Chapter 62 Trading
The next morning, Lan Wu woke up late. Lian Qiao was combing her hair. On the table was a set of kingfisher feather hair ornaments with begonia flowers, which Lan Wu had specially taken out to look at.
Lianqiao was about to reach out and put a hairpin in her hair when Lanwu stopped her.
"We'll use this headdress tomorrow; for today, we'll use this coral bead one."
Lianxi chuckled softly as she listened from the side and said, "Tomorrow is Her Majesty's birthday. This set of begonia flower headdresses was specially made by the Imperial Workshop for Her Majesty's birthday, so naturally we should save it for tomorrow."
After she said everything, Lan Wu blushed and felt hot in the face, and waved her hand as if to hit her out.
Lian Qiao immediately understood and dared not laugh too obviously.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured, I will put this set of jewelry away later and put it on you again tomorrow."
Chu Mingheng left early this morning, and Lan Wu didn't hear a sound until she was doing her hair and makeup when Lianxi told her about it.
She thought about what happened yesterday, her face flushed slightly, and she didn't feel that anything was wrong.
After having breakfast, she heard that His Majesty had issued an edict sealing up Lejingxuan.
The imperial decree came out of nowhere, without any warning. Some people even speculated that Consort Shu might have offended His Majesty in some way.
Lan Wu paused slightly as she wrote, and asked slowly, "Have you inquired about it?"
Lian Qiao nodded and replied, "Your Majesty, I asked and they said that the palace servants went to pull up the willow trees of Lejing Pavilion in the morning before sealing the palace gate. It was quite a commotion. Consort Shu was unaware of this. At first, she was angry and asked whose idea it was, but after learning that it was His Majesty's decree, she didn't say anything."
After Lan Wu finished writing, she slowly put down her brush and ink. Looking at her handwriting, which she had painstakingly practiced, she felt that it was better than in her previous life.
"Is Consort Shu very angry?" she asked softly.
Lian Qiao nodded hurriedly: "Her Highness Consort Shu does seem quite unhappy."
Who could be happy about this?
The emperor suddenly ordered the sealing off of a side hall in his palace, and even uprooted a willow tree early in the morning. His actions seemed to have a hidden meaning, and Consort Shu might overthink it, after all, she had done quite a few 'good deeds'.
When Consort Shu is unhappy, Lan Wu is happy.
But why did Chu Mingheng inexplicably seal off Lejingxuan?
But it just so happens to be Lejingxuan...
Looking at the paper in her hand, she became increasingly dissatisfied with the handwriting. She simply crumpled the paper into a ball, threw it on the table, and started writing a new one until she calmed down.
The matter was forgotten, and no one pursued it further. When Lan Wu saw Chu Mingheng coming over that night, she didn't ask him anything.
The next day was Lan Wu's birthday.
The birthday banquet was held at night, but in the afternoon the concubines could take a boat to Kongshan Garden.
It was everyone's first time visiting Kongshan Garden, and they were all curious, so the journey was quite quiet.
Lan Wu was wearing a new outfit today: a smoky pink dress with silver embroidered peonies that trailed on the ground, paired with a kingfisher feather headdress that she had taken out and styled yesterday. She had makeup on, white jade earrings on her ears, and a white jade openwork carved bracelet on her wrist. This outfit made her look charming yet poised and elegant, and the beauty between her brows and eyes was generously displayed. It was clear at a glance that she was in the limelight today.
Among all the concubines, Lan Wu was undoubtedly the most beautiful.
But instead of rushing to Kongshan Garden, she took advantage of the fact that everyone was heading that way and went to the Imperial Study to find Chu Mingheng.
She didn't go empty-handed; as she passed Caiping Pond, she picked two lotus flowers and leisurely made her way to the entrance of the Imperial Study.
"Your Majesty, this concubine greets you." Lan Wu gave a slight curtsy. The two pink lotus flowers in her hands were in full bloom, delicate and beautiful, carrying the fragrance of lotus flowers, which made her look graceful and elegant, fresh and refined.
Oh, she's trying to seduce him again.
Chu Mingheng looked up at her, glancing at the lotus flower she was holding in her hand, and thought to himself that she must have had some wicked idea in mind to come looking for him.
He remained silent, so Lan Wu could only look up at him, her expression a mixture of confusion and annoyance, as if asking why he hadn't let her get up yet.
Chu Mingheng withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "Come on over."
Lan Wu got up and walked towards him in small steps, and soon instinctively leaned into his arms.
"Why are you coming here instead of going to Kongshan Garden?"
Lan Wu sat beside him, and upon hearing this, she gently covered her lips and said, "With Your Majesty not here, I am all alone facing so many concubines. They'll tear me to pieces."
Chu Mingheng took her hand down, looked at her red lips stained with rouge, wiped them with a handkerchief until the color faded, and then leaned down to kiss her.
Lan Wu hesitated for a moment. She was wearing new clothes and new jewelry today, and she couldn't afford to wrinkle her clothes.
Besides, that wasn't her purpose in coming here.
She tilted her head back, barely managing to pull away from Chu Mingheng's lips. Her gaze drifted downwards, lingering on the lotus flower in her arms for a moment before Chu Mingheng could get angry, and then she placed a light kiss on his lips before handing the lotus flower to him.
"I spent a long time picking out these two beautiful lotus flowers from the Picking Lotus Pond. Your Majesty, please take good care of them." As she spoke, she handed over the lotus flowers, her eyes full of expectation.
Chu Mingheng knew that once he received these two lotus flowers, he would definitely give Lan Wu something as a 'reward'.
He accepted the two lotus flowers with a relaxed and interested demeanor.
Sure enough, he saw that Lan Wu's eyes shone even brighter.
"Your Majesty, look at my hands..." She spread out her palms and the backs of her hands for Chu Mingheng to see. Her smooth, fair fingers and soft, pink palms complemented her perfectly.
For some reason, Chu Mingheng knew what she was planning just by looking at her actions.
"Two lotus flowers, and you think you can exchange them for something of mine?" He curled his lips slightly, squeezed Lan Wu's fingers, shook his head, and casually placed the lotus flowers on the table. "Not enough."
He casually offered Lan Wu some advice: "A Wu, show some sincerity."
Sincerity?
Lan Wu pondered those two words for a moment, and then, as if she had made up her mind, she lowered her eyes, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she mumbled a few words.
"A concubine painting?"
Chu Mingheng said, "There's no sincerity."
He was so hard to please. Lan Wu glanced at him, somewhat deflated, then buried her face in his shoulder and neck, and whispered:
"I have a belt made of soft gold...may I..."
Chu Mingheng raised an eyebrow, showed her face to confirm the last few words she said, and asked, "Can I tie you up? Right, I didn't mishear."
Lan Wu wanted to crush Chu Mingheng in her heart, thinking that he was shameless for asking her questions when he had clearly heard them.
He clearly likes to do dirty and ruthless things...
"...You misheard." She regretted it at the last minute, and after speaking weakly, she pursed her lips, but her eyes were fixed on the gold and jade ring on Chu Mingheng's finger with a stubborn and unwilling look.
Chu Mingheng has two thumb rings on his fingers, one is white jade, and the other is this jadeite with gold, but he doesn't wear this one often.
Regardless of which ring it is, it represents imperial power.
Lan Wu wanted the jade, not because she wanted Chu Mingheng to give it to her, but because she wanted to show it off today.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com