Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

It was sombre silence in the valley.

Under the fully bloomed plum tree, Li Juan knelt in the bellowing wind in lone silence. Her hand quivered as she dug the dark and damp soil.

When Li Juan's fingers stumbled on a brownish white slender metacarpal bone in the dark brown soil, a bolt of lightning passed on to her nerves and her body started trembling.

"Majesty!!!!!"

A sorrowful cry echoed in the valley, breaking the tranquil atmosphere.

It was filled with so much sorrow and anguish.

As she tried to adjust her posture to bow down, crystal clear tears trickled down Li Juan's cheeks.

With a quaver, Li Juan bowed three times to pay her respects to the ancestor, who sacrificed their lives protecting her family and clan.

The people who witnessed Li Juan's nearly insane actions had only one question on their mind-

"What is she doing?" 

However, the moment Li Juan bowed, Meng Yu who was the eldest and the experienced member in her team, understood the meaning behind her actions and immediately kneeled on the ground where he stood.

Without a moment's delay Su Wu fell on his knees, urging other members of the Yu clan follow his actions and pay their respects in silence.

"Did they find something?" Mei Lin who had no knowledge about the situation asked in a low voice. But instead of an answer, she was forced to shut her mouth when Cheng Tao's murderous glare fell on her.

Even if they are archaeologists, they must follow the basic ethics - give respect to the dead, even though it is an age-old remains of a dead person. 

No one dared to move from their places.

After a moment's silence, Liang walked towards Li Juan and kneeled beside her.

She sat on the ground, clutching to the slender bones with an agonized face.

Liang wrapped his arm over her shoulder and pressed her quivering frame into a tight warm embrace.

On his arms, Li Juan let loose her emotions and wailed uncontrollably.

For a moment there, Liang was at a loss of words and didn't know what to do. 

In their culture, the ancestors were considered almost as the same level as Gods.

No one knew the woman who buried in the valley meant to Li Juan.

She was not just an ancestor for Li Juan and the emotional bonding she shared with the Queen was more than one could imagine,

The queen was the sole reason why she remained alive till now.

The excavation team from Jing city stared at the weird group of people.

"Aren't they going little overboard?" One of the excavation workers asked, "I know we are supposed to respect the dead but these were on another level."

"Even teacher Li was nothing better than them." someone sighed.

Zhang Zhi Jun raised on his feet and walked towards the plum tree, with a stern face. Somehow he felt that Li Juan has found the remaining of someone important, maybe the queen whom she was searching for years.

"Princess, it is time to do the honours. " He informed her and glanced at Liang,

Li Juan rose with wobbly legs and supported her stature on to Liang's towering figure.

"Elder Meng," Zhang Zhi Jun called,

Meng Yu and a few others stood up from the spot and walked over.

They kneeled down where Li Juan stood and carefully started to remove the soil.

Once the other team started digging, Han Guang and his team strode over to take a look at the spot and to lend a hand.

After a few minutes, Meng Yu found a Jade hairpin with five coloured gemstones and a phoenix. 

The symbol of queen!!!

"Princess," Zhang Zhi Jun called Li Juan to take it. 

She kneeled down and received the hairpin.

It belongs to the Queen, Li Juan held it in her palm with at most respect. 

"Princess, did he called her a princess?" Mei Lin whispered into Ning Jing's ear with a visible frown on her face. She was already irritated by the special treatment given to Li Juan by everyone in the team and above all, Zhang Zhi Jun was publicly addressing her as princess.

As workers removed the soil, an intertwined sight of two skeletons become visible to their eyes. 

Even though, the years have passed the born structure of the skeletal bodies remained 

Li Juan who broke the last barrier of her emotions tried to control her tears and hid her face in Liang's broad chest. 

"Professor Su," Wang Shiwei from the Jing city team gained Su Wu's attention. " As you can see, these two remainings held more value. I request that we will take a sam-"

Even before Wang Shiwei could complete his words Su Wu mercilessly denied.

