The Beauties of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 96

Zhao Dezhao chuckled softly, raised his hand and pointed at Wanlan, who was standing next to Lan Wu with a look of astonishment, and said in a strange tone, "Lan Wu, have you forgotten that she—is your master, not someone you can covet?"

Wanlan was startled. Suddenly remembering what Zehua had told her, she angrily swung the bamboo umbrella at Zhao Dezhao's hand. "Zhao Dezhao, what nonsense are you spouting?"

"Am I talking nonsense?" Zhao Dezhao glanced at the shocked Lan Wu with a half-smile, quickly twisted his wrist to grab Wanlan's bamboo umbrella, and pulled her back to his side. He asked again, "Lan Wu, am I talking nonsense?"

With a clang, the longsword was drawn, and Lan Wu glared at him, "Release the lady!"

"You should know that this month, she belongs to me."

"Zhao Dezhao!" Wanlan angrily threw the bundle in her hand heavily at him. "Can you stop this ridiculous and pointless behavior? Let me tell you! I, Jiao Wanlan, will only ever be Zhao Defang's wife in this lifetime, and I will never belong to you until I die!"

She stomped hard on his toes, and as he released her in pain, she jumped out of his arms and quickly ran to the door behind Lan Wu. She slipped inside and slammed the door shut behind her.

Zhao Dezhao returned to the courtyard house, while Lan Wu stayed in the bamboo building to watch over her.

Perhaps they reached some kind of consensus, or perhaps Zhao Dezhao had already given up altogether.

Anyway, aside from Su Li knocking on the door and leaving a cold "The food is at the door" message, no one bothered her that day. Wanlan sat by the window, holding the bundle she had picked up when she opened the door to get the food, lost in thought. But she made up her mind that she would definitely leave this place once the rain stopped or lessened.

Wanlan had just fallen asleep when she felt the bed shaking.

The closed door was pounded on by Lan Wu, startling Wan Lan. She threw on her coat and staggered to the door in the dark, pulling the bolt open. The door swung open to both sides.

It was pitch black outside as well, and a gust of moisture hit her as she opened the door. Wanlan was keenly aware that the rain was still pouring down outside.

Lan Wu looked anxious. Upon seeing her, he grabbed her hand and pulled her outside without saying a word.

Wanlan was nearly knocked to her knees by his pulling, and she clearly felt the bamboo house beneath her shaking violently. She cried out in shock, "Lanwu! What's going on?!"

"The river is swollen, and this bamboo house is about to be washed away!"

The two rushed to the bamboo ladder and were horrified to find that half of the ladder was already submerged in the water. The rushing river was washing over the eight large pillars supporting the bamboo house, and the bamboo house was swaying more and more violently, giving them a sense of crisis that it would collapse at any moment.

"It's already risen this high?" It's only been raining for one day, how could the water level, which was originally ten feet below the ground, have risen so quickly?

"I'm afraid there's something wrong upstream!"

Lan Wu instinctively tightened his grip on the sword at his waist, glanced sideways at Wan Lan, turned and rushed back into the room to retrieve her bundle, also taking the soft fur coat she had left on the bed with him. Returning to Wan Lan's side, he draped the coat over her shoulders, his long arm instantly encircling her waist, and said in a deep voice:

"Madam! I have been disrespectful!"

Before Wanlan could react, he leaped off the ground with her, using the floating objects in the river to reach higher ground before landing.

Even though she was covered in thick, soft clothing, the icy rain that hit Wanlan's face and neck sent chills down her spine. She futilely shrank back, looked at the hesitant Lan Wu, and sighed:

"We don't have to go back to him. Let's head back to Rongyang tonight."

Lan Wu gritted his teeth and opened his eyes, "But the rain is so heavy, I'm afraid the lady's health won't be able to handle it when we get back to Rongyang."

"So you're just standing here, how can my body take it?" Wanlan snatched the bundle from his hands, hugged it to her chest, and turned to leave.

I wonder if we can find horses or carriages in this weather? Rongze isn't far from Rongyang; it should take less than half an hour to get there on horseback...

"lady!"

Lan Wu hurriedly gave chase, saying, "Let's go and hide with the Prince of Yan first."

"No." She refused without turning her head. "I don't care what's going on between the two of you, but right now, and from this day forward, I don't want to see Zhao Dezhao again!"

As she climbed the last bit of the slope, Wanlan subconsciously glanced back at the direction of the bamboo house. However, the night sky was pitch black, and she could only vaguely see dark objects floating in the swaying water.

That bamboo house was destroyed.

I wonder if Zhao Dezhao will feel sorry for him?

Just as he was thinking about that person, he heard his sarcastic voice in his ear, "You don't want to see me from now on? I'm afraid that won't be as you wish."

Wanlan only had time to turn around before Lanwu pushed her behind him to protect her. In the struggle, a stream of icy rain slid into her collar, and Wanlan bit her lip and trembled slightly.

It's so cold...

"If Madam wishes to return to Rongyang, Your Highness, please return as well."

"Traveling in this weather? You're quite the dutiful servant!"

"Your Highness is overthinking this. Lan Wu will find a way to get the lady back to Rongyang as soon as possible. So please forgive us for not having time to deal with Your Highness any longer. Farewell!" Lan Wu coldly clasped his hands in a fist salute and turned around to tell his master to hurry up, but he found no one behind him.

Lan Wu was startled and exclaimed, "Madam?"

"I'm here..." A casual voice came from underground. He lowered his eyes and looked at his master, who was curled up on the ground, clutching the bundle in his arms. "Can we go now?"

[Wen] Lan Wu gave a very faint smile, bowed and helped her to her feet, "You may go now, Madam."

[Person] "Oh..."

[Book] "Lan'er!"

[In the room] Zhao Dezhao stepped forward, spreading his hands to block the two of them. He glared angrily at the exhausted Wanlan and said coldly, "I won't stop you from going back to Rongyang, but not tonight! How are you going to get back to Rongyang in the middle of the night? By walking? Don't you want to die?"

Wanlan didn't even look up, lazily raising her voice, "I'm going back tonight, what can you do about it, Zhao Dezhao?"

Zhao Dezhao snorted and made a feint with his right hand towards Lan Wu. While Lan Wu was making his move, Zhao Dezhao suddenly grabbed Wan Lan's arm with his left hand and pulled her to his side. However, at the same time, Lan Wu, who reacted instantly, grabbed Wan Lan's other arm.

"Release Madam!"

"You're the one who should let go!"

During the struggle, neither of them was willing to let go, and the three of them were entangled in the storm.