Mua Kong planned to spend a few days with Hli Ja and prepared some measurements before he departs. He went to the shelves, took out a rolled up scroll, turned to Chue Yi, and handed a scroll to Chue Yi, "I wrote this yesterday. I"ll leave this for your own judgement on when to use it. You"ll stay behind and help Hli Ja tend to the place." Chue Yi is not as great in swordsmanship as Yee Len but he"s smart, clever and well versed in schemes and politics. Mua Kong feel better if he leave Chue Yi behind to protect and a.s.sist Hli Ja fend off against political schemes in case that were to happen.Mua Kong added, "Remember, the only one who has authority over you is me, not the King, not the Prime minister, not the Military General nor anyone. Do I make myself clear?"
Chue Yi went up before Mua Kong and accepted the scroll, "Yes My Lord. I am honored and will do my best to not fail you."
The next couple of days, Mua Kong freed his schedule to spend time with Hli Ja. He took her around town, bought her items she may need. They went sightseeing and visited the temple to pray for blessings. On the third day, Mua Kong left with Yee Len and the royal troops heading towards their base in the southern part of the Kingdom.
While Mua Kong was away, Hli Ja spent her time inside the Palace. She started a flower garden and redecorated some areas inside the palace to bring more flavors and liveliness.
The Prime Minister was upset that Mua Kong declined marrying his daughter because Hli Ja had bewitched Mua Kong. He went to Prince Mua Kong"s Palace to see the woman who s.n.a.t.c.hed his future son in law away but he never expected to be turned away when he arrived at the gate. He was so angry that mere gate servants have the audacity to turn him, the Prime Minister, down. All he asked for is an audience with Hli Ja.
One of the gate servants ran to fetch Chue Yi who at this moment is writing a letter to update his Lord. Once the gate servant updated Chue Yi on what was happening outside the gate, he grabbed the scroll and ran out of his room to the gate.
When Chue Yi arrived at the scene, he saw the Prime Minister had just forced himself through the front gate. He yelled sternly, "STOP!" Everyone stopped and turned to look at Chue Yi who then continued, "Prime Minister, I apologized beforehand because what I"m about to do may be out of respect, but you do not have permission to enter into this Palace. If you want an audience with her highness, you must get permission directly from my Lord, Mua Kong."
The Prime Minister was feeling so angry, his face was almost as red as a tomato and fuming, he shouted loudly, "You.. You dare!" as he pointed his finger at Chue Yi.
Chue Yi interrupted as he unrolled the scroll to hold it up in front of the Prime Minister, "I am just following order from my Lord. This is his royal command order with a royal seal. Feel free to look at it word by word."
The Prime Minister muttered in shock while he tumbled a few steps backward, "Unbelievable, truly unbelievable.... how could the Prince go to this extent for a mere woman he picked off from the street?" He does not really care if Mua Kong wants to keep Hli Ja, but he wants his daughter to be the lawful wife who hold some power and authority. He would be satisfied if Mua Kong keep Hli Ja as a mistress but he never thought Mua Kong would go to this extent to protect Hli Ja. He has to find a way to relay this matter to the King without the King knowing that he tried barging into the Prince Palace.
After the Prime Minister left, Chue Yi quickly went back to his place to add this matter to the letter he wanted to send to his Lord.
Scene sixteen:
Several months gone by, Hli Ja has only been communicating with Mua Kong via letters. She tried to find things to do to keep herself busy. She even made Chue Yi sparred with her as Mua Kong had taught her how to fight so she could defend herself. She does not want her skills to be rusty so she make sure she spent some time each day to practice.
One day, Chue Yi came to find her. It looked like he was running as he was panting out of breath with a letter in his hand, "Your Highness, my Lord will be coming back in two weeks."
Hli Ja was in the middle of a.s.sorting flowers into the vase but those words, made her heart feel like it is about to explode from happiness. She gasped in surprised, put the flowers vase down on the table and bit the corner of her lips and exclaimed, "Ah... This is so sudden. What should I do?"
After sometimes of watching Hli Ja walked around frantically, Chue Yi asked, "Are you ok, your Highness?"
Hli Ja looked at Chue Yi, "Ah... I need to go to the fabric store and buy some fabrics. I want to make some new clothes to welcome your Lord."
After some thoughts, Chue Yi asked, "Can you tell me what kind of fabrics you want and I can summon someone to get it?"
"Well, the problem is I won"t know what I really want until see it. Accompany me." Hli Ja ordered.
Well, that makes sense, after a brief moment of thinking of the risks and benefits, Chue Yi complied.
That afternoon, Chue Yi, a male guard and a female maid accompany Hli Ja to the market strip.
The market strip was a busy and lively place. The fabric store has large selections and varieties.
When they arrived in front of the store, the guard went to open the door and the maid helped a.s.sist Hli Ja down from the carriage. The maid followed Hli Ja into the store while Chue Yi and the guard stood outside by the carriage as they waited for their Highness.
Not long after, another carriage arrived in front of the fabric store. The person who got down from the carriage is Pa Chee, the Prime Minister"s daughter whom Prince Mua Kong had declined marriage to.