Chapter 49. Ah Wu, wait for me.
As dusk fell, the setting sun shone like blood.
After having dinner, Mingwu, as usual, moved a chair and sat on the veranda.
The gentle rays of the setting sun spilled across the courtyard, casting long shadows on the bluestone slabs. Even her slender shoulders were bathed in warmth.
But it couldn't warm my heart.
Chunnan stepped forward lightly and draped an outer garment over her shoulders. Her lips parted several times, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
"Say what you want to say."
Mingwu's gaze remained fixed on the flowerbed.
Mingwu's gaze remained fixed on the flowerbed. The flowers, bathed in the setting sun, were in full bloom, each petal a dazzling red, as if they were burning their lives out in their final moments.
Just like her unconditional love for Lu Yuan.
Chunnan said softly.
"Just now, a message came from the study."
"They say the Prime Minister got caught in the rain last night and now has a persistent high fever. He's been sleeping soundly for a while..." She glanced at Ming Wu, "...and kept calling your name."
Mingwu paused slightly in her hand holding the round fan, and the butterfly wings embroidered on the fan trembled gently in the twilight.
She gazed at the burning flowers.
I suddenly remembered the petals that were knocked to the ground by the wind and rain last night. When I swept them out this morning, they had all fallen into the mud.
Just like the last vestige of affection she had for him, it was completely severed the moment he confessed to using the Gu poison.
"Would you like to go and take a look, Madam?"
Chunnan gazed at Mingwu's serene profile.
I couldn't help but think of the past.
At that time, whenever the Prime Minister was slightly unwell, his wife would always personally stand guard outside the courtyard corridor, personally overseeing the heat when decocting medicine, and even testing the temperature of the medicine before handing it in.
Now, although the lady is resentful of the prime minister.
But Chunnan always felt in her heart that without love, where would resentment come from?
Mingwu gently waved her round fan and said calmly, "I'm not an imperial physician, what would I do there?"
The voice was so calm that it didn't betray a ripple, as if the speaker was talking about someone completely unrelated to them.
The wind under the eaves suddenly picked up, making her skirt rustle.
The vibrant flowers swayed in the twilight, their redness almost dripping blood.
In the western sky, the sun finally set. The last rays of its afterglow lingered on her shoulder before being swallowed by the twilight.
She got up, adjusted her outer garment, and walked into the house.
-
The sky gradually darkened.
Dusk, like an invisible net, drew in from all sides, enveloping the courtyard in a deep, inky darkness.
Only the light shining through the study window tore a warm yellow slit in the darkness.
A seated figure was reflected in the window paper, his back still straight. Only from time to time could one hear a suppressed cough.
Lu Yuan held a pen in one hand to review official documents, while the other hand was placed against his lips, trying to suppress the itch surging in his throat.
The high fever made him dizzy and lightheaded, and fine beads of cold sweat seeped from his forehead; he almost couldn't hold the pen properly. But the physical torment was nothing compared to the anxiety in his heart.
He was waiting for her.
Yu Guang once again uncontrollably drifted towards the door.
Whenever the slightest sound came from the corridor, the pen tip hanging over the official document would pause, and he would quickly look up. The dim candlelight illuminated a cluster of light in his eyes.
Once he saw that there was no one there, the light in his eyes suddenly went out.
He lowered his eyes in silence, followed by increasingly violent coughing, which made the shadow cast on the window paper tremble slightly.
What is she doing?
But, did you know he was sick?
Or is it that... even if you know, you don't want to see him again?
The fingers holding the pen slowly tightened.
Xu Ming, who was standing by, saw Lu Yuan's expression.
He knew perfectly well who the Prime Minister was waiting for.
He clearly longed for his wife to visit, but he stubbornly refused to speak.
Xu Ming sighed softly, quietly walked to the door, and beckoned the servant on duty to ask in a low voice.
"Has the news of the Prime Minister's illness truly reached the Madam's ears?"
The servant bowed and replied, his voice growing softer and softer as he spoke.
"Reporting to the head guard, Sister Chunnan went to report in person... but... but Madam said... she said she's not an imperial physician..."
