Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

Hotel Blue diamond was one of the high-end restaurants in Jing City.

A meal from Blue diamond is considered a rare luxury for the layman, but for elites, it was just another restaurant.

When Tang Wei Sheng reached the restaurant, his eyes caught the sight of Li Juan and Lee Tae Min walking out of the parking lot,

As he watched the couple, he could not help but notice the chemistry between Li Juan and Lee Tae Min.

Wearing matching outfits and helping each other fix the windblown hair, they appeared like a young couple who like to flaunt their relationship before everyone.

Tang Wei Sheng's mind was on pins and needles as he watched them. It was frustrating to realize that, not only he failed to talk but also missed an opportunity to confess his feelings.

What was even more annoying? While he was away, Li Juan got surrounded by men who are desperately trying to win her.

Especially this idol kid- within these few seconds, Lee Tae Min has successfully made his way into the top position of Tang Wei Sheng's blacklist.

As soon as the group gather and sat down at a table, Tang Wei Sheng ordered the best dishes from the menu.

"So when do plans to visit the site, Mr Tang?" Professor Han inquired while waiting for their order to be served.

"Maybe next week," Tang Wei Sheng casually replied as he tried to keep a poker face.

"Next week?" The shock generated by his reply was evident in the researcher's group as they looked at Tang Wei Sheng in puzzlement.

"What did he mean by that comment? Did he think it is some weekend trip or picnic?" Li Juan almost facepalmed, 

"CEO Tang, let me be honest, even for a small group, it will at least take a week to get to the place where the lost city is situated. To lead a large scale archaeological site expedition, we need more time and resources," Cheng Tao broke the bubble for Tang Wei Sheng without sounding rude,

Hearing the explanation, Tang Wei Sheng went silent for a moment and went on with his queries regarding the possibilities of a speedy arrangement.

"CEO Tang, I'm attending a conference in J country ad I will not be available next week. Currently, we are relying on some cooked up data from satellites images, but to lead an expedition, we need more information regarding the exact location of the site," Han Guang explained their current situation to their investor,

"So it won't happen any soon?" Tang Wei Sheng asked the same question without even changing the tone.

Taken aback by his question, Han Guang looked at his assistants for a moment.

"Why this CEO guy is behaving like this?" was written on all of their faces. It is not a weekend trip to go without a plan, it is a freaking archaeological expedition to an unknown place,

Even Yang Xiong was having similar doubts.

He knew that Tang Wei Sheng was a high achiever. His boss always listened to the employees and encouraged them to achieve the best without forcing them to complete the work before deadlines.

But what happened to him now?

"Recently, we got an information that one of the monasteries Xi city has a route map to the lost city. We are planning to collect it once we return from J country," Cheng Tao politely explained the situation to Tang Wei Sheng. When it comes to appeasing, no one was better than Cheng Tao in the researcher's group.

"Yes, yes, we will be done with the primary step for the expedition, probably by the New Year," Han Guang added and sighed inwardly,

Well, Lunar New Year is just two weeks away and they are going to work their asses off on the holidays.

"Professor, but why don't you ask your assistants to collect whatever information from Xi city as soon as possible so that we can directly go for the expedition after New Year?" Tang Wei Sheng suggested after hearing their excuses, "I don't want to meddle in your business, consider it is a mere suggestion,"

"Well, my assistants-" Han Guang paused for a moment and looked at his students before continuing, "Cheng Tao is coming with me to the conference which leaves Li Juan and Lee Tae Min,"

Tang Wei Sheng fixed his gaze at Han Guang when he sensed the professor's reluctance to send his young assistants alone for a task,

" If you are okay, I can arrange someone to accompany them?" He proposed a fair offer as their investor,

"CEO Tang, why do you have to go through all that trouble?" Cheng Tao was flustered when he found that their investor being extra lenient towards them. 

"You don't have to worry. We will handle it as soon as possible, right guys?" He exchanged glances with his teammates and sought confirmation to save their faces. 

"What trouble? I got some business in Xi city and I don't mind if you guys tag along with me," Tang Wei Sheng shrugged and made a casual remark that widened everyone's eyes in bewilderment.

With a grin on his face, Tang Wei Sheng turned his attention to Li Juan who appeared baffled,

"It will be a great experience if you allow me to accompany you," He placed his highest bid on the person who got no voice to reject him.

When Li Juan released that her answer determines her team's fate, she was obviously under pressure,

While Li Juan took a moment to contemplate, Tang Wei Sheng's eyes swiftly moved to Lee Tae Min, his next target.

"What do you think, Lee Tae Min? Shall we go together?" 

"CEO Tang, Tae Min is new to the team and I don't think that-" Han Guang hesitated to admit,

Professor Han cherished and loved his students who were also his assistants in this particular research project. For him, they were the best.

