"Lu Ruo... was it?" Suyin turned her head to Princess Chuhua, who nodded.
"I heard that she was a childhood friend of my brother." Princess Chuhua seated down on the chair, pouring water into a tall teacup as she took a sip. Princess Chuhua then poured water into another cup of water and slid it to the empty spot on her left, directing Suyin to sit down.
Suyin presented her with a small smile and sat down, attending to Princess Chuhua.
"A long time ago, before they constructed this courtyard for me, I heard from Empress Dowager that she was betrothed with brother. But it was revoked as soon as brother lost the position of the Crown Prince."
Suyin was taken aback by Princess Chuhua's words, a little bit worried as her eyebrow furrowed.
"What do you mean? Your brother renounced the position as the Crown Prince?"
Princess Chuhua shook her head, "Suyin. My brother has gone through a lot.... maybe too much. From what I could recall and hear from my nanny, Qin Fuhua vanished for years until I grew older. But I never got the chance to see him because he went straight to war as the years passed on." Princess Chuhua's eyes were gloomy, her eyes watered up before she spoke again, "Qin Fuhua went to war at the age of fourteen. It was a sight to behold. Before my brother went to war, I heard that people spoke badly about him, how much 'bad luck' he had, and that if anyone were to get close to him, they would receive the same fate as the Prince who had passed."
Suyin couldn't believe it. All of the cold, cruel, ignorance was just a wall that he had built up at a young age. It was no wonder the stony Prince could easily push everyone away when he needed to. But Suyin wanted to know more about him.
"What about the Prince who passed?" Suyin asked. Maybe Princess Chuhua wouldn't know much, but to her surprise, she knew more than Suyin had anticipated.
"It was one of our siblings from Concubine Shu. He(the child) was adored and doted on by my Father." Princess Chuhua sighed, "But he passed in an accident with my brother. I don't know much about it, but since then, he was demoted from the Crown Prince and was named the Prince of Qin for my brother to not lose face."
{Flashback}
And it was the motivation why Qin Fuhua fought so hard in the war at a young age. Even though he was only fourteen, he was the only child who fought alongside men twice his age. Many were apprehensive about the child's experience, but he was a Prince after all. At first, when he arrived at the army, Qin Fuhua's personality had changed since the mishap with Concubine Shu's child.
"Everyone gather up!" The general soldier screamed out. Qin Fuhua was right next to the general soldier, standing tall with a solemn expression on his face. He never let his chest down, pumping it up as more than three hundred soldiers banded up at the gates of Li Qin, another city twenty miles away from Shu Qin (where the Kingdom resides).
The soldiers peeked at each other, gossiping about Qin Fuhua's existence in the army.
"Why is the Prince here?"
"Didn't he get demoted?"
"I heard he isn't the Crown Prince anymore."
Qin Fuhua hopped onto his horse, holding the rein tightly.
"I know that you all are confused as to why I am here. But it is my duty as the child of this Kingdom to help protect my people. There are many questions and bafflement as to why I am here, but I hope you all can depend on me."
Qin Fuhua confidently expressed. The soldiers didn't speak a single word, as they all hollered in unity, "Yes!"
At first, whenever Qin Fuhua was grouped with a couple of soldiers, they were skeptical about his capability to be a leader and lead the group army into the forest, to invade some bandits who were trying to harm traders and travelers.
They were affiliated with the Long Kingdom, despite the bandits living closer to the Qin Kingdom.
During the battle in the forest, one of the bandits was severely injured but was able to escape, and because of that consequence, that particular bandit was able to set fire to detonate the area around them.
Qin Fuhua and his army annihilated the bandits in the forest, learning that it was a trap as they all forced Qin Fuhua to leave them as they defended the Prince of Qin out of the Forest.
Qin Fuhua felt defeated, and it was all because he didn't kill one of the bandits that had run off.
There was a small village near the Kingdom of Shu Qin. This village was called Fanrong and it was sufficed with a gorgeous landscape filled with endless rows of wheat, vegetables, fruit trees, and an abundance of rows of rice fields filled with water. This small village consisted of people who knew each other and would wave at each other whenever they worked in the fields.
But war broke out between the Kingdom of Long and Qin during this time.
It was due to war that this little village took the hit the most. It was said that everyone that was there, died from being slaughtered by the soldiers of Qin. They wore their armor and massacred their people, not leaving a single child away.
The Chinese character "Qin" was written on the purple flag that flew on the land.
Then a young Prince walked in, with his face with no sentiment, and said four words.
"Burn it all down."
Qin Fuhua had discovered the Mayor's greed and possession (*Refer to Chapter 89), and most of all, its association with a group of bandits associating with the Long Palace.
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Qin Fuhua stayed on the battlegrounds until he turned 18. He made a name for himself as he entered the battlefield as the "Demon Prince" as he was able to conquer a region at the age of fifteen.
Everyone roared about his splendid abilities, and the name of the Prince of Qin was known to the world.
