LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

Darn you Brother! I should have just let you get violated!

After everything, Xing got drunk and stayed with Lady Shaoyao and her father and brother left to the guest Manor in Caijing. Now she was waiting in the village for their arrival. Xing sighed deeply when she saw four heavy carriages arriving with flaunty decorations.

Father! He really wants to show off, doesn"t he? Even though I told him I won"t introduce him as my father to the village people,he still brought gifts, didn"t he? I am like everybody"s child here. Won"t I be ostracised if I am known to be a Huang and that too the Prime Minister"s child? It"s not enough I have people bowing and kneeling to me for no reason in his Manor, he wants to turn my people like that too? I don"t want that. I just wanted to be treated simply by them!

Xing went to the carriages and stopped it and reasoned with her father but he didn"t budge.

"I have to tell them that you are my child!", AoTian was stubborn, "Why are you ashamed to acknowledge me as your father?", he even pouted.

"I am not ashamed....", Xing tried to convince him, " I don"t want them to treat me differently. I don"t like it when everyone bows or kneels in front of me", she looked at her father sternly.

Rijun snorted thinking how many times she had made people kneel in front of her. From Elder Shu to the Demon last day and even their first uncle had bowed before her and she didn"t stop them and she is saying this now?

" So your problem is me being the Prime Minister, right? I"ll tell them I am a sweet stall owner in the Imperial Capital. That"s OK, right?", AoTian tried to negotiate.

Xing looked at her father pale as a marble as if he had never seen the sun and wearing expensive clothes. Even though he wasn"t wearing much jewellery his entire posture revealed he is a rich man. Her brother on the other hand was there with expensive clothes and his belt,ring and hairpin and tokens were all high quality jade.

"Yes father! You really look like a sweet stall owner and brother looks like a daily wager", Xing said sarcastically making her father look at her pitifully. Xu mama who accompanied them tried to pacify them but to no avail. Even she was much better dressed than the village of people.

Seeing both of them in a stalemate, Rijun spoke, "Father! Aren"t you the G.o.dfather of Lord Táng. Come on, it"s settled then", he said as a decision and walked in the front soon joined by Xing and others. Xing left the carriages there and ordered to take only the food ingredients her father brought in a single carriage.

As they reached inside the village, Rijun who was walking beside Xing saw the people"s eyes brightening as they left what they were doing and come to her.

"Lord Táng, long time no see"

"Thought you"d forgotten about us"

"Are you OK?What happened to you?"

"Glad you are back"

There were people asking many questions and there were children playing in their home coming and hanging over her and the entire place got lively as Xing was surrounded by everyone.

Rijun and AoTian were ignored and were pushed away by the crowd.

Rijun tried to think when was the last time this happened... Getting ignored... Well! Never! People had always tried to get in their favour and wished to at least get acquainted with them. Guess with his sister, he is learning many new things. He looked at his father who had a content expression.

AoTian saw his daughter surrounded by those kind people and she was calmly answering everyone. There were some kids who were playing in the dirt before pulling on her clothes and making it dirty. She didn"t mind and even carried a little kid casually showing no sign of disgust or annoyance. He wondered how different the down to earth one standing now was from the one who stood on the wall the previous day who eluded dominance. These all made him wonder who the real her is.

After Xing answered everyone"s questions, Xing introduced her father and brother to them,

"This is Prime Minister Huang AoTian and this is Official Huang Rijun. They are here to follow-up the Emperor"s visit"

Everyone gave a deep bow and they treated them with reverence.

"Actually Lord Huang AoTian accepted me as his G.o.dchild and I was staying in his Manor. They were really nice to me and Xu mama here took good care of me", Xing told them and AoTian and Rijun could see the difference in the way they were treated immediately after.

The ones who were treating them with reverence, started to treat them with adoration and immediately chairs and tables were brought and were filled with various delicacies as everyone brought what they had cooked for their lunch to them.

They were given bowls and chopsticks after they apologised for only having simple cutlery making AoTian and Rijun fl.u.s.tered by their affection. Xing who was used to this treatment, forced Xu mama to sit too, as she was feeling bad to sit as equal with her master. So everyone ate homecooked lunch from different homes and Xing distributed the food products they brought to the villagers as a return gift for the food.

After lunch, they went to the teashop for some tea while Xu mama stayed with the village people to get stories about her young miss. She was flabbergasted hearing all that and wondered why she had asked to listen those stories.

AoTian and Rijun who had eaten more than their usual fill, felt stuffed and sat in a seat of the shop. AoTian remembered the words Shengli said when they previously came here. So she is treated like this here! AoTian could not help but smile.

Xing saw a familiar figure with his dark blue hooded cape sitting in the corner of the shop, "General Kin! ", she shouted startling her father and brother and that pale, tall man looked with his deep blue eyes and smiled with a smile that would melt anyone"s heart.

