81 Rejection (1/2)

Yu Mei woke up refreshed. She didn't even know when Pei Nan left. In a way, she was glad she didn't see him first thing in the morning. In her dream, she actually imagined him kissing her. If he knew that she had a dream about him, he would never let it go.

But then again, it felt so real. But the more Yu Mei thought about it, the more she was sure it was a dream. She remembered staring at him and then dozing off last night. He must have left in a fury. There was no way he would kiss her. The thought that she imagined him kissing her was embarrassing. Yu Mei felt her cheeks flush. Too embarrassing! She covered her face.

Lucky for her, she found out that Pei Nan had left the country early last night. He wouldn't be returning for another few days.

In these few days that he was gone, she was over at the Empress's palace. The first day was spent reciting poems. Second day was calligraphy and third day consisted of playing the qin. Yu Mei was not good at any of them. So it was easy for the empress to make fun of her and compare her with Fei Ning. What was even stranger was that Prince Shao had been there every day. She thought that he would come to her rescue like the last time but he had completely ignored her. He didn't even look at her when she smiled or secretly waved at him. He was simply there praising and complimenting Fei Ning.

Today they were practicing the guqin. Yu Mei was getting flustered. Not because she couldn't play it right but because of how Gu Shao was acting towards Fei Ning. He was sitting right next to her as he accompanied her guqin with his flute. Everyone enjoyed the pair of musical instruments together but Yu Mei. She didn't know if it was her eyes but she swore she could see the glint of sparks in both Gu Shao and Fei Ning's eyes.

***

Finally it was lunch time. Yu Mei could finally take a breather from the stuffiness of the palace. Instead of having lunch like usual, she went for a walk. Chu'mei couldn't accompany her since she was busy with teaching the new maids she had received from Pei Nan.

Yu Mei had walked along the bamboo fence until she reached an elegant garden scenery filled with large boulders and flower vines. She suspected no one came around here because it was far from the main hall. Not a single person could be seen.

She was enjoying the serene quietness when her arm was grabbed.

It was Gu Shao.

He had suddenly pulled Yu Mei behind a large boulder in the far corner. Because of the remote area and angle of the rock, no one could see them unless they were looking very hard. Yu Mei's back gently pressed against the boulder. She was about to attack him until she realized it was Gu Shao. She had a look of surprise.

Wasn't he with Fei Ning earlier? How could he be here? She didn't question it much. He was no stranger to this place. There were probably shortcuts he had taken. The main question was what was he doing being so close to her? This sudden closeness. Even Pei Nan has only had this privilege a few times.

Gu Shao had both his palms on her shoulders. His gaze… Yu Mei couldn't describe it other than intimidating.

She had an ominous feeling.

She let out an awkward smile. ”Brother Shao, you startled me. What are you doing here?”

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