It was Qin Fuhua's mission to get rid of the haunting memories of the event that took place the day his little brother had tumbled off the cliff due to an attack on their carriage. It was because his incapacity to learn how to use the sword was the reason why he felt that it was his obligation to protect those that he wanted to care for.
Qin Fuhua was doing this for his little brother, despite him(the little brother) being Concubine Shu's child.
As his name went out to the world, he endlessly fought more battles, losing many of those that he had known and gaining more trust in others. It was here that he discovered the suspicions of the alliance between the bandits, the village of Fanrong, and the Long Palace.
.....
{End of Flashback}
"Hm?" Qin Fuhua glanced up at the other generals. They all skimmed at each other with the side of their eyes, surprised that the Prince wasn't paying attention.
"There must be a chance that these people that had invaded the camp are trying to resurrect the Tengzhi clan. It's imperative to keep a close eye on the trade posts and villages."
Qin Fuhua shrugged off his blanking out a couple of minutes ago.
He felt like sitting in the war room in the Main Palace was like he was eighteen again, steering the soldiers and generals about their routes and plan. Although, this time, the generals had either passed, or retired, or new generals had taken the older peoples' place.
"I do not wish to be associated with any of these situations at the moment, though. If you please excuse me."
Qin Fuhua's eyes were looking outside of the large window, gazing at the sun slowly going down before he dismissed himself from the war room.
Qin Fuhua didn't want to ask for an army, and for his father to instantly grant it as he chuckled at his son, Qin Fuhua knew that his Father comprehended this was something meaningful.
It wasn't typical for Qin Fuhua to greet his Father in person.
Since the incident (with his little brother and being demoted), Qin Fuhua could never face his father again, with the fact that he was infatuated with his current concubine (the same one he's been into since Qin Fuhua has been young), and he never wanted to greet the two.
He would rather greet himself in an empty throne room than be in their presence in the same room (hence was the reason why he notified them he was home when the King and Queen weren't in the room).
With the sudden news that Suyin had been kidnapped and the camp was overrun by some bandits, Qin Fuhua rushed to his Father's presence with a request for an army.
...
Qin Fuhua's mind had wandered off so much, he ended up arriving at the gates of the Lotis Blue Butterfly courtyard. Someone screamed from inside the courtyard, which caused Qin Fuhua to barge into the doors.
Suyin was teasing Princess Chuhua at the pavilion near the pond with a worm. Suyin was chuckling. Her palms were open and a caterpillar was pacing on her hand.
Princess Chuhua pushed her face away, laughing as she tried to block her face.
"Stop! It's gross!" Princess Chuhua shouted.
"It's not harmless, I promise. Just like this caterpillar, you and your brother will blossom into a beautiful butterfly with your own colors." Suyin expressed.
She got up and carefully set the caterpillar on a large leaf.
Before she turned back to sit down, she saw Qin Fuhua's anxious face.
"O-Oh. Your brother is here." Suyin noted to Princess Chuhua.
She turned to see Qin Fuhua and directly ran down the stone pathway to him.
"Brother! You're finally here! What took you so long?" Princess Chuhua questioned, "Suyin has been waiting this whole time for you. She said she wasn't leaving until I drank the medicine she made for me."
She whispered to Qin Fuhua, "Please take her home. She's been weary, she took a nap on the couch waiting for me to take the medicine."
Qin Fuhua bent down to listen to his little sister's proposal.
"I'm glad you listened to her and you took your medicine, though." He softly spoke to her, patting her head.
"I like her, that's why." She presently answered, "Which is why I need you to take care of her because she's going to be my future sister-in-law!"
She spoke loud enough for Suyin to hear from the pavilion, which was a good distance from them. Luckily for the two, though, Suyin couldn't hear the two, so she continued to eat the cookies that were on the table.
"Little sister, you have to be mindful of that, okay? Even if you want to, we need to respect another person's feelings and we can't push them even if you want to." Qin Fuhua calmly responded to her.
Princess Chuhua laughed as she nodded her head. "Okay, big brother."
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Qin Fuhua, Suyin, and Princess Chuhua remained under the pavilion for a while.
Dinner was served there for the three of them as Princess Chuhua conversed about her desire to get better.
As dinner concluded, Qin Fuhua ordered Princess Chuhua to go to bed to rest, and so she did.
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[Next Day; Morning]
"Fuhua Gege!" A piercing, high-pitched voice cried out at the gates of the Orange Blossom courtyard.
"Miss Lu Ruo is here to visit you." one of the servants reported in front of the doors of Qin Fuhua's room.
Qin Fuhua had just finished changing his clothes from taking a bath.
He couldn't say anything to turn Lu Ruo down, because that would cause Lu Ruo to lose face. So, he didn't say a single word.
Lu Ruo's face was shining like the sun that was reflecting off of her face.
"Fuhua Gege!" She called out again, strolling at a fast pace as both of her hands were cupped together.
She was wearing a light-pink hanfu, her hair beautifully tied up with a golden lotus hairpin. She was wearing makeup, making herself look the best in front of the man that she liked the most in the world.