" Sorry. we cannot allow that. we are taking them," 

Upon hearing Su Wu's clear rejection, the faces of team members from Jing city darkened, they were the first one's reach the lost city.

It was a research project based on educational purposes and no matter what other team says they had every right to take a sample. 

More than anything, it was Cheng Tao's and Li Juan's PhD work.

"How is that possible? we came here together." Wang Shiwei pointed out.

" But it was researcher Li who found-"

"She is traitor, who only knows to betray her team," someone commented and the valley was fell into a heated argument with both the teams.

Unable to hear it anymore Li Juan raised her voice.

"No one will lay a finger on them,"

The arguments stopped all at once and everyone turned to look at Li Juan who stood there with blood shot eyes.

"You cannot take her," 

"But miss Li," Someone tried to explain

Li Juan glared at him with ice-cold glare which made the man break cold sweats. Her big black eyes were burning with anger and pain.

"But grandpa said that," Zhang Zhi Jun looked at her with confusion.

"I said no," she seethed,

Watching their first young master being reprimanded some of the people from Yu clan frowned. She was a mere researcher and how dare she order around them?

"Miss Li, all these years we have been searching for her and if you say that we cannot take the remaining from this place, It is not possible," Meng Yu calmly explained," I am sorry, we cannot defy Elder Bai's order."

Once their supervisor spoke against Li Juan, others started to follow his suit and blamed her.

"Miss Li, we are grateful that you gave us the location. But that doesn't give you any power to take such a decision. For you, it may be just an archaeological relic but for us, it is our Queen," 

Upon hearing their words filled with condemning, Li Juan wiped the tears and straightened her back.

"I, Li Juan, the direct descendent of the great Bai Yu Yue, the princess of Yu palace command you to stay put ." 

Her soulful voice resounded across the valley, sending tremors to the minds of Yu clan members.

Princess of Yu palace!

This woman, she is the long-awaited queen? The descendant of the Bai Yu Yue, the last queen,

The bronze coloured skin and curly raven hair.

How did he fail to recognize the typical features of their Queen? 

Meng Yu and his team's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Yu clan pays our respects to the Queen," Meng Yu immediately knelt down.

Swishhhhh!!!!

Behind Meng Yu, all the Yu clan members, including Zhang Zhi Jun and Su Wu knelt down right after he spoke, all lined up before her.

"Your loyal servant apologizes, my queen." Meng Yu turned to his teammates.

"We shall obey her majesty's words."

Li Juan nodded in agreement and turned towards Han Guang and team, 

"You can have a primary evaluation, but we will not hand over her." She declared in an unwavering voice.

"They are our ancestors we shall bury them with proper ceremonies."

Han Guang eyes were only glued to Li Juan, he was terrified by the commanding power had in her voice.

Li Juan had a cold personality, but she never tried to control others. But when she raised her voice, even he felt like obeying her. 

Her entire aura felt different from his memory.

"What is this entire historical drama references?" Mei Lin blurted out when she saw a group of grown-up men bowing down before a girl.

Zhang Zhi Jun looked at Liang and signalled him to take Li Juan away from this chaotic situation.

When Liang held her arm, without any objections, Li Juan walked away from the spot with a perturbed mind. 

"It is our mistake that, we didn't introduce properly. We belong to the Yu clan," Zhang Zhi Jun informed the other team.

"Yu clan! The people who lived in this land! They are still alive?"

"As you might've guessed, we came looking for the whereabouts of our long lost queen and our kingdom. We don't deny the fact that Li Juan is the one who shared the location."

" Li Juan," Tang Wei Sheng, who remained unaffected by the entire arguments happened a few minutes ago, finally asked him. "How is she related to you?"

"Li Juan is the sole princess of Yu palace and first in the line of throne."

Li Juan is their princess? The entire team gawped in incredulous disbelief,

"The Li Juan we all know is," Han Guang hesitated to continue. 

"Her father, Bai Ze belongs to the royal bloodline of the Yu Clan," Su Wu declared in a proud voice. "The Bai family,"

Han Guang subconsciously turned towards Li Juan.

