Chapter 84: Waiting for Someone
Several more days passed after that incident. In the afternoon, just after a heavy rain had fallen, the muffled rumble of thunder echoed overhead. Chu Mingheng brought Lan Wu to the Imperial Study.
Last time, Lan Wu had pretended to be afraid of thunder in front of him because she needed to discuss the Sanzhou Canal Embankment matter. This time, with the heavy rain, she didn’t put as much effort into her pretense.
In the small side chamber, Lan Wu held a brush, painting the hanging flowers in the hall on a sheet of paper.
She carefully applied the ink, afraid of pressing too hard in one place or too lightly in another, so absorbed that she didn’t even notice when someone entered through the small door behind her.
“Ah—” Her waist was suddenly embraced from behind. Lan Wu’s brush trembled, leaving a long, narrow arc on the paper.
She didn’t make a sound, only tilted her head to look at the culprit.
In the silence, Lan Wu even detected a hint of teasing in Chu Mingheng’s unabashed gaze.
Chu Mingheng seemed completely unaware that he had ruined Lan Wu’s masterpiece. Holding her, he sat down on a chair, tilting his head to kiss her cheek. “You can still stand, yet you insist on painting while standing. What a bad habit.”
Lan Wu’s face flushed inexplicably. The brush was still in her hand, and the color on its tip nearly splattered onto them.
She hurriedly leaned forward to set the brush down, reluctant to further dirty her painting. Just as she placed the brush aside, it rolled smoothly across the table a few times.
“Oh, right, I forgot this is my Imperial Study,” Chu Mingheng said without restraint, his hand exploring beneath her thin clothing as he affectionately kissed behind her ear and the side of her neck. He chuckled, “The chair is too low, isn’t it?”
“I’ll have someone bring you a new chair later.”
Lan Wu finally managed to free her hands to resist, her face flushed as she protested, “Don’t,” while kicking her legs to stop his movements.
“You… you said…” Lan Wu struggled until she was exhausted, panting as she forced out a small sentence, “Weren’t you… busy?”
He had said today would be very busy, telling her to paint, read, or play in the small side chamber of the Imperial Study. That was why she had agreed to come along.
But given the current situation, where was the busyness?!
Chu Mingheng’s eyes darkened slightly as he whispered to her, “The person hasn’t arrived yet. I’m waiting for news and growing a bit impatient.”
So you take your impatience out on me!
Hearing his shameless words, Lan Wu was so angry she couldn’t utter a single coherent word.
Curling her body, she reached out to pry Chu Mingheng’s hands away, huffing angrily, “This concubine still wants to paint! Your Majesty must not disturb this concubine!”
Chu Mingheng glanced at the painting with its meandering line. It still showed no improvement, yet it felt strangely familiar to him—every brushstroke, every small flower, every leaf seemed as if he had seen them somewhere before, buried deep in his memory.
He reached out, set the painting aside, and held Lan Wu even tighter in his arms, asking her, “Do you want to paint or do you want me?”
Lan Wu’s lips parted slightly in surprise, her bright black eyes fixed on Chu Mingheng, clearly conveying one meaning—shameless creature.
Chu Mingheng didn’t smile, only narrowed his eyes slightly, his hand gently squeezing the base of her thigh.
“Speak.”
Lan Wu finally pursed her lips, deflated as she leaned back into his embrace. “Your Majesty, then…”
“Is that so reluctant?” Chu Mingheng pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, his tone carrying a hint of danger.
Lan Wu quickly shook her head. “Not reluctant, not reluctant at all. This concubine likes Your Majesty the most—mmph—”
After hearing her say that word of affection, Chu Mingheng finally pressed against her lips, kissing her deeply and wantonly entwining with her tongue.
Lan Wu felt that Chu Mingheng had been acting strangely lately. Sometimes he would sit alone in the hall, his quiet and cold demeanor frightening, but as soon she spoke and broke that silence, he would act as if nothing had happened. Moreover, he had been taking her every day recently, leaving her legs trembling so much she could barely get out of bed.
Yet, it also seemed as if nothing had changed—or rather, he had become even more doting on her. He even took her along to the Imperial Study, unconcerned about what she might overhear in the small side room.
“…I love A-Wu dearly, my A-Wu…” Listening to Chu Mingheng’s words of love, Lan Wu shyly covered her face, panting heavily, thinking to herself that his affection was about to kiss her to death.
Kissed until her whole body grew soft and warm, Lan Wu finally heard the announcement from outside the hall door.
Her ears perked up, and she quickly pushed Chu Mingheng away:
“Alright, Your Majesty… hurry, someone is looking for you…”
Chu Mingheng raised his eyes, his gaze indifferent as he looked toward the door, no matter how far away it was.
The minister waiting outside couldn’t help but feel a chill in the air.
Chu Mingheng lowered his head and kissed Lan Wu’s nose again, then placed her back on the chair, returning her drawing paper to her. “Keep this painting, and I’ll help you finish it later. I’ve asked Luo Yun to find you a few books. Read them for a while, and if you get tired, go sleep on the small couch. Wait for me to come and call you.”
Lan Wu rubbed her ears, looking at him innocently, unsure why he was giving such detailed instructions. Hearing this, she simply nodded and said she understood.
“Your Majesty, hurry over. What if it’s something important?”
Chu Mingheng glanced at her, then looked around the room—square and enclosed, with the only door being the one he had entered through earlier.
He turned and left.
Not long after, Lan Wu saw Luo Yun arrive with several volumes of storybooks.
Surprised, Lan Wu quickly flipped through the stack of books, wondering what had gotten into Chu Mingheng? Had he become so open-minded? In the past, hadn’t he forbidden her from reading such things?
Though he had never explicitly forbidden it, he had never been particularly pleased about it either.
So, Lan Wu had stopped reading them in front of him, only doing so in her own palace.
What was going on today?
Had Chu Mingheng had a change of heart?
Suspiciously, Lan Wu looked at the books, then raised her head to glance at Luo Yun, her expression uncertain. Hesitantly, she asked, “Are these all the books His Majesty wanted to give me?”
“Did you bring the wrong ones by mistake?”
Luo Yun respectfully shook her head in response. “His Majesty ordered it. He said that Her Ladyship enjoys reading storybooks, so he specifically had people select the most popular ones from outside the palace.”
Lan Wu couldn’t help but feel this was a trap, but she still reached out and opened one of the books. After reading a few lines, she looked up again and asked Luo Yun, “He’s not going to quiz me on the lessons from these storybooks later, is he? Make me reflect on some moral? Or have me memorize a few passages?”
Luo Yun smiled faintly and bowed her head again. “Your Ladyship worries too much. His Majesty truly only ordered this servant to find some storybooks to bring Your Ladyship joy.”
Well, in that case, she would accept them.
Before long, Lan Wu became immersed in the stories within the books, while in the main hall, the minister kneeling there felt increasingly uneasy.
“Your Majesty, I have verified that the missing portion of silver was embezzled by the Chen and Zeng families through a fraudulent substitution. The Ministry of Revenue had just delivered that batch of silver to the three provinces. After Yue Pingning confirmed its arrival, he ordered the treasury sealed. When it was reopened, most of the silver inside had been replaced with stones.”
“Yue Pingning dared not make it public and could only search for the lost silver in secret. With the construction deadline pressing, he used the remaining funds to cope, which is why…” This is why the repairs resulted in something utterly useless.
The Imperial Study fell silent, save for the rhythmic patter of raindrops falling from the eaves outside, striking the ground with soft splashes.
The person kneeling on the floor finally heard movement from above.