When he started his research on finding a lost city, he barely had any pieces of evidence and research materials.

The interns who assisted him earlier had no interest in his project. They always complained about the difficulty of their work and left the team whenever they found a better research guide since they only cared about their grades.

Cheng Tao was the only exception as he continued to work diligently, even though it was just him and professor Han in the team.

As they struggled to continue working as a duo, on a fine morning, Li Juan, a final year undergraduate student, visited Han Guang with some old historical texts for some clarification. After that, she became a regular visitor and practically lived in the research lab during her post-graduate years.

It was hard to find a diligent girl in archaeology who is interested in research and literally, everyone in the research department cherished her.

The other member, Lee Tae Min was from the computer science department and joined the team when they required a tech expert. Though he was an expert in his field, he was a total newbie in the archaeological field.

"Oh then Miss Li, you are coming with me," Tang Wei Sheng declared without any second thoughts.

His hell breaking declaration turned everyone's head to Li Juan who was staring at Tang Wei Sheng's handsome face without batting an eyelid.

When Yang Xiong saw the devilish smile flashed on Tang Wei Sheng's lips, he went speechless at his boss's trickery,

He has been noticing Tang Wei Sheng's behaviour from the moment they have met Li Juan. 

"It was crystal clear that boss is intrigued by this girl, but don't tell me, he planned all this conversation to seek her attention by putting her under pressure? But why would he do such a thing?" Yang Xiong almost wrecked his brain,

At the same time, Lee Tae Min who kept an eye on Tang Wei Sheng appeared glum, as if he is not at all happy with the decision.

His dislike was wide visible on his charming face. However, it wasn't anything related to professional jealousy.

It was simply because of Tang Wei Sheng's attitude towards Li Juan.

After all, she is one of the prettiest women he has ever seen, no lesser than any celebrity.

Since Lee Tae Min lived abroad for a while, he was well aware of the scale of Li Juan's beauty and how different it is from oriental standards.

When it comes to their investor, he acknowledged the fact that any girl will fall for Tang Wei Sheng who had stunning looks and a warm personality.

What if Tang Wei Sheng has any ulterior motives and plans to take advantage of Li Juan? Lee Tae Min's mind wandered wildly,

"You don't have to give an immediate answer. Take time to think and decide," Tang Wei Sheng tried to ease the tension among the research team members.

"Well, in this situation, the ones who are supposed to take the decision is Li Juan and Tae Min," Han Guang stated and looked at them for an answer.

When the burden of taking an apt decision got placed on the duo, Li Juan tilted her head and looked in the direction of Lee Tae Min who sat there with a pale face covered with uneasiness.

She gently held his hand under the table and signalled him not to worry when she realized that Lee Tae Min is not interested in the offer.

Well, Lee Tae Min's charming looks were indeed capable of making everyone fall for him, but contrary to his appearance, his personality was cold and detached. 

However, he cherished Li Juan, like an overprotective brother.

Oblivious to their relation, Tang Wei Sheng who quietly observed Lee Tae Min understood, that this idol kid shares a close relationship with Li Juan.

The way he looks after her, the glances they share and above all, Li Juan's gentle smile- It was enough to make Tang Wei Sheng suspect them for dating.

Unable to withstand their PDA, he decided to try his luck on bringing the truth behind the smiling couple.

"So Lee Tae Min, where are you from?" Tang Wei Sheng gathered their attention,

"My family is in K country," He replied indifferently,

"But you speak like a native person, I thought you are from  mainland itself," Tang Wei Sheng probed more,

" I have some relatives in H city and almost every vacation I used to come here," Lee Tae Min explained with a smile.

When Li Juan noticed that Lee Tae Min is smiling at someone, in fact, to a stranger, a tinge of amusement rippled in her black eyes.

The whole university used to believe that he was a man of lesser words.

"Oh, that is great. What about you Cheng Tao?" Tang Wei Sheng asked the next person,

"I live near to Bureaucratic square," Cheng Tao said in an elated tone. His family was filled with government employees and obvious, that the entire cheng family lived next to their workplaces.

Even they started to eat their meal, Tang Wei Sheng kept his wide smile and went on asking about everyone's family and other things that left the researchers in awe.

They were taken aback by his down to earth personality.

Once he finished talking to others, he turned to face Li Juan,

Of course, Li Juan already guessed that she will be the last person to whom he wants to talk, after all, he knew everything about her,

"What about you, Miss Li?" Tang Wei Sheng gaze directly into Li Juan's gorgeous face and spoke,  "With your exotic looks, it is evident that you are a foreigner? Where are you from?"

That question hit Li Juan like a lightning bolt as she stared at Tang Wei Sheng in disbelief.

It was the question she hated the most.

