Chapter 116 I Believe You
Lan Wu had just woken up, and even though she had many questions in her mind, the palace servants dared not let her worry about them.
Mu Jin and she exchanged a few words before Lian Qiao came in carrying a bowl of warm porridge.
"The imperial physician said that Your Majesty needs something light. This porridge is cooked very finely, Your Majesty, please try it." With that, he served it to Lan Wu and helped her eat.
Lan Wu had just taken two bites with her spoon when she heard a commotion outside the palace gate.
She turned her head and saw the palace doors open, revealing Chu Mingheng's figure before her.
Chu Mingheng was able to come here so quickly because he heard from the palace servants that she had woken up and immediately came over.
Lan Wu put down her spoon and smiled at Chu Mingheng.
Chu Mingheng wasn't buying it. He glanced at the two extra people in the hall, and they quickly retreated.
He then took over Lianqiao's job, feeding Lanwu with a bowl.
Remaining silent.
The two of them worked together quite well, one feeding the other.
Seeing that the bowl of porridge was almost empty, Lan Wu gently pushed it away, saying she didn't want to eat anymore.
The bowl was set down, and the spoon gently collided with the porcelain bowl, making a crisp sound.
"They said Your Majesty kept watch over me all night. Is Your Majesty tired? Would you like to lie down for a while?" Lan Wu gently tilted her head to look at Chu Mingheng, who was avoiding her gaze. She had coughed while saying just a few words, but now she was forcing herself not to cough.
She was certain that if she made even the slightest move, Chu Mingheng would be the one with the biggest reaction.
Chu Mingheng met her gaze and stared intently at her, as if trying to find out the purpose of her actions.
Lan Wu instinctively started to act coquettishly towards him, pressing her body against his chest as if she had no bones.
Then she was helped up by a hand and pressed back into the blanket.
"You're still sick, what are you making a fuss about?" Chu Mingheng's tone showed no anger.
Lan Wu felt slightly relieved, opened her eyes and looked directly at him, asking, "Your Majesty, won't you go and rest?"
"I still have memorials to review, so I'm taking some time to come see you."
"Oh...and that one from last night...the one named Zhuqing," Lan Wu pondered how to phrase it, "Did Your Majesty find out anything about her?"
Chu Mingheng looked at Lan Wu without saying a word; such a deep gaze always made one uneasy.
"Your Majesty, I promise that I will not be playful when I go out again, I will not take off my clothes or cloak, I will not get sick again, and I will not cause Your Majesty any worry..." She said a long string of promises, and Chu Mingheng did not interrupt her.
Lan Wu swallowed hard, thinking that what she said should be enough.
Unexpectedly, Chu Mingheng only scoffed lightly, turned his gaze away, and seemed to have nothing more to say, only telling Lan Wu to take good care of herself.
Just as he was about to leave, Lan Wu got up and hugged his waist.
"Your Majesty, please don't be angry."
Chu Mingheng could no longer bear it. He turned around, grabbed Lan Wu, and pressed her down on the bed. He couldn't bear to lay a hand on her, but his words were harsh: "You told me not to be angry, but you know I'm angry."
"You'll see if I'll take you out of the palace again in the future."
"When he's deceiving me, he can use every trick in the book, but when it really comes down to it, he's so scared that he can't wake up."
"You always give me vague answers to whatever I ask..."
Chu Mingheng pinched her cheek and said fiercely, "Lan Wu, it's not that I'm angry, it's that you're going to make me angry to death."
Lan Wu felt wronged by his scolding, a thin mist clouded her heart, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Her lips trembled, and her stubborn silence was heartbreaking.
Chu Mingheng sighed inwardly—he could never bear to see Lan Wu cry.
He reached out and took a handkerchief to wipe Lan Wu's tears, his tone softening.
"Alright, alright, if you don't want to talk, then don't. I'm not forcing you. It's just that I'm not willing to accept this... If you don't want to talk, you can't stop me from investigating myself."
What kind of unspeakable thing could drive Lan Wu to this point?
Chu Mingheng frowned, looking at her aggrieved crying face, and couldn't help but recall some of the jokes she had made after escaping from the Imperial Garden.
She said that someone had brought her an imperial edict and said they wanted to strangle her.
Although it was said in jest, he didn't take it seriously at the time, but now, upon closer reflection, it seems strange in every way.
Lan Wu suddenly reached out and tugged at him, her eyes reddening, but her expression was unusually serious.
"It's not that I don't want to tell His Majesty, it's just that what I say would be absurd and ridiculous, and you probably wouldn't believe me..."
Chu Mingheng said softly, "If you say so, I will believe you."
Lan Wu hesitated as she sat up, pulling herself into the blanket. Her throat tightened several times, and she couldn't bring herself to speak even looking at Chu Mingheng's face. So she simply buried herself in his arms; if she couldn't see him, she could at least speak.
To everyone's surprise, his words almost made Chu Mingheng freeze.
"I died once."
Once the first sentence is spoken, the rest becomes easier.
Lan Wu felt miserable, wronged, scared, and resentful when she thought about her past life. At first, she blamed Chu Mingheng for not taking her away, the women in the harem for being too vicious, and herself for being too stupid. She died unjustly. After being reborn, she naturally wanted to stay far away and didn't dare to say that she would seek revenge.
If I hadn't been forced into this corner, I might as well have gone down this old path again; it would just mean dying again anyway.
Unexpectedly, everything is different from my previous life.
“In my previous life, Consort Li told me to be her mistress and offer me to His Majesty, and that’s how I became your Lady Lan.”
“My rank is too low. She’s suppressing me while trying to make me gain favor and take away the power of Consort Shu and Consort Rou. I have no choice.”
"And you bullied me back then. It seemed like you didn't like me. You only liked me dancing for you, but then you wouldn't let me dance anymore."
Lan Wu didn't cry when she said these things; she was just extremely resentful. Fortunately, she couldn't see Chu Mingheng's face, otherwise she would have slapped him—just a light slap would have been enough.
“In the spring of the following year, you suddenly said you wanted to go to Changyong Mountain to offer sacrifices to Heaven. At that time, I was only Consort Lan. You didn’t take anyone with you. I begged you, but you refused. I was a little angry. At that time, I didn’t know that your concubines were going to frame me.”
"Then you left, and I was all alone in Yilan Palace, behaving myself so well that I didn't dare go out. Then one night I woke up to hear them talking about me, saying I had defiled the harem—"
At this point, Lan Wu gripped Chu Mingheng's clothes tightly, her speech quickening: "I thought they wouldn't dare punish me, but suddenly a palace maid with a strange appearance appeared—it was Zhu Qing. She carried an imperial edict, saying she wanted to strangle me! She said she wanted to strangle me—"
"Consort Shu brought the bamboo basket over, then closed the door. She didn't even let me see the imperial edict, and just grabbed a white cloth and—!"
Lan Wu suddenly shuddered and shut her mouth.
After saying a lot, Lan Wu quickly realized that Chu Mingheng was not responding.
Does he not believe it?
Lan Wu tried to look up at him from his embrace.
Chu Mingheng gently pressed her head down so she couldn't see. He opened his mouth to say something, but his throat felt like it was blocked by a hard rock, a sharp pain in his throat, making it difficult to even breathe.
"Don't you believe me?" Lan Wu was somewhat dejected. She knew that Chu Mingheng probably wouldn't believe her even if she said that.
Immediately afterwards, Chu Mingheng's voice rang out above her head, gentle and mild, as if he were suppressing his emotions, slowly repeating: "Awu, I believe you."
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