Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

As they strolled through the lively corridors of the mall, Cheng Tao glanced at Li Juan who silently walked next to him. Though she appeared cheerful, he knew that his words did hurt her, back at the restuarant when he made an awful comment on her complexion,

He knew her as a junior for more than six years and within the time they spent in the research lab, they treated each other like real siblings,

Is it necessary to apologize and make an awkward situation? He doubted for a moment,

"So your Senior Tang, does he like you? He couldn't take his eyes off you for a mere second," Cheng Tao made an effort to pry more into Li Juan's relationship,

"Oh no! They have noticed it," A panic alarm rang inside Li Juan's mind as she opened her mouth to refute,

"No, absolutely not. He was just worried, after all, I am his sister's best friend," She came up with an excuse,

"Hmm, okay. I will let it slide this time," Cheng Tao stated in a serious tone, "But I'm watching, you," He pointed his fingers to his eyes and hers,

Watching him warning her, Li Juan pulled a funny face at Cheng Tao and walked into the men's section of the clothing store, so that he will stop pestering her with questions related to Tang Wei Sheng,

"It looks a bit costly, do you want to shop from here?" Li Juan asked Cheng Tao when she saw the price tag of the suits neatly arranged in the racks, 

"Aye you dumb lily, do you know who I am? I am Cheng family's young master," Cheng Tao raised his chin haughtily and claimed like a filthy rich male lead in the drama,

"I can afford one, maybe two suits and go suitless till next season," He shrugged his shoulder and said jokingly,

They were archaeology majors who were supposed to work in fields, digging up age-old artefacts and dead people, why do they need suits?

Cheng Tao casually picked up a suit only to get frightened by the number of zeros in the price tag.

"On second thought, I think cost efficiency is something we should practice in our lives, let's go and look for some lesser-known brands," He proposed and dragged Li Juan away from that insanely expensive clothes,

After checking out various suits in affordable price range, finally, they managed to pick something for Cheng Tao,

"Go and try these, senior," Li Juan sent him to the trial room and looked around the outfits in the women clothing section.

Since her bank balance wasn't heavy to shop from this exclusive store, Li Juan decided to proceed with window shopping.

While roaming through the isles, her eyes caught the sight of a wine red cocktail dress showcased in the corner. Even before she knew it, her feet started moving in the same direction and stopped before the beautiful piece of clothing, 

Being an advocate of casual and comfy clothes, Li Juan had very few dresses as if she is not interested in the particular clothing at all,

However, this dress piqued her interest,

"Excuse me miss, would you like to try it on?" The customer assistant approached Li Juan, who got her eyes on the dress, 

"Yes," She responded with a gentle smile,

"It is pretty, I will take this one," A high-pitched female voice rang there,

Even before the customer assistant could remove the dress from the holder, someone grabs the other end of the dress,

It was a girl in her late teens who was covered in branded items, top to bottom,

"Sorry, miss, this lady over here has already picked it," The customer assistant politely notified the newly arrived customer,

"Did she pay for it?" The girl asked haughtily,

"No, but was going to," The customer assistant tried to explain and glanced at Li Juan,

"It's alright. I was just looking at it," Li Juan tried to sound reasonable as she tried to avoid an awkward situation, "You can have it,"

Hearing her words, the girl tilted her head and looked in the direction of Li Juan,

However, when she met the gorgeous woman who stood beside the customer assistant, her eyes widened in startlement,

"Isn't she is the one who hugged Wei Sheng Gege, last night? Lu Yi Jing, the young miss of the Lu family was in utter disbelief when she recognized the woman who stood in front of her eyes.

It was the same woman whom she saw at the party at Tang Mansion,

Lu Yi Jing was one among the guests who witnessed the heartbreaking moment when a random foreigner hugged Tang Wei Sheng before everyone, crushing the hearts of the countless maidens, like her.

Since the awkward situation has successfully averted, Li Juan decided to return to Cheng Tao,

"Yeah, you can only look at these clothes. People like you cannot afford it," Lu Yi Jing stated with a contemptuous snigger as she scanned Li Juan's clothes-a simple white T-shirt and jeans, nothing fancier nor branded,

"Why don't you try looking for a thrift store?" The girl rattled her mouth in mockery,

"Whoa! What is this hissy fit happening here?" Li Juan asked herself as she looked at the girl who is picking a fight with a stranger.

