Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

It was an act of arson,

A woman, who appeared cold and frosty, who wore a harmless facade, willfully and maliciously set the man on the fire of countless desires,

The flame that consumed him demanded everything from her.

To quench his burning desire, he wished to possess her and turn everything into ashes, 

But,

In a flash of a moment, the hellfire encompassed him died out all at once. 

He was stupified.

The hands which burned to fondle her delicate body remained frozen in the air,

Zhang Zhi Jun felt like someone poured a bucket full of ice water on him.

He looked at the girl who is slightly swaying under the influence of alcohol.

She was the one who initiated everything and how can she mumble someone else's name while making out with him?

A despicable crime!

""Yang Yang," Li Juan mumbled again and slipped into slumber. 

"Yang Yang? Who is that?" Zhang Zhi Jun asked her in a cold voice,

"Who is he?" He repeated,

No response

"Who is Yangyang?" He roughly grabbed her chin and interrogated with wounded and resentful face,

Li Juan slightly groaned and clenched to his body like a baby,

Plonk!!!! 

He roughly pushed her away from him,

Li Juan fell on to the soft rug with a low thud sound,

Zhang Zhi Jun glared at her drunken stupor,

His mind was fogged with anger and hurt,

Such a humiliation...

He gnashed his teeth in displeasure.

How can she do that him?

He confessed his feelings for her and this is how she replies to him?

Who the hell is this Yangyang?

Li Juan grabbed the soft rug and slept without sensing the raging bull beside her. 

Zhang Zhi Jun sighed and moved closer to her.

She was sleeping in a fetal position to adjust with the low temperature in the room.

He grabbed her shirt and buttoned her to her collar and carried her to the guest room.

He carefully laid her in the bed and covered her with the blanket. 

He stared at her sleepy face for a moment and turned to leave,

However, his eyes got stuck on the cell phone placed on the bedside table.

Zhang Zhi Jun sat on the bed and reached out for the phone.

The first thing he noticed was the wallpaper,

Li Juan has changed her wallpaper. Earlier it was the photo of Li Juan with Zhang Zhi Jun's standee, however now it has been changed into a photograph of a lone Magnolia tree.

What if she saved Yang Yang's photos? a thought flashed on his mind,

Zhang Zhi Jun quickly opened her phone and checked her gallery. It was only yesterday that Li Juan restored her photos and contacts from the data backup.

His calculations were wrong,

Half of the gallery was filled with photos of reference books and study materials whereas the other half was of flowers and plants.

There were only a few photos of "Humans." Most of them are either group photos or selfies with others. 

All of them were filled with men. Her colleagues and juniors, even Zhang Zhi Jun's photos were in it.

The only image in which Zhang Zhi Jun found a woman other than Mei Rong, was a pretty girl with angelic features and cute crescent eye smile,

One person who caught his attention was a young man with idol-like features. In every photo, he stood next to Li Juan and apparently he was the one who has taken more pictures with her. 

They even had a picture with Zhang Zhi Jun's standee. 

With him, Li Juan appeared more cheerful and happy.

Is this man is YangYang? 

Zhang Zhi Jun opened her contact list and searched for the name Yangyang.

There weren't any such name.

To his surprise, there were only a few numbers in the contact. 

He searched through the list and found the name "Tae Min" associated with the photo of a young man.

It was the same person,

"Tae Min," he remembered the name,

He was the guy who called Li Juan when Zhang Zhi Jun gave her a ride from the shooting site.

The one whom Li Juan tried to coax in a cute voice. The tone and her words were enough to prove that she had a close relationship with the young man.

If he is Tae Min, then who is Yangyang?

He closed the contact list and reopened the gallery. 

What if she has hidden the photographs of Yang Yang? 

Zhang Zhi Jun curiously searched for the hidden folder and found it.

Yes, there were few images in the folder.

The first picture was a couple holding hands in a car,

The luxurious car dashboard and the high-end wristwatch on the man's muscular hand clearly give off a rich vibe.

The second picture was of a man sleeping on the desk by keeping his head over some thick books.

She does have a boyfriend. The revelation shoved Zhang Zhi Jun into a bottomless pit of misery.

He slid his finger to see the next picture. 

On the background of snow-covered mountains and a magnolia tree, a man stood like casually, yet it looked picturesque.

Surely, these pictures are taken secretly and candidly.

He skipped to the next picture, 

It was taken from an old photograph, a boy in uniform, sitting on a motorbike.

Zhang Zhi Jun zoomed the photo,

The boy in the picture had a ruffled hair and sweaty face and yet he looked handsome, 

Why does his face familiar? 

Where did he saw him?

The last picture in the hidden folder was taken at a function, Li Juan and that man were hugging each other.

In every picture, the man's face was hidden from the camera,

but in this picture his greek god-like face was visible, it was gleaming in happiness as if he is on the top of the world. 

" Is it CEO Tang? Ning Jing's fiancé!"

