A very tired Yu Mei sluggishly returned to her room. When Chu'mei saw how terrible her lady looked, she immediately went over to support her lady.
"Xiaojie, why do you look like a walking panda?" Yu Mei waved her hand. "I need sleep." Chu'mei hurriedly helped Yu Mei over to her bed.
The moment her head touched the pillow, she fell asleep.
Pei Nan on the other time didn't have time to rest when his good friend Xu Hou Lei arrived. The door to the study room was shut tight as Pei Nan carefully listened to the report Hou Lei was giving him. It took Hou Lei a good 15 minutes before finishing his report. Pei Nan leaned on his chair and tapped his finger on the table as he thought. "The Kingdom of Lian is planning to attack?" Pei Nan asked.
"One of our spies in the Lian Army overheard talks about it."
"Lei, this is a big matter. Lian and Luoyang is still under the peace treaty. We must not act rash before finding proof. Make arrangements. I will personally look into this matter."
"Yes your highness."
The only time Hou Lei was this serious was when something severe occurred. Just now, he had just reported to Pei Nan that Lian was said to be secretly training an elite squad. The 5 year peace treaty between Lian and Luoyang was coming to an end in just four months. Even though both states are currently on good terms, that didn't mean that it would stay that way forever. In the past, Lian wanted to take over the water border that Luoyang currently has control over but failed. There was no guarantee whether they would try to take down Luoyang or not. If they did attack, Pei Nan would have to go to war. The more he thought about the situation, the darker and gloomier his face became.
When Yu Mei woke up, it was already late afternoon. She would never have actually woken up if it wasn't for the smell of food. Chu'mei was indeed setting the table for the tired Yu Mei. She had a reason for it though. She found out the easiest way to get her lady up was through food. She watched as her lady jumped out of bed, slipped her shoes on and sat down in less than a minute. Chu'mei secretly complimented herself.
Yu Mei picked up her chopsticks and held it up to her mouth. All her favorites; fish stew, roasted pork and fried string beans. Chu'mei stood behind her, patiently waiting for her gluttonous lady to finish eating before telling her. *Burp* Yu Mei quickly covered her mouth. "Xiaojie, you can't be doing that. What if other people saw you?" Chu'mei didn't hesitate to correct her lady's actions once more.
"It's not like I did it on purpose. How can I control my burp? If I did, I might inflate like a balloon. Aren't you afraid I will float away?" Yu Mei also didn't hesitate to tease Chu'mei. Seeing how cheerful her lady looked, Chu'mei took this opportunity to speak up. "Xiaojie, if you are done eating, Prince Nan has requested for your appearance." Upon hearing his name, Yu Mei frowned. She did not want to see him. "Don't want to." She crossed her arms.
"Xiaojie, isn't this a good opportunity for you to get close to his highness?"
"I'm mad at him. Do you know what he did?" Yu Mei ranted nonstop to Chu'mei. She started from when Pei Nan tried to force himself on her all the way to lying that they slept together. "What's even crazier is that he actually said I might get pregnant soon." Yu Mei held her belly. "How can a woman get pregnant before having intercourse? At this rate, I might have a food baby before his." Chu'mei giggled at the nonsense her lady was spouting. "Shouldn't Fei Ning be pregnant by now? Unless…" Yu Mei's mouth opened wide as if she found some sort of secret. "Unless Pei Nan is impotent." Yu Mei shook her head. There was no way. When she recalled last night, she was sure she felt his erection on her thigh.
Chu'mei's mouth was left opened wide. How could her lady be so shameless to speak of such things? "Could Fei Ning be infertile?" The more Yu Mei thought about it, the more confused she became. Surely it was Fei Ning.
An idea sparked in her head as she readily stood up. "I changed my mind, let's go quickly."
Yu Mei was walking so fast to his study room that she forgot to breath in between steps. Only when she entered his study did she remember to breathe properly. A very relaxed Pei Nan looked at the panting Yu Mei in front of him. He set the report he was reading on the desk and gave her his full attention. "Where's the tea?"
"Tea?"
"Didn't you promise to make me tea and grind ink for me?" Yu Mei thought back. She really did make that promise. But she was so busy with his mother's birthday she had completely forgotten.
