Little Purple

"Your Majesty, the crown prince is here."

"Let him in," came a deep voice.

Once the Emperor of Jin permitted it, the grand red doors opened; behind them stood a fine young man that held a few scrolls. Walking into the Emperor's study room, he presented the scrolls to his father before he kneeling. "Son greets Royal Father."

"Rise." The Emperor said, and the crown prince rose from his kneeling position. "Bring the scrolls here," he said, but not to Jin Min. He and his son were separated by a brown screen. Jin Min handed the scrolls to one of the servants, who brought them to the Emperor.

For a moment, there was a strange silence between them. The Emperor looked over the scrolls.

"Well?" He said after he finished reading one of the scrolls. "I asked you to choose a fiance a week ago, did I not?"

"Yes, Royal Father," Jin Min said.

"Then?" The Emperor put the scroll down. "Have you chosen one?"

"This crown prince has." He answered calmly.

The Emperor looked at him in interest. "Tell me who she is."

"She…" Jin Min instantly thought of the woman he saw in the garden this morning. "She is the young miss of the Qing household."

-----

Qing Guang sighed, feeling a sense of unease that had started ever since Qing Li had made her attend the party and meet the princess and nobles yesterday. She wasn't sure why, but she felt that the whole situation was strange and definitely not in a good way.

The first class began and the teacher started taking attendance, calling and checking off the students' names.

"Hu Cheng Se," she called.

"Here." Hu Cheng Se weakly raised her hand, and the teacher marked the attendance list.

"Hu Ye will not be here today?" The teacher found the letter on the attendance list and read it.

"Yes, Madam." Hu Cheng Se replied.

Qing Guang looked back at Hu Cheng Se; just beside her was Hu Ye's empty seat. "Ye…" she said in a low voice. She had sent letters through Fei Ying yesterday to inform the Hu family why she couldn't make it to practice the other day. The one who replied was not Hu Ye, but Hu Bai or Hu Cheng Se instead.

-----

"Hu Cheng Se!" After the class ended, they had a short break. Qing Bo strutted up to where Hu Cheng Se sat, a vigorous smile on his face. "I am here to get my points back from you. It's nine hundred and ninety-nine points for you and nine hundred and ninety-nine points for me." He informed in advance.

"..." Hu Cheng Se did not seem to be in the mood. She cleared her desk and stood up from the seat, leaving Qing Bo in the dust.

"Huh? What is wrong with her?" Qing Bo wondered to himself.

Qing Guang, who was standing behind Qing Bo, stared at Hu Cheng Se's back until she left the room. She pinched the edge of her brother's black sleeve and whispered. "Brother."

"Yes?" Qing Bo replied to his sister with a gentle tone.

"I think you need to chase after her."

Qing Bo's brows scrunched at the unexpectedness of this. "You want me to chase after the fish stick?"

"En." Qing Guang nodded

Speechless, Qing Bo glanced at the door. "Alright, go on ahead and eat lunch without me," He said before he taking off.

-----

Hu Sheng Se was sitting under the tree where Hu Zi used to wait for them. She remembered that the four of them would eat while chatting and playing under that tree. After Hu Zi stopped coming to school, there was only three of them. Once Hu Bai graduated, there were only two. But now, there was only her.

Although Hu Ye might rest against the tree at the other side of the school building now, before, he always ate with Hu Cheng Se under this one. Hu Cheng Se looked up to the tree with loneliness in her eyes.

Suddenly, someone kicked her from behind.