54 Petty Tricks

The small group hadn't been out for more than 5 minutes when they made their first stop. The Jini Jade store. A reputable shop with the finest hand crafted jades.

Empress Ping didn't hesitate to buy the biggest and heaviest jade hairpin she could find. She didn't need it. It was for something else...

"Take it." The elder jade owner said, holding a wrapped sack in front of Yu Mei's face. Yu Mei looked at the owner with a dumbfounded look. [Who do you take me for?]

"Did you not hear me? Take it quickly." The owner started to get fussy with her.

Yu Mei took the wrapped jade from the owner's hand without saying anything back. She didn't feel it was worth quarreling with the ignorant owner. Not to mention, this was her mother-in-law's way of making her feel inferior. This much, Yu Mei had figured out. Petty tricks. This was where Pei Nan got his pettiness from.

As the elder man turned around, he murmured, "Servants these days…tsk, tsk."

Gu Shao took a step forward. He wasn't going to let this person talk down to Yu Mei. He was about to speak up for her when she stopped him. When he stood next to her, she elbowed him in the arm lightly, gesturing for him to let it go. Gu Shao had to bite his tongue from saying anything. Why didn't Yu Mei want him to stick up for her? This itself had started to darken his mood.

"Mother, why don't we give this to Chun and Mian (Shao's two servants who were guiding the carriage)." Gu Shao reached for the package in Yu Mei's hand when he was met with his mother's deathly glare. "Consort Pan, is it so hard for you to carry that? That jade hairpin is precious, how can I hand it to just anyone." Empress Ping explained as she haughtily looked at Yu Mei.

Fei Ning and Ming Yan watched happily from the sideline.Their expressions said it all, they were satisfied. Very satisfied with their mother-in-law.

"Mother is right. Only privileged and responsible people should be able to handle such fragile items. Thank you for trusting of me mother." Yu Mei smiled sarcastically at her.

"It's a good thing you are sensible." Empress Ping grit her teeth.

Yu Mei rolled her eyes the moment Empress Ping started walking forward with Fei Ning and Ming Yan by her side.

Two shops later…three…finally after six shops, Yu Mei's hands were piled up with packages of goods ranging from clothes to tea sets. Each item added weight and her poor arms began to get sore.

But what could she say. The simple dress she wore compared to what the others were wearing was too much of a difference. Even she would have assumed she was the maid.This automatically gave every shop owner the assumption that she was indeed the maid. It didn't help that she had been carrying the first package to start with. Shop after shop, they all thought the same. Gu Shao wanted to help Yu Mei carry them but she refused him every time. He could only watch as a persistent Yu Mei continued to endure the obvious planned intentions.

Finally, after an hour of shopping, they stopped at the famous Wild Flower Tea House, located in the rich side of town where only the wealthy could afford to dine.

"Welcome, welcome." a young server boy cheerfully greeted as they walked in. When his eyes caught sight of Fei Ning, he was at a loss for word. It was as if he had seen a fairy. Gu Shao unhappily looked at the young boy staring at the woman of his dreams. *Ahem* Gu Shao cleared his throat. "Show us to a table. We'll take a private room." Gu Shao did not sound very pleasant as he spoke. The boy looked at them suspiciously. A private room at the Wild Flower was very pricey. He wasn't sure they could afford it.

It didn't take long for Gu Shao to pull out a silver tael. The young boy quickly took the money from Gu Shao and hid it in his sleeves. The next moment, the brightest smile appeared on the boy's face. Rich customers.

"I'm sorry, come this way young masters and madams'."

The young boy didn't hesitate to give them one of the bigger private rooms. The center wall was replaced with a balcony like room where a large opened view of the streets could be viewed.The decoration was plain yet elegant. There was a combination of silver and blue curtains and decorations in the room. A round table with a silver laced table cloth was placed in the middle.

Empress Ping didn't hesitate to sit first. Everyone quickly followed suit. Yu Mei was the last to head over. She was stopped by the young boy. "We've got skilled maidens who will help with the serving. Our tea is very special and needs special training. You can stay and wait downstairs." The young boy spoke rudely to Yu Mei. Empress Ping, Fei Ning and Ming Yan almost laughed out loud when they heard how bold the young boy was. They would surely tip him well. Fei Ning was feeling especially proud. After all, it was her who put Empress Ping up to this.

Yu Mei had to count to three and take a nice long breath before smiling at him. "Understood."

Empress Ping had no intentions of clearing the misunderstanding or asking Yu Mei to sit. She simply watched Yu Mei's fading figure.

"Mother, this is too much. Sister-in-law must be feeling awful right now. What are you thinking?" Gu Shao tried to talk some sense into his mother. "Yes! Shao is right. Mother shouldn't be too cold on Yu Mei." Fei Ning added.

"I don't care. She has been too spoiled, I must show her who is the boss here. It's a good thing she is being obedient. If not, I wasn't going to be lenient with her." Empress Ping admitted. Gu Shao could only shake his head disapprovingly. This was his mother, stubborn and hot-headed. Once she decided on something, she would follow through with it. He only prayed Yu Mei could tolerate it.

