Chapter 15: Unlawful Acts

The outer robe was removed, but Lan Wu was lying on the couch, making it inconvenient. Chu Mingheng simply tore it all off, leaving her with only an inner garment and trousers.

He casually pulled over the brocade quilt nearby to cover her body.

The cloth was wrung out and placed beside the water basin.

Chu Mingheng wiped her face, then moved to clean her neck.

At this moment, Lan Wu was obedient again, knowing not to move recklessly.

As Chu Mingheng turned to fetch another wrung-out cloth, he looked back to see Lan Wu had already opened her eyes in a daze, straining to look at the ceiling above.

After a while, sensing the coolness that had slipped beneath the quilt, she made no move to avoid it, merely shifting her gaze to Chu Mingheng.

“Your Majesty…” A faint voice came, like the mournful cry of a frail lamb, drawing Chu Mingheng’s attention to her.

Lan Wu blinked, her fingers weakly reaching forward to clutch Chu Mingheng’s clothing. Her entire body curled slightly, as if she wished to bury herself in his embrace.

At the same time, she uttered a low, aggrieved, and indignant accusation: “Your Majesty, they bullied me. They took advantage of your absence… to treat me like that—I hurt so much, how could you ignore me? If you ignore me, I’ll die…”

Her accusation came too suddenly, leaving Chu Mingheng momentarily stunned.

His expression cold and stern, he leaned down to peel Lan Wu out, pinched her soft cheek, and said, “Who taught you to speak of life and death like that?”

Lan Wu, her cheek pinched, let her heavy head fall back again. Her fingers still clung to a corner of Chu Mingheng’s clothing as she murmured incoherently: “Cold… hold me… Your Majesty… it hurts…”

Her words were truly a jumbled mess.

Chu Mingheng tossed aside the other cloth in his hand and pressed the back of his hand against her cheek to check her temperature—still feverishly hot. If not for the drug, one might even think she was delirious with fever.

In the quiet hall, the person lying with closed eyes, lost in slumber, remained unaware of anything amiss. Yet that cool, scrutinizing gaze continued to linger on Lan Wu’s face.

Disturbed by night dreams, there was always the figure of a graceful woman by his side—sitting or reclining, utterly lacking in propriety. Yet, even in his dreams, he never admonished her, as if allowing her free rein to laugh and play. Upon waking, his heart felt empty, so he searched through the portraits of all the imperial concubines in the rear palace but could not find anyone familiar.

Until that day of the Longevity Festival, the moment he saw Lan Wu, he knew deeply that she was the woman from his dreams.

And Lan Wu’s behavior was particularly strange.

At first, she avoided him as if afraid, yet not like others who feared his imposing manner and coldness. Later, she seemed to understand his preferences exceptionally well, her methods of seduction remarkably natural and utterly unguarded.

Chu Mingheng shifted his gaze to Lan Wu’s lips, which she had bitten until they bled. In his earlier hurried glance, he had also seen pinch marks on her legs.

She certainly didn’t hold back when it came to herself.

Luo Yun stood at the entrance of the hall holding a medicine bowl and announced, “Your Majesty, the medicine is here.”

After a moment of waiting, a voice finally came from within the hall.

The palace attendants on both sides gently opened the doors, and Luo Yun entered.

Upon reaching the inner palace, a faint, refreshing scent of medicinal ointment could be detected.

“Your Majesty, this is the medicine for the young lady.”

Chu Mingheng wiped his hands and instructed Luo Yun, “Take good care of her. Report to me when she wakes.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After acknowledging the order, Luo Yun watched as Chu Mingheng left the main hall.

Exiting Taichen Palace, Chu Mingheng turned and headed toward the Imperial Study.

He did not enter the main hall, but waited in the side chamber.

It wasn’t long before someone arrived.

Chen Kangan stepped forward to report: “Your Majesty, as per your instructions, this servant sent people to carefully search those three locations, and indeed, we found someone.”

Chu Mingheng lowered his gaze, unsurprised, and simply said, “Bring them up.”

As the imperial guards escorted two men into the hall, their knees gave way and they knelt down.

Both were dressed as guards, kneeling on the ground with their foreheads pressed against the floor, trembling as they spoke: “…We pay our respects to Your Majesty…”

From the path in the Imperial Garden to the Music Bureau, there were only two possible routes, and both were guarded. When the guards went to search carefully, one of them had already noticed something and was preparing to flee, only to be caught red-handed. The other appeared flustered and nearly fainted when apprehended.

“Your Majesty, these two are guards responsible for patrolling the Imperial Garden. Today, there is a flower-viewing banquet in the Imperial Garden, and they should have been on duty near Xu Garden. Instead, they neglected their duties and appeared elsewhere, seemingly waiting for someone intentionally. When this subordinate arrived with the men, they both looked flustered, clearly intending to commit wrongdoing.”

Wrongdoing.

Chu Mingheng could well imagine what kind of wrongdoing it was.

“Who ordered you?” His voice in the side chamber was exceptionally low, seemingly devoid of emotion, yet like a cold blade drawing closer, exuding an oppressive aura.

The two guards didn’t even dare to exchange glances. One of them spoke with a trembling voice: “Your Majesty, no one… ordered us. This subordinate and… and Lan Wu have a private—”

Before he could finish, Chu Mingheng’s expression darkened. Chen Kangan, standing nearby, was adept at reading expressions and knew what outrageous words the fool was about to utter. He kicked the man in the chest: “How dare you! How can you casually drag Lan Wu into this!”

Although Chen Kangan was a eunuch, the force of his kick was not insignificant, sending the guard sprawling to the side.

After the kick, the guard fell silent, trembling as if only then realizing the gravity of the situation.

Chu Mingheng didn’t know whether to praise the man’s boldness or call him a fool.

“Take him away.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The guards waiting nearby forcibly dragged the one who had spoken away, leaving only the other captured man in the hall.

He was clearly more composed, yet he did not mention who specifically ordered him to harm Lan Wu. Instead, he said: “Today was this subordinate’s shift. This subordinate should have been near Xu Garden, but someone suddenly came to relay a message that suspicious individuals had been seen in the Wisteria Corridor, urging this subordinate to investigate.”

“This subordinate hurried over and searched the Wisteria Corridor thoroughly but found no one. After that… after that, this subordinate was discovered and captured.”

Fearing the emperor would not believe him, the guard quickly kowtowed loudly, urgently pleading: “Every word this subordinate has spoken is true! I beg Your Majesty for mercy! Please have mercy!”

Chu Mingheng’s gaze swept indifferently over the scene below. Without him needing to speak, Chen Kangan had already understood his meaning.

“If you went to investigate suspicious individuals, why were you so flustered when caught?”

“This subordinate abandoned his post, hence the panic,” the man quickly explained, still avoiding any mention of Lan Wu.

Chen Kangan silently looked at the emperor. Upon meeting the other’s ruthless, ink-black pupils, he understood something. Slightly lowering his head, he then turned his gaze to the two imperial guards standing ahead and made a gesture.

The person on the ground was knocked unconscious and taken away, and the hall returned to silence.