From her childhood itself, everyone has asked her that question. 

"Are you a foreigner?"

Having some physical features which differed from the rest of the society she was part of Li Juan stood out from the family picture. Even though her father had tanned skin, he was considered handsome and her mother was a beauty who had translucent fair skin with pretty features,

But Li Juan had honey-coloured skin, wavy hair with curls and big black eyes that made others ask whether she was adopted.

Even in school days, everybody used to bully Li Juan because of her skin colour and features and Tang Wei Sheng himself witnessed how difficult it and painful for her.

When his friends made fun of her, Tang Wei Sheng stood up for her and even warned the entire school on behalf of Li Juan,

He undoubtedly knew it is a sour topic for Li Juan, then why did he mention it now?

Li Juan's eyes burned when she remembered all those painful experiences she had to suffer. 

"Li Juan herself is a mystery for us," Han Guang looked at Li Juan expressed his opinion. "When I first met her, I too had a similar doubt. But she is from Jing city and both of her parents are from C country, but somehow she ended up with some different physical features. Her tanned skin tone is similar to those who live in the wilderness," Professor Han tried to come up with a possible conclusion and faced Li Juan who remained silent,

"Who knows if your bloodline contains a large number of mixed-up genes? Lily, once we are done with the project, let's go and conduct DNA analysis, " Cheng Tao suggested half-jokingly, 

Li Juan felt miserable as she listened to their words, though she tried her best to cry in front of them, somehow her eyes got welled up.

Getting mocked about one's physical appearance is not a small deal, especially if it is done by people who are closer to you,

Usually, if some random strangers comment on her physical features, Li Juan never takes them personally, treating it as their ignorance and lack of manners.

But right now, she felt extremely hurt by the words of people who sat around her. These people, all of them knew about her pain and still,

Li Juan tightly pressed her lips together and tried to suppress her tears as she struggled to keep herself from breaking down.

One after another, her painful past started to flash in her mind,

"Adopted!! Half breed!!! Blackey!!!" Those hurtful words were ringing in her ears, breaking the aloof facade she put on her face.

All of sudden, her lips started trembling and her palms began to sweat profusely,

Lee Tae Min was the first one to notice the angst as her face drained of colours, 

He quickly held her trembling fingers to calm her,

Though Li Juan appeared cheerful in front of everyone, she had a different side that only a few knew,

"Noona," Lee Tae Min called her in a gentle and pressed her fingers to remind her that everything is fine.

However, at the very moment, a pearly teardrop rolled down from Li Juan's eyes.

She immediately wiped it with her palms, but tears fell one after another,

"No. I'm not supposed to cry now, not here, not in front of him," Li Juan repeated in her head but it was too late as her heartbeats started palpitating,

She pulled her hand from Lee Tae Min's hands and forcefully opened her bag to search for her medicine.

Two years ago, when her mother passed away, Li Juan fell into depression and anxiety disorder,

Though she overcame her depression with medicines and indulging in activities that lift her mood, ie, research,

Living under the fear of an emotional outburst, Li Juan almost avoided stressful occasions and carried a bottle of tablets to calm her down, but unfortunately, it was nowhere to find

When a stinging pain started to arise between her temples and her breathing became heavy, Li Juan realized that the situation is getting out of her hand,

" Li Juan, what's wrong?"

"Are you okay?"

" Noona!"

Though Li Juan got flooded with questions, she was unable to hear any of them,

"Excuse me," Li Juan spoke in a trembling tone as she stood up and walked towards the restroom haggardly,

Lee Tae Min jolted up from his seat and moved his chair to follow Li Juan.

However, as he took the first step towards her, he heard someone stopping Li Juan by using a term that is foreign to his ears,

"Sweetheart!!!" 

Tang Wei Sheng's deep voice that floated in the air, made Li Juan stop in her tracks as if someone has tied her feet,

Without any delay, Tang Wei Sheng stood up and strode towards her in long strides,

Li Juan, on the other hand, remained petrified to the ground unable to face him.

She did not want him to see her most vulnerable self.

As if he understood her pain, Tang Wei Sheng placed his hand on Li Juan's shoulders and turned her towards him, to see a face that is already red and wet with tears.

"Sweetheart," Tang Wei Sheng called her tenderly and apologized "Sweetheart, I am sorry,"

However, she was still silently weeping without raising her lowered head.

"Look at me, sweetheart," He gently grabbed her chin and raised her face to take a look at her big black teary eyes,

Tang Wei Sheng moved his palm to her cheeks and wiped her tears with his fingers and pulled her into his embrace,

As Li Juan's quavering body was pushed against his muscular sturdy chest, the silent weeps  turned into sobs,

Tang Wei Sheng felt like someone stabbed right into his chest. 

For the second time, he made his sweetheart cry.