Meng Tan replied, "They seem to be noblemen from the Northern Yan. They all brought their wives with them. It's very formal.
Alas, they're dressed more appropriately than the prince's military officers. Those officers of the prince are so uncouth that they might as well take off their socks after drinking..."
Huo Wei felt a headache coming on. Then he said, "Fine. I'll go there now." After walking a few steps, he suddenly said, "Go to the mansion's doctor and ask him to bring a bottle of wound medicine."
Meng Tan was a bit nervous for a moment. "Ah, what's wrong, Your Highness? Are you injured?"
Huo Wei said as he walked, "I'm not injured. Just go and get the stuff."
Du Gu Luanyue arrived at the main hall of the mansion earlier than Huo Wei. As the queen of the Northern Yan, she showed no fear of the disdainful looks from others. She sat upright on the main seat, with Huo Wei sitting on one side.
Looking at these noblemen from the Northern Yan, he was quite surprised. He didn't think that Murong Min would deliberately arrange for these people to come, because this birthday banquet was actually intended to embarrass him under the guise of formality.
Moreover, he was well aware that he wasn't a real nobleman of the Northern Yan.
In the military camp, he was like a king, but among those nobles, he was just a sword for slaughter, with no noble status or dignity.
However, Huo Wei didn't expect that these people were extremely polite when they came to the mansion. They behaved properly during the banquet and showed no sign of disdain for him, a military officer.
Du Gu Luanyue said, "Since the emperor is not here, I'll personally organize this birthday banquet for the Prince of Yuzhang.
As an elder of the Prince of Yuzhang and since he's a great contributor to our Northern Yan, this birthday must be a grand and proper one.
But after all, it's a joyous occasion. So, all you lords and ladies, please feel free and don't stand on ceremony."
The officials sitting on both sides were noblemen of the Northern Yan who hadn't gone out of the city with Murong Min. They held some unimportant positions in the court. But in order to fill the numbers for Huo Wei, she had come up with a way to gather them in the middle of the night.
At this moment, a noisy female voice came from outside the mansion. A noble young lady in a green dress rushed in.
She quickly ran to Huo Wei's side and grabbed his arm. "Brother Huo Wei, why didn't you invite me to your birthday? Fortunately, I came quickly!"
Mei Jiang scolded on one side, "Bold! The queen is here. How dare you be so rude!"
The girl didn't even realize that the queen was there. Of course, she didn't recognize the queen in the first place.
She held onto Huo Wei's arm and didn't let go. "Oh, I'm Wei Zhiruo, the daughter of the grand marshal Wei. Greetings to Your Majesty the Queen."
Wei Zhiruo couldn't help but secretly take a look at Du Gu Luanyue. She had heard from her aunt, Concubine Wei, that Du Gu Luanyue was a demonic queen who was good at bewitching the emperor and was extremely bad.
Now, the concubines in the harem didn't take her seriously. Although the emperor doted on her, he never told these concubines of lower birth to respect the queen.
So her aunt had told her that the emperor only loved beauty but was very clear - headed and would never give her any power.
Therefore, Wei Zhiruo looked down on this successor queen of the Northern Yan from the bottom of her heart. And since she was from the Southern Chu, Wei Zhiruo despised her even more.
Huo Wei pulled his arm out of Wei Zhiruo's hand and leaned to one side.
"Miss Wei is the daughter of the grand marshal of the Northern Yan and the niece of Concubine Wei in the harem. She's also a cousin of the third prince, Murong Jue."
Du Gu Luanyue glanced at Wei Zhiruo. She thought to herself that this girl looked so arrogant in her eyes. No wonder she was so presumptuous as the daughter of the grand marshal who held the military power of the country.
She smiled imperceptibly. "Miss Wei, please sit down. The banquet will start soon."
Wei Zhiruo pouted. She was a bit unhappy. Why did Huo Wei bother to explain so much about her? There was no need for an explanation.
She didn't like Huo Wei talking to any woman, even a married one.