Before he could finish speaking, a suppressed cough suddenly came from the study, as if something was choking him.
Xu Ming hurriedly waved for the servant to leave and quickly returned to the house.
Lu Yuan was seen hunched over the table, his shoulders and back heaving violently, his knuckles turning bluish-white from gripping the edge of the table so tightly.
"Prime Minister!"
Xu Ming hurriedly brewed a cup of warm tea and handed it over.
Lu Yuan raised his hand and waved it away, the teacup shattered with a crack, and porcelain shards mixed with tea splashed everywhere.
He leaned on the edge of the table and slowly raised his head.
His pale face was flushed with an abnormal redness due to the high fever.
Those usually deep black eyes were now bloodshot, staring intently at a certain point in the void like a trapped beast.
"Good, very good. She certainly knows how to distinguish between them."
His voice was terribly hoarse, and each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
Xu Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he lowered his head, not daring to breathe.
The night wind blowing through the hall made a whistling sound, like someone whispering.
Outside the window, the night was deep, as thick as an unyielding blob of ink.
The lanterns hanging under the eaves in the courtyard emitted a faint glow, swaying in the night breeze.
It looked like it would go out in an instant.
A few breaths later, Lu Yuan randomly picked up a document from the stack of official documents on his desk and began to review it.
His expression remained calm and composed, as if his earlier loss of control was merely an illusion caused by the flickering candlelight.
The sound of the water clock stopped at some point.
The candlesticks were covered with a thick layer of candle wax, and the newly lit candles crackled occasionally in the silence, casting flickering light and shadow throughout the room.
Lu Yuan maintained his pen-holding posture, and the ink on the Xuan paper gradually dried.
Only the occasional rustling sound of fabric as one flips through official documents proves that time is still flowing.
Xu Ming glanced at the thick darkness outside the window and spoke cautiously.
"Your Excellency, it's getting late. The imperial physician says your health..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lu Yuan suddenly asked, "What did she and the princess talk about?"
Xu Ming paused for a moment, watching Lu Yuan continue writing without even lifting his eyelids, as if the question was just a casual remark.
"The princess and the lady had a private conversation for about half an hour, during which the princess cried. Before leaving, the princess handed the lady a letter."
The candlelight crackled, its sound particularly clear in the quiet study.
Lu Yuan's hand holding the pen remained steady, but the pen tip lingered on the paper for a moment longer than before.
"content."
Xu Ming lowered his head: "This subordinate has failed in his duty. Madam is very cautious; after reading the letter, she burned it."
A night breeze swept across the corridor, causing the lanterns to sway precariously.
Lu Yuan finally lifted his gaze from the official documents and looked out the window at the light struggling in the darkness.
"Keep a close eye on Song Yan."
He put down his pen and tapped his knuckles lightly on the desk.
"He needs to know the truth about every letter he writes and every person he meets."
"Yes," Xu Ming replied.
-
The night was deep and all was quiet.
Mingwu suddenly woke up, her chest still pounding violently, as if it were about to burst out of her chest cavity.
The dream I just had felt was so real.
In her dream, a giant python relentlessly pursued her, its cold scales wrapping around her skin, and no matter how hard she ran, she couldn't escape.
Just like her marriage with Lu Yuan, it suffocated her, yet she had nowhere to escape.
No matter what, she had to escape! She never wanted to live like this again.
Mingwu clenched her fists, repeatedly imagining the wonderful life she would have after leaving the Prime Minister's mansion. She tried to dispel the lingering, suffocating oppression in her dreams.
Once she had calmed down, she yawned and was about to go back to sleep.
Suddenly, they realized there was someone inside the house.
Her heart clenched suddenly. She turned her head and, in the dim moonlight filtering through the window, was startled to see a tall figure standing outside the bed curtains.
He didn't make a sound.
Mingwu thought of the giant snake in her dream again, and was terrified, about to scream loudly.
A deep, familiar voice came, hoarse from illness: "It's me."
It's Lu Yuan.
He reached out and lifted the bed curtains, slowly walking in. The moonlight outlined his weary silhouette, and his deep eyes shone brightly in the darkness.
