How ever did I end up with her?

The empress had interrupted their quiet time together and Fortune wasn't okay about it, at all.

"Oh, what a coincidence, your majesty! I was just passing by!" Meng Meng said but Fortune didn't believe her. Basically, no one would believe that kind of coincidence.

"Of course you did!" Fortune rolled her eyes and Lixing Ji immediately covered her mouth seeing her effort to provoke the empress.

"That's okay! We were already leaving." He said and looked down at Fortune, who he held mouth shut and said "Let's go!"

"Okay then, goodbye your majesty!" Meng Meng said to him but he only nodded slightly as they walked away. Once they were out of sight, she revealed her frustrated side.

"Ugh! Why can't he give me a little of his time? I am his empress but he decides to spend time with that nobody, hmph!"

Lixing Ji saw that they had walked far enough and let go of Fortune. He expected her to scold him but she was unexpectedly calm.

"You don't like the empress?" She asked to his surprise

"No!" He plainly said.

"Then why did you marry her?" She asked further.

"Its a political marriage. My mother gave me the chance to marry the girl I love but, I didn't love anyone at that time." He answered "Although I wanted to object, I had no reason to."

"Well, have you two *ahem* stayed with each other for a night?" She asked with so much interest but he simply flicked her forehead "Ouch!" She whimpered.

"You think too much for a little girl!"

"Hey, I'm just a minor not little. I know things way more than you can know in the next hundred years." She spat out and he smiled

"Sure you do!" He nodded but she gave him the bitter expression.

Just as they were chatting happily, a messenger bowed before them and said.

"Your majesty, lord Yan Zhou has just arrived and requires to see you"

"Yan Zhou? Who is that?" Fortune asked.

"You shouldn't know!" Lixing Ji said and to the eunuch, he said "Escort her back to my chambers." He said

"But I want to go with you." She insisted.

"You can't. You just played with the water and can catch a cold. Its best to go back and change your clothes." He said

"But you played with the water as well, if I can catch a cold, why can't you?" She bickered with him and the eunuch stared at them dumbfounded.

'Since when was his majesty so easy going, and even arguing.' He thought

"You really don't have to go?" He said

"Tell me why!" She insisted

"I already told you."

"Then why don't you go back with me?" She had finally won the argument as he had nothing more to say. 'I wonder why he doesn't want me to go! He must be hiding something' She observed his expression closely and then an idea hit her. There was only one possibility to why he didn't want her to go. "Oh, I see!" She nodded

"What is it?"

"I know why you don't want me to see this guy. Its because you are worried." She concluded.

"Why would I be worried?"

"You're worried that if I see this 'lord', I might get attracted to him and not like you anymore." She nodded with her logic but he was quick to deny.

"You think too much."

'I didn't know that this girl had a smart thinking' He thought

"That's probably the only reason, you must be worried that I'll think of him not you, but don't worry, I'll always think of you first." She said and winked.

Lixing Ji was taken aback by her words. She said such things so casually without even thinking about how he would take it.

"Little girl?"

"What is it?"she blinked her eyes expectantly.

"I've started to wonder if you've always been this smart and acted silly just to trouble me or you just started being smart?" He teased her

"Haha, very funny! Well, I've also started to wonder if you worry about me falling for him because he is more good looking than you are."

"You've never told me I'm good looking, do you really think so?" He asked getting closer to her and she pushed him away.

"Don't flatter yourself. How can you tell me that you don't know that you're good looking?" She rolled her eyeballs.

"But before we go, I want to ask you this. Do you like me?" He asked and she froze. Then her mind flashed back to when she mentioned it. She had not put so much meaning to it but now he was asking, what was she going to say?

"I... I uh... " she kept her head down as she tried to avoid his eyes. "I... "

"There you are!" Yan Zhou approached them "I've waited for too long and got tired, so I decided to come and see for myself why you were taking so long, now I see what was delaying you!" He snickered

Fortune stared at him surprised. It wasn't what she had in mind at all.

