A/N: Did they change the format of FFnet again? Anyways, this is a shorter chapter cause I didn't have much spare time this week. Just spent fourteen hours on and off doing my two papers so I am pooped! But posting a chapter always cheers me up, so enjoy! Next week I get myself a long break so hopefully I can wrap up the story and start on a new one (maybe). The next three chapters will be mostly the couple interactions, so they may be long or very short, bare with me! As usual, have a great day!

Summary Ch 35: Jia Wen and Zi Qi are reintroduced to their family with warm welcomes and tears. Mei Zhen on the other hand had problems figuring out Wu's landscape and by chance met up with Xing Cai. Never wanting to back down from a fight, Mei Zhen prepared for the worst when they were intercepted by Jiang Wei and Lu Xun. Full of excuses, Mei Zhen manages to escape leaving a very confused Lu Xun behind. His confusion escalates when he see his old friend Jia Wen and with the help of his dopey friend, Ling Tong, he rushes off to Hua Miao to be reunited with his one true love.
Chapter 36: Mei Zhen and Bo Yan

Lu Xun hurried his way towards Hua Miao court, knowing that he would be in serious trouble from Sun Quan when he returned. But Lu Xun didn't have a care on his mind at this point, all he wanted to do was grab Mei Zhen and give her a long awaited kiss. He halted at the front gates of Hua Miao to realize that the doors were locked tight. It made sense since everyone in Hua Miao except for Countess Min should be either performing at the banquet or serving the Shu generals. Altering his route, he rushed over to the back gate, just in time to see Countess Min. "Countess Min!" He shouted, running over to the plump old lady.

"Is there something I can help you with, Lord Lu?" She noticed the young man huffing and puffing, "My boy, who were you running from?"

"No one." He grinned, "Is Mei Zhen in there?"

"Mei Zhen? Jia Wen's friend?" Lu Xun nodded excitedly, "I'm not sure. I left the back door open for them in case they wanted to come back. I just returned myself."

"Oh." He took a seat on one of the stone stools for a quick breather, "I wonder where she is."

"All her stuff is still in my room, she might be inside. Why don't you check?"

"Are you fine with it?"

"I would escort you myself, Lord Lu. Except I have to prepare the rituals for the Princess tonight. Oh and you took all my maids."

"I deserve to serve myself then. Thank you Countess Min."

"Any time." She bowed and walked away. Lu Xun pushed open the iron doors and noticed the door to Countess Min's slightly opened. Taking a deep breath, he started his walk, each step faster than the other.
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Mei Zhen was sitting at the edge of Countess Min's bed, toying with the jade when she heard footsteps hurrying towards her. "Odd." She thought the girls wouldn't be back so early. Mei Zhen had finally found her way back to Hua Miao by chance when running from Lu Xun earlier. The first thing she did was change back into her clothes, hair and reunite herself with her dagger. She was lucky that someone intervened earlier against Xing Cai because she could barely move in that dress, nonetheless fight.

Mei Zhen swung her legs off the bed and put on her shoes when she saw the silhouette of her guest through the window. "Jia Wen?" she called out, "Zi Qi?" There was a knock on the door. "Is that you Jia Wen? The doors unlocked." She raised her eyebrow when the door slid open. The black shadow through the paper windows was more apparent and Mei Zhen realized her mistake. "Oh crap!" she squealed and turned around to find her veil but she knew it was too late.

"So it is you." Lu Xun was standing at the front door, a smile plastered on his face. "You finally came back!" he put his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. Mei Zhen closed her eyes, liking the sudden warmth she had over her shoulders but quickly snapped out of it and pulled herself away. "Mei Zhen?" Lu Xun said, confused at her actions. Mei Zhen spun around and opened her mouth to speak but closed it again when she started to pace around the room. "Are you okay?" he asked, "Where have you been all this time? Did you know about the exile? Why didn't you write back?"

"Too many questions at once!" Mei Zhen stopped abruptly and put her hands on the table, "One, I've been in Jian Lian. Two, I knew about the exile and three? Zi Qi and Jia Wen didn't write back, so I didn't write back." She knew that wasn't a good answer and Lu Xun would be able to see through it easily.

"That's not a good reason."

"I don't need a good reason to not write back." She snapped.

"What's really wrong with you?"

"Stop asking me questions like I'm a criminal!" Mei Zhen threw her hands in the air, flustered from all the stress she was receiving. Mei Zhen was never a people person, she needed lots of time to decide what to say and do and when in stressful situations she would babble nonsense.

"Mei Zhen, I'm not interrogating you, I just want to know what happened."

"I rather have you interrogate me!"

"What?"

"Auuuuuugh!" Mei Zhen turned on her heels to pace again, "Why do you have to make this so hard?" she yelled at him, "Why do all three of you guys have to make it so hard?"

"Three of us?"

"We were fine! Me, Jia Wen, Zi Qi, we were happy! Then you all just suddenly show up and screw up everything!"

