Chapter 21 Who taught you this dance?
Lan Wu learned from Luo Yun what had happened at Xu Garden that afternoon. No wonder Consort Rong was so angry she vomited blood. After being verbally abused by Consort Shu that afternoon, she dared not be angry or speak out, and only now was she finally able to vomit blood because of the pent-up frustration. If it were Lan Wu herself, she would have reacted on the spot, but she would also have left Consort Shu with a reputation for being intolerant.
She ate two pieces of chestnut cake, and then Luo Yun poured her some tea.
Lan Wu took two sips and looked at Chu Mingheng's teacup, which had just been taken away.
She insisted it was Fengshan Pu'er tea; how could she possibly be mistaken?
Chu Mingheng was talking nonsense to her again.
After drinking the hot tea, Lan Wu felt a little warmer. She kept looking towards the palace entrance, but when she saw that Chu Mingheng had not returned, she looked away and pretended to ask if she could not stay in His Majesty's palace and asked Luo Yun to take her somewhere else.
Luo Yun's lips twitched. Looking at the brocade quilt wrapped around Lan Wu, she shook her head and said, "His Majesty ordered you to wait here, and this servant dares not disobey the imperial decree."
"His Majesty told me to wait..." Lan Wu nodded, held her teacup, took a small sip, smiled, and looked up to reply, "Then I'll wait."
In truth, Lan Wu herself wasn't sure if Chu Mingheng would be satisfied with her dance when he returned later.
Still not satisfied...
If she's still not satisfied, what method should she come up with? Should she also vomit blood and feign pitifulness?
Before Lan Wu could make up her mind, Chu Mingheng returned first.
Luo Yun didn't stay with Lan Wu any longer and said to her, "Miss, I'll be going now."
As soon as she left, Lan Wu nervously gripped the blanket, then, as if remembering something, she let go and allowed the blanket to slip down. She placed her palms on her knees, looking straight ahead.
Accompanying Chu Mingheng's footsteps as he entered the hall was his question, which could be described as dangerous: "What are you wearing?"
Lan Wu suddenly stood up, not daring to look at him, and knelt down to greet him.
"It's...it's what I need to wear for dancing..."
Chu Mingheng turned his head and glanced at the bright candlelight in the hall, then walked over and extinguished two of them.
He sat silently on the soft couch, on which sat a small table with a cup of tea still on it.
His gaze, so cold and ruthless, was so intense that even Lan Wu on the ground could sense Chu Mingheng's bad mood.
But now that things have come to this, there is absolutely no chance to back down.
Lan Wu's long hair was secured at the back of her head with a silver hairpin, and a large pink peony adorned the side. Some loose strands of hair fell loosely down her temples. Her red dress wrapped around her graceful body, and beneath the crimson, all that could be seen was snow-white.
Her deliberate allure was tinged with naivety and trepidation. She reached out and gently touched the hem of Chu Mingheng's clothes, then slowly raised her head after grasping it.
"Your Majesty, please watch my dance."
Chu Mingheng felt he really should praise her persistence.
However, he didn't say anything to praise her, and his expression became even more stern. Ke Lanwu didn't seem afraid at all, and she brought her face close when he reached out his hand.
Chu Mingheng didn't let her touch him. His fingers forcefully pinched her face, making her soft cheeks puff out. He asked, word by word, "Really want to jump? No regrets?"
Lan Wu blinked and nodded firmly.
Chu Mingheng released her and nodded slightly to her: "Then jump."
Lan Wu's eyes lit up, she breathed a sigh of relief, and said "Yes."
She got up from the ground, her clothes barely covering anything, but she wasn't shy in front of Chu Mingheng. She hummed a tune and struck a pose in the open space in the center.
Given the limited resources, Lan Wu could only hum a tune to herself. Fortunately, she had memorized the tune when she practiced dancing in her previous life. With each soft hum, the dance she had carefully prepared for Chu Mingheng was presented before his eyes.
Lan Wu's fingers were slender and her body was agile. When she danced, she was like a fluttering butterfly, her movements light and beautiful. Her clothes fluttered as she danced, casting shadows on the embroidered screen behind her in the candlelight.
She hummed the music softly, and at the same time, Lan Wu's dancing became even smoother.
Chu Mingheng lowered his eyes, his gaze moving down from her alluring eyes to her loosely draped clothes, the neckline wide open, revealing her snow-white collarbone and the inch of skin below.
Looking further down, the sash around her waist was about to fall off, and her bare feet were exposed on the palace carpet at the bottom of her clothes.
There were some scars on her feet, small but very dense, showing that she had suffered a lot over the years of dancing.
The dance lasted less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. When Lan Wu finished dancing and looked at Chu Mingheng with her bright eyes, slightly out of breath, Chu Mingheng reached out his hand to her.
"come over."
When her fingertips touched his palm, Lan Wu felt a body temperature that was cooler than her own. Sometimes, Lan Wu even suspected that Chu Mingheng was a snake in disguise. Books said that snakes were cold-blooded, and Chu Mingheng always gave her a feeling that he couldn't warm her up. But she only thought these things to herself and never dared to say them to Chu Mingheng.
Her fingers were enveloped by another hand, and her entire hand was pulled into the other's palm, followed by a force that pulled her up.
Lan Wu did not resist and was pulled into Chu Mingheng's arms.
"Who taught you this dance?"
Chu Mingheng asked her a question, then grabbed her wrists and raised them above her head, ordering, "Don't move."
Lan Wu straightened up, looked up blankly at her tightly clasped wrists, and saw Chu Mingheng loosen his grip, turn her face back, and stroke her neck with his fingertips, reminding her: "I'm asking you a question."
At the same time, his lower back was pulled forward by another hand, and the two bodies were pressed close together.
"It was my own idea—I didn't, I didn't show it to anyone else, only His Majesty saw it, really!" The belt around her waist was completely loosened and she fell down.
It was only then that Lan Wu realized her shyness. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. Looking at the familiar face so close to her, she leaned forward with a hint of grievance, wanting to kiss him but not daring to. She could only step back, her eyelashes drooping and trembling slightly with unease.
When someone picked her up, the embrace felt so familiar that Lan Wu instinctively wrapped her arms around Chu Mingheng's neck.
Chu Mingheng carried her into the inner hall and headed towards the bed.
After Lan Wu was put down, he turned around and went to the other side of the wooden shelf to get something.
"I have a few questions to ask you, so as not to wrongly accuse you and make you suffer a beating for no reason." The sandalwood ruler in Chu Mingheng's hand was completely black, covered with carved patterns. Although it did not look thick, it was as long as an arm.
He patted Lan Wu's thigh lightly and casually warned her, "If you lie, I will beat your leg to a pulp."
Lan Wu stared blankly at the ruler pointing at her, her heart pounding wildly. She didn't even need to hear what he said; just the gentle pat on her thigh was enough to make her kneel down properly.
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