Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

In the morning, the first thing Li Juan did was to open her closet and ran an inspection of her clothes.

She was a geek who is not at all interested in attending social gatherings and parties. Her sole aim in life was to study hard and obtain a job.

Li Juan carefully sifted her closet and pulled out all her clothes, one by one.

No party wear dresses? How come a girl's closet filled with only jeans and casual t-shirts?

Well, there are some business suits which are kept for formal occasions.

Other than these, do I have any other presentable clothes? Various questions popped in her mind as she searched her closet,

"Need to buy some new clothes," She made a reminder on her phone,

Should I buy a new dress for the evening?

Li Juan pursed her lips as she thought and took a look at the mess on her bed, then her room.

The two-third of the room was covered with Li Juan's study materials. Stacks of thick books are perfectly arranged on shelves. The walls were covered with sticky notes, even her mirror contained several of them.

She makes the mess and clears them out by herself, however, one thing Li Juan couldn't stand was a messy bed.

"Ahhhhhhhh what is wrong with me?" She grunted in frustration and began to pick up the clothes from the pile.

"Ah Juan, where are you?" Someone called Li Juan from outside.

"I am here Aunt Mei." Li Juan replied as stood in front of the pile of clothes.

"Ah Juan, What is this mess?" Mei Rong, a woman in her fifties walked into the room and asked her.

Mei Rong was Li Juan's mother's friend as well as their neighbour. After her friend's death, Mei Rong was the one who took care of Li Juan.

On every weekend mornings, she used to visit Li Juan and hand over some breakfast as the latter was busy with her part-time job.

"Don't you have class today?" Mei Rong asked when she saw Li Juan roaming around in her sleep wears. Usually, on weekends, Li Juan works part-time as a teacher in a private tutoring academy.

"Yes, but aunty, please help me to pick a dress," Li Juan requested as a last resort to help her out from this dilemma.

"Dress? Juan, you got a date?" Mei Rong's face immediately lit up with happiness, "Who is the guy? What is he doing? Is he from your university?" Out of sheer curiosity, she bombarded Li Juan with questions.

Since Li Juan doesn't have any family left, Mei Rong wanted her to get married and settle soon.

"Uffo, Aunty...I am not going for a date," Li Juan frowned at her words. How can these elder's minds are always filled with matchmaking and marriage? Whenever they see a young person, automatically their system starts prompting the question "Are you in a relationship?"

If you say YES, then you are forced to answer 100 marks worth of questionnaire regarding your partner.

If you say NO, then you are forced to a 100 hours worth of lecture on why you need to be in a relationship including 10 benefits of marriage with extra credits.

"How can a person live alone? That too; a woman who is in her epitome of youth? Ah, Juan, At least go to dates and have a boyfriend," Mei Rong suggested in a scolding tone.

As per her knowledge, Li Juan never had any boyfriends, not even during her college days. Living with a single parent who doesn't have a stable income, dating and meeting men was something she could not afford. Unlike her peers, she kept herself busy in her studies so that she could obtain a scholarship and alleviate her mother's burden.

Li Juan's parents married without their family's consent since both of them belonged to different social statuses.

Bai Ze, her father was born in a rich family and worked as a detective in Jing city whereas Li Qin, her mother was an orphan who came to the city from a rural village. Li Qin used to work in a cafeteria where Bai Ze frequently visited and they eventually fell in love despite their differences.

But when the talk of the marriage came up, Bai Ze's family opposed his decision to get married to an orphan and give him two options-

1. Leave Li Qin and inherit the shares.

2. Marry Li Qin and leave the household.

Bai Ze who grew up as the rebellious kid in the house never cared about the shares and their family traditions. He ardently believed that sharing his life with an orphan girl and giving her a reason to smile was the better thing to do than inheriting the shares. So he happily chose the second option and left his household to marry his girlfriend.

The day, they registered the marriage Bai Ze's family disowned him and never looked for him again.

Soon after, Li Juan turned one week old, her father passed away in an accident and her mother singly raised her amidst all the difficulties. Without even caring about her health, Li Qin worked hard so that her daughter could have a happy life.

But unfortunately, nothing in Li Juan's life went the way her mother wished.

"I am going to a birthday party." Li Juan declared in a steady voice. Yes it a declaration, a difficult one for a person like her.

"Party! Where?" Mei Rong looked at her with a bewildered face.

