Chapter 74 I dreamt of you
Seeing that Lan Wu had sincerely told him the truth, Chu Mingheng frowned.
"Are all of these things true?"
"Does Your Majesty still not believe me? I really had many dreams, and I did not lie to Your Majesty—" Lan Wu's tone became slightly urgent, and she gripped Chu Mingheng's clothes tightly with her fingers.
"Besides these, what else did you dream about?"
"That's all." He answered so quickly that Chu Mingheng gave him a deep look.
He carried Lan Wu back to the bed, turned her around so that her back was to him, and sat her on the bed. He stood by the bed and took another handkerchief to help her wring her hair.
"Think carefully again, did you dream of anything else?"
Lan Wu looked up and saw Chu Mingheng's face above her. He didn't seem angry, but did he believe her or not?
He asked if there was anything else, and what counted as something else.
He gently pressed Lan Wu's head down. Her hair wasn't completely dry yet. She thought for a moment and tentatively said, "Actually, I also dreamed about something else."
She gazed at Chu Mingheng's expression and slowly said, "In my dreams, I do not reside in Yilan Palace."
Chu Mingheng paused, listening to her.
"I live in Lejing Pavilion. Consort Shu often makes me kneel down to pay my respects. My knees are bruised and swollen from kneeling, and they hurt a lot."
She spoke each word earnestly, but her eyes were fixed intently on Chu Mingheng, trying to discern something different from his reaction.
Before she could even see clearly, Chu Mingheng grabbed the back of her neck and forced her head down.
"Is there no me in your dreams?" Chu Mingheng's voice sounded normal, but his grip on Lan Wu's neck was gentle and slow, as if he was afraid of accidentally hurting her.
Lan Wuke has a lot to say about this.
She moved forward a little, turned around and smiled at Chu Mingheng, tidying her long hair as she spoke softly, "Of course His Majesty is there. It was His Majesty who allowed me to stay at Lejing Pavilion. Oh right, I heard that His Majesty had issued an edict to seal off Lejing Pavilion. It seems there are some differences between dreams and reality."
Although she was speaking with a smile, every movement she made was a rejection of Chu Mingheng's touch. She was clearly quite angry. After saying a sentence with a smile, she seemed to glare at him with her eyes, making no attempt to hide it.
"I'll let you stay here..." Chu Mingheng repeated her words. After a moment, his lowered eyes lifted again. He reached out and grabbed the blanket wrapped around Lan Wu, moving her closer to him as well.
"It was my fault." After saying this, Chu Mingheng lowered his head and kissed Lan Wu's forehead.
Lan Wu paused, subconsciously touching her forehead, her imposing manner softening slightly, somewhat bewildered: "You can admit you were wrong about things in your dreams, why..."
Why were you so cruel to her in the previous life? Was it because she was truly reckless?
Lan Wu thought she had already been sad enough, but hearing Chu Mingheng's belated apology still made her feel wronged. Perhaps it was because Chu Mingheng had spoiled her too much in this life that she had become so fearless.
"Awu, don't cry, it's my fault."
It would be better if she didn't try to comfort her; the more she tried, the more uncomfortable Lan Wu felt.
She blinked her teary eyes, wiped the tears from her face with her hand, and said softly, "...You're a bastard."
Her hair wasn't completely dry, and crying made her even hotter. She pulled the blanket down, but halfway down she remembered Chu Mingheng was still watching, so she wrapped it up again. She began to sober up and think about the purpose of her words, so she asked him, "If I had a dream, so be it. Why is Your Majesty apologizing to me? Does Your Majesty know what kind of grievances I suffered in my dream?"
"I heard that His Majesty ordered the sealing of Lejing Pavilion. Why did His Majesty seal it off? There are no concubines living there."
She spoke between sobs, sounding pitiful and looking so heartbreaking that it softened anyone's heart, let alone when Chu Mingheng saw her like this.
"I made you sad, Awu." Chu Mingheng squatted down, gently wiping away her tears with his palm, looking at her at eye level, even a little shorter than her. He saw that Lan Wu's eyes were dark, shining with tears, but at this moment they seemed helpless. He reached out and put his hand into Lan Wu's palm.
He told her, "I've had some dreams too, Awu, I've dreamt about you."
I dreamt about...her?
Lan Wu swallowed those words and thought about them carefully. Then, she forced a stiff smile and said dryly, "I'm right here. Why is Your Majesty still dreaming about me?"
Chu Mingheng's words were definitely not what she meant, but she dared not imagine that Chu Mingheng had also been reborn like her. If it were the Chu Mingheng of her previous life, how would he react if he knew how she died? Those concubines were all extremely vicious, going to any lengths to frame her. Would Chu Mingheng believe she was innocent?
"What did Your Majesty dream about?" she asked nervously, her fingers unconsciously tightening around Chu Mingheng's hand in hers.
Chu Mingheng seemed to sense her nervousness, but he wasn't sure what Lan Wu was afraid of. This reaction... seemed to suggest that she was afraid that his dream was about something bad.
"I dreamt that you lived in Lejingxuan and I was always crying." Although Lanwu had a gentle temper, she was prone to tears, whether she was faking it or not. Perhaps sometimes she didn't want to cry, but being sensitive would make her overthink. In this palace, he was the only one she could rely on, which is why she was particularly concerned about his every reaction in her dream, afraid that he would abandon her.
Is she afraid he won't want her anymore?
Chu Mingheng frowned slightly, feeling as if he had heard those words somewhere before.
Looking at Lan Wu's flushed face, he suddenly remembered—he had indeed heard it before, and it was Lan Wu herself who told him.
Lanwu had hurt herself because of the governess's matter, and when he came, she said this to him.
His thoughts returned, Chu Mingheng propped himself up on the edge of the bed with one hand, straightened his back, his expression deep and his eyes slightly dark. He first kissed Lan Wu's brow, then moved the kiss down to her lips, whispering to her, "I am indeed a scoundrel."
As Chu Mingheng's lips parted, his words happened to fall on Lan Wu's ears, causing her to open her eyes wide in surprise, her long eyelashes trembling in confusion.
Lan Wu wanted to ask Chu Mingheng if he had dreamed of anything else, but he pulled her down by the waist, and she fell limply into the quilt, feeling exhausted in an instant.
She had already been drinking, and her emotions were fluctuating. She had almost fallen asleep while bathing in the bathhouse, and now that Chu Mingheng was coaxing her, it was difficult for her to force herself to stay awake and ask him questions.
"Sleep well, Awu, I won't ask you anymore." He kissed her lips until they were redder, then pulled her inside.
Lan Wu opened her eyes and looked at him, softly reminding him, "My nightgown..."
Chu Mingheng then got up and went to the closet to get her clothes. He picked out a light pink one, and when he went back, he saw that Lan Wu's eyelids were almost drooping.
She was tired of playing today.
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