Chapter 22 I Can't Hit You

In her previous life, Lan Wu had also been beaten by Chu Mingheng. However, Chu Mingheng knew that her body had been well-maintained after she became a concubine. So, the beating was actually just for fun in bed. At first, Lan Wu was scared, but in the end she cried, so Chu Mingheng wiped away her tears and stopped hitting her.

Unlike now, he still uses a ruler.

Chu Mingheng saw Lan Wu's gaze and noticed the fear and sadness in her eyes, as if he had done something heinous.

He frowned slightly, and the cold ruler moved slightly away from Lan Wu's leg.

"say."

Lan Wu shuddered and quickly nodded, "Your Majesty asked me, and I will answer properly... I will not lie, Your Majesty, please don't beat my legs..."

Chu Mingheng looked at her trembling legs and asked his first question: "How long did you prepare for that dance for the Emperor's birthday celebration?"

"...two, two months," Lan Wu answered honestly, but she was also a little uneasy, wondering why Chu Mingheng was asking her this.

Two months...

Chu Mingheng's gaze lingered as he continued, "Consort Li sent someone to find you. What did she say?"

Lan Wu felt that it wasn't something she couldn't say, but if she were to say it, she would naturally embellish it.

So she shrank forward and moved forward. She was already kneeling in front of Chu Mingheng, and now she almost threw herself into his arms. Her voice was timid as she said softly, "Consort Li said that she sent a palace maid named Yuzhu to ask me to go to Jinghua Palace, but I have never seen that palace maid. Later, I heard that someone died in the Koi Pond, and it was that Miss Yuzhu."

"Consort Li suspects that I pushed her maid into the pond. I'm so timid, how could I possibly dare to kill someone—"

"Your Majesty, this servant is afraid..."

After listening to her words, Chu Mingheng didn't catch many of the key points. Looking down, he saw her jet-black hair bun with pink peonies adorning her temples, looking exquisite and vibrant.

A crisp "snap" sounded.

Chu Mingheng struck Lan Wu's buttocks with the ruler in his hand, neither too hard nor too soft. The person in his arms immediately jumped out of his arms like a frightened cat.

"Behave yourself." He gestured to the spot in front of him, indicating that Lan Wu should kneel down. "What else did Consort Li say?"

Lan Wu didn't expect him to actually hit her. Although it didn't hurt, it was clearly a warning.

She lowered her head and said in a muffled voice, "Consort Li also said that I am beautiful and that she wants to offer me to His Majesty."

“When I said I wanted to leave the palace, Consort Li didn’t believe me.”

That same day, after returning from Jinghua Palace, Luo Yun took her to Yilan Palace to dance for Chu Mingheng.

"How do you plan to leave the palace?" Chu Mingheng placed the ruler in front of Lan Wu, leaned slightly forward, and looked at her as he asked, "Tell me."

Lan Wu shrank back, not daring to look at him, and stammered that she didn't.

"This servant hasn't thought it through yet, and Your Majesty is already helping this servant before you've even thought it through."

Haven't decided yet?

Chu Mingheng looked at her ankle and asked her, "Didn't you decide that if you hurt your foot, you would find a way to enter the Wanshu Pavilion and leave the palace at the age of twenty-three?"

"That day I protected you in front of others, but I was wrong to do so. I should have just watched you break your leg."

"Yes or no."

His voice was calm, but Lan Wu knew he was a little angry.

Lan Wu quickly shook her head.

"Lie down."

Seeing that Lan Wu was still trying to beg for mercy with her tight little face, Chu Mingheng pinched her cheek: "I'll let you lie down properly."

There's no way he can escape this beating.

Lan Wu was released, her arms weakly supporting her on the bed, and she rolled over. She reached forward with both hands, gently grasping the quilt, and even tried to cover her head with it.

Before she could even prepare herself, a ruler slammed down on the area where her thigh connected to her buttocks.

Lan Wu cried out in pain, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Chu Mingheng hit her; he actually hit her with a ruler, and with such force, so cruelly.

He was no longer the emperor who doted on her in her previous life.

Lan Wu's back trembled as she realized, amidst the pain, the truth she had been deliberately ignoring. Because Chu Mingheng had protected and saved her in this life, she had become complacent and lost her senses, but now she had suddenly come to her senses.

Being clear-headed is one thing, but feeling wronged is also natural.

Chu Mingheng only hit her once, using only a fraction of his strength. Since the ruler was meant for discipline, it naturally hurt Lan Wu when it struck her.

Seeing Lan Wu trembling on the couch, he grabbed her waist and turned her over.

"It hurts already?" Chu Mingheng removed her arm from her face and scolded her in a deep voice, "If your leg is broken, it will hurt a hundred times more than this. If I don't take care of you, who in the Imperial Hospital will treat you? When your leg injury is permanent, you won't be able to walk steadily. You still want to go to the Wanshu Pavilion? Sending you to the Cold Palace to live out your days in peace will be a peaceful life."

"With such a small brain, you don't even know how to think things through. Don't you think you deserve to be hit?"

Lan Wu's sobs gradually emerged from her throat, her hair disheveled from crying. Hearing Chu Mingheng still scolding her, tears streamed down her face. She reached out and hugged Chu Mingheng's neck, burying her head in his arms.

After a long while, Chu Mingheng heard Lan Wu's low sobbing voice, as if she were making an accusation, and she was overwhelmed by grievances.

"You hit me...you really hit me..."

What kind of talk is that?

"I can't hit you?" Chu Mingheng raised an eyebrow, lifted her face, looked at her carefully, and said inexplicably softly, "It sounds like I can't bear to hit you. Did I know you before? And dote on you especially?"

Lan Wu paused for a moment while crying, then pretended to continue, as if she hadn't heard Chu Mingheng's words.

Chu Mingheng lowered his eyes, having already discerned quite a bit from her reaction.

He pinched Lan Wu's cheek and handed her the ruler: "Keep this to learn from your mistakes. If you come up with any more bad ideas in the future, you'll still need this ruler."

Lan Wu's fingers loosely gripped the cold handle of the ruler, and in the blink of an eye, she threw it to the ground.

"...This servant didn't mean to...sob sob sob."

Lan Wu threw away the imperial gift right in front of Chu Mingheng.

Chu Mingheng didn't say anything, but rolled Lan Wu's body into the quilt, and took off her hairpin and the peony flower as well: "Go to sleep."

He had no intention of harming Lan Wu today, but Lan Wu insisted on doing it today.

Seeing that Chu Mingheng was about to leave, she got up, stopped crying, and reached out to grab Chu Mingheng's hand, pitifully unable to speak clearly: "Your Majesty... don't go, what have I done wrong again... why, why are you leaving..."

They've danced, they've been beaten, and yet Chu Mingheng still wants to leave!

Chu Mingheng was entangled by her, her hands were grabbed and pressed against his thin clothes, and before he could say anything, her lips were pressed against his.

Having come this far, Chu Mingheng was so angry he wanted to laugh, but he couldn't bear it any longer and gently pushed Lan Wu onto the couch.

"If it hurts later, it's your own fault." With that, he took off his clothes.