Sharing a Pavilion With You
Chapter 164: A Daring Escape

Chapter 164: A Daring Escape

"Miss Mei," came a sudden hiss.

Meili looked up to see Feng Bao crouched beside her.

"Take this with you to Commander Bai," he passed her another sealed message tube, this one slightly bigger than the message tubes carried by pigeons. "It’s of critical importance that it makes it into the Commander’s hands," he pressed the tube into her palm, and she tucked it inside her sleeve.

She nodded as seriously as she could, from her ungraceful position on her hands and knees poised before the tiny dog hole.

"I will, Chief Eunuch Feng. I will give it everything, including my life if I have to."

"You must stay alive in order to deliver it, so do you utmost to stay safe, Miss Mei. You’ve been good for our Lord, thank you for your service to the Dragon Throne," he gave her a rare smile.

Meili’s unshed tears slipped down her cheeks now.

"L...look after the Emperor for me, Feng Bao. The Crown Prince will arrive soon. Keep him alive until then."

"I’ll do my very best, Miss Mei. Take care and keep safe. I wish you a long and happy life with the Commander."

"Thank you Feng Bao, you stay safe too."

He smiled noncommittally. "Go on! Go now!" he urged her.

Meili stuck her head into the hole. Even for her, who was only five feet tall, it was a narrow fit, and she wondered if she might get stuck.

She pushed her shoulders into the gap and dragged herself on her stomach, scraping her fingernails through the damp dirt as she scrabbled for purchase.

Suddenly, she felt a push from behind, as someone gripped her by the ankles and shoved her forwards so that she shot right through the narrow dog hole and out the other side into the Emperor’s garden.

She lay panting for a minute, hidden behind the sculptural limestone towers that lined the garden’s northern wall.

After a few minutes to collect herself, she scrambled to her feet and did her best to wipe the unsightly mud from her gown and hands, before peering out across the gardens.

Jingyi Pavilion was on her right, and there appeared to be no one in the garden or the pavilion, except for a handful of maids and eunuchs running for their lives.

She didn’t waste any time and joined the fleeing servants.

She wished there was some way she could disguise her Court Lady uniform, but there was nothing that could be done about it here.

Meili caught up to two young maids who were crying and wailing with fear as they ran.

"Is the southern gate open?" she asked them.

"Yes, but it guarded by Prince Haoran’s men, and they won’t let anybody leave," one of the girls wailed.

"Where are you going then?" she asked them.

"We’re going to try the eastern gate."

"It’s probably guarded too," she guessed.

Meili cast frantically about, until she spotted a large oak tree that climbed towards the top of the huge palace walls.

"I’m going to try that tree," she told the two maids.

The girls looked dubiously at the towering old tree. Its trunk was so thick that all three of them couldn’t have joined hands around it.

"How will you climb up that?" one asked her. "You’re not a monkey."

"I have to, so I will," she said with fierce determination, running over to the base of the tree.

The maids trailed after her, drawn by her confidence.

She looked up. The ’v’-shaped fork in the trunk was at least three metres up. Maybe if she stood on the shoulders of one of these girls...

Meili started to disrobe.

"Waah," cried the two girls in perfect unison. "What are you doing, Court Lady Mei?" asked one.

"You know who I am?" she asked the girls in surprise.

"Of course, everyone in the palace knows you. You serve by the Emperor’s side."

"Good," she nodded, "then you know you must help me. I have an important task I must carry out for the Emperor."

Both of the little maids nodded at her with wide eyes, watching her in shock, as she stripped down to her long white pants and white wrap top that served as underclothes, taking off her shoes at the same time.

"Shh," she put her finger to her lips. "You mustn’t tell anyone that I got undressed. There’s no way I can climb this monster in that dress and shoes."

"We won’t tell, we won’t tell," said the smallest of the two shrilly.

"Good, good. Now I need to climb up on your shoulders," she pointed to the girl who was an inch taller than her friend, making her a scant five foot one at the most.

The girl didn’t hesitate. She turned her back to Meili as though she planned to give her a piggy back.

"Now crouch down," Meili ordered her.

The girl bent down obediently, and Meili climbed onto the crouching girl’s neck.

"Stand up!" she cried, as though the girl was a pony.

The girl tried her best, but she just wasn’t strong enough.

"Help her! Help her!" Meili shouted to the other girl, who rushed to their side and gripped her friend by the elbow, giving her the strength to rise to her feet. "Good, good, now walk towards the truck... around the other side where the fork’s lower."

When they reached the fork in the tree, Meili grabbed the smaller girl’s hand and stood up on the maid’s shoulders, curling her toes around her for balance.

The maid clasped Meili’s feet onto her shoulders, wobbling under the unnatural weight.

"That’s it, that’s it, stand still right here," called Meili as she grabbed the fork and hauled herself up into it.

She clambered to her feet and stood up in the fork of the tree, peering down at the pair.

"Now throw me my dress and my shoes," she called down to them.

She caught her clothes and rolled them into a ball before tossing them as hard as she could. They flew over the tessellated palace wall, landing somewhere on the top of the wall where the guards’ walkway ran.

"Quick, give me your hand," she called to the smaller girl.

Her friend boosted her up, and Meili hauled the small maid into the fork of the tree with her.

"Now you," she cried to the other girl.

The girl jumped as high as she could, but there was no way she could reach Meili’s dangling hand without a boost. Nor could she climb the tree, whose girth was too big and trunk too smooth for purchase.

"You lie down," Meili ordered the maid squashed into the fork beside her. "I’ll hold you by the knees."

The girl shook with fear as she dangled head-first from her high perch, but she did as she was told, managing to grab her friend’s two hands and drag her roughly up into their eyrie.

There was no time to lose. Meili started to shimmy up the branch that leant against the frighteningly high palace wall.

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