Pei Nan beckoned Yu Mei over to him. She rolled her eyes at him. Must he always act as if he was the boss around here.
There was no avoiding this and she knew it. Thus, she made her way over. "Greetings to your highness," she sweetly said.
"What are you playing at?" he coldly asked, not even greeting her back. This was the first time he had seen her in over a week. He tried hard not to take notice of her. The only way for that to happen was to treat her cold like the past.
"Your highness, I didn't do it on purpose. I really thought mother was coming over." She tried to sound as sorry as she could.
"Pei Nan, don't be so hard on Yu Mei. I also heard that mother was coming over. Who knew it was false news." Gu Shao covered for her. Yu Mei looked at Gu Shao as if he was the most reliable man in the world. Pei Nan looked at Gu Shao and then towards Yu Mei. "Did you two come together?"
"NO!" Yu Mei and Gu Shao both said dramatically. "I was in the restroom and coincidentally ran into Yu Mei." Gu Shao once again covered for her. Yu Mei wanted to give him two thumbs up. It was a good choice to make friends with him.
Pei Nan arched his brow in curiosity. "So why are you here?" he once again coldly asked.
"No reason. I came for a stroll."
"In my palace?"
"En!"
"Carry on then," he started to shoo her away. Yu Mei was relieved. It's not like she wanted to stay anyways. She had barely made a 180 turn when her hopes were shattered. "Pei Nan, since Consort Pan is here., why doesn't she join me while I watch you and brother-in-law play Go." Fei Ning suggested.
[Curse you evil lady.] Yu Mei clenched her jaw. She was so close to leaving. Must everyone ruin her day. "Yu Mei, come sit." Pei Nan didn't even bother to ask her. He didn't give her a choice. Yu Mei slouch her shoulders and literally dragged her feet over to the table. Gu Shao followed after her.
Gu Shao and Pei Nan were sitting directly across each other and so were Yu Mei and Fei Ning. All four of them occupied one side of the table as they proceeded with the game. Just by looking at the board, Yu Mei knew Gu Shao was on the losing end. Pei Nan had formed more territory around the board compared to Gu Shao.
Pei Nan laid down a black stone. Yu Mei had to admit, it was a good move. How did she know? Her master loved to play Go to pass time. She on the other hand hated it but because her master had no one but her, she had to learn it.
She watched as Gu Shao picked up the white stone. He rubbed his chin as he thought about it. His hand slowly went to place the stone on the board. Yu Mei watched anxiously on the sideline. This was probably the most intense game she had seen in a long time. *A…"Two Space"…Chu"Left"* Yu Mei "sneezed" loudly. Pei Nan who was thinking deep into the game lost concentration. "Yu Mei, can you be more quiet." He snapped at her.
"I'm sorry," she quietly said. He had been so into the game, he didn't catch on to Yu Mei's cheat. Gu Shao on the other hand got her message. His hand moved two spaces to the left. Gu Shao secretly looked at Yu Mei. When she saw him look over, she winked as if saying, "good job." He let out a small smile.
"Your highness made a good move." Fei Ning complimented Pei Nan when he laid the next stone down.
"It's because you are here that I am playing well." Pei Nan smiled sweetly at her. Yu Mei wanted to throw up. So disgusting.
When Gu Shao was about to make another wrong move, Yu Mei coughed. *Kaka* She covered her mouth with her hand while managing to make a sign to the left. Gu Shao once again picked up on her signal, following her advice. "Wow, that is such a good move Prince Shao." Yu Mei clapped her hand softly for Gu Shao. Pei Nan took a deep breath, trying not to get irritated.
Fei Ning complimented Pei Nan once again. Yu Mei had to admit, his Go skills were far superior compared to Gu Shao. The game would have ended just now if it wasn't for her cheating.
While Pei Nan was concentrating on the game, Yu Mei stretched her hand towards Gu Shao and poked his thigh. He looked down and she was making a two and then pointing to the left. This went on for a good twenty minutes. The cheating duo was on a role, turning the table around.
Yu Mei would compliment Gu Shao every few moves while Fei Ning cheered on Pei Nan.
Finally. Pei Nan has had enough. The moment Yu Mei started to compliment Gu Shao, his concentration was lost. Now that she was doing it more open and cheerfully, he couldn't help but turn his full attention on her. "Yu Mei, why are you cheering on another man when your husband is right here?" he clenched his teeth, trying to sound as calm as possible. [Husband? What husband? Where?] Of course she would never say that to him though.
"Pei Nan is right. How can you cheer on someone else." Fei Ning added, trying to make her look bad. Yu Mei shrugged her shoulders. "I don't see how that is wrong? You have Fei Ning to cheer you on. Prince Shao is my brother-in-law, I don't see why I can't cheer for him." She casually retorted him.
"Fine!" Pei Nan didn't say much more as he continued the game. He had come to a conclusion, he could not win her in a verbal argument.
A few moves later, he realized how good Gu Shao had suddenly gotten. He had gone from newbie status to level 4 in the last half hour. It could not be pure luck.
