Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

In the cramped neighbourhood alley, Li Juan's house stood out from the rest by having a small but a beautiful garden. It was filled with different types of flowering plants. Even the small wooden gate in front of her house was adorned with clematis vines.

Li Juan carefully touched the flowers of the climber with gentle eyes.

"Mom is watering it every day," Qiao Chu informed her,

Whenever Li Juan goes out of the town, Mei Rong is the one who takes care of her plants.

"This is awesome, Miss Li you even managed to create a garden here," Bing Wen commented on her mini garden. The place where Li Juan lives was a residential area for people who belong to the middle-class tier of society, who was unable to have a proper courtyard. 

Li Juan unlocked the door and walked inside, three of them followed her. 

Qiao Chu opened the windows and let the fresh air get into the tiny home. 

The warm afternoon lights lit the interior of the house in golden yellow hues, brightening the earthly tones in the walls.

A burnt orange coloured sofa and a wooden centre table, a small dining table and chairs- that's it. Those were the only items of furniture in the living room.

Zhang Zhi Jun looked around,

The small yet cosy living room is partitioned to create a kitchen area, which is filled with a limited number of utensils.

"There aren't many things to move around, we can do it by ourselves," Bing Wen said in an excited voice.

Qiao Chu looked at Bing Wen as if he heard some joke,

It is too early to comment on that,

Zhang Zhi Jun remained silent and observed the interiors,

The simplicity of the house was a saddening sight for him,

Li Juan is the only heiress of Yu palace and she lived in a tiny cabin-like house for twenty-six years.

" We used to move around a lot, Jing city, S city again Jing city, so we avoided as many furniture as possible," Li Juan explained,

"Really?" Qiao Chu asked with a smirk, " Jie, your things alone take up space in the moving truck, that's why aunt Li never bought any furniture." He moved towards the room and looked at Zhang Zhi Jun,

"Can you guess, what is her most favourite thing in the world?"

Qiao Chu opened Li Juan's bedroom door,

"Books, Books and more books..."

Zhang Zhi Jun stepped into her room and various emotions flickered over his face,

"Princess, why don't you change this into a library?"

The shelves, the floor, table every nook and corner of the room were filled with thick stacks of books and sticky notes.

If there wasn't a poster of Zhang Zhi Jun, everyone would've thought it was a reading room rather than a bedroom,

"Miss Li, you are insane." Bing Wen's eyes were almost popped out from sockets.

While Bing Wen's eyes were glued to the bookshelves, Zhang Zhi Jun examined the poster on the wall, 

It was the poster of his first solo album, "The day, I fell for you,"

He never wanted to become an actor, but he wished to become a singer.

From his high school days itself, Zhang Zhi Jun used to get praises for his lyric baritone voice, but the dream of becoming a singer was only got triggered when a random girl advised him to become a singer for the sake of someone.

He became a singer for someone who loves singers.

He made the album for someone who has a soft corner towards singers. 

Zhang Zhi Jun stared unblinkingly at her, "the one who loves singers," he repeated in his mind.

Li Juan almost tricked by that look,

"Don't look at me like that," She warned him. "I just wanted to return your money,"

Zhang Zhi Jun immediately understood that she was referring to the money he gave as compensation. "You didn't get new glasses?"

"Yes, it was more than enough, so I thought, I will repay you, like this,"

The day Li Juan got money from a Zhang Zhi Jun, she wanted to return it as soon as possible. It wasn't his fault that she fell down and broke her glasses. She was careless while running to the class.

She went to the Business school in search of a student named Zhang Zhi Jun, but not to avail. No one has heard such a name among the student community. To her horror, there weren't any student records under the name, Zhang Zhi Jun in the entire university.

Where did he come or Where did he go? No one knows.

He remained a mystery for Li Juan

However, after a few months, Cai Hong came up with a movie poster in which she spotted him again.

The student whom she was searching for months turned out to be a newcomer in the film industry, who hailed from Yun city. 

Of course, his stunning visuals were enough to prove that he is a celebrity, why didn't she think of that possibility?

The curiosity led Li Juan to watch his movie and she came out of the theatre, as Zhang Zhi Jun's fan. 

His stardom skyrocketed after his first movie, however, it was his music album which made him a prominent figure in the entertainment industry of C country.

Just like everyone else in C country, the day Li Juan heard Zhang Zhi Jun's song, she got totally lost in his mesmerizing voice.

How can someone be good at everything?

He can act,

He can sing, 

He is the top scorer in his batch,

His godly visuals were just a cherry on top,

But Li Juan loved him because of something else,

His soulful voice which renders the lyrics, whenever she heard his songs, it made her euphoric.

Zhang Zhi Jun himself wrote the lyrics for all of his songs, and every single one of the songs conveyed a message to someone whom he wishes to meet.

"I still remember you, the day we met,

My heart trembled, at the very sight of your eyes,

I don't know whether it is a fate or not

From then on, I fell for you"

Zhang Zhi Jun moved towards her while humming the lines,

Li Juan was stunned, unable to avert her eyes from the man whom she has seen as an idol for the last few years.

