Chapter 99 I'm Going to Run
Consort Li immediately fell silent, realizing that she had spoken rashly in a moment of impulse. She knelt down and begged for forgiveness.
Chu Mingheng ignored him.
Lan Wu, on the other hand, quietly took two steps back. She knew Chu Mingheng's temper well and knew that she shouldn't say anything at this time.
Where are you running off to again?
When Chu Mingheng realized that she had let go and was hiding, he almost laughed in anger. If the occasion hadn't been so inappropriate, he could have made Lan Wu regret her actions.
Lan Wu immediately became alert, gently tugged at his sleeve, and whispered, "He didn't run away... Your Majesty, don't be angry..."
She was trying to run away, but Chu Mingheng didn't even bother to find out the truth and just threw a tantrum.
Chu Mingheng lowered his eyes, glanced at her sideways, said nothing, and pulled Lan Wu to his side, pressing her down into the seat with a little force.
"Someone, take this thing away from here."
He was referring to the clothes that had been burned on the ground. The clothes hadn't burned completely, and the fire had long since gone out, but a burnt smell lingered in the hall, which even the incense burning inside couldn't mask.
Several palace servants quickly stepped forward and took the clothes away.
Chu Mingheng sat down on the chair next to Lan Wu, and his gaze swept over the palace maid kneeling beside Consort Li.
Although she was called a palace maid, she didn't look like one. She was just dressed in palace maid clothes, but her hair was styled beautifully.
"Come here and explain this matter completely."
Chu Mingheng pointed directly at Panxi's head.
Consort Li was overjoyed and subconsciously looked at Lan Wu.
However, from her perspective, Lan Wu was blocked by His Majesty, so she couldn't see Lan Wu's expression.
Did His Majesty just randomly call Panxi to answer? If not, does that mean he has some impression of Panxi? Well, Panxi did appear before the Emperor last time. His Majesty may not have shown any emotion on the surface, but he might actually think Panxi is pretty.
Upon hearing this, Panxi knelt down and kowtowed before recounting the events in detail.
She was neither timid nor arrogant; she was simply stating facts, telling what she knew exactly as it was.
But she said too much.
Consort Li, listening from the side, increasingly sensed that something was amiss.
A light sweat broke out on her forehead, and she kept giving Panxi meaningful glances, but Panxi was engrossed in answering her questions and didn't notice her at all.
Just as Panxi was about to say that she knew the dress originally belonged to Lanwu but deliberately kept it to give to her, Consort Li suddenly sobbed softly and took out a handkerchief to wipe away the tears that had finally rolled down her face.
"Your Majesty, it is all my fault. I should not have let the palace servants take the wrong clothes of Sister Zhen."
“But I have already worn these clothes. I thought that Sister Zhen is very pampered and would not be happy. I dare not wear these clothes for Sister Zhen to see, so I asked the palace servants to take them away and put them away.”
"But the palace maid misunderstood and thought that I had given her the clothes."
“When Sister Zhen came over, there was a misunderstanding, and she threw a tantrum and wanted to burn down my Jinghua Palace.”
Consort Li spoke pitifully, her head bowed, looking utterly humiliated: "It's all my fault."
Lan Wu found it somewhat amusing.
Although she felt that Chu Mingheng would definitely favor her and naturally believe her, she couldn't let Consort Li tarnish her reputation like this—her reputation wasn't good to begin with, and Consort Li still dared to slander her.
A more aggrieved and sorrowful sob rang out from behind Chu Mingheng, accompanied by soft whimpers and sobs, as it slowly retorted to Consort Li:
"Even if Consort Li despises me, I cannot, I cannot deceive the Emperor..."
"I sent someone to find out where the clothes went this afternoon, and a palace maid came to report back at dusk."
"Even if Consort Li likes that dress, you can't just take it and not return it. Even if I've worn it, I won't hold it against you. Just like Consort Li said, I've never seen anything so good before..."
Lan Wu reached out to wipe away her tears, but soon her vision blurred again.
Chu Mingheng reached out to wipe away her tears, but she quickly dodged him, determined to put on a good show.
A beautiful woman shedding tears naturally evokes pity. Even if Lan Wu is in the wrong, her crying makes people reluctant to say a word against her, let alone the fact that Lan Wu has not done anything wrong.
"Furthermore, Consort Li gave away my clothes so easily, what about me... and you're still here making up stories about a misunderstanding?"
Lan Wu wiped away her tears, her eyes red, and threw herself into Chu Mingheng's arms, crying out, "Your Majesty—there's no misunderstanding! She just looks down on me, that's why she bullied me..."
"Aunt Danshan said that my face is also His Majesty's face, which is why I came here to seek justice. Consort Li looks down on me and His Majesty, sob sob sob—"
Lan Wu cried until her eyelashes were wet with tears. Her thick, black, and curled eyelashes fluttered together, glistening with moisture, making her look pitiful.
Finally, he raised his head to glance at Chu Mingheng's face, pointed timidly at Consort Li, and repeated his last sentence in a slightly louder voice: "Your Majesty, she looks down on you—"
"Your Majesty, I didn't!" Consort Li's face turned pale with fright. She trembled as she stepped forward to slap Lan Wu's hand away, but Lan Wu dodged quickly and immediately shrank back into Chu Mingheng's arms.
Consort Li was so angry that her teeth itched, thinking to herself, "That vile woman always knows how to use seductive tricks."
But now is not the time to talk about these things.
Consort Li crawled to her knees before Chu Mingheng, hastily explaining, "How dare I be disrespectful to Your Majesty? It was clearly Consort Zhen who—"
Chu Mingheng said in a deep voice, "That's enough."
We've had enough of this farce.
As soon as he finished speaking, Lan Wu emerged from his embrace, turned to the side without saying a word, and waited for him to speak.
"Issue the imperial decree: Consort Li has abused her power, disregarded the Emperor's grace, and disrupted the palace. She shall be fined three months' salary, demoted to the rank of Noble Consort, and stripped of her power to assist in the management of the six palaces, as a warning to others."
Before Consort Li could finish speaking, she felt a chill run through her body. Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief as she stared at the Emperor, uttering softly, "...Your Majesty..."
Chu Mingheng glanced at her coldly, then looked at Lan Wu, who had stopped speaking, and continued, "Consort Zhen, you will be confined to your quarters for half a month and made to copy the palace rules."
Lan Wu's eyes widened, her eyes still wet from crying, and she looked particularly innocent as she stared blankly at Chu Mingheng.
Only when she saw Chu Mingheng's resolute and cold expression, which showed no sign of reversing his order, did she lower her head in grievance and, at the prompting of the palace servants, accept the imperial decree and express her gratitude.
As they left Jinghua Palace, Lan Wu's pace slowed. She glanced at Aunt Danshan beside her, then at Chu Mingheng ahead.
Before he could speak, Chu Mingheng turned around, took a few steps forward, grabbed Lan Wu's wrist, and spoke to Dan Shan.
"You spoil her too much."
Danshan frowned slightly, glanced at Lanwu who was pulled into his arms and couldn't get away, and bowed slightly, saying in a humble but not arrogant manner, "This servant just wants to make Your Highness happy."
Chu Mingheng's expression grew increasingly cold: "From now on, don't let her run around like that."
Danshan disagreed with him, but before she could speak, Lanwu popped out and threw a tantrum: "I have legs, so I can run! Don't tell me what to do!"
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