Qin Fuhua stepped out of his room, his face dark as ever with no emotional response to Lu Ruo's hollering down the stone pathway.
He was going to head to the study room today, but it seemed like the company would be disturbing him.
Suyin had been aiding Areum and Wu Fei with the chores around the courtyard, without letting Qin Fuhua know.
Suyin had offered to wash Qin Fuhua's clothes, so she had the wooden basket in her hands, turning to the corner of the pathway until she stood in front of Qin Fuhua.
The two locked eyes with each other, but it was instantly stopped as Lu Ruo broke in between them.
"Fuhua Gege!" She said for the third time.
She turned to give an angry, cute expression to Qin Fuhua before shifting to Suyin to give her the dirtiest glare that one could give.
The babyface of Lu Ruo with a dirty expression was the worst combination that Suyin had ever seen.
(* This was because Lu Ruo has a baby face and it's a shame that she gave Suyin an expression like this).
Suyin rolled her eyes, "Oh here we go, again." She said to herself.
"I waited for you all day yesterday to see you, but you weren't in your courtyard. I know that it is inappropriate to see you at night time so I waited until today to pay a visit for you." She softly voiced, with the cutest voice that one could hear.
Suyin could throw up due to Lu Ruo's attempt to sound cute and innocent if she could. Suyin was about to leave the two, but Qin Fuhua's eyes were only fixed on Suyin. He raised his hands, preventing Suyin from moving.
"Where are you going?" Qin Fuhua questioned Suyin.
"I'm going to dry these clothes," Suyin replied, trying to force Qin Fuhua's hand.
"Let her do the chores." Lu Ruo emitted.
She turned around to scan Suyin from the bottom to the top. She then tucked her arms with confidence. "No wonder you can roam around freely. You're just a mere maid in this Palace, aren't you? You shouldn't be dressing up like this if you're trying to get attention." Lu Ruo remarked.
Suyin only grinned at Lu Ruo, trying to bite her lips. If she were to say something right now, she didn't want to get into any trouble with the higher-ups (*The King/Queen), so she didn't speak a single word, proceeding out of their ways as she stepped down to the grass to dry the clothes.
Qin Fuhua shifted to Lu Ruo, "She's not a maid. She's someone special to me." Qin Fuhua replied to her commentary about Suyin. "If I can take my leave now, unlike someone who has an amount of free time, I need to go take care of some other matters." Qin Fuhua lowered his head quickly, to dismiss himself as he walked away to head to the study room.
Qin Fuhua needed to grab some important documents that he needed to dispatch to Weizhe. It was about past incidents with the TengZhi a couple of years back and required Weizhe to study it.
Qin Fuhua rushed off, leaving Lu Ruo alone.
She angrily could only gaze at the back of Qin Fuhua as he headed off to the study room. Lu Ruo then shifted her attention to look at Suyin, who was setting up clothes on the clothesline on the grass by the pavilion.
"It's because of you, that's why he won't speak to me nicely anymore!" She angrily expressed, her hands curling off into a fist.
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Suyin was occupied putting smaller clothes and items on the clothesline, using a pin to hold them to dry them out.
The area was a green, grassy area right next to the pavilion where the large lake was at. In the middle of the lake were some lotus buds, sprouting.
Areum insisted that she could do it, but Suyin offered, dashing off with it before Areum and Wu Fei could say or do anything.
Suyin could only sigh at the moment.
Lu Ruo was presumed to marry Qin Fuhua, and he didn't even bother with her existence here. Suyin felt uncomfortable standing next to them and she couldn't say anything so she just walked off.
Her mind was so hazed, she didn't know what to say or do in front of them.
"So for you to win some points so that the Prince of Qin could take a glance and speak to you, you're trying to play the good role, huh?"
A voice called out behind Suyin.
It was none other than Lu Ruo, who folded her hands.
Suyin had seen this in so many dramas before.
Is she going to play the victim and have Qin Fuhua witness that Suyin was the bad person and Lu Ruo was innocent?
Suyin rolled her eyes.
"I'm just trying to help around here and now you're bugging me. Don't you have anything else to do?" Suyin emitted, bluntly.
Lu Ruo was surprised at the sudden talk. "How dare you talk like that? You're not even ladylike. You don't even deserve to wear such clothes that you have now!*"
(*Lu Ruo is saying that she isn't talking like a noble. Commoners tend to speak rudely compared to those that are "noble" like them.)
"I guess two can play that role." Suyin coldly answered, "There's a difference between yelling and articulating."
Lu Ruo stepped in closer to Suyin, "To prevail in the Palace, you have to pull some strings to win here." Lu Ruo whispered. She shifted to look at her maid who was going to grab Suyin.
Before the maid could reach Suyin, she snickered at Lu Ruo's comment, "You pull the strings, but I'm the one who makes the strings."
Suyin already guessed that Lu Ruo was going to play victim so that Qin Fuhua would take care of her, but little did Lu Ruo know that Suyin had already taken a glimpse at the water near the clothesline.
"N-No!" Suyin shouted, stepping backward as she lost her footing tumbling into the lake.