Searching For You

Sweat beads covered his forehead as the uncomfortable feeling crept up closer. His heart trembled almost as his soul and mind resonated with the character in the play. However, the scene ended with no fire burning anywhere.

Back on the stage, Mua Kong had left for the war. Hli Ja's morning sickness had gotten better as she entered the third trimester. She wanted to go visit her grandma's grave to tell grandma about the news of her baby before her belly became too big for long trips. 

Chue Yi, two guards, and two maids accompanied Hli Ja to visit her grandma's gravesite that would take several days.

When they passed through the first city, Hli Ja witnessed a little boy being beaten with a large stick. He just lay on the ground silently while an older woman landed multiple hits on his small and fragile body. The boy looked lifeless; the wilts were bleeding through his ragged torn clothes.

Hli Ja yelled for the servants to stop the carriage to which they complied. She rushed out and ran to cover the little boy and pulled him onto her arms. At the same time, Chue Yi slashed the stick into pieces. The older woman was startled of the strangers' action but quickly composed herself and screamed at them, "Who are you people? Let that brat go. I have to teach him a lesson!"

Hli Ja at that point was feeling furious. She glared at the older woman and shouted coldly, "No matter what a child has done, he doesn't deserve to be punished to this extent!"

The older woman was overpowered by the response. She backed off a little and replied stuttering her words, "This... this... is not related to you people at all. Don't meddle in others' affairs."

After assessing the situation and deducing that the little boy was not the birth child of the woman, Hli Ja asked icily, "Did you give birth to him?"

The woman took a step back feeling pressured. She avoided Hli Ja's glared and muttered, "No."

"Then what right do you have as a person not related to him to beat him to this extent?"

The two guards and maids were so awed at their madam highness. They had never seen her that angry, never seen her lose her composure, and this time it was to save a child. They had been very lucky to serve her. She had been kind to them. She had never belittled them, threatened them, or bribed them. She treated them as humans who had pride and integrity. They would follow her to the end of the earth even if she did not ask them to.

Inside the carriage, Hli Ja leaned down and spoke softly, coaxing the little boy. She asked for his name and how he ended up in the situation they saw him in, but he remained silent with no desire to continue living. She pulled him in her warm embrace.  "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you. I will protect and take care of you. All you need to do is just live." 

His expression softened after hearing her loving voice but he still stayed mute and distant.

Hli Ja asked the servants to stop by a pharmacy so she could get ointments and medicines for the boy. It did not occur to her that she might need them so she did not bring her medicines with.

The carriage stopped in front of a pharmacy and Hue Chi went inside to bring all the things Hli Ja listed. They then stopped by the store and Chue Yi went to get new clothes for the boy.

That night, they rested at an inn in the town so Hli Ja could bathe and tend to the boy. She took care of his wounds and helped him dress into the new clothes. 

The boy remained silent the whole time while accepting the generous lady's help.

The next day, he looked much better. His eyes held aliveness and trust. 

Hli Ja smiled and bent a little to kiss on the little one's hair. "From today on, you will be my little brother, and I will be your sister."

His pupils dilated once he heard her. He smiled shyly, swallowing his new fate and nodded his head in acknowledgment of Hli Ja's announcement. Since the moment his parents died, no one had ever been as nice as Hli Ja to him. Her love overwhelmed him. The people, who had taken him in, had treated him like trash. They barely allowed him to eat and beat him up for the slightest thing. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to be cared for. 

Hli Ja truly won his heart. She wanted him to continue living and be her younger brother. She gave him a different kind of happiness that he had never felt before. Smile still glued to his face, he said, "My father called me Pao Hua."

Finally, he spoke! Hli Ja fondly caressed his hair. "Hmm... Pao Hua – meaning – a sacred stone. I think it suits you really well. You must be very important to your parents, and they must love you very much to call you a sacred stone. Don't forget that."

Pao Hua nodded in agreement with Hli Ja's statement. 

It took them five days to arrive in the city where Hli Ja used to live. They stopped at the restaurant to eat before heading over to the gravesite. When the group arrived at the site, the maids carried food, flowers, and incense and set them on the grave.