"Mei Zhen…"

"I was supposed to forget about you," her hands dropped to her side in defeat, "forget about this castle, forget about this life, forget about all these…these restrictions." Lu Xun's ear perked at her last statement. He had taken all of her other insults and complaints as a way of ranting but for some reason the mentioning of her freedom hit him in a sensitive spot.

"Restrictions? What are you talking about? Mei Zhen, sit down. We're going to talk." He told her and took a seat. Mei Zhen bit on the insides of her cheek before sitting across from him. She got super nervous when Lu Xun didn't say anything, so she began to tap at her forehead with her forefingers. "Do you have anything to say?"

"I'm thinking." She tapped harder as if it would fall out of her brain. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed Lu Xun take out something from his breast pocket and put it on the table. It was the other part of the jade that she had carried dearly ever since she separated from him. Mei Zhen reached into her own pocket and pulled out her piece and placed it across from his. Looking into Lu Xun's dark brown eyes, she began to feel the need to finally come clean with him. The tapping on her forehead stopped but she couldn't find the courage to speak. Lu Xun put his index finger on the head of his part of the jade ornament and suddenly began to slide it towards the second half, stopping when the two jade pieces fit with each other perfectly. "Why do you have to make this so hard?" Mei Zhen said, her voice wimpy and soft.

"Explain to me, Mei Zhen." He looked up at her with a sincere smile, "You keep saying this but I don't know what you're saying. I never know what you're thinking, or what you're saying. And for some stupid reason, I always want to know. Please be honest with me Mei Zhen." She noticed his voice fluctuating and she felt twice as guilty.

"I never meant to hurt you."

"You never did."

"Yes I have, I've been hurting you all this time and you don't even realize." Her head shot up with tears, "Your life is in Wu and I've been hurting it."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not fit for this life Bo Yan, I'm not fit to have people serve me or to live in a giant castle. I'm not fit to dress up and attend banquets, I'm not!" She slammed her palms on the table, "I'm not!" Lu Xun ran over to her side and grabbed her wrists, so she wouldn't hurt herself anymore.

"Mei Zhen, I would leave this behind for you." He told her, "The reason why I worked so hard in Wu was just so that I could see you again and power was the only way to get it. Without you, there is no use for me in Wu!" she shook her head.

"No, you are destined to do great things with Wu. You have always been destined to do great things and I've always been under you."

"Under me?" she tried to squirm from his hold but he resisted her, "What are you talking about?" he asked, looking a little hurt.

"We're different people Bo Yan. We're not longer those fifteen year old kids trying to get favours off one another. You're so much more!"

"And you are too! We're still the same people Mei Zhen."

"Bo Yan... when we're together. I know we're the same, I feel that we are the same. But when we're with others, I'm always…always two steps behind you." Her voice wobbled again.

"What are you saying? That being with me is stressful?"

"And not being with you is stressful too!" she looked into his eyes, "But I'm sick of not being myself. When I was with the girls in the academy, I got to realize so many things. I didn't have to pretend to please anyone, I didn't have to constantly fear that others were ridiculing you because of me."

"No one ever does that."

"You're just too blind to see it!" she managed to swing her hands free, "Being with you makes me happy but being with your life kills me Bo Yan. It kills me. It makes me think and it makes me doubt. It makes me lose hope in the humanity I've dreamt of."

"So what are you suggesting?" The room grew silent.

"We're leaving after the wedding, to go back to Jian Lian." Her eyes narrowed towards the jade, "I guess I can give it back to you. You deserve a girl who wants it all. Who not only wants you, but this life too." Lu Xun looked at the two jades and angrily swapped his arm across the table, throwing the tablecloth and everything on it off onto the ground.

"You know what?" he shouted, frightening Mei Zhen just a bit. She had never seen him raise his temper, not even during training camp. "You are selfish Mei Zhen. You are!" he threw his hands on top of his head, "Everything you do is for a reason and whenever you're in doubt you always want to make sure you're the one who gets out of the situation unscathed. Well you know what? That's selfish!" His words made her eyes water and her heartbeat rise but she tried to hold in the emotions. She had hurt him enough, he deserved to vent at her. "I don't know why I thought you were different, that you were that young beautiful girl that Ye Ye and Nai Nai rave about. You're not. You're the exact same as all those snooty girls who try to get me to marry them. You only care about yourself!"

"Don't compare me to them, please." She shot him a look.

"What, you are."

"Don't, please don't." she blinked ferociously to prevent the tears but he continued on. Not being able to take it anymore, Mei Zhen covered her ears with her hands and rushed out of the room.

Lu Xun sat there on the stool for hours after Mei Zhen had run off. He knew it was wrong for him to yell at her like that and he felt horrible about it. But he couldn't find the strength or desire to go and search for her. Their fight replayed in his mind, over and over again. Each time, the words would be digging deeper into his soul. His eyes darted towards the corner of the room where the tablecloth was and something caught his attention. Dragging himself to the tablecloth, he flipped it open to see the two pieces of jade, still perfectly aligned with one another. Picking the pieces up, he stared up into the ceiling. "You like her too, don't you mother?" he whispered to himself, "I won't disappoint you, I promise I'll get her back."