"Is she the one that you wanted?" There was a man dressed up in dark brown with a cloth on his face to hide his identity. There laid Han Suyin, knocked unconscious from the impact of the barrel. She barely dodged the horse, otherwise, there could have been more injuries. Her shoulder was dampened red, showing signs of bleeding from the cuts of the rock on the ground that Suyin had laid on earlier by the barrels.
The old man peered close to Suyin, squinting his eyes to make sure that he could see her face clearly as he nodded his head. A big grin was lit on his face with a proud nod. "It seems like you found the right one." This was none other than Mr.Wu, the perverted old man who had been following her since they had met.
"Sir, it seemed as if your daughter warned Suyin about the forthcoming."
The old man had noticed the blood from Suyin's shoulders and the mark of dirt on her shoulders. He slammed the table hard with an unsatisfied look on his face.
"What did you do to her?!" The old man yelled, pointing at the man who lowered his head. He didn't even pay attention to the last words that he had mentioned. With a hesitant look, he didn't dare to look at Mr.Wu.
"I apologize, sir, I tried to take her, but she managed to dodge--"
"It doesn't matter! If she isn't alive, you will be dead immediately!"
He threw a bag full of coins and paper on the ground for the mysterious man to pick up. "This is all that you get-- and if she is dead, I will come back for your head."
The man lowered his head, picking up the bag of money before he nodded, walking out of the room.
"If I can't have you, I'll just use you."
----------------------------------------------------
"Mr. Tienzhen!" Wu Fei cried aloud, running as fast as she could to his manor. Wu Fei had encountered the man she had met before. It was right before she ran off home when she saw the same man walking with her father. Wu Fei wanted to eavesdrop on their conversation but then she had discovered what her father had before she could ever get to listen to their conversation.
She had seen the same guy, but he had been following Suyin since the two had split. Wu Fei tried to get back to find Suyin but then she kept missing her each time.
"Mr.Tienzhen!" She was running out of breath, but she ran around the corridors. The maids and workers stared at her oddly, whispering to each other before they tried to mind their own business to continue their job.
Wu Fei turned around the corner just when she bumped her head into Weizhe, falling butt-first.
"Hey, you. Stop causing a ruckus here. The workers will be distracted." Weizhe warned, leaning down to the same eye level as Wu Fei.
Wu Fei was a strong child. Throughout her childhood years, it was always just her and her father, who taught her how to fight back against others who had bullied her and matured quickly because of her absent mother. Despite this, though, Wu Fei began to cry, wailing down the corridors.
Because of this, Weizhe looked around the area. It was as if he had said something mean to her that caused Wu Fei to cry because of Weizhe, so he quickly held her shoulders, looking at her.
"What's going on?"
"Han Suyin's gone!"
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"Miss Suyin." Mr.Wu sat down, staring at her with a smile on his face. "I looked everywhere for you. Where did you go?" His cold, wrinkly hands caressed Suyin's face. "But then I will wait. There will be a perfect time when it's a full moon. That's the time when you will be mine."
Mr.Wu had his maidens move her to a large room. As if this room had been waiting for her, it was beautifully decorated for a female to stay in, with porcelain vases and a variety of jewelry on the table. The dust had accompanied the jewelry as time passed on in this room.
----------------------------------------------------
Qin Fuhua had been keeping an eye on the imperial guards. They often would make rounds to observe what was going in and out of the Kingdom. He had been looking around the stalls to mask the true intentions of his reason to come here. Weizhe noticed a large source of inventory had been going in and out of the Kingdom without any suspicion. For Qin Fuhua, though, he was suspecting the beginning of the war... but with whom?
"Sir." An older lady called out to Qin Fuhua.
"Hm?" He looked up to an older lady, sitting on a wooden chair.
"Are you shopping for your wife? Is there anything that she likes?" The lady smiled, noticing that Qin Fuhua had been staring at a phoenix hairpin made out of gold and green jade.
"I... uh." His eyes darted to stare at the imperial guards then back at the old lady. "I haven't gotten her a gift before... do you think she will like this?" He questioned, holding the hair pin-up. The lady laughed, "if there's one thing, a phoenix symbolizes happiness in your marriage. If you haven't gotten her a gift, it's important to let her know that you cherish her."
Qin Fuhua had thought about it for a while. Although Han Suyin and Qin Fuhua married to set her free, all of the things that she had done for him were more than he had ever expected in a woman. For once, Qin Fuhua stopped thinking for himself, staring at the hairpin with a nod, agreeing to the old lady. Although it was rare to see the Prince of Qin ever smile, with his eyes glued on the hairpin, a line on the Prince had perked upon his lips, small enough for him just to show his gratefulness of Han Suyin.
