The deserted residence was surrounded by the trees, taller than the home. Outside of the place had a little yard that the former owner may have used to take care of little animals such as chickens. The horse was attached to the side of a tall, skinny log, chewing some hay that Suyin had set in case it was hungry. Inside the home, Areum and Suyin squatted down next to the man who rested on the bed. Suyin managed to take out the arrow carefully but had nothing to cover his shoulders with. A bucket of water was next to her but her hands were stained red from extracting the arrow and suppressed the blood from flowing using her bare hands, but they appeared troubled now."What do we do with him?" Areum examined, having no experience in any medicine or aid for injuries like this.
"There were some herbs that I saw near here. They are in batches together and have yellow petals." She described, "It is used for any injuries. I"m surprised that such herbs existed in this forest. Grab me a bundle of them and find me a rock about the size of my palm." Areum approved and sped out to find yellow petal herbs from Suyin"s information.
The man was sleeping soundly, allowing Suyin to take a glimpse of him from time to time. His eyelashes were long and following his appearance, it seemed as if he hasn"t slept for quite a while, sinking into a deep sleep. His eyebrows were neatly shaped, making his overall feature look graceful.
His skin was flawless and had the shade of light cream. The delicate clothing he was wore dampened in blood and Suyin couldn"t linger to keep pressure using both of her hands because she would need to treat it when Areum came back. Although she could smell the blood, his sweet fragrance never left him. With no other option, she dipped her hands in the bucket of clean water to clean off the blood and tore the sleeves of her silk, peach colored hanfu until the side of her shoulder was noticeable on both sides of her arm.
She had to rip two long pieces on both sides so it would be adequate enough to treat the injury of the man. "It"ll just be awhile. She"s going to go get the herbs so I can help stop this bleeding." She uttered under her breath, hoping he wouldn"t wake up. Areum raced back in, carrying a big bundle of yellow petaled herbs and set it next to Suyin.
"My lady. I got the herbs." Suyin nodded her head once, concentrating on her strength on his shoulders. "Your sleeve..." Suyin shushed Areum, hoping that the man wouldn"t rouse up. Areum bit her lips then spun back.
"I"m going to go find something to eat and drink then outside... and find a way so we can get to Yuewei," Areum noted.
"Be sure to let me know if you hear anything. I don"t want Father or anyone to find us here, otherwise, we will be in big trouble."
Areum acknowledged Suyin"s words, walking out of the home. She felt disturbed because of Suyin"s actions, but couldn"t say or do much.
Suyin raised the bundle of the herbs to her nose, sniffing it. "It"s these." She stopped putting pressure on the man"s shoulders and began grinding the herb on one of her ripped sleeves with the stone. After a couple of minutes, she finished grinding the herbs and gently pulled down the man"s robe to reveal his broad shoulders. Quite surprised at his masculine physique, she attempted to stay conscious to tend his wound and bandaged his right shoulders using her ripped sleeve with the herbs in it.
She carefully bound it around, not seeking to wake him up and grabbed the second piece of the fabric to bind the medicine that was now around on his shoulders. After wrapping it around, she could feel someone clutching onto her wrist, hurting her in the process. She shifted her attention and saw the man"s eyes open, and alert staring at Suyin.
"What the h.e.l.l are you doing." He spoke in a threatened tone. Suyin scowled at the male, drawing back her arm. The male let go of her wrist since he was still weak.
"I just saved your life, that is what I"m doing." She responded with the same att.i.tude he was delivering to her. The male attempted to sit up but groaned in pain in doing so.
"Look. Just sit okay?" She ordered, crossing her arms. The man looked at his shoulders before he recognized that what she used to wrap. It was the sleeves of her silk dress, now torn at the shoulders of Suyin. Suyin didn"t notice that he was watching at her but immediately avoided eye contact when she turned her head to him.
"I didn"t do much since I didn"t have many resources. This is a return of a thank you for saving me last time." She bluntly expressed. His character was terrible, but Suyin wasn"t the type of person to leave someone there to bleed to death. The male didn"t say anything back, facing up to the ceiling.
Suyin slowly let her guard down, putting down her arms, her expression neutral.
"The wrap was awful." He insulted, causing Suyin to sneer at his criticism. "That"s all I can do!" She argued following his mock. He noticed the arrow that laid near Suyin and reached with his left arm to take it. The man rolled the spear of the arrow, studying it and put it in his sleeves. There was a long, awkward pause between the two before Areum barged in the house.
"My lady! I hear a horse coming through this way!" Suyin bounced up to her statement along with her heart. She raced to Areum and shut the door, staring outward through the holes of the paper windows.
A man wearing a black and gold cloak investigated the area. Suyin changed her attention to the horse that was just outside of the home. "c.r.a.p. I should have let that horse go sooner! What if they find me?" Suyin muttered. She held her breath the closer the man got to the house. He hopped down from his white horse, clothed with a beautiful black and gold barding covering its body. The white horse patiently waited while the man wandered closer to the door. He had a strong aura around him due to his attire and color of choices he wore. Suddenly, without Areum and Suyin noticing, the male that Suyin treated opened the door, wearing his bloodied light-blue robe.
