Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

After a long time, Li Juan was able to fall asleep peacefully as the tightened knots on her mind got loosened, thus allowing her to feel at ease.

The chaos in her life has finally settled and she was finally able to move on to a wonderful future with people who love and cherish her. 

The feeling of belongingness has finally returned to her and ran deep into her heart, like sturdy roots of a tree, spreading tranquillity in her. 

After sleeping for half a day, when Li Juan woke up from the thoroughly needed rest, she found herself lying alone on the bed, surrounded by pillows that hold her favourite human's warmth and soothing scent. 

She lifts herself to recline on the headrest of the cot, 

Her ink-black eyes search the room for Lee Tae Yang but ended up falling on the note resting on the bedside table. 

"I need to accompany Grandpa to somewhere. Your clothes are kept in the closet and you will find the toiletries in the washroom cupboard. Take a hot bath, eat something nice and look around the palace until I come home," 

She reads the beautifully written note with a smile.

No matter how much the technology has improved and brought people closer, as someone who loved the retro style, Li Juan loved those handwritten notes. 

She removes the blanket covering her and groggily rose from the bed. 

As she stretched her body to loosen her stiff muscles, Li Juan's dark eyes fell on the digital clock in the room. 

It was twelve in the noon,

"I spent half a day in bed," She mumbles in disbelief and headed straight towards the washroom to freshen up.

After having a warm shower, when she stepped into the closet room, Li Juan was rendered speechless,

A huge row full of clothes in her size hung waiting for her in the shelves. 

"When did he arrange all of this?" She wonders and picked a dusty pink flowy dress from the shelves. 

After changing into a fresh pair of clothes and drying her hair, Li Juan walked out of the room in search of the dining room.

While wandering around the lonely yet exquisite corridors of Dai Jin Long's palace, She unexpectedly ran into Guan Tian Long,

"Xiao Li," He cheerfully greeted her, his handsome face adorned with a beaming smile, "I was about to wake you up," 

"How are you, Gege? When did you arrive?" Li Juan bombarded him with questions. It has been a while ever since she saw him in the hospital at Jing city. 

"Around ten in the morning," He reported in an imposing army commando aura, "Grandpa took Tae Yang to run some errands and your boyfriend has been calling me every thirty minutes to check whether you are up or not," The lines on Guan Tian Long's fair forehead creased in anguish as he began to complain about his annoying cousin, returning to his usual chirpy self. 

"If he is so worried about you then why the hell did he went with grandpa? He could have just stayed here," 

"I will call Tae Yang and let him know, Gege," Li Juan suggested when she saw Guan Tian Long's riled expressions.

"No...no... let's go and have lunch, otherwise he is going to eat my head for not feeding you," Guan Tian Long said as a matter of a fact.

Hearing his words, Li Juan chortles at the truth that her boyfriend loves to pester his younger cousins with silly errands. 

"That would be great," She replied honestly,

"Let's go then,"' Guan Tian Long agreed smilingly and took her to the dining room without getting lost in the maze of the long corridors of the Dai Jin Long palace. 

Since she slept through the morning, Li Juan was hungry like a mamma bear and she ate the delicious full-course meal to her heart's content. 

After lunch, Guan Tian Long himself took initiative to make her call Lee Tar Tang and went for a stroll in the palace compound like a sightseeing tour. 

When Li Juan took a look at the palace under the warm sunlight, it felt like she has been time travelled to the era of royal rule. 

Apart from the subtle modifications of few rooms in the inner court to suit the tastes of the modern man, the rest of the palace was conserved in its original architectural marvel form. 

"I'm sure that you are well-versed about the history of the Guan empire and its reign. But let me share some stories that are only known to the royal family," Guan Tian Long who lead the way like a tourist guide, began to turn the pages of his favourite childhood memories,

"Dai Jin Long palace gets its name from the celestial golden dragon," 

"The one who protects the heavenly realm and deities?" Li Juan tried to refresh her memory about the myth as she prepared herself to listen to his stories.