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It felt like thousands of needles pinned on Han Suyin's right shoulder. Suyin groaned in pain, this time, feeling the heaviness and soreness everywhere in her body. She could barely lift her eyes, enough for her to see where she was at.
"Ugh." Suyin was in too much pain to realize what was going on until she realized that she was in an unfamiliar room. Awake, it took a couple of minutes for Suyin to remember what had happened. She immediately tried to get up, but couldn't move as much as she wanted, with fear in her eyes.
The last person she had seen before everything blacked out was Wu Fei's face. Was she okay? What had happened since then? Suyin lowered her head to close her eyes. She took a deep breath in pain, breathing out with her mouth. Suyin needed to know what was going on now. Suyin could smell the blood, dampened and brown on her right shoulders. What the hell was going on?
Suddenly, the door flew open. Mr. Wu, along with another older man walked into the room.
"This is her right here."
Suyin could barely turn her head to the door to see who it was until she saw the face of the old man and another stranger. Alerted, she had realized what was going on.
"What the hell is this?!" Suyin could barely curse out. She wanted, with all of her might, to run out of here. At least, fight back against this man.
"Her wound seems pretty serious. Do you think that it'll be fine?" The old man asked the Doctor, ignoring her words.
"Hm." He could only see the outside. "There's no way for me to know what happened. I have to see her shoulders to know--"
There was no way that Suyin would let anyone do that to her. With all of her strength to fight back, Suyin wanted her dignity at least.
"Right shoulder laceration with a large area of contusion," Suyin answered the Doctor.
(*Note: Meaning, it was a deep cut to the right shoulder area from the rocks and a large area of a bruise there).
The Doctor was shocked, looking at the old man as he looked back at him. "There's no way--"
"Is she the one that you wanted?" The words hung heavy in the air, punctuating the tense scene unfolding in the dimly lit alley.
The man, shrouded in dark brown attire and a cloth veiling his features, stood tall and imposing, a silent sentinel of secrecy.
Before him lay Han Suyin, her form limp and vulnerable, the victim of a violent collision with a careening horse.
Were it not for her desperate evasion, the consequences could have been far graver.
Now, her body bore the evidence of the chaos, her shoulder stained crimson with blood, a testament to the unforgiving embrace of the unforgiving ground strewn with jagged rocks.
With cautious steps, the old man approached, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinized the unconscious figure of Han Suyin. His gaze was keen, searching for confirmation amidst the disarray.
A grin, broad and triumphant, creased his weathered face as he nodded in affirmation. "It seems like you found the right one," he declared, his voice a raspy echo in the stillness of the night.
This figure was known as Mr. Wu.
But as the conversation unfolded, another revelation emerged.
"Sir, it seemed as if your daughter warned Suyin about the forthcoming."
A mention of a daughter, a warning issued to Han Suyin, spoke volumes of hidden connections and clandestine alliances.
Mr. Wu's demeanor shifted, his expression darkening with dissatisfaction as he surveyed the traces of blood upon Suyin's wounded shoulder, the dirt ground clinging to her skin.
With a sudden burst of frustration, he brought his hand down upon the table with a resounding thud, his dissatisfaction palpable in the air.
"What did you do to her?!" The old man's voice reverberated through the cramped confines of the room, his accusatory finger jabbing towards the man who cowered before him.
The man hung his head in shame, his gaze fixed firmly on the ground, unable to meet the furious scrutiny of Mr. Wu. It was as if he dared not acknowledge the weight of his failure, nor the consequences that loomed ominously on the horizon.
"I apologize, sir," he murmured, his words tinged with trepidation, "I tried to take her, but she managed to dodge--"
"It doesn't matter!" Mr. Wu's retort cut through the air like a whip, his anger palpable in every syllable. "If she isn't alive, you will be dead immediately!"
With a swift motion, he flung a bag filled with coins and crumpled papers onto the floor, the metallic clatter echoing in the tense silence of the room. It was a meager offering, a pittance compared to the weight of the old man's fury.
"This is all that you get," he spat, his voice laced with contempt, "and if she is dead, I will come back for your head."
The mysterious man dared not protest, nor did he dare to linger any longer in the suffocating presence of Mr. Wu. With a defeated nod, he stooped to retrieve the meager compensation, his movements heavy with resignation as he shuffled towards the door, a silent specter of failure.
