《《蛮族之花》 Flower of Wilderness》Yina_bubbles

2、第 2 章 A bow

　　By the time Suyuan and Ayao returned to the Orchid Courtyard , the sun already began to sink towards the western mountain.The hidden path brought them directly to the side of the entrance of the courtyard, Ayao glanced around before slipping inside with the fish in her hand. Suyuan followed her through the path , the courtyard was too quiet for a place that belonged to a princess. There were only four people living within these walls. Princess Shuran and Nanny Zhang occupied the main hall, while Suyuan and Ayao lived in the smaller side hall.

　　The courtyard was kept clean despite its age. The wooden pillars had faded, the roof tiles had been repaired more times than anyone can remember , and the once beautiful carving around the windows had lost its color. There was nothing luxurious about the place but it was still a home for them. At least that was what Suyuan tried to tell herself. The palace kitchen rarely sent them anything fresh, most of the days the food delivered to Orchid Courtyard consisted of leftovers that others didn't want.

　　Everyone knew the Khan had long since abandoned Princess Shuran. No one expected him to care whether she ate well or slept warmly. Most of the allowance sent to the courtyard was spent on the medicine, whatever remained had to be stretched carefully until next month. Suyuan know her mother never complained and that was perhaps the thing frightened her the most . Suyuan pushed open the door to her room and went inside to change her dress. Her dress was simple , made of pale cotton fabric that had been washed so many times that made the fabric lost its softness.There were no pearls sewn into the collar , no jade ornaments hanging from the waist and certainly no elaborate embroidery fit for an imperial princess.

　　Yet even dressed so plainly, Suyuan possessed a beauty that was difficult to overlook. Her features were delicate, her complexion pale and her eyes clear and quiet beneath long lashes . Her body had been weaker than other girls her age, having been born prematurely she tired easily and often fell ill. A single glance was enough to make people think she was a girl who needed protecting, a fragile flower. For a moment , she almost believed it. Then her gaze slowly darkened, a flower? No. She had learned long ago that beautiful flowers were the easiest things to trample. Her mother had once been called the most beautiful flower of the Xian Empire, elegant, radiant and cherished. A flower that everyone admired and yet that beautiful flower had been plucked from her homeland, forced to bloom in foreign soil then left to wither.

　　Suyuan will never become another flower and waiting hopelessly for someone to protect it. If the world insisted on treating her as the flower then, perhaps it had forgotten that some flowers are poisonous. Suyuan turned away from the mirror, she had no interest in proving her strength to anyone . A poisonous flower did not need thorns to be dangerous , sometimes all it needed was for someone to touch it.

　　When she stepped outside, the smell of freshly cleaned fish greeted her. Ayao was waiting beside the small stove, proudly holding the carp.
　　“Miss ! it’s ready”
　　“That's what you call ready?” Suyuan stared at the fish.
　　Ayao looked offended, “ i cleaned it properly”
　　“Well I believe you” Suyuan crouched beside the stove.
　　“ Go bring some ginger, green onion and some salt”
　　Ayao immediately sighed and stood up to look for things. She knows her cooking is terrible, that's why Suyuan didn’t let her cook. Suyuan couldn’t help smiling , she took the cleaned carp and made several shallow cuts along its sides before rinsing it once more. She placed it into a pot of water and added several slices of ginger and a few pieces of green onion. The fire beneath the pot was kept low, she waited patiently as the water slowly came to a simmer. Steam rose from the pot , carrying the fresh scent of fish and ginger through the quiet courtyard.

　　Suyuan carefully skimmed the foam from the surface before adding a small amount of salt .They had no expensive ingredients, no precious medical herbs and no delicacies from the Khan’s kitchen, only warm broth of fish but that’s enough for someone who was ill enough for her mother. Ayao crouched beside her, “Miss will Her Highness like it?” Suyuan glanced toward the main hall, “ I hope so”. Her smile was faint, her mother had eaten very little these past few days. Even medicine seemed unable to stop her health from declining. Suyuan never asks for too much, only a warm meal, safe room and her mother . Yet somehow, even these simple things seemed so difficult to keep. For just a moment , she just remembered her mother gentle face

作者有话说

In this chapter is the introduction for the FL mother...