39 First Conversation

She was lost. Yu Mei actually got herself lost while going to the restroom. She didn't take Chu'mei with her since she was only going to the restroom. Who knew the bathroom would be so far. It took her five minutes to find it. Now that she was done doing her business, every corner looked the same. Yu Mei didn't know where to go from here. It felt like a maze. [My food! *wuwuwu*] Yu Mei did not care that she was lost; she only cared about her food. Yes, she was angry with Pei Nan but not to the point where she couldn't eat anymore.

Yu Mei was running around like a lost puppy. *leaves crackling*

She was saved.

Yu Mei turned around happily.

The next moment, she wanted to run away. Of all people, it had to be Gu Shao. He almost couldn't keep a straight face as he made his way towards her. "Consort Pan," he greeted politely.

"What a coincidence meeting you here," she awkwardly replied back.

"En! Are you lost?" still in a respectful tone, he asked.

"Lost? Me? No way. *hehehe* I came to get some fresh air." Yu Mei would never admit she was lost. It was too embarrassing. How could she get lost in her father-in-law's own place. Gu Shao tried hard to not laugh at her lie. If she knew she was already caught, she would never had lied. He had followed her after she got out of the bathroom. He saw her running around like a crazy woman. She would run towards one path and come straight back with a flustered expression. Even if he couldn't see her lips, her eyes were expressing how flustered and lost she was. Gu Shao was laughing hard in the distance but after a while he felt bad, thus he showed up. "Well then, I won't disturb your walk anymore. I'll be heading back." Gu Shao turned around to leave.

"Wait. I'm done with my walk. I'll come along," Yu Mei didn't waste any time to tag along. If she didn't go with him, she could be lost for hours. Gu Shao let out a mischievous smile. He purposely took the wrong path. Yu Mei who was oblivious to this whole situation continued to follow him like a lost puppy. They walked side by side. Gu Shao couldn't help but keep looking at her wrist. It was covered by her sleeve but he was sure he had seen it. When she was teasing Pei Nan with the chicken, he saw it on her wrist. "Consort Pan, if you don't mind me asking, where did you get that jade bracelet from?" once again being polite to her.

"Oh this?" Yu Mei lifted her hand and pulled her sleeve far up. "Isn't it pretty?"

"It's very pretty. I happened to catch a glimpse of it and it looks like a rare piece of blood jade."

"Is it? Can I sell it for a lot? To be honest, I don't remember where I got it from either?" Yu Mei was being honest.

"Did you by chance get it as a gift?"

"You're right! I did get it as a gift." Yu Mei played along. It was better than trying to come up with a lie herself. Gu Shao was hopeful again. "Who was it?"

"I don't remember. I got it back when I was still in Wei."

"Was it a young lad by chance?" Gu Shao didn't want to give up looking for Xu Ren. There was no way there were two identical blood jade of this quality and design. Yu Mei must have met Xu Ren.

After a few more questions, Yu Mei felt Gu Shao was acting strange. He was starting to get really worked up about her bracelet. *Hehehe* "Prince Shao, if you like this bracelet, you can have it." Yu Mei proceeded to take it off. Gu Shao put his hand on top of hers, stopping her. "I didn't mean it like that. I was just curious. I didn't mean to make it awkward for you." Gu Shao dropped the topic.

After a few more minutes, Yu Mei realized how long their walk back to the palace was. She turned to face Gu Shao. "Are you sure you know where you are going?" This question made Gu Shao flustered. He practically grew up in this palace, how would he not know where the main hall was. He let out a sigh of disbelief. "Are you saying I am an idiot? I'm the youngest prince of this palace, how can I not know where I'm going?"

