Chapter 139: Dressing You Up
Having coaxed a kiss and a sweet, delightful confession from Lan Wu, Chu Mingheng was beaming with joy. Even when Lan Wu saw through his ruse, he continued to chuckle softly, showing no further reaction.
“Take this seriously,” Lan Wu said with a stern face.
She grew somewhat anxious. “You said there’s something happening at the night banquet, but you didn’t specify what. Won’t it be delayed if we just go like this?”
The key question was, where had the other Chu Mingheng gone?
“It won’t be delayed. I remember it clearly. Just wait and enjoy the show, A’Wu,” Chu Mingheng said, nuzzling her nose, clearly not too concerned.
Lan Wu was left speechless by his response. She turned back to the mirror, seeing no other option. “Then you go out first and have someone come in to help me get ready. Why did you push others away for no reason…”
The last half of her sentence trailed off into a mutter, as she couldn’t fathom Chu Mingheng’s intentions.
But Chu Mingheng reached out, his fingertips gently tracing the skin of her neck. As if recalling something, his expression suddenly turned fierce for a moment, and he said in a low voice, “No one can harm you.”
Hearing this, Lan Wu frowned. Without hesitation, she exposed the bite mark on her neck, bringing it close to his eyes for a clear look.
“You did this. It’s not presentable, so I need to cover it with a ribbon. Understand?”
After saying this, Lan Wu picked up the ribbon herself and, facing the mirror, tied it gently around her neck to conceal the mark.
Once she finished, she noticed Chu Mingheng still standing there, looking somewhat disgruntled and unmoving. She added, “Aren’t you going to call someone in for me?”
“I’ll help you get ready,” Chu Mingheng said, looking into her eyes.
Who?
It wasn’t until she was seated in front of the mirror and saw Chu Mingheng skillfully styling her hair in the reflection that Lan Wu finally understood.
Chu Mingheng didn’t know how to style a woman’s hair, yet the man before her deftly pinned up her hair into a bun. He then searched the table for hairpins and ornaments, adorning her one by one as if he had done it countless times before, with no hint of unfamiliarity.
Lan Wu watched him with confusion and voiced her thoughts. “How do you know how to style hair?”
“It’s just a matter of handiwork. I learned it, and now I can do it,” Chu Mingheng replied, appearing indifferent. He then searched the table for vermilion to apply to her lips.
Lan Wu was naturally beautiful, stunning even without makeup. Her eyes were lively and dark, captivating anyone who met her gaze.
At this moment, however, she stared directly at Chu Mingheng, slightly parting her lips to let him apply the rouge. Her long, curled lashes lowered, but her eyes remained fixed on him, clearly unconvinced by his explanation.
But this was the Chu Mingheng from her past life. Ultimately, Lan Wu had no idea what he had experienced after her death in that lifetime.
Yet it was clear that now was not the time to ask such questions.
Chu Mingheng was acting strangely.
After applying the rouge to her lips, he tried to kiss her again.
Lan Wu covered his mouth, preventing him from succeeding.
“The banquet is about to begin. We should go out.”
Chu Mingheng seemed displeased, even somewhat agitated. He stood up, glanced toward the direction of the palace door, and fell silent, lost in thought.
Before he could reach any conclusion, Lan Wu tugged at his sleeve, urging him to leave with her.
Outside the palace door, Chen Kangan was waiting to the side. Upon seeing Chu Mingheng and Lan Wu emerge together, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
“Your Majesty, this is the medicine the Imperial Physician sent over,” he said. “It has cooled just enough to drink.”
Lan Wu hadn’t forgotten to ask what the Imperial Physician had said. Since Chu Mingheng hadn’t taken it to heart, Chen Kangan must surely know.
Upon hearing this, Chen Kangan quickly repeated every word without omission.
Chu Mingheng finished the medicine in the bowl without uttering a single word. After Lan Wu finished her questioning, he took her hand and led her toward the front hall.
Between the rear hall and the front hall was a long corridor. Lan Wu walked slowly, her legs still weak, her entire body wrapped in a cloak. Her dark, bright eyes and rosy lips made her look utterly endearing no matter how one gazed upon her.
Chu Mingheng allowed her to walk at her own pace, occasionally giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
When they arrived at the front hall, the warmth inside mingled with the cool fragrance of red plum blossoms that had been placed back in the hall. Bright palace lanterns and candlelight illuminated the space, and aside from fewer people present, there was no trace of the impact left by the revelations of that afternoon.
Although the hall was warm, the walk through the corridor had been enough to make Lan Wu realize how cold the night was.
“Will it snow tonight?”
Chu Mingheng’s gaze swept down, shifting from inside the hall to outside, before he casually replied, “Perhaps.”
It wasn’t yet time, but the seating arrangements below had already been rearranged. Several imperial concubines were present, and when they saw Lan Wu and Chu Mingheng arriving together, their eyes held varying degrees of envy, though they quickly concealed it. After the major incident that afternoon, who could tell whether His Majesty was in a good mood or not?
Lan Wu’s seat remained unchanged, but Princess Yizhen had already left the palace, and the person sitting beside her was now Consort Shu.
Consort Shu hadn’t arrived yet.
Lan Wu glanced below and was about to take her seat when her arm was pulled back. Turning around, she bumped into Chu Mingheng’s embrace.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Lan Wu quickly pointed to her seat below, fearing he might take offense, and said, “Your servant should sit below.”
“Should? What should? You’ll sit right beside me.”
With that, Chu Mingheng ordered an extra table to be placed beside his own seat.
Lan Wu had nothing more to say.
Just then, two people entered from the direction of the hall entrance: Zhaoyi Wen and Consort Shu.
Consort Shu appeared to be speaking with Zhaoyi Wen. As they stepped into the hall and saw someone seated in the upper position, they seemed surprised that His Majesty had arrived so early. Both immediately fell silent and hurried forward to the center of the hall to bow and pay their respects to Chu Mingheng.
Zhaoyi Wen’s illness likely hadn’t fully recovered. From Lan Wu’s perspective, she could still see traces of sickness on her face.
Yet, Chu Mingheng’s decree that afternoon had required all imperial concubines to attend, so she had made her way here nonetheless.
Lan Wu snapped back to attention and glanced curiously at Chu Mingheng.
The people below had been kneeling for so long—why hadn’t he allowed them to rise?
Had he forgotten?
Chu Mingheng lowered his gaze, looking down at Consort Shu kneeling in the center of the main hall. His expression was cold, and though he was looking at her, his entire demeanor seemed particularly cruel, as if he were staring at a corpse. The chill in his eyes was enough to send shivers down one’s spine.
The others also sensed the tense atmosphere, each keeping their eyes downcast and heads lowered, not daring to speak.
Only when someone else entered from outside the hall and bowed to pay respects to Chu Mingheng did he finally glance over and say calmly, yet with a deep tone, “Rise.”
Consort Shu rose to her feet, bewildered and wary, instinctively glancing at Zhaoyi Wen beside her. Finding no clues on her face, she could only retreat to her seat without revealing any emotion.
The seat left vacant on the left side was Lan Wu’s place, but she was not there now. A moment ago, she had glanced hurriedly and seen a figure beside Your Majesty. Understanding dawned on her, and she lowered her gaze, staring silently at the wine cup before her.