Chapter 2, Chapter 2: Go Catching…
He really is here.
Mingwu's last shred of hope was shattered. A sudden sting ran down her spine, and her eyes felt as if something hot was about to spill from them.
Although she was mentally prepared, she was still surprised when she actually saw him.
She realized that all her mental preparation was in vain. Just thinking about him and some woman in this courtyard, together, was unbearable.
It felt like my chest was being pounded repeatedly by a giant hammer.
She couldn't even utter a sound, just staring blankly at him. Everything around her blurred and faded away, leaving only him and a room with a light on behind him.
Lu Yuan slowly turned his head and saw Ming Wu standing blankly at the door.
His brows furrowed slightly, and the corners of his lips pressed down a little. His gaze, heavy and unwavering, fell upon Ming Wu, like a dark mountain suddenly looming over her.
It's incredibly oppressive!
The night wind rustled through the treetops, as if something terrifying was quietly approaching from the shadows.
Chunnan's face turned deathly pale, her legs went weak, and she knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe.
Mingwu felt a chill run down her spine, and her fingertips involuntarily clenched. She almost wanted to bow her head and admit her mistake, just like before.
But she clearly did nothing wrong.
He was the one in the wrong. He kept a mistress, and he deceived her.
She bit her lower lip hard, forcibly suppressing the urge to back down, her back taut as she confronted him through the flickering lamplight.
Despite her trembling fingertips, she stubbornly raised her chin, like a cat with its fur standing on end, bluffingly displaying claws that posed no real threat.
Lu Yuan's eyes flickered slightly, and something seemed to flash across his eyes.
"go back!"
Mingwu tightened her grip on the hem of her clothes, but didn't move.
"Cousin's imperial painting..."
At this moment, a finely dressed man walked out of the house. Upon seeing Ming Wu, a look of amazement flashed in his eyes. He then straightened his clothes and struck what he considered a dashing pose.
She gave Mingwu a flirtatious wink.
"This young lady..."
Lu Yuan's face darkened.
Xu Ming gasped, rushed forward to block the man's view, and lowered his voice.
"Just shut up!"
Didn't you see how dark the Prime Minister's face turned? How dare he flirt with the Madam! Doesn't he fear the Prime Minister will castrate him?
"My cousin doesn't like that... umm..."
Before Prince Ning could finish speaking, Xu Ming covered his mouth and dragged him away. Before leaving, however, he still couldn't resist giving Ming Wu a flirtatious wink.
He looked just like a peacock spreading its tail feathers, eager to shake off all its magnificent plumage to win her favor.
Mingwu stood there, stunned.
Even after everyone had disappeared, Ming Wu was still staring intently. Lu Yuan's lips curled slightly as he strode up to her.
He was extremely tall, and standing so close to me, he seemed like a towering mountain that had suddenly collapsed, even obscuring the moonlight.
Mingwu was completely shrouded in his shadow.
She looked up, but could only see his taut jawline and a small section of his pale Adam's apple peeking out from under his tightly sealed black collar.
In the blink of an eye, he had already passed by.
The black hem of her robe brushed past her fingertips, carrying a cool fragrance, and she had already stepped out of the courtyard gate.
It's gone.
“Madam, it seems we have wronged the Prime Minister,” Chun Nan said cautiously.
Mingwu looked at the tall figure in the distance that was gradually fading into the night, and for some reason she felt a sense of loneliness from him.
Mingwu felt something hit her chest hard.
She ran quickly toward him.
When I caught up with him, he had just stepped onto the carriage. The curtain fell, obscuring his figure.
Mingwu quickened her pace, lifting her skirt, her embroidered shoes clicking rapidly on the bluestone slabs. The night wind whipped her sash, making a fluttering sound behind her.
"My husband!"
Her voice was carried away by the night wind.
The carriage had started moving slowly, and the copper bells on the carriage shafts gleamed coldly in the moonlight.
Mingwu disregarded her composure and chased after him.
The guard driving the carriage turned his head to look at the pursuers behind him, and hesitantly asked into the carriage, "Prime Minister, the Madam is following behind."
The car was completely silent, with only the night breeze gently swaying the corners of the curtains.
The guard sighed silently in his heart, glanced sympathetically at Mingwu who was still running hard, and continued to drive the carriage, but deliberately slowed down.
