The Magnolia Beauty

"What are you doing?!" He called, stepping away from Suyin.

"What is that?!" Suyin knew it. The moment that she fell from the cliff, she was supposed to hit the edge of the rock, but Qin Fuhua had cushioned the hit for her.

"That is nothing of your affair." Qin Fuhua coldly answered. Suyin gazed at him, trying to pull his sleeves again. Qin Fuhua evaded her.

"That isn"t a concern?! That was from the fall earlier isn"t it?! Why did you do that?!" Suyin had pushed Qin Fuhua to the side of the pavilion, causing him to stand next to the frame of the pavilion. Suyin made an effort to look at his sleeves before he shoved her away and this time, it made her fall down to the ground.

"So you could save the Princess! If you got wounded, who would cure her?!"

Suyin stopped fighting with Qin Fuhua, gazing up at him from the ground. Of course. The Prince of Qin wouldn"t have done something so reckless if it wasn"t relevant to him. It made sense that he had to make sure that Chuhua was cured and taken care of after all, which was really his purpose. Suyin was no one significant to him, except her medical abilities for his little sister.

Suyin got up and turned to Weizhe.

"I"m ready to go to my room," Suyin announced. Weizhe nodded, giving his regards to Qin Fuhua before moving back to the main courtyard.

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Suyin had settled in the Qin manor within a couple of days. She wanted to confess to Areum about the secret, but it was too much of a burden for her to handle since it would ruin the Prince"s reputation and secret. It was better for Areum to not know about the circ.u.mstances otherwise, she would probably be in danger also. Her only excuse she could use was observing the little Princess"s health which was actually another reason that she lingered. It was unusual for the Prince and Princess to be living away from the Palace, though, since Suyin a.s.sumed they would have a luxurious lifestyle.

Suyin never got the chance to see Qin Fuhua or even Weizhe since their courtyard was separated from the main courtyard. It was as if they never stepped in the main courtyard or even feel obliged to see the little Princess. Suyin and Areum rested in the East wing of the manor, opposite of Qin Fuhua"s. Her room was the nearest to the Princess"s room, to watch her health and condition.

Qin Chuhua would have episodes of muscle pain, but there were no side-effects whatsoever with Suyin"s medicine. Although all it could do was briefly cure her pain for a couple of minutes, she couldn"t depend on the herb. She couldn"t solve Chuhua"s illness, so she didn"t have a solution to the problem.

Suyin had set Chuhua in her bed, relaxing. It was about night time, and Suyin frequently checked on the Princess to see how she was doing.

"Suyin?" Suyin spun around before leaving the room.

"Yes, Princess?" Suyin replied. Chuhua had a concerned tone when she summoned Suyin.

"Can you honestly tell me something?" The child"s eyes dropped, worried.

"Of course, what"s wrong?"

".....Will I die, soon?" The little girl wanted to know what was honestly wrong with her. She was restricted during her play time although she often played with the maids, Areum, or even Suyin since they have been in the manor. She understood that her sickness was hopeless according to the royal doctors, but she had hope that Suyin was the only one who believes that there was a cure to her disease.

This was the reason why Suyin wanted to be a pediatric doctor. She had seen children struggle with the concept of death and their time which wasn"t on their side. Suyin formerly wanted to become a teacher, but after seeing the death of her little nephew, she knew that she had to at least save someone, even if it just gave them more time.

Suyin didn"t know what to do with her question. Would she be straight-forward about it? Would she tell her a little white lie? She paused for a second to think about her response and sat down next to Chuhua.

"I won"t let you die, at all, no matter the cost," Suyin a.s.sured. "I know that it"s hard for you to keep going, but no matter what, the Prince and I will find a way to cure you."

Chuhua was composed after Suyin"s words, nodding her head. "I believe in you, Suyin. Thank you." The child answered, closing her eyes.

"Good night, Princess."

Suyin marched out of the room and delicately closed the door without making any noise. She could sense another presence near her, a.s.suming it was Areum.

"Areum, before you go to sleep, make sure that I have a couple of Ying Yue"s flower lilies left for tomorrow."

There was no reply to Suyin"s command. She noticed it was unusual that Areum wasn"t acknowledging her.

"Did you hear--" She swung around, recognizing that the person standing behind her wasn"t Areum, but Qin Fuhua!

"What the h.e.l.l?! You frightened me" Suyin touched her chest, feeling her heart beat swiftly because of his appearance. It had been the first time since the interrogation about his ident.i.ty that they had seen each other.

"The Princess is sleeping if you were going to see her," Suyin p.r.o.nounced in a flat tone. She had already made plenty of nicknames perfect for him in her head for being a stupid jerk. "Freaking Frost." She uttered beneath her breath, cursing him.

"Hm." He acknowledged, casually roaming with his hands behind his back. It was out of the ordinary for Suyin to see Qin Fuhua at this time since she rarely saw him at the main court.

Suyin was curious where he and Weizhe had wandered off to at the back of her mind even if she didn"t want to think about it. Qin Fuhua pa.s.sed by Suyin and walked off to his courtyard, stepping through the gate to the bridge and traveled off. Suyin could see little candles lit in the water for vision.

Suyin was supposed to head to her room, but couldn"t help herself to linger in the main courtyard, sitting down in the middle of the gra.s.s in the center. She sat down, crisscrossed with her hand resting on her elbow as she put her head on the palm of her hand.

"SIGH. The Prince was just here a while ago." A voice deliberately expressed out loud. "Seems like his bandage was unattractive on his arm. It"s a SHAME that there isn"t anyone that can HELP wrap it because everyone is so fearful of him." Suyin moved her head towards the voice.

Weizhe strolled through the corridor, carelessly pacing to Qin Fuhua"s area after she saw him.