"Miss, please mind your language," The customer assistant reminded Lu Yi Jing who was purposefully throwing shades at Li Juan,

"Oh, you are ordering me? A lowly sales girl like you...is ordering me?" Lu Yi Jing's attention quickly shifted to the customer assistant who did the nastiest act in her eyes, 

'Speaking for Li Juan, who stole her man,'

"How dare you? Do you know who I am?" She continued to bawl in an infuriated tone at the customer assistant who doesn't what she did wrong to get thrashed by a rude customer,

"Miss please, we do not tolerate these kinds of acts towards anyone," The customer assistant notified Lu Yi Jing, who refused to listen and went ahead with her rants,

When the customer assistant sensed that the situation was getting out of her hands she called the store manager for help,

"Miss, there is a rule that we are obliged to follow," The manager tried to explain to Lu Yi Jing,

"We shall treat our customers equally and never tolerate any kind of mistreatment against the workers or the customers," He preached loud and clear,

"Oh really! What are you going to do? Sue me?" Lu Yi Jing snapped back in an infuriated tone, despite the disgusting looks she has receiving from the onlookers, 

"Miss, I'm sorry to say that you must leave the store," The store manager said and gestured the security guards to lead the girl outside the store, "Otherwise we have to forcefully take you outside,"

"Oh, I want to know who is daring enough to touch me," Lu Yi Jing was not ready to back off,

The manager let out a sigh and took a step closer to Lu Yi Jing, however, the next she saw was a fair palm flying towards her face,

Just before Lu Yi Jing's palm fell on the manager's cheeks, someone grabbed her wrists, stops her hand in mid-air,

"That's enough," Li Juan's cold voice floated across the corridor, sending chills to everyone who stood there,

"Who are you to order me around, leave me bitch. Do you know who my dad is?" Lu Yi Jing fiercely spat out as she struggled to release her hand from Li Juan's tight grip, 

"Whomever your dad is, I'm sure that he must be ashamed of raising a daughter like you," Li Juan frankly stated and tightened her grip on the girl's frail arm,

"What did you say?" Lu Yi Jing rebutted as she gawped at the woman who dared to raise her voice at her.

"Your family will be ashamed of your impolite behaviour," Li Juan nonchalantly, repeated for the girl who was staring in disbelief,

"What is happening here?" A man's clear turned everyone's attention to him,

At the end of the aisle, Lu Gui Meng's sturdy figure stood watching the commotion happening in his store,

"Boss," The manager immediately opened his mouth to explain the situation,

However, right at the moment, a loud whimper resonated in the place, turning everyone's head to Lu Yi Jing who now appears to be in tears,

"Uncle!!!" Lu Yi Jing cried out in loud voice and pointed at Li Juan, "This woman is bullying me,"

When Li Juan's eyes fell on the man who entered the scene, she immediately recognised him as the man who chased her at the birthday party,

"Is he related to this girl?" She thought as she let go of Lu Yi Jing's wrist and looked pitifully at the wailing girl,

"Uncle, this woman is bullying me and your staff stood there enjoying it. Fire them, fire them all," Lu Yi Jing whined as she complained to her uncle who stood with an expressionless face.

What an acting!!! Li Juan almost spoke the first thing that came to her mind, but she restrained herself, 

"Excuse me miss, who bullied who?" Li Juan asked as if she heard some joke,  "There are security cameras everywhere,"

"What happened here?" Lu Gui Meng inquired as he thought that listening to one side of the story won't bring justice, especially one of the parties involved was his niece,

The  manager and his assistants who witnessed the whole commotion and explained the situation to their boss,

Once he understood that his niece was trying to wrongly frame someone else for her mistake, Lu Gui Meng ordered Lu Yi Jing to apologize,

"No, I will not apologize to these people," Lu Yi Jing hollered and tried to convince her uncle,

"Uncle, you can't do this to me, I am your niece, I'm Lu family's-"

"Lu Yi Jing, don't test my patience," Lu Gui Meng warned her coldly as if he is annoyed with her behaviour. 

It was evident that whatever Lu Yi Jing did was wrong. However, rather than apologizing, she refused to admit her fault and even dragged the Lu family's name into the argument,

Unable to endure her drama anymore, Lu Gui Meng turned to the manager,

"You can go ahead and sue her," He instructed in an unflinching tone,

Hearing his venturous words, the crowd looked at the man in shock, 

"Why are you doing this to me? uncle, why are you siding with them?" Lu Yi Jing grabbed Lu Gui Meng's arm as she inquired, crocodile tears fell from her eyes,

"Either you apologize or meet them in the court, decision is yours," He suggested in an impassive tone, "And decide it quickly,"

Lu Gui Meng remained untouched by any of her words, 

She might be his niece, but whatever she did was wrong and as an employer, it was his duty to ensure the safety of his employees at the workplace,

Even after waiting for a while, Lu Yi Jing remained firm on her decision,

"Fine, let me inform your father and ask him to teach you some manners," Lu Gui Meng casually said and took out his cell phone as a last resort,

However, the moment Lu Yi Jing heard about her father her fierce persona died off,

Her father was a high military official who is strict and austere, even towards his own family members, if any of these falls into his ears, then that's it- She will be sent to the military barracks to learn discipline,

"Sorry," Lu Yi Jing who understood that she got no other option, apologized in a low voice. " I was wrong, please forgive me,"

She said timidly and rushed out of the store, without looking back,

At the same time, Cheng Tao who came searching for Li Juan gawped at the woman who was standing in the middle of a crowd,

"Lily," He sounded baffled as he called his junior,

"Are you done?" she asked indifferently, to which he replied with a nod,

"Then ring these up and find me outside," Li Juan instructed sternly and walked out of the store, without paying any attention to the crowd,

"Okay! What! Why?" Even before a flustered Cheng Tao could comprehend her words, Li Juan has already disappeared from his sight,

"Does she have a split personality or what? weeping in a moment and acting tough in another moment," He muttered under his breath as he headed to the billing counter,

Lu Gui Meng who saw Li Juan leaving the store immediately ran after her.

