It was well into the evening before General Xia woke up. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light. He was in a room filled with flowers and paintings. It was no doubt a female's.
The general frowned before trying to get up. He slowly lifted the blanket off, only to hear a small shout from across the room. "Hold it right there." The voice from afar called out. It was none other than Yu Mei. She pointed her finger at General Xia as she urgently ran over. "You are in no shape to be leaving bed." Yu Mei quickly tried to cover him back with the blanket.
Her strength did not compare to his.
In the end, Yu Mei could do nothing but help him sit up.
A few hours ago, Yu Mei had stared greedily at the young general. But now that she was seeing him alive and breathing, her breath was taken away. A tiny face, smooth skin and round eyes. He had soft features, almost like a women. Yu Mei had never seen such a pretty boy in her life.
In her past life, she had only seen General Xia from afar once. Who knew she would have the chance to see this hero in real life once more. Not to mention this close and personal. The girl in her was about to die from excitement. It was a girl's dream to meet a handsome hero.
Before Yu Mei could fangirl over this pretty boy, he had grabbed her wrist and put a knife at her neck. [I take it back. You aren't a pretty boy. Okay? Don't kill me.] Yu Mei panicked in her little head.
General Xia's soft eyes turned cold. "Who are you and where is this?"
"You…knife…knife…can you put it down first." Yu Mei managed to stutter out.
"Answer me first." His voice was just as scary as Pei Nan's when he was angered.
"Prince Nan's consort, Pan Yu Mei." She had already assessed the situation. The general would let her go for sure. There was no way he would offend his highness's consort. That much she had thought out.
"Consort Pan?" he wrinkled his brows. Yu Mei's stared at him with confusion. Why was he looking at her so weird? Did he have any evil intentions? Was she that beautiful he had to take advantage of her?
[Consort Pan? You're Consort Pan? The girl his highness speaks so highly about?] General Xia thought to himself.
Couldn't be.
This girl was only slightly above average in looks. Surely this wasn't the same Consort Pan that Pei Nan spoke of. What fairy-like looks? He could only agree on one thing Pei Nan told him...she was indeed rather cute like a dumpling.
"I can prove it." Yu Mei spoke, seeing that he wasn't giving her a response. "You're really at my Southern Palace."
General Xia put his knife down. "My apologies to Consort Pan."
Yu Mei sigh a breath of relief. "Eh! I'm your savior, how can you think of killing me." Yu Mei rolled her eyes.
General Xia once again apologized. "I really didn't know. It was my mistake. When his highness gets back, I will have him punish me for offending you."
"Forget it. It's not a big deal." Yu Mei quickly told him. This matter wasn't serious enough to bring Pei Nan into.
In the next few minutes, Yu Mei had learned that General Xia was poisoned by a close confident on the journey here. He came to look for Prince Nan, only to faint on the way. Pei Nan was returning tomorrow morning and so Yu Mei decided that it was best for him to stay here and rest.
***
The door to her room opened. Chu'mei entered.
"Xiaojie, her majesty and his highness Prince Shao is here." Chu'mei turned to greet General Xia. She was well aware he was here. After all, she was the one that carried him back, with the help of Yu Mei of course. Her back was still hurting like crazy.
"Why are they here?" Yu Mei questioned.
"Xiaojie, I really don't know."
Yu Mei looked at the ground. What were they supposed to do with General Xia. She couldn't leave him in her room like this. She could be blamed for having a secret affair if found.
"My lady, you don't have to worry about me. I have stayed here many times. I will go rest in the guest estate" He assured her.
Yu Mei smiled at him. "Okay then. I'll have Chu'mei send you."
***
Chu'mei only left the guest estate after filling the bath tub for General Xia. With the help of four other maids. She had to lie that it was for Prince Shao.
Her job was complete. And so she left.
General Xia slowly took off his garment one by one. When the last piece of garment fell onto the floor, the binding cloth around his chest was clearly visible.
A woman.
Her figure was slim and curvy. No doubt General Xia was a woman. She let her hair down and got into the tub. The hot water was soothing on her sun-kissed tan skin. She rest her head on the edge of the tub and closed her eyes. She couldn't believe she let someone she trusted poison her. A rookie mistake.
Time quickly passed and the water was beginning to turn warm. She was about to step out of the tub when she heard the door open. General Xia quickly went back into the tub. Only her head was out of the water as she watched intently. The light white curtain separating her and the intruder made it difficult for her to see who it was. Based on the height and broad shoulders, it was a man. Could it be a molester? She thought.