Suddenly, she noticed that the belt around Huo Wei's waist was very unique. She asked in surprise, "Heaven silk! Brother Huo Wei, how did you get a belt made of heaven silk? It's a rare thing!"
Huo Wei pulled his outer robe over to cover his waist. "I've always had it. I just wore it today."
Wei Zhiruo became interested and reached out her hand.
"Where did you get it? This thing only exists in the Southern Chu. It's very rare. It can change into many shapes, and it can't be torn or cut by swords.
I have to buy one for my third brother so that he can show it off!" Heaven silk was something one could hardly come by. Why had she never heard Murong Jue say that Huo Wei had such a thing before?
Huo Wei avoided her hand and then stood up. "There are still guests outside the mansion. I'll go out and greet them first."
Wei Zhiruo immediately followed him out, sticking closely behind Huo Wei and not being shaken off.
Du Gu Luanyue sat on the main seat, chatting and having tea with the wives of the officials, saying some polite words.
But out of the corner of her eye, she was looking outside. It seemed that this Wei Zhiruo had a crush on Huo Wei.
Wei Zhiruo was very close to Huo Wei. When she looked up, she noticed a faint red mark on Huo Wei's jaw. It wasn't very obvious, but one would definitely notice it if they looked closely.
She immediately understood what it meant. "Good for you, Huo Wei. You've got a woman!"
Huo Wei was standing in front of the mansion gate. Hearing her noisy nonsense, his eyebrows frowned.
"Wei Zhiruo, for Murong Jue's sake, I'll tolerate you this once. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll have to ask you to leave."
Wei Zhiruo's eyes turned red with anxiety. "There's lip rouge on your jaw, and there's a faint fragrance on you.
You're a military officer. If you didn't have a woman, how could you have such things and smells!" Murong Jue had told her that Huo Wei didn't get close to women and there were definitely no women in his mansion.
Huo Wei ignored her, turned around and went back to his bedroom to wash his face. Then he came out wearing a black brocade robe with silver - threaded patterns.
Wei Zhiruo had been following him all the time. Wherever Huo Wei went, she went, like a piece of sticky candy.
"Miss Wei, the mansion is very big. You can wander around by yourself. I'm very busy," Huo Wei said in a cold and distant voice.
Wei Zhiruo said, "No, I want you to accompany me! Just now they all said that the queen came and you personally showed her around the mansion. But when I came, you just let me wander around by myself?"
Huo Wei looked at her calmly. "Guess why she's called the queen while you're called Miss Wei?"
Wei Zhiruo stammered, "I..."
She didn't care about all this. She knew about the time when Murong Jue took Huo Wei secretly to the Hundred - Flower Pavilion. Murong Jue had said that Huo Wei had taken an extra look at the woman in the red dress, but he hadn't done anything.
She had heard that Huo Wei had a hidden illness, but Murong Jue had never told her clearly no matter how she asked.
After learning that Huo Wei had gone to the Hundred - Flower Pavilion, she was furious and sent someone to find Hong Ling.
After interrogating her severely and asking if Huo Wei had done anything shameful with her, Hong Ling said that he hadn't.
After several rounds of torture, Hong Ling was beaten black and blue before she told the truth of that day. She said that it was very likely that the Prince of Yuzhang didn't have a hidden illness and was deliberately hiding it.
Wei Zhiruo sneered coldly. "Brother Huo Wei, I know a secret of yours, but I'm not sure yet. I'll find out later."
After saying that, she walked in another direction. Huo Wei didn't even look at her, let alone take her words to heart.
This Miss Wei just relied on her relationship with Murong Jue and often behaved without propriety.
She went to the kitchen where the drinks were prepared and wandered around. Then she and her maid started to observe secretly.
Wei Zhiruo said, "I'm going to test Huo Wei tonight to see if that hidden illness of his is real or fake."
The maid asked worriedly, "Miss, are you going to test him yourself?"
Wei Zhiruo looked at the busy kitchen staff. She bit her lips and said,
"Yes. If I succeed in the test, why should I be afraid that Brother Huo Wei won't marry me? If he doesn't marry me, won't my third brother beat him to death?"