[Next Morning]
"Your Highness!"
The young concubine rushed into the emperor's room, still half asleep bright early in the morning. The Emperor was resting with the Empress when the concubine summoned herself to the room. She gracefully scurried to kneel in front of the emperor, her eyes not daring to look at him in the face.
The Emperor was a patient man, but rousing someone up in the middle of sleeping would upset anyone if they were in this position.
"What is it?" The Emperor rubbed his eyes, shifting his body to get out of bed. The Empress was aroused by the commotion, getting up to see Concubine Li kneeling in front of the King.
"I--I had summoned my dearest cousin Lu Ruo and my Aunt to stay with me, but she is nowhere to be found in the harem courtyard."
It was Lu Ruo's mother, Concubine Li, and Lu Ruo who intended on having the King catch Lu Ruo and Qin Fuhua sleeping together. This would make it easier for Lu Ruo to wrap Qin Fuhua around her fingers and marry her.
Concubine Li was reluctant at first, but Lu Ruo's mother kept pestering her, kowtowing with desperation to her. She couldn't refuse her Aunt's wishes, so Concubine nervously shook her head in accord.
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It was six in the morning. The sun was barely ascending from the mountains and night eventually turned to day.
A crowd hastened into the Orange Blossom Courtyard, which was no other than the King, Concubine Li, a couple of servants, and Lu Ruo's mother.
Lu Ruo's mother sped, her two legs trekking as fast as she could with her mouth moving nonstop next to the servants and guards. "I'm sure she's in here!" Her fingers pointed to Qin Fuhua's Courtyard.
The servants, maids, Weizhe, Areum, and Wu Fei instantly kowtowed in the King and Concubine Li's company.
"Long live the King!" Everyone cried out, unable to lift all of their heads. Most of them were apprehensive about the King's impulsive appearance, while very few of them were surprised about the King's visit to the courtyard.
"It's been about thirteen years since the King's visit here, is there anything wrong?" The maid uttered near Areum and Wu Fei. The two turned to look at the maid and then glimpsed at each other, looking to try to comprehend what was going on.
Lu Ruo's mother fussed, pointing at Weizhe, who stood by the locked door.
He didn't dare to look up and respond to someone as insignificant as Lu Ruo's mother, so he didn't say a single word.
"Young man, I'm looking for Concubine Li's cousin. Have you seen her?" The King calmly spoke, stepping up to Weizhe.
Before Weizhe could even tell, Lu Ruo's mother was peeking for Qin Fuhua's chambers and then pointed to the correct room.
"She--She must be in there!"
Lu Ruo's mother indicated the opposite side of the corridors where they were standing. Weizhe didn't utter a single word, allowing destruction to take its place.
"Are you sure?" Concubine Li whispered to her Aunt who nodded.
"My daughter must be in there! I'm sure! That ungrateful little daughter--" Lu Ruo's mother stormed off to the opposite side of the corridors, hustling as everyone watched and followed Lu Ruo's mother.
The King couldn't say much, because Concubine Li was one of his favorites. In an attempt to make Concubine Li happier, he tried to arrange an engagement with Qin Fuhua and Lu Ruo, but it was broken off by the mother once Qin Fuhua lost his title as the Crown Prince.
To not humiliate one of his favorite Concubines, he decided to bite his tongue down and obeyed.
Lu Ruo's mother stormed through the corridor to reach the front of Qin Fuhua's chamber door.
"Lu Ruo?!"
She reached out. Her eyes observed Concubine Li and the King's arrival next to her as she began her dramatic act.
In her head, it would be something like she would slide the door open and rush in to see Lu Ruo and Qin Fuhua sleeping together on the bed. She would play it all out as to why Qin Fuhua would have to do that and make him take the obligation to marry her.
Lu Ruo's mother grinned at the thought of having her daughter wed into the royal family. She tried to catch the attention of the Crown Prince, but he was a lustful and narcissistic man who paid no attention to Lu Ruo.
At the very least, Qin Fuhua doesn't push her (Lu Ruo) away.
Lu Ruo's mother smirked, then played the anxious mother role. "My child! Are you in here?!" Lu Ruo's mother slid Qin Fuhua's bedroom chamber open wide, enough for everyone to witness.
She rushed in, her eyes ready to see the presence of her daughter and Qin Fuhua sleeping together but the sight in front of her made her incompetent to speak.
Qin Fuhua gradually got up, his left hand rubbing the side of his head. He was wearing a thin robe, enough at least to reveal his upper naked body, but it was covered with bedsheets. Next to him, an exhausted, weary petite lady slowly got up too, her right eye closed as she tried to see with her left.
"Wha--What?!" Suyin surveyed the room and then recognized that she was in the same bed as Qin Fuhua! How was this possible?! She was fully clothed still, but her hair was in a total mess.
"Why are you frozen in place?" Concubine Li rushed to Lu Ruo's mother's side until she saw Qin Fuhua and Suyin in the same bed. She, too, was unable to speak any words until the King came in.
"What's wrong?" The King shifted to Qin Fuhua's face, who darted away with an annoyed expression on his face. The cold shoulder that was received by Qin Fuhua caused Concubine Li and Lu Ruo's mother to freeze in place.
"My son, I never knew you were like this. Sleeping with another woman on the bed, even though you two aren't married." The King remarked. "Do you know the consequence of this?"
