8 Preparation

Prince Nan was in his study room reading official reports. It only looked like he was focused at first glance...but his attention was not on these reports but the door. His eyes kept moving from the papers to the door every few minutes, as if waiting for someone. Advisor Xu, who was right beside him the whole time couldn't figure out what was wrong with his buddy.

Advisor Xu or Xu Hou Lei could be described as tall, masculine and well groomed, just like Pei Nan but their attitudes were as different as day and night. Even though he was Pei Nan's personal advisor, he was also a friend, someone who has known Pei Nan since 10. 10 years later and they were still together.

"Aiya…my dear prince, so early in the morning…who are you waiting for," Hou Lei exaggerated his sigh, slightly teasing his friend. Pei Nan ignored the trouble-making Hou Lei. He kept his eyes on the report when he had been caught looking at the door. "You're ignoring me now? Don't tell me you are really waiting for her!" Hou Lei whispered the last part into his ears. Pei Nan turned and gave a warning glare to Hou Lei. Immediately, the guy stepped back, acting as if he was terrified of his friend. "I'm not waiting for Consort Pan, why would I wait for her," Pei Nan set his report down, trying to look as if he wasn't waiting for her. Hou Lei pointed his finger at Pei Nan and laughed. "I can see it all over your face. Did something happen between the two of you?" Hou Lei asked. He knew his buddy well enough, there has never been a time he looked for Consort Pan. So why was he now?

"Let me tell you, I am not waiting for her because I miss her but because I think she might do something reckless again," The three days that he put her under house arrest had already passed, shouldn't she be looking for him first thing in the morning. He had almost finished reading all his reports yet she was nowhere to be found. It didn't make sense to him. No matter how bad he was to her in the past, she would always come looking for him everyday.

Back at the Southern Palace, Yu Mei was concocting her own little scheme. Even before the sun was out the very next morning, she had given Chu'mei a small list of herbs she needed. Luckily everything on that list was common herbs that Chu'mei could get from the medicine room. Laid out in front of Yu Mei were three different herbs but only one herb truly mattered to her…Salvia Leaf. Salvia leaf was known for it's hallucination traits but it also had a very distinctive mint taste. That's where the other two came in, to hide the taste of mint.

After smashing all the herbs together in the small grinding pot in front of her, she took out a small tea packet of Oolong tea…Consort Ning's tea. Consort Ning had an obsession with Oolong tea, everyone knew that.

Yu Mei carefully slit the packet open and poured it into the grinding pot. After mixing her herbs with the Oolong, she carefully placed the content back into the tea packet and sealed it off. Yu Mei held up her little creation to her face and smiled wickedly.

By the afternoon, thanks to Chu'mei's good rumor spreading skills, everyone had already found out about Pan Yu Mei's sudden fever. No one knew what happened to her for the last three days because she was under house arrest, so of course they believed it without questioning. As soon as the ban was lifted, Chu'mei was running around like crazy, asking for medicine to cure her lady. At this time, Chu'mei had successfully cried and made a scene at the Northern Palace. Her mission succeeded after she had swapped out the tea packet with the one Consort Ning's maid was carrying.

By early evening, the rumors had already gone crazy. At first it was Pan Yu Mei catching a high fever to Consort Pan might not make it.

When Chu'mei got back to the Southern Palace, she saw her lady sitting with both legs spread out, resting on another stool at the dining hall. She had a very mischievous look on her face….one word to describe this scene, unladylike. Chu'mei walked over to Yu Mei. "Xiaojie, you have been acting very strange lately, did you catch a fever?"

"Silly girl, I told you already. I lost all my memories. If I do weird things in the future, it's because I don't recall anything," Yu Mei explained to Chu'mei once more. In the last few days, she didn't know how many times she had to explain this to Chu'mei. Chu'mei once again nodded but in her head, she didn't understand at all. Even if her lady has amnesia, shouldn't she have at least kept an ounce of her traits and personality? Did it make sense to change overnight?Her lady was always obsessed about Prince Nan and talked about him from morning to night. Always yelling and causing trouble like a spoiled brat when she didn't get her way...but now she was calm and mischievous. Her lady didn't even speak about Prince Nan once!

By evening, when Prince Nan came back from the Emperor's palace, he had gotten news of Consort Pan's fever. When he first heard of it, he shrugged it off as if her death had nothing to do with him. An hour later, it was another story. Pei Nan was already in his sleeping gown, lying on his bed. His eyes were wide open, he could not fall asleep. He had been staring at his bedroom ceiling for almost an hour now. [Pei Nan, are you crazy? Why should her life matter to you? Isn't it better if she dies?] Pei Nan kept trying to convince himself that her death was none of his business.

Next thing he knew, he was already dressed and headed towards the Southern Palace.

Around the same time, Yu Mei and Chu'mei were also preparing to leave. Chu'mei had just returned from checking to see if the coast was clear. The moment Yu Mei turned around, Chu'mei's legs almost gave in on her. Her lady was scary and even ugly? Yu Mei smiled at the petrified Chu'mei, the look on Chu'mei's face confirmed that her efforts were not in vain.

Yu Mei spent an hour to powder her face until it was pure white. She had smeared black eyeshadow all around her eyes as if she was a panda. To top off her look, she had dark red lips with some of the red drawn in a vertical streak coming from the corner of her lips, as if she was throwing up blood. Yu Mei's long hair was split down the middle, covering half her face. To finish off her ghostly appearance was a long white dress; there was no way Consort Ning would not pass out from this. *kekeke* Yu Mei couldn't help but let out another evil laugh. Her plan was great, too great! *Growl* Pan Yu Mei held her stomach, why was she hungry at this moment very moment. She turned to look at Chu'mei and smiled. "Chu'mei, go get me a pork dumpling first, then we'll head out," Yu Mei felt there was no rush, the later it was, the less people there were.

Chu'mei returned and quickly slammed the door shut. She leaned on the door in a panicked state. Yu Mei looked down at Chu'mei's hands. It was empty. "Why have you returned? Where is my food?" Chu'mei shook her head left and right a few times. "Not good…Prince Nan is here!"