Rescue Me, My Love

A Queen Fit for a King

     Mao Qiang de Hei had arranged the trip for Mo Yuan and his family to come visit their kingdom.  Mo Yuan was in a quandary.  Could they accommodate his whole family?  Xue and JinDe decided they wanted to go, but would leave their families behind.  Baohu had his duties so he decided to stay at Kunlun.  Jinzi and Mi Shu stayed at home.  That left Taiyang and Zhenzhu, Gaoxing and Xingfu, Chen Bo, Chin Chu, Mo Junjie Jin and Xia Liang Lei.  Eight children plus himself and Qian Qian.  He sent a message to Hei just to be sure.  The message came back that all arrangements were made.  Liang Lei decided she would wear her favorite lavender dress with the hairpin her Fuqin made her and the bracelet Hei gave her.  She was simple but elegant.  The snow leopard kingdom was in the mountains in the north to the west of Bai Zhen's domain.  He was known to them and was considered an ally.  When they arrived, Hei met them at the gates of their kingdom.  "Welcome to our kingdom, High God Mo Yuan!  I hope you will find this trip delightful and you will be assured that Liang Lei will be happy here!  Please follow me!"  He led them up to their mountain stronghold into the throne room.  Mo Yuan had been there before, but he had been a young man sent as an envoy by his Fuqin.  It was Hei's Zufu who had been king then.  Mao Wang came forward and smiled.  "I'm so glad you have come!  I heard about your last set of twins!  I see they are indeed delightful!  Let's show you to your rooms and then we can have tea!"  Mo Yuan looked around as he was led to their rooms.  Taiyang, Zhenzhu, Gaoxing and Xingfu would stay in the room next to Bai Qian and Mo Yuan.  Xue, JinDe and Junjie would stay in the next room.  Bo, Chu and Lei would stay in the next.  Qiang de Hei had prepared the Queen's quarters next to his but only if her Fuqin approved.  He did not.  At least for now.  He wanted to see her face as they walked around and hear her opinion.  They went to the hall for tea. 
     Mao Wang still sat on the throne.  Mo Yuan noticed and asked the pointed questions.  "Qiang de Hei has told me that you were going to pass the throne to him after he passed his high god trial.  Is that still your plan or is there a problem?"  "I can see there is no reason to hide anything from you.  There is dissent in the kingdom over his proposal to your daughter.  Some ministers don't want a dragon here and some want Hei to have a harem.  I wish for you to be present at our next meeting to hear the discussions.  I have no problem with his choice.  I myself had no harem.  I am delighted that Liang Lei has chosen Hei.  Yu Yu tells me she is very demure, queenly in her bearing and a very proficient warrior.  The tradition of our kingdom is a test of that warrior before she is accepted.  You, as her Fuqin would have to agree.  Do you?"  Mo Yuan sat down his tea cup and looked at Lei.  He smiled the war god smile and looked Lei dead in the eye.  "We accept.  When is the trial?"  "In two days.  Can you be ready?"  "We will need an area that is separate from your normal training grounds.  We must train in secret.  Agreed?"  "Agreed!  I have just the place for you.  Tomorrow morning I will take you there."  Lei looked at her Fuqin and grinned.  She knew she was about to learn some of those dirty tricks that Jinlong was famous for.  So be it!  Bai Qian asked other more pertinent questions.  "My main concern is Liang Lei's safety.  I wish to know is there anyone in your kingdom who would wish her ill?  Would attack her or try to harm her?  When we allowed Hei to pursue her, we did it under the assumption that he had your blessing.  Does he or should this end now?"  Mo Yuan looked at her out of the corner of his eye.  Her fox eyes were shining brightly and he could feel her testing the room.  Not to be intimidated, Mao Wang growled under his breath.  Jinlong, hearing the warning, shot forward and growled himself.  Silence.  One more growl for posterity.  He sat down his cup with a chink and stood.  Every subject, minister, or royal family member sat back in absolute fear.  No one tried to intimidate the great golden dragon.  Cats were no match for him.  He could destroy their kingdom in a matter of minutes.  He motioned for his family to follow him.  As he ordered, they obeyed.  When the family left, a collective easing out of breath followed.  Hei was furious.  "Fuqin, why did you find it necessary to intimidate High God Mo Yuan?  He could destroy our whole kingdom in minutes.  I've seen his dragon.  There is not one single warrior in this kingdom who could challenge him.  He only wishes to make sure his daughter, who is precious to him, will be respected and honored as my wife and queen of this realm.  If we can't offer that to her, then I renounce my thrown now.  I will marry her and live at Kunlun.  Give the thrown to my Didi.  That's all I will say!"  He stormed out of the hall and went straight to Mo Yuan's room.  Before he could knock, the door was flung wide.
