Huo Wei didn't bother to respond to her. He turned around and strode away.
Aunt Meijiang walked in from outside the palace hall. The cold wind stirred up by Huo Wei as he left was bone-chilling. His ice-cold face seemed to carry the killing aura of a battlefield general.
"Princess, what on earth did you say to him? The Prince of Yuzhang looks extremely grim..."
Du Gu Luanyue nonchalantly wiped away the tears under her eyes with the pearl-encrusted sleeve. She composed herself, her expression returning to normal.
"Huo Wei is not that simple. It's not enough to seduce him just with my beauty. I need to come up with more strategies. I must win his heart before he finishes training his troops and recuperating."
Aunt Meijiang nodded. Du Gu Luanyue had been extremely intelligent since childhood.
She had been adept at dealing with court officials in the Eastern Palace of Southern Chu. Aunt Meijiang wasn't worried about that. Instead, she was concerned about another matter.
"Princess, the concubines in the Northern Yan harem don't respect your status as the legitimate empress at all. How do you plan to deal with them?"
Du Gu Luanyue slowly walked down from the phoenix throne. She glanced back at the throne and said coldly,
"I've held the position of the Crown Princess of Southern Chu for so many years. Dealing with a few concubines is nothing to me. Aunt, there's no need for you to worry."
Her top priority at the moment wasn't these women but the two most important men in the Northern Yan Empire.
Aunt Meijiang had a spy team brought from Southern Chu under her control. She closely monitored Huo Wei's every move and had also made some arrangements in the Northern Yan harem.
She was responsible for delivering messages and ensuring Du Gu Luanyue's safety every day. At the same time, she felt sorry for this Crown Princess of Southern Chu.
At such a young age, she should have been governing the country with her extraordinary talent and beauty. Instead, she had to stoop to seducing two men in Northern Yan.
She had trampled her dignity and the pride of being an imperial heir into the dust.
"Repair that dagger properly. Don't let the gemstones fall off," Du Gu Luanyue instructed.
Three days passed in a row. Murong Min was busy with state affairs and didn't visit the harem. It wasn't until before dinner on this day that the eunuch beside Murong Min came to deliver a message, saying that the emperor would come to the Zhaoyang Palace for dinner.
Du Gu Luanyue let down her hair and took off all the jade hairpins and rings. Her long black hair cascaded down her shoulders.
She put on a white silk dress with plain patterns and wrapped herself in a long robe made of white fox fur. Then she walked out of the Zhaoyang Palace barefoot. Her delicate feet were dyed pink from the cold as she stepped on the snow.
Aunt Meijiang frowned. "Princess, don't torture yourself like this. It breaks this old servant's heart."
Du Gu Luanyue said expressionlessly, "Aunt, there's no need for you to be sad. Only by doing this will the emperor of Northern Yan feel sorry for me."
From afar, Murong Min saw the white figure. His heart skipped a beat. He had never seen the empress look so ethereal, innocent, and pure.
In the past, she always had her hair full of gold and jade and was dressed in gorgeous clothes like a peony. Today, she looked like a young girl with a different kind of charm.
Murong Min lifted his robe and quickly walked up the jade steps.
When Du Gu Luanyue saw Murong Min, she quickly ran down the steps, dragging her white dress behind her. She threw herself into Murong Min's arms like a little fox.
"Your Majesty, why did you come so late?"
Murong Min, Emperor Wenhui, was always gentle and elegant. He preferred wearing a white jade crown.
His slender and straight figure was wrapped in a light golden brocade robe with dragon patterns. In his thirties, he looked well-maintained, like a crane in the clouds.
He pinched her little face with a smile. "I came to find you as soon as I finished my work. I didn't delay for a moment."
Her beautiful and charming face was slightly red from the wind and snow. She looked at the middle-aged emperor Murong Min pitifully, with tears glistening in her eyes.
"You said you didn't delay, but half of the candles in the palace have burned out."
Murong Min looked down and saw her bare feet on the snow. His eyebrows furrowed. "Why didn't you let Her Majesty the Empress put on her shoes before coming out? The ground is full of ice and snow. How are you serving her?"
After saying that, he looked at all the palace servants in the Zhaoyang Palace reproachfully. The servants knelt down with their heads bowed.
Aunt Meijiang also knelt on the ground and pretended to be sad.
"Your Majesty was about to put on her shoes, but when she heard Your Majesty's footsteps, she ran out without waiting for the servants.
Your Majesty came to Northern Yan alone and has no one to rely on. Naturally, she has devoted herself wholeheartedly to Your Majesty."
Du Gu Luanyue whispered, "Aunt, stop talking. I don't like Your Majesty that much."
The cold wind blew her long black hair, and she sneezed.
Murong Min took off his cloak and wrapped it around her. He picked her up horizontally.
"If you don't have me in your heart, then why did you run out without even putting on your shoes?"
Du Gu Luanyue usually liked red and gorgeous clothes. She was like a dazzling phoenix, flamboyant and charming.
At this moment, her face was pure and innocent. Her fair skin and black hair, along with a pair of clear and charming eyes, were looking at him with a smile. She looked like a little white fox walking out of the forest, extremely weak and pitiful.
Du Gu Luanyue threw herself into his arms. "I'm just a little shy..."
She knew that men were fickle. If she didn't change her ways, his favor would fade in a few days.
"Your Majesty, let me take a good look at you. Have you been tired these days?"
She rubbed her little face against Murong Min's.
After she finished speaking, she saw Huo Wei in black, with a frosty face, looking at her gloomily over Murong Min's shoulder. His eyes were full of contempt and disdain.
Du Gu Luanyue raised her eyebrows at him.
"It's so late. Why has the Prince of Yuzhang come? It doesn't seem appropriate for you to come to my palace at this time, does it?"
Murong Min explained,
"The situation of the Prince of Yuzhang is special. I've allowed him to move freely in the palace without reporting. We discussed state affairs late today, so I'll leave the prince in your palace. Let's have dinner together."
Du Gu Luanyue felt a little strange but didn't ask any more questions.
Huo Wei glanced at this coquettish empress with his hands behind his back. Dressing in a white dress and pretending to be an innocent girl to seduce the emperor who had seen all kinds of beauties, she really had a lot of tricks.
She had seduced the emperor so much that they were showing their affection right in front of everyone.
Then Huo Wei remembered what she had said to him seriously and miserably three days ago about loving him. Now it seemed like all nonsense.
Huo Wei felt his chest tighten. He was actually a little annoyed.
He stopped at the palace door and grabbed Aunt Meijiang's arm with one hand. "Come here."
Huo Wei pulled Aunt Meijiang aside and took something out of his bosom. He handed it to her. "Take this."
Aunt Meijiang looked at him in confusion. "My lord, what is this?"
Huo Wei said coldly, "Food for the dog."
She took the thing. It was still warm. She sniffed it. It was a pastry full of rose fragrance.
Aunt Meijiang smiled. "Thank you, Prince of Yuzhang. Her Majesty loves sweet food the most. You've really gone to a lot of trouble."
Huo Wei spread out his arms. "Where's the thing?"
Aunt Meijiang said seriously,
"The dagger has been repaired. It's in Her Majesty's bedroom. I'll remind Her Majesty when I get a chance later."
Huo Wei didn't say anything more and stepped into the palace. To his surprise, the scene he saw when he entered the palace made his cold face darken. It was simply unbearable to look at.