Chapter 117: Spitting Blood
Lan Wu was gently held in his embrace. Though she couldn’t see his expression, pressed against his chest, she could hear the frantic beating of his heart—this could not be feigned.
Speaking these words had indeed lightened her heart somewhat. After all, keeping matters known only to oneself buried deep within was suffocating.
Her intention had not been to cause Chu Mingheng distress, but he had insisted on asking her. Not speaking would also sadden him, and he often accused her of being untruthful.
After letting him hold her quietly for a while, she suddenly heard him ask, “A Wu, with these things hidden in your heart, were you afraid?”
Lan Wu was taken aback. She wanted to say she wasn’t afraid, but hesitated—how could she not be afraid? Many times upon waking in the morning, she feared it was all an illusory dream, feared she had already died and entered the underworld, feared Chu Mingheng wasn’t real, the people around her weren’t real, that nothing was real. Occasionally, in moments of confusion, encountering familiar people or situations, she would feel she could never escape the fate of being killed.
She could only force herself not to dwell on it. Even if it were a dream, it was a good dream.
“You need not fear anymore, A Wu. I will not let you…” Chu Mingheng held her tightly, unable to finish his words, as if he could not bring himself to say more.
Lan Wu sensed something amiss and struggled to lift her head, encountering resistance a couple of times before finally managing to see Chu Mingheng’s expression. She was immediately startled.
Chu Mingheng’s face was pale, appearing almost bloodless at first glance, yet his eyes were wide open and crimson red, unable to conceal his anguish. The moment he saw Lan Wu, he abruptly turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Your Majesty?” she exclaimed in shock.
Lan Wu trembled all over from fright and hurriedly called for people outside to come in, but Chu Mingheng refused to let her go, clutching her tightly in his embrace. Both of them were stained with a few drops of blood.
After spitting out that mouthful of blood, Chu Mingheng felt the world spin around him in an instant, yet he forced himself not to collapse. Looking at Lan Wu’s panicked, tear-streaked face, he gradually regained some strength, pulling her into his embrace while hoarsely comforting her, saying it was nothing.
When the palace servants hurried into the hall and saw this scene, they quickly averted their eyes, only to notice the bloodstains on the floor.
“Go and summon the Imperial Physician at once—hurry!” Lan Wu’s voice trembled with urgency, and she choked, coughing uncontrollably.
Chu Mingheng, on the other hand, acted as if nothing were wrong, pouring water and feeding it to her.
“It’s just a momentary agitation, nothing serious,” he said after rinsing his mouth, insistently urging Lan Wu to get under the covers.
“You spat blood!” Lan Wu’s eyes burned with anxiety as she anxiously glanced outside, wondering why the Imperial Physician was taking so long.
Chu Mingheng nodded repeatedly, saying it was fine. “It doesn’t hurt. I am well.”
Well? How are you well?
Lan Wu frowned disapprovingly at him, refusing to comply with his words, and urged him to sit aside.
Chu Mingheng complied, resting his head on his hand, fingers pressed against his forehead, his gaze heavy as he stared at the Palace Carpet on the floor.
Before long, the Imperial Physician arrived.
After last night’s incident of diagnosing Zhen Zhaorong at Yilan Hall, the Imperial Medical Academy dared not make the slightest mistake. Today, upon hearing that Yilan Hall had summoned them again, they did not delay for a moment, immediately calling for two Imperial Physicians. They hurried into the hall, bowed in greeting, and moved toward Zhen Zhaorong to take her pulse.
Lan Wu quickly pointed to Chu Mingheng beside her. “Don’t attend to me. Quickly examine His Majesty. His Majesty just now—”
“Cough—” Chu Mingheng interrupted her, simply extending his hand, his gaze fixed intently on the approaching imperial physicians. “One of you come and examine me, the other go check Zhen Zhaorong’s pulse. She still has a slight fever.”
The two imperial physicians hurriedly responded and stepped forward.
It was one thing for two people to take pulses, but their eyes kept glancing at each other’s physician, a look unsettling enough to send chills down one’s spine.
“Your Majesty, did you just experience a surge of heart fire?” The imperial physician detected something amiss the moment he took the pulse. While the Imperial Medical Academy routinely examined the emperor, his health had always been robust. Yet now, there was an upward surge of liver qi and a reversal of heart blood…
“I am fine.” Chu Mingheng understood his own body well and did not believe that coughing up a mouthful of blood meant life or death, but Lan Wu did not share this view.
Separated by a gauze curtain, Lan Wu was the first to refute his words, anxiously asking, “Physician, don’t listen to him. He just coughed up a mouthful of blood. Will it have any effect?”
The imperial physician glanced up briefly to gauge His Majesty’s expression and, seeing no sign of anger, replied, “Since Your Majesty has already expelled this congested blood, the worst is mostly over. What remains will require medicinal assistance.”
Chu Mingheng slightly raised his head and casually acknowledged with an “Mm,” then said, “You may leave.”
He quickly shifted his gaze to the physician attending to Lan Wu. “How is Zhen Zhaorong?”
“Your Majesty, Zhen Zhaorong’s current fever is normal. She only needs to take her medicine a few more times, and she will be fine.”
Just as he spoke, Lian Xi entered carrying a medicine bowl.
The two imperial physicians withdrew.
Lan Wu now drank her medicine efficiently. Seeing that it was no longer scalding, she held her breath and downed the entire bowl in one go.
It was still bitter, but not unbearably so.
The palace attendants cleared the mess in the hall and, seeing that His Majesty showed no intention of leaving, withdrew once more.
Chu Mingheng stepped forward and drew back the bed curtain, placing his hand on Lan Wu’s forehead. It was still a bit warm, but not as scorching as the night before.
“Ah Wu, get some proper rest,” he said as he pulled the covers over her.
Lan Wu grabbed his hand, refusing to let go, her voice urgent. “Where are you going? You just coughed up blood. You’re the one who needs to rest.”
She had a strong feeling that Chu Mingheng intended to interrogate Zhu Qing himself, but he hadn’t slept since last night. After such a fit of rage just now, she feared something might happen to him and thus tried to stop him from leaving. Now she regretted not finding the right moment to discuss this matter with him. She had held back so many times before; holding back a little longer wouldn’t have mattered. Yet she couldn’t contain herself and blurted everything out.
So, looking at the sunlight outside the window, she said, “It’s almost noon, isn’t it? Why don’t you have a meal first, rest a while, and then go? Please?”
“If you don’t rest, I won’t rest either.”
Chu Mingheng frowned slightly. “Don’t be unreasonable.”
Seeing Lan Wu’s earnest expression, he sighed softly and relented. “Alright, I’ll have someone bring the meal. You must promise to rest properly.”
Lan Wu nodded repeatedly.
She had thought everything through perfectly: after Chu Mingheng had his meal and rested a while, he could at least recuperate a bit. But having heard everything Lan Wu said, how could Chu Mingheng possibly sleep peacefully?
He merely lay on the couch beside Lan Wu, appearing to close his eyes but in truth unable to fall asleep.
Only when he heard her breathing gradually steady did Chu Mingheng open his eyes. Without moving, he simply turned his head to watch Lan Wu as she slept.
He had considered many possibilities, even believing that Lan Wu might have had dreams like his. Yet he never imagined the “past life and present life” she spoke of.
But from this perspective, everything Lan Wu had done now made sense.
As Lan Wu had said, in their previous life, did he not love her?
How could that be possible?