ShuîYuê ran in the corridors, she was late for the ceremony when she bumped into a wall, she closed her eyes preparing herself for the impact as she hit the floor but she didn't feel any pain, she peeked open her eyes to see obsidian ones staring in hers, the person had his arm wrapped around her waist as she held onto his collar, their faces only inches away from each other's, she felt the warm breath of the person holding her on her face who seemed to be in a daze, she looked away regaining her balance by pushing his shoulders, he realised he still had his arm around her waist so he quickly withdrew it.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice smooth and authoritative.

"No, thank you for saving me Your Highness." ShuîYuê bowed her head.

Crown Prince stared at her she looked lovely, well according to him she always looked lovely but she looked even more beautiful today, she looked like a delicate girl for the first time in years of him knowing her, she never wore bright robes or jewellery at all keeping herself simple which people thought was boring, her personality wasn't bright either she kept quiet most of the time and was rather a reserved person who minded her own business and preferred if people minded their own, she never showed up for any gatherings other than when the Emperor ordered.

"You look beautiful," Jūn GuānYû praised,
"I mean, you don't dress up, so of course you look different but in a nice way," he added awkwardly.

ShuîYuê looked at the Crown Prince who refused to look at her, he was the most handsome man in Heaven even Xiàn Fèng's charms seemed to fade away in front of him, his golden and white hanfu covered his toned body, golden jewellery swaying slightly with the increase in his heartbeats, he was intelligent, kind and a gentleman, the crush of many in the Heavens, always so calm and mature, he never seemed to appear even slightly irritated in difficult situations, where others would have either killed the other person or themselves. ShuîYuê respected him a lot; he was an amazing Crown Prince and would make an even more wonderful Emperor one day.

" I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I apologise," he commented when ShuîYuê didn't speak.

ShuîYuê shook her head but mentally facepalmed; he was not looking at her. How would he know what she was doing, "No, Your Highness, please don't apologise. I should be the one saying sorry for bumping into you." she spoke politely.

He looked at her. She was awkwardly pulling her robes as they stuck to her body, highlighting her beautiful curves. He looked away, feeling warm suddenly, "It's alright. Shouldn't you be at the palace gates?" he questioned, ShuîYuê had completely forgotten about the opening ceremony. She bowed her head down before quickly walking away.

GuānYû stared at her. As he stepped forward, he noticed a bead on the floor; he looked ahead to see another one far away, and then the next one fell from Water Master's hand, which had a small pouch in it, which was open. He ran after her, "Water Master!" He called; ShuîYuê turned around to look at him, and he ran towards her, stopping right before her. She backed away, scared they would collide, "You dropped this." he added holding out the beads.

She stared at his palm before looking at the pouch in her hand, which was open she cursed herself mentally for being careless,
She looked inside the pouch. Only one bead was in there. The remaining three were in the Crown Prince's hand. She gingerly picked them off his palm and was about to put them in the bag, but the Crown Prince held her hand firmly. She stared up at him in question. He analysed the beads for a second before looking down into her eyes, "Jīnyú got there, didn't he?" he inquired.

Water Master gulped, Prince Jīnyú was never allowed to leave the palace without supervision, and since he had gotten these for them from a temple, it was clear he had snuck out. ShuîYuê shook her head as a sign of no. "Water Master don't lie to me. I saw him run out of the side hall while crying, and the cloth on your left shoulder is wet," he warned.

ShuîYuê looked away, 'Why did I have to bump into him of all people? He was great at detecting lies, and now I am being questioned.' she thought annoyed at her brilliant luck.

"Water Master," he called. ShuîYuê sighed her life couldn't ever be peaceful for a second, could it? Was it too much to ask for to be able to live a peaceful life? It appeared as if she had asked for the Emperor's throne to her.

"Your Highness Jīnyú is sensitive," she murmured, trying to persuade him.

"Jīnyú is not a child anymore. He is a young man who shouldn't cry for silly things." he rebuked, seriously.

ShuîYuê frowned, "Why can't he cry if he feels sad, Your Highness?" she asked, clearly upset.

