Sharing a Pavilion With You
Chapter 160: Coaxing the Emperor’s Seal

Chapter 160: Coaxing the Emperor’s Seal

[Suggested song for this Chapter – Whiffing, by Borrtex]

"My Lord, would it be very forward of me to ask you to give me the grant of marriage now?"

Meili decided it would be best to strike while the iron was hot. Things changed so rapidly in the palace, who knew what the position might be tomorrow?

"It would be very forward of you yes, young lady, but you’ve caught me feeling very magnanimous on the back of this good news. I suppose I might be able to be coaxed..." he teased her.

"Really Lord?" Meili exclaimed with delight. "Just tell me everything you want, and I shall do it for you tenfold! One hundredfold! I plan to spoil you rotten from now until the day I am married," her smile was so pure and delighted it was infectious, and the Emperor gave a rare smile in return.

"You’re my witness Feng Bao," he called to the old eunuch.

The man nodded solemnly. Although he was pleased for Miss Mei, whom he liked, his first loyalty was to the Emperor, and this girl was good for him. The best female influence he had seen on his Lord since his Empress had departed this earth. He didn’t want to see her leave the palace and his Lord’s side.

His lack of enthusiasm didn’t go unnoticed by Meili, whose smile faltered slightly.

Never mind, she thought to herself, rallying, perhaps the eunuch would miss her, or he was thinking of their Lord.

She couldn’t stay in the palace forever. And if she didn’t leave soon, she would be too old to marry...

"How on earth will I sleep after you get married?" said the Emperor as she fetched him pen and paper and started to grind the ink for him. "Don’t you think you’re a bit too enthusiastic about leaving me," he asked sourly, watching the girl as she prepared everything for him to place his seal on the marriage document, moving like a whirlwind when normally she was so timid and careful.

"Of course I don’t want to leave you, Lord, but I must get married at some time. My parents expect it of me, and one day, I do want to be a mother," she said shyly.

The Emperor and Feng Bao refrained from stating the obvious, which was that He could give her all that and more, if that was everything she hoped for.

The Emperor searched her face, but it seemed that the thought didn’t even cross her mind.

Although his decision was firm, still his ego, and perhaps his heart, wished she was at least a littleconflicted...

"Hmmph, it seems like you can’t wait to leave my service, even knowing how much I need you," he grouched as he started writing the grant of marriage.

"You know that’s not true, Lord! I will miss you and Feng Bao more than anything. Perhaps Bai Li will let me come to the palace to play for you when you need me. He does work here in times of peace, after all. He can take me home after I finish and you’re sleeping."

The Emperor gave a tiny smile, slightly mollified.

"And Tricky must come with you," he growled.

"Of course! He comes everywhere with me. And if you want some Tricky-Wu time anytime, just have Chief Eunuch Feng send me word and I’ll send him to you in our carriage. I know he’ll miss you too, so he’ll need his regular visits."

It was indeed the case that Tricky had become quite attached to his alpha friend, who gave him treats and taught him tricks.

Meili watched with a growing sense of excitement as the Emperor finished writing the marriage grant and picked up his seal.

It felt very momentous as she watched him press the seal into the red ink, and then press it down on the parchment.

Her heart flipped as he did so.

She really hadn’t allowed herself to believe that she and Bai Li would overcome all of the hurdles that lay ahead of them, and that she would ever actually have the chance to marry the man she loved.

Honestly, it was enough that he loved her... marriage seemed like a beautiful dream that was floating in the sky like a cloud, too high for her to see and too intangible for her to grasp.

But now... now, it seemed like that dream might actually come true.

She couldn’t recall being so happy... except when Bai Li told her he adored her of course!

She suddenly remembered how he had told her not to try and influence the Emperor and to leave the matter of securing their marriage to him.

Her cheeks flushed pink. Would he blame her for this? She hoped not. It was the Emperor who had suggested it in the first place, not her. All she had done was ask him for the piece of paper.

Oh well, surely the end justifies the means, Li? she send him that wheedled happy thought up and over the palace walls, hoping through some mystical means it would reach him, and he would feel the good news that she now carried in her dainty hands, holding the parchment like it was the most precious thing in the world.

"Your Majesty, if it’s alright with you can I surprise Commander Bai with this marriage grant on his return from the north?"

He would be home in a week or two now that they had won the war. She longed to tell him the good news in person, instead of having the Emperor inform him by pigeon.

"Hmm, I don’t see why not. Bring him before me, and we can tell him together."

She smiled brightly, nodding. "Thank you, Lord! Now I’m going to fetch you a special new tea I’ve secured from India for you, and I’ll bake you your favourite pineapple cakes."

Feng Bao came hurrying up to the Emperor’s desk.

"A message from Commander Bai, Lord."

The eunuch handed the bamboo tube to the Emperor, and Meili stopped in her tracks, hovering not far from the two men, hoping to catch a little of the contents.