"Aurgh. d.a.m.n you, fool (*Suyin was playing on words with FUhua)" She rolled her eyes. As a Doctor, she wasn"t going to leave someone"s injury go blind, especially the Prince of Qin.

Suyin image how they would all point fingers at her if she didn"t something about it. If he gets infected by something and dies, she was the reason why he was hurt in the first place. She could picture a whole case scenario of irrational things the people would claim against her.

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Qin Fuhua"s courtyard could be noticed from a far distance from the main court. The bridge could be dimly seen by the little flower lanterns placed in the water for decorations and a guide to lead the way to Qin Fuhua"s courtyard.

Han Suyin brought a thin roll of cloth, similar to adhesive tape, and a thicker white square cloth to cover his injury. At her left hand, she held a small bag filled with ground herbs that Areum had packed before coming here. Suyin hastily paced through the bridge and shoved the gates open. She walked through the courtyard and marched down the corridors into Qin Fuhua"s room.

"I"m here." She announced with a grumpy tone. Qin Fuhua took a sip on his tea, relaxing with nothing but his inner garment. Qin Fuhua didn"t wear anything under the garment (besides his trouser), so it showed his bare chest. Although the robe was a dark, navy colored and it was a long robe, evident of seeing his chest. Suyin released her items and covered her eyes.

"S-Sorry!" Suyin retracted, instantly picking up the items on the ground as she slid the door shut.

Although Suyin treats patients and agrees that the male and female anatomy are all the same (aside from the gender), she would not directly gaze at one"s bare body (excluding medical reasons).

In the inside of the room of Qin Fuhua, Suyin could hear him quietly walk around. He put on a thicker robe and slid the door open. Suyin"s back faced against the door, in case the man had no fear of revealing his bare skin.

"What is it?" Qin Fuhua stuck his head out. Suyin spun around and saw his face, frowning at him.

"Come out, I"m going to treat your arm." She commanded, "I"m going to sit at the bench here, so hurry before I lose my patience and hurry back to sleep. I"m losing sleep time here."

Qin Fuhua didn"t change his expression, having a dull look to his face. He only nodded, following her to the bench at the courtyard.

Suyin settled her items next to her: A small knife to cut the cloth, the thin cloth, her grounded herbs, and a thicker cloth.

"Where is it?" Suyin examined his arms but could see nothing due to the robe he had on.

Qin Fuhua had a blank look to her. Suyin began to poke at his right biceps, causing Qin Fuhua to flinch as his eyes snared at Suyin.

"There it is." She firmly insisted to wrap it, clutching his right arm as she slid his sleeves down to his shoulders. Qin Fuhua didn"t react or move as if he allowed her to do whatever she needed to do.

Qin Fuhua"s wrap was disordered and lazy as if someone had blindfolded themselves to help Qin Fuhua. The material was thick and the knot was loosely done. Suyin held back her laughter, "Who did this?" She snickered for a second. Qin Fuhua snarled at her tease.

"I did it!" Weizhe shouted out, lifting his hands as he hopped out of the bush. "Qin Fuhua wanted to wrap it himself, but I proposed to help him. Is it good?"

"Weizhe! I told you to be still, geez!" Areum stifled him, dragging him back into the bush before they realized that Suyin and Qin Fuhua had already seen them.

"Hehehe... We were just doing our errands." Areum had stated, carrying a bucket as she hauled Weizhe away.

Only at this moment would only be the time that Suyin and Qin Fuhua had looked at each other, perplexed. Suyin shrugged it off while Qin Fuhua acted as if nothing had happened. She deliberately stripped the super thick cloth, revealing a superficial cut that became a long scab.

"If I don"t take care of it now, it would have become a scar." Suyin"s eyes lowered with a bothered tone. It was all her fault that he had wounded himself. His skin was flawless and beautiful, but the injury had to appear there. She took out her herbs, throwing it on the thicker cloth using her hand and lightly pressed on his wound.

"Does it hurt?"

"Mm." Qin Fuhua swung his head, staring at her like a little child. Suyin held his wound with the thick cloth, covering the thin cloth around thoroughly and adjusted the knot. It wasn"t too tight but it wasn"t too loose either.

"There." Suyin cleaned up her mess, prepared to leave.

"If it is relevant for you, there is a temporary cure for the Princess." Qin Fuhua discussed. She turned to stare at Qin Fuhua. Did he know that she was stressed about obtaining a cure for the child?

"Although, finding the medicine won"t be easy. I will need your a.s.sistance."

Suyin narrowed her eyes, suspecting Qin Fuhua. What did she get in this? She knew that Qin Fuhua only asked for her help for his own needs selfishly, but she knew that she couldn"t refuse the offer because it would help find the cure for Qin Chuhua.

"What is it?" Suyin gave in. She had nothing to lose anyway, so why not take the proposal?

"There"s a village up in the mountains within the territory of the Qin and Long. At the top of the forest lies a village with mountain people who has a strong-based army. There is someone up there that knows how to find a temporary cure for the child. Enough to cure here for at least a year."

"How did you know that would work?"

Although Qin Fuhua was capable of going on his own alone, why would he need her?

"Thing is, half of the village was struck with a strange illness with rashes all over their bodies. Although the leader of the village does not want to admit defeat, he is searching for someone who can help his village in exchange for anything."

Qin Fuhua stared at her eyes.

"That is why I need you to come to help me."

The man admitted, in an earnest tone. It appeared that he was desperate enough to go ask Suyin for help. Qin Fuhua had been gone for days, but that was because the man was trying to solve what was wrong with the village.

Qin Fuhua had limited knowledge in the medical field and his friend, Wansun, had departed to the city of Zhaoguan to buy some herbs and medicine. Wansun"s stay was going to be for a couple of days and Qin Fuhua did not want to interrupt him for help.