Suddenly, a cold voice rang out from inside the carriage.
"parking."
The guards immediately stopped the carriage.
Turning around, I saw that the lady had fallen to the ground.
He jumped off the carriage in a hurry, set up the stools, and waited for a long time, but Lu Yuan still did not come out of the carriage.
Just as I was wondering, I heard another sentence coming from inside the carriage.
"Let her come up."
The guard obeyed and walked to the back of the carriage. It was already dark, and there was no one on the street. The towering buildings on both sides were shrouded in the night, leaving only a dark shadow.
They looked like a bunch of ferocious monsters.
As I approached, I found that Mingwu had already stood up and was limping forward with difficulty. Her arms were crossed, and her little face was full of fear.
Sensing someone approaching, she backed away in fear.
"……who?!"
His voice trembled like fallen leaves in the autumn wind.
The guards then realized that the lady was an ordinary person, and her night vision was not as good as theirs as that of martial artists. They were annoyed that they hadn't brought a lantern.
"Don't be afraid, Madam. It's the Prime Minister who sent his men to pick you up."
Mingwu's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and tears almost welled up in her eyes.
No one knows how terrified she was walking alone on the dark, deserted streets after the carriage disappeared.
The year I came of age, it was also on such a night.
My mother suddenly fell seriously ill and was on the verge of death. My father and brothers were both away, and the servants had also disappeared.
She went to fetch a doctor.
On the road, she encountered a group of thugs who were robbing and plundering. They surrounded her with sinister smiles. Just when she thought she was doomed...
He descended from the heavens like a god.
He quickly subdued the thieves. He only glanced at her briefly before a black cloak was draped over his head.
When she looked up again, he had vanished.
All that remained were the corpses of the thieves scattered on the ground.
She secretly inquired about him without telling anyone. Later, her father used 300,000 strings of cash to buy the title of a founding baron, and the family moved to Lin'an.
She finally met him at a banquet.
They also learned his identity.
—Lu Yuan, the current prime minister.
At that moment, she realized the vast difference between them, and buried those unspeakable secrets deep in her heart.
She went to see him only to thank him for saving her life years ago, and then have nothing more to do with him.
But unexpectedly...
"Madam, the Prime Minister is waiting for you in the carriage."
The guard's words interrupted Mingwu's thoughts. She composed herself, lifted her skirt, and stepped onto the carriage.
The carriage was dimly lit, and Lu Yuan sat upright against one side of the carriage wall.
Looking up, one could see Lu Yuan sitting upright against the side of the room, his eyes slightly closed. A dark cloak enveloped him, making him look like a black jade statue immersed in a cold pool.
It was so cold that people dared not get close.
"My husband."
Mingwu smiled sweetly and moved closer.
She was already beautiful, but her smile made her even more stunning. The dimly lit carriage seemed to brighten up suddenly because of her.
Lu Yuan slightly raised his eyelids, his gaze lingered on Ming Wu's face for a moment, and then slowly moved away.
"Sit across from me, or get off."
The pearls embedded in the car wall shimmered, illuminating half of his profile. The light outlined the contours of his high, straight nose, casting a line of light and shadow on his face, leaving the other half in shadow.
Aloof and cold.
Mingwu's smile froze, and she stood there dumbfounded, as if she had been doused with a bucket of ice water. After a long while, she slowly sat down on the opposite car seat.
His movements were slow and sluggish, like those of an elderly person.
The carriage started moving.
The indigo-blue carriage curtains swayed gently, letting in sparse moonlight that scattered across the dark carriage, like a silent snowfall.
In the dim light, Ming Wu tilted her head back and looked at the tall man sitting opposite her.
The fingers resting on her lap tightened little by little.
"My husband, I..."
That's wrong.
Mingwu sniffed, smiled, and reached out to touch him. But just as her fingertips were about to touch the back of his hand...
Lu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes.
Mingwu was caught off guard when she met a pair of dark, deep eyes, like an unfathomable pool. In that instant, she felt a suffocating sensation, as if being submerged by dark, deep seawater.
Her hand froze in mid-air.
Lu Yuan said slowly, "Ming, have you forgotten what I said on our wedding night?"
