Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

When Li Juan came back to palace, Liang and his cousin were preparing to leave, 

"Oh there you are, I thought we have to leave without a word, "Guan Tian Long strode towards Li Juan with a smile,

"Grandpa Guan sends his apology, he was caught up with some last-minute work otherwise, he would have come and attended the ceremony in person,"

" Please convey my regards to your family, I hope I can meet them one day," Li Juan replied,

"Sure, if you ever come to S city, let me host you,"

"Do you live in S city? Li Juan asked him and shot a glance at the man whose eyes were fixed on her,

If they are from S city does that mean these two men met her before? Is that why he acted casually with her? A quick thought flashed on her mind.

"Right now, yes...I live in S city for my work, however, our ancestral home is in H city," he explained,

"I see," Li Juan nodded in agreement and swept a quick glance at Liang, "Have a safe journey,"

Two of them bid adieu to the Bai family and headed towards the palace ground where their cark was parked.

"So "Dai Liang," Guan Tian Long stopped in his tracks and asked the man who walked based him with an air of aloofness, "Do you care to explain?"

Liang's lips turned upward into a smirk as he ignored the question and reached out for the car's door,

However, even before he could open the door, Guan Tian Long locked the door and stood like a non-breakable wall,

Liang sighed and leaned over the car with his arms crossed over the chest, ready to encounter Guan Tian Long's queries,

"As far as I know, my brother thinks highly of his "name" and hates when someone calls you by nicknames. An adamant and uprighted person like that created an alternate identity and deceived an entire family. Do you know what is the punishment for using a fake identity?" 

Guan Tian Long was dumbfounded when he found that the Bai family was already familiar with his cousin to point that the younger generation in the palace had a close relationship despite that fact that he is one of their Queen's suitors.

"What if Grandpa gets to know about it? How are you going to explain it to Xiao Li?" Guan Tian Long, the commando who is known for his exceptional shooting skills, shot continuous questions at Liang,

"She is the one who came up with that name," Liang replied in a casual tone,

"She did? When?" 

"While we were in S city, she came up with that nickname. I thought if I use it she might remember me,"

Guan Tian Long gritted his teeth as he watched the how cool-headed Liang about his fake identity.

"Sometimes I feel like your genius brain is filled with nothing but garbage" He spat out, "Aunt Li passed away and no one will stop you from marrying Xiao Li. Then why don't you just tell her the truth?" 

"There is someone," Liang refuted with a serious face,

"Who? Tang Wei Sheng?"

"She is torn between me and him. No matter how hard I try, she only remembers him," 

Guan Tian Long sighed and grabbed the shoulders of the man who stood before as his agitated eyes softened and his voice turning more gentle,

"Tae Yang, why can't you just go tell her that you are the one whom she loved all these years?

As a person who witnessed Liang 's torment, Guan Tian Long had nothing else to demand,

"It won't take her too much time to regain her memories," Liang sounded determined as he pacified his cousin,

"Yaaa, Grandpa wants to see one of us getting married to the young miss of the Bai family. If you hesitate he will order me to get married in your place," Guan Tian Long warned him, however, Liang's focus was somewhere else.

"Huh," Guan Tian Long raised his eyebrows and followed his line of sight, and saw Li Juan's forlorn silhouette in her balcony, looking at them,

"I am sure, that she will come looking for me," Liang said and waved his hand at her with a grin,

Li Juan on a reflex almost raised her hand and waved at him,

Guan Tian Long followed Liang's actions with a smile plastered on his face,

"Look at her, don't you feel bad for Xiao Li, Tae Yang?"

"Even if it hurts a lot, she must sort her thoughts and get her priorities right," Liang said in steady voice and signalled him to unlock the door.

"You are a meanie" Guan Tian Long snarled and unlocked the door, "Don't come crying to me,"

Like a sulky child, Guan Tian Long stomped on the ground as he walked to other side of the car,

Liang let out a burst of laughter as he saw, his cousin who is only a month younger than him, the renowned captain Guan of emergency commando force of C country, sulking like a five year old child. 

Before getting into the driving seat of the car, Liang turned towards Li Juan's balcony for one last time,

Once Liang's car left the vicinities of Yu palace, Li Juan returned to her room and climbed on to her bed,

In her vivid memories, a similar balcony scene played, where a familiar silhouette walking towards the palace doors and a soothing scent and warmth spreading into her mind,

He said he will wait for me until I regain my memories, does that mean we were more than just acquaintance? 

But in her journals, she never mentioned a man named Tae Yang and he even said I always run into his arms, 

That's not possible. Li Juan tried to shook off the doubts in her mind,

Even with Tang Wei Sheng, she does not feel comfortable with physical contact, then how can she believe this man? 

Thinking of him, Li Juan's thoughts drifted off to Tang Wei Sheng. He promised to take her on a date,

"Yes, it is time to confront him about the truth," 

_________________________

As he promised, Tang Wei Sheng came to Yun city to pick Li Juan for their overly anticipated date. However, as soon as he switched on his mobile phone after landing in Yun city, Li Juan informed him that there is no need to visit Yu palace, instead of that, she will meet him at their destination,

Tang Wei Sheng sat patiently in the rooftop restaurant in the foothills of the Yun mountains. The Yun mountains was a famous tourist spot in the outskirts of the city and since it was the weekend, the place was brimming with tourists,

Even though Tang Wei Sheng was well aware of Li Juan's love for mountains, he chose the location, for some other reason.

