Chapter 13: Something’s Not Right

He Ying led the group to a small hall located some distance behind Xu Garden. The flower-viewing banquet hadn’t officially begun yet, and most of the palace servants were here making preparations.

Everyone had received rewards during the previous Longevity Festival, and they hadn’t expected another flower-viewing banquet to come so soon.

“I heard Princess Yizhen loves watching dances. She has quite a few dancers in her own residence. I wonder what kind of reward we’ll get if we perform well this time.”

“Yes, yes. Princess Yizhen is very generous.”

Lan Wu listened to their chatter, her lips twitching involuntarily. Princess Yizhen, generous?

What a ridiculous notion.

She wasn’t generous at all.

In her previous life, she had already become Lan Meiren before the flower-viewing banquet. During the banquet itself, she was bedridden and couldn’t attend. She only heard that the princess kept cheering throughout the performances, but in the end, she didn’t reward anyone. She even took one of the dancers from that day. Later, the rewards everyone received came from Consort Shu’s own pocket.

Thinking about this, Lan Wu felt rather pleased.

The lively sounds from the front couldn’t reach this area. Everyone was chatting while changing clothes when He Ying walked up to Lan Wu.

“How’s your foot?” she asked.

Lan Wu nodded, offering a slight smile. “Auntie, I’m fine.”

Her foot injury had just healed, and fearing another mishap, He Ying hadn’t assigned her the central position. Instead, she was among the supporting dancers. Even as a supporting dancer, she still needed to perform skillfully.

“Go change your clothes. We’ll need to get ready to go out soon.” He Ying slightly lowered her gaze. After saying this, she looked toward the doorway.

Lan Wu hummed in agreement, saying “Alright.” Seeing He Ying about to leave, she quickly added, “Thank you for looking after me, Auntie.”

Although He Ying was strict when teaching the girls to dance, she was very caring in situations like these. Though Lan Wu didn’t know exactly what discord had arisen between He Ying and Consort Shu, He Ying had tried to persuade Lan Wu not to attend this flower-viewing banquet.

But Lan Wu had no choice but to come.

After mentioning it once, He Ying never brought it up again. By now, there was no turning back.

Hearing Lan Wu’s thanks, He Ying’s body stiffened slightly. She turned her head, reached out, and patted Lan Wu’s shoulder. “Perform well later.”

With that, she walked to another side to help several dancers who hadn’t properly arranged their clothing.

Lan Wu didn’t know the exact time, but she estimated she should hurry and change. Several people had already changed and gone out.

However, when Lan Wu spread out her own clothing, she discovered she was missing an outer robe.

Everyone’s outfits had been brought over uniformly, with no extras. Lan Wu couldn’t possibly dance in different clothing from the others—that would make her stand out too much, which wouldn’t be good.

“Did you forget to bring it from the Music Bureau?”

“Everyone, search again?”

Lan Wu searched once more. Nothing.

She lifted her head and looked at the few people before her. She didn’t quite believe it could be such a coincidence that her outer robe disappeared just as she was about to change.

“Maybe you left it at the Music Bureau. Lan Wu, you should run back quickly to get it. There should still be time.”

“Yes, Lan Wu, hurry back and get it.”

Lan Wu was still considering whether someone was deliberately plotting against her. It wasn’t that she was overly suspicious—the situation had just arisen too suddenly.

“Are your feet hurting?” He Ying moved closer, sighing slightly. “If you’re uncomfortable, we can switch your position. It’s not an important spot anyway—no one would likely notice if one person was missing.”

“No need, Auntie. I’m already better.” Lan Wu stood up, looking at He Ying. “I’ll go back and get it myself.”

There was a shortcut from Xu Garden to the Music Bureau, a round trip taking less than half an hour, especially since Lan Wu jogged the whole way.

Along the path, there were scattered palace attendants, but Lan Wu had nothing to worry about. However, at a fork in the road, she inexplicably came to a halt.

Two paths lay before her. Though both led to the Music Bureau, one passed by the Thousand Carp Pond, while the other had a long stretch of wisteria-lined walkway.

More importantly, she suddenly felt an inexplicable dryness in her throat.

Was it from running too hard?

Lan Wu took a step back, then suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground.

The ground before her eyes seemed to spin.

This unusual sensation jolted her mind, sending cold sweat breaking out across her back. Her fingers trembled as she tried to push herself up from the ground, but she could barely stand.

She instinctively picked up a stone from the roadside, glancing at her feet and then her hands. Just as she was about to smash the stone against her hand, Chu Mingheng’s words from earlier flashed through her mind.

Lan Wu swallowed hard, refrained from striking herself, and shakily stood up, biting her lip hard to use the pain to clear her head.

Neither of these two paths could be taken.

She turned and headed back.

Back to Xu Garden?

No, that wouldn’t work either.

Whoever had drugged her was among the people she had just left, and besides, in her current state, she couldn’t return.

Where could she go?

Xu Garden… Liu Garden…

Lan Wu knew of one more place: Luoying Pavilion.

Luoying Pavilion was likely the nearest palace building to her.

But she truly detested that place. Moreover, she doubted she could make it there—her head was spinning so badly she felt she might pass out at any moment.

If only a splash of water could wake her up.

Lan Wu still held the stone in her right hand, while her left hand weakly attempted to slap her own face, but she had no strength left—even the slap felt feeble.

What should she do?

How could she escape this predicament?

If she wasn’t mistaken, someone would come looking for her soon—and it certainly wouldn’t be anyone good.

Wait, what if Luoying Pavilion was also a trap? Wouldn’t going there be like walking right into a snare?

No, no.

She had to find somewhere else to hide.

The dryness in her mouth made her swallow repeatedly, but even that simple motion felt arduous. She looked up at the sky overhead, then her gaze shifted, landing on a tall tree nearby.

Inside Xu Garden, Princess Yizhen had arrived. The imperial concubines were seated and chatting, filling the garden with a lively buzz.

Among the higher-ranking attendees, aside from Princess Yizhen, only Consort Shu and Consort Rou sat calmly.

“This garden is as beautiful as ever. Had I known, I would have built an identical one in my princess estate,” Princess Yizhen remarked, clicking her tongue as she admired the garden filled with flowers and winding streams.

Consort Shu smiled. “It’s not too late. If Your Highness likes it, why not add a garden to your estate?”

Yizhen glanced around below and said softly, “Better not undertake such a large construction. If I wish to see it, I can simply enter the palace.”

Consort Shu raised her eyes and nodded faintly, her expression unreadable. “As Your Highness says.”

Consort Rou sat quietly to the side, not joining in the conversation between the two, only occasionally nodding slightly as if in agreement.