The sun was gleaming dazzlingly in the clear blue sky. Birds continuously flocked around the base camp while the soldiers patrolled the camp. One guard would be pacing, the sound of their footsteps marching with a heavy foot due to their armor against the dirt ground. They were making their rounds to make sure there wasn't anything suspicious going on.
Suyin had Yuan Fu grab her a pair of clothes so that she could change into them. In a private tent near the infirmary tent, Suyin tightly enveloped her chest to make sure that no one would notice the bump on her chest. With a simple hair tie to secure a top knot on her head, she fixed the sides of her hair to make herself look neater. She needed to hide her gender since everyone else except Qin Fuhua, Weizhe, Teacher Zhou Lin, and Yuan Fu thinks she is a man.
She took a step outside, making sure that her clothes wouldn't wrinkle, and walked to the infirmary to help mend the soldiers.
One of the scholars was half-asleep on the wooden chair, observing the patient that slept in front of him. He appeared to be younger than the other scholars, but you could tell from his face that the spoon was given to him by others.*
(* Meaning that he was wealthy and didn't have to work for anything).
His head had plopped down for a second, which woke up him again before he saw Suyin entering the tent. Since he was right next to the entrance, he had noticed her first.
"Su Yi!"
Teacher Zhou Lin, Yuan Fu, and the rest of the scholars circled to see Suyin, who sheepishly smiled at them. Teacher Zhou Lin walked up to her, with a big smile on his face as he noticed her.
After Suyin entered the scene to help the other students mend the soldiers' wounds, Teacher Zhou Lin pulled Suyin to the side, his hands behind his back as he bobbed his head.
"I need to talk to you, is that okay?"
Suyin nodded her head, in accordance as the two stepped outside of the tent, a couple of feet away from the place so that no one would hear their conversation.
"I know that there's been a lot on your plate, but thank you." He bowed his head to Suyin, dropping half of his body to her as Suyin shook both of her hands, forbidding him to lower himself in front of her.
"No, you're the elder. You must be protected."
"I know that you are cherished by the Prince, and there was a doubt deep down in me that maybe it was pure luck with your medical skills and knowledge." He gaped out of space, glancing out of the stone gates, and then shifted to Suyin. "But I comprehended that you always had something special in you." He then took a deep breath, "I wanted to offer you a higher position, with my proposal from the King and the higher positions, we can arrange a position for you to be a Teacher or possibly a medical Doctor in the Palace?"
Suyin gradually turned to Teacher Zhou Lin, unable to comprehend what he was telling her for a second. She was slowly taking everything in that Teacher Zhou Lin had just told her.
If this was before she met Qin Fuhua, she would have enjoyed working in the Palace. It meant taking care of the royal family and acquiring knowledge about all types of herbs in this world that Suyin wouldn't have been able to access in the future.
Suyin contained back her smile, shaking her head. "Thank you for acknowledging my efforts." She then shifted back to gaze at the large main tent from sight, a few distances away from the two, and then back at Teacher Zhou Lin, "But there's a lot that I still need to do until I figure out what I want to settle on." she added.
She couldn't let go of her oath to Qin Fuhua. She still needed to cure Princess Chuhua. In her mind, all she could think of was Qin Fuhua all alone, by himself, if she wasn't there. Her direction was to the main tent, thinking about Qin Fuhua in there.
Teacher Zhou Lin turned around to see Suyin's gaze, then shifted to see what she was glancing at, and then chuckled. "Alright. I understand." He shook his head, "But you are always welcome to the scholar courtyard whenever you need to come by." He grinned.
There weren't many people who believed in Suyin's abilities, so she felt like what he was telling her was genuine. After the two's short conversation, Teacher Zhou Lin and Suyin went back to mending the rest of the soldiers' wounds until dusk arrived.
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[Three hours later]
Qin Fuhua had been preoccupied with the conversation about who could be the possible culprit. Thanks to Suyin's care, he was still exhausted but felt better than before.
There were some documents that Qin Fuhua had to go over, and once he was conscious, he couldn't sit around and do nothing. The Prince of Qin was sitting down at the table, going through the documents about the current war and the connections to the bandits that had raided the camp.
Scanning through the long scrolls and some paper-thin ones, Qin Fuhua sighed loudly. He couldn't concentrate. Something was bugging him but he couldn't figure out what it was. Was it the pain that was lingering where he was stabbed?
No.
It was the fact that Suyin had just wandered off to leave him. Wasn't she concerned about him? Is she going to come back to check up on him?