As far as she knew, Li Juan never liked to attend parties. Whenever she goes to a party, she silently sits in a corner, eats food and leaves early.

"At Tang mansion," Li Juan replied as she busied herself in finding an appropriate outfit for the night.

"Oh, your friend has returned?" Mei Rong wondered whether Li Juan's only friend who went abroad for her studies returned.

"Yeah. It's her brother's birthday. Aunty, pick me a dress," Li Juan whined in disappointment, "I am going to be late for the class."

"You go and shower, I will look for the dress..." Mei Rong pushed her towards the bathroom.

When Li Juan came back after the shower, a simple deep purple-black dress was kept on the bed.

She placed the dress on her body and checked herself in the mirror, a warm smile blooming on her face.

It was the last birthday present from her mother.

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

Evening, Tang Mansion.

When Li Juan reached the Tang mansion, the party was about to begin.

The entire Tang mansion was extravagantly decorated for the birthday party and the banquet that was arranged in the garden was almost filled with guests.

Li Juan looked for a familiar face in the crowd but ended up recognizing some high-end officials and business tycoons whom she has only seen in newspapers and TV.

It was the first-ever formal banquet which Tang Wei Sheng has been attending after becoming the CEO of Tang Corporations.

As Li Juan's eyes searched for Tang siblings, all of sudden, the lights in the venue went off, only leaving the spotlight on the main podium.

Like a fairy descended from heaven, Tang Wei Lan appeared on the podium in a white shimmering evening gown. She bowed before the audience and gracefully walked towards the piano kept in a corner of the stage.

When Tang Wei Lan started playing and the entire place got immersed in the melodious piano music.

On the very next moment, Tang Wei Sheng's handsome figure walked into the stage, followed by a loud round of applause. The radiant smile on his face and the sapphire blue custom made Tuxedo on his tall and linear frame elevated his strikingly handsome countenance to the next level.

Once Tang Wei Lan finished playing the song, Tang Wei Sheng's parents and his grandpa entered the stage for the cake slicing ceremony.

"Can I have your attention please;" Tang Fei raised a glass of champagne. "Here is a toast to my dear dearest grandson, the wonderful person I have ever met."

"Ah Sheng, on this special day, may you be reminded how precious you are to all of us. Another year has been added to your life and you have made it through every challenge that came to your life. And today let's take comfort and pride in your achievements and enjoy your day. Grandpa wishes my Sheng a very happy birthday."

Tang Fei clanked the champagne glass with his grandson and invited Tang Wei Sheng to slice the multi-layered birthday cake.

With the soft piano version of the birthday song playing in the background, Tang Wei Sheng sliced the cake and gave the first slice to his grandfather, officially initiating the birthday banquet.

Within minutes Tang Wei Sheng got busy with greeting guests and accepting their gifts.

Li Juan wasn't an introvert but didn't like to interact with people either, so she sat in a lonely corner of the garden and observed the grand banquet without much interest.

During her school days, Li Juan used to attend Tang Wei Lan's birthday parties and always got astonished by the range of celebrations organised every year.

However, compared to today, all those celebrations seemed like a kitty party. Of course, rich people got their grand way to celebrate every single occasion without any fail.

Once she started getting bored, Li Juan took her mobile and sent a message to Tang Wei Lan to inform her arrival.

"Is this seat vacant?" All of sudden, someone asked her in English.

Li Juan raised her eyes from the mobile screen and looked in the direction from where the sound was heard.

A handsome man stood beside her table, holding two glasses of champagne in his hands.

"May I sit here?" He asked her with a flirtatious smile.

"Oh please, feel free to sit," Li Juan politely offered the seat.

"Oh thank you. By the way, I'm Lu Gui Meng-" However, the moment he sat on the chair, Li Juan stood up and walked away without even giving an ear to his words.

"What?" Lu Gui Meng was left flabbergasted as he saw the pretty woman who is walking away from him.

"Hey, where are you going?" He called out for her.

"The table is vacant, you can take it, sir," Li Juan replied and vanished into the crowd in a glimpse of a moment, leaving the man lost at words.

"F**k!" Lu Gui Meng slammed the champagne glasses on the table and cursed in disappointment.

"What happened Young master Lu, where is your sexy partner for the night?"Another man who was dressed in a flashy brown suit came and sat next to him with a smirk on his handsome face.

