Chapter 37: Meeting Elder Shu
Shengli placed his hand on the trunk of the tree and his long sleeves covered the flushed Xing from those two intruders. He was still slightly panting and she was red to her ears and her lips were glistening red and she looked so alluring. There is no way he would let anyone see this appealing face of his lover. He gritted his teeth and looked at them and asked, "What now ?" in a really annoyed tone, bringing the stupidly staring duo back to earth. Xing, who was on a ride of emotions new to her throughout this time, patted her cheeks to compose herself and fixed her hair and clothes beside the cover of Shengli’s sleeves.
"Ummm, Sorry, I just wanted to give this token to Lord Táng ", the Emperor offered the token.
"No need for tokens, he won’t enter this place alone", Shengli said bluntly.
Xing having composed herself pulled his hand down immediately as she heard the word ’token’ and said, "Don’t be mean to your brother" and then turned at the Emperor and accepted the token with her both hands,
"Even though I won’t enter the palace alone, I will accept his Majesty’s good will with my whole heart. Thank you for trusting me", she bowed her head.
"I wish I could see more of you in the future. Hope you would be loyal to me always ", he smiled hiding his embarrassment wondering,
’How come I am the only one embarrassed! ’
Xing bowed in acknowledgement and no one noticed Shengli’s hand fisted inside his sleeves.
"It’s late, you go sleep. Don’t follow us", Shengli said angrily and gave Xing a glance and started to walk. Xing immediately walked beside him and held his hand. She could not understand why he was behaving this way to his brother. Was he mad their kiss got interrupted? But it seems he didn’t like her to talk to the emperor. Then again she interacts with many men. In fact most of her acquaintances are men. She had even slept in the same room as Haru. But why did he hate it when she talks to his brother? May be it must be her misunderstanding. He might be just cranky because he drank too much, she concluded.
She looked at the token that was given, it was a wooden token made with red sandalwood and emitted a mild fragrance. On one side there was the inscription of the emblem of the royal family, in white jade carvings and on the other side was a white tiger carved in ivory fixed in the wood.
Shengli saw Xing by his side admiring the token and he felt sour. Does she want to enter the palace that much? Is that her destiny? He couldn’t keep calm, "You like that White Tiger Token that much?", he asked with an annoyed tone.
"White Tiger Token? Is this that impressive?", she looked at it closely.