_{Image Credit: Brett Sayles edited on Canva}

Li Mei walked down the streets of Guoqu with her head down. Dressed in a green dress with floral patterns that cinched at her slender waist but spanned out at the bottom, Li Mei's slender neck decked with rare jade treasures highlighted the paleness of her skin.

Her hair was in an up-do, held upright by a fine golden hairpin and her shoes glinted the same story. However, Li Mei was despondent. Her steps were light but her spirits were heavy.
The sky darkened like her mood, people cleared out of her way, but Li Mei remained nonchalant.

Whispers and jest could be heard from the corners of the streets in the ancient town. Tales of a rejected concubine wounded by fate. Li Mei wasn't daft to the jeers and sneers of the people. What she was, was indifferent. For so long, she was the favorite of the mighty Han Jing, the commander of the emperor's army until...she wasn't.

Now left to her own devices, Li Mei was finding it really difficult to find who she was outside a kept woman. She was always provided for, sought after and well treated. Now that she is back home, a disgrace to the Li family, Li Mei was at loss.

"Mei Mei." The voice called when she turned on to Li street, the one leading up to the Li mansion.

Li Mei raised her head to find Wang Feng, her childhood friend. He was the only one who did not look at her like she was a disappointment. Li Mei smiled at him but Wang Feng did not return it. He walked to meet her halfway, his brows drawn together.

"What's wrong?" He asked when he was close enough.

Li Mei shook her head and craned her neck to look up at him, "Nothing. Why are you here?"

Wang Feng looked like he did not believe her for a second but he continued anyway,
"I missed you. I thought maybe you'd like to leave the house for a while. Imagine my surprise when Nanny Wong told me you went out for a walk. How was it?"

Li Mei gave a tight lipped smile and nodded, "It was okay. The air outside is fresh."

Li Mei shuddered a bit when he stared at her intensely. She still knew her friend and by his expression, he caught up to her lies. It was not okay. She left the house weeks after her return for the first time on impulse. She wanted to prove that she could take the blows. Contrary to her expectations, she couldn't. Her hands tightened to fist in her sleeves at that realization.

Wang Feng stepped closer, surprising her by his close proximity. Her rose pink lips parted slightly when he reached for her hand, tearing them apart from each other.

"Mei Mei. Would you go on a date with me?"

"What?" she gasped, her eyes wide.

"I know...Mei," he stepped closer forcing her to step back, "Mei, do you remember that night at the well?"

She nodded. How could she forget? They'd both made a wish and when she asked him what he wished for, he told her he'd tell her someday.

"You asked me what I wished for. I wished...I wished that we would be together forever."

Li Mei smiled warmly at her best friend, "And we are."

"No," Wang Feng shook his head, "not like that. I meant as man and wife."

Li Mei reeled back from his words, "What do you mean? Feng, that can't happen. Especially now."

"Why not?"

"Because!" She exclaimed and pulled away from him. Her eyes begun to water.

"Because what?" Feng pushed

"Feng! What would you want to do with me? An expired woman."

"Don't you dare say that!" Feng hissed, "I won't let you say that about my best friend."

"But it's the truth! Feng. I was sixteen when I left to be with Jing. Four years. I was his for years. What could I possibly have left that you want?"

Her chest heaved heavily as she looked at him. Hot tears slid down her cheeks but him seeing her distressed was the least of her concerns.

"I see," he begun, "what could you possibly offer me?"

His words were like a dagger to her heart but she swallowed it. Maybe he realized it too. She was used. Worn for wear. Her eyes met the ground as she continued to listen.

"I am Wang Feng. The first and only son to the prestigious Wang family. The favorite of Minister Wang Lei. Loved and adored by all. I have no flaws, no dent on my reputation. I have never known a woman. I am just perfect. And you...you are not. Not worthy. Is that what you want to hear?"

Li Mei's eyes snapped to his, confusion lacing her features.
"I don't-"

"Well, now you've heard what you wanted to hear. So listen to what I have to say."

Li Mei, perplexed, watched her best friend take a deep breath and then close his eyes to release it. When he opened them, the amber liquid pierced her soul.

"I am Wang Feng and I have been in love with my best friend for years. She is so bright, smart and warm. She is attentive to things and people around her but never to herself. When you left...," he swallowed, "when you left, I spent days in the temple praying, hoping and wishing that things would go wrong and that you'd come back to me. I vowed to never take the time we have for granted should it happen."

"Feng..." her voice was like a whisper. He nodded and took another step forward, encasing her in the fragrance of him; chrysanthemum and rare spices.

"You are enough for me, Mei. Your body is just the container that houses who I am in love with. Your soul. You're not worn out. You made mistakes and that is human. So, Mei Mei, say you'd go out with me."

"But your parents-"

"Don't matter. I am old enough to make my own decisions. Say yes?"

Li Mei stared up at her childhood friend wondering if this was a dream. There was a time she pined for him as well and like a broken dam, those feelings resurfaced as she looked into his sincere eyes.

"Yes. I'll go out with you Feng." She laughed.

"And get married?" His eyes glinted. She smacked him lightly on the arm making him laugh.

"Don't push it."

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The story, names, characters and incidents are all fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

© 2023 Deraa || All Rights Reserved

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