The Magnolia Beauty

Suyin carefully walked down the hallway to the front of the brothel where groups of women sat down on the tables, eyeing on the dear Prince. Some of them chuckled, their eyes darting to and away from Qin Fuhua.

Right in the middle of the brothel was the owner of the brothel and Qin Fuhua. Right as Suyin appeared in the scene, many of the pleasure and entertainment women"s faces turned dark and somber. Their eyes now glaring at Han Suyin who casually sat down next to Qin Fuhua.

"My dear. Now that the lady is here, shall we finish our business here?" The old lady exclaimed, clapping her hands to usher the women to get back to their work.

-------------------------------In a small-sized room, beautiful decorations of red, black, and gold were painted in the bedroom. The bed was beautifully decorated and covered in layers of thin red cloth-like silk. Right in the center of the room lies a round brown table with three occupied seats. The aroma of green tea filled the room.

"It is the pleasure of seeing the Prince again," The older lady immediately clasped her hands together and placed it on her right hip, gently bending her knees as she graciously smiled.

"W-wait what?" Suyin was freaking out, turning her head immediately to Qin Fuhua who calmly watched her. He turned to stare at Suyin but didn"t utter a single word to her.

"How long has it been?" Qin Fuhua spoke, calm as a river flowing down from the mountains.

"My dear. Has it been about three years already? Look how much you"ve matured." The old lady smiled, laughing as she fanned herself with a folding fan as she looked at Suyin. She paused for a second, looking at the Prince for a while before she put her fan down.

"Is there something important that caused you to be in this much trouble?" She questioned in a serious tone. Her eyes furrowed like a worried mother. "You know that if your subordinate didn"t come here, I wouldn"t have prepared this quick for you." She stated.

Qin Fuhua looked at Suyin and then looked back at the lady. "It"s that Jianhong."

The old lady immediately covered her face in a gasp, "Don"t tell me that he"s trying to steal your woman-- er.. lady here." she teased, exclaiming in a sarcastic tone. "Oh dear, no. What is your name dear?" The lady kindly asked.

Suyin was lost in the moment with their conversation but immediately answered the question when she asked. "H-Han Suyin." She replied. Suyin had been zoning in and out of their conversation because she had no business in knowing what they were speaking about.

"Han Suyin..." The old lady smiled and held Suyin"s hands. "It"s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Huang Qiyao, the owner of this beautiful brothel."

The lady carefully caressed Suyin"s hands. She then let go of her hand and poured a cup of tea for the two.

"Something is off with "that" person. There was another group of soldiers that weren"t his men that followed him into this small little shop when I followed him that one night." Qin Fuhua mentioned.

Qiyao stared at Qin Fuhua for a second, reflecting whether or not she had seen Jianhong anywhere suspicious. She quietly listened with Suyin observing the two"s conversation.

"There has to be something big going on with him other than the plan he had talked to me about tonight." Qin Fuhua added. "What he spoke to me about today... it seems like it was urgent as if he wanted to use me as his decoy."

The door suddenly slammed open, Weizhe and Zhaoyun lowered their head in respect for Qin Fuhua. Immediately after, Weizhe came to whisper next to Qin Fuhua.

After a few seconds, Qin Fuhua nodded as he stood up from the chair.

"I"m sorry but I will have to take my leave with Suyin now. It seems like we need to get going now." Qin Fuhua lowered his head as a quick goodbye. Qin Fuhua held Suyin"s wrist, pulling her up. "Let"s go." He commanded.

Suyin, unable to grasp with the sudden need to leave, blankly nodded. "G-Goodbye and thank you for such kind hospitality." She quickly said, before following Qin Fuhua out of the door.

Qiyao watched the two leave in a hurry. With a surprised face, she then smiled, laughing to herself. "Oh, dear. He has grown so much, hasn"t he?" She said to herself.

-------------------------------------------Outside down the empty streets of Liaoping, Qin Fuhua, Han Suyin, Weizhe, and Zhaoyun walked together, with the two guards behind Qin Fuhua and Suyin.

To kill off the silence, Suyin had a question. "How did she....know?" Suyin questioned, turning her head to him. It was obvious that Suyin could see through the magic barrier, but how could that lady know that he was the Prince of Qin? Suyin had the question wrapped in her head ever since she was there.

Qin Fuhua grew silent, looking ahead instead of looking at Suyin. He stopped his footsteps and so did the three of them. He paused for a second, thinking as he put his hands behind his back. He turned to Suyin.

"She"s a friend of my Master." He answered with a straight face. The four of them continued to walk down the streets. "I grew up with her and my Master. She was practically my other mentor." He added.

It was interesting that a lady who owned a brothel would be a well-known martial artist, although no one knew except those that were taught by her and Qin Fuhua"s Master. The two of the Masters were well-known as a duo for fighting against demons and a.s.sa.s.sins.

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After walking for a while, Suyin paused for a second. "Wait, where are we going?"

Weizhe and Zhaoyun looked at each other as they both nodded.

Piles of black ashes were laid in front of a large familiar-looking home. Qin Fuhua turned to look at Suyin as her eyes widened. She realized where she was standing now.

"Ah, finally you are here!" The doors flew open as Jianhong laughed out loud. Suyin turned to Qin Fuahua, giving him a "what-the-h.e.l.l-is-going-on" expression as he blatantly ignored her.

Qin Fuhua lowered his head, clasping his hand to greet the man. "I have arrived to bring the lady." Qin Fuhua stated as he used his chin to point at Suyin.