Qin Fuhua didn't speak, his eyes reflecting on Suyin as he gently held up her chin. Suyin was still astonished at her location so Suyin couldn't say anything fast enough to react to any of the King or Qin Fuhua's comments.
"I would take responsibility, of course."
A sudden wail could be heard outside Qin Fuhua's bed chambers. Lu Ruo was still in a maid's outfit with her tangled tied-up hair.
"Ma!!" She ran into the room, as everyone watched her.
"My child! What are you doing here?!" Lu Ruo's mother was half-serious and half-sarcastic. She wanted Lu Ruo to explain what happened and why she wasn't the one on the bed instead.
"Ma! T-They locked me in the storage room! I couldn't do anything!" Lu Ruo detected her cousin, Concubine Li, and the King present at the scene. But she didn't discover that Suyin and Qin Fuhua were on the bed until she shifted her body to see what everyone else was looking at.
"Wha...What are you two doing here?!" Lu Ruo's tears dried up instantly, running in between Qin Fuhua and Suyin as she tried to slap Suyin in the face. "How disgraceful of you to be here!"
Qin Fuhua held on to Lu Ruo's wrist before she could reach to Suyin's face, his sharp eyes beaming to kill. "If you do anything to harm her, there will be no light for you in this world*." His cold words brought trembles to Lu Ru.
(*He meant that he would make her life miserable)
Disgraced, she turned to her mother and ran into her arms. She needed to change her plans so that she doesn't get shamed now.
"Ma... they sealed me up in the room!" Lu Ruo's eyes shifted from Qin Fuhua's to seeing Weizhe's existence outside of the bedroom chambers now.
"I..." Lu Ruo's mother turned to see Weizhe and scowled at him. "Why didn't you tell me my child was locked up?!"
Weizhe shrugged his shoulders, "I was about to answer until you spoke for yourself." He was shocked upon seeing Qin Fuhua and Suyin in the bed together, this early in the morning, but he knew that everything would work out, anyway. He relied on the Prince and Suyin to figure all of this out.
"You useless!!--" Before Lu Ruo's mother could insult Suyin and Weizhe to plant the blame on them, the King stepped in.
"Halt right now!" The King's deep voice made everyone halt in their footsteps. It was no surprise that his cold, deep tone was passed down to Qin Fuhua. The King massaged his temples with his index and thumb, taking a deep breath until he resumed. "I am going to summon Qin Fuhua, this lady, and Lu Ruo to Qin Fuhua's study room. Immediately. Everyone else, leave."
Everyone didn't talk against the King, yielding to his words as Concubine Li rushed to pat Lu Ruo on the back while the Mother tried her best to make her daughter pleased again.
Suyin was sitting on Qin Fuhua's bed. Her legs were covered by the blanket as Qin Fuhua got up to get dressed.
"I--Um." Suyin was speechless. "I swear I was resting in my room while you slept on my bed. How did I end up here?" Suyin couldn't understand how she got here instead of her room.
"I woke up in the middle of the night. You were dozing on the cold, hard ground." Qin Fuhua tilted in closer to Suyin's ears so that she could only hear.
When the rest of the servants and maid walked away, Weizhe carefully shut the sliding door so that the two could talk. "You were in a deep sleep, so I brought you to my room in case someone tried to harm you."
Qin Fuhua was thinking about Lu Ruo's plans. He would have never anticipated her to stoop so low, to the point where she would throw herself to him. It would be no surprise if Lu Ruo wanted to hurt Suyin too.
Qin Fuhua inspected Suyin from the bottom to the top, his eyebrow furrowed with an unpleasant expression on his face. "I didn't do anything to harm you, did I?"
Suyin's ears presently turned red. Her whole body froze as she felt immense heat from being embarrassed about the night before.
"N-No you didn't do anything." Suyin couldn't bear to tell Qin Fuhua what he had done. She didn't know what was wrong with him, but she knew that if he had barged into her room like that, something must have occurred for him to come to her side.
Qin Fuhua watched Suyin's reaction to his statement. She was refusing him so fast --- did he say or do something that made her like this? It was like an intoxicated night the day before because he was drugged, it felt like a hazy dream.
Qin Fuhua held onto Suyin's waist, drawing her to his side. He then shifted to her, holding both of her hands as he fondled it.
"I promise you, I'll take responsibility for what I have done to you."
Qin Fuhua's voice was deep, yet his voice resonances a captivating ring to Suyin's ears. Her heart was pounding so fast standing next to Qin Fuhua, she was concerned he could feel how fast her heart was beating. His thumbs softly caressed her hand, like a delicate flower. She didn't know what to say or do. Qin Fuhua's rapid reaction, the sudden burst of the King showing up in the same room as them, and all of this. Suyin felt a bit dizzy thinking about so much that had happened within a few days, she blinked a couple of times to regain her consciousness.
"You don't have to take blame for something you couldn't control. I don't want you to think that you have to take fault for what you did--"
Qin Fuhua drew Suyin's chin up so that she wouldn't blabber anymore.
Suyin knew that she was trying to make excuses to herself-- to believe that maybe, just maybe Qin Fuhua was just being liable for what he had done.
Qin Fuhua side-eyed the door, apprehending that his Father was lingering for him in the study room. "We will continue this another time. We need to wrap this all up before hell breaks loose."