He tightly shut his eyes, trying to shake off the doubt in his mind. Now wasn't the time for him to think about her.
With the sound of silence sufficing the air except for the sound of Qin Fuhua flipping through the papers, he slammed the table. The sound of the teapot and teacups leaped from the table, cluttering against each other.
Weizhe instantly entered the tent but stopped in his tracks when he recognized it was Qin Fuhua who made the commotion. He slowly backed off, watching the Price before he left outside to guard the entrance.
"Your Highness. If you'd like, we can have dinner with the soldiers in celebration of our victory tonight. I have arranged just enough ration of food for us to celebrate."
Weizhe conveyed outside.
"We haven't notified this message to the workers and soldiers recovering from the infirmary room."
He continued.
Qin Fuhua diverted his attention to the papers to look outside of the entrance.
"I will go report it to them, since I need to get inspected on my injury, as well." Qin Fuhua responded to Weizhe.
Weizhe knew that he wanted to go see Suyin. He could tell by the frustration on his face that he wasn't content that she had left. It was written all over the Prince's face, yet he didn't dare to make a move because of his stubbornness.
Weizhe only grinned when Qin Fuhua volunteered to see them. Weizhe was happy that the Prince had other colors than him*.
(*Meaning he wasn't black or white aka plain and boring/ no emotion).
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{Infimary Tent}
Suyin was weary, but she knew that this would be the last patient she needed to see before they were done taking care of all of the soldiers. Some soldiers were moaning in pain, and the odor of blood mixed with herbal medicine reeked the room. People assisting the scholars were going in and out of the tent to go to the next room, where the medicine was produced.
"Does this hurt?" Suyin examined the soldier, carefully dressing the soldier's wound on his abdomen.
The soldier shook his head. He had taken an arrow against his abdomen, but luckily, it didn't hit any vital spots, so he didn't suffer any life-threatening outcomes.
The other scholars were busy completing their care of the other patients and had refilled the medicine cabinet in the room next to them.
Suyin placed some sticky substances as tape to complete the dressing wound. Her eyes were concentrated on agility and vigilance so that the wound wouldn't get infected again.
The soldier that Suyin was tending sunk his head, a bit timid.
Suyin had glimpsed the soldier was sinking his head, but she wasn't so sure as to why. There was no way that anyone right now knew she was a female, so why would he be unsettled or drop his head like that?
"Are you in pain?" Suyin confirmed again.
"Ahem."
A voice behind Suyin startled her. Luckily she had finished dressing the patient, otherwise, the patient would have gotten hurt.
Suyin turned around to see Qin Fuhua, looking down at her. She closed her eyes, patting her chest before she went back to check on her patient.
"Take this medicine and eat congee for a couple of days." Suyin was referring to the patient. She had a small piece of paper and a thin brush with a small table at the side of her so she could write the prescription down. She effortlessly stroked the characteristics of the medicine and then passed it to the patient.
"Thank you." The patient bowed his head, cowering in fear of the presence of Qin Fuhua as he got up to leave.
As the soldier scampered out, Suyin spun around to notice that the scholars (as well as Teacher Zhou Lin) were not in the tent anymore.
"What did you do?" Suyin questioned, peeking up at Qin Fuhua who was still looking down at her. Suyin was sitting in a chair lower than the bed so that she could mend the soldier's illness. Now it just looks like Suyin is smaller than Qin Fuhua (in reality, of course, she is).
Qin Fuhua had informed the others that dinner would be served tonight as a celebration of their victory. While the injured soldiers rest, some of the workers will bring them food. He was looking for Suyin when Yuan Fu and Teacher Zhou Lin pointed her out, at the corner of the room mending a soldier's wound.
The immediate dark expression that was planted on the face of the Prince was more of a reason for all of them to rush out of the room to go have dinner.
Qin Fuhua strolled around her, seating on the bed where the soldier was previously sitting.
"What are you doing?" Suyin asked, her head tilted to the side out of confusion.
He was sitting in front of her now, but his expression was still dark. He wasn't pleased that Suyin was tending to another man's care--especially when he (the soldier) was half naked.
The Prince knew that it was Suyin's job to care for others, but the sight of her facing another man's body didn't make him feel any better.
Qin Fuhua instantly took off his outer robe, slowly taking off the robe to reveal his bare upper body.
"Are you going to check my wound too?"
Suyin's ears immediately felt like it was burning, her cheeks flushing as she turned her eyes away from his body in order for her not to distract herself.