the edict to her.

Why is she worried for that sc.u.m?

Reading it, Xing"s expression turned sombre. She didn"t feel scared that such an edict is sent by the Emperor or angry that he thought of her this way. She was calm.

"What have you decided?", Xing asked Chenglei knowing very well the answer.

He is going to kill his brother!

"I"ll take care of it. Don"t worry", he bent and kissed her forehead and turned to leave when Xing caught his hand.

"Let"s go back to the capital city. I need to have a talk with the Emperor", she looked straight at his eyes and he gritted his teeth in anger. If he doesn"t act now and defend his wife"s honour, he is worthless to be called a man.

"I know, Chenglei. But I will not let you kill your brother. Let me handle it", she didn"t let go of his hand and Chenglei couldn"t accept her request and even got angry at her.

"He is no brother of mine. Those who were born with the Lu surname can never get along",he tried to leave but Xing only held his hands tighter.

"Chenglei, " she looked at him without her eyes wavering and Chenglei felt his heart calming down looking at her eyes.

His brother deserves death. But this is the woman he married and she cares about stupid things. He needs to let her do what she wants.

Preparations were made for their departure and she could sense the Huang family preparing for a war against the throne. They helped build this empire and helped this Emperor in a lot of ways and now they can bring him down if needed. They will not let their married daughter to be humiliated by the Emperor like this.

The travel was harsh on her and their two month old twins but Xing endured and reached the capital city as fast as they could.

Chenglei took care of her as usual but she could feel the slight misgiving towards her. She could understand him and appreciated him stepping back to let her do her thing.

Without even going to their Manor, the Jin family entered the Palace as soon as they entered the city.

Little Zai somehow heard about their arrival and ran towards Chenglei and hugged his waist and started sobbing complaining about his father.

"Uncle, I"m scared", he hugged Chenglei and cried. Xing looked at Chenglei who was a bit guilty for thinking of killing their father but she knew he is not regretting his decision to kill his brother and would do it even now.

Xing realised everyone in the Palace looking scared and alert not to do anything wrong. The entire place looked like a prison than a Palace.

The Imperial Study was not guarded and empty without the usual officials trying to get an audience of the Emperor.

"Wait here, don"t come in no matter what", she told Chenglei. Seeing his worried look, "I"ll be safe," she added. Chenglei wasn"t pleased, but he nodded anyway.

The dark study made Xing squint her eyes and she almost tripped on a stack of memorials.

"Your Majesty!", she shouted loudly seeing the dark figure sitting in his desk and walked towards the window and opened it without minding the Emperor screaming not to open.

Seeing the man with his unshaven face and dishevelled hair, she smirked.

"What is this about?", she slammed the edict on the table and looked at his eyes. He was as dark as Chenglei right now. It made her heart hurt. When she met him, he had the brightest and purest aura but now, he has let himself to be ruled with darkness.

"Exactly what it says", he stood up, "Be my wife"

"No", Xing answered bluntly. She is always Chenglei"s wife.

"You owe me", he shouted.

"No", she shrugged.

"You are supposed to be mine" his anger level rose up and he banged the table.

"Supposed to be", she smirked. " But I"m not though"

"You will be mine" he walked towards her and tried to grab her clothes and she took a step back and walked to the swords. She didn"t want to play games.

"Here, if you thought I owed you anything, take my life", she drew a sword and gave him.

"I don"t want your life, I want you by my side. Serve me, like you promised", he walked towards her and she could feel the evil intent. He means what he says.

"Oh, really?", Xing stepped forward and the Emperor paused his steps. She took a deep look at him and all she could see is a kid throwing tantrum. The bigger and powerful he is, his tantrum is big too.

Too bad he is in front of a mother of four kids!