"Yes, he resides in the sky and protects the celestial gods from falling to earth," Guan Tian Long admits and continued as a skilled storyteller, "However, one day while he was asleep, a goddess sneaked the way out and ended up falling into the mortal realm," 

"I wonder what kind of goddess is so careless, that she loses her balance and falls down," Li Juan tried to hide her laughter as she looks at the irony of the story. 

"She wasn't any mere goddess, but was one of the powerful deities in the celestial realm," He corrected her right away, "She was trying to descend to the mortal realm out of curiosity," 

"Well that makes more sense," Li Juan acknowledged,

"Don't look for sense and logic in these fictional stories, Xiao Li," Guan Tian Long warned her in advance,

"Okay, please continue," 

"When the celestial gods came to know that the goddess is missing, they started to blame the dragon for his irresponsible behaviour and sent him to the mortal realm to look for her. He disguised himself as a human and searched for the goddess, all across the earth,"

"Did he find her?" Li Juan queried, her face filled with child-like curiosity.

"Hmm. After searching for twenty-eight days in the mortal realm, he found the goddess and persuaded her to return to the celestial world to restore the order of the universe. However, she refused to leave the earth and return,"

"Why?"

"She fell in love with a Demigod," Guan Tian Long stated in a placid tone,

Hearing his words, Li Juan's eyes sparkled in surprise when she felt a sense of familiarity with the content of the story,

After a moment's silence, she opened her mouth to speak out the question that popped up in her mind.

"Are you talking about the forgotten moon goddess, Bai Yue?" She asked in a low but curious tone,

"Bingo!!!" Guan Tian Long almost shrieked in amusement, "The goddess who sneaked out..oops, descended to earth was the lunar goddess, Bai Yue,"

"So the dragon was the one who created misunderstandings with her and Wolf God?" Li Juan demanded an answer to clear her doubt. As far as she knows, the celestial gods who were jealous of the Bai Yue and the Wolf God's relationship tried to separate them by creating misunderstandings.

"No..no..he ain't that low," Guan Tian Long refuted her claims, "But Dragon was the one who fought with the wolf-God over the Goddess,"

"He won?" Li Juan exclaimed,

"No matter how powerful celestial dragon in the heavenly world, the mortal realm was some other guy's territory and he wasn't supposed to lash out his entire power," Guan Tian Long explained to the girl who was totally immersed in the story,

"He lost?" Li Juan raised her eyebrow in suspicion,

"No, he can't...he won't. Can you imagine the intensity of the destruction that would have happened on the earth?" Guan Tian Long almost facepalmed at her dumb question,

"The goddess stopped them from fighting and somehow convinced the dragon to return to the celestial world. However, when he went back and informed the rest of the celestial deities conspired against the couple and succeeded in separating them," 

"I've heard the second part of the story, but had no idea about the fight between wolf god and dragon," Li Juan let out a sigh.

"It's a story of betrayal and deception by the celestials that ended up in obliterating the existence of wolf god and the moon goddess. So obviously it's not so popular," Guan Tian Long declared the sad truth about the twisted version of the mythical stories.

"But our grandparents were so strict about teaching us the history and myths that are erased from the popular culture of C country,"

"Hmmm," Li Juan hummed as she low key envied him for growing up listening to these stories from his grandparents.

"We believe that our ancestors were the descendants of the heavenly dragon, those who born from the blood droplets of his human version," Guan Tian Long proudly added,

"Ah, that's why there are a lot of dragon symbols in this place,"

"Of course, it is the abode of the mighty dragon," He casually commented and paused when something triggered in his mind, "but there is a pavilion in this palace that is dedicated for tiger,' 

"Tiger?' Li Juan wondered for a moment,

According to the myth, it was said that "Tigers" were enemies of Dragons. Then how come this dragon palace built a pavilion for the enemy?

It felt unbelievable for Li Juan who got a huge interest in mythology and history.

"It's also the reason why we are still holding to this palace, even after centuries," Guan Tian Long informed her as he led Li Juan to the south side of the inner court that appeared empty without any human presence.