Zhang Zhi Jun immediately fished out his phone from and searched for CEO of Tang Corporations. 

Tang Wei Sheng's handsome face appeared in the search feed with the news of his relationship with Ning Jing,

After dating for many years, they were planning to tie the knot on next month.

" Is she having an illicit relationship with him?" Zhang Zhi Jun looked at Li Juan. She was sleeping like an innocent child.

It was difficult for him to believe that she is a third party in their relationship.

But his name is Tang Wei Sheng, why did she say Yangyang?

Zhang Zhi Jun placed her mobile back in position and left the room with a confused face.

He stood in the balcony facing the cold night sky. His mind was clogged with doubts.

It was unbelievable for him.

Zhang Zhi Jun never expected any of these. He thought she was blabbering some rubbish on the drunken stupor.

He thought she was trying to avoid him by making up some non-existing stories.

But it wasn't some cooked up story, it was true.

Zhang Zhi Jun took his cell phone and dialled his father's number. After a few rings, Bai Qi's authoritative voice heard from the other side.

"Ah Jun,"

"Dad, I want to ask something," Zhang Zhi Jun hesitated a bit. "About Li Juan?" 

On the other end, an alarm tone rang on Bai Qi's mind when he heard his son addressed their princess by her name, Li Juan,

"What happened?" 

"What is her story, dad? How did she end up in Yu palace?" Zhang Zhi Jun asked directly. 

"Zi Zhong found her and brought the princess to the palace. He said that she needs our help."

"Help?" 

"Her health is deteriorating, both physically and mentally"

"But grandpa said that she is fit to bear the crown of Yu clan," Zhang Zhi Jun tried to confirm what he heard from his grandfather.

"Your mother ordered to conduct her coronation as soon as possible, Even if the princess dies tomorrow, Bai Su Ya wishes to see her as the queen for one day."

"Hmm, dad is there anything else you wants to tell me? Something which may affect my future with her?"

"Yes," Bai Qi hesitated." Her personal life is a mess,"

"Does she have a man?" Zhang Zhi Jun asked to confirm his doubts.

"Not just one," Bai Qi said with a straight face.

"Hmm," 

"We never want to hide anything from you. We decided to wait for the princess to share it with you. I guess she already told you about it."

"Hmmm,"

"She was having an affair with her boss and there is another guy whom she- Bai Qi didn't wish to complete his words.

"Whatever happened to the princess, we are the ones who are responsible. Her reckless lifestyle, her deteriorating health, Your grandfather wants to give her a second chance at life as an atonement."

There wasn't any response from Zhang Zhi Jun,

"Ah Jun, are you there?"

"Hmm,"

Zhang Zhi Jun's sudden silence stressed out his father,

Bai Qi was a conservative, law-abiding man. It was impossible for him to accept Li Juan and her unorthodox and reckless life choices. As a parent, he couldn't imagine such a woman, being his daughter-in-law. But as a member of the Bai family and Yu clan, he was unable to abandon Li Juan.

He was at a tough spot. That's why he decided to go with his son's decision.

"You are my son and dad only wishes for your happiness and well being. If you are not okay being a suitor for the princess, we can talk to the elders and cancel-"

"She doesn't like me," Zhang Zhi Jun interrupted his father.

Huh,

"She loves someone else."

"It's good that you know," 

"Hmm,"

"Ah Jun," Bai Qi called him in a gentle voice,

"It is alright, dad. Everyone is expecting the princess to marry someone from the clan."

"No one is going to force you,"

"I don't want to break any rules of Yu clan," Zhang Zhi Jun replied in a determined tone, "I will be her suitor, let her decide what she wants,"

"Hmm,"

"Okay dad, sorry for disturbing you,"

"Hmm, don't overthink about anything, dad is here, you can count on me."

"Hmm, I know dad, good night."

Zhang Zhi Jun ended the conversation and went back to his room.

He laid on his cosy bed, unable to sleep.

Bai Qi, his adoptive father has loved him even before he became a part of the Bai family.

Zhang Zhi Jun only had vague memories about his real parents.

He heard from his relatives that, his mother died soon after his birth and after that, his father became a chronic alcoholic and passed away due to liver cirrhosis leaving a four-year-old Zhang Zhi Jun all alone,

Even though he belonged to the Zhang family, it was Bai family was the one's who took him in.

Childless Bai Qi and Bai Su Ya loved him like their own child, even after Bai Yu's birth, his position in the Bai family as the eldest young master remained stable.

No one, not even his cousins had a different opinion.

They all loved him and he was ready to do anything for their happiness.

The betrothal with Zhang Li Jun was the same.

He felt he was supposed to repay the kindness of the Bai family and fulfil his responsibilities as the firstborn of the generation.

He must do the same with the newly arrived princess.

But what about his feelings?

How can he be at peace after knowing that the girl whom he waited for all these years, has led a feckless and dissolute life?

Why didn't he approach her a little bit earlier in life?

Why he is being tested by fate every single time when he wishes to be with her?