There's a Lump in My Tail

A Lumpy Romance

Chuckling softly to himself, Ye Hua really couldn't help but love the silly little girl who hadn't yet figured out that he was her tree poker.  He knew without a doubt, that if faced with her ankles one day and her face the next, he would have worked out she was one and the same by her energy and voice alone.

And suddenly the urge to continue with his little game to see how long it would take for her to figure it out was on him as he made his way back to the Peach Tree Grove., was all that was on his mind.  He had heard Zhe Yan mention that she had helped him to rebury his wine and having missed out on her bath the night before, he automatically assumed that she would return for it the next day seeing as his meeting with her had ended rather late in the evening.

In all, it had been a productive meeting.  They had shared a little small talk, asked a few questions and even held hands until her mother came to fetch her.  A promise to meet again was also made for two weeks time which was when his proposal would or wouldn't be accepted and if so, then the contracts from both sides would be signed before being officially released to the rest of the world.

And so for a time, his mind freely dwelt on what a marriage to her might be like for him.  His life was orderly and neat.  He followed all the rules to the letter, and kept himself to himself.  It wasn't that he was anti social, but being the Crown Prince of the Celestial Heavens carried a high degree of responsibilty, so keeping to himself meant he was less likely to make mistakes or cause offence.  If anything, his life was far too predictable, and in Bai Qian, he had found the perfect outlet to let loose.

Only this little girl who was now on his mind more often than not, was beginning to have an affect on his work.  Only that morning, he had been ordered to appear before his Grandfather.  Having issued the order for several palace maids to gather an array of flowers from the Celestials botanical gardens for a special bouquet he planned to give Bai Qian when he met with her again, saw far too many taken from their duties which meant there wasn't enough left to carry out the day to day tasks, and that included tending to his Grandfathers morning needs.

Being an elder who needed a little extra care with his personal grooming, Haode utilized many of the maids to assist him with bathing, dressing, breakfast and general cleaning of his quarters and all before the first round of meetings began.  Only Ye Hua had sent his Grandfathers maids off on a flower exhibition which he was not too pleased about.

But worse was a letter Ye Hua had written to a visiting Queen thanking her for generous gifts and taking the time to visit seeing as she rarely visited the Celestial Heavens.  Only his letter which should have been a straight forward one that he had writen many times before had him bowing his head in embarrassment when his Grandfather read it back to him.

"Your Majesty.
I wish to convey my gratitude for your visit to the Celestial Heavens, which we are so rarely afforded.  The lumps of sugar certainly went down a treat.  The passing of time does not hinder the memory of the pleasure I get everytime I think of your lump.  In fact, should you have a desire to visit again, which I know you will, I will bring a special lump just for you.  A big red swollen lump that only your sugary mouth can heal.  
Don't keep me waiting, you know what will happen if you do. 
Crown Prince Ye Hua."

"Kindly explain this letter!" his Grandfather had asked stone faced and angry having had the letter sent back to him with another that was not too polite nor forgiving seeing as that Queen was older than he was and nor was she impressed with what she had deemed an idle fool with nothing better to do with his time than play pranks on old ladies who were doing their best to maintain alliances.  One that had forced his Grandfather into damage control to protect it.

Now reaching the so called tree poker, Ye Huas face was once again flushing brightly at the memory of his stammering and stuttering and then kowtow that immediately followed along with a very long winded berating for allowing the Princess of Qing Qiu to sully his thoughts when he should have been focusing on his job.