Chapter 168 Part 1 & 2
The wind inside the palace didn't seem as fierce as before. Although it wasn't snowing anymore, there was still a chill in the air.
There were a few soft coughs inside the main hall, and a faint, bitter smell of medicine could still be detected.
Luo Yunhou, standing to the side, presented the medicine bowl from the tray in his hand and said softly, "Your Majesty should take your medicine."
She did not mention in her letter to Lan Wu that His Majesty had caught a cold, because His Majesty only caught a cold after she wrote the letter, so it cannot be said that she deliberately omitted the fact.
Since the day before yesterday, His Majesty has caught a cold. The imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital have come to see him and said it was a common illness. His Majesty was originally in good health, and he should recover after taking the medicine for two days.
It has been exactly two days since today.
But His Majesty is still not better.
A bunch of quack doctors.
Chu Mingheng glanced at the bowl of medicine indifferently and gestured for Luo Yun to put it down.
After putting down the medicine, Luo Yun stood silently to one side.
Just as Chu Mingheng picked up the medicine bowl, a commotion suddenly came from outside the hall, and then Chen Kang'an quickly entered the hall with several letters.
Just as he was about to speak, he saw His Majesty about to drink his medicine, and his words suddenly stopped.
Chu Mingheng glanced down and saw the letter in his hand.
He calmly put down the medicine bowl and held out his hand, saying in a way that left no room for argument, "Give it to me."
Chen Kang felt reassured that he had come at the worst possible time; by the time His Majesty finished reading the Empress's letter, the medicine would have gone cold.
But since His Majesty has said so, we can't refuse.
So they had no choice but to present the letter.
Those were still two letters.
Chen Kang thought to himself: "Your Majesty really cares about His Majesty. He wrote her two letters, and she returned two letters in return."
Tsk tsk tsk.
Chu Mingheng held the two letters in his hands, slowly lowered his eyes to look at the envelopes, and saw that in addition to the words "Your Majesty", there were also the characters "One" and "Two" clearly on the envelopes.
He understood perfectly; that was how Lan Wu distinguished them—the one in the previous life was "One," and the one in this life was "Two."
Chu Mingheng calmly placed the envelope back on the table without immediately opening the letter.
An invisible, oppressive atmosphere slowly spread from the front.
Luo Yun and Chen Kang'an exchanged a silent glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes—the Empress had sent two letters back, both addressed to His Majesty. His Majesty should be happy, so why did he seem rather displeased?
However, they didn't have to wait long before they saw His Majesty reach out and tear open one of the letters.
Upon opening the letter, His Majesty's expression relaxed in a short time, and he seemed to be in a much better mood.
They secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The first sentence Chu Mingheng saw when he opened the letter was Lan Wu saying she missed him.
Next, they talked about how they read storybooks together in the carriage every day, and would occasionally discuss the stories in the storybooks. They would also talk about which lake the carriage passed by, how they got off the carriage and strolled around the lake, or which place had sweeter fruit than the ones in the palace...
Next...
Chu Mingheng raised an eyebrow slightly and looked down at Luo Yun.
In her letter, Lan Wu wrote that even if she wasn't by her side, she should take care of herself, sleep well at night and not think about her, and if she was sick, she should call the imperial physician to treat her and not skip taking her medicine.
It's really strange. Does Lan Wu have a small eye somewhere? She can tell he's sick even when she's not in the palace.
Chu Mingheng silently withdrew his gaze from Luo Yun, reached for the medicine bowl beside him, and drank the medicine.
After reading the letter, he carefully read it twice more from beginning to end before flattening the letter and placing it between the pages of a book. He then ordered someone to fetch an empty wooden box.
Chen Kang'an carefully presented a sandalwood box inlaid with mother-of-pearl. It was neither too big nor too small, but its exquisite and beautiful appearance made it perfect for storing the flattened letters.
After opening the box and setting it aside, Chu Mingheng turned his gaze to the envelope with the brightly colored character "壹" (one) written on it.
What's with this "one" and "two" thing? Why is he the "two" one?
He wanted to see what Lan Wu had written for that "one".
So without hesitation, he opened the first letter again and read it from beginning to end.
Lan Wu's first sentence was always the same, but the rest was quite different; the content she had written in his previous letter was almost entirely absent in this one.
They even know how to keep things fresh for them.
Chu Mingheng couldn't help but smile slightly.
Comparing the two, it's impossible to determine a winner.
So be it.
Chu Mingheng simply read the letter again before putting it back in the envelope and setting it aside.
He was about to start replying to the letter.
...
The next day, Chu Mingheng found the letter addressed to him on the table. Although he despised the act of "him" opening the letter without permission yesterday, he would have done the same if he were in his shoes.
"Someone, go find another empty wooden box." After reading his letter three times, Chu Mingheng gave the order.
Chen Kang'an was puzzled and dared not ask the reason, so he went to find another wooden box inlaid with gold wire and carved flowers.
Seeing that His Majesty had also put the letter in, he then picked up his pen and wrote a reply.
Alright, whatever makes Your Majesty happy.
-
Lan Wu's guess was right; when she received the second letter, the carriage had just arrived at Changyong Mountain.
At that time, Lan Wu had already had her things packed and entered the main hall of the villa.
There were also palace servants in the villa, but there weren't many of them. They were all people who served the royal family members, and they were very humble. They dared not be disrespectful to Consort Lan Wu.
Having traveled for nearly ten days, Lan Wu was exhausted and didn't bother to explore the royal villa. She went straight to the palace and rested on the chaise lounge.
She lay there wearily for a while, and no one around dared to make a sound, for fear of disturbing her good sleep.
As expected, Lan Wu fell asleep, but unexpectedly dreamed of Chu Mingheng.
To be precise, it was Chu Mingheng from his previous life.
At the end of March, a light rain was falling. The rain, which had been soaking everything for several days, had also made the roads muddy and difficult to travel on.
The sound of horses' hooves drew closer, splashing brown mud into puddles before quickly disappearing back to the ground.
Chu Mingheng was dressed in dark casual clothes, his hair tied up with a silver crown. His face was pale yet angular, and his overly dark eyes revealed a sharp and urgent look. Raindrops fell and gathered into beads, sliding down his face. Mud splashed up by the horse's hooves clung to his shoes and the hem of his clothes. He wasn't even wearing a straw hat. Alone, he rode his horse through the gentle, awakening rain of spring.
"...Your Majesty...Your Majesty?"
The dream was suddenly disrupted by a sound, and everything turned into ripples in the water, merging into a distorted, indistinct blur that could no longer be seen.
When Lan Wu was woken up, she was still a little dazed. She seemed to still see Chu Mingheng running in the rain in front of her. But when she looked closely, she saw the unfamiliar wooden carved screen in front of her.
Lianxi was calling to her from the side, holding three letters in her hand.
"Your Majesty, His Majesty's letter has arrived." Lan Wu had previously said that when His Majesty's letter arrived, she should be woken up even if she was sleeping to read it.
Lianxi was reluctant to wake her because she was sleeping so soundly, but after a while she finally spoke up to wake her.
"If Your Highness is sleepy, please go to the couch to sleep. It's all ready over there. You might catch a cold if you sleep here."
Lan Wu heard her words clearly, and after focusing her attention on the two letters in her hand, she gently shook her head: "No need, I... I'm awake now, I'll read the letters first."
After saying that, she got up from the couch and went to the small study in the next room.
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