Chapter 106 Leaving the Palace

Lan Wu was to stay in Taichen Palace for half a month. Ostensibly, it was a house arrest, but unexpectedly, she was confined to Chu Mingheng's palace.

However, after "interrogating" Chu Mingheng once, she roughly understood why Chu Mingheng wanted to lock her up.

The deaths of the two empress dowagers in the fire were truly a tragic event. Since it was not an accident, it was probably a scheme among the concubines or even the court officials of the previous dynasty.

Chu Mingheng probably wanted to lock her up because he was afraid she would be plotted against and die.

But who knew that she had already lost her life?

Lan Wu sat on a recliner by the window, leisurely watching the red leaves fall outside the palace.

She yawned and listlessly lowered her head to read her book.

It's been seven days already, and she's getting tired of staying here.

Lan Wu turned another page, and just then, the wind outside the hall picked up and rushed into the hall.

She suddenly looked up at the fallen leaves swirling in the wind under the sunlight outside the palace.

What a beautiful day!

Normally, on such a fine, windy day, she would have gone to the Imperial Garden with the palace servants to fly kites. Now, being stuck here, she's getting suffocated.

When Mu Jin entered the palace, she saw the Empress's sullen expression and thought to herself: His Majesty didn't come to have lunch with her at noon, and the Empress was unhappy then. Now she doesn't know how to coax her.

"Your Majesty has just woken up, why don't you go for a walk outside? I heard the red maple leaves in the back hall are in full bloom, would Your Majesty like to paint them?" Mu Jin kept giving her suggestions to cheer her up.

Lan Wu looked up at her, then shook her head slightly and pointed to the palace rules on the table, saying, "His Majesty ordered me to stay at home and copy the palace rules."

Mu Jin found it amusing. His Majesty had no intention of having the Empress write down those palace rules. She hadn't seen the Empress touch them all these days, and His Majesty had never mentioned them. On the contrary, the Empress kept those palace rules on the table all day long, as if she were subtly reminding him of something.

Just as she was about to say something, Luo Yun called softly from outside the palace gate.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty is asking if you are awake."

Lan Wu poked her head out and said, "I'm awake, you can come in."

Luo Yun then entered the hall.

Lan Wu looked behind her suspiciously, but saw no one else. However, Chu Mingheng wouldn't call Luo Yun over to ask this question for no reason; he probably had other plans.

"What's wrong?"

Luo Yun said slowly, "His Majesty said that the Empress has been unable to calm down these past few days. Today the weather is nice, so he wants to take the Empress out of the palace to relax. He ordered me to come and see if the Empress has woken up yet."

Lan Wu straightened up from her chair, as if struck by a piece of good news. She stood up with joy and surprise, looked at Luo Yun, and asked her repeatedly, "Really? Really?"

Luo Yun patiently replied that it was true.

Palace maids entered the hall to style Lanwu's hair and change her clothes.

Although the weather was sunny and pleasant today, it was still dry and chilly due to the constant wind. Lan Wu wore a light blue embroidered blouse with a pinkish-purple trim and cloud patterns on the hem of her skirt. She wore a creamy-white rabbit fur cloak, and her temples were adorned with delicate silver hairpins inlaid with white jade. She wore a purple jade bracelet on her wrist, and a necklace with pendants dangled around her neck. A small, gold-carved sachet hung from her waist. At first glance, it was clear that she was a delicate and beautiful young woman.

"How do I look? Do I look good?" Lan Wu turned around in front of the palace servants after getting dressed, her tone full of joy. As if she felt that she was losing her dignity, she quickly slowed down and looked at herself in the mirror.

Luo Yun smiled as she put an earring on her ear, saying, "This servant has never seen anyone more beautiful than Your Highness."

Just as everything was prepared in the palace, someone from the imperial court came to fetch them.

Lan Wu sat in a sedan chair and was carried all the way to the palace gate. The sedan chair was covered up, so people outside could not see inside, and people inside could only see outside by lifting the curtain.

She had only walked the road out of the palace once, and that was a distant memory from her previous life, which she didn't remember.

As the sedan chair gradually entered an unfamiliar place, Lan Wu belatedly realized that she had been somewhat careless.

Although no one in the palace would dare to openly impersonate the Emperor's decree to take her away, she was thinking—what if this was a trap? A trap specifically designed to lure her in, using His Majesty's name, and who knows where they were taking her.

Lan Wu frowned more and more as she thought about it, subconsciously gripping the corner of her cloak and slightly lifting the curtain to peek outside.

Still on the palace road.

"Your Majesty?" Mu Jin, sitting to one side, noticed her unusual behavior and couldn't help but call out to her.

Lan Wu gestured for her to be quiet, then asked softly, "Have you ever left the palace? Is this the way out of the palace?"

Perhaps someone took them somewhere else.

Mu Jin glanced outside the curtain and finally understood what Lan Wu was worried about. She quickly said, "Your Majesty, don't worry. This is indeed the way out of the palace. However, this road goes through Chenghua Gate, which is a bit further. It will take a while to get there."

"These palace maids are also ones I have seen before Your Majesty, so Your Highness need not worry."

Lan Wu finally breathed a sigh of relief. She nodded and smiled, saying, "I thought it was..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly heard someone outside the sedan chair call out to stop it.

"Didn't you hear Her Majesty tell you to stop?" The eunuch's voice was tinged with doubt as he shouted again.

The sedan chair beneath him slowly came to a stop, but it was not lowered.

Immediately afterwards, Lan Wu heard Wen Zhaoyi's voice from outside: "Who is sitting inside?"

This road had just left the inner palace and was heading towards the outside of the palace when Consort Wen spotted it. Although the sedan chair was inconspicuous, it became conspicuous as it passed through the palace road.

Her palace servants didn't recognize her as an imperial servant, and when they called out to her without getting a response, they began to find it strange.

Seeing that the person remained motionless, Consort Wen's face also turned cold. She thought to herself, "What a noble person. I wonder which mistress she is. She's putting on airs."

Before she could ask any more questions, the palace servant leading the way in front of the sedan chair stepped forward and spoke in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for Consort Wen to hear.

"Your Highness, please don't be offended. This servant was ordered to deliver the person. I was afraid of being blamed by the Emperor if I was late."

Lan Wu is currently under house arrest. Although few people take her house arrest seriously, she cannot openly appear in front of Consort Wen. If Consort Shu's people seize on this and make trouble for her, it will be another problem.

Consort Wen stared at the sedan chair, her expression inexplicably knowing. She said softly, "I suppose it's one of my sisters who has won His Majesty's favor. Very well, I won't delay your auspicious time any longer."

After saying this, she took the lead in ordering people to carry the ceremonial guards and then turned away.

Inside the sedan chair, Lan Wu and Mu Jin looked at each other. They didn't know if Consort Wen had guessed that the person sitting in the sedan chair was her, but since His Majesty had sent someone to pick her up, even if she had guessed... she probably wouldn't have said it so openly.

"Your Majesty, shall we continue on our way?" the eunuch asked respectfully from outside the sedan chair.

"Please, let's go."

The sedan chair continued to sway and wobble towards the palace gate.