"Wait here! I"ll go talk to him and return", she whispered to her father and brother.

"Wait, Mingxia! Who is that General Kin", AoTian asked.

"I don"t know his name but he is really skilled in sword and I think he holds a higher position in the Water Kingdom"s Imperial Court. And he gives me a pouch with gold coins each time we catch a.s.sa.s.sins from their kingdom", Xing spoke hurriedly and walked towards him.

AoTian placed his palm on his face, "My daughter and her weird naming habit! Does she like gold that much? And by the way she describes, could he be the Ying Young Master, Shengli mentioned before?", he wondered.

Xing walked to him and sat opposite him, "What brings you here, General Kin?", she asked him.

"I wanted to see you, Lord Táng. You left without a word and so I waited this long for your return and now I"ve met you ", he spoke with his smooth voice with all seriousness and his face had this gentle smile stuck to him and his eyes that looked at Xing looked like clear sapphire. At first glance no one would take him as a skilled swordsman as he had the aura of a refined gentleman. Only Xing knew his sword skills are on par with Shengli.

AoTian who was listening to the conversation understood him even though he spoke in Water language, clenched his fists and Rijun turned to look at that guy surprised. Did he really say what I think he said?

Xing chuckled, "As usual, you won"t stop jesting with me, huh?", this guy never stops joking and that too with that serious face of his! It"s fine since it is me but won"t others misunderstand?

"I"m not joking", he spoke with his smooth voice flowing like water, unwavering with his eyes fixed on hers.

"Okay!", Xing tapped the table, "What is it? ", she still was smiling. This guy always is like a gentle stream that would calm others with it"s smooth sound.

He placed a token and a hairpin in front of Xing, "For you", he said. Xing picked the token to look. It was a clear blue jade token that was circle shaped and as big as a palm and a wolf was carved in it.

So I was right, to be able to carry the blue jade in the Water Kingdom, he should be from a notable family or close to the Emperor. But geez! What luck do I have to get token after token these days? And this one has wolf carved in it too. Shengli.... Where are you? I want to show this to you! This is too beautiful and.. I want to see you.. , Xing"s thoughts wandered off to Shengli and her cheeks got pinkish and she had that alluring and bashful smile she usually had whenever she thought of him.

General Kin saw the smiling one in front of him and his hand unconsciously got to her bangs that were covering her eyes. He really wanted to see that beautiful eyes that had the universe in them. His slender fingers were about to reach her bangs when a cluttering noise was heard that made his hands retreat.

AoTian who was listening to him was fuming with anger. How dare he do this to a daughter in front of his father? Are all young people these days this uncultured? And trying to seduce her with a beautiful token and gold! He is more vicious than that Shengli. Does he think he can take my daughter away from me to a different country? Why does my daughter attract all kinds of sc.u.ms? And why on earth is she staring at the token stupidly?

Rijun sat beside his father to stop him from hitting that foreign man.

Xing startled by the noise made by her father, got back to her senses and pushed the token back,

"General Kin, I appreciate the gesture of friens.h.i.+p but I cannot accept tokens like this. I am a citizen of Wind Kingdom serving the Wind Emperor and blue jade tokens cannot be carried by me. I hope you accept my decision", Xing said with her usual smile hiding the pain of losing that beautiful token. How beautifully blue it is and a beautiful wolf...! Sigh! You could have given it to me a couple of months back and I would have accepted it with no regrets. Too bad!

"I understand", he nodded his voice mellow hiding his sadness, "The hairpin is for you too", he picked it up and gave it to her.

Xing saw the exquisitely made Women"s hairpin in silver and sapphire that matched his clear eyes and wondered why he is giving to her. "Doesn"t giving hairpins means proposal? Do they have different meaning in their kingdom?.... Ah! I know! He is showing it to me to check if women would like it or not, right? What a good friend!", Xing was all smiles,

"General Kin, this is beautiful and any girl would like it. So you could confidently give it to the girl you like! ", she gave it back to him.

General Kin held her hands with the hairpin inside his rugged hands gently, "That"s why I"m giving it to you", he looked straight at her with his eyes gentle and pleading.

Xing looked at the man in front of him looking seriously with his lips slightly trembling and heart beating fast and she.... Laughed.

"General Kin, what"s with you today? You are really on a roll! Ha! Ha! Ha! ", she continued laughing. Seriously! Why is he proposing to another man! This is too humourous! He only used to say "you are beautiful", "your eyes are alluring" and "smile for me "before but now he actually proposed with a hairpin? This guy is going all out for a prank!

Rijun who was watching saw the clearly disappointed face of that man and felt a bit relieved. Turns out his sister is not too stupid! But she is too cruel to reject a man by laughing at his confession!