     Hei was face to face with Mo Yuan.  He grabbed him by the shoulder and brought him into their room.  The whole family was there and Liang Lei was laying on the bed sobbing.  He wanted to run to her, but he must first face her Fuqin.  He bowed low and went to speak.  Mo Yuan held up his hand.  "Hei, I am not pleased to hear what I heard in the hall.  Just who is against Lei as your wife?  Is your whole kingdom against her?  What has happened?"  "High God Mo Yuan, I have just denounced my throne and passed it to my younger brother.  I would protect Liang Lei with my life.  I wish to come live at Kunlun.  Please allow it!  Please?"  He fell on his knees in front of Mo Yuan and bowed to the floor.  Sensing something terrible about to happen, he raised the boy up and put his finger to his lips to silence him.  He motioned for Xue and JinDe to guard the windows.  He had Junjie guard the young children and the girls stood behind him.  With hand signals, he had them slowly advance.  He grabbed the door and flung it wide.  A troop of soldiers was there standing behind their king.  Mao Wang was not happy.  The black clouds of anger flew across Mo Yuan's face.  "We shall be leaving your kingdom tonight.  It is clear that my family is in danger here.  I shall return in two days with my daughter.  Be prepared for you have threatened the wrong person!"  He slammed the door, gathered his family to him, and with a nod he jumped them out on a fast cloud and left Mao Wang and Mao Qiang de Hei standing in an empty room.  Hei took one look at his Fuqin and turned to leave.  Before he left he spoke.  "Fuqin, I don't know why you threatened High God Mo Yuan, but you have just brought war to our doorstep.  Not only that, but you have put Bao Feng Yu and her children in great danger.  Tianjun Ye Hua will not go against his Da ge.  He will side with High God Mo Yuan.  So will High God Baohu, the God of War.  Why did you do it?  I'm leaving and you will have to kill me to stop me.  Goodbye, Fuqin!"  He jumped out and went to his room only to find soldiers there.  He jumped before they could grab him and jumped a fast cloud to Kunlun.  He crashed onto the portico of the temple and was met by none other than Tianjun Ye Hua, Mo Yuan, Bai Xue, Mo JinDe and Bai Baohu Zhe. 
     They took him straight to Baohu's study.  Mo Yuan was furious but said nothing.  Baohu stood and was about to grab Hei when Ye Hua stepped in.  "Hei, would you mind telling me what is going on?  What has happened?  I thought your Fuqin welcomed your suit to Liang Lei?  Why did he bring soldiers to their room?"  "Tianjun Ye Hua, I honestly don't know.  After my trial I left to come check on Lei Lei.  He was fine then.  When I came back home to make arrangements for their visit, he acted strange and said very little.  He informed me of the trial for Lei Lei.  I knew nothing about it.  I saw my mother look at him like he had lost his mind.  If Xia Liang Lei cannot be my wife, then I denounce my throne and wish to live here on Kunlun.  Please?  I will kill myself if she is taken away from me!!  Please don't take her away from me!!"  He fell down on his knees and his head hit the ground hard.  He sobbed so hard even Baohu was moved.  He knew he would feel the same about his Li Li.  He put a hand on Hei's shoulder.  "Rise, brother.  We will get to the bottom of this, I assure you.  Come and have tea.  Liang Lei is very upset.  Come.  Let's clear our minds and figure out a plan."  Hei wiped the tears from his face and turned toward Mo Yuan.  "I hope you will accept me now, for you see, I love her, and a life without her in it would not be worth my time."  Mo Yuan put his hand on the boys shoulder.  No!  Not a boy!  A young man who could think for himself.  He nodded.  "Die Feng!"  That stalwart young man came running.  "Shifu, I took the liberty of preparing the quest quarters next to Lord Baohu for Lord Qiang de Hei.  Is there something else?"  Mo Yuan grinned.  "No, it seems you read my mind.  Hei, follow Die Feng and we will talk later.  Go rest yourself."
