Du Gu Luanyue lowered her eyes listlessly and said, "Come out. He's gone."
Only then did Du Gu Luanyue heave a sigh of relief. Her menstruation had indeed come earlier, but it came just in time, saving her.
Otherwise, she would have really been taken advantage of by Murong Min tonight.
Huo Wei suddenly rolled out from under the bed and patted the dust off his clothes.
When he fixed his eyes, he saw Du Gu Luanyue leaning against the bedside, hunched weakly with her hand covering her stomach.
Aunt Mei Jiang rushed into the palace in big strides. After just one glance at Du Gu Luanyue, she said,
"Old servant will go and boil some brown sugar water. Your Majesty, please change your clothes first."
Du Gu Luanyue nodded, unable to say a word. Her face was as pale as paper. "Huo Wei, you can go too."
Huo Wei walked to the cabinet and took out the test papers. "Don't be in a hurry. I'll take another look. There are still some things I don't understand."
After saying that, he sat down on the stool and glanced at her from time to time. He couldn't help but feel a bit confused.
Wasn't a woman most vulnerable when she had abdominal pain during menstruation? Du Gu Luanyue was, after all, Murong Min's newly married wife.
How could Murong Min say such a disappointing thing when his wife was in such pain and then just stand up and leave, saying he was going to another concubine's palace?
Was that something a normal man would say?
Had Murong Min always treated her like this?
There seemed to be a hint of pity in his deep, cold eyes. So much so that he didn't want to just leave as soon as the matter was done.
After Du Gu Luanyue changed her clothes and came out, Aunt Mei Jiang had already placed the brown sugar water for replenishing qi and blood on the table. She looked at her with great distress and was about to start chattering.
Du Gu Luanyue said,
"Maybe I've been staying up late these days, which made my menstruation come earlier. It's happened before. It's not a big deal. I'll be fine after a few days of rest."
She walked over, took a few sips of the brown sugar water, and then reached for the test papers, ready to start explaining again.
Huo Wei pushed the test papers to one side. "Don't be in a hurry." After a while, he glanced at Aunt Mei Jiang standing beside them. "Old maid, you can go first."
Aunt Mei Jiang gave him a disdainful look. "Old maid", what an ugly term!
After there was no one in the bedroom, Huo Wei saw a small tea stove for boiling tea beside the tea table. He lit the stove, looked at the jars on the tea table, and threw some ingredients for replenishing qi and blood into it to boil.
Then he said, "You've damaged your qi and blood. I've read some medical books before, and it's written like this in them."
Du Gu Luanyue nodded, with a sour feeling in her heart.
"Back in Southern Chu, at first, my father would assign me some political affairs.
Because I'm a woman, I was always afraid of doing a bad job and making my father look bad in front of the court officials.
So I did things very slowly, which sometimes made me stay up late.
After doing this several times, my menstruation would come earlier, and that's how my qi and blood got damaged.
Later, the imperial doctors in the palace started to treat my body. But drinking medicine every day was extremely bitter. So later, I switched to dietary supplements and usually ate everything made of roses.
Roses nourish qi and blood, so I've been eating them for years. It's still a bit useful."
Huo Wei suddenly understood. No wonder she liked to eat rose cakes so much. It turned out that was the reason.
Huo Wei poured out the boiled tea for replenishing qi and blood and put it aside. "Come here and drink it."
Du Gu Luanyue got up, walked over, and sat down on the other side of the tea table, facing Huo Wei. "Thank you."
For a moment, she mistook Huo Wei for Sheng Yunqi.
In the past, when she was in great abdominal pain, Sheng Yunqi would always stay with her and boil medicine for her.
He would never stand up and leave, saying things like it was disappointing.
But at this moment, she felt extremely embarrassed. All these embarrassing scenes had been seen by Huo Wei.
In the eyes of outsiders, the queen was the most favored in the six palaces. But in fact, the emperor treated her just so-so.
Du Gu Luanyue turned her body to the side and buried her head. "Am I really ridiculous?"
