11 Unfairly Blamed

The night was truly too short for Yu Mei but she woke up with a delightful smile on her face. Her long hair was all twisted in a mess but that was the least of her worries. With both hands raised in the air, she began to stretch and yawn at the same time. [Today is going to be a good day] Yu Mei couldn't help but smile brightly. She got off the bed, put on her shoes and walked towards the window. Using both hands, she flung the window open. Yu Mei closed her eyes and took a deep breath as the morning sun hit her face. It was truly such a wonderful morning. Her heart was content. She decided right there and then that it was too beautiful to not go out. Yu Mei quickly put her hair into a messy bun, put an outer robe on and stepped outside.

Her steps were steady and slow as she walked along the outside halls, skimming her fingers along the red wood rails. "Good morning madame," a few maids passing by bowed and greeted her. Then they quickly left as if they were afraid. The same thing happened again when more maids walked byYu Mei. By the third time, Yu Mei had sensed something was wrong. Luckily, a lone maid was walking by herself. Yu Mei quickly stopped her. "What is wrong with everyone? Why is everyone acting as if I am scary?" Yu Mei put her hands on her hip and looked at the little girl full of intimidation. "My lady, please forgive but…I don't know. I only hear that you are..." the little girl put her head down, afraid to look at Yu Mei.

"Am what?"

"Possessed..."

"Why would I be possessed? I'm perfectly well, aren't I?"

"Please forgive me, I must go," the maid didn't wait for Yu Mei to finish speaking as she dashed away full of fear. Yu Mei tried to ask another maid but only managed to scare her off like the first. There was no one willing to tell her what happened. What possessed? Yu Mei scratched her head.

Yu Mei kept walking along the walls until she spotted a bunch of maids and servants gathered by the pond, gossiping. Without a second thought, she quickly walked around and hid behind a huge statue. Her ears peeked as she eavesdropped into their conversation.

"Are you sure Consort Pan is dead? That a ghost possesses her?"

"I heard from the Northern Palace, Consort Ning has fallen ill because of Consort Pan. She kept saying that she saw the ghost of Consort Pan," Many of them felt a chill up their spine. "No one's seen Consort Pan in the last few days; it's got to be true,"

The hidden Pan Yu Mei let out a silent "Ah" as if she had discovered a huge secret. Yu Mei was shameless enough to want to praise herself. Her acting last night was too superb, it even got Consort Ning sick. But ghost? She couldn't let these people smear her good name like that. What if Pei Nan heard of this? Would he bring an exorcist? She couldn't let that happen.

*Clears throat* Yu Mei walked out from behind the statue, scaring all the maids and servants in front of her. All of them stared at the ground, "Greetings to Consort Pan," they simultaneously spoke, still shivering from fear. Yu Mei took two steps closer to them. "You all don't need to be afraid of me, look at me," she gave them a creepy smile but none of them dared to look up, "Look at me," this time, she was much sterner. No one dared to disobey her this time as their heads lifted up. "Much better…so I hear, everyone thinks I am possessed?"

"We dare not," they all shook their heads.

"I can assure you, I am not possessed. I only caught a small cold, how could I possibly die? Besides, If Consort Ning did not do anything wrong, why would she dream of me…as if she was guilty?" Yu Mei let it sink into their heads as she walked passed them confidently. She could hear their gossiping as she left.

"Consort Pan is right! Why would Consort Ning see Consort Pan in her dreams if she didn't do anything wrong?"

"Unless she had bad intentions toward Consort Pan," Everyone was speculating the true cause of the ghost and Consort Ning's illness.

Back at the Northern Palace, Consort Ning was on her bed, accompanied by Prince Nan sitting at the bedside. His hands were holding hers, "Go away, Pan Yu Mei, I didn't kill you…" Fei Ning muttered in her sleep. Pei Nan turned to the doctor, "Is she okay?"

"Replying to your highness, Consort Ning has a small fever, most likely due to the shock, she will be fine after resting for a few days,"

"Go may go," once the doctor left, he stared at the two maids in front of him, kneeling. "Li Luo, Siu Luo, how did you two take care of Consort Ning? How could you let this happen," he scolded them.

Li Luo was the first to speak, "Your highness, please forgive us. I don't know what happened, one moment we were watching Consort Ning and then the next moment, I don't know what happened. I blacked out," Siu Luo shook her head in agreement. At this time, Feng Ju, Pei Nan's personal guard had just arrived. He whispered his finding to Pei Nan. His expression turned even darker upon hearing the news. He quickly stood up and left the room with Feng Ju following behind.

The two of them were walking towards the southern path, straight towards the Southern Palace. "Are you sure it was started by Consort Pan?"

"Your highness, from what I got from the servants, this morning, Consort Pan did not act guilty or suspicious. She merely spoke a few words implying that Consort Ning must have had done something wrong. Many people are speculating,"

"Pan Yu Mei!" he bit his lips from frustration. It was her again, causing trouble.

