Chapter 107 Villains
About a quarter of an hour later, the sedan chair finally came to a stop.
Mu Jin went down first, then reached one hand into the curtain. Lan Wu didn't look closely and simply placed her hand on it.
In an instant, Lan Wu knew whose hand it was.
She lifted the curtain, but the man gripped her wrist tightly, and before she could take a step, he pulled her down to the ground.
"Your Majesty," Lan Wu called to him.
Today, Chu Mingheng was wearing a sky-blue casual robe embroidered with pine trees, and a white jade crown in his hair. He was already handsome with long eyebrows and dark eyes. When he smiled, he was warm and affectionate, and when he was cold, he was dignified and self-possessed. But the casual robe he was wearing today was different from his usual attire. It made him look less dignified and more gentle.
Lan Wu looked at it and liked it very much.
She glanced at him a couple more times, then quickly lowered her eyes when he looked back at her.
Unexpectedly, Chu Mingheng had already noticed her expression. He leaned down slightly, turned his head to find her gaze, and when they met, he smiled, lightly kissed her forehead, and teased, "Awu, you don't recognize me anymore just because you're thinking of leaving the palace."
Lan Wu quickly looked up, glanced left and right, and seeing that no one was watching, she nudged him, her cheeks flushed, and whispered, "We're still outside."
Too.
Chu Mingheng changed his mind, took her hand, turned around and led her to another carriage.
This carriage was much larger than her sedan chair from before. As soon as she entered, the carriage began to move towards the palace gate.
Chu Mingheng looked at Lan Wu from inside the carriage. They were close by and there was no one else around. He first put his arm around Lan Wu's waist and pulled her close to him. His palm pressed lightly on Lan Wu's shoulder, and when his forehead touched Lan Wu's, she unconsciously raised her head.
Gazing into those innocent yet bright eyes, like a cat's wide-open gaze, Chu Mingheng parted his lips slightly and captured Lan Wu's lips. The soft lips made him crave more, and he forcefully and slowly pried open Lan Wu's lips and teeth, tasting her flavor.
The air inside the carriage seemed to grow hotter.
Lan Wu didn't know how she had gotten to this point. When she came to her senses, Chu Mingheng was already holding her on his lap, her cloak had been taken off, and her vision was blurry, making it difficult to make out anything.
He quickly turned to the side to dodge, panting heavily.
"You said you were going to take me out to play, is this how you play?" She protested, as if she would send someone back to the palace if Chu Mingheng said a word or nodded.
Chu Mingheng pinched her chin, revealing her true feelings: "You were staring at me so intently just now, your eyes practically glued to me. I think you wanted me to kiss you, didn't you?"
Lan Wu shook her head; she would never admit to this fabricated "crime," it was all Chu Mingheng's excuse.
"That means I want to kiss you."
"Didn't nobody see it?"
Speaking of this, Lan Wu suddenly grabbed his hand, somewhat puzzled: "Why didn't you come to pick me up? I thought some bad guy was going to take me somewhere else when I was walking down the street."
"Also, I ran into Consort Wen when I came here just now. I wonder if she recognized me as the person in the sedan chair."
Wen Zhaoyi called her "sister," so she must have recognized her.
Lan Wu sighed. Chu Mingheng had made this whole house arrest drama seem like a joke.
If he had known this would happen, he shouldn't have given that order in the first place. Even if he wanted to lock her up in Taichen Palace, he could have just told her to go herself; she wouldn't have refused...
"Bad people?" Chu Mingheng was a little confused by her statement. "You won't see any bad people."
As he spoke, he gently stroked Lanwu's back.
"I know, but I'm just prone to overthinking," Lan Wu said frankly. "Later, I asked Mu Jin and found out it wasn't true, so I wasn't afraid anymore."
"I was too busy with things at noon to come and have lunch with you, but I will come to pick you up next time. I thought you had been feeling bored these past few days, so I took advantage of the nice weather today to take you out. Didn't you dream about going out of the palace before? You seem to enjoy it now."
How could she not like it? Lan Wu nodded quickly, and then heard him say that there was no need to worry about Consort Wen.
-
After Wen Zhaoyi had her people change course, she turned back to look at the sedan chair again, guessing that the person inside was Lan Wu. After all, who else could His Majesty have sent to fetch her but Lan Wu?
Isn't Ke Lanwu under house arrest? Even if she's not in Yi Lan Palace, she should be under house arrest somewhere else. She can't even stay still for half a month. Does His Majesty intend to let her play around like this?
Thinking back to what Consort Shu had said in Yifang Palace, she inexplicably felt it was meaningless.
The concubines in the palace lived off the emperor's favor, which was closely related to the families behind them. As the saying goes, they were all in the same boat, just like Consort Yue in the past and Consort Zeng in the present.
Your Majesty, so cold-hearted, now seems to have a genuine affection for me.
With no family background, how far can Kelanwu go?
"Let's go to the Cold Palace." Consort Wen suddenly wanted to see what would become of Consort Zeng, that wicked woman, whom she hadn't heard from in a long time.
"Your Majesty, the Cold Palace is such a place..." Zhuzhi's expression was strained as she tried to persuade her.
Consort Wen looked over coldly: "What, are you going to make decisions for me?"
"Your Majesty, this servant would never dare—" Zhuzhi stopped trying to persuade her and simply ordered someone to change course and head back to the Cold Palace.
The passageway was locked, and guards were watching over it. When they saw Consort Wen approaching, they immediately tried to stop her.
Consort Wen dismounted from her entourage and looked at the red-lacquered gate. Even before entering, she felt a chill in the air; it was strangely eerie.
She said, "I have a few words to say to Consort Zeng on behalf of Consort Shu. Please allow me to go in for a moment. I will only say a few words and then come out."
The two guards were in a dilemma. They looked at each other and said with difficulty, "It's not that we don't want Your Highness to go in, but we are ordered to stand guard at the door and not open it without orders."
"Your Majesty, please don't make things difficult for your subordinate."
Consort Wen was not angry. She said, "Now that Consort Shu is in charge of the six palaces, but Zeng has committed many evil deeds in the past. It is hard to guarantee that there are no other dirty deeds that have not been found. That is why Consort Shu asked me to come and interrogate her. If you stop me like this, and something really happens in the future, you will be remembered for your mistake today."
Upon hearing this, the two guards quickly bowed their heads and said they dared not. After some hesitation, they unlocked the door and whispered, "If Your Highness has any questions to ask, please do so quickly. If anyone sees us, they will surely punish us."
Consort Wen smiled and stepped across the threshold.
It's windy today but sunny, so it shouldn't feel too cold, but it's strangely chilly here.
It was her first time visiting the Cold Palace, and she led the palace servants forward before seeing another door.
Before the door was even opened, the person inside seemed to have heard a noise and lunged at it, making a loud "thump."
Consort Wen was startled and stared in astonishment as the door opened and the disheveled person inside tried to rush out but was restrained by the palace servants.
Looking at her like this, how could anyone tell that this was the once high and mighty Consort Rou?
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