It was like a bucket of ice water being poured over Mingwu's head.
It was the scorching heat of July, and the oppressive summer heat permeated the entire city of Lin'an.
Mingwu sat upright on the wedding bed covered with red dates and peanuts, her gold-threaded phoenix-tail skirt pressing down on her knees, so heavy it was hard to breathe.
The new house was eerily quiet.
Suddenly, with a creak, the door was pushed open.
A gust of wind, carrying the heat of summer, swept in and lifted a corner of her veil. The old women and maids, who stood like wooden stakes, all bowed their backs humbly.
It was him.
My heart jumped into my throat.
"All of you, step back," the man's cold voice rang out.
Immediately afterwards, steady footsteps entered from the doorway, each step seeming to pound on Mingwu's heart.
Even though there were fewer people in the room, the room felt even more cramped and oppressive.
The air was as tense as a fully drawn bow.
She could clearly hear the faint sound of the hem of the clothes rubbing together as the person moved.
Mingwu lowered her head and, through the view beneath the red veil, saw a pair of black official boots embroidered with gold thread patterns standing in front of her.
His gaze fell upon her, carrying a powerful sense of oppression. It made her scalp tingle and almost unable to breathe.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The sound of the night watchman's drum came from afar.
I don't know how much time passed, maybe just a moment, before my gaze left.
The official boots turned in a different direction and headed out.
On their wedding night, he didn't even lift the veil before leaving?
Mingwu stood up in a panic and reached out to grab the corner of his sleeve. The cold touch of the fabric sent a chill down her spine.
"Prime Minister."
Lu Yuan stopped, his dark eyes gliding over the delicate white fingers that were gripping his purple sleeve, his gaze lingering for a moment.
"Remember your place, and don't covet what you shouldn't be thinking."
...
Mingwu opened her eyes and looked at the dark tent ceiling. It took her a while to remember that this was the detached courtyard where she lived.
Wasn't she in the carriage with him?
Mingwu sat up abruptly: "Chunnan." Only after she spoke did she realize that her voice was terribly hoarse.
As soon as the words were spoken, the curtain was drawn back, and candlelight poured in with a "whoosh." The interior of the tent was brightened, and it could be seen that the outside was still the same as yesterday.
He didn't rest here last night.
How did I get home last night?
"It was the Prime Minister who brought the Madam back. Madam, you've caught a chill. The imperial physician came to examine you and said that you were already exhausted from all the running around, and the extreme emotional swings caused you to faint."
"I fainted?" Mingwu was stunned. How come she had no recollection of it?
"At that time, the lady's face was very pale, and she kept calling out the Prime Minister's name..."
Mingwu couldn't hear what Chunnan said next; the phrase "she called his name" kept swirling in her mind.
Did he know what she was thinking?
Mingwu covered her face in embarrassment and anger, wishing there was a hole in the ground she could jump into.
Once the heat on her face subsided, Mingwu lowered her hand and asked, somewhat resignedly.
"Where is the Prime Minister?"
Chunnan paused for a moment: "The Prime Minister went to Wuyi Lane."
Mingwu paused in her dressing, then seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and smiled, saying, "He must be going to discuss political affairs. I shouldn't have been so suspicious of him."
Chunnan remained silent for a while, but ultimately did not hand over the note she was clutching in her hand.
When she got back, she realized that she had misread one word in the address.
A slight difference can lead to a huge error.
Today is the fifteenth of the month. On this day of the month, the old lady observes a fast and worships Buddha, and does not see anyone. Therefore, Mingwu does not need to pay her respects today.
After breakfast, a light rain began to fall.
Mingwu took out an unfinished sachet from the bedside table. It was embroidered with flowers of the four seasons: spring orchids, summer lotus, autumn chrysanthemums, and winter plum blossoms, using various colored threads.
It symbolizes peace and safety throughout the four seasons.
It also implies accompanying the emperor year after year.
"Madam's embroidery is truly beautiful; the Prime Minister will surely love it," Chun Nan teased with a smile.
Mingwu gave her a coquettish glance, then lowered her head and began embroidering diligently, stitch by stitch.
Time passed little by little.
Mingwu finished the last stitch and was about to wrap it up when a maid rushed in.
"Madam, the magistrate has sent word that your mother is seriously ill."
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