Chapter 10 Break Her Legs
Lan Wu paused for a long time without answering, which Chu Mingheng interpreted as her tacitly agreeing to something.
Chu Mingheng nodded slightly, his eyes deep. He gestured to Luo Yun, "Go get a stick."
Lan Wu immediately looked at her bandaged feet, her pupils dilated, and she already guessed what Chu Mingheng was going to do. She hurriedly scrambled off the chair, knelt down, and looked at him with red eyes, her voice barely a whisper: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty… this servant never thought of it, never thought of it…"
Chu Mingheng remained unmoved.
The concubines were utterly bewildered by the scene before them. Could they have been mistaken? Judging from this, was this not the first time Lan Wu had met His Majesty...?
Luo Yun quickly brought over a wooden stick, about the thickness of two fingers held together. The stick was entirely black, round, and heavy.
Lan Wu knelt down, and with that sudden movement, the wound on her foot that had just been treated started to bleed again.
She knew how ruthless Chu Mingheng was; he was holding the stick to break her legs.
"Your Majesty, this servant did not think that way. This servant still wants to dance. This servant wants to dance for Your Majesty!" Lan Wu moved forward again, not daring to look at the stick. She reached out and gently tugged at Chu Mingheng's hem, her forehead covered in cold sweat.
She repeated the sentence, when suddenly her face was turned to face Chu Mingheng.
"Want to dance?" he asked her.
Lan Wu tilted her head back, frowned, and softly hummed in agreement, her lips moving as she spoke tenderly, "I only want to dance for His Majesty."
Lan Wu's voice wasn't loud, but those nearby weren't deaf, so they could naturally hear it.
Those who heard this wanted nothing more than to tear Lan Wu apart on the spot, and in their hearts they cursed her as a shameless slut.
Lan Wu felt that her face wasn't the most important thing; her legs were.
She has to stay alive first.
Chu Mingheng ignored her attempts to coax him into being obedient, pinched her face, and asked, "You want to dance and you're asking around about how to get to Wanshu Pavilion. Do you want me to take you there?"
After saying that, he deliberately looked at Lan Wu's legs under her skirt, only to see that the cloth wrapped around her feet was bleeding.
Lan Wu inwardly cried out in despair. She had been very careful when inquiring about going to Wan Shu Ge, afraid of giving herself away prematurely. But now, she could only say that she had tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead.
She was anxious and scared, and dared not look at Chu Mingheng.
Chu Mingheng released her and let the female physician go over to treat her wounds again.
"Return to the Imperial Study."
Before the stick could even be used, Chu Mingheng had already lost his patience. As he got up to leave, the concubines all rose to see him off.
The flogging in the garden continued, and it was unclear who it was meant to be seen as a show.
Lan Wu waited until Chu Mingheng was far away before she breathed a slight sigh of relief. Now that he was no longer afraid of people, she didn't believe that after what had happened today, anyone would dare to challenge His Majesty's authority and make the first move against her.
Even if we were to take action, we should wait until she enters the harem.
Consort Shu's expression was unpleasant. She turned back to stare at Lan Wu and, seeing the forced smile on her face, said with a half-smile, "Miss Lan Wu, you have quite the skills. Who knows, I might have to call you 'sister' next time we meet."
Lan Wu lowered her face and only said, "I dare not."
Immediately afterwards, Consort Shu looked at Consort Li, who was clearly also taken aback by this turn of events, and praised her while also reminding her: "Consort Li, you have a discerning eye, but you still need to be careful. If you don't raise a dog properly, it will bite its master."
Consort Li really didn't expect that Lan Wu had told her before that she wanted to leave the palace, but then she turned around and hooked up with His Majesty. With such ability, why would she need Consort Li's help? She couldn't keep this dog.
"You flatter me, Consort Shu. I know nothing about this."
She was telling the absolute truth, but nobody believed her.
"Return to the palace," Consort Shu coldly ordered, and left with her entourage.
As soon as Consort Shu left, Consort Li looked at Lan Wu with a strange expression and also left, unable to bear watching the commotion any longer. Many others were more curious about Lan Wu, but since she was someone His Majesty had taken a liking to, they didn't dare to make a move against her the moment His Majesty left.
Liu Shuyi was the most incredulous one; in fact, no one dared to believe it, but she was the first to speak out directly.
"You vile servant, when exactly did you seduce His Majesty?!"
As she spoke, Liu Shuyi lunged forward to push Lan Wu, who was lying on the ground, to the ground.
Bai Xiuyi saw this and hurriedly stopped the person, her gentle and calm expression almost losing its composure: "Sister Liu, calm down. You can't say such things carelessly. It would be bad if it reached His Majesty's ears."
Reminded by her, Liu Shuyi swallowed hard, but then saw Lan Wu on the ground suddenly raise her head, reach out her hand, and gently stroke her cheek with her fingers—the very cheek that she had just slapped.
Lan Wu glanced over gently, her hand stroking her cheek slowly, but the meaning in her eyes seemed to say, "This slap will be returned sooner or later."
Liu Shuyi was stunned for a moment, a chill suddenly rising in her heart. She then reacted, glaring fiercely at Lan Wu, and said, "I should have smashed your face just now."
Seeing that her emotions had stabilized, Consort Bai shook her head helplessly. Although Consort Liu was stupid, she was easy to use. Since they were serving Consort Shu and the Consort hadn't said anything more, they naturally couldn't take any action.
There is one more person.
Consort Bai looked at Consort Rong, who was standing silently to the side as if she were not attracting any attention, and said, "I said you were not happy to invite Consort Rong to the Imperial Garden. So you want to come with His Majesty."
Rong Meiren wore a light yellow spring dress, and her hair was adorned with a delicate jade hairpin.
She kept looking at Lan Wu, and her usual indifferent expression finally changed slightly. When she heard Bai Xiuyi's words, she casually replied, "It was just that I was bored and happened to run into Your Majesty in the Imperial Garden."
As for why His Majesty came to the Imperial Garden, no one knows.
Bai Xiuyi nodded slightly and squatted down to help Lan Wu up.
If nothing unexpected happens, this young lady will likely cause quite a stir in the palace in the future, but she is destined to be an enemy of Consort Shu, having offended them both.
But that was a matter between Consort Shu and Lan Wu, and it wasn't really her concern. She always left herself an out in her dealings with others, just like now.
"Can you still walk?" Bai Xiuyi asked her, as if she had completely forgotten that she had just added fuel to the fire in Lan Wu's current situation.
Lan Wu looked at the person in front of her and sneered inwardly. Bai Xiuyi really never gets tired of this trick.
Her eyes darted around, and she used Bai Xiuyi's support to steady herself, but she said timidly that she dared not trouble Her Highness.
"I can walk by myself."
Consort Bai glanced at her maid and told one of them to help her back to the music hall: "Since you've injured your foot, you should take good care of it."
"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."
After the palace maids helped her limp out of the garden, Liu Shuyi spoke up in dissatisfaction: "Sister Bai, why are you helping her? If Consort Shu finds out, she won't be happy."
Consort Bai smiled at her: "How could that be? Even Consort Shu would say I did a good job."
Her helping Lan Wu means that Consort Shu is helping Lan Wu, and if this gets back to His Majesty, she might even be praised for being magnanimous and tolerant.
At least if Lan Wu 'accidentally' gets into trouble later, she won't be so suspicious.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com