Suyin's eyes proceeded directly to peek at Qin Fuhua, who didn't bat a single eye at the female who, in comparison to Suyin, was thin and petite.
She had her maid beside her, staring at the ground. The girl sulked, her arms crossing her chest now at the sight of the two.
"Fu GEGE!" She screamed out. Her high-pitched voice pierced Suyin's ears since she was the closest to the girl.
Suyin stood next to Qin Fuhua, but if we were to look in their direction, she was unfortunately in between Qin Fuhua and the whiny girl.
"I came here as soon as I heard from Uncle and Auntie, yet you're going to be like this?!"
The girl spoke directly to Qin Fuhua, treating Suyin like air while Qin Fuhua spun around to check on Weizhe.
Weizhe had unloaded their belongings from the carriage, showing Qin Fuhua a nod to assure him that he didn't need assistance.
"Come on, let's go." Qin Fuhua grabbed a hold of Suyin's wrist, tugging her with him as he went into the Palace gates, shunning the female.
Suyin blankly stared up at him, as she was hauled away.
"Fuhua! FU GEGE!!"
Suyin twisted around to peek at the childish girl's demeanor. She was stomping on her feet, clenching her fists as she screamed out Qin Fuhua's name.
"Talk about desperate," Suyin uttered under her breath. Whoever that girl was, Suyin knew that the number of her age didn't match her personality*.
(*Another way of Suyin saying that the girl is immature).
"Are you envious?" Qin Fuhua's resonant voice reacted to Suyin's remark. It startled Suyin, who was still being pulled by Qin Fuhua until she halted for a second, realizing that he had tugged her away from the girl.
"I--"
Suyin was speechless. She wasn't jealous, so she couldn't say anything. When Qin Fuhua made that remark, he was looking forward, so Suyin couldn't tell if he was joking with her or if Qin Fuhua was serious about Suyin being jealous.
Nothing but air came out of her mouth, as she shut it.
"No," Suyin answered.
As soon as Suyin halted, Qin Fuhua turned to her. They had reached the gates of the scholar's courtyard.
Qin Fuhua leaned in closer to Suyin, positioning his hands behind his back.
Although he didn't seem upset, he wasn't so content with Suyin's reply, so Qin Fuhua seemed a bit grumpy.
"I'm going to talk to Teacher Zhou Lin about the incident and report back to my Father. Return to the courtyard and change your attire. We will be seeing my sister." Qin Fuhua declared, before leaning back.
Suyin felt stiff, a little bit sheepish but she couldn't show him any weakness in front of him*, so she instantly stood still, gaping at his handsome face as she held her breath.
(*Suyin didn't want to get shy or catch herself off guard)
Suyin could only nod, and as soon as Qin Fuhua walked away from her, strolling to the scholar's gate, Suyin took a deep breath.
"Whew. The intensity of his aura is already overwhelming, but when you're face to face with him, you just can't help but become enamored with his god-giving appearance." Suyin expressed in her mind.
If she uttered a single word, she felt as if Qin Fuhua would hear her again, so she was discreet this time, hanging around to glimpse back at the gate of the scholar courtyard before she scurried back to the orange blossom courtyard.
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Suyin had changed her attire, forcibly by Qin Fuhua. He had requested Weizhe to ask both Areum and Wu Fei to purchase more clothes and jewelry for Suyin.
Although it was too much, it had drawn more rumors about the Prince of Qin's attraction to a female, since the maids had gone in and out carrying female objects to his courtyard.
Of course, in the scholar's courtyard, no one dared to speak out about Suyin's identity and rumor, due to their respect for both Suyin and Qin Fuhua. They arranged that it was just gossip and that ignorance is bliss.
Suyin wore a stunning light-blue hanfu, the inner layer was laced with white flowers. It was spring, so Suyin chose to wear a thin sky-blue layer for her outer garment since it was a sunny day.
Qin Fuhua's interaction with his father was longer than he anticipated, so he ordered Weizhe to bring Suyin to Princess Chuhua's courtyard: the Lotis blue butterfly courtyard.
Princess Chuhua was the only daughter (and sibling) blood-related to Qin Fuhua. Since their mother had passed early on, Princess Chuhua never got a chance to meet her mother. She was a premature child so the empress dowager advised that they should name the daughter's courtyard the Lotis blue butterfly, to symbolize luck and love.
Princess Chuhua's courtyard was not too far from the Sick Courtyard.
The sick courtyard was the furthest away from the main Palace grounds, but Princess Chuhua's courtyard would be just north of the Sick Courtyard.
It was because Princess Chuhua often required medicine, and before the courtyard was designed by the doting queen dowager herself, Doctors ran in and out tirelessly whenever young Princess Chuhua got ill during her younger years.
So, they decided to make it near the Sick Courtyard so that treatment and direct care were accessible.
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"Princess Chuhua, you have a visitor."
A voice hollered outside Princess Chuhua's room.
Princess Chuhua was playing with a wooden toy, her countenance melancholy because she wasn't able to go out on a sunny day. As she set her head down on the table, flicking the toy with her thumb and index finger, she finally talked.
