9 Yuewei (2/2)
It was rumored that due to the current King's ruthless actions, the previous King personally gifted it to the Prince for his protection in case anything unfortunate occurs. It was surprising that the beauty had the jade in her possession.
It was nearly impossible to steal or take the jade without the Prince's consent. People who strived to seize the dragon jade were often met with an unfortunate fate when they have it in their possession. It was said that there was a curse that the previous King put, but seeing how the woman was perfectly fine besides her strange attire, the Prince may have given it to her.
Suyin and Areum cruised down the road together, holding their belongings. Unlike the Kingdom of Long, the Qin city was bustling with people everywhere. Shops were set up in the road while a crowd of people bundled up to stalls that sold inexpensive items. Some people gave Suyin a bizarre expression because of her attire but paid no attention to her after awhile after being so intrigued by the shopkeepers.
”Young miss! Come here and take a look at these beautiful hairpins!” One called out to Suyin. She grinned, refusing the offer as the two strolled down the lane.
”My lady, what are we going to do now?” Areum spoke, barely audible with the crowd of people grubbing and speaking by the shops.
”We need to find a place to stay in. Let's go look for an inn.”
Areum nodded. Eventually, after a couple of hits and misses with some shops being an escort shop, Suyin and Areum found a decent inn that allowed them to stay in for a couple of days. The two sat in their room for a while, catching their breath with all of the voyages that they had to do.
”My lady, I'm going to go to find some new clothes for us.” Areum excused herself.
Suyin took off the cloak, placing it flat on a chair. She didn't want to dirty the cloak because it was, after all, the Prince's cloak. She didn't realize how sophisticated the cloak appeared. The cloak had a hood with brown wool at the top, a beautiful crane was stitched in gold at the right chest of the cloak and its stitching was exquisitely designed around the edges. The symbol of orange blossom was crafted on the bottom right and left of the cloak.
Although the color was covered in black, the color of the gold design had left it being a sophisticated appearance to it, opposite of Suyin. Her shoulders were still showing and the ripped silk robe had been dirtied. Thankfully, Areum had brought very few pairs of clothing. Suyin wanted to wear something more common than silk, but could only find silk clothing thanks to her family's reputation that had their family name on the clothing. They were so engrossed in their reputation and name, the Han family had a stitching expert sew their surnames onto their silk clothes.
Suyin concluded that it was best to take one of Areum's outfit since she didn't have any outfit that would stand out like hers. ”I should burn these soon,” Suyin commented, tossing her bag of clothes to the side. Suyin wore a simple white and blue outfit, wearing a wooded, butterfly hairpin and walked out of the room after writing a note to Areum that she was heading out to grab some fresh air and explore around.
Suyin never really got a chance to go out on her own back in her hometown because her parents were worried about losing face if Suyin does something wrong in public, but now, she felt free. The chains in her heart and mind were loose, which meant she could do whatever she'd like without fretting about her parent's selfish reputation and name.
This meant that she would be able to read books about medicinal herbs and learn how to help others in this world! Inspired, she sought for shops that provided medicine or anything that was similar. Suyin stumbled upon a couple of shops, asking if there were any way for her to learn about the herbs. Many escorted her to leave.
”Women aren't supposed to learn how to treat others!” the medical shopkeeper exclaimed, shoving her out.
”How dare you think that medicine is something you can practice!” another person raged.
Hopeless, Suyin decided to roam down another pathway. There weren't many shops or stalls lingering around where she was at, but she really needed another way to learn medicine. Pondering, an imaginary lightbulb lit up her head, as she pointed up.
”The library!” She said outspoken. She covered her mouth, learning about medicine in this era was harder than she expected.
It made sense to Suyin since women back in the days were deemed to linger home and be a housewife. Something like that wasn't going to stop her from doing what she loves, and she will do something to change the idea that women should also have a role in playing prominent positions in the past.
Suyin casually tapped a man's shoulder, who turned around to see Suyin smiling brightly at her.
”Yes?” He kindly answered, responding back with a small smile to himself.
”Do you, by chance, know where there is a place to possibly read about medicine?” Suyin looked up, trying to make up something, ”My lordship had asked me to run an errand to pick up some medical books.” In her head, she was begging for the gods to help her learn some medicine during this time.
At least so she would have some acknowledgment in herbs during this time. Most of the herbs didn't exist anymore in her world.Guessing that a random plant can help heal others was too hazardous for Suyin to do.
”Ahh... There is a shop down the alleyway. You just go down there and make a right. It's a little shop near a plum blossom tree.” The male replied, turning around to watch the shopkeepers talk about their product. Suyin hurried off towards the alleyway, hoping what the male said was correct.
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A couple of minutes later, a group of men showed up at the little house near the plum blossom tree. They booted the door, hunting for Suyin who appeared to not be there anymore.
”Where is that lady?” One of the men questioned.
The male that Suyin asked earlier, grinned. ”It seems like she isn't here.”
Another man came running down the alleyway. ”Sir!” He clasped his hands together and kneeled in front of the man. ”Master has ordered us to retreat back!”
The male then smirked, ”You won't be away for so long!” The male exclaimed. The man that Suyin had accidentally bumped into was a man named, Huang Liwei. He was ordered from a person back in the Long Clan to find any beauty and capture them- an obsessive request, yet the money that the old man was willing to pay was high.
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Suyin hid quietly waiting to hear the footsteps to disperse and the noise to die down before she popped out of an empty pot in the old house. She had already seen the holes in his words right after he stated, ”alleyway.”
Was there no chance that she would be able to find a way to learn about medicine during this time?
”You can come out now.” Another voice called in a demanding tone, alarming Suyin.
”Crap! I thought they all left already?!” Suyin reflected, her palms beginning to sweat as her heart began to beat faster. Ever since she came to this world, all she ever confronted with was trouble!