Sharing a Pavilion With You
Chapter 150: No Touching Other Men!

Chapter 150: No Touching Other Men!

[Suggested song for this Chapter – Snow White: IX. Snow White’s Canzonetta, Alexander Litvinovsky]

The Crown Prince and his guards strode into the back courtyard, clearly looking for someone. The guards spread out and started to run through the crowd, checking any women who weren’t refugees.

The Crown Prince, on the other hand, had spotted Meili immediately, without any need to weave through the exhausted and sick people sitting and lying on every available surface.

His eyes were drawn to her like magnets whenever she was in his orbit, and he heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that she was alive and well.

With her propensity to attract trouble, when he hadn’t been able to find her praying or purchasing amulets, he had immediately panicked, ordering his guards to track her down.

His eyes crinkled fondly as he watched her. Of course, if there were people who needed help, she would be there...

He looked a little more closely. Actually, what was she doing?

She appeared to be wrapping a bandage around the leg of a young man, who lay half reclined, propped up on his elbows so he could stare foolishly at her, his mouth agape.

The Crown Prince dived into the crowd, hastily pushing his way through to her.

"Meili, what are you doing?" he growled, appearing unexpectedly at her elbow.

She jumped with fright, letting out a little squeal.

"Crown Prince! You frightened me," she placed a hand on her chest as she gathered herself. "This is Young Master Meng, and he has injured his leg. As you can see I’m just replacing his bandages."

Young Master Meng looked rather frightened on hearing his nurse call this man ’Crown Prince’.

He quickly closed his mouth and lay down on his back obediently, staring straight up into the sky.

"Yes I can see that’s what you’re actually doing, but I’m asking you if what you are doing is appropriate?" he hissed in her ear.

"How can this not be appropriate?" she whispered back to him. "I am helping the monks at the temple treat the sick and wounded."

"Yes, but he’s a man, Meili! My question was a rhetorical one. Let me phrase it differently. What you are doing is not appropriate," he insisted.

"Most definitely not. Your future husband would not like it at all. And that applies if it’s me, or any other man," he advised her.

"Not that I will agree to you marrying any other man, so scratch that and just make it me," he scowled in case she thought he was opening the door to ’any other man’, as a possibility.

"If you must treat anyone, it can only be women and female children. Also, you can’t be here alone without a chaperone. It’s not safe; for your person or for your reputation."

"Well it was you who disappeared on me. And actually, I do have a chaperone," she smiled sweetly at him.

"Who?" the Prince crossed his arms in disbelief, waiting for this tall tale to play out.

Meili waved across the courtyard at Yu Yufei, who immediately started to push her way through the crowd towards them, followed by her maid.

"Who is that?" Zhu Yicai asked her, seeing a petite woman he had never laid eyes upon in his life.

He was pretty sure he knew all of Meili’s friends and acquaintances.

"This is Yu Yufei. She’s a friend of mine."

"How come I’ve never heard of her before?"

"Well, I only met her this afternoon in the temple, so you wouldn’t have heard of her or met her, neither had I."

The Crown Prince passed a hand across his eyes, looking to the heavens for some help.

"So your chaperone is a young lady of your own age, and height, whom you met for the first time an hour ago? Is that what you’re telling me?"

"Mm hm," she nodded happily. "I can tell we’re going to be great friends."

"You’re way too trusting Meili. How do you even know who she is and who her family are? She could be telling you anything."

"Her father is an Assault Commander in Bai Li’s army. She knows of Bai Li and my brothers."

" ’Knows of’... that could mean anything. How do you know she’s not a spy tasked to befriend you? Just like Tan Bowen is doing in Shanxi right now."

Meili looked flummoxed. She had never even contemplated such a thing. Why on earth would anyone target little old her for information? She didn’t know anything classified...

Anyway, from the little she knew of Yu Yufei, she was almost one hundred percent certain that the young girl was not, a spy...

Yu Yufei arrived in front of them.

"H...hello," she smiled bashfully at the incredibly handsome man who towered over her new friend with a cross look on his face, "y...you must be Meili’s chaperone," she stammered, overwrought with shyness. "M...my name is Yu Yufei," she managed to say this much with some difficulty.

Well at least he could relax on this count. If this woman was a spy or had any ulterior motives, he would give her his head.

"Yu Yufei. I would like you to meet my good friend, the Crown Prince," said Meili.

"Waah!" the girl cried out. "My apologies for my rudeness before your highness," she curtsied deeply.

"No matter, no matter," he replied. "Any friend of Meili’s is a friend of mine."

Meili noticed he had dropped the honorifics with her name, making them sound like intimates.

Yu Yufei certainly noticed the same thing, and she glanced across at Meili, wondering if she was promised to his harem.

"Yu Yufei, I understand that your father is an Assault Commander in the army that’s headed to war?"

"Yes, your highness, that’s right," she kept her head bowed respectfully.

"I’m sure your father has raised you traditionally then, and you would be in full agreement with me, that it is not at all suitable for you two young women to be touching males outside of the family in a public setting like this?"

Yu Yufei groaned internally.

She had been certain that Meili’s male chaperone would not approve of her helping the refugees unattended, and even more so when she had seen that Meili was tending to male patients.

She had fully expected the girl to get a scolding, but she really didn’t want to be drawn into the middle of something between the Crown Prince of the realm and his likely future concubine!

"H...he has highness, and you are right of course."

She looked at Meili and gave her an, ’I’m sorry but what else can I do?’ look.

Meili gave the girl a gentle smile, letting her off the hook. To be fair to her, what else could she do in front of the Crown Prince?

The Crown Prince gave Meili an ’I told you so’ eyebrow raise.

"Fine, your highness," Meili hmphed, "but if I must stop treating the male patients, you and your guards must fill the void for me, while I assist with the women and children".

"Deal!" he said quickly, with satisfaction. "And that’s female children," he clarified.

"What about male babies? May I assist with them?" she tried to widen her remit.

"No. It’s a blanket rule."

He didn’t want to end up in arguments with her about what age classified a male to be a ’baby’.

"Why does this feel so familiar?" Meili sighed. "I might have to start calling you Sixth Brother."

"You’re welcome to call me brother, Meili, but it must be gege."

Yu Yufei couldn’t help giving a tiny giggle from behind her hand.

She wondered if Mei Meili was aware that the Crown Prince was in love with her. If she was, she seemed to be in a state of wilful denial.

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