"If it's the Doctor, I already finished my medicine already, so they don't have to keep coming in to check." Princess Chuhua responded, in an upset tone.
Suyin flopped down on the chair, tilting her head to the side to Princess Chuhua.
As soon as she saw the face of Suyin, Princess Chuhua's expression instantly switched, as she hopped up with delight.
"It's you! Suyin!" She immediately clutched Suyin, who chuckled.
"I'm a Doctor too, so does that mean I should go?" Suyin teased at Princess Chuhua's surprise. She shook her head, glowering at her.
"Miss Suyin, don't play around like that. Don't you know I miss back home?" Chuhua pouted, blinking a couple of times before she then smiled. She came closer to Suyin, using her hand to shield her mouth as she spoke next to Suyin's ears.
"I heard that my brother had been purchasing accessories for a female. I instantly knew that it was you."
Suyin turned red immediately, unable to say anything as Chuhua lit a large smirk at her face, then beamed with the biggest smile on her face.
"N-No. I demanded him to stop buying me things, but he wouldn't listen!" Suyin tried to stop Chuhua from teasing her, but she continued laughing.
"If my brother selects you, then that means that he finally found his match." Chuhua chortled, laughing as Suyin frowned at her.
"S-Stop it otherwise I'm going to tell your brother!" Suyin got up as Chuhua chuckled.
Suyin attempted to capture her as Chuhua steered to the other side of the table, mocking her as she shook her hips.
"Don't let me catch you!" Suyin threatened, laughing.
"We have a visitor!"
Another report came from outside of Chuhua's chamber.
Suyin and Chuhua ceased, examining each other.
"Is he done already? But..." Chuhua wavered, glancing at the closed sliding door and then back at Suyin, "He would have walked in already."
The doors presently slid open, with the face of the same woman that Suyin had seen earlier at the gates of the Palace.
She was wearing a light-pink robe with a small golden butterfly pin on top of her hair.
Her hands were cupped together in front of her, as she entered the room with a timid smile on her face.
"Princess Chuhua. Lu Ruo hopes that she isn't disturbing the Princess at this time. Lu Ruo is here to visit you since I am back here for a while."
The female greeted herself.
She didn't acknowledge Suyin's presence because she was too busy trying to carefully get into the room since she didn't want to stumble and embarrass herself.
As her head lifted to look at Princess Chuhua slowly, her face immediately grew dark at the presence of Suyin standing next to her.
She bit her lips, trying to hold her smile to save her face in front of the Princess.
"Ah, yes. It's been a long time since you were here again, Miss Lu Ruo." Princess Chuhua stated in a monotone voice as if she knew that her presence there was rather a visit of a chore instead of a choice.
"Oh, I apologize for not noticing you sooner." Lu Ruo turned her head to see Suyin, blocking her mouth with her petite, white soft hand.
She gracefully grinned at Suyin and bowed to Princess Chuhua.
"Is this person someone of... significance?" Lu Ruo was playing dumb so that she wouldn't accept Suyin's existence.
After all, she (Suyin) did arrive with Qin Fuhua, her "Gege."
Princess Chuhua sneered, directly clutching Suyin's arms and pulling Suyin close to her. Chuhua positioned her head on Suyin's shoulders, "She's a very, VERY special person to me and Qin Fuhua."
The bitter face on Lu Ruo's face was evident. Her mouth sank to the ground after hearing Chuhua and Qin Fuhua's names.
Stunned for a second, she had forgotten her "manners" to Princess Chuhua. She corrected her voice, closing her eyes to regain herself again.
"Is she your new Mother?" Lu Ruo offended Suyin, who was in complete denial of Suyin's importance to the two siblings, "From what I remembered, my mother never told me that your father remarried in your family." She added.
Princess Chuhua's eyebrows furrowed, annoyed by Lu Ruo's insult. At this moment, when Suyin turned to look at Chuhua she looked just like Qin Fuhua. It was no wonder that they were siblings.
Before Chuhua could speak a single remark, Suyin was swift to comment on Lu Ruo's jealousy.
"Princess Chuhua. Did you hear that Qin Fuhua went to the camp to save me, because he was worried?" Suyin blurted to Princess Chuhua, who chuckled.
"Miss Suyin, I heard that he even asked Ba* (Dad) to bring troops because he was so anxious about your safety. He never asks for anything."
Lu Ruo became furious. She was huffing, stamping on the ground like a child.
"What ridiculous is that?! Fuhua Gege would never do anything like that!"
Lu Ruo wanted to stay with Princess Chuhua, but the sight of Suyin gave her a bitter taste in her mouth.
"Li Li!" Lu Ruo called out for her maid, who immediately ran inside, kneeling in front of Lu Ruo.
"Let's go to meet with the other Princesses instead!" She shouted, her high-pitched voice resonating in the room. Lu Ruo stomped out of Princess Chuhua's room. As the sliding door closed, she turned around, "Just wait, Suyin! You should have never messed with me!"