"You sent this worthless edict through my father. No one else knows of it. My family is planning to rebel and you are doing nothing to counter it. You are the frigging Emperor and if you want to take a woman, you will not send a edict to ask her to divorce her husband and come to the inner palace by herself. You will kill the husband and her kids in front of her and then force her in front of others and drag her inside the inner palace holding her hair. You have that power. Now tell me Lu Junjie, what do you want? ", her voice became deep as she spoke and her eyes became sharp as the warrior she is.

" I... I want you ", he repeated as if he was a.s.suring himself. Of course she is right. He is the Emperor and he could have used any means to get her, if that"s what he wanted.

"Yes! You are supposed to be my happiness and I want you by my side"

" You WANT me?", she took a step forward and the Emperor unable to bear the fierceness in her eyes took a step back. The Fire in her eyes was like a bright light pus.h.i.+ng away the darkness in his heart and he felt light,

" Want me... Want me, for what? To sleep with me? I"m your Sister-in-law, Junjie. Will you be able to kiss me? Will you able to undress me and..."

"Stop!", he shouted closing his ears. He definitely won"t be able to do that. Not to her.

"So tell me, Kouki. Why do you want me?", she stood leaning on the desk and folded her arms.

There was a deafening silence in that room for some time and Xing could see the darkness in his eyes disappear slowly. She always liked to see that.

"She.... Hanmi died. She left me, Mingxia. She really left me", he knelt in front of her and cried after a while.

Xing closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.

"The physicians had told her that she will die if she carries the child but she didn"t inform me and kept the baby and.... She died, Mingxia! My wife died! She left me", he hugged her legs and wept.

Xing patted his head, "What else?"

"I never told her that I loved her! Not even once. I wanted to tell her but I didn"t. I want to tell her. I want to tell her that she is my wife and I love her. But she is dead. I won"t be able to tell her ever. What can I do?" he sobbed like a child and cried some more.

" And I sealed her coffin and buried her with the concubines. I want to be buried with her. And now I cannot do that without disturbing her grave. What should I do, Mingxia? I"m so angry... So angry at myself ", he said gritting his teeth and clenching his fists and immediately started another round of crying.

" There... There... " Xing patted his hair and waited patiently till he finished crying.

All this time, he was mad at himself and unable to express it properly, he acted like a brat.

Xing knew, He always thought of her as someone close to a mother figure in his heart and subconsciously he wanted her by his side in his times of trouble. Unable to express his wishes properly like a man, he acted like a brat and caused this ruckus. His Lu blood that attracts darkness made him sink deeper in that quick sand as he dwelled in it. She could clearly see his cry for help in the edict written and that"s why she was calm.

"You idiot almost got yourself killed and started a rebellion, do you realise? You endangered my family, stupid! ", she knocked his head.

If she didn"t stop her family from acting immediately, they"d be called traitors by the others by now for rebelling. And Ah Xuan would have hated them for ruining his father and the good relations between the two families would have been broken.

The Emperor looked at her pitifully with his eyes red and nose sniffing and she couldn"t help but chuckle.

For her, he felt no different that Lian Lian or Feifei acting up. But her husband is not thinking that way and he is mad.

She could feel Chenglei getting restless and he already entered the study.

"What"s done is done. Accept what you"ve done and try to fix it. And, You"ve now scared your kids away from you and how are you going to correct it? Come to our Manor for dinner tonight with your kids. They are all worried for you",she spoke softly. She really couldn"t get mad at him.

Chenglei saw his brother hugging his wife"s leg and pushed him away and swung at his face and the Emperor didn"t block him.

"Don"t ever!", he punched him once again.

"I invited him for dinner with his kids", Xing said and walked out.

"This woman!", Chenglei mumbled. She is stopping him from even punching his brother by bringing up the kids.

He raised his hand to punch him but then stopped as he remembered Little Zai"s crying face. They"ll be worried if their father is hurt.

"Never again!", Chenglei repeated and joined Xing as they returned to their Manor.

That night, there was a big dinner for the Emperor and her family in their Manor and Xing made sure everyone reconciled with the Emperor.

You cannot kill someone for being stupid.