As the door closed behind him, Mr. Wu remained alone in the room, the echoes of his anger still reverberating in the air.
In the stillness that followed, a sense of determination flickered behind his eyes, a resolve to achieve his goals by any means necessary.
"If I can't have you," he muttered to himself, his voice a whisper of sinister intent, "I'll just use you."
----------
"Mr. Tienzhen!" Wu Fei's cry echoed through the grand corridors of the manor, her voice strained with urgency as she raced towards her destination.
Her heart pounded in her chest, a frantic rhythm driving her forward with desperate determination.
She had glimpsed the familiar figure of the man she had encountered before, a shadowy presence lurking at the edges of her father's affairs. It was a fleeting moment, caught in the brief interlude before she had been forced to flee home, but the memory lingered.
In her haste to uncover the truth, Wu Fei had crossed paths with him once more, a chance encounter that reignited the flames of curiosity burning within her.
"Mr. Tienzhen!" Her voice cracked with exertion, her breaths coming in ragged gasps as she navigated the corridors of the manor.
The curious glances of maids and workers followed her every move, whispers fluttering like butterflies in her wake, but she paid them no heed. Her focus was singular, her determination unyielding as she pressed on towards her goal.
As she rounded a corner with reckless abandon, she collided headfirst with another figure in her path.
Wu Fei stumbled backward, her vision swimming as she landed unceremoniously on the cold marble floor, her dignity shattered in an instant.
"Hey, you," came a stern voice, cutting through the haze of confusion as Wu Fei found herself face-to-face with Weizhe. His tone was sharp, a warning tinged with irritation as he crouched down to her level, his gaze unwavering.
"Stop causing a ruckus here. The workers will be distracted," he admonished, his words a reminder of the delicate balance that existed within the manor walls.
Wu Fei was no stranger to misfortune. From a young age, she had learned to navigate the harsh realities of life with a strength that belied her tender years.
Raised solely by her father, she had grown accustomed to fending for herself, her spirit forged in the fires of isolation and abandonment.
Her childhood had been devoid of maternal warmth, her mother's absence.
But despite her resilience, there were moments when even Wu Fei's steadfast resolve faltered when the weight of her burdens became too heavy to bear alone.
And in those moments of vulnerability, the floodgates of emotion would open, releasing a torrent of tears that washed away the facade of strength she so carefully maintained.
Now, as she wailed down the corridors of the manor, her cries echoing like a lamentation in the stillness of the night, Weizhe could not help but feel a pang of concern.
It was as if his stern words had struck a nerve, unraveling the carefully constructed walls around her heart.
Without hesitation, he reached out, his hands gently grasping her shoulders as he sought to offer solace amidst her sorrow.
"What's going on?" he asked, his voice soft with genuine concern as he met her tear-stained gaze. In that moment, Weizhe saw beyond the facade of strength that Wu Fei projected to the world, glimpsing the vulnerability that lay hidden beneath the surface.
And then, with trembling lips and haunted eyes, she uttered the words that shattered the fragile tranquility of the moment. "Han Suyin's gone!"
-----------------
"Miss Suyin." Mr. Wu's voice, smooth as silk yet tinged with an unsettling edge, pierced the silence of the room as he settled into a chair opposite her prone form.
His eyes, dark pools of intensity, bore into hers with a chilling intensity, his lips curved into a smile that sent shivers down her spine. "I looked everywhere for you. Where did you go?"
His touch, though gentle, sent a shiver of revulsion coursing through unconscious Suyin's veins as his cold, wrinkled hands traced the contours of her face with an intimacy.
"But then I will wait," he continued, his voice dripping with a perverse kind of patience. "There will be a perfect time when it's a full moon. That's the time when you will be mine."
Before long, Mr. Wu's orders were carried out by his maidens, who moved her limp form to a spacious room within the confines of his mansion. It was a chamber fit for a lady, adorned with delicate porcelain vases and an array of glittering jewelry strewn haphazardly across the table.
Yet, despite its outward beauty, the room bore the telltale signs of neglect, the dust settling like a shroud over the forgotten treasures within.
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Qin Fuhua moved through the bustling stalls of the marketplace with the stealth of a shadow, his eyes keen and watchful as he observed the movements of the imperial guards.
They were a constant presence, their vigilant patrols serving as a reminder of the ever-watchful eye of the kingdom's authority. Yet amidst the crowds of merchants and traders, he moved with purpose, his true intentions hidden beneath a facade of casual interest.
Weizhe mentioned a curious pattern in the flow of inventory in and out of the kingdom previously. It was a discrepancy that raised questions, hinting at the possibility of a plan.
