The Magnolia Beauty

Suyin was in the room in the inn after she failed to find Qin Fuhua, who was nowhere to be discovered anywhere. Since she didn"t want to b.u.mp into anyone else, she chose to stay back in the room to study some more while she had the time to. Chinese medicine during this time period was more complex than the ones that she was taught in her era.

Maybe because it was the modern technology that helped shape up medicine and the lack of the old herbs only discovered in this time period was what Suyin had trouble distinguishing them.

If Suyin needed a specific item or herb, she would go to a pharmacy to ask for the prescriptions, but over here, even some of the medicine that is essential would be needed to be obtained in areas that grew the certain item rather than going to a pharmacy store.

The sun was gradually settled in, so the townspeople were eager to attend to the lantern festival. Suyin was too immersed in her book, that the voices of the people jabbering downstairs and outside caused her to close the book since she couldn"t concentrate.

"Time for the festival then!" Suyin said with an enthusiastic tone, looking at the crowds of people strolling around the district from the balcony. It was like a stream full of people. On the right side, the people would be walking up ahead, and on the other side, they were moving in, heading down the path.

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A green, jade hairpin was secured on Suyin"s bun, the same one used that the maids had applied on her hair a couple of days before. Suyin had enough money to buy herself a decent amount of lipstick sheets used for the lips and a small, tiny clay pot about the size of a coin that was applied for eyeliner.

Suyin wanted to look at least nice for the celebration since she never got the chance to go out for the lantern festival. This was the first time ever and what was beautiful and better about celebrating the lantern festival during this time period was the fact that the sky was so dark, that there were so many stars that dispersed everywhere.

Unlike the modern era where light pollution from luminous sources would hinder most of the stars in the night. This obscurity was astonishingly different from the other nights. Suyin leaped out from the inn with a plain, cheap outfit that she bought and bustled down to the middle of Liaoping, where the big plum blossom tree and the pond resided.

Hordes of people filled the walkway and Suyin couldn"t even move a single inch until she waited for a good minute or so because people were out getting their fortunes and compatibility read from some of the vendors.

"Come get your chicken skewers here!"

Suyin escorted to the side of the pathway to go to the vendor that sold the meat.

"h.e.l.lo! How much would you like?" The vendor asked Suyin. Suyin grinned and lifted one finger up.

"Just one."

"That will be 2 yen," the lady stated. Suyin took out two coins and delivered it to the lady, who then gave the chicken skewer to Suyin.

"Thank you" Suyin smiled, spinning around.
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Suyin was about to go back in the pathway, but someone pushed a girl in front of Suyin, causing the girl"s hair to fall down. Her hairpin dropped on the ground right in front of Suyin"s foot.

Suyin bent down and grabbed the swan hairpin, returning it to the girl.

She caught the hairpin from Suyin, looking up at her, "Thank you." Suyin was started at the sight of this girl because... it was the lady that she had saved back at the Xinyi inn!

Suyin"s expression looked calm, but lit a small smile seeing her face, "No problem."

"Have....I seen you before?" the girl inquired Suyin, staring at her carefully as Suyin shook her head in denial.

"I don"t think so. You may have mistaken me for someone else."

Suyin didn"t want to let her know that she was actually that "man" that rescued her back then. It was just something she wanted to do, and she didn"t want to cause confusion or anything for her since Suyin knew she was presumably traumatized from the incident.

"Ah, I"m sorry." The girl bowed, "Thank you again." She bustled off into the crowd, blending in as Suyin observed her.

"She"s actually doing fine here." Suyin felt convinced that she saved her life and she was doing fine now. Suyin was happy that she was able to help someone at least in this lifetime to get away from harm.

"It seems like the little Miss may know her." A sound called behind her. His voice was deep and soft, yet had a sense of supremacy in his tone. Suyin froze up like an icicle and nonchalantly spun her head around.

"Y-You!" Suyin pointed to Qin Fuhua, who placed his hands behind his back cooly. He scowled at her fingers, lowering his brows and pushed her hand away.

"You dare to point a finger at me?" Qin Fuhua lowered himself to Suyin"s ears to whisper. Suyin took a step away, raising both of her hands in a martial art of a way to defend herself.

"I didn"t mean to. You just appeared out of nowhere like a ghost." She retorted, glaring at him.

She paused, then peered around like a meerkat. How the h.e.l.l did he just appear out of nowhere? "What are you doing here? I thought something like this festival is not your kind of a thing." Suyin crossed her arms, interrogating him now.

Qin Fuhua narrowed his eyebrows, shrugging his shoulders. "There was nothing to do in the inn, so I decided to come out for a walk."

********

In reality, the Prince was out seeking for the girl in the crowd. He was stealthily watching her behind until he detected Suyin, who had helped her up.

