Sharing a Pavilion With You
Chapter 139: Encounter in a Dark Alley

Chapter 139: Encounter in a Dark Alley

[Suggested song for this Chapter – The Crown Main Title, Hans Zimmer]

Zhu Yicai searched his Father-in-law’s inscrutable face for any tells, but he could find none. Nor should he have expected any. The man was a master at hiding his emotions.

"Of course, when she married me, I was the Second Prince, and she could only have expected lowly concubines to join our household. She did not seek my promotion to Crown Prince, but now that it has happened, I must build a harem which will include women of families needed to cement my position and support my future reign."

"Well said, Son-in-law. I will have a word with my Feng-er. She must of course come to terms with this new state of affairs, which is only right and natural. There is a corner of hell reserved for the jealous wife, and we must not see her sent down there," he chuckled.

"Fengfeng will, of course, always be the first wife, and in charge of the harem, so she should have no cause for jealousy," the Prince was unsmiling. "I will not give her a reason to feel jealous, I will not slight her position, but all men have desires and needs, which should not trouble her when she is in so exalted a position."

"Indeed, she has no cause for jealousy. It is beneath her, and she was taught to be better behaved than that. Beauties will come and go; these dalliances are fleeting in a long and harmonious marriage. Concubines will rise and fall in favour like the waves of the ocean, but the wife is the headland, always standing strong and proud against the wash of the sea."

"We are of one mind on this, Father-in-law. I will be working to extract Lord Mei’s only daughter from my Father’s services to join my harem. His is a long line of military strategists I need by my side. I believe the Bai family have a daughter born of a concubine who may be an asset to me also."

"Two important families. Though you already have the loyalty of Commander Bai and the Mei sons, an alliance through marriage is an unyielding cement. Once you are the Emperor, there will be many consorts and concubines. Don’t worry about that Feng’er of mine. She will make a wonderful Empress..."

There were a lot of mountains to climb before he had to resolve the issue of who would be his Empress, so he did not attempt to contradict his Father-in-law, and simply nodded.

"Thank you Father-in-law. I will leave it to you then. I would hate for her to join forces with some of the members of the Emperor’s harem whose practises dealing with their rivals have been underhand and vicious. The fish rots from the head, as they say, so Fengfeng must set the right example."

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Meili and Tricky were walking down a dark and narrow palace alley that lead to the small kitchen where she prepared the Emperor’s tea and snacks for him.

She was to prepare his final tisane before he retired to bed. She had been experimenting of late with a blend of orange and cinnamon which he was particularly partial to.

The girl and her dog were about halfway down the alley when two guards in a uniform she didn’t recognise stepped out from a side path, followed by two eunuchs.

The alley was poorly lit, so she jumped a little at their sudden presence, but she was not concerned to see guards patrolling down here, on the contrary, it was a good thing.

"Court Lady Mei?" one of the guards said as they approached her.

"Yes," she replied politely, "that’s me".

"You’re to come with us," he said roughly, moving in too close to her.

"What?" she asked with surprise. "But I’m fetching the Emperor’s tea and snacks before he retires for the night. I must do that before I go anywhere else. Where do you want me to go at this late hour, anyway?"

The two guards looked at one another and nodded, before they rushed forward and grasped her by the shoulders and wrists, starting to manhandle her in the direction they had come from.

"W...what?" she gasped, startled. "Wait! Stop! Where are you taking me? Help!" she raised her voice in alarm.

One of the guards shoved his hand violently over her mouth.

Now she was truly frightened.

"Mmph, mmph," she struggled to scream from under the rough, calloused hand that was pressed to her lips, but the sound was muffled and faint.

Tricky went into feral mode the moment she screamed ’help’, snarling and barking at the men who were dragging his mistress away against her will.

She dug her feet into the cobbles trying to slow the men down, but they simply picked her up like she was a ball of cotton, carrying her with her tiny legs kicking in the air as she struggled to break free from them.

Tricky latched onto the leg of a guard, "bloody mongrel bit me on the calf!" the man cursed, but he didn’t slow down from the quick trot they were carrying her away at.

The Chow Chow dashed forward and bit the other guard, jumping up so his paws were on the man’s back and biting into his shoulder blade.

The man screeched, but he didn’t drop his prisoner or remove his hand from her mouth.

"Get rid of that dog!" the chief guard hissed at the two eunuchs.

The eunuchs drew daggers from their sleeves and started to chase after Tricky.

Meili was really terrified now, and she struggled like a cat in a hessian sack, kicking, scratching and trying to scream.

She managed to slightly dislodge the hand that was covering her mouth, and she screamed as loudly as she could before he quickly covered her lips again.

Tricky danced just beyond the reach of two dagger-wielding eunuchs, barking so loudly it wouldn’t have surprised Meili if the Emperor had heard him all the way from his bedchamber.

Surely someone would come to check on the commotion? she thought with desperation.

"Shut that bloody dog up!" growled the leader.

"I’m trying," panted one of the eunuchs, "but the stinky bastard stays just out of my reach".

"Let’s get the hell out of here and get this bitch back to the Palace of Purity," said the other guard, starting to run while carrying her.

The Palace of Purity? These were the former Crown Prince’s guards? Meili’s mind was racing.

What could Prince Haoran possibly want from her? Wasn’t he under house arrest and only allowed to see family members? This didn’t seem legitimate...