"Sir," came a voice from behind, drawing Qin Fuhua's attention away from his observations. He turned to find an older lady seated upon a weathered wooden chair, her eyes twinkling with warmth and curiosity.
"Hm?" he responded, his gaze shifting from the imperial guards to the kindly face before him.
"Are you shopping for your wife?" she inquired, her smile genuine as she noted the lingering gaze upon a delicate phoenix hairpin crafted from gold and green jade.
"I... uh." Qin Fuhua's voice faltered, caught off guard by the unexpected question.
His mind raced with thoughts of duty and responsibility, yet amidst the turmoil, a flicker of vulnerability shone through.
"I haven't gotten her a gift before... do you think she will like this?" he ventured, his fingers tracing the intricate contours of the hairpin as he held it aloft.
The old lady chuckled softly, her laughter carrying the wisdom of years gone by.
"If there's one thing, a phoenix symbolizes happiness in your marriage," she explained, her words carrying a weight of tradition and significance. "If you haven't gotten her a gift, it's important to let her know that you cherish her."
In that moment, amidst the hustle and bustle of the marketplace, Qin Fuhua found himself grappling with more than just the uncertainties of war and politics.
He was faced with the age-old question of love and devotion, a reminder that even in the midst of turmoil, the bonds of marriage remained steadfast and true.
As Qin Fuhua stood there, lost in contemplation, his thoughts drifted to Han Suyin, his wife by name but so much more in deeds. Their union had been born of necessity, a marriage of convenience forged to grant her freedom from the clutches of Mr. Wu. Yet, in the quiet moments of reflection, Qin Fuhua found himself pondering the true depth of her sacrifice and devotion.
Her unwavering loyalty, her selfless acts of courage, they were more than he could have ever hoped for in a woman. And as he held the delicate phoenix hairpin in his hand, he realized that her presence in his life had brought him a sense of something different in his life.
With a nod of agreement to the old lady's words, Qin Fuhua made his decision. It was a small gesture, a token of appreciation for the woman who had stood by his side through thick and thin. And though it was rare to see the Prince of Qin smile, a faint glimmer of warmth danced in his eyes as he gazed upon the hairpin, a silent acknowledgment of his gratitude towards Han Suyin.
---------------------
As consciousness slowly clawed its way back to Han Suyin, she found herself enveloped in a haze of agony, each breath a struggle against the relentless onslaught of pain.
It felt as though thousands of needles were mercilessly piercing her right shoulder, sending waves of torment coursing through her body. With a guttural groan, she attempted to push through the fog of pain, her senses dulled and her movements sluggish.
Opening her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of an unfamiliar room, its walls cloaked in shadow and its air heavy with an oppressive stillness.
Panic clawed at the edges of her mind as she struggled to piece together the events that had led her here. It took precious moments for the memories to resurface, each recollection a jagged shard of fear and confusion.
With a jolt of realization, Han Suyin's heart skipped a beat as she remembered the face of Wu Fei, the last person she had seen before darkness claimed her.
Questions raced through her mind in a whirlwind of uncertainty. Was Wu Fei safe? What had transpired in the moments since she lost consciousness?
Desperation fueled her movements as she attempted to rise, only to be met with a cruel reminder of her own limitations.
Pain lanced through her body like a hot poker, chaining her to the bed in a prison of torment. Fear danced in her eyes as she grappled with the unknown, her mind racing with a thousand possibilities and none at all.
Closing her eyes, Han Suyin took a shuddering breath, the metallic tang of blood staining the air around her. The scent was thick and cloying, a grim reminder of the violence that had brought her to this moment.
Suddenly, the door flew open, its hinges groaning in protest against the abrupt intrusion.
Mr. Wu, the elderly man cloaked in a demeanor of sternness, strode into the room, his presence casting a shadow that seemed to swallow the dim light filtering through the curtains. Beside him, an older man, weathered by time and marked by the lines of experience etched across his face, followed with measured steps. "This is her right here," Mr. Wu announced, his voice cutting through the tense silence that hung heavy in the air like a suffocating blanket. Suyin, her heart pounding against her ribs like a frantic drumbeat, could barely muster the strength to turn her head towards the door.
As her gaze met the faces of the two men, a surge of apprehension surged through her veins like an electric current. Every fiber of her being screamed with an instinctual alarm, alerting her to the gravity of the situation unfolding before her.
"What the hell is this?!" Suyin's voice trembled with a mixture of fear and defiance, the words clawing their way out of her throat with a desperate urgency.
