Sharing a Pavilion With You
Chapter 72: The Fox Call

Chapter 72: The Fox Call

Meili felt like a real princess as she sat at the head of the table and surveyed her friends and her brothers.

She noticed that Sofya had inserted herself in next to First Brother.

"Mei Renlong," Sofya insisted, "the most effective for hunting foxes, is the rabbit whistle. I have a very good one. I’ll give it to you; I can easily get more at home. It sounds like this," she wet her fingers with saliva and then sucked loudly on them, instantly silencing the dinner table with the sound.

"That’s the sound a rabbit makes when it’s been caught by a predator, or it’s injured and dying. You can also use it to call rabbits from their holes during the day. Here, you try it."

Sofya looked around the table where everyone was staring at her.

"What?" she looked mystified. "I’m just teaching Mei Renlong how to call foxes and rabbits."

Prince Nur laughed heartily at his sister. "Perhaps not during dinner meimei. The sound of a dying rabbit is not a pleasant sound for the dinner table."

Sofya had the good grace to look a little ashamed.

"Never mind, I’ll teach it to you properly later, Mei Renlong," she whispered to him.

He nodded at her, trying to keep himself from smiling.

"I think it’s an important skill for us all to learn, Princess," said Princess Lingling, kindly rescuing the grasslands girl.

Lingling sat between First Brother and Prince Nur. "Show us again how it’s done, and you can judge the best student among us."

Meili laughed with delight; this was her kind of dinner time activity! Thank goodness mother had agreed that the young people could dine on their own or this would never be allowed.

She looked over at Third to see if she could join in the competition, and he nodded at her affectionately. He gestured to one of the servants.

"Bring water for dipping hands, and hand basins for everyone to wash their hands after their rabbit call," he instructed.

Meili’s close relationship with her Third Brother was never lost on the Second Prince, who frankly, didn’t like it. He longed for the day when she looked over to him to answer her questions, and for her to look back at him with such trust-filled eyes.

Instead of saliva, they all used a little dish of water brought by the servants to wet their fingers, then one by one, they gave their best efforts at a fox and rabbit call.

"Suck, suck, don’t blow," called Sofya when Tan Bowen’s turn came, and he emitted a rather rude noise.

Meili tried her hardest not to giggle, which she knew would be unseemly, she pressed her hand against her mouth, quickly smothering the sound.

Bai Li, who sat by her side, couldn’t help raising his lips in amusement at her.

"Tan Bowen shows his true nature," drawled the Second Prince. "I’m not sure what you hope to call with that noise my fine fellow, perhaps another fellow with a stomach complaint?"

Prince Nur guffawed.

Tan Bowen glared at the second prince. "Let’s hear your rabbit call then, your highness."

The second prince dipped his hand in his bowl of water and blew a delicate high-pitched whistle.

"Show-off," muttered Tan Bowen. "You already knew how to do that, didn’t you?"

The prince smirked at him.

Princess Lingling suddenly realised she may have been hoist by her own petard, as she now had to try this clearly quite skilled whistle, which seemed to be fraught with pitfalls for the uninitiated.

Still, she must not back down! She straightened her shoulders and soldiered on, dipping her hand in the water.

She tried to delicately suck on her index finger without falling into the trap Tan Bowen had tumbled into. She made the tiniest of high-pitched squeaks and quickly put her hand in her wash basin.

Everyone clapped politely.

"You might call the most tiny of baby rabbits with that whistle, Princess," Prince Nur said to her with amusement.

The Princess blushed. "I’ll learn it first in private before I try out my skills in public, Prince. I can see that it takes practise."

"I can teach you when you have time," he offered, his eyes twinkling.

She turned her head sharply to see if he was making fun of her.

"Birthday girl’s turn," said the second prince, turning to Meili, who sat to his right.

Sofya looked expectantly at Meili, who was suddenly shy with everyone staring at her. She dipped her delicate hand in the bowl of water.

Bai Li noted that she happened to have mistakenly dipped her hand in his bowl of water. With him having already taken a turn, he wondered if the move was the equivalent of an indirect kiss.

He looked hopefully at Meili to check if she had done it on purpose. Almost certainly not, he saw with disappointment.

She raised her delicate hand to her mouth and sucked on her finger. The only sounds that emerged were the recognisable and salacious sounds of an open-mouthed, slightly wet, kiss. In fact, the image looked for all the world as though Meili was practising her kissing skills...

Everyone stilled as she continued with her provocative efforts, oblivious to the consternation her noises were raising around the table.

Third stifled a laugh as Fourth Brother poked him in the ribs, indicating the stupefied looks on the faces of Tan Bowen, Bai Li and the Second Prince.

"Very good meimei. I feel certain you’ve called something with those noises, though I’m not sure it’s a rabbit... more likely a fox..."

"Really ge?" she asked with delight. "Isn’t that even better than a rabbit?"

He raised his eyebrows humorously. "Some ladies may think so, I guess. Most of us men prefer rabbits, I would say."

The men all roared with laughter, and the ladies at the table looked around wondering what was so funny.

"Three foxes, to be exact," whispered Fourth to Third.

Meili touched her neck, nonplussed. "I was sure a fox was better than a rabbit," she muttered under her breath, letting the subject drop.

The Second Prince opened his eyes which he had momentarily closed to calm himself after Meili’s sensual demonstration of her kissing abilities.

Bai Li leaned over to Meili, hovering close to her ear.

"A third hint for you Mei Meili. This goes with not being carried by men or whispering into their ears," he said quietly.

She nodded, looking expectantly at him.

"No fox calls," he shook his head definitively.

Meili pulled back and pouted at him. "It wasn’t that bad," she hissed. "Third said it would call a fox."

"It did. That’s what I’m worried about. Trust me on this, your fox call will cause nothing but trouble."

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