"Hey," Lu Gui Meng grabbed her slender arm and stopped the woman from walking away,

"Aren't you the girl whom I met at Tang's?" He asked her while scanned the ravishing beauty who stood before him, 

Unlike last night, she was dressed up in casual clothes, yet she looked extremely beautiful to him,

"I thought you are a foreigner," He continued with a grin, "But it seems you are not, are you biracial?

"What a perfect choice of words," Li Juan said inwardly and looked at him as if she is annoyed with his actions, 

"What do you want?" she inquired with a straight face,

"Are you single?" Lu Gui Meng asked without any hesitations, "because, I like you,"

"I do have a man," Li Juan replied as she removed the hand that wrapped around her arm and turned away to leave,

"Oh, that guy? but you deserve someone better," Lu Gui Meng looked at the woman who was walking away from him and remarked unflinchingly, "Like me,"

After paying his bills, Cheng Tao picked up his phone and saw Li Juan's message that she is waiting outside the mall,

He immediately went outside and found Li Juan standing near the entrance, i

"What happened there?" Cheng Tao asked right away,

"Huh, it is nothing, some silly girl with attitude problems," Li Juan casually said as if she didn't want to talk about it,

"Really?" Cheng Tao found it difficult to believe and continued with a smirk, "But that CEO guy asked for your number,"

Li Juan stopped in her tracks as if someone has tied her feet, when she heard Cheng Tao's words,

"Did you give him my number?"  She inquired with a tinge of worry,

"Nope," Cheng Tao chuckled as he watched her distressed look, "He said that he wanted to compensate you for the inconvenience. So I gave him your address,"

"What the hell?" Li Juan felt like hitting Cheng Tao right in his head, " Cheng Tao!!!! You fool!!!!!" She almost cursed at her senior for being dumb, "How can you give him my address? I already had enough trouble with him and you..how can you betray me like this?"

She hit Cheng Tao with her bag as she thought more about the possibilities of meeting Lu Gui Meng, again,

"Wait a minute," Cheng Tao grabbed her bag and stopped her from hitting him,

"Don't tell me that you have a backstory with him too." He rolled his eyes and covered his mouth as if he heard something incredulous,

"Yesterday, I met him at the party, he said he liked me, he asked for my number and you gave him my address," Li Juan briefly explained to him and glared at Cheng Tao who remained with a confused face.

"I am going to kill you if that guy turns up at my front door," She clenched her fist and faked a punch to his face,

However, on other hand, Cheng Tao broke into laughter when he finally understood her version of the story,

"Whoa whoa!! Lily, the CEO Magnet!!!!"  Cheng Tao put his arm around Li Juan's neck and dragged her to the nearest restaurant.

"CEO Magnet, my foot," Li Juan cackled at his comment as she followed him for a good meal,

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

It was around eight in the night when Li Juan came home after a tiring day,

After taking a hot bath to wash off her weariness, Li Juan plopped down on her bed and played her favourite song to lull her to sleep,

Since she had a hard time falling asleep, she came up with a bedtime routine and listening to slow melodious music was one among them,

Li Juan turned off the lights and closed her eyes as the calming song began to fill the emptiness around her,

She doesn't remember where did she hear this song or when, but it ended becoming her favourite,

Whenever she hears the song it always puts her heart at peace,

The lyrics of the song were written like a conversation with two individuals- A lonely woman who finds it difficult to fit in this world and A man who assures her that she is not alone in this world by promising that he will be on her side,

It wasn't just a lullaby for her, but it was like a hymn that helped her to get through the tough times.

"On the day when everything seems to be over,

Please remember my voice,

Everything is going to be okay,

I'll be on your side

I'll tell you it's okay

I'll tell you that everything's fine and you'll shine

Remember, you're the most important person for me,"

On that night when she fell into a deep slumber, Li Juan had a dream, after a long time,

In her dream, she heard a man singing " I'll be on your side," 

As soon as he finishes, Li Juan who sat beside him reaches out for a hug,

"Do you think that we will meet again in our next life?" She dotingly asks him,

"Hmm," He agrees,

"Even if I look different, will you love me the same?"

"Yes,"

"Even if I'm born in a different place?" She continues with her questions,

"Yes. I will search everywhere until I find you," He smiles and wraps her into a warm embrace,

"Then, I will wait for you until you find me," She replies and snuggles into his broad chest as it is her safe haven,