Just as Yu Mei was giving Gu Shao the next move, Pei Nan had coincidentally looked over at the same time. He saw Gu Shao's eyes look down at Yu Mei's leg, he had caught on. [Pan Yu Mei, you know how to play Go? To think you could help a losing Gu Shao turn the game around. You must not be so bad.] Pei Nan couldn't believe he was actually complimenting her.
Pei Nan grabbed Fei Ning's hand and gently pat it lightly like a loving husband. "This game must be boring for you two. Fei Ning, why don't you take Yu Mei to take a stroll for a bit." Pei Nan said, not giving Yu Mei or Fei Ning a choice.
Fei Ning frowned as she got up. "Let's go Consort Pan," she turned on her two-face mode. Yu Mei gave Gu Shao a last look as if saying sorry before she was dragged away by Fei Ning. Gu Shao helplessly looked as Yu Mei left. He was just about to have his first win against Pei Nan. Now it was hopeless again. "Let's continue," Pei Nan gestured him to continue.
Chu'mei and Lu'er were both following their lady's from a far distance. The two of them didn't have any good feelings for each other, just like their lady. It was just that they didn't have to hide it like their lady's.
Yu Mei and Fei Ning were walking side by side along the bamboo fence as they chatted. "I'm sorry if I have been hogging Pei Nan from the rest of you. It's just that he says he misses me all the time." Fei Ning suddenly apologized. Yu Mei rolled her eyes. She wanted to applaud this woman. Her words on the outside were innocent and kind but her hidden meaning was as vile as she was.
[Hmph! You can have him all you want. In fact, I must thank you for it.] Yu Mei knew what Fei Ning was trying to do but sadly she was not the same old Pan Yu Mei. "Consort Ning does not need to apologize. The most important thing is that Pei Nan is happy. If he is happy, all of us are."
Fei Ning's fake smile suddenly turned ugly. It was a good thing she was good at hiding her intentions. That smile quickly went back to being innocent. "You are right but I just don't feel good for taking up all of Pei Nan's time." Fei Ning reached out to grab Yu Mei's hand but Yu Mei skillfully put both her hands behind her back and turned to face the pond in front of them. Fei Ning had no choice but to retract her hand. "The fishes are quite cute." Yu Mei pointed at them.
"Aren't they? I handpicked every koi fish in this pond for Pei Nan." Fei Ning tried another attempt to rile Yu Mei up. "Now that I look at them closely, they aren't that cute." Yu Mei continued to walk. Fei Ning scrunched the handkerchief in her hand tightly. Why wasn't Yu Mei reacting to her like usual.
An hour had passed before Pei Nan and Gu Shao finished their game. Yu Mei and Fei Ning were also heading back to the pavilion at this time too. "Shao, you've gotten better." Pei Nan complimented.
"It's because I had someone to cheer for me." Pei Nan didn't say anything to that. Just hearing Gu Shao flatter Yu Mei aggravated him. "She's like my lucky charm. You should bring her along more often." Gu Shao added.
"She is very busy planning my mother's birthday in a few days. I'm afraid she won't have time to cheer you on." Pei Nan quickly shut any chances of Yu Mei and Gu Shao meeting anymore.
"That's a shame." Gu Shao stood up, followed by Pei Nan. "I should be heading back now."
Pei Nan walked alongside Gu Shao as they exited from the pavilion. It hadn't even been a few minutes since they started walking when they saw a scene they were not expecting. From afar, Yu Mei had pushed Fei Ning on the ground. "Fei Ning!" Pei Nan and Gu Shao both ran over to the scene. The woman they both liked had just fallen. It was a good thing they weren't at a far distance to begin with. When they arrived, Fei Ning was crying on the ground while Yu Mei was standing there with her hands crossed, looking amused. The moment Fei Ning saw Pei Nan, she started to cry even harder. "Your highness,"
"Fei Ning, are you okay?" Pei Nan quickly knelt down and helped Fei Ning up. "Your highness, don't blame Consort Pan. I didn't know she was going to get mad at me for taking majority of your time away from her. She didn't mean to push me." Fei Ning innocently looked up at Pei Nan with her tear filled eyes. "Consort Pan, what do you have to say for yourself?" he angrily yelled at her. Yu Mei let out an unbelievable sigh. This woman was truly too scheming. No wonder the original Pan Yu Mei didn't last long. "Your highness, my lady didn't push Consort Ning." Chu'mei was the first person to back up Yu Mei.
"Be quiet! I am asking Consort Pan, not you." Yu Mei could tolerate him yelling at her but she could not tolerate him yelling at the people she cared for. Yu Mei stepped in front of Chu'mei to protect her. "Your highness is going too far. How can you get angry at me when you don't even know both sides of the story?" Yu Mei was not going to let it slide. He yelled at her sidekick.
"Pan Yu Mei! You've gone too far. I saw with my eyes that you pushed Fei Ning. How can you say that there is two sides?"
"Are you going to listen to my side of the story or not?" Yu Mei was now feeling angry. He was clearly being biased. The two of them stared at each other, ready to have an all-out war.