Chapter 102 The Secret Chamber
In her drunken haze, Lan Wu seemed to hear Chu Mingheng talking about her.
What are you talking about her?
She tilted her head to listen carefully, but felt even more drowsy. She was about to fall asleep in the blink of an eye, and could no longer hear what Chu Mingheng was saying.
But soon, she felt herself being picked up.
Lan Wu let out a sleepy whimper, burying her head in Chu Mingheng's body, wanting nothing more than to sleep.
Chu Mingheng carried the person to the bathhouse, where the rising steam blurred their figure.
Lan Wu snapped out of her daze when her clothes were tugged, and stood up to walk out.
"Where are you running off to? Your clothes are all disheveled." Chu Mingheng grabbed her back and pinched her cheek to bring her back to her senses.
"I...I..." Lan Wu looked around, unsure of where she was.
She had been to the bathing hall of Taichen Palace several times. The cloud-like gauze curtains hung down, and a gentle breeze that seemed to rise from nowhere in the hall carried away the water vapor, leaving only a faint scent of incense.
Lan Wu reached out and patted her cheeks, using a bit too much force, which made her cheeks sting.
"Are you stupid?" Chu Mingheng grabbed her hand, deftly unbuttoned her clothes, and put Lan Wu into the bath.
When he got into the water, he saw Lan Wu turn her back to him, her hands resting on the edge of the bathtub, her back to him, revealing her smooth neck and a patch of snow-white skin on her back.
Seemingly noticing Chu Mingheng's gaze, Lan Wu lowered her body further, covering half of her neck.
Chu Mingheng raised an eyebrow and let her play for a while. When he saw that she was about to drift away, he reached out and pulled her back, then pressed her hand against his leg.
"I'll wash you up, just stay still." His voice was slightly hoarse and somewhat deep, and as he spoke, his hand touched Lan Wu's back.
Lan Wu struggled: "I can wash myself."
"Hmm, I'll wash you." Chu Mingheng didn't take it to heart.
Lan Wu refused: "I'm not dirty..."
Chu Mingheng pinched her leg and said, "They all went to Jinghua Palace to set fire to it, so let's wash away the bad luck."
Lan Wu belatedly realized what was happening and stopped moving around.
He washed away a surge of pent-up anger.
Chu Mingheng put his arm around Lan Wu's waist and lifted her out of the water. He wrapped her in a cloth and dried her off before putting on his outer robe. He then walked straight out of the bathhouse toward the inner palace where they would rest.
The inner hall of Taichen Palace is particularly large. After entering one hall, there are a second and a third hall, with carved wooden doors dividing the hall into different spaces.
Lan Wu discovered that Chu Mingheng did not lead her towards the inner palace's dragon bed, but instead turned to another secluded path.
She clung to Chu Mingheng's shoulder and looked back, remembering the other place he had mentioned on the carriage. Her heart pounded, and she felt it was another place with only a bed.
Seemingly sensing her fear, Chu Mingheng took a moment to pat Lan Wu's back reassuringly and said, "We'll be there soon, it's not a bad place."
At the end of the corridor was a small door, through which the light shone through the mica paper. Although it was night, the inside of the door was very bright. Opening it, one could see that the rear hall of Taichen Palace was right in front of the round window on the side of the door.
Before Lan Wu could react, she was shocked to see Chu Mingheng slowly push open the wall in front of her—a door that fit perfectly with the wall, so perfectly that no one could tell it was anything amiss.
Behind the door are steps leading down.
Lan Wu struggled to move her body, trying to get downstairs: "I won't, I won't go down there, you go by yourself—"
The door behind him closed, but the steps leading down were not dark at all. Fluorite was embedded in the stone walls on both sides, and the excessive brightness made it possible to see the expression on Mingheng's face clearly.
She stared in astonishment at the scene, touched the stone wall with her hand, and then quickly withdrew it.
Logically, it should be cooler underground, but Lan Wu didn't feel cold as she walked down.
Only after they reached level ground did Chu Mingheng slowly put Lan Wu down.
A fur blanket was laid on the ground, soft and warm. Lan Wu didn't even wear shoes, and she didn't feel cold walking on it.
But when she looked up at the room, which was neither too big nor too small, her heart skipped a beat—wasn't this her Yilan Palace?
Except for the lack of windows, everything was exactly the same as the inner palace of her Yilan Palace, even the small incense burner hanging on the bed was identical.
Lan Wu couldn't help but feel timid. Even though it was a familiar place, it only made her feel cold.
She looked at the place, took a step back, and fell right into Chu Mingheng's arms behind her.
Chu Mingheng seemed to have been standing behind her the whole time, a step away, waiting for her to retreat so he could grab her.
“A-Wu always says she wants to go back to Yi Lan Palace. What’s so good about Yi Lan Palace?” Chu Mingheng put his arm around Lan Wu’s waist and said slowly, “Since A-Wu likes Yi Lan Palace, I will build another Yi Lan Palace for A-Wu in Tai Chen Palace. It will be bigger than the previous small palace and will be a place that A-Wu is familiar with.”
Chu Mingheng asked, "Does Awu like it?"
Lan Wu couldn't bring herself to say it; she burst into tears as soon as she opened her mouth.
She was terrified by Chu Mingheng, but could only bury herself in his arms in fear, tears streaming down her face as she trembled and spoke incoherently, only managing to utter words of rejection.
Chu Mingheng patiently listened to her cry for a while, and only after she had cried enough did he turn her face to face, glance at her, pick her up and put her on the couch, asking her in an annoyed tone:
"Weren't you supposed to run? How are you going to run from here?"
Lan Wu raised her foot to kick him, but he grabbed her ankle and pulled her down gently, causing most of the gauze dress she was wearing to fall off.
"Don't cry. Just stay one more day. I'll release you tomorrow." Chu Mingheng wiped away her tears, leaned down and kissed her lips. "I told you to pay for it yourself. You did something wrong and you still won't admit it?"
Lan Wu didn't want to stay even a day longer; she felt utterly helpless here.
As it turned out, she was right.
This place was even more terrifying than the previous small palace. Chu Mingheng told her to shout however she wanted, and no one but them could hear her. Not only that, but their presence was everywhere—on the couch, the carpet, the table…
The light from the fluorite was bright, and there were candles in the hall, but there were no windows, so Lanwu didn't even know the time.
She vaguely felt that the day was almost over, but when she asked Chu Mingheng, he said that it was still dark.
In the end, even the slightest touch from Chu Mingheng made her tremble slightly.
Her lips were swollen from being kissed, and her body was covered in marks, but she dared not open her eyes to see the lewd state before her.
Finally, as if touched by a celestial being, she understood something, wrapped her arms around Chu Mingheng's shoulders, and repeated to him over and over, "I won't run away... I won't run away anymore, I'll never run away again..."
Chu Mingheng paused slightly, his probing gaze seemingly scrutinizing the sincerity in her words: "Is that so? Is A-Wu worthy of my trust?"
Lan Wu was exhausted even from nodding, and mumbled "yes," muttering that she would never run away again.
Thank goodness, this long-awaited sunny day has finally come to an end.
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