"Just confess," He stared at Li Juan's big black eyes,

"You are crazy," Li Juan pushed him away from her, walked towards the other room.

"Does he really need a confession after all these?"

Bing Wen and Qiao Chu looked at each other unable to comprehend the meaning of what they just witnessed now,

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

The moving workers came earlier in the morning. As per Bai Mo's instructions, someone from Bai corporation has already settled the lease and other official procedures regarding Li Juan's house.

Her limited number of furniture and appliances were also taken care of, 

The rest of the luggage was her books, medals and clothes. All of them were packed and sent to Yun city.

The only thing which made her sad was the garden and her plants,

She treated them like her own babies, how can she leave them behind?

"It is alright, Ah Juan, aunty will take care of your plants." Mei Rong assured her.

Li Juan reluctantly agreed to her, " Can I take one?" she looked at Zhang Zhi Jun with puppy eyes," a tiny-teeny one?"

Zhang Zhi Jun shook his head in agreement,

Li Juan ran towards a corner of her garden a took a plant which had long slender blade-like leaves.

"She hasn't bloomed yet," 

"Your taking daylilies?" Qiao Chu asked her,

"No, it is Tuberose," Li Juan gently touched the leaves and smiled. "I bought it when I was looking for a plant to gift my friend."

------   ----------  ------

After Lunch, Li Juan left with Zhang Zhi Jun to his condominium. Since he lives in the main city circle, it was easy to commute to her university. She had few works at university, before returning to Yun city.

As soon as Li Juan entered into Zhang Zhi Jun's condo, she quietly looked around. She was on the topmost floor of the highest residential building in the entire city. "The famous Sky castle - an abode for the Top 3% Elites in the Jing city,"

Everything in the house screamed luxury and elegance.

"You can take the guest room," Zhang Zhi Jun suggested.

"Hmm, thanks." Li Juan said with a faint smile, 

the packing and moving stuff strained her spirits, she only wanted to lay down somewhere. 

"You take rest." Zhang Zhi Jun said, looking at her tired face, he dropped the idea of having a conversation with her.

Li Juan walked into the guest room, the moment her body touched the huge bed, she immediately fell asleep without any sense of her surroundings. She woke up after three hours, took a hot bath and came out of the room to find Zhang Zhi Jun cooking in the kitchen.

It was a familiar sight for her, while she was living with Lee Tae Min, she has always witnessed him cooking, even Liang and Tang Wei Sheng had a keen interest in cooking.

Why all these men are good at cooking?

Sensing Li Juan's presence in the kitchen, Zhang Zhi Jun turned and met someone who lost in thoughts.

"Please take a seat, let's have dinner." He invited her. Li Juan sat on one of the chairs. 

It was a like seven-course dinner meal served in high-end restaurants.

"Damn, the woman who is going to marry him is surely lucky," A thought flashed in Li Juan's mind.

"It looks delicious, thank you for the meal,"

Li Juan wasn't a picky eater, so she ate everything he served without uttering a word. 

"Are you usually this quiet or it is just with me?" Zhang Zhi Jun asked when he could no longer tolerate the awkward silence in the room.

"I am a little slow with relationships." Li Juan replied.

"Oh really?" 

"It will take some time for me to adjust with you as my," Li Juan stopped in between the sentences, she was a bit hesitant to address him as "cousin." 

"Do you have anything to drink? I terribly need a drink." Li Juan tried to test her luck in getting closer to him. 

"Why not?" Zhang Zhi Jun went to his wine counter and took a bottle of high-quality alcohol.

"How is your alcohol tolerance?"

"Don't worry, I can handle it." Li Juan assured him.

However, after three pegs, Zhang Zhi Jun found out the truth that she got zero tolerance towards alcohol and easily gets drunk.

Alcohol always brings the silly side of Li Juan. Once she is down with a peg or two, she easily gets swayed by emotions. Her mood changes in split seconds. Most of the times, she starts crying out of blue or laughs hard at the baddest lame jokes. And of the worst part of her drinking habit-She won't remember a single thing that she has done when she was drunk, not to mention the terrible headache waiting for her after every drinking party.

The situations at sky castle turned in the same way. 

Li Juan got incredibly drunk that she even dropped formalities with Zhang Zhi Jun who is five years elder than her and started to ask silly questions about him.

"Zhi Junah," Li Juan called him in a sweet voice, "Can I ask you something?" 

"What is your ideal concept about your partner?" 

Zhang Zhi Jun looked at the incredibly drunk girl who sat opposite to him with sparkling eyes,

"I don't have any concepts, princess."

"But didn't you tell that you want to date a girl who is kind and have a bright personality like her entire existence lit up the room and makes everyone happy?' she tried to remember.

"..."

"You only like girls like that?" Li Juan asked him." Why, you don't like bad girls?"

"No, I am completely okay with a girl like you, silent and aloof, has bad drinking habits like this." Zhang Zhi Jun commented.

"There is a girl whose reputation is really bad. Like really, bad? Will you marry Nah, will you ever date a girl like that? Li Juan asked in a sloppy yet anticipated tone.

Bad reputation, Zhang Zhi Jun looked at her in doubt.