Not long later, the dishes started filling the table one by one. Ji Er and Gu Shao were both feeling terrible about the situation with Yu Mei. What they didn't know was that she had actually snuck into the kitchen and was currently sitting down in the staff dining room with a round pork dumpling in each hand.

Back at the private lunch, Gu Shao was the first to speak up. His heart did not feel comfortable one bit."Mother, why don't we invite Yu Mei back? If Nan hears that Yu Mei was mistreated, how would he feel?"

"Right! Mother, Yu Mei may not always see eye to eye with you but she is still Nan's consort. Surely you wouldn't really allow her to feel wronged. Besides, Yu Mei is trying her hardest to change." Ji Er also stood up for Yu Mei.

After a few more minutes of convincing, Empress Ping finally gave in to the constant nagging. When she thought of it, she could use this chance to reprimand and scold Yu Mei. Feeling content, she allowed Gu Shao to go get Yu Mei.

Yu Mei had no clue Gu Shao was going to come find her. She had just stuffed half the dumpling in her mouth like a chipmunk when he entered. "Brother Xu." Gu Shao calmly walked in. His eyes were met with her chipmunk like features. *Pwahahah* Gu Shao couldn't help but laugh at the gluttonous Yu Mei. He thought, besides being mischievous, she could be quite cute. She had no worries in the world.

Yu Mei who was caught off guard widened her eyes as she attempted to say, "Don't call me Brother Xu. I'm going to get in trouble." But all that came out was mumble jumble. She had truly overstuffed her face.

"Brother Xu, I can't understand you. What did you say?" he teased. Gu Shao put a hand next to his ear as if he really couldn't hear her. All Yu Mei could do was angrily point a finger at him as she tried to quickly chew and swallow.

By the time she had finished everything in her mouth, Gu Shao had already taken a seat next to her. "Little tubby, how can you have the mood to eat? Shouldn't you be crying or pouting?" Gu Shao had been worried that Yu Mei would be crying in a corner by herself after being treated bad by Empress Ping. He had no clue he would encounter a carefree and hungry Yu Mei. He would have applauded if he knew she ate a whole dumpling the size of her fist in a matter of minutes.

"Hmph! Stop calling me Brother Xu. If Pei Nan hears, my head will be gone." She angrily warned him.

"Okay Brother Xu." Every chance he could get, he wanted to tease her. He got a reaction out of her. Yu Mei scrunched her nose and pointed at him as if saying, "Say it one more time, I dare you."

Gu Shao put both his hands up as if truly afraid. "I give up. I'm sorry. I'll only call you that when we are alone. How about tubby?"

"No. Don't call me that either." Yu Mei picked up another dumpling from the plate. Where did she get these dumplings from? Of course it was charged on her mother-in-law's tab.

The dumpling was so close to entering her mouth when it was snatched. "Don't eat this. I came to get you. Let's go back and have really yummy food."

"Don't want to. Give it back." Yu Mei reached for the dumpling being held hostage by Gu Shao. He was a step faster. The hand holding the dumpling shot up high in the air. "Don't eat this anymore tubby. There's tastier food upstairs. Let's go."

"Don't want." Seeing that she wouldn't be able to get the dumping, she madly crossed her hands.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why else? Your mother would never allow me to eat in peace. I would rather starve than eat with her." Hearing this, Gu Shao shook his head. The relationship between the two was worse than he thought. But then he never asked or cared in the past. He only heard Fei Ning talk about it from time to time. Still, how could he let Yu Mei starve after getting to know her?

Gu Shao had been thinking about what to do that he subconsciously placed the dumpling in his mouth. Yu Mei only caught it after he took a first bite. She had been so frustrated, she forgot. [My dumpling. Wuwuwu] Yu Mei gave him the most frustrated look. Gu Shao didn't see it. If he did, he would have immediately apologized.

As if the dumpling gave Gu Shao powers, he snapped his fingers. "I got it. Fake a fall!"

"Fake a fall?" he lost her.

"Yes. You are hungry but don't want to eat with my mother. If you sprain an ankle, we can use that excuse to go eat by ourselves. I'll treat you to the best food." Gu Shao said proudly.

*Hehehe* Yu Mei slapped his arm lightly. "When did his highness become so smart? And here I thought your brain was only filled with women and brothels."

Gu Shao was offended. Of course he was smart. Did she just now figure that out? He didn't even get a chance to scold her for that thoughtless comment when she said, "Let's go then." Yu Mei eagerly stood up. Gu Shao followed behind so he could not see the playful look on her face.

Yu Mei was ready to leave the group. In fact, she had been ready to leave the minute they stepped out. How did such a great idea not come to her? Yu Mei almost wanted to slap herself silly. Such an easy solution yet she didn't think of it.

They arrived.

Yu Mei and Gu Shao both stared at the closed door in front of them. They then turned to look at each other before nodding. [It's go time.]