"Your highness, I didn't mean to forget it."
"Forget it. Chu'mei, prepare some tea."
"Yes your highness," Chu'mei bowed before taking her leave.
Left in the room was the two of them. "Grind the ink." [Can't you ask nicer?] Yu Mei was already yelling at him in her heart as she made her way to his desk. Everything was already there for her. Yu Mei picked up the pot of water and poured a little into the ink stone. She proceeded to pick up the black ink stick and grind.
Pei Nan could see in the corner of his eyes that Yu Mei was halfheartedly grinding the ink. He chose to ignore her as he picked up his brush and dipped it into the ink stone. Yu Mei awkwardly stood there contemplating whether she should start asking him questions or not. Whatever he was writing, she had no intentions to look at it or so she thought. After ten minutes of silence, her eyes started to wander towards the piece of paper on the desk. "Your highness has such beautiful penmanship." Yu Mei sincerely complimented him. Every stroke was like art in her eyes. Or maybe because she was a terrible writer, she thought that. "I've been writing since I was a little kid. Of course I have beautiful penmanship." He coldly replied. Yu Mei pouted her lips when she heard his cold remark. She was simply having a conversation with him. Why must he always sound so offended.
A few more minutes of silence and Pei Nan finally set his brush on the table and folded up the piece of paper before putting it inside his desk. He proceeded to place another piece of paper in front of him. "I have never seen Consort Pan's writing before. Write me a poem." Pei Nan stood up for Yu Mei to sit but she didn't understand his gesture. He sighed as he looked at the confused Yu Mei. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the chair. "Write me a poem."
Yu Mei nervously looked at the paper in front of her. She knew nothing about poetry and her penmanship was beyond terrible. What was she supposed to write? The only poem she could recall was (Over the Yellow Mountains) by Guan Yan. Before she died, that was the last poem she remembered. Guan Yan wasn't even known at this time yet. Yu Mei apologized to him for stealing his work before picking up the brush. Pei Nan was standing behind her as he watched stroke by stroke as each Chinese character appeared on the paper. It was sloppy. Very sloppy. He felt the urge to steady her shaky hands.
Before Yu Mei knew, Pei Nan had leaned towards her back as his hand was placed on top of hers. "Hold your hand steady." Yu Mei's body froze on the spot. It was strange to see him act so gentle. "I got this. You can let go."
"Your writing is sloppy. And that isn't the right way to write the character 'zhu'." He pointed out. For the first time, Yu Mei wished she listened to her master more often. If she actually studied, she wouldn't be in this embarrassing situation. Even a small child knew how to write the character 'zhu'.
Yu Mei let Pei Nan slowly guide her hand as he helped her correct the mistake. With his help, not only was the character written correctly, the strokes were much more elegant and sharp. "Wow, your highness is really a good teacher." She praised. His face that was only a an inch or two away from hers turned slightly to look at her smiling face. "Teacher? Fine, I'll be your teacher for today. You've made many mistakes by the way." He pointed out to her before continuing to guide her hand along the paper.
"No wonder Fei Ning is head over heels for you. You can be quite patient." Yu Mei waited for Pei Nan to say something but he didn't. She took this opportunity to continue. "Your highness, so what do you like about Consort Ning?" Yu Mei curiously asked. The hand guiding hers stopped. "What do I like about Fei Ning?"
"En." Pei Nan was suddenly silent. He didn't know how to answer the question. He had never really thought about it until now. The first things to come to his minds were simple features. "Fei Ning is an obedient girl. She is skilled in the art of poetry, singing and dancing. Which man doesn't like her." He thought about it even more. What else...
Yu Mei only nodded her head like she understood. "So your highness likes someone who can sing and dance? Anything else? What kind of girls does your highness like?" Upon hearing her question, he smiled. Was she trying to get his attention? Pei Nan got ahead of himself the more he thought about it. Is she asking because she likes him? But to answer her question was even harder.