The man muttered some words that she couldn't hear well. Soon he began to take off his outer robe. Soon his inner robes fell off.
She silently gasped. Her head unconsciously moved away. What kind of pervert was undressing in front of her? Did he know she was in here?
"Aish~ I can't believe you got me all wet." The man complained loudly. He reached for the new set of clothes he brought along. He looked at his body and made a disgusted face. "Forget it. I'll look for you after I wash up." He put the inner robe on and threw the rest on the rack and began to walk towards the tub.
General Xia immediately jumped out of the water and reached for her robe.
"Who's there?" Without thinking, the man rushed over and pushed the curtains away. General Xia quickly pulled her robe on and turned away. Her eyes widened from anger. Did he see her?
The moment the man's eyes caught sight of her, he turned away.
Her guess was confirmed when she saw that his body was turned away. This gesture of his made her assume he had seen her body. "You bastard!"
Without thinking, she immediately made an attack.
The man turned around. Just in time to defend himself. This calm and handsome face could not belong to anyone but Prince Shao. His arm went up to block her fist. "Miss, why are you attacking me?" he asked in the midst of blocking her powerful moves.
"You dare ask why? You saw my body. I'm going to kill you." Gu Shao lost count of how many of her attacks he had dodged.
She lifted her right leg to kick him. Her moves were so quick and swift he almost couldn't dodge them. A few more moves and he might really end up dead. He had no choice but to offend her. When her leg went to kick his abdomen, he caught her by the ankle.
Her eyes expanded. He dared to touch her.
"I didn't see anything. I really didn't. Now can you stop attacking me?" he asked. He couldn't tell her he saw. But what he said wasn't considered a lie either. He really only saw her collarbone and shoulders. Nothing less, nothing more. But would she believe him?
"Fine. I'll stop." She pretended to compromise. The moment he let her go, her fist came straight at him. Gu Shao grabbed her arm and spun behind her, locking her arm behind her back.
"Let go." She grit her teeth.
She hated that she couldn't move freely with the robe she was wearing. Any wrong move could expose her bare body.
Gu Shao felt wronged as he stared at the back of her head. "I can swear on my royal name that I didn't see anything I wasn't supposed to see." With his free hand, he put up two fingers and swore.
"Royal descent?" her brows scrunched tightly. This scumbag was of royal descent? But who was he?
"I'll let you go but only if you stop trying to kill me."
She nodded her head. No matter how much she wanted to tear him apart, if he was truly a royal member, she would be committing a crime.
When she finally calmed down, he got a chance to look at her. He had to admit, she was stunning. Her features were soft but at the same time tough. He didn't know how to explain it. Almost like a tomboy.
"How come I have never seen you before? Which work department are you from?" he questioned.
"I could be asking you the same." She coldly retorted.
Prince Shao let out a chuckle of disbelief. "Who in this palace does not know me, Prince Shao. You must be new. What is your name?"
[I'm not even surprised this perverted scrum is Prince Shao.] She silently mocked him. Even she knew about his flirtatious reputation.
"Forgive me your highness. I have offended you." she slightly bowed.
He didn't say he forgave her or not. He simply went back to his question. "You haven't answered my question yet?" Now that he thought about it, there was no way she was a mere maid. Her martial arts was too…he couldn't even find the word to describe it.
She could read the suspicion on his face. She had to escape before her identity gets revealed. She pulled her clothes tightly against her, as if guarding against him and stared at him. "If you want me to answer you, let me get dressed first. If anyone saw this, my reputation would be smeared."
"Fine." He nodded before walking behind the curtain. He too had to get dressed. It was because of one maid…one maid who had to trip and spill a fish dish on him. If that didn't happen, he wouldn't have had to meet such bad luck. But then again, it was a good thing he caught this woman. What if she had bad intentions?
General Xia looked for an escape. The only escape route was through the front door.
She cursed.
Not a moment later.
"Ahhhh~ SNAKE!" She suddenly shrieked, shocking even Gu Shao. In a heartbeat, he rushed over to her. She was shaking and pointing her finger at the furthest corner of the room. "A snake." She continued to point.
"Are you okay?" he put his hand on her shoulders and asked worriedly. She shook her head no. Only when he was assured that she was okay did he head over to the corner.
A smirk appeared on her face. He actually fell for it.
A moment later.
"Where is it?" Gu Shao turned to ask.
She was gone…