Ming Wu's nerves, which had just relaxed, suddenly tightened again: "What are you doing here..."
Before he finished speaking, he lay down fully clothed on the outside of the bed.
Only when you get closer can you see clearly that his face is flushed with an abnormal flush, and his breath is hot, making the temperature inside the tent rise a few degrees.
"Lu Yuan!"
Mingwu was both shocked and angry, and reached out to push him, intending to push him off the bed.
The moment my palm touched his arm, I was startled by the scalding heat.
In that moment of hesitation, Lu Yuan suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Those eyes, made especially deep by the high fever, gazed at her in the darkness, their voice low and deep.
“…Awu…”
"...Don't go..."
"……It was my fault……"
He spoke these words as if in a dream, in fits and starts.
Perhaps it was the dim candlelight, or perhaps it was the intense heat, but Mingwu could hear in that hoarse voice a voice that should never belong to him.
--weak.
This man, who has always been assertive and held a high position of power, now resembled a lost child, revealing a side of himself never before seen in the night.
At that moment, Mingwu's heart did soften for a split second.
But it was only for a moment.
Those unrequited affections and exploited sincerity were quickly swept away like a cold tide, completely drowning out this unwarranted soft-heartedness.
She slowly withdrew her hand, sat up, and looked at him coldly.
"The Prime Minister is delirious from illness."
After saying that, he raised his voice and gave instructions to the people outside the tent.
"Chunnan, go and invite Granny Qin over. Tell her that the Prime Minister is seriously ill and ask her to help him back to rest."
Every word was clear and calm, as if he were dealing with something extremely ordinary.
She didn't even glance at Lu Yuan again. She got up, put on her outer robe, and sat down on the chaise lounge by the window, clearly intending to sever ties with him.
Lu Yuan's expression changed.
He propped himself up, his dark nightgown hanging loosely, and gazed at her in the dim light.
"So you really don't want to see me?"
"Yes." Mingwu replied decisively, without the slightest hesitation.
Lu Yuan's sickly flushed face suddenly lost all color. His hands, which were pressed against the bed, slowly tightened, his knuckles turning white, and the brocade quilt was gripped with deep wrinkles.
He also has self-respect.
Using illness as an excuse to come to her place, he had already crushed her pride under his feet.
After a long while, he lowered his eyes, his thick eyelashes casting shadows on his pale face.
He silently got up from the bed, his steps unsteady but his back still straight, like a wounded lone wolf that refused to show weakness.
When he reached the door, he stopped and did not turn back.
The pale moonlight cast his lonely shadow long and thin, silently projecting it onto the bluestone ground like a silent wound.
Xu Ming, who was guarding outside the door, naturally heard Ming Wu's words.
He held his breath and lowered his head, silently following behind Lu Yuan, even deliberately making the rustling sound of his clothes softer.
They were afraid of making the slightest sound.
That would shatter the Prime Minister's carefully constructed facade of dignity.
To shatter this crumbling peace.
But then I remembered the urgent report I had just received.
He had to muster his courage and step forward half a step, presenting the battle report sealed with sealing wax with both hands, his voice extremely low.
"Your Excellency, this is an urgent dispatch from the border region, traveling 800 li."
Lu Yuan took the battle report and steadily peeled back the sealing wax with his knuckles. He quickly scanned it by the moonlight.
His gaze suddenly sharpened, and he forcefully suppressed all his sickly demeanor, revealing the cold and ruthless side of a powerful minister once again.
He turned his head and looked in the direction of the bedroom, his gaze lingering on the window that was letting in a faint light.
Only when the time for parting came did he realize how reluctant he was to leave, how much he missed them, how uneasy he felt, and how worried he was about them…
However, the situation at the border changed. He had no choice but to go.
After a long pause, he withdrew his gaze, all his emotions now hidden in the depths of his eyes.
"Prepare the horses. Immediately dispatch the Black Armored Guards to accompany me out of the city."
He turned around and strode towards the outside of the courtyard.
Ah Wu, wait for me.
When I return, I will give you an explanation.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Next Chapter: Death Escape
Lu Yuan returned, but his wife was gone.
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