"He's a young man, and men don't cry," he answered casually. ShuîYuê hadn't known the Crown Prince too well, it seemed, for she thought he was a nice man who wouldn't have such orthodox beliefs.

"First of all, he's only sixteen, he is still a teenager, and that doesn't mean he can't be sensitive," she said firmly.

GuānYû stared at her determined face, "Of course, he can cry, but he should do so privately, not wail about his problems to others." he remarked calmly.

"He wasn't wailing about his problems; he was just upset that His Majesty scolded him." she spat back.

"You are too soft with him, Water Master; as his teacher, you should be more hard on him." he rebuked softly.

"I know how to treat him as his teacher; maybe it's someone else who needs to learn how to treat him as a younger brother." she glared at the Crown Prince.

"Water Master you have no right to speak that way about me." GuānYû shook his head in disapproval, still holding her hand firmly.

"And you have no right to treat Jīnyú this way!" she snapped. The Crown prince was surprised; she didn't hold back when it came to Jīnyú and Wind Master.

"He's my brother." he reminded calmly.

"And my student," she replied fiercely.

Crown Prince sighed he never wanted to upset her in the first place, but it seemed he did, "I treat him as he should be treated." he admitted.

"He ran away when he was twelve. I found him hiding in the bushes covered in cuts. Is that how you treat him?" she asked, her eyes glassy as she questioned him, finally finding the nerve to do so after four years.

"He was immature -"

"He was hurt!" she interjected, cutting him off, "No one came to look for him, he waited by the gates of my palace every single day, saying his Gege would come to take him home, but you know what? no one came, no Gege of his came," she added hurt thinking about the little boy who refused to leave the gates of her Palace and waited for his older brother to take him home.

"We had no option-"

"You abandoned him!" She cut him off harshly, "That twelve-year-old boy had his own family abandon him for something he couldn't control," she stepped back, shaking her head at him, "You disappointed him, Your Highness; you gave up on your brother, your blood, you gave up on Jīnyú."

"You are one of the most rational officials in court; we had no option; his powers are out of control; he's lucky he's alive." the Crown Prince replied sternly.

"So you think he was better off dead?" She questioned as her eyes pricked with saltiness.

GuānYû sighed, he looked around trying to find an answer to her question, "I am saying that he should learn to be mature, he's not a ki-"

"He's not mature because you people ruined his childhood! Sent him off to some official's Palace to be trained like he was some random person and not your brother," she interjected burning with fury.

"Water Master, I don't want to argue, not with you," he told firmly as she tried to pull away her hand which he refused to let go,
"Please, don't bring this up again, he's my brother I know how to treat him accordingly, you are just his teacher, don't try to," GuānYû bit his lips from saying something harsh, "Don't intervene in my brother's personal life, I have every right to scold him and treat him as his older brother, do not overstep your boundaries," GuānYû warned as her tears threatened to spill, he had never seen her look angry or worse crying, today she was crying because of him on a day which was special for him, he was elated to have run into her before the ceremony but he wasn't anymore.

"You only know how to exercise authority," she spoke in a slightly broken voice which he had never heard once, "You don't know how to care for Jīnyú."

"He's my brother; of course, I care for him," he said, exasperated with her accusations.

She shook her head, as she averted her gaze and tried to blink away her tears,
"You don't, you don't love him or care for him." his hold on her hand loosened as he looked down at her.

"Water Master it's my crowning ceremony today." he reminded her.

"I know, Your Highness, I remember clearly it is your crowning today, but let me tell you something: I will never send Jīnyú back to this horrible place even if it means enraging His Majesty." she pulled her hand back and turned around once more.

"May your crowning be done without any problems," she said, bowing her head, "You'll be a great King but never a good brother," she added, leaving the Crown Prince alone, who smiled bitterly, 'Even Jīnyú has people who would die for him, what about you GuānYû? no one cares about you, they only care about the illustrious crown prince.' Crown Prince thought before he walked to the Palace gates for his big day it didn't feel as grand after he argued with Water Master.

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