"If you are lost, just admit it." Yu Mei lightly told him off. "What kind of prince gets lost in their own palace. Only an idiot" She threw in another casual comment, insulting him unintentionally. Gu Shao took offense to it. "If you know so well, you lead us out then." He crossed his arms. Yu Mei this time sighed in disbelief. [Woah~ what a child.] She squint her eyes and shook her head disapprovingly. Gu Shao didn't get another word in when Chu'mei appeared in front of them. "Xiaojie, you have been gone for so long." A worried Chu'mei held onto her arm. "I lost my way. He was no help either." Yu Mei ruthlessly blamed Gu Shao. Chu'mei was too occupied looking for her lady; she did not see Gu Shao there. "Prince Shao," she quickly greeted.

Chu'mei diverted her attention back to Yu Mei. "Prince Nan is looking for you."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Yu Mei rolled her eyes before following Chu'mei back. After two steps, she turned back. "If you don't want to get lost, follow us." Yu Mei mockingly said before continuing.

"I wasn't lost." He mumbled under his breath.

Yu Mei walked back like nothing happened. She also didn't care how irritated Pei Nan looked. To add on, she was coming back with Gu Shao. She had been gone for more than 30 minutes. Yu Mei casually sat back down and continued to eat. "You were gone for so long. Don't tell me you were with my brother?" Pei Nan slightly leaned over and whispered.

"So what if I was with Prince Shao. Can I not talk to my brother-in-law?" she continued to press his buttons.

"Yu Mei, when did you grow a sharp tongue." He insulted her but Yu Mei wouldn't take it so easily.

"Thank you. I learned it from the best." She looked him in the eyes as if saying; she learned these unkind but clever remarks from him. "Don't tell me you are angry at me? I was only telling the truth." She rolled her eyes at him.

Fei Ning who was still sitting on the right was getting annoyed. She hated when Pei Nan ignored her. Even if it was only for a few minutes.

Gu Shao on the other hand was still preoccupied with the blood jade bracelet on Yu Mei's hand. Now that he had seen it up close, he had no doubt it was a pair. But how did someone like Yu Mei come in contact with a person like Xu Ren. It didn't make sense to him. Yu Mei was known for being rash and impulsive while Xu Ren was optimistic and carefree. The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't believe it. The only possible explanation was that the pair of bracelet was separated at one point.

Gu Shao didn't know when he had started to stare over at Yu Mei and Pei Nan. He found it funny that the two of them were bickering in public. It was quiet where only Pei Nan and Yu Mei could hear themselves but Pei Nan's irritated expression and Yu Mei's constant eye rolling were too obvious.

Somewhere towards the end of the banquet, Pei Nan and Yu Mei had gone silent. They were clearly ignoring each other after bickering about who the rude one in the marriage was. And just like that, the dinner was over.

Pei Nan and Fei Ning were the first ones to leave the table, followed by Ji Er and Ming Yan. Gu Shao waited until Yu Mei got up. The two of them walked side by side behind Ji Er and Ming Yan. "You and Pei Nan don't get along well?" he whispered.

"You're right. He's such a stupid man. How did you survive growing up with him?" *Cough/snort* Gu Shao almost burst out in laughter. This was the first woman to talk bad about Pei Nan in front of him. Yu Mei looked at Gu Shao. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He said after calming down. "You're right. He is really stupid. Even I don't know how I survived." Gu Shao agreed. He couldn't see Yu Mei's smile but her eyes that curved into cute little crescents showed how happy she was. "Right? How can a prince act like that? Sometimes I wonder why I even married him. His brain is filled with air." She lightly said, creating a friendly atmosphere for the two of them.

Their conversation was cut short. The carriages were right in front of them. Yu Mei bid farewell to Gu Shao before getting into the carriage. As Gu Shao watched both Pei Nan and Yu Mei's carriages leave, he let out a small smile. [Consort Pan, you are nothing like the rumors.] Gu Shao had to admit, Yu Mei was nothing like the rumors he once believed in. In his opinion, she was very lively, sarcastic and blunt. She was unlike any other woman he knew at all.

In the seven months that Yu Mei had married Pei Nan, this was the first time Gu Shao had started a conversation with her. If it wasn't for the jade bracelet, he would never have had this chance to talk to her. He was thankful, thankful to Xu Ren.