"What...what the h.e.l.l are you doing?!" She yelled, taking a step back. Before she could run away, Jianhong called the guards to capture her to put her in a confined room. ------------------------------------------------In the dark, gloomy mansion, the moon hid behind the house of Jianhong, showing a shadowy silhouette at the top of the roofs. A beautiful, familiar-looking person calmly waited, seeing the cold breath out of his mouth as he let out another sigh. Right below Qin Fuhua, who was sitting on top of the roof, was Han Suyin, who was tied up by her hands and legs and Jianhong, who daringly watched with amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Do you think that you can get away from me?" Jianhong questioned. He sat right across from Han Suyin, who was now tied-up with ropes around her wrist. If a glare could kill someone right now, Suyin"s eyes were darting through the wicked and perverted Jianhong.

"Oh, darling. My dear Hua. Don"t give me that look." He stood up and walked closer to Suyin. "Did you see what you did with one of my rooms? You tried to burn down the mansion did you?"

Jianhong chuckled for a bit. "Haha. I like that in a woman. I have never seen anyone so daring like you." He walked towards Suyin and held her chin up to face his. With a smirk, he smiled. "All of the women that went through me wanted to face death, but you? You"re something else." He lifted an eyebrow, inspecting Suyin"s body. Suyin slammed her tied-up hands to his face, giving him a good hit to the face as he groaned in pain.

"Why you---"There was a knock on the door. "Master, Sir Tienzheng has been waiting for the meeting. Sir Tienzheng mentioned something about the plan--"

"Shut up!" Jianhong screamed at the person behind the door. "I will be coming after this."

"It seems urgent." The person said.

Jianhong pointed at Suyin, grumbling with an irritated look on his face. "When I come back, you will want to face death afterward!"

Jianhong hurried out the door, giving Suyin time to push herself to move all the way back to the wall of the bed. "Han Suyin. You aren"t meant to die, and you are not meant to become a bait for someone to use." She said to herself. Blood boiled up in her head because of the sudden arrangement to meet back up with Jianhong. She had just run away from this pig and now she"s back?! What the h.e.l.l was Qin Fuhua doing?!

As thoughts were running through her mind, she heard a flutter of clothes fly down into the room from the windows. Suyin tensed up immediately, startled by the sound. As she saw the face of Qin Fuhua, she sighed in relief, rolling her eyes.

"What"s with the sudden appearance?" Suyin sarcastically said. "Aren"t you supposed to be meeting with the perverted pig?" she added. Qin Fuhua did not speak a word and walked towards her, sitting down by the bed.

"What are you doing?" She uttered, unsettled at his quietness. Qin Fuhua pulled her arms closer to him, breaking the distance between the two as he quietly untied the ropes around her wrist and legs.

"I wouldn"t let him do anything to you." Qin Fuhua said. After loosening the ties, he looked at Suyin. "Jianhong is going to be going to General Feng"s home to steal the Qin heavenly sword." Qin Fuhua had then tied her arms and legs again, but this time, it was enough for her to be able to have some room to squiggle free without any pain. "He will be coming back with some tea to knock you unconscious." The Prince went straight to the point, coming closer to her as he whispered to her ears. "Fake your unconsciousness and when we arrive at General Feng"s home, we will start our attack. When this happens, run to the south where the sun meets the moon."

"The sun and the moon? How will I--" Suyin stopped herself from asking any more questions. She knew that Qin Fuhua could be trusted as she nodded her head. "Mn."

Qin Fuhua patted her head and disappeared from the window afterward. Loud footsteps could be heard coming closer to her room as she tried to keep her composure still. She knew that it was important for her to play the role right if she wanted to survive. Suyin felt better that Qin Fuhua was there to loosen up the ties because it was hurting her.

The door slowly creaked open, with Jianhong"s head popping into the room. He held a tray with two tall cups of tea.

"My dear Hua?" He turned to look at the bed to see Suyin sitting down on the bed, tied up as she cautiously stared at him. "I apologize for my behavior earlier. You may have been angered that your dear husband had betrayed you." He sat down on the bed and laid down the tray next to her. "Let"s take a cup for forgiveness shall we?" He looked at Suyin all tied up and then laughed. "I will feed you if you don"t mind. It"s important to keep you tied up so that you will not run away." The man held up the cup for him with one hand and the other held for her.

Suyin smiled and nodded. "Okay. I give in. I will accept your forgiveness" Suyin softly said, peering in closer as she sipped the tea. She flinched, scaring Jianhong as he spilled his tea to the ground. Using the opportunity to keep him distracted, she spat out the drink in her mouth to the bed as quickly as she could before he could look at her.

Suyin gave a worried expression, "I thought I saw a bug and got scared." She gave a look of fragileness-- something she knew that would work on someone as stupid as Jianhong.

He laughed and shook his head. "A strong woman who is afraid of bugs. You are really something." He glanced at Suyin"s cup of empty tea with satisfaction. "I have to go back to talk to Tienzheng. I will be back shortly." He said with a grin on his face. Suyin could only smile as she watched him leave.

With a disgusted look on her face, she used her tied up hands to wipe her face. "Thank goodness Qin Fuhua told me before something happened," Suyin said to herself, taking a deep breath.

A couple of minutes had pa.s.sed before Suyin could hear Jianhong"s lousy footsteps come in closer again. This time, Suyin laid on the bed, closing her eyes as she faked her consciousness.

Jianhong quietly came in this time, closing the door as he looked at the unconscious Suyin. "Suyin?" He said, shaking her. She didn"t move a single inch and didn"t make a sound. With a big grin on her face, he wiped his mouth.