'So this is Yan Zhou? He looks descent' she thought 'And composed'

"So it was a damsel, what have you been up to?" Yan Zhou winked and Fortunes face turned blank.

'I take it back' she thought.

"This is Fortune!" Lixing Ji introduced her

"Its nice to meet you, sir!" She curtsied in a composed way.

"Fortune, this is... " Before Lixing Ji finished the introduction, Yan Zhou pushed him aside.

"I am Yan Zhou, its my pleasure to meet you. You are such a beauty." He took her hand and kissed it gently.

"You flatter me!" She giggled. 'I've seen tons of your type, you can't flatter me' she thought.

Lixing Ji looked at her for some time thinking. 'I thought she said she wouldn't fall for him'. "Excuse us for a moment" he held her and pulled her aside.

"Thank you. I couldn't take much of him any longer!" She said and sighed with relief. Then Lixing Ji realized that she was actually acting.

"So you were acting?"

"Of course! Did you really think that I would want to get caught up with him?" She asked

"Every girl does!" He answered

"Well, am not every girl. He's clearly not my type!" She said feeling offended. Seeing this, Lixing Ji was relieved and decided to change the topic.

"You're quite a good actress!"he said

"Trust me, I'm better than you know!" She said finally smiling. "Now I regret wanting to follow you."

"But you didn't follow me, he came to us." He pointed out

"Yeah but if I didn't keep on insisting to go with you, we wouldn't have spent so much time here and he wouldn't have come to us. You would have gone to meet him alone and I'd be enjoying my freedom and not pretending to be decent and polite in front of this scoundrel. I don't mean to be disrespectful to the 'lord' at all, but I really don't like these kind of guys. They are all too full of themselves and think that they can get the attention of girls with mere flattery. I just feel like... " Lixing Ji placed his finger across her lips to hush her.

"You talk too much, silly girl!" He said and dropped his finger.

"Sorry!"she apologized. "Its just that when I get irritated, I start talking a lot and it really cools me down" she said awkwardly.

"I understand!" He nodded "And that's why you need to go back now."

"But... *Achoo*" she sneezed and he gave her a knowing stare. "Fine, tell sissy over there that I've gone." She said and left immediately.

"What a silly little girl!" He exclaimed as he watched her leave. "How ever did I end up with her?"

Yan Zhou saw that Lixing Ji was now alone and wondered where Fortune went.

"Where is she?" He asked

"Why don't you tell me the reason why you're here?" Lixing Ji requested grumpily.

"What's with that attitude?" He said and Lixing Ji shook his head.

"Just spill it!" He demanded harshly and Yan Zhou just had to leave that matter at that.

It got dark and Lixing Ji had not returned. Fortune rubbed Sages fur as she looked through the window. The moon was full and bright. A lovely night indeed.

She just had dinner and thought she could wait for Lixing Ji but it was getting too late and so she gave up the idea. She decided to have a hot bath at the royal pool. She let Sage sleep and went there alone.

Lixing Ji returned to his chamber and thought of seeing Fortune but to his surprise, she wasn't there. Just then, a guard ran towards him and reported that an assassin had been spotted near his chambers.

"Oh no!" He exclaimed at the thought of Fortune encountering the assassin. "Quick, search the area, the assassin must be found." He ordered sternly.

Meanwhile, Fortune was sitting relaxed in the pool. Her thoughts drifted to the moment at the spring with Lixing Ji. Her face flushed red.

"It's already late. I should go back before that guy starts to worry!" She got out of the pool and tied a towel. Then, she heard silent footsteps running behind her but when she turned, she didn't see anyone. It was strange and she thought it might have been imagining things.

Just when she had let her guard down, she sensed a serious killing intent coming from behind her. And just when she turned, a knife whistled pass her cutting just two strands of her hair.

Fortune looked at the assassin with rage burning in her eyes.

"How dare you!" She exclaimed