When he saw her face, he could barely recognize her because she had makeup on. She was a beauty of a flower that blossomed even when the days were cold and dry. Contradicting to her outfit that was plain and common to those that are poor (obviously, she purchased it for a cheap price), her beauty was not neglected.

Qin Fuhua had lit a small curve to his lips, something that you would call a smile at the appearance of seeing her kind, reliable self from a distance.

********

Qin Fuhua led the way, taking a few steps away from Suyin and halted. "Are you coming?" He commanded.

Suyin looked up and responded. "Yeah." She went to him, trailing behind him as the two began to walk down the district.

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As the night grew darker, more people overfilled the roads. It was at this point where Suyin had struggled to catch up to Qin Fuhua, who casually marched onward, not turning his back to her. Suyin had to bounce a couple of times to see his back because of how occupied it was, almost losing him in the crowds.

"Wait!" Suyin hesitated as she saw a hand stuck out in front of her from the crowd, staring up to the owner of the hand.

"If you don"t want to get lost, hold my hand." Qin Fuhua uttered, faint enough for her hear within the crowd. Suyin hesitated, then pressed her lips, taking his hands as he hauled her to him.

"So short." He commented, which caused Suyin to give him a nasty glare.

"At least I can run fast!"

"Fast enough to be caught by people." He added on, eyeing her at the side of his view. Suyin opened her mouth as if she was offended, with Qin Fuhua lighting up a sneer on his face.

"It"s almost time to release the lanterns!" A child yelled, holding out his lantern up in the sky.

Suyin lit a small smile to her face, saddened that she didn"t carry her lantern with her as she attended the child and his parents pa.s.s by the two. Qin Fuhua was observing the whole time and stopped his footsteps at a little cart full of lanterns.

"Young lady and young man! You two seem like a great pair together!" The man greeted out, with a hunch back as he gestured them to come to him. His wrinkled eyes made his eyes smaller, but he had a sincere tone that drew Suyin in.

"Ah, sorry we are not a couple--"

Qin Fuhua lured her to the little cart loaded with lanterns.

"Ah, what a pair, but it seems like you two don"t have a lantern for the festival, hm?" The old man thoroughly seized one of the lanterns from his cart and held it in front of Suyin, whose eyes were lit with joy as she gazed at the lantern, formed like a flower.

"This is for you, young beautiful lady." He smiled. A couple of his teeth missing but it was the most genuine smile ever. "I hope you two the best and give you guys my sincere blessings."

"Thank you so much!"

Suyin returned to Qin Fuhua, who did not show any emotions and held the lantern up. It was about the size of a pillow, big enough to see the little details of the flower. "Look what I got! A lantern!"

She was smiling at first but then bit her lips glancing at Qin Fuhua. "Ahem."

She fixed her voice, but Qin Fuhua pointed at the big, plum blossom tree where everyone had a lantern in their hand.

"They"re starting soon." He spoke. Suyin was about to get ready to run to set the lanterns free with the crowd but didn"t move.

She looked at Qin Fuhua and shifted her body to him.

"Wait, hold this!" She ran off, moving through the crowds of people and hurried back to the elderly man as she took out the very last bit of her money in her bag. "I"m going to take this one, okay?" She grasped the phoenix lantern, handing all the rest of the money to the elderly man and bustled back to Qin Fuhua.

"I...You.... need to join with us too." Suyin attempted to catch her breath, holding up the lantern for Qin Fuhua. Qin Fuhua gave her a blank expression and exchanged the lanterns.

"I"ll see about that." He held onto the phoenix lantern.

Suyin and Qin Fuhua traveled to the center of the district, with the crowd ready to light up their lantern and let it free into the sky.

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The party began to let go of their lanterns. A big, beautiful array of lanterns sailed in the dark sky, irradiating up the night as the children, parents, and couples observed.

Suyin clutched to her lantern, shutting her eyes tightly. Qin Fuhua was forced to light his lantern up by Suyin too, and stared at her discreetly, grinning at her.

"A kind-hearted soul." He shut his eyes and let go of the lantern before Suyin could notice.

Right when Suyin finished making her wish and opened her eyes, she saw that Qin Fuhua had already released his lantern.

"Already?!" She spoke, then freed hers also. She gazed at her and Qin Fuhua"s lantern, that sailed in the sky right next to each other, even though Qin Fuhua had let his go first.

The two observed the scene, something that could only be seen on television for Suyin if this was the modern period.

"So... did you make a wish?" Suyin asked Qin Fuhua with a radiant tone. He furrowed his temples and dodged eye contact with her. "Tell me! I"m sure the great Prince--err... being you are, you would totally do it!" Suyin was trying to get Qin Fuhua to admit to her, but he didn"t answer.

"It"s a pleasure to meet you here, Han Suyin! What happened to my lantern I gave you?"

