Sharing a Pavilion With You
Chapter 147: I Would Never Give You Cause for Jealousy

Chapter 147: I Would Never Give You Cause for Jealousy

As Meili moved to climb into the carriage, the Crown Prince dismounted and offered her his hand to help her climb up onto the platform.

She took it, though she knew this was just the start of him continuing his pursuit of her. A course of action from which she didn’t seem to be able to dissuade him.

Now that he was nearby and there was no audience to overhear them, she lowered her voice and said to him, "Zhu Yicai, is this really a good idea? What does your wife think about you accompanying me on this trip to the temple?"

"I haven’t told her, and it’s none of her business. Why would I care what that woman thinks about anything I do?" his voice dripped with distaste.

"Because she’s your wife," Mei Meili said gently. "Because she will find out anyway, and that will be more hurtful to her. Because she’s probably already very sensitive to your interactions with me and other women."

"She has no reason to be. She has the position of my wife. What more can the woman want or expect? She clearly knew I didn’t love her, but she pushed for this marriage anyway. Now that I’m the Crown Prince, she knows there will be a harem in the future should I be crowned the Emperor. Jealousy is a potential ground for divorce; she’ll need to be careful," he hinted at a possible future outcome.

"Jealousy is also an ordinary human emotion and quite understandable from your wife who loves you," she tried to be fair, even though she and Li Fengfeng were enemies.

"If you were to agree to be mine, Mei Meili, I would never give you cause for jealousy. I can promise you that," his eyes were so intense she almost had to look away.

"You know I won’t willingly agree to join your harem, Crown Prince. And if I did, I would of course be jealous, because you already have a wife, and if you become the Emperor, you will certainly be expected to take other women into your harem for political alliances and to ensure there are sufficient heirs.

That is how it has always been, and is as it should be. It’s just not the life that I want. I want to be a wife, Zhu Yicai," she said to him earnestly. "I want my children to be the sons and daughters of the legitimate wife."

If only she would fall in love with him, he thought. Love would overcome all hurdles. Instead of always seeing problems, she would be planning their lives out, together with him.

"That could still be possible, if you agree to be mine," he said seriously.

Her eyes widened. "How could that be, Yicai? You would have to divorce Li Fengfeng, or... worse..."

She couldn’t bring herself to say the words ’kill her’.

"There is a very long road ahead before I sit on the dragon throne, Meili. Much will happen between now and then."

She noticed him call her informally.

She really couldn’t imagine what could possibly happen to remove his wife, unless it was a calamity caused by Zhu Yicai, and she certainly did not want to see him stoop to such acts, it would not be good for his soul if he did.

"No doubt, Crown Prince, but let that ’much’ involve politics and important court matters, rather than your wife and the other members of your harem. Innocent women should not be dragged into the mire."

"She’s hardly an ’innocent woman’, Meili. You, of all people, must know that."

"I do. But my grudge with Li Fengfeng is my own to act on. I really don’t wish to see you do anything you’ll later regret, especially not on my behalf."

"If not me, then who, Meili? I wish to be the man to honour and protect you. Your problems are my problems, your grudges are my grudges."

Agreeing to have him accompany her to the temple had been a mistake, she could see that already. She should have taken the pain earlier and simply refused to have him join her. Though no doubt he would have pulled rank anyway...

She sighed deeply.

The past few months had been tumultuous, filled with joy, fear, danger and unexpected twists and turns. Her feelings for the Crown Prince were tangled now. There was gratitude for his unwavering support and protection and for saving her life, mingled with a sadness that their relationship had shifted, becoming something more complex and fraught.

Her determination to keep their interactions at arms’ length was constantly undermined by him.

But despite her frustration at not being able to remain ordinary friends with him, she also had enormous empathy for the man. He could not help where his heart settled, any more than she could! And unfortunately for him, his heart had settled on a woman who loved another.

She could recognise the tenderness in his eyes and the softness in his voice when he spoke to her, now that she had experienced these feelings herself, with Bai Li.

The looks he gave to her were familiar to her now, and she could only imagine the pain she would feel if those feelings in her heart were unrequited!

And to add insult to injury, the unfortunate man had been forced to marry a woman he didn’t love.

How she wished he would fall head over heels in love with another woman, who could return his love in kind!

She straightened her shoulders, reminding herself to be compassionate and kind to the poor man.

"Those are beautiful words, Zhu Yicai. I wish I was the woman deserving of them, but that is not our fate."

She delicately removed her hand from his and climbed into the carriage box.

Her heart ached, but she knew that being honest with him was the only way to navigate the delicate balance of their relationship.

She hoped that the temple might offer him the solace he so desperately needed and deserved.

The Crown Prince watched the beautiful woman climb into the carriage box and slip away out of his sight.

She may end up being surprised by her own fate... he thought.