"General Kin", She stood up, "When I saw you I thought you were here for something important. But you made me laugh this much. I haven"t laughed like this in a long time now. Thank you! And another thing, me and Haru won"t be in this village anymore so you..... "

"I won"t come here anymore", he finished her words. Xing nodded and turned to leave when he suddenly grabbed her sleeves, "Táng Xing! Do you not remember me?", he asked with his blue eyes filled with expectations and AoTian lost all his cool and stood up followed by Rijun.

Xing knew he was acting weird but couldn"t pinpoint what"s wrong, "I"m talking to you because I remember you, General Kin", She answered. Her face showed her confusion.

Seeing the slight frown on her face made him feel bad and he regained his usual gentle face,

"Ryuga... Ying Ryuga.. "Ryu" as in dragon and "ga" as in graceful. It is My name. Remember it in the future. You can call for me anytime if you are in any kind of trouble in our Kingdom. It is a promise ", he placed his hand on his heart and his face sported that gentle smile.

"Okay, General Kin. I"ll remember", Xing smiled back. Graceful Dragon? Kind of a girlie name, isn"t it?

Rijun was holding AoTian who was about to pounce on him and was relieved a bit when his oblivious sister steered the situation on the right path making his father relax too.

"Wind Kingdom"s Prime Minister Huang AoTian, Wind Kingdom"s Official Huang, Water Kingdom"s General Ying Ryuga takes his leave", he gave a proper bow.

AoTian harrumped and turned to the side and only Rijun returned his bow. Xing sat beside her father and Rijun excused himself to send him off.

When they reached the tea shop"s entrance a gust of Wind blew Ying Ryuga"s hood off revealing his jet black hair that made Rijun shocked. It was a general perception that only the Royals have dark black hair.

Seeing his surprised look Ryuga spoke,

"I saw your Emperor with my hair colour. But our Emperor has Silver hair. Same as.."

"You know", Rijun asked smirking. This is an interesting fellow. Proposing knowing she has someone else in her mind and thinking of her as a man!

"She mentions him from time to time. But the one who came late will leave early as we are fated together", he pulled his hood to cover his hair.

"She?", Rijun asked. So he knows my sister is a girl? He didn"t mind the later half of what he spoke.

"Your Sister, isn"t she? That was unexpected! ", he raised his eyebrows with the hood casting a shadow on his face making his expressions unclear.

" All the more reason to keep away", Rijun snorted. Who does he think he is? Doesn"t he have women in his kingdom?

"Is that so?", he asked back his tone mocking but his face was still gentle.

Rijun sneered, "Do you cook?"

Ryuga looked at him surprised, "I thought the Huangs are rich! Don"t you have servants? We Yings do! "

Rijun smirked, "As expected of this young master, against - 1"

" Can you get hit?", Rijun asked.

" I"m strong enough to defend myself and her if need arises", he said proudly.

"Well she"ll be the one hitting! Against - 2", Rijun calculated mentally.

" She has many male friends", Rijun asked the important question.

"Won"t women change after marriage?", Ryuga replied.

"Whoa! Too bad! Against - 100",Rijun concluded. He still remembered the taste of the porridge Shengli made. How can he betray the hand that fed him? Won"t the heavens punish him?

"Good thing you got rejected!", Rijun snickered.

"Fate will bring us together again!", Ryuga said calmly and jogged into the forest near the mountain and disappeared from his sight.

" Yes! As friends! "Cause that"s what you are for her!", Rijun smirked and went back in.

Inside Xing and AoTian were drinking tea when Gu Lufen came with her big belly and apologised to Xing for forcing Lord Táng to marry her. Xing "magnanimously" forgave her saying" I knew you were never mine! " and wished her and the baby well and even gave a jade gourd as a gift for the baby making Gu Lufen and her husband happy.

Soon they left to go to her home and joined by Xu mama who had a petrified expression which made them wonder what kind of ghost stories did she hear. Little did they knew, that Xing"s "adventures" in the village was the reason.

...

Meanwhile the hooded figure pa.s.sing through the mountain was intercepted by a white flash. Ryuga skillfully dodged the sword and swirled to face Shengli and pulled his sword out.

"Should we fight to death for her?", Ryuga asked Shengli who looked aloof and calm.

"Why?", Shengli walked slowly towards him and spoke with his deep sultry voice, " Is she a thing for us to decide her possession?", he smirked, "Little boy! Go home and drink your milk and sleep! You should not play the game of adults. You don"t even know you"ve lost eleven years back"

That eighteen year old blue eyed boy sneered, " I"m not a little boy, you are an old man! ", he was angry at the handsome man who was not even affected slightly by his rival.

"Who is there! There is a spy from the Water Kingdom here! Help! Help! A spy! A spy!", Shengli cupped his hands on his mouth and shouted from the top of his lungs.

"Hmmp! Childis.h.!.+", Ryuga snickered and started running towards the top of the mountain.

Shengli"s aloof look turned cold and he had a dangerous glint in his eyes.