Chapter 84 and others

A few days later, a heavy rain had just passed in the afternoon, and thunder rumbled overhead. Chu Mingheng took Lan Wu to the Imperial Study.

Last time, Lan Wu pretended to be afraid of thunder in front of him because she wanted to talk to him about the Sanzhou Canal. This time, with the heavy rain, she wasn't as conscientious in her act.

In a small side room, Lan Wu picked up her brush and painted the hanging flowers in the palace on a drawing paper.

She carefully placed the brush on the paper, afraid of pressing too hard or too lightly, not even noticing when someone entered through the small door behind her.

"Ah—" Her waist was suddenly hugged from behind, and Lan Wu's pen trembled, leaving a long, narrow arc on the drawing paper.

She remained silent and turned her head to look at the culprit.

In the silence, Lan Wu even saw a hint of mockery in Chu Mingheng's calm gaze.

Chu Mingheng seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he had ruined Lan Wu's masterpiece. He pulled Lan Wu to sit on a chair and turned his head to kiss her cheek: "You can still stand, huh? You have to stand to paint, what a bad habit."

Lan Wu blushed for no reason, still holding the paintbrush in her hand, the paint on the tip almost splashing onto them.

She leaned forward hastily to put down the brush, but not wanting to soil her painting further, she barely managed to place it aside, and the brush rolled smoothly a few times on the table.

"Oh right, I forgot this is my imperial study." Chu Mingheng unabashedly reached his hand into her thin clothes, kissed the back of her ear and the side of her neck affectionately, and said with a smile, "The chair is too low, isn't it?"

"I'll have someone bring you a new chair later."

Lan Wu finally managed to resist, blushing and saying no while kicking her legs to stop him.

"You...you're not..." Lan Wu struggled until she was exhausted, and gasped for breath as she managed to utter a soft, choked sentence, "Weren't you busy...?"

He said he would be very busy today and told her to paint, read, and play by herself in the small side room of the Imperial Study, which is why she agreed to come along.

In this situation, where exactly are they busy?

Chu Mingheng's eyes darkened slightly as he softly said to her, "The person hasn't arrived yet. I'm getting a little impatient waiting for news."

If you're impatient, then you come and tease me!

Lan Wu was so angry at his shameless words that she couldn't utter a single word.

She bent over, reached out to pry Chu Mingheng's hand away, and said angrily, "Your Majesty, I still want to paint! Please don't disturb me!"

Chu Mingheng looked at the painting with its winding line. It still showed no improvement, but it felt very familiar to him. Every brushstroke, every little flower, every leaf seemed to have been seen somewhere before, deeply hidden in his memory.

He reached out and tucked the painting aside, then hugged Lan Wu even tighter in his arms, asking her, "Do you want the painting or me?"

Lan Wu parted her lips slightly in surprise, her bright black eyes staring at Chu Mingheng, revealing a blatant message—shameless thing.

Chu Mingheng didn't laugh, but just narrowed his eyes and gently pinched one of her thighs with his palm.

"say."

Lan Wu pursed her lips, then leaned back against him dejectedly, saying, "I want Your Majesty..."

"Reluctantly?" Chu Mingheng pressed his lips to hers, his tone somewhat dangerous.

Lan Wu quickly shook her head: "No, no, I like Your Majesty the most—"

After hearing her say "I like you," Chu Mingheng pressed his lips against hers, took them in, and shamelessly hooked his tongue around hers.

Lan Wu felt that Chu Mingheng had been acting strangely lately. Sometimes, when he sat alone in the palace, his calm and aloof aura was frightening, but as soon as she made a sound and broke the silence, he acted as if nothing was wrong. Moreover, he had been making love to her every day recently, and her legs were trembling so much that she could hardly get out of bed.

But it seems nothing has changed, and even... he dotes on her even more, taking her with him even when he goes to the Imperial Study, regardless of what she might hear in this small side room.

"...I love A-Wu very much, my A-Wu..." Hearing Chu Mingheng say his love, Lan Wu shyly covered her face, panting heavily, thinking that his love was going to kill her.

After kissing until her whole body felt weak and hot, Lan Wu finally heard a message coming from outside the palace gate.

Her ears twitched, and she quickly nudged Chu Mingheng:

"Alright, Your Majesty... hurry, someone is looking for you..."

Chu Mingheng raised his eyes, his gaze neither warm nor cold as he looked towards the door some distance away.

The ministers waiting outside the door couldn't help but feel a chill in the air.

Chu Mingheng lowered his head and kissed Lan Wu's nose again, then carried her back to the chair, put her drawing paper back, and said, "I'll keep this drawing for you to finish. I've asked Luo Yun to find you some books. You can read them later, and when you're tired, go to the small couch to sleep and wait for me to call you."

Lan Wu rubbed her ears and looked at him innocently, wondering why he was giving such detailed instructions. She simply nodded and said she understood.

"Your Majesty, please go quickly, in case it is something urgent."

Chu Mingheng glanced at her, then looked around the room, which was square and had only one door—the one he had just entered through.

He turned and left.

A short while later, Lan Wu saw Luo Yun arrive with several storybooks.

Lan Wu glanced through the stack of books in surprise, wondering what was wrong with Chu Mingheng? He seemed to have a much broader perspective than before. Didn't he used to forbid her from looking at these things?

Although it wasn't explicitly forbidden, I was ultimately not very satisfied.

Lan Wu stopped watching in front of him and watched it in her own palace.

What's wrong with today?

Has Chu Mingheng finally figured it out?

Lan Wu looked at the books suspiciously, then looked up at Luo Yun, her expression inscrutable, and asked hesitantly, "Are these all books His Majesty wanted to give me?"

"Did you take the wrong one?"

Luo Yun respectfully shook her head and replied, "It was His Majesty's order. His Majesty said that the Empress likes to read storybooks, so he specially ordered someone to select some of the most popular storybooks from outside the palace."

Lan Wu sensed it was a trap, but she still reached out and opened one of the books. After glancing at it for a couple of seconds, she looked up and asked Luo Yun, "Is he going to test me on the lessons from these stories later? Make me understand the principles? Or make me memorize a few passages?"

Luo Yun smiled faintly and bowed her head again: "Your Majesty is overthinking it. His Majesty only instructed me to find some storybooks to make Your Majesty happy."

Okay, then she'll accept it.

Lan Wu quickly became engrossed in the story in the book, while the ministers inside the main hall felt uneasy as they knelt.

"Your Majesty, I have verified that the missing silver was a result of a switch by the Chen and Zeng families. The Ministry of Revenue had just sent that batch of silver to the Three Continents when Yue Pingning, after confirming that it was correct, ordered the treasury to be locked. When it was opened again, most of the silver inside had turned into stones."

"Yue Pingning dared not make a sound, so he could only secretly search for the lost silver. The construction period was tight, so he used the remaining silver to make do, and that's how he managed to repair something useless."

The Imperial Study was quiet, with only the sound of raindrops falling from the eaves outside the hall and hitting the ground.

Those on the ground finally heard the commotion above.