Zhao Chuhe, the elder brother of Zhao Chuyan, was the grand commander of the imperial guards. This time, he was the general escorting Murong Min out of the palace.
Hearing this, he immediately knelt in front of Murong Min.
"Your Majesty, I have no idea what happened last night. But the Zhao family would never dare to mobilize troops without permission."
Du Gu Luanyue stole a glance at Huo Wei. His answer was quite interesting. He didn't mention Concubine Zhao but the Zhao family.
She said pitifully,
"Your Majesty, last night Concubine Zhao mobilized the imperial guards under the command of the Zhao family. They injured so many of my servants in Zhaoyang Palace. She really wanted to kill me. I didn't even dare to return to my palace."
No matter who was in charge of the imperial guards, they would never be surnamed Zhao.
Both Huo Wei and Du Gu Luanyue's remarks obviously aroused Murong Min's dissatisfaction.
Zhao Chuyan somehow got the news. She lifted her skirt and rushed over from behind. Seeing Murong Min, she said anxiously,
"Your Majesty, please do justice for me. I can't even survive a single day in this harem!"
Murong Min stared coldly at them. With the crown prince of Dongning present, he felt a bit embarrassed. "Get up all of you. Return to Zichen Palace!"
Just as Zhao Chuyan was about to act weak, Du Gu Luanyue fainted in the snow ahead of her.
The maids immediately surrounded her. "Your Majesty the Queen!"
Huo Wei explained in a deep voice, "The Queen was frightened by Concubine Zhao's men last night and stayed in the wind and snow for a whole night. She must have suffered from the cold."
Murong Min glanced at him. "Why are you here so early in the morning, Prince Yuzhang?"
Huo Wei replied calmly,
"I deliberately waited at the palace gate to prevent the Queen from returning to Southern Chu, so as to avoid any rift between the north and the south."
As he said this, his eyes swept across Xie Xuanjin's face.
Xie Xuanjin said from behind, "The New Year is approaching. Perhaps the Queen misses her family."
Murong Min said meaningfully, "I am her family now and will be for the rest of her life."
Xie Xuanjin's smile was ambiguous. He didn't say anything more. If there was really a rift between the north and the south, it would be an opportunity.
Xie Xuanjin's smile was all caught in Huo Wei's black eyes.
Murong Min bent down and carried the Queen back to Zhaoyang Palace himself. He waited by her bedside until she woke up.
Actually, Du Gu Luanyue's fainting was fake. Seeing Murong Min carrying her back and staying by her side, she just fell asleep. She would talk about what happened last night later.
She didn't wake up until after lunch. Looking at her husband with a pale face, she said coquettishly and aggrievedly,
"Your Majesty, I thought I would never see you again in this lifetime."
Hearing the sound, Murong Min looked back. He wanted to hug her, but the beauty gently pushed him away. His eyes turned red and he lowered his head.
Murong Min hadn't seen her for several days and wanted to get closer to her. But Du Gu Luanyue always avoided him. He felt a bit annoyed.
He said gently, "You've been wronged. I will definitely do justice for you."
Du Gu Luanyue immediately asked, "Your Majesty won't do justice for me. My heart is so cold now.
Since I came to Northern Yan, I have no family here. Everyone is bullying me. I want to leave and return to Southern Chu."
With the crown prince of Dongning in Northern Yan, Murong Min would never send her back to Southern Chu.
But if this matter wasn't resolved properly this time, Murong Min would just muddle through when it came to his own queen in the future.
Murong Min said seriously, "I will definitely do justice for you and won't let you be wronged again."
He raised his arm. "Ying Xi, go and summon Concubine Zhao and the two commanders of the imperial guards."
As soon as Zhao Chuyan came in, she was as domineering as ever.
"Your Majesty, you should discipline the Queen properly.
She deliberately mistreats the concubines in the harem. She withholds their monthly allowances and cuts off their charcoal supplies. Does she want all the concubines in the harem to freeze and starve to death?"
Murong Min turned to look at her. "What's this all about?"
Zhao Chuyan curled her lips, looking like she was waiting to watch a show. She took the initiative to attack, wanting to see how this vixen would get out of this.
Du Gu Luanyue sneered in her heart. She had already guessed that Zhao Chuyan would bring this up.
In front of Zhao Chuyan, she stretched out her arm and hugged Murong Min's waist, rubbing herself into the emperor's arms.
"Your Majesty, look at your Concubine Zhao. Does she still have me, the Queen, in her eyes?
Or, you might as well let Concubine Zhao take the Phoenix Seal. I'm so scared."
Murong Min put his hand on the back of her head to comfort her. "Luanyue, don't be afraid. I'm here."
Zhao Chuyan bit her lips. The anger in her chest burned even more fiercely. She really was a demonic queen. As soon as she saw the emperor, she started acting. She wasn't like this last night.
Seeing this scene, Huo Wei's expression turned a bit colder. He shifted his eyes to other places.
Du Gu Luanyue said weakly,
"I think Concubine Zhao must have misunderstood. I thought the New Year was approaching and wanted to give some benefits to the sisters in the palaces. So I asked the director of the internal affairs office to move all the things to Zhaoyang Palace.
I planned to calculate them all together. Those with more would get more, and those with less would get a supplement. Where is the so - called mistreatment?"
Zhao Chuyan said, "You've been holding these things for several days. You did it on purpose!"
Du Gu Luanyue looked at Murong Min again, leaned her head on the emperor's chest, and shrank back.
"Your Majesty, she's so fierce. Please send her out quickly. I feel my heart pounding when I see her."
She deliberately acted so weakly, positioning herself as the weak one, to arouse the man's pity.
The more overbearing Zhao Chuyan was, the better. This way, Murong Min could make a comparison in his heart.
Murong Min turned and shouted, "Concubine Zhao, what's your attitude? Are you so arrogant even in front of me?"
Zhao Chuyan's eyes were almost bleeding. She gritted her teeth in hatred.
Du Gu Luanyue secretly glanced at Zhao Chuyan provocatively with her eyes. This made her even angrier.
"Your Majesty, the Queen is just acting. She's putting on a show.
She didn't look like this last night. She really is a demonic queen with all sorts of coquettish tricks!"
Murong Min shouted again,
"If you keep being so rude to the Queen, I won't be lenient with you!"
There had long been rumors in the palace that the concubines were unfriendly to the young queen from Southern Chu. Relying on their seniority, they never respected the Queen.
Indeed, most of the senior concubines in the palace had given birth to princes and princesses. They had some feelings for him as husband and wife.
When he suddenly married the princess of Southern Chu, there were complaints in the harem. So he never explicitly criticized these concubines who had been with him for many years.
But Murong Min really didn't expect that these concubines born of concubines had become so arrogant towards the legitimate queen.
Du Gu Luanyue wiped away her tears. "Your Majesty, Concubine Zhao not only was fierce to me but also slandered me.
I said a few days ago that the sisters who were free could come and collect their monthly allowances and charcoal in advance. Some concubines in the harem had already come to collect them.
It was just unfortunate yesterday. I went to organize Prince Yuzhang's birthday banquet and took the director of the internal affairs office out of the palace with me.
I was afraid I couldn't handle everything alone, so I didn't distribute the monthly allowances and charcoal yesterday.
I never expected that when I returned to the palace, Concubine Zhao directly mobilized the imperial guards to surround Zhaoyang Palace. She wanted to beat and kill people. I was so scared."