Chapter 37 You're a madman!
In the dark room, time loses its meaning.
Lu Yuan leaned against the door, as if he had turned back into the eight-year-old child who had been abandoned in the ice cave.
The biting cold, the suffocating despair, the image of the older brother jumping into the water, the mother's eyes filled with a mixture of grief and resentment...
Countless images crashed wildly through his mind, almost tearing his soul apart.
A low growl, like that of a wounded beast, escaped from Lu Yuan's throat.
He suddenly raised his hand and slammed his fist hard onto the cold, hard ground. His knuckles were instantly torn open, but the sharp pain did nothing to relieve the suffocating pain in his chest.
The mother's accusations, though sharp and hurtful, were true.
His life was saved by his elder brother who gave his own.
Therefore, when the Qi family was in trouble and Qi Lan was all alone and helpless, he stepped in. For the sake of his brother, he had to protect her.
He even considered that if Qi Lan was willing, he would give her a title and someone to rely on, and spend the rest of his life repaying this debt that could never be cleared.
until……
He married Awu.
That vibrant, lively Mingwu, who could make him angry and flustered.
Like a beam of light that came out of nowhere, it suddenly shone into his cold and gloomy life.
The thought of "repayment" faded away silently from his heart without him even realizing it.
He did have ulterior motives when he married her.
He didn't know when he started to care about her. She was like a gently flowing spring, gradually seeping into his life over time.
Perhaps it started a long time ago, but he was unaware of it.
Otherwise, how could someone like him take such a huge risk to implant the mother Gu in himself?
Lu Yuan raised his hand and placed it on his left wrist.
Through the thin sleeve, he could clearly feel the small red mole pulsating with his pulse.
That was the mark of planting the mother Gu, and also the most secret bond between him and Ming Wu.
So, Ah Wu.
How could you be so naive as to think you could escape him?
In the darkness, Lu Yuan slowly raised his head, his eyes churning with obsession and madness, concealed by the darkness.
He leaned against the door and slowly stood up. All his vulnerability, confusion, and pain were suppressed back under his cold and dignified exterior the moment he straightened his back.
"Click".
The door to the dark room was pushed open, and a tall figure stepped into the dim light of the corridor.
He remained the same powerful and unflappable Prime Minister Lu.
Xu Ming, who had been guarding the door ever since Lu Yuan entered the dark room, breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw the tall figure emerge.
Since marrying his wife, the Prime Minister has rarely entered the dark room.
This time, when the Prime Minister emerged from the Plum Blossom Courtyard, his face was ashen, and he exuded an uncontrollable rage. He was like a ferocious beast on the verge of death, enraged.
Even the pupils of his eyes were tinged with scarlet.
He was genuinely worried that the Prime Minister would fall ill.
Fortunately, although the Prime Minister's condition is still not good, at least it is no longer out of control.
"Go and investigate the rumors circulating about me and Miss Qi. I don't want to hear any more of that tomorrow."
"Also... have someone relay what happened at Plum Blossom Courtyard today to Madam, if appropriate."
He's not the kind of person who works quietly without seeking recognition. Since he wants to keep Mingwu, he won't miss any opportunity to win her favor.
He wanted her to know.
In order to protect her, he did not hesitate to argue with his mother.
Xu Ming was taken aback at first, then understood: "Yes."
-
The daylight seemed to have been abruptly cut off.
During the day, the sky was clear and blue, but suddenly a large patch of dark clouds drifted in, pressing down heavily and making the eaves and brackets seem suffocating.
The air was thick and humid, the earthy smell mixed with a suffocating feeling of impending storm. The flowers and trees in the courtyard had lost their vitality, swaying uneasily in the rising wind.
"The wind is picking up; it's going to rain. Madam, let's go back inside."
Chunnan reminded him in a low voice.
She was personally brought there by the housekeeper in the afternoon.
