Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

" Have you heard about the Yu clan?" 

That question felt awfully familiar to Li Juan.

For the past five years, it was the most inquired question of Li Juan's life. She visited countless libraries and read various books to find its answer. Few of the history texts mentioned about a mysterious kingdom situated in the Tu mountains, in one or two lines. 

There weren't any solid data regarding the Yu clan, until six months ago Professor Su Wu, Han Guang's senior came up with the information of a lost Kingdom.

A Kingdom which shares similarities with the city which they were searching-The Yu kingdom, the land named after the most precious gemstone of ancient times. 

"Jade, the essence of Heaven and Earth. "

Unlike other kingdoms, the citizens of Yu kingdom collectively known as the Yu clan and rarely interacted with the world beyond the Tu mountain range which acted as a protective barrier for them.

Bai Qi looked at the woman who sat in front of him with black eyes as beautiful as the starry nights.

"I know Yu clan as the residents of Jade land, a kingdom which surprisingly vanished from the history books in the mainland." Li Juan answered in a steady voice.

There was a bitter smile on her Bai Qi's face.

" We were never part of the history of the mainland, princess." An unknown melancholy resonated in Bai Qi's words. 

"Jade land, a small kingdom lies in the inner valleys of the Tu mountain. In ancient texts, it is only depicted as the sacred land which was the abode of the Jade emperor on earth." 

"Hmm, I've heard the story." Li Juan agreed to him.

"The Yu clan consists of three subclans which are subdivided into ten tribes based on their skills- The creators, the nurturers and the protectors.

The creators or inventors include the teachers and engineers.

The nurturers or reconstructors include the farmers and the artisans

the protectors or the destroyers include the rulers and warriors.

We followed the laws of nature and worshipped five elements of the earth- wood, earth, fire, water and metal.

Though we were divided by our skills, we remained unified under one person." Bai Qi dramatically paused his words.

"The mother of the Yu clan, the Queen."

Li Juan had a vague idea about the queen. Yu clan believed that the queen was the representative of the "Mother Earth". Like a mother, the queen can nurture her people and as the worst-case scenario, she can also destroy them. 

"We didn't believe in any material things." Bai Qi continued,

"We were surrounded by large repositories of treasures, 

but none of them was precious than our happiness and peace." He gave a brief introduction of the customs and practices of the Yu clan.

"During the reign of Queen Yue, our home came into the notice of Wei kingdom in the East. The emperor wished to take the queen as his concubine- thus becoming the owner of the entire Jade land and its treasures.

An eligible partner from a powerful empire, the alliance was perfect in every means. But Yu clan followed matriarchy and believed in monogamy. It was difficult for them to accept the emperor's proposal. The emperor asked for the queen whom they treat equally to God, to become one of his concubines and bear children for him." 

"Aiiiisshhhh," Li Juan almost cussed. "How can he do that? "

There was a huge difference being a queen and concubine. The Queen is considered as the nation's mother, whereas a concubine was only a person to satisfy the sexual needs of the emperor. If she gives birth to a boy, then her position is elevated to royal consort.

"What do you think princess, Yue? Did they accept his proposal?" seeing Li Juan's response, Bai Qi throw a hypothetical question at her.

" No, I don't think they would've accepted his proposal." Li Juan shared her opinion.

"I don't agree with the practice of concubinage. It is nothing but a barbaric custom. No woman should be treated like that. And I believe that Jade land queen was so great that, she deserved someone who is no lesser than a god." Li Juan smiled and shared her opinion.

"Yes, yes I agree with you." Bai Qi smiled and continued." But the truth was little different than what you've said.

The queen indeed refused the proposal, but the royal court couldn't completely reject the emperor and bring his wrath upon the land.

So they decided to send someone from the royal family."

"Who?"

"The Queen had a younger sister. The princess agreed to become the emperor's concubine, but on one condition." Bai Qi stopped for a moment. "The emperor has to come to the Jade land and win her over, according to the laws of the Yu clan."

"Did he come?" Li Juan's eyes sparkled in curiosity.

"Hmm, he came with an army three times larger than Jade land."

"What?" Li Juan's eyes widened in shock.