     When Die Feng led Qiang de Hei off, Mo Yuan turned to Ye Hua.  "Send messages to the realm demanding an appearance, Ye Hua.  We could get him on our turf then.  The energy here on the mountain would turn away anything bad or force it to come forward.  Something is not right.  I feel like I barely got us out of there before something bad happened.  I must go talk to Lei Lei now.  She is quite upset."  Mo Yuan could hear Bai Qian talking to Lei Lei through the door.  He knocked before he entered.  He walked in and sat on the edge of her bed.  She threw herself into his arms.  "Fuqin!  What happened?  I thought Hei and I were to be married!  Fuqin I love him!  Can't you fix it?  No one will back talk you!  Please Fuqin!  I love him!"  She held on to him tightly and sobbed.  He held on to her and stroked her hair as he talked.  "Lei, we have prepared rooms here for Hei.  He followed us here.  Ye Hua is sending messages now to demand an answer.  We don't know what has happened in their realm, but if Hei wishes to come here, then he is welcome.  There will be a wedding if you, my little one, wish it.  Xiao Bailong, come talk to me."  Mo Yuan's eyes turned gold as hers turned white.  "Xiao Bailong, tell me what you felt while we were in their hall."  She sat up and thought a minute.  Her white eyes were turned north as her brows came together in thought.  "Fuqin, the air felt cold, even though it was spring there.  There was a smell in the air.  Not the smell of the snow leopards, not Hei's smell of fresh snow and cedar and sandalwood, but something....something......rotten....yes..rotten.  I couldn't put my finger on it."  "Hmmm, I see your senses have become very sharp.  Did you sense it too, Qian'er?"  "Hmmm.  When I opened my fox senses there was a strange smell there and the air was cold.  I felt fear for just a moment and like time stopped until your tea cup came down with a loud chink.  Did you feel it too?"  "Like time stopped?  For a split second I did.  I myself have used that same spell.  Only a few people know it.  I know it, Ye Hua, Dijun, my Fuqin, my Mother, Zhe Yan, Bai Zhi and Shao Wan.  Qian'er did your Fuqin teach it to any of you?"  "Not that I know of.  I will send a message and ask him."  "Something is going on and I'm going to get to the bottom of it.  Tonight we rest and wait to see if Ye Hua gets answers to his messages."
     Ye Hua received no answer to his message.  He sent a message demanding an appearance.  On the morning of the second day, a message came.  The queen had answered.  Ye Hua brought the message straight to Baohu.  He called his Fuqin.  Mo Yuan took the scroll and read it.  "Trouble in realm.  Bring army.  Help."  "It's a trap.  We can't take the army.  Ye Hua, has Yu said anything?  Has she received any messages?"  "I questioned her this morning.  In fact we had a big fight over it.  She thinks I don't trust her.  It's not that, I just want her safe.  Something is wrong in that realm and I want to know what.  I intend to get to the bottom of it."  "Let's not be hasty.  Make it look like the army is preparing for war.  Go get Qiang de Hei.  This involves him too."  Hei was standing looking out the window of his room.  He had no clue what was happening to his Fuqin, his Mother, his brother.  Their realm was shattered.  What was going on?  What?  He was standing there in contemplation when the knock came on the door.  "Enter."  Die Feng was at the door.  "Lord Qiang de Hei, Tianjun Ye Hua wants you to attend a meeting.  Please follow me."  He nodded and followed him.  He walked into Baohu's war room.  He looked like he was beaten, dismayed and broken.  Ye Hua motioned for him to come and sit.  He spoke first.  "Hei, we need to know any little thing you can tell us that will help diffuse this situation.  We do not want to go to war.  We want to help you.  Something happened from the time you came back from your trial until Da ge and his family arrived.  Any little thing that you sensed could help.  Think back and go over everything that happened."  Hei nodded and dropped his head.  When he spoke, he was agitated.  "When I woke up after I ascended, I went straight to Fuqin and told him I was going to come check on Liang Lei.  He was always happy that I was paying court to her.  When I came back to arrange for her visit, he acted strange.  He knew I wanted no harem but he immediately started talking about an alliance with Duke Mao Tang He's daughter.  I declined it right away.  He was angry.  I told him under no circumstances would I agree to have a harem.  We ended the discussions about it but the next morning he was agitated and angry.  You arrived before I could get into it again.  I noticed that Fuqin was rather cold in his demeanor and that the hall was cold.  There was a smell there but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  You know the rest of what happened.  I told him if I couldn't marry Liang Lei, then I renounced the throne and I would come to Kunlun.  Here I am!"  "Bai Xue!  I want you to bring Fenli and Ali here!  We will wait."  "Fuqin, do you think they might be able to smell something?"  "Maybe, I may go there under cloak and take them with me.  Let's see if they can smell anything on Hei."  Bai Xue went and got Fenli and Ali.  He was back within thirty minutes.  "Zufu needs you two to help him figure out something.  Go to him now."  They stood in front of him and bowed.  "Zufu wants you to tell me what you smell in this room.  If you sense something, tell me."  Their eyes turned white and they scanned the room.  Slowly they walked around and smelled.  They finally stopped by Hei.  They turned together and looked at Mo Yuan.  "Zufu, Qiang de Hei smells funny.  It's his smell but something else.  We don't know what it is.  Almost smells like rotten leaves, dirty water and dirt."  Fenli nodded as Ali spoke.  Mo Yuan stood.  "Baohu, your barriers are strong.  Go to the snow leopard realm.  Cloak yourself well and take these boys with you.  You leave after lunch.  Right now I have something for these boys.  Work out your plan.  We'll be right back."