"Your Highness, Prince Fuhua." He gently kneeled, causing Areum and Suyin to open their mouths in awe in sync. For sure it wasn"t part of the Long clan because Suyin didn"t recognize the colors and the face of the man! "Yi Tienzheng, you have suffered enough." The male supported Tienzheng up. Tienzheng whispered a few words to the royal Prince before he turned his head back to Suyin and Areum, indicating that it was fine. The two got out of their hiding spot behind the door and bowed. "Your Highness!" Areum and Suyin said in sync, not daring to look up at the man in the robe.
"You may rise." The Prince declared. He glanced at Tienzheng who was tended by Suyin and shifted his gaze back to Suyin and Areum. "To accommodate for helping my right-hand man, I give you this to welcome you to our home. It is a one-time entrance to Yuewei. In return, we will take your horse." He gave Suyin a dragon stone carved in jade and a rolled silk paper. Suyin blankly acquired the jade stone and the paper without prompting any questions.
"I"ve been finding you everywhere, Tienzheng. We shall leave and I"ll go call the royal doctor to help you."
Tienzheng clasped his hands together weakly in front of him. "Thank you, Royal Highness! Long live the Prince!" He p.r.o.nounced. The Prince offered his cloak to Tienzheng, taking it in as he wrapped it around him. Suyin and Areum were confused and lost, dazed by what had just happened, but didn"t dare to move an inch, watch them, or speak a word to the royal Prince or Tienzheng.
A big figure emerged in front of Suyin, making her look up to the figure. Tienzheng took off the cloak and tossed it to Suyin.
"Wandering around like that. You"re begging for trouble to befall." The male coldly stated, his words were filled with no sympathy and made it sound like she was pathetic for walking out like that to the Prince. Suyin wanted to crush those words with her own, but couldn"t say anything more with the Prince"s appearance behind him. It wasn"t the right time for her to fight this person at the moment. She rolled her eyes, taking the cloak and wrapped it around her body haughtily. Areum and Suyin bowed the Prince goodbye as the two took off with the horses.
"My lady, what"s the scroll?" Suyin forgot about the scroll that the Prince gave, rolling it open. It was a sketch of the area! Some of the places were marked and hand-drawn, presumably from the Prince but many spots were left empty and unmarked. "We aren"t too far from Yuewei!" Suyin beamed. Finally, something good was happening to the two of them! Areum and Suyin rushed back to the house to gather their belongings and ventured off to find their way to Yuewei.
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Tienzheng"s POV
Tienzheng and the Prince rode on the horse down the dirt pathway. It seemed as if they were in no rush to go anywhere. Tienzheng mounted on the black horse while the Prince rode on the elegant, white horse. "Did you find anything?" The Prince inquired, turning his head to Tienzheng. He shook his head, "It seems like the Long clan has had firm security after they failed to persuade the mountain people to take their side." Tienzheng answered.
The Prince simply nodded his head, then turned to Tienzheng. "Your Highness, should we go to the royal doctor to heal your shoulder?" The male sought.
Fuhua glanced at his shoulder with the silk, peach cloth enclosed around his shoulders. "Surprisingly, that woman had some skills in medicine, but we should go." He said.
"Prince Fuhua, we should stop with your ident.i.ty as Tienzheng. What if the spies sent from the Long clan find out about your ident.i.ty?"
Fuhua took off the mask that showed the true features of his face.
Behind an ordinary-looking man was a handsome man hiding behind the mask. It was a magical mask that enabled him to take on the ident.i.ty of a scholar.
"Do you really think that Your Highness would really let that happen, Weizhe?" The male challenged in a sharp tone. Weizhe was Fuhua"s right-hand man who attended him and was by his side day and night.
He immediately dropped his head, not daring to challenge the Prince. "No, your highness." He hesitated, pondering for a second before he spoke, "Do you think that those two ladies from before can recognize the Prince of Qin?" Weizhe suspected in a troubled tone.
"The last time I b.u.mped into the two, they encountered the bandits before I captured the guy I needed. They traveled north to the Long territory. They certainly have never met the Prince in person before if they fell for what we said" Fuhua casually remarked. "I overheard them discussing their way to Yuewei while I was half-conscious in the vacated residence."
"Ahh. Was that the reason why you told me to give her the dragon jade?" Weizhe spoke, forcing Fuhua to convey an evil glare to Weizhe.
"Are you mocking me?" He warned.
"N-No. I understand, Your Highness. They did save you, after all."
The pair set off back home to the palace to tend Fuhua"s injuries. The special mask that was given by one of his masters allowed Fuhua to spy near the Long clan"s section in the forest by concealing his ident.i.ty.
No one could have possibly noticed that Suyin was the only one who saw through the mask and could detect his genuine facial features whether or not he used the mask or not.
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