Every instinct screamed at her to flee, to fight back against the looming threat embodied by the strangers.
Ignoring her outburst, the elderly man directed his attention to the doctor, his gaze unwavering despite Suyin's vehement protests echoing in the room like a haunting refrain.
"Her wound seems pretty serious. Do you think that it'll be fine?" The old man's voice was calm, a stark contrast to the turmoil raging within Suyin's trembling form.
The doctor, a bastion of clinical detachment, peered at Suyin from beneath furrowed brows, his expression a mask of professional scrutiny.
His gaze lingered on her injured shoulder, a silent assessment of the damage concealed beneath the fabric of her clothing.
"Hm," the doctor murmured, his voice a distant echo against the cacophony of Suyin's racing thoughts. "There's no way for me to know what happened. I have to see her shoulders to know—"
The mere suggestion sent a shiver of dread coursing down Suyin's spine, igniting a spark of defiance within her battered soul. With a steely resolve born of desperation, she squared her shoulders, steeling herself to reclaim a modicum of control over her own fate.
She refused to allow the Doctor to check on her, her words a defiant declaration of her right to be heard. The doctor's eyes widened in disbelief, his gaze darting between Suyin and the old man with a sense of incredulity that mirrored the tumultuous storm raging within her own heart. "There's no way—" The doctor's protest faltered, his words swallowed by the weight of the unspoken truths lingering in the stifling air of the room.
"If you even dare to touch me, even when I come from the dead, you're dead."
Suyin's voice sliced through the charged atmosphere, her words laced with a venomous resolve that sent a chill racing down the spine of both the old man and the doctor.
Her threat hung heavy in the air like a dark omen, a stark warning that echoed with the weight of her unyielding defiance.
She would face the abyss of death rather than succumb to these people.
The old man could only sigh, the weight of Suyin's words bearing down upon him with an oppressive force that left him shaken. He found himself at a loss in the face of her unwavering determination.
There was a flicker of resignation in his weary gaze, a silent acknowledgment of the futility of his efforts to bend her to his will.
"There's no way to this. I need her alive," Old man Wu conceded, his voice tinged with a note of reluctant acceptance as he turned his gaze towards Suyin.
His eyes, shadowed by the weight of his own past sins, bore into hers with an intensity that sent a shiver racing down her spine.
Suyin met his gaze with a glare of unbridled hatred and disgust, her features contorted into a mask of defiance that dared him to challenge her resolve.
Why, of all the souls in the vast expanse of the world, did fate deem it necessary for her to be confronted by this man at this precise moment in time?
"It's either you give me what I need to help cure myself, or you will see a corpse here," Suyin's voice cut through the heavy silence like a knife, her words dripping with a coldness that sent a shiver racing down the doctor's spine.
There was a steely resolve in her tone, a quiet insistence that brooked no argument or dissent.
She had endured too much, suffered too greatly, to allow herself to be reduced to a mere pawn in the old man's twisted game.
The doctor stood frozen in shock, his mind reeling with the weight of Suyin's words.
In all his years of practice, he had never encountered a patient so resolute, so unyielding in the face of adversity.
Her terms, delivered with a coldness that sent a chill racing down his spine, left him at a loss for words, his thoughts scrambling to make sense of the impossible situation unfolding before him.
"Why aren't you listening to her?!" the old man demanded, his voice laced with an undercurrent of impatience as he turned his gaze towards the doctor, his eyes ablaze with a fierce intensity that brooked no argument.
The doctor nodded, his movements swift as he retrieved a sheet of paper and a quill, his hands trembling with a mixture of fear and uncertainty.
With a practiced ease born of years spent navigating the treacherous waters of the medical profession, he began to scribble down a prescription and a set of orders, his mind racing to comply with Suyin's demands before she had a chance to unleash her wrath upon him.
As the old man settled himself beside Suyin, a disconcerting smile playing upon his lips, she could feel her stomach churn with a mixture of disgust and revulsion.
His proximity, coupled with the weight of his gaze bearing down upon her with an intensity that bordered on predatory, left her feeling exposed, vulnerable to his every whim.
"You must be well. Miss Suyin must be able to help me with the task that was given to you," Old man Wu murmured, his voice a sinister whisper that sent a shiver racing down Suyin's spine. His words hung heavy in the air, a foreboding reminder of the position in which she found herself trapped.
Disgusted, confused, and with no choice but to scowl back at him with all the strength she could muster, Suyin felt a surge of determination course through her veins.
She needed to get better, and quickly, if she had any hope of escaping the clutches of the old man's grasp.