Chapter 70 You Dare to Touch Me
"I...I don't want to!" Lan Wu dared not let him leave. He had said earlier that he wanted to find out the truth, and who knows what he might find out. Although no one could have imagined that she knew that Consort Rou was intolerant to the Anluo Fruit and did it on purpose, if Chu Mingheng really found out the truth and found out Zhang Mu, wouldn't all her efforts have been in vain?
Thinking of this, she wrapped her arms around Chu Mingheng, not wanting him to leave.
"What do you mean, 'don't want'?" Chu Mingheng's face turned slightly cold as he grabbed her wrist, preventing her from moving around on the imperial carriage. "Don't you want to stay in Yilan Palace, or don't you want me to leave?"
Lan Wu calmed down, carefully considering his words. She gently scratched Chu Mingheng's palm with her fingers, her eyes like water, and whispered in his ear, "Your Majesty, don't go... Didn't we agree to... tie him up..."
Upon receiving Lan Wu's reply, Chu Mingheng's slightly indifferent eyes shifted slightly, his gaze falling down to Lan Wu's smooth, unblemished wrist.
Lan Wu was learning to dance. Her fingers were slender and long, and her nails were lustrous and full. Even without nail polish, they were as pink as peach blossoms and jade. Her wrists were soft and delicate. If they were tied with red rope, the red and white colors would be eye-catching enough.
Chu Mingheng's talk about tying her up in the afternoon was just a joke; he never expected Lan Wu to be so... hopeful?
"You're so drunk, yet you still remember this?" Chu Mingheng's fingers gently pressed against Lan Wu's wrist, holding her by the back of his hand. His fingertips caressed the delicate skin of her wrist inch by inch. He said casually, "If you had done something bad, that would have been fine. I would have taught you a lesson. But since you didn't do anything bad, why would I tie you up?"
Lan Wu was unusually silent. She had almost completely shaken off her drunkenness, and her heart was pounding with anxiety and trepidation.
She glanced up at Chu Mingheng's eyes, wondering if he was trying to trick her with those words.
She had to be tied up because she had done something wrong...
She believed that the generous gift she gave to Consort Rou was rightfully hers, and that Consort Rou was not innocent. Didn't Chu Mingheng know that Consort Rong was faking her pregnancy? Didn't he know that it was Consort Rou who had done it?
impossible.
His silence suggests he's brewing some wicked scheme.
Ke Lanwu couldn't wait. She wasn't a good person; she had already proven the truth that she could only rely on herself by dying once. Chu Mingheng wanted her to be clean, but that was already impossible when she danced for him again at the Emperor's Birthday Festival. She wanted to make those who had harmed her in her previous life pay the price.
Having figured all this out, Lan Wu gently pushed him away, lowered her head slightly, and said in a muffled voice, "Alright then, Your Majesty, please go to the Imperial Study. I won't wait for you any longer."
Why did you get angry while you were talking?
Chu Mingheng found it somewhat intriguing. Lan Wu was truly a strange concubine. At first, she was afraid of him, but later she seduced him and became his concubine. After that, she became fearless and acted willfully, taking advantage of his affection... Yet, he just couldn't bring himself to be ruthless towards her.
"Awu, tell me, have you—"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." Chen Kang'an hurriedly arrived from behind, his voice slightly urgent.
Chu Mingheng stopped speaking, halted the imperial carriage, looked out the curtain, and asked in a calm voice, "What is it?"
Chen Kang'an quickly reported, "Your Majesty, someone from Zhaoyun Palace has come to say that Consort Rou's condition has deteriorated rapidly and she is on the verge of death. The imperial physician is currently in Zhaoyun Palace and does not yet know the situation."
Inside the imperial carriage, Lan Wu was completely sober. She clutched her dress and pursed her lips, her reaction somewhat like that of someone who had been frightened.
In fact, Lan Wu was indeed a little surprised.
She had Zhang Mu add some juice from the Anluo fruit to Consort Rou's meals, fearing that Consort Rou, concerned about her image, wouldn't eat much of this novel fruit in public. She was just being prepared, but she never expected that Consort Rou would die like this.
She was a little annoyed. It didn't matter when Consort Rou died, as long as it wasn't today. Today was her birthday, and if she really died, the court might say that her fate was wrong and that she had brought death to Consort Rou.
Chen Kang'an, who was waiting outside the imperial carriage, had not heard the emperor's voice for a long time. Just as he was about to say something, he heard His Majesty speak: "Change course and go to Zhaoyun Palace."
The group then hurried to the Zhaoyun Hall.
Lan Wu followed Chu Mingheng inside and saw that the hall was brightly lit with candles, and several concubines had already arrived.
She was about to go up the steps when she saw Chu Mingheng stop, as if he had remembered something.
He turned slightly to the side and said to the people below, "Someone, escort Consort Zhen back to the palace."
Lan Wu stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at Chu Mingheng. Caught off guard by his command, before anyone around her could react, she opened her mouth in a daze, speaking slowly and urgently, her words unclear:
"Your Majesty, may I go and see too...May I go with you?"
"Please don't send me away..."
Seeing her somewhat sad reaction, Chu Mingheng was about to say something when he heard Consort Li's greeting from behind.
Consort Li had just received the imperial decree allowing her to handle palace affairs alongside Consort Shu, and at this moment she put on a bit of airs. However, this airs were naturally not placed in front of the emperor, but rather she glanced at Lan Wu with a hint of mockery in her eyes, and bowed to the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, the imperial physician said that Consort Rou's condition is very bad, and she is still calling out for you."
In front of others, Chu Mingheng couldn't say much, but he couldn't bear to see Lan Wu sad, so he reached out and stroked her cheek, coaxing her softly, with a hint of an unyielding command: "Awu, be good, go back first."
After saying that, he turned and went up the steps.
Lan Wu remained frozen in place until she saw Chu Mingheng's figure disappear into the palace gates. In a daze, she seemed to see Chu Mingheng doing the same thing on that day in her previous life, leaving without a word, his figure slowly disappearing from her sight.
Her heart was churning with anger and resentment, so much so that she didn't even realize when Consort Li had stood in front of her.
Consort Li walked around her with a gloating expression, her voice soft yet sharp as a knife piercing her heart.
“Sister Zhen, perhaps you are not fortunate enough to deserve this title. Consort Rou just happened to have an accident on your birthday, and His Majesty has ordered you to leave.” Consort Li covered her lips, her eyes filled with malice. “You should go back as soon as possible. It would be best if you went back to where you belonged. Someone of your lowly status should forever grovel on the ground and never be able to get up.”
Upon hearing the last sentence, Lan Wu couldn't hold back and slapped Consort Li across the face with a loud thud.
The slap stunned everyone present, and they almost forgot to react. Even Lianxi, who was standing next to Lanwu, gasped.
Lan Wu was furious after hitting someone. When Consort Li turned around to hit her back, she said in a deep voice, "Try touching me."
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