" The queen's decision angered the emperor. He declared war on Jade land." Bai Qi sighed.  "It was ruthless, to declare war upon a sacred land which held no proper army."

"They didn't have any allies?" Li Juan asked out of curiosity. "At least someone could've helped them."

"Yu kingdom did ask for help from their neighbours, but no one was brave enough to go against the Wei Empire.

The Wei army came to our land like flood and tried to loot us and take the queen as their slave. 

The Jade land army was not even one-third of the Wei army, but they fought without any fear. Even though it was brutal, the Jade land army somehow managed to stop the entry of the Wei army from the southeast and south-west border.

When the army tried their best to protect the two borders they didn't know that, there was another misfortune was waiting for them."

"What was that?"

"An attack from the south side. An army which is three times bigger than the population of jade land was prepared to attack us from the south. 

It was a crucial moment for the Queen. Considering the situation it was impossible to defend the country from three directions. 

The army who came looking for the Jade land only had eyes on the treasure. They didn't care for any human life. So they unleashed the beast in them and killed without any mercy. 

The Queen couldn't let her people die in vain. She was ready to give her life to save her people's lives. 

She asked the women, the young and the old, to flee to a safer place and the remaining people to join the battle.

Before leaving for the final battle, the Queen made a promise to her people. That she will come back as a triumphant and will take them back to the sacred Jade land, to their homeland." As soon as Bai Qi concluded a teardrop fell from Li Juan's eyes. She knew that it was a promise which cannot fulfil.

" The entire Yu clan waited for their queen's return. But she didn't come. None of the soldiers who went for the battle came back. After a few days, few of the remaining Yu clan members went back to check the situation. Only to find out the place where the Yu kingdom situated was completely submerged under the water."

"How?"

"It was written our legends that the day when the Queen fails to protect her people, the sacred land of Yu clan will turn into red and the Dragon God will take away the land.

With nowhere to live, we were forced to take refuge in the Guan Kingdom. The Guan kingdom allowed us to live in the valleys of Yun mountain." Bai shared his knowledge. 

"So the Yu palace in the Yun mountains belonged to us?" Li Juan asked in curiosity.

"Yes. But due to the continuous power feuds happened over the Yun mountain path which connected the mainland with other kingdoms, it was difficult for the Yu clan to survive there. So we abandoned the palace and moved to the east side of Yun city."

Li Juan's eyes remained glued to Bai Qi.

" But the worst thing was yet to happen-the death of the family lines." 

"Since the Yu clan followed endogamy, it was already difficult for us to thrive in a new environment. So only the fittest survived in the clan."

" We, Bai family was the most affected family."

Li Juan looked at him with curious eyes. 

"After Queen Bai Yu Yue, there weren't any girl child born in the Bai family line. Do you know how the absence of a girl child affects the family and the clan?" Bai Qi asked Li Juan.

"There will be no queen." Li Juan replied automatically.

"Yes, since there is no female progeny in the family, we made amendments in our laws and decided to follow "Regent rule." In the absence of a daughter, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Bai family will become the queen of the Yu clan.

Your aunt was born in the Su family and become a regent after marrying your eldest uncle.

It has been more than two thousand years since we have waited for a female.

And finally, our wait is over."

Bai Qi looked at Li Juan with tear-filled eyes.

The bright full moon has risen in the dark sky.

The whole room has fallen into silence.

Even the murmuring of the leaves of trees has stopped.

"Finally, our wait is over.

A queen is born!!!"

Bai Qi's proud voice resonated in the room. 

"I, Bai Qi of Yu Clan, salute our only queen."

Bai Qi kneeled in front of Li Juan and bowed in respect.

In a moment of difference, all the people remained in the room followed Bai Qi's gestures and kneeled in front of Li Juan. 

"Long live our queen!!!!"

Li Juan jumped from her seat in shock. 

"Grandfather, what are you doing?" Li Juan rushed to Bai Qi and helped him to rise from the kneeling position. 

"Why did you do this? How can you kneel in front of someone younger than you?"

"I was wrong about your father. I disowned him from the family because he chooses to marry someone out of Yu clan, thus narrowing down the chances of having a girl child born in the royal bloodline." Bai Qi's eyes were teary and his steady voice started trembling.