The atmosphere was bad everywhere except for the Southern Palace. Yu Mei was outside relaxing on a hand carved rocking chair, enjoying the view. There were two maids on both sides, holding up a pink parasol each, blocking the sun for her. Chu'mei stood under the shade with her, holding onto a platter of grapes. In each of Yu Mei's hand were a handful of grapes. Her mouth was not resting one bit, one after another, she popped a grape into her mouth. "Today is such a nice day, don't you agree Chu'mei?" another grape disappeared from her mouth. Chu'mei leaned over, "Xiaojie, how can you have time to enjoy the weather? Aren't you afraid Prince Nan will find out?" Even if Yu Mei was not worried, Chu'mei was worried for her lady. Yu Mei looked at the grapes in her hand sadly, "Aiya, I usually don't give up my food but I'll hand them to you," she took Chu'mei's hand and handed over all her grapes to her. "Relax and enjoy these grapes. There's no way he will find out," there was nothing but calmness and a hint of happiness in her voice. Yu Mei placed both her hands behind her head and leaned in a comfortable position. "I'm quite happy today, don't ruin it for me," she closed her eyes.

Not long later, the shade she was under quickly withdrew. The bright sun hit her face; Yu Mei used her hand to cover her eyes as they slowly adjusted to the brightness. "Aiya, what are you two doing?" she turned around to scold the two maids. They weren't there, neither was Chu'mei. They all disappeared, and were replaced by a handsome but gloomy Pei Nan. Yu Mei swore she could see a dark cloud hanging over his head. Her body reacted before her mind could. One jump later and she was on her feet. "Your highness, what are you doing here?" Yu Mei was not prepared for Pei Nan to be here. "I am your husband and this is my palace, why can I not come?" not an ounce of kindness could be heard from his voice. Yu Mei pouted her lips and rolled her eyes. "That's true, this is your palace, you have every right to be here," Yu Mei sarcastically copied him but she would not admit to the part where she was his wife. There was no way she would ever admit to being this petty and biased man's wife. She didn't know that her sarcasm had really infuriated him. He took two steps toward her, Yu Mei stood firmly. "I see you are quite happy today,"

"Very happy, the weather is so nice today," she pointed to the blue sky and faked a bright smile.

"You must also be very happy that Fei Ning has fallen ill," he took another step closer. This step led them to be very close to each other, one more small step and they would be touching. "What? Consort Ning has fallen ill?" Yu Mei let out an exaggerated fake shock.

"It was you, wasn't it?" he took another step forward but this time, Yu Mei had no choice but to take one step back."Me? WHOA!" she let out another sigh, filled with disbelief. "I was also very sick, you even saw it last night, how could I have the strength to do anything to Consort Ning,"

"Then why did you spread the rumors that Fei Ning did you wrong?" he kept walking forward, Yu Mei backed away until she hit the bamboo fence. She looked down; they were right under the lotus pond. Did he not know how deep it was? Was he trying to kill her? Yu Mei placed both hands firmly onto the fence as she spoke, "I only said that people who do wrong would dream about their crimes. How would I have known people were going to misinterpret what I said, hmph!" No matter what, Yu Mei would refuse to admit her crimes in front of him. "Pan Yu Mei, how can you still be so stubborn when you almost killed someone," his hands were placed on the rails, with his body leaning forward. There noses almost touched. Yu Mei held in her breath and leaned backward, arching her back. [Damn it Petty Nan, I'm not flexible. My back hurts already, scoot over] she secretly scolded him. She let out a loud sigh, "Then what about when she tried to kill me? Just because I am not favored, does that mean I should take this injustice," this was the second time meeting him and yet she had already raised her voice at him. "Pan Yu Me! How can you be so shameless, it was you who jumped into the lake yourself. Didn't you do that to get my attention?" Pan Yu Mei was so furious at his accusations that she unknowingly took her hand off the rail and was about to strangle him. *Wobble* *Wobble* Pan Yu Mei felt her body lose balance, she had forgotten just how arched her back had been just now. Her arms flailed in the air. In those few moments, she made eye contact with Pei Nan but he just stood there. He had no intention of helping her. "Ahhh~" Yu Mei's whole body flipped into the water with a huge splash. Her head plopped out of the water, hair covering her face like seaweed as she screamed, "Help me, HELP ME!" she screamed a few times, her head going in and out of the water a few times. Pei Nan didn't even take one glance, his feet kept walking further and further away from her. "Help…." Her cry for help suddenly stopped. Pei Nan's feet froze, "Pan Yu Mei, you better not be playing anything, answer me," no reply. He rushed over to the fence and looked below. It was calm and there was no sign of Pan Yu Mei anywhere...