Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

"Mamma," As soon as she woke up Li Juan called out for her mother, without even opening her eyes, she searched for the familiar warmth and comfort of Li Qin on the bed, 

"Mamma," All of sudden an arm wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her into an embrace, 

When Li Juan was trapped onto a broad masculine chest instead of the petite and soft feminine frame, she pulled open her eyes and found a fair neck and sharp jaw-line,

She quickly raised her head and bumped into something heavy, 

Lee Tae Yang let out a groan in pain when something hit his jaw,

In a moment, Li Juan regained her bearings,

Last night she stayed at Lee Tae Yang's house, slept on the same bed with him and woke up in his arms,

"Yangyang," she tried to wake him and made a vague effort to let loose from his embrace, "Yangyang wake up," 

Lee Tae Yang groggily opened his eyes and found Li Juan's perplexed face, he beamed with half-opened eyes and snuggled on to her neck, inhaling her sweet fragrance,

"Yangyang, I have to leave... it's getting late," She sounded worried, "Mamma will be back at home,"

"I will take you home," His sleepy voice along with hot breath brushed her neck, sending tickling sensations on her skin,

"And talk to your mother," 

Lee Tae Yang released her from his embrace and tilted his head to look at her face flushed in red,

"I wish I could wake up with you, every single day," His morning hoarse voice sounded deep and enticing as he caressed the back of her neck,

"Wait a little more," Li Juan said with glittering eyes,

"How much is a little?" He puffed,

"Little enough to grow out my hair,"

"I won't mind it if you have short hair," He rebutted,

"But I want to look good when I wear my wedding dress...,"

"My baby is already good...just put on some weight," He suggested with a sly smile, "I don't want to get jabbed with your bones," 

"When did I jab you?" Li Juan was almost choked upon hearing his words,

"Someone was kicking me all night," Lee Tae Yang laughed off,

"Huh, I am a tidy sleeper,"

"Yes, yes" He removed the blanket and stood up from the bed, "Are you going to sleep in?" 

"No, I don't want to get scolded by mom,"

"Fine, you go get ready, I will make the breakfast,"

"Nooooo, let's have breakfast at my home," Li Juan yelled and sat upon the bed with a panicked face,

"Xiao Li, are you scared?" 

"I am worried. Mamma never probes much into our relationship when I told her that we are dating. But staying over at your place...it may not be easy for her to understand,"

"Anyway, there is no point in crying over split milk. Let's go and meet your mother," Lee Tae Yang reached out for her hand and pulled her up from the bed, "Go, get ready,"

"Okay," Li Juan walked inside the washroom and stared at the reflection on the mirror, 

To be honest, Li Juan was scared about her mother's reaction when she finds out that her daughter spent a night outside, that too with her boyfriend. Even though her mother did not disagree with her dating Lee Tae Yang, she wasn't completely fond of it. Especially due to their social statuses and her medical conditions.

Li Juan exhaled and splashed water over face, squirted out some foamy face wash from and applied it,

"Knock, knock,"

"Xiao Li, I have kept your clothes outside and there will be a toothbrush in the cupboard," Lee Tae Yang's voice heard from outside.

Li Juan abruptly opened her eyes despite that fact her face was covered with soapy lather and her eyes began to sting,

"Ahhhh," Li Juan shut her eyes and tried to look for the faucet, tumbling the bottles on the washboard,

"Xiao Li, is everything alright?"

"Yangyang, can you come inside for a moment?" She yelled,

"What happened?"

She somehow opened the door and let him inside, "My eyes..its burns,"

"Come here," He pulled her towards the Faucette and washed her face thoroughly with cold water before wiping it with a fresh towel,

"You are too clumsier than I have expected. Should I help you to brush your teeth too?" He said in a teasing manner and took out the toothbrush from the cupboard, applied the paste before giving it to her,

"Dr Lee, aren't you treating me like your baby?" She said with a cute grin on her face,

"How can I restrain myself from pampering my girlfriend if she acts like a giant baby?"

"Uffooo young master Lee, you reek, stupid love,"

"Tae Yang," He corrected her with an authoritative voice, "Call my name,"

"No...how can I address you by your first name?"

"And you are absolutely okay with calling me Yangyang?" He chortled,

"Yangyang, you are-" Li Juan was left flustered,

"Tae Yang,"

"Uffoo, you are too much...how can you argue over something trivial like this? I've never asked you to give me a pet name? No way, I am going to call you by your name," She shrugged, "I would rather call you Liang,"

"Liang?" He perched his eyebrows in a query,

"Li Juan and Yangyang,"

"What is that? our ship's name?"

"Something similar like that...If I add "Dai" to "Liang" it still becomes your name."

"Dai Liang?" 