Along with the jewels, boxes of dazzling jewelry and brocades were also brought in, almost blinding people.
But Mingwu didn't even lift her eyelids.
Imprison her and then give her some dead things.
What's going on here? Is it like slapping someone and then giving them a sweet treat?
Did they still think of her as a useless pet wagging its tail and begging for his attention?
A voice came from outside the wall; it wasn't loud, but it was very clear.
"Have you heard? The Prime Minister argued with the Old Madam today at the Plum Garden because of his wife."
"Absolutely true. The Prime Minister directly said he wanted to adopt Miss Qi as his goddaughter, and told her to give up that idea."
"Madam is truly blessed to have the Prime Minister protect her like this..."
Chunnan was so excited and happy that she almost cried. Her wife was finally about to have her hard times over.
"Madam, the Prime Minister..."
Mingwu strode to the window and slammed it shut, slamming the rustling sounds shut as if they had been suddenly choked.
That's all.
Chunnan asked doubtfully, "Does Madam think what they said is false?"
Mingwu sat down in the chair: "What if it's true? What if it's false? It doesn't matter anymore."
Yes, none of that matters anymore.
She picked up a book at random and found it to be an ancient recipe book for food therapy that she had been asking for for a long time.
So that's where it was.
It's with him.
She searched almost every bookstore in Lin'an for this book, but he never uttered a word about it, leaving her to wander aimlessly like a headless fly.
Mingwu sneered as she threw the book onto the table.
But then I thought about it again.
Why should we make things difficult for this book because of him?
This is a book I've always wanted. Why not read it?
She was even thinking that after leaving Lin'an City, she would open a medicinal cuisine shop to make a living.
Mingwu quickly retrieved the book.
Just as she was reading the most exquisite part, Chunnan's voice rang out softly: "Madam, the one from Lanyuan has arrived."
Before the words were finished, a rapid rumble of wheels rolled over the stone steps, breaking the tranquility of the courtyard.
Mingwu looked up.
Qi Lan sat in a wheelchair and was pushed in from outside the pavilion by Lan Ying.
She wore a plain white dress, her black hair simply tied up with a white jade hairpin. In the dim light, she resembled a lost and adrift soul.
Her face was so pale it was almost transparent, and her beautiful eyes were slightly red and dotted with tears.
"Boom—"
A rumble of thunder rolled across the sky.
The rain started to fall.
At first, only a few raindrops hit the bluestone slabs, making a crisp cracking sound, but soon they formed a dense curtain of rain.
The pavilion only had one wall; the other three sides were unobstructed, and the rain drifted in at an angle, a few drops landing on Mingwu's arm, feeling cool.
Mingwu frowned slightly, closed the book, picked up the umbrella from the table, and got up to walk outside.
"The weather isn't cooperating, Miss Qi, perhaps we should try another day..."
Qi Lan hurriedly called out to Ming Wu, "Sister Ming..."
Mingwu almost vomited from being called "sister" in such an affected manner. She said rather rudely.
"Stop."
"If I remember correctly, Miss Qi is several years older than me, right? Please don't call me 'elder sister,' I really don't deserve it."
Chunnan rolled her eyes at Qi Lan with disdain and added insult to injury.
"Yes, I heard that Miss Qi is two years older than the Prime Minister. My wife is only seventeen. Please don't call my wife old."
She hadn't forgotten how this frail, sickly woman had harmed the lady.
Qi Lan's already pale face turned even paler, and her fingertips dug tightly into her palms.
The blue warbler exploded like a wildcat whose tail had been stepped on.
"What did you say? How dare a lowly servant speak ill of my mistress?" Her voice was shrill and grating.
Chunnan raised her chin and retorted.
"You're old and you can't even be talked about? Is your wife some kind of eternal turtle that can't be spoken of or touched?"
"you!"
Lan Ying was so angry that she trembled all over. This lowly maid actually compared her mistress to a turtle.