Suyin directed to the person talking, a familiar voice that she"s heard before. Junli was standing with his hands on his hips, smiling, but this time, he wasn"t wearing any sort of bizarre clothing that she had seen before!

His hair was up tied in a bun with a dark green silk robe. His pale, white skin was flawless under the night with a charming smile on his face.

"Oh c.r.a.p. That"s right." She pondered to herself, grinning at him. "It"s a pleasure to see you, too."

Qin Fuhua gaped at Junli, his eyes piercing through the man"s eyes, but it seemed like Junli was concentrated more on Suyin"s presence rather than Qin Fuhua.

"O-Oh! That"s right!" Suyin looked at Qin Fuhua who had a fierce gaze to Junli. "This is Junli, my friend that I had made a couple of days ago because I dropped my money bag. This is--"

"Tienzheng. Song Tienzheng." Qin Fuhua blurted, "Thank you for being generous to help my WIFE out." Qin Fuhua emphasized the words, with Suyin interrupted in her conversation.

She leaned to him, "Okay. I get it, I"m your wife," murmuring to him. Although Qin Fuhua practically ignored what she was saying, Junli chuckled.

"Ah, I apologize about that, Sir Tienzheng." he stared down on the ground, and back up at Qin Fuhua. "She seems rather fragile, I suggest you take more care of her, as her husband."

Qin Fuhua could feel the fumes emanating from the temple of his head, provoked at the presence of an incompetent who does need to be present.

Suyin, who stood in the center between the two, began to chuckle apprehensively at the hostile tension among the two.

"Uhh... Anyway, I forgot to bring your lantern back at home." Suyin couldn"t lie to Junli that she had forgotten to get the lantern back at Qin Fuhua"s manor since they were resting in an inn.

"It"s nothing to worry about since she had her OWN lantern anyway." Qin Fuhua insisted, disregarding the existence of Junli.

"No problem, Suyin. I understand."

"Young Master." A female voice summoned, timid yet stern in her tone. Suyin and Qin Fuhua shifted to see who it was, shocked.

"There you are! Where did you go?" Junli turned to his servant, who bowed at the presence of Qin Fuhua and Suyin.

"Jiayi was trying to locate you the medicine that you desired, so Jiayi has been seeking for it the whole time and obtained it," Jiayi answered with her soft, high-pitched tone, only loud enough for the three of them to hear. She never once looked at Junli in the face, gawking at the ground.

"Ah, I told you that it"s nothing to worry about." He laughed, comforting her, "Next time, don"t do anything without letting me know, okay?" Jiayi nodded her head.

"I didn"t interrupt anything, have I?" She stared at Suyin and Qin Fuhua.

"N-No! Don"t worry about it." Suyin tenderly answered, shaking her head.

"No. It was just in time for us to leave, anyway." Qin Fuhua grasped Suyin"s right hand, interlocking his fingers with hers. "It is getting late and we have to depart now. I bid you two goodbye." He stated, then hauled Suyin off.

"Junli! I apologizebutIwilltalktoyoulater!" Suyin stated in a dash before being dragged by Fuhua.

"Young master... who are those two?" Jiayi sought, with Junli staring at the back of Suyin.

"Just a friend..."

His eyes never left the back of Suyin. A bitter smile lit up his face seeing the interlocked hands.

"We have to go back to take your medicine now," Jiayi declared.

Junli nodded.

"Yes, I know. I will come back now."

Jiayi"s eyes glimpsed at the back of Suyin and Qin Fuhua. Behind the weak, modest girl was a character opposite of that deep down behind the stare toward Suyin, the person that Junli set his eyes on until their appearance vanished within the crowd.

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Qin Fuhua was pulling Suyin until she vigorously let go of his hands, frowning at him. "Hey! Stop. I"m not some sort of puppet or toy you can mess with!" Suyin raised her voice, agitated that she didn"t get a chance to explain herself to Junli about the lantern.

After all, she felt bad that he purchased it and gave it to her instead. At least, he was thoughtful enough to even buy her a lantern, unlike Qin Fuhua who wouldn"t consider her.

Qin Fuhua turned to her, "Still. We are considered wife and husband here, so I don"t like it if it destroys our reputation."

"So much for being considerate," Suyin grumbled, crossing her arms. "I think you should be more attentive about how I feel instead of being a robot!--"

Qin Fuhua promptly twisted around, beginning to run toward the end of an alley, leaving Suyin alone.

"What happened?!" Suyin thought to herself, becoming cautious.

She wanted to pursue Qin Fuhua, but she knew she would slow him down instead.

"My Hua!" Jianhong emerged from the corner of one of the shops, opening his arms to her, tipsy. "I finally found you after all this time! Where did you go?"

Suyin dodged him as he attempted to wrap himself around her, falling down on the soil with his hands on the dirt. With a smirk on his face as he gazed down on the ground, he lit a wicked grin.

"Capture her."