"I like girls who understand me, whether I'm happy, sad or mad." All his life, Pei Nan had never truly thought about what kind of women he liked. All he knew was that he was the future emperor and that gaining support through marriage was his destiny. His marriage to Consort Nuan and Consort Wan was for political reasons. Even though he treated them nicely, he didn't really know anything about them. He would go over to their courtyard once in a while and have a chat. But they were always the same sort of conversations, such as how he was doing. Yu Mei was the first woman to ask him what kind of girls he liked.
[That's it?] Yu Mei thought. Someone who understood him? But he was so moody. How is one supposed to deal with him when his mood changed every hour? So why was she asking? For Ji Er. Her brilliant idea earlier was to ask Pei Nan what kind of girls he liked and tell Ji Er. In hopes that Ji Er could attract his attention. That would mean that he would focus all his attention on Ji Er. Yu Mei also had a selfish motive. Ji Er would give him a child instead of her. It was a win-win situation for her.
Just outside the room were an annoyed Chu'mei and stubborn Feng Ju. Feng Ju was standing in front of the door with his arms crossed while Chu'mei was standing in front of him with the tray of tea. The two of them had started a staring battle. A silent one to be exact since Feng Ju chose not to acknowledge her presence.
"Hey you, Prince Nan's lackey, move aside." Chu'mei yelled at him. Feng Ju didn't budge as if he didn't hear her. "Didn't you hear me? I said move it. His highness has asked for tea. Will you be responsible if he gets mad?" she continued to blabber on. Once again Feng Ju pretended like she wasn't there. He had been standing at the door like a stone ever since she arrived. This only made Chu'mei more irritated. He wasn't even acknowledging her. She set the tray on the ground and took a step forward. "Are you listening? Prince Nan's lackey, do you hear me?" she poked his chest a few times. When he didn't react, she used more force to poke him.
*Grab* Feng Ju's hand grabbed her finger. "That hurts!" He complained before rubbing his chest.
"Good! I thought you were a stone block. How was I supposed to know you were human? Hmph!"
"You…you…you wild raccoon. You dare call me a block?"
"I'm not a raccoon you lackey! I have a name and it's Chu'mei. CHU'MEI!" Feng Ju rolled his eyes at her. "I also have a name and it's not lackey. It's Feng Ju. Get that through your thick head." Chu'mei was huffing and puffing like no other. He was no gentleman.
"Hmph! Now that you've turned into a human again, move over. And let go of my finger!" Feng Ju was getting fed up with her. "I can't. His highness has asked that no one bother him."
"My lady is in there though."
"I don't care." Feng Ju let go of her finger and once again blocked the door. Chu'mei stomped her feet as she turned around to sit at the top of the stairs. All she could do was wait for her lady to come out now. There was no way she could beat him with strength.
Back in the study, after Pei Nan helped Yu Mei with the Chinese characters, he let go of her hand. The whole time Yu Mei was feeling awkward. As soon as he backed away, she stood up. "Your seat." She gestured for him to sit. Not only did he not take a seat, he was gazing at her. "Are you okay your highness?" Pei Nan wasn't acting like his usual stubborn and stern self. He had a look like he had a lot going on in his head. "I'm heading to the kingdom of Lian tomorrow morning." He suddenly spoke.
"How long?" Yu Mei tried not to sound so excited.
"I don't know yet. It may be a few days or even a few weeks. But...promise me you won't make trouble while I'm gone." Yu Mei was offended. When did she ever cause trouble for anyone? The only time she played tricks on others was when they started it.
"Your highness doesn't need to worry about me. I promise I won't cause any trouble. I will just stay in my courtyard until you return." She lied. When he was gone, she planned on going out again.
"Don't do anything that will make me worried either." He added.
"Don't worry about it your highness. I don't plan on killing anyone." Yu Mei could still find the time to joke with him.
"Your highness is leaving tomorrow morning. You must get lots of sleep. Lian is very far from here." Yu Mei halfheartedly reminded him. "En." He didn't know why he agreed so easily. Hearing this, Yu Mei was thankful. She could finally leave now. "Then I'll say my goodbye here." Yu Mei bowed to him before taking her leave. She didn't plan on seeing him off tomorrow. Fei Ning was going to be there. Why bother. It wasn't like he would even know she was there. With that thought in her mind, she left happily. Now that she knew what kind of girls Pei Nan liked, she could help Ji Er and free herself.