"Shut up, Wu Fan," Lu Gui Meng warned and drank the champagne in one shot.

"Hey, hey easy, easy." Ye Wu Fan tried to pacify the heartbroken Lu Gui Meng who was acting like a boy going through puberty. "What did she say?"

"Nothing,"

"Nothing?" Ye Wu Fan repeated as if he didn't understand the former's answer.

"She left even before I start talking," Lu Gui Meng replied with a darkened face.

"What the hell?" Ye Wu Fan cracked upon his friend's reply.

"Dumb ass Wu Fan, laugh once again, I am going to kick your balls," Lu Gui Meng who was highly confident about his flirting skills, appeared in dismay when he got rejected for the first time. 

"Believe me, bro, not every girl wants to crawl into your bed," Ye Wu Fan laughed out loud and advised, "She was a nice catch, but way out of your league. So cheer up and look for someone else." Ye Wu Fan patted on Lu Gui Meng's shoulder as if he was consoling him.

"No, let me try one more time." Lu Gui Meng said in an exhilarated tone and stood up from his seat, "Not every day you will come across a ravishing beauty like her,"

"Looks like someone is craving for humiliation," Ye Wu Fan teased the man who began to search the crowd, without any intention to give up.

At the same time, Tang Wei Lan was also searching for her friend after reading the message.

After some minutes, she found Li Juan standing beside a Magnolia tree at the far end of the garden, as if she is hiding from someone.

"Lily!!!" Tang Wei Lan rushed towards Li Juan with open arms and circled her with a warm embrace, "I missed you.

"I missed you too," Li Juan replied and gently released her arms from Tang Wei Lan.

"When did you descend from heaven, Miss Fairy?" She looked at the gorgeous woman standing in front of her and made a complimenting comment.

"Look at you, Runway model, I can barely recognize you." Tang Wei Lan smiled adoringly and retaliated.

"Why are you standing here? Come let's meet my brother." She pulled Li Juan towards the main venue, to the podium where Tang Wei Sheng stood.

As the duo strode towards the podium, Tang Wei Lan abruptly halted her steps and glanced at her friend.

"Lily, let's check whether Gege recognizes you or not."

Hearing her words, Li Juan looked at Tang Wei Lan's mischievous face in confusion.

"Let's give it a try." Tang Wei Lan cheerfully pushed Li Juan in the direction of the podium.

Though her heart was trembling heavily due to excitement, Li Juan maintained a deadpan look on her face as she ambled towards Tang Wei Sheng.

The only fear that was flogging her mind was, whether the man of her dreams will be able to recognize her or not?

In the past 7 years, Li Juan has undergone various transformations that changed her outer appearance from a petite little high schooler. 

Will he able to recognize the grown-up Li Juan? As he mind plummeted into various thoughts, her eyes caught the broad back of Tang Wei Sheng right before her.

He was conversing with some guests, since she doesn't want to interrupt him, Li Juan waited patiently in a corner on the podium.

From the spot where she stood, she could hear Tang Wei Sheng's cheerful and pleasant voice that resembled the sweetest melody.

Damn here it goes!!!

Lub dub lub dub lub dub x 100

Hearing his voice, Li Juan's heart beat loudly as if she was going through an adrenaline rush.

Li Juan was not a girl who grew up without interacting with men, but whenever she saw a glimpse of her favourite Senior, her heart behaved weirdly.

Her heart itself starts playing a rock concert where "Zen Zen Zense of Radwimps" plays on loop.

It has been several years and Li Juan believed that she overcame this odd but beautiful sensation. However, the moment Tang Wei Sheng appeared before her again, everything went back to zero.

Back to back lub dub lub dub!!!

Tang Wei Sheng who was busy conversing with someone, abruptly turned back when he felt someone's eyes on him and saw the pretty woman next to the piano.

The moment their eyes met, Tang Wei Sheng felt a tug on his chest.

The woman wore a simple dress and makeup, yet her aura felt alluring and overbearing, which is foreign to others but familiar to him.

He gaped at her without batting an eyelid.

Her beautiful smile, captivating pitch-black eyes and long wavy hair, but more than that, her rich honey-coloured skin, struck him the most.

It's her.

Tang Wei Sheng could not believe his eyes when he recognized the woman who stood before him.

Brimming in joy, he strode towards her and embraced her in a warm embrace, without any hesitations,