The Tale Of Mei Xiang

第四章 (Chapter 4)

第四章

Unlike when I was walking with Zhi gege, I made sure I was noticeably behind the 4th Prince instead of walking side by side with him. 

If he was offended that I didn't want to walk with him, he made no comment. He had his hands behind him and walked with such confidence and intimidation that every maid and eunuch he passed quickly bowed and hurried away. 

With Zhi gege, the maids and eunuchs took their time and then continued on like nothing had happened. Sometimes, I heard the maids whisper and giggle among themselves. They weren't afraid of him like how they were afraid of the 4th Prince. 

Sure, the 4th Prince is much better looking than Zhi gege but it was Zhi gege that the maids were head over heels for. They would steal as many glances as they can when Zhi gege passes but when it was the 4th Prince, they wouldn't even cast a glance before running in the opposite direction.

"We're here," he says out of the blue and I nearly bump into him. 

He knocks on the door before I could and I felt I didn't have enough time to compose myself. It has been so long since I saw my aunt and now that I had the chance to meet her, I didn't know what I should say to her. Should I comfort her first or would she want to her about her family?

"Greetings, 4th Prince. What brings you here?" a maid asks in a polite tone and had her head down. 

"The Empress allowed Shu Fei to see her niece as her niece has entered the palace. Please alert your mistress that I and miss Mei Xiang wishes to see her," he said, gesturing at me. 

The maid nodded and disappeared behind the big red doors. It was me and him again, standing behind red doors. The silence made me notice the small distance between us and I tried to subtly move away from him. 

He noticed what I was doing and grabbed my wrist, preventing me from moving. His eyes weren't on me as he said, "Why are you moving away from me? Do I have a disease?"

"It is not decent for a girl to be standing this close to a man," I answered in a clipped tone and tried to pry my wrist from his grip. 

He didn't let go though. "I didn't know you know what's decent and what's not. After your attempts of trying to seduce me, I thought you would be happy that I'm standing this close to you, giving you attention and touching your hand. Apparently, you're not slightly moved by my actions."

"That's because," I said and struggled to remove his grip, "I have no intention of seducing you."

"That what is your intentions?" he questioned and gripped harder, looking at me directly in the eye. 

The look he was giving me told me that he wasn't playing around. "Why are you here in the palace? You said you're of lowly ranking, your aunt is only a concubine, so why the hell did mother offer you to be married to the Crown Prince?"

"I don't know," I told him and tried to keep my voice from shaking. "Let go of me. You're starting to hurt me."

He released my wrist but did it roughly. I rubbed the raw red skin of my wrists and glared at him. "What do I have to do to have you leave me alone and proof that I truly have nothing up my sleeve?"

"Leave the palace and never marry anyone of high ranking. That would be good enough but with mother wanting to help out with your marriage, it isn't possible. All women have something up their sleeve, more so those who have no rank," he spat out, the hatred in his tone making me shiver. 

"Because I have no rank, does it mean that I want to climb higher? No! I just want to live a good life. Please leave me alone and I won't disturb you at all," I bargained, the tears threatening to escape my eyes.