The veins on his hands, gripping the wheelchair handles, bulged. He had completely forgotten Qi Lan's instructions before he arrived: to appear weak.
She suddenly released her wheelchair, lunged at Chunnan, and raised her hand to slap her...
A figure was faster than her.
Before Lan Ying's slap could land, Ming Wu raised her hand and precisely grabbed the other's wrist, then delivered a crisp slap in return.
"Smack!"
The sound was crisp and clear, startling the sparrows under the eaves into fluttering flight.
"Who gave you the audacity to hit my people in front of me?!"
Lan Ying covered her face and staggered back, staring incredulously at Ming Wu who had suddenly made her move.
"Blue Oriole, step back."
Qi Lan snorted softly, and only after Lan Ying reluctantly retreated to the side did she slowly raise her eyelids.
She had practiced this movement countless times in front of the bronze mirror.
First, she lowered her eyelids slightly, then slowly raised them, just enough to let the tears that had been welling up in her eyes roll down, leaving a glistening trail along her pale cheek.
"It was I who overstepped my bounds and should not have dared to presume to address you as my sister."
As she spoke, her slender fingers gently stroked the armrests of the wheelchair, her knuckles turning white from the force.
"But since you chose to leave, why did you come back? Do you know that you took everything that belonged to me?"
Mingwu said solemnly, "Miss Qi, I have never taken anything from you."
"You don't have it?"
Qi Lan gave a sad laugh, her voice suddenly rising in pitch.
"Yuanlang was supposed to take care of me for the rest of my life. It was you...it was you who destroyed my last hope."
She suddenly turned her wheelchair with one hand, the wooden wheels grinding against the planks with a screeching sound.
His other hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Mingwu's wrist.
A mad rage, a desire to perish together, surged in his eyes.
Startled by her sudden movement, Mingwu took three steps back, her embroidered heel touching the edge of the pavilion, nearly falling off.
"Cough...cough cough cough..."
Qi Lan suddenly coughed violently, her frail body swaying precariously in her wheelchair. She looked up at Ming Wu and suddenly chuckled softly.
"Are you afraid I'll push you, Madam? No, I won't..."
She slowly approached, turning her wheelchair, her voice as soft as a whisper.
"Tell me, if I were to fall from here... who would Yuanlang believe? Last time he chose me..."
Her nails, painted with red nail polish, tapped lightly on the armrest.
"How about we make another bet this time?"
"You're a madman!"
Mingwu was genuinely frightened.
However, before she could finish speaking, Qi Lan suddenly released her grip on the brakes, and the wheelchair surged forward along the slope.
"ah!!"
A piercing scream tore through the rain.
The wheelchair crashed into the stone steps, its wooden frame shattering with a crack. The figure in pure white fell into the mud like a kite with a broken string.
"Miss Qi!"
The maids who were peeking from afar screamed in alarm.
Her plain white dress was instantly stained and filthy. Qi Lan lay on the ground, her frail body trembling violently, her long hair sticking to her cheeks, truly resembling a white flower completely destroyed by wind and rain.
This series of changes, from beginning to end, lasted only a few breaths.
And just as all eyes were drawn to this horrific scene.
"What's going on?!"
A cold, solemn voice, accompanied by wind and rain, suddenly broke the stagnant air in the courtyard.
All sounds ceased abruptly.
Lu Yuan's tall figure had appeared unnoticed, holding an umbrella, and was now standing in front of the moon gate.
His hands, with their distinct knuckles, gripped the bamboo-ribbed umbrella, raindrops cascading down its edge like beads, soaking the hem of his dark court robe.
He had obviously just finished court and came straight here.
The rain blurred his features, but his taut jawline was clearly visible, its sharp lines etched into the misty air.
From a blind spot where Lu Yuan couldn't see, Qi Lan stared intently at Ming Wu, a smug smile playing on her lips.
Using lip movements to silently pronounce each word:
Ming, Wu,
You lost again.
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