"But none of us imagined that Bai Ze and Li Qin were the fortunate ones to give birth to our the queen."

Li Juan looked at him startled. 

It was beyond her expectation. 

She is the direct descendant of great Yu clan,

She is the Queen of the Yu clan.

Li Juan pinched her fingers involuntarily. It is not a dream.

It is real.

At the same time, the expedition team was going through a nerve-wracking crisis at the Tu valley. As per the schedule, the team was supposed to camp at the nearest base of the Tu mountains. However, their plans got ruined when the clear blue sky turned grey in colour.

When the team started their journey from Xi city, the weather appeared fine and favourable. But when they reached the Tu valley in the afternoon, large rainclouds started to gather on the top of the Tu mountain, signalling a heavy rainstorm. They were forced to take shelter at a village in the foothills.

The entire team sat together in the village hall with a disappointed face. There is no way to continue their travel.

"From the beginning itself, everything seems starts to fall apart." One of the excavation workers started to murmur. 

"Firstly the people who went for checking the air route had encountered with various troubles and almost died.

Secondly, Teacher Li who was in charge of the expedition has to leave the team abruptly, due to her medical condition.

Now, this unexpected thunderstorm. I am having a weird gut feeling that there is something wrong with the place." He concluded with a horrified face.

"What are you saying?"

"The place we are going, it is a lost city- no one has seen it or heard about it. Why are we going to such a place?"

"I heard that it was considered, as the abode of the Jade Emperor."

"Don't spew nonsense." Another person tried to stop them from creating panic.

"YAAA, just think about it- The satellite eyes sense every single place on this earth. Not only just one, but thousands of satellites are revolving around the earth and how come none of them took a picture of this lost city for these many years? It is hidden from everyone and I am damn sure, there must be a reason for it."

Though Han Guang acted like he hasn't heard any of the heated discussions happening between the members of the team, he was worried about it. Even from the beginning itself none of the things went as the way he calculated. Now they are trapped in a place where no electricity or phone signal.

Since none of their mobile phones is working, Han Guang has asked his assistants to use the satellite phone to get the current weather forecast of Tu mountain region.

"Did you hear anything from them?" Han Guang asked Lee Tae Min.

"Yes professor, apparently there is a cloud burst occurred on the north side of the Tu mountain. There are even flash floods happening on the northside." Lee Tae Min reported.

"Cloud burst! Damn, No wonder we couldn't predict any of these." Cheng Tao commented.

"What is cloud burst?" Ning Jing who was unaware of the situation asked him.

"A cloudburst is an extreme amount of precipitation in a short period," Cheng Tao began to explain. "Sometimes accompanied by hail and thunder which is capable of creating flood conditions since it can quickly dump large amounts of water."

"So does it mean that we cannot travel to the mountains?" Ning Jing asked again.

"As long as there is no precipitation, we can travel within two days." Han Guang notified them.

"Oh no, we are doomed." Mei Lin commented. "What if floods occur here?"

"There is no need to panic," The village head who escorted the expedition team said in a calm voice.

" We consider rain clouds as a symbol of luck. As long as there is no thunder, the rains are considered auspicious."

"How ?"

"Rain symbolises the union of Yin and Yang. As the rain falls from heaven-the yang to earth-the yin, it will create a natural balance to the distorted world.

"Well, it may be auspicious for you, but not for us." Mei Lin said with a poker face. "Is there any Gods which can stop these rain?"

"Oh, we normally pray to Dragon God in times of drought or for less rain in times of flood." The village head began to explain, 

"He yields energy and generates power in the form of the seasons, bringing water from rain, warmth from the sunshine, wind from the seas and soil from the earth." 

"Is there any God other than Dragon?" Tang Wei Sheng who remained silent till now finally opened his mouth. He somehow got irritated whenever he hears about dragons.

"It is said that the Dragon is the ultimate representation of the forces of Mother Nature, The greatest divine force on Earth." Village head stopped for a moment.

"Maybe if you pray to Mother Nature, it might work."

Mother Nature, do we have a goddess for nature?