"Who wears brightness? My Sun," Li Juan touched his cheeks and pressed her finger on his dimples,

"Get changed, I will go and look after my second baby," He ruffled her hair and walked out of the washroom,

"Tae Yang," Li Juan put her head out of the washroom door and called him sweetly, Or Yangyang or Liang...whatever name I give you, you know that this Sun belongs to me?"

"Yes," His face bloomed into a sunny smile, revealing his dimples,

"My God, why do you have to smile like that?" 

"Huh?"

"Don't go around smiling and showing your dimples to everyone. I don't like it when other girls call my boyfriend CUTE,"

Li Juan said with a childish grin and closed the door without waiting for his reaction.

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

Li Juan gawked at the matte black Audi R8 crawling out from the garage,

No wonder Lee Tae Yang uses his own car instead of this eye-catchy car,

"What about your car? Did you contact the service centre?" Li Juan asked him as soon as got on to the car,

"Yes, I have informed them,"

"What about your duty?"

"My shift starts at 11, I got plenty of my time," He assured her and started to the engine, "Xiao Li, what should I get for your mother flowers or fruits?"

"Huh?"

"I am going meeting your mother for the first-time as your boyfriend," He appeared a little nervous.

"Get whatever you like...Mamma won't mind even if you don't bring anything,"

"Your mother won't mind, but my mother in law will definitely look down upon a son in law who came freehanded to meet her," Lee Tae Yang pulled over the car next to a fruit stall and brought a fruit basket for Li Qin.

Within thirty minutes they reached the neighbourhood were Li Juan lived.

They were living in a rooftop rental house in an alley towards the fishing harbour. Most of the people who were living in a place where common fishermen folks.

Li Juan got down from the car while peeking at her house and found the windows remained open,

"Mamma is home," Li Juan told Lee Tae Yang and led him towards the stairs, 

She took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell,

After a few moments, Li Qin opened the door with an expressionless face and scanned up her daughter and the young man stood beside her,

"Good morning, Aunt Li, I am Lee Tae Yang," He bowed before her,

Li Qin acknowledged his presence with a faint smile, "Come inside,"

Lee Tae Yang got inside the house and handed over the fruit basket, "Take a seat,"

Li Qin's demeanour appeared placid and calm, however, the moment Li Juan decided to take a seat next to her mother, she was stopped by a death stare from Li Qin.

"Doctor Lee is visiting our home for the first time. How can you sit around and do nothing, Lili? Why don't go to uncle Mao's shop and get something for him?"

Li Juan was left on pins and needles for a moment, Is her mother is trying to send her away from the scene and confront Lee Tae Yang in the absence of her?

Looking at Li Juan's alarmed expression Li Qin sighed and smiled, "I am not going to scold your boyfriend. He helped us a lot and how can I send him off without giving him a proper meal?"

Hearing her mother's words Li Juan's lips bloomed into a smile, "My Mamma is the best," She hugged her Li Qin and faced Lee Tae Yang, "I will be right back,"

He nodded in agreement,

Li Juan immediately went inside her room to take money before going out with a cheerful face.

Once Li Juan left the house, Li Qin turned her gaze towards the Youngman who is sitting opposite her. Due to his tall stature, his sitting posture on the small sofa looked too cramped,

"Let me take something to drink," She stood up from her seat and went towards the kitchen,

Lee Tae Yang swept a glance across the living room,

Though it was a small house, it was clean and tidy with a very minimal number of furniture,

On a wooden three-tiered shelf, numerous trophies and medals were neatly organised. In the middle tier, the photos of Li Juan and her parents were kept.

The last tier was filled with countless plushie toys,

"These are Lili's awards which she got from her previous school," Li Qin explained when she saw that Lee Tae Yang's focus was on the shelf,

"You must be proud to have a daughter like her," He replied,

Li Qin came back with a cup of milk and fried twisted buns, "Please have it,"

"Thank you," Lee Tae Yang replied with a bit of surprise,

She smiled and walked towards the shelf to pick up a box,

"These are Lili's photos from childhood, take a look," Li Qin said and sat beside him while taking out of the photographs one by one,

Lee Tae Yang picked up a photograph of Li Juan from her elementary school,

"She is so cute," He commented while going through the photograph,

"Did you see this kid?" Li Qin pointed out a boy with a bandage on his chin, "

"Lili did it, she broke his jaw. And we had to transfer to another school," 

"Really?" Lee Tae Yang was caught of surprise, "I didn't know that she is trouble-maker in school,"

"Do you want to know why Lili broke that kid's face?" Li Qin asked with a straight face, "He pulled her pants to check whether she is a boy or a girl,"

Her words created a shocking ripple on Lee Tae Yang's calm face,

"That was the last time she hit someone," She continued and took another photograph, "These are the pictures from her school trip, did you see the gap between the children and Lili? They always treated her as an outcast. Have you seen a smile on any of these pictures?"

