48 A Moment of Truth (1/2)
Qin Fuhua shook his head with a serious expression on his face. He placed both of his arms over the table, wrapping his hands as he leaned forward.
”This is the only way if you want me to help you.”
Was this man serious? Why would it be her out of all of the beautiful women that probably had crossed his path? Suyin had to think through this deeply, sighing.
Qin Fuhua observed her behavior, shaking his head. His eyebrows furrowed like the usual grumpy person he was. He was most likely offended that Suyin felt that way.
”If you want to get to the Long territory and back here, we would like to fake a marriage.” Qin Fuhua clarified. He looked even grumpier than ever but didn't make a single sound. He simply closed his eyes, waiting for her reply.
”Oh! Well... o-of course it would be.” Suyin chuckled. Suyin thought that he was going to marry her on a serious note. ”If we were to get married going through the forest....”
”There is another way in and out of the Long territory that connects here.” Qin Fuhua pointed to the north of the area, ”Along the way, there is a checkpoint of the Long territory that allows merchants to go in and out. If we were to fake our marriage and ride the red carriage from my home here to visit your family that lives in the Long territory, they would have no choice but to allow it, since the Kingdom from both sides has not said anything about this...yet.”
Suyin acknowledged his idea. If this really worked out, then she could easily go in and out of there quickly. The lips of Suyin's curved into a smile, nodding her head as she held out the cup of tea in the air for him as an approval. ”Deal!”
--------------------------------------------------------------
Upon Suyin's approval of the wedding, Weizhe and Zhaoyun had to prepare for the wedding for the next day. A red carriage, a set of wedding clothes for Qin Fuhua, some of his trusted soldiers turned into civilians dressed up in red to walk around them as a celebration, people who played music in celebration. Weizhe had suggested utilizing a vacant home that no one uses as a ”home base” for their marriage that wasn't too far from the other checkpoint. It was a large cement bridge that was one way in and out, so they had to make sure that everything was real.
It was early in the morning, about 5'o clock am, where the sun continued to sleep as the rooster cried out in the sky.
”Why marry me?” Suyin suddenly asked him, playing with the rims of the teacup with her index finger. Why was he helping her? It wasn't like she had anything valuable to her enough for him to take notice and help her.
Qin Fuhua looked at the mirror to see Suyin playing with the teacup. Her voice quivered as if she felt like she didn't deserve his help. He knew she meant to ask why he was helping her, but because of the maidens who helped him dress up, she didn't want to ruin the mood.
*”The plum tree does not grow on its own without help.” Qin Fuhua truthfully said, reassuring her with the unconfidence she had in herself. It was true that his initial plan in the beginning when he first met her was to help cure the Princess. Time passed on and with her along the journey, he immediately trusted her enough to save him from Jiaoshu and she retrieved the key at Liaoping. Her capabilities had surprised him each time and made her interesting than anyone he had ever met in his life.
*(He meant, ”Because you were always there to help me”).
With Qin Fuhua's assurance, Suyin bitterly smiled to herself, looking down at the teacup now. Maybe because people were there, that was the reason why he said that to her. But, those words made her a bit happy, even if it was fake. He was always there for her and she was glad at least he took notice of her.
After grooming up Qin Fuhua, he left outside to let Suyin get ready to wear her wedding clothes. The two old ladies began to comb Suyin's hair, lecturing her how messy her hair was, scrubbing off the dirt off of her skin. Beautiful dark red dye made out of flowers was used as the base of lipstick, eyeliner, and eyebrow makeup that was made out of inkstone that was grounded into powder shape with water added onto the mix. A small, beautiful porcelain pot with a small bag used as the blush was used to apply on Suyin's face. The maidens chuckled at Suyin because of how much she changed with the luxurious clothes and makeup on.
They went on talking about how handsome Qin Fuhua was and how lucky Suyin was to marry such a handsome and noble scholar. Suyin could only chuckle deep down, knowing how he was in reality. After two hours, Suyin had finally finished. Her legs were about to give up on her because she sat down for so long and then stood up for another hour just to put on all of the clothes. A veil covered over her, but curious Suyin walked up to the mirror to see herself.
”Wha...” It was all she could say to herself. The beautiful bright red dress with its fancy gold jewelry decorated around the dress. Her veil was covered in gold and red. Suyin felt like a Princess in another world with this outfit on, she could barely recognize herself with the makeup on! She lit a smile on her face, knowing that although this was a fake marriage, she should make the most out of it in this little ”play” that Qin Fuhua and Suyin did to help save her dear friend.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Suyin descended down the stairs, slowly with her veil on as both of her hands were in front of her. She carefully walked each step down with the beautiful red dress, only to nearly trip at the last few steps. Suyin felt like she had fallen, but felt a pair of hands hold her up. She couldn't see who it was because the veil blocked her view, but she knew that Qin Fuhua's long fingertips wrapped around her shoulders, helping her up.
Suyin could only laugh as an excuse, ”I'm sorry.” She quickly said. She was not used to any long dresses like this at least. The bottom of the dress was a bit longer than usual and it was mainly Weizhe and Zhaoyun's fault for picking out the wedding clothes they had thought would fit her perfectly. All Suyin could hear was Qin Fuhua's voice, but she didn't know that when she got out of the room and descended the stairs, Qin Fuhua's eyes were glued onto Suyin until he caught her.
”It's fine.” The two words Qin Fuhua said was quick yet soft enough for her to barely hear. Suyin was sure glad she had the veil to cover her face because she was starting to get embarrassed for nearly eating the ground.