She was sitting on a nearby rock with Liang, who was trying to comfort her,

"Bai family." Tang Wei Sheng muttered and glanced at Li Juan.

While they were together, Li Juan has mentioned about her family, especially her father who abandoned his wealthy family to marry her mother. 

"Does it mean that the corporate family which Li Juan's father belongs is the giant Bai Corporation?"

Tang Wei Sheng exclaimed.

The heiress of Bai Corporation!

That means she is no longer a nameless orphan girl who struggled to live with scholarships and petty jobs, but she turned out to be the heir of one of the biggest corporations in the mainland.

Since they are equal in status, does it mean that he no longer needed to push her aside? Tang Wei Sheng eyes glistened in gratification.

Ning Jing whose eyes were focused on Tang Wei Sheng was the first one to catch his triumphant smile when he heard about Li Juan's real identity.

His jubilant eyes failed to suppress his undying desire for Li Juan.

Why he is crazy about this girl? Even though she has broken up and got a bunch of men, Tang Wei Sheng's feelings for Li Juan hasn't changed a bit.

What is this crazy obsession with her? 

-------------------------------

Since Li Juan gave them permission to conduct the preliminary examination of the skeletal bodies, Han Guang immediately instructed his teammates to search the valley for other possible relics.

"A man and Woman. It seems like they are buried together." Cheng Tao touched the skeletons as he reported everything to Lee Tae Min who was busy with noting down the details,

"But professor, we need a medical expert to confirm the gender of these skeletons," 

"Do you mind if I check?" Liang looked at Han Guang and Zhang Zhi Jun for permission. "I am not a forensic expert, but I am a certified doctor,"

"Sure, go ahead," Han Guang looked at Lee Tae Min and signalled him to pass the gloves. Liang took the gloves and wore it as if he is familiar with it. He kneeled to check the bone structure.

"From the pelvic bone structures, we can identify the gender of the skeleton." He explained.

"If the pelvic bones are circular and broader, the skeleton belongs to a woman and if it is narrower and heart-shaped, it is a male. Since he has an iron-clad armour we can confirm that it is a man."

"By the positioning of these two skeletons, it seems like they are buried together." Cheng Tao reminded him.

"They aren't buried together. Only a layer of soil is seen above them. If they are buried, the pit of the grave must be deep," Han Guang corrected him. 

"Only the male skeleton is intervened whereas other skeletal position remains stoic. We can conclude that the female has already died and this man," Liang didn't complete the words. "He was alive," 

"Maybe this man is her husband," Cheng Tao doubted.

"It is impossible, she was unmarried." Meng Yu contradicted the opinion. 

Then who is this person? We should search the premises; there will be chances for finding some more evidence."

"There is one more hairpin," Cheng Tao who found a golden pin raised that so everyone can take a look,

"It's gold," Han Guang said with a surprised face.

"Supervisor Meng, here," a worker shouted from somewhere away from the plum tree. "It was also a skeleton with iron-clad armour."

Han Guang rushed towards them and checked the skeleton and the armour over it. 

"It is a Wei kingdom warrior. With the exquisite cravings in the armour, it seems like he is a high ranking official." 

"Professor, here," Another worker called Han Guang.

It was a skeleton with a sword pierced into his throat, another sword was lying next to him. 

"This fellow got killed brutally." Cheng Tao said while checking the sword which pierced the neck bone of the skeleton."

"This sword is different from the others we saw till now." Cheng Tao checked the symbol engraved in the sword. It was a golden dragon,

"What about the other?"

"It has a symbol of a wolf," Lee Tae Min reported.

"It is the emperor's sword. Wei emperor's sword!" Cheng Tao said in an elated tone.

"Since we found the emperor can we consider it is over by now?" 

"We will take these two bodies for more studies." Han Guang suggested with an expressionless face.

"But what about the Queen?"

"Let's wait for Li Juan's opinion." Han Guang said and turned towards Li Juan who sat in the rock with a frozen expression.

She has found the queen who appeared in her dreams, now what?