It was during their journey to Tu valley, both of them confessed their love and became a couple. Tang Wei Sheng calculated that visiting a similar place with Li Juan would strengthen her memories. 

Tang Wei Sheng smiled and took out a small jewellery box from his jacket,

It was a custom made diamond ring,

Suddenly Tang Wei Sheng's mobile rang and he placed the box to his pocket before attending the call,

"Did you reach sweetheart, Yeah I am coming,"

He rushed towards the parking space and saw Li Juan stepping down from a silver Aston Martin, holding a backpack in her hand and a small backpack on her shoulders,

"Good morning, my Queen," Tang Wei Sheng slightly bowed and took the backpack from her hands,

"Wow, did you start driving cars? no more worried about global warming?" He made a comment when his gaze shifted to the car,

"Huh?" Li Juan looked at him in confusion.

"When I offered you a car, you refused by quoting that you prefer public transport to avoid global warming,"

"Actually I hitch-hiked," Li Juan said with a plain face, "My cousin was on the way to meet his friends and he offered me a ride,"

"Oh really," Tang Wei Sheng peeked into the driving seat and saw a stone-faced young man, "Hi there,"

Bai Mu Chuan acknowledged Tang Wei Sheng's presence with a nod and opened his mouth to toss out a question to his sister,

"Jie, when will you finish?"

"Ah Chuan, don't wait for me," Li Juan replied with a faint smile and send him off,

"I think I made it clear that we are here for an overnight trip," Tang Wei Sheng said with curious eyes, to which Li Juan responded with a nod, "Then I will send the luggage to the hotel room,"

Tang Wei Sheng asked the receptionist to send their luggage to their room and left the hotel,

On the way to the mountain, Li Juan appeared more cheerful as she observed the greener mountains and the blue streams in the valley. Even though she was free in Yu palace, Li Juan somewhat felt trapped after her accident. Her family always monitored by her movements as she was surrounded by maids all the time.

"How's it? Did you like it?" Tang Wei Sheng asked her,

"Yes,"

"There is a monastery in the top of the mountain, back in old days, it was a famous school for martial arts," He explained,

"Have you visited this place before?" Li Juan inquired, looking at his enthusiasm.

"No sweetheart, you told me that you like mountains a lot, so I just searched for a bit before deciding this place. It is exactly like your Tu valley, maybe a bit greener and warm,"

"My Tu valley?" She appeared clueless,

"Yes, symbolically speaking, your kingdom includes Tu valley. Even the head monk of the monastery, who never leaves the Tu mountains came for your coronation. He even congratulated me on finding the lost city," 

"Do you know him personally?" Li Juan asked to clarify. She still remembered the words of grandmaster Mu, the head monk of the north temple. He even congratulated her for finding the one whom she was searching.

"Both of us went together to meet him and it was the journey which made brought us together," He gently pressed her palm, "I will not forget that trip," Tang Wei Sheng smiled warmly and enthusiastically led the way,

It took almost three hours to reach the top of the mountain where the monastery was situated,

Sweat beads have already soaked Li Juan's face and neck since she hasn't stepped out of the palace or exercised for a while. Her chest was rising and falling to the rhythm of her rapid breathing.

"You alright?" Tang Wei Sheng asked her while handed over a bottle of water for her. Li Juan took the bottle from him and gulped down a mouthful, spilling water on to her face. 

Tang Wei Sheng's lips curved into a smile as he leaned closer to wipe her sweaty face, 

"You are still a baby," he pulled her cheeks with doting eyes and brushed the hair strands sticking to her face,

Li Juan who was taken aback by his actions remained frozen.

"Do you want to rest before going to the monastery?"

"No, I'm alright," Li Juan took a step away from him and turned towards the stone-paved path towards the monastery. 

"Let's go," Tang Wei Sheng led the way, to the famous Jin sect of the south, also known as the south temple.

The golden tiles in the top of the monastery were gleaming in the warm sunlight and the entire place appeared serene and solemn,

Li Juan who stepped into the cold floor of the monastery, felt an immediate calmness spreading into her mind. The fatigue that she felt from climbing up the mountain got vanished. Even though the place was filled with tourists she felt a sense of familiarity.

The main building which was open for the tourists was giving off a grand and magnificent, awe-inspiring atmosphere. 

Once they are done touring the main building, the duo walked followed the crowd and walked into a huge yard. In the north end of the yard, there was a peach tree and stone monument,

Li Juan walked over with a bewildered face.

Somehow the fully blossomed plum tree reminded her of the valley saw in her dream. 

As she stood in front of the stone monument, Li Juan tried to read the writings inscribed on the monument. There was a symbol Sun with radiating rays, engraved on the top of the writings

"In the memory of greatest Dragon emperor and Phoenix of the almighty Guan empire,"