     Mo Yuan took the boys to his study.  He sat on his dais and had them sit in front of him.  "Zufu has spent many hours teaching you and the other members of the Dragon Wing how to handle this situation.  You are to follow any order Baohu gives you.  He is in command.  You will need a weapon.  I have these for you."  He made two daggers appear in front of him.  One had a lotus motif down the blade.  The other had a peony motif.  The handles were made out of white jade.  Each one had their name on them.  "I had made these some time ago and had planned to give them to you.  Take them now as your side weapon.  Remember, you are well trained.  Be fearless and follow orders.  Are we clear?"  "Yes, Zufu we are!  We will make you proud!"  "Come, let's return to the war room."  When they walked in, Baohu had a model of the palace set up and Hei was showing him where to go and what to do.  Fenli and Ali ran to their Fuqin and showed him their daggers.  A light came into Bai Xue's eye when he looked at them.  He smiled and nodded to his Fuqin.  He knew he had taught them well and he would not worry.  Baohu spoke first.  "Fuqin, I have my plan worked out.  I'm thinking this Duke bears watching.  Why is he against Liang Lei and Qiang de Hei getting married all of a sudden?  Hei has never seen his daughter and it's common knowledge in their kingdom that he would have no harem.  This man bears watching.  Hei wants to go with me.  He would not have to be cloaked.  He would be free to walk around and I could follow him.  He could say he came to retrieve his own things before he leaves for good.  That would give me time to snoop around with these boys with me."  "A solid plan.  When do you leave?"  "We leave after lunch so Hei can arrive in time to disrupt dinner.  Do you have any instructions?"  "None at this time.  Baohu don't hesitate to call me if you need me.  Understood?"  "Yes, if I get in a tight spot, I'll call you.  Let's eat lunch."
     After lunch Baohu cloaked himself and the boys and got on a cloud with Qiang de Hei.  He was stopped at the gate to their realm.  The soldiers apologized.  "Prince Hei, your Fuqin said to bring you to him when you return.  We apologize."  Hei raised his hand to stop them.  "It's ok.  I will go there now."  He slowly walked to the throne room.  He was announced.  The duke was seated on a dais right by his Fuqin and a young woman was seated by him.  The hair on the back of Baohu's neck rose up when he saw her.  He knew something wasn't quite right but he couldn't put his finger on it.  Fenli tugged his sleeve.  He looked at the boy and spoke into his mind.  "What is it, Fenli?"  "It's her, Shushu.  She's the smell.  She smells like the children who we got back from the demon lands.  It's her.  She can see us.  Get us out, Shushu!  Get us out!"  Baohu backed out of the throne room and spoke into Qiang de Hei's mind.  "Hei, go to your room as soon as you can.  Get your things and leave now!  Leave Hei or you will be killed!  Leave!"  Baohu jumped into Hei's room.  Hei was right behind him.  He gathered what possessions he wanted, got his weapons and armor and they left.  Baohu flew them to Kunlun faster than he had ever flown in his life.  When he landed at the gate, he took no time but jumped straight to the great hall.  Mo Yuan, Ye Hua, Mo JinDe, Bai Xue, the quads and Bai Qian were all waiting.  Baohu ran into the hall taking the steps two at a time.  "Fuqin!  Fuqin!  You must come!  Fuqin!"  Mo Yuan stood when he heard the panic in Baohu's voice.  He grabbed his shoulders with both hands.  "Calm yourself!  Calm!  Deep breaths!  Now tell me!"  "Fuqin, there was a young woman there.  Fenli said she smelled like the children smelled that we rescued from the demon lands.  She could see me!!  She could see me and the boys!  We barely got out of there!  There is great danger there!  If we go back, we must have a show of force.  She is the source of all the trouble.  She is not a snow leopard either.  I don't know what she is, or why she is there, but she has great power.  We must come up with another plan."  Baohu flopped down on his dais in total defeat.  Qiang de Hei turned to Mo Yuan with tears in his eyes.  "Why my Fuqin?  Why our realm?  What can we do?"  "I don't know who this person is, but we will get to the bottom of it."