"We handed over all of our palaces to the government, but conserved this one in the belief that the rightful owner of the palace will return one day,"

Li Juan didn't ask any question, but simply looked at Guan Tian Long with curious eyes,

"The one who was supposed to live here as the mighty dragon emperor of the Guan empire went missing," He paused and continues with a bitter smile, "Or at least we believed so," 

Both of them stopped in front of a giant door, highly engraved with the symbols of natural elements and a majestic phoenix rising from ashes. 

"This is the place I was dying to show you in this entire palace," Guan Tian Long said enthusiastically and dramatically bowed before the door,

"Pavillion of the Empress?" Li Juan's eyes widened in astonishment when she read the calligraphy engraved on the stone pillar next to the door,

"Well, that was in old times, now it is treated as an exhibition hall," Guan Tian Long pulled open the door with little force and let Li Juan enter inside the pavilion. 

As soon as Li Juan stepped inside, her eyes glistened at the sight of the interior of the well-maintained art gallery with countless paintings dated back to several centuries ago,

"These pictures were drawn by your ancestors?" Li Juan sounded perplexed as she began to explore the paintings exhibited there.

"All of them are painted by one of our ancestors. However, after Tae Yang started painting, Grandpa added his artworks to this collection,"

"Tae Yang likes to paint?" Li Juan's startled voice echoed in the quiet pavilion, equally surprising Guan Tian Long who accompanied her,

"Your boyfriend is quite an artist, don't you know that?" He casually asked. However when he saw Li Juan's puzzled face, his eyes widened in disbelief,

"You seriously don't know that Tae Yang likes to paint?" Guan Tian Long asked as if he heard something unbelievable,

Li Juan wobbled her head with a tinge of disappointment at her ignorant self,

She believed that she knew everything about Lee Tae Yang, but there were a lot of things that she was unaware of,

"Grandma used to say that Tae Yang born with blessed hands. Whatever he does, he just excels in it," Guan Tian Long bragged about his brother as he showed Li Juan around the pavilion/ art gallery, 

As they walked around, checking out the paintings, Li Juan's eyes remained wide at the marvellous creations before her.

The well-conserved paintings portrayed various depictions of the lives of ancient people and the panoramic scenery of nature.

However, the moment her dark eyes fell on the first portrait in the collection, Li Juan stopped in her tracks, as if someone has petrified her body.

She stared at the handsome warrior in the portrait whose face was adorned with a hue of pretty feminine features, 

Somehow the warrior's face arose a sense of familiarity in Li Juan, especially the tanned skin and the ink-black eyes that are capable of piercing into the onlooker's soul.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Guan Tian Long pointed out as he glanced at the woman who remained stunned by the painting.

Li Juan slightly nodded her head in agreement,

"Whoever painted this, he is really talented," She remarked in an appealing tone,

"Then you should take a look at the next picture," Guan Tian Long suggested with a smile and led her to the next painting,

As soon as the sight of the gorgeous lady in the painting, Li Juan's jaw dropped in shock,

It felt like she was looking at the reflection of herself in the mirror, 

Adorned in a pure white Hanfu the lady stood in the backdrop of moonlit sky and plum blossom.

Her long midnight hair cascaded down like a waterfall, 

the alluring smile on her red lips gave her an appearance of a ravishing beauty who is capable of burning nations and ruining cities,

"Is that you, Xiao Li?" Guan Tian Long asked Li Juan who was now brimming with tears,

Even though she remained silent, he could see that Li Juan knew the identity of the lady in the portrait.

"She is the same warrior from the previous portrait for whom this pavilion is built," He dramatically paused and looked at the portrait, his eyes sparkling in utmost admiration,

"The tigress of Tu mountain, the pride of Yu clan and the empress of mighty Guan empire, Bai Yu Yue,"

Guan Tian Long's proud voice floated in the air, sending goosebumps to Li Juan,

"Empress?" She asked in a trembling voice, unable to comprehend the meaning of his words,

"Hmm," Guan Tian Long opened his mouth to reveal the link that connects the Yu clan and Guan empire that transcended the generations,

"The great phoenix of our empire, the spouse of Guan Tae Yang, the almighty dragon emperor of Guan empire,"