The painful memories (I)

Han Dynasty

202-195 BCE

Fu Clan

A beautiful, young lady was sitting on a stool admiring the beauty of the garden in the Fu residence. She plucked the blooming yellow flower next to her. She sniffed and exhaled happily. she looked at the blue clouds and after a while, a beautiful tune was heard throughout the garden. She was humming. The melody was soft but enough to make someone focus all their attention to the person who hummed the beautiful melody. It was a melody that portrayed the longing of a maiden to her beloved one.

"Young miss, do you miss your beloved again?" Xi Lou, the personal attendant of the beautiful lady approached her young miss who was melancholily humming a song.

"Xi Lou, when do you think he'll be back?" The beautiful lady glanced at her personal attendant who was preparing tea by her side.

"Hehe, his Highness once said that he'll return before all the flowers in the garden blooms. Look at all these flowers! most of them have bloomed, Xi Lou believes his Highness will be back soon. Hehe, young miss, his Highness has also promised to marry you once he's back" Xi Lou cheekily teased her young miss.

"Xi Lou!" A frowned was formed in her beautiful face, blushing, she recalled the memories of her lover proposing.

Xi Lou smiled and continued "Young miss the whole continent knew about your relationship with The Prince of Dai, Liu Heng. I heard some says that the two of you are the most majestic couple second only to the emperor and empress." "Xi Lou can't wait for the wedding. Lady Fu ya and Prince of Dai! That'll be the most majestic wedding ever!"

Fu Ya, a beautiful lady with a lotus flower on her forehead smiled as she touched her reddened face, unveiling the embarrassment she felt. Her fingers pinched her attendant's small nose, leaving a red mark. She was indeed a sweet talker. Flattering her perturbing heart. Hopeless, she added forced in her pinched making the attendant cried in pain.

Fu Ya was the young miss and the only daughter of the Fu clan. She was well-known for her prodigious abilities. As the sole inheritor of the Confucian legacy. She was a scholar everyone looked up to. One could rarely saw her sat at home for she had been traveling the continent to satisfy her insatiable thirst for knowledge. It's only when she felt like settling down did she returned home.

Appearance wise, heaven had truly blessed her with a physique that envied yet admired by many. Her eyes were the most beautiful phoenix-almond eyes. Her heart-shaped lip was enchanting and seductive. Her rosy cheeks make her looked innocent. She was the goddess of many women and men. The man matched to her was only one; the prince of Dai, Liu Heng.

Fu ya took a sipped of her tea while staring at the puffy white clouds clothing the whole sky. Engrossed in her own world as she reminisced the trials and triumphs she went through with Liu Heng.

Suddenly, out of nowhere a black eagle flew and knocked the teacup she was holding causing it to shatter on the ground. Startled, she stood up. Her eyes stared on the ground. Agitation and anxiety rose in her stomach. Her sixth sense was strong and right now, it prophesied that something disastrous would happen.

"Young Miss, watch out!" Xi Lou exclaimed and rushed to pick all the pieces of the broken cup. "Young Miss, please move to the side, it is dangerous to be near these broken cups," Xi Lou said as she attentively cleaned the ground. She inspected the ground worrying if there were still some pieces she hadn't picked up.

Fu Ya ignored her attendant's warning as she didn't move an inch from where she was standing. Xi Lou looked up to see her young miss and was about to speak when she saw a string of crystal tears rolling down her cheek. Xi Lou was shocked, she quickly threw the broken cup away and rushed to her young miss' side.

"Young miss, what...what happened?" Xi Lou held her hand.

Fu Ya was brought to reality. She shook her head, trying to shake off the bad premonition that appeared on her mind. She closed her eyes, her lips parted. Her breathing uneven.

"Xi Lou, let's head to the palace." As she spoke, she started walking. Her steps were accompanied by a tinge of urgency. Xi Lou, detecting a change in her young miss attitude rushed forward and instructed the guards to prepare a chariot to take them to the palace. Along the way, Fu Ya was restless.

"Young miss, what happened?" Xi Lou was also restless and kept on asking. Fu Ya shook her head. She closed her eyes. Her long eyelashes flatter, for a second Xi Lou could almost see a butterfly so beautiful emerged from the fluttering of her young miss's eyelashes. Xi Lou couldn't help but be mesmerized by her young miss beauty.

"Xi Lou, I have a premonition that something bad had happened to Liu Heng," Fu Ya said as she was holding back her tears.

"Young Miss, the prince is the mightiest man in the land. Everyone is saying that his Highness is almost like a God. Nothing bad will happened to his Highness." Xi Lou comforted her young miss. She really believed that the prince who was chosen by heaven was safe and sound.

"Xi Lou, if something happened to him. I don't think I am able to live on." Fu Ya said as she tried to calm her wavering heart. She couldn't help it, the black eagle and the broken cup brought a calamity to her mind and heart.

From childhood, she was the closest person to the prince. He was her playmate and the only person who's able to argue with her on a series of debate on a variety of topics. As they grew up, they fell in love with each other and promised to be together through thick and thin. When the empress was informed of their feelings, her majesty had urged his Majesty to make a decree to betroth the two of them. Since then, they were inseparable. Their heart united to become one. Whatever happened to either one of them, their partner would sense it. That was also the reason Fu Ya was so restless after the teacup tragedy. She tried to calm her heart by reciting all the calming mantras in her mind but to no avail. It made her became more anxious.

Soon, they reached the palace. Fu Ya showed the token given by his Majesty to the guard and stated her purpose, "Bring me to the prince of Dai's residence!" The guards bowed and escorted them immediately.