Lee Tae Yang scanned Li Juan's face on every picture, it was frozen like an iceberg,

"She always got bullied by her classmates and that dumb girl never complained about it," Li Qin's eyes had an agonized look,

"Do you know why she always dresses up as a boy? Because t-shirts and pants cost less than frock. All these plushie toys in this house are made by Lili. While other children were going to private tuitions after school, she makes these toys and sells them in the Sunday market,"

Li Qin picked up a soft plushie toy of a boy in school uniform from the box,

"Lili made this doll for a boy she used to love in her previous school," She smiled bitterly, 

The shock on Lee Tae Yang's face was wide visible to Li Qin,

"His sister was Lili's friend. Both of them used to come to our house. Lili used to like him a lot. That boy, he is studying in some foreign country now. On the day of his departure, Lili went to send him off and met with an accident. She was hospitalized for two months and it took her a while to go back to her normal life. Or I thought so," She snorted,

"One day I came early from the work and met Lili who came back from school with toiled clothes. Her classmates bullied her again and I couldn't see her go through all the pain, so we shifted to S city. She is used to be a hardworking student and her teachers told me to send her to a foreign country for studies. But on the day of her scholarship selection, she fell from the building." She stopped for a moment and looked at Lee Tae Yang,

"I heard from her teachers that her classmates won't even allow Lili to sit together in the school cafeteria so that she always ate alone on the rooftop. The day Lili fell from the building, it was raining heavily, while everyone ate warm food, my kid was sitting in the rain and eating her meal drenched in water,"

Li Qin wiped the teardrops fell from her eyes, "She might've decided to end her agony. The duty nurses always scold me for leaving Lili alone in the night, she sees nightmares and wakes from the sleep yelling. Who leaves their children alone?"

"Aunt Li, she wasn't alone…," Lee Tae Yang finally spoke up in a trembling voice, "I, I always stood with her,"

"I know, everybody knows…the amnesiac patient who asked Dr Lee for a date?"

Lee Tae Yang stood up from his seat and kneeled beside her to grab Li Qin's hands, "Aunt Li, I like her…once she comes of age I wish to marry–"

"I hope you understand what I am trying to say. both of you are young, and it is natural for you to have this infatuation," Li Qin smiled through her tears and touched Lee Tae Yang's palms with a doting look, "Yangyang is a nice boy,"

"You...recognized...me?" Lee Tae Yang asked in a bewildered tone. The moment he recognized Li Qin and Wol Ju, he wished to come clean about his family background, but he was hesitant. It was partially his parent's fault that Li Qin and her daughter to go through such a terrible fate,

"If I don't know it, why would I bring milk and twisted buns for my little Yangyang, I knew I knew the very first moment I saw you," Li Qin touched his cheeks and continued, 

"Aunt Li, I will take care of Wol Ju," Lee Tae Yang promised her with a resolute face, "I promise that I won't make her cry, I won't let anyone bully her,"

"Don't make promises which you cannot fulfil," Li Qin words lacked any endearing emotions as she continued, "Your grandmother couldn't accept your mother while she was alive, how are they going to accept my Lili?"

"I will talk to them," He suggested, "I can make them agree,"

"What if they don't agree?"

"I will leave.." His words appeared unswerving,

"Don't be a fool like an uncle Ze," Li Qin face had a melancholic smile,

"There isn't a single day in my life that I haven't regretted that I have severed uncle Ze's family ties and ruined everyone's happiness. It must be their curse that my Lili is suffering now," Li Qin couldn't help but sigh over her situation,

"Everyone said that she is born with a curse, she took her father's life…your parent's lives...probably going to take mine too"

"No aunty, my dad and mom, it was an accident," Lee Tae Yang tried to argue, "There is nothing wrong with Xiao Li, she did nothing,"

"Do you know why aunty left soul city without saying a word to you?" Li Qin stopped for a moment,

"It is true, Lili is cursed. After your parent's death, your grandma met a priest and showed him Lili's birth chart,"

Li Qin never felt that there will a day in her life, where she has to spill the truth she has hidden for the last eighteen years.

"She is evil...nothing good is going to happen with her...She will ruin everyone, even her parents," She broke into tears,

"But she is the only one I have, I am the only one she got...as long as I am alive, I will take care of Lili," Her face had a determined look,

"Yangyang, grow up us an excellent surgeon. Aunty and Lili will be always grateful to you for saving her life,"

"Aunty," Lee Tae Yang called her in a trembling voice. He clearly knew the direction in which this conversation is going, "I love-"

Li Qin interrupted his words with a pleading face,

"I don't want my child to go through the same sufferings I've been through. As everyone said, she is a cursed child and Yangyang," She patted his hair,

"Aunt Li loves you a lot, maybe a lot more than Lili. I don't want her misfortune to affect you. I lost everyone whom I treated as my own because of my -"

She covered her mouth and took a moment to request the young man who was sitting before her with a pair of teary eyes,

"I want Yangyang to live long..., You must live,"