Huo Wei's dark eyes trembled slightly. After thinking for a moment in his heart, he said,
"When the emperor gets old and becomes impotent, you can also say that he's disappointing."
Hearing this, Du Gu Luanyue couldn't help but laugh. "Okay."
The sourness in her heart dissipated a bit because of what Huo Wei said.
Although she had no feelings for Murong Min at all, she still felt resentful being treated like this.
Suddenly, her calf started to hurt. Du Gu Luanyue reached out and rubbed it.
Huo Wei said, "It should be bruised. Do you have any ointment?"
He had heard that loud thud just now. It should be that Du Gu Luanyue had bumped into something during the tug-of-war with Murong Min. The sound was quite loud, so it must have hurt a lot.
Du Gu Luanyue patted her skirt. "Yes. There's still some left in the medicine bottle you left last time."
Huo Wei smoothed out his robe and got up to leave. "First you sprain your elbow, then you hurt your calf. You're really useless."
Du Gu Luanyue got up and grabbed his hand. For some reason tonight, she felt that Huo Wei had deliberately stayed to accompany her.
So she wanted to get closer to him so that their future cooperation could go more smoothly.
"Huo Wei, since I'm so useless, will you accompany me more in the future?"
Her bright red eye sockets were wet, like a rose that had been battered by the wind and rain all night. There was a hint of coquettishness and pity in her charm.
Huo Wei stopped in his tracks, looked back at her deeply, didn't answer, and then turned around and left.
Du Gu Luanyue was left with a confused look in her eyes. She was becoming more and more unable to understand this man, Huo Wei.
His words and actions were always inconsistent. He was two-faced, and sometimes he even acted crazy. He was really strange.
Huo Wei hadn't been back to the Yuzhang Prince's Mansion much these days. Shen Guilan had asked Meng Tan dozens of times in the mansion but still couldn't find out anything.
He was sitting in his study and ordered his subordinates,
"Last time our people tracked that the Crown Prince of Dongning was taking a man named Sheng Yunqi on the way to Southern Chu.
You go and spread the word. Make sure that this Sheng Yunqi knows that Queen Du Gu is seriously ill and her life is in danger."
The secret guard bowed and asked, "Does this matter need to be reported to the prince?"
Shen Guilan said, "No need. This is something I'm ordering you to do alone."
There was going to be a spring banquet in the palace soon. For such a grand banquet, he would try his best to get this Sheng Yunqi into the palace so that he could meet Queen Du Gu.
This Huo Wei had really been going too far recently.
Huo Wei disappeared for a few more days. When he returned to the mansion, he went to the garden and handed the envelope in his hand to Shen Guilan.
"For this spring imperial examination, I've selected twelve people. The placement of these people was suggested by Queen Du Gu. Big brother, you can take a look too."
Shen Guilan took the things and looked at them carefully.
"For now, it seems that Queen Du Gu has no intention of harming you.
Judging from the positions these people will be placed in the court, they are all very crucial.
But after the palace examination, the emperor won't completely follow your plan."
Huo Wei said, "The emperor asked me to write a memorial. I just need to clearly state the reasons for my suggestions on the personnel. It shouldn't be a problem to get him to adopt half of them."
At this moment, he finally understood that Du Gu Luanyue had put some thought and effort into this.
If she hadn't told him about the talents, abilities, and personalities of these tribute scholars, when the emperor asked him to write a memorial suggesting official positions, he wouldn't have known where to start.
Nor would he have been able to persuade the emperor on how to appoint people. Then how could he have had the opportunity to place these people?
Thinking of this, Huo Wei's impression of Du Gu Luanyue changed again. He no longer thought of her as just a fox that seduced men.
Shen Guilan didn't take it seriously. He didn't think that the charming and state - ruining queen could succeed in this personnel placement.
Suddenly, he saw the gardener in the mansion pulling out all the flowers, plants, and trees in the garden. Shen Guilan looked at Huo Wei in astonishment.
"What are you doing again? You've pulled out all the medicinal herbs I planted. Are you crazy?"
Huo Wei straightened his chest and said calmly, "I'm going to plant flowers."