Huo Wei pinched her chin forcefully. "Do as I say. Why so many questions?"
The pain in Dugu Luanyue's chin was so intense that it felt as if it were about to shatter. Her eyebrows knitted tightly in agony. "It's an imperial edict. I can't refuse."
Huo Wei released his grip on her and slowly got up. "Fine. Tomorrow, I'll send a few more of your young lovers to you."
With a cold smile, he looked at the beauty kneeling on the ground, crying her heart out. Even in tears, her eyes remained sharp as she desperately held back her sobs.
Dugu Luanyue was once again puzzled by Huo Wei. Why on earth did he suddenly forbid her from accompanying the emperor to bed? But for the sake of Sheng Yunqi, she had no choice but to agree on the surface.
"I'll figure something out."
Huo Wei laughed. "Don't even think about deceiving me. The records in the Queen's chamber won't lie."
Dugu Luanyue clenched her fists tightly and glared at Huo Wei viciously. "Madman!"
It was extremely difficult to decline Murong Min's request for her to accompany him to bed.
She could ask Yu Zan to take her place, but the records would still show that it was her.
If Huo Wei checked the records, she would be exposed. Once exposed, Huo Wei would surely harm Sheng Yunqi again.
After Huo Wei left, Aunt Meijiang quickly led the eunuchs in to clean up the bloody mess.
The eunuch saw the queen sitting in front of the bronze mirror, holding her face in her hands. He didn't know what she was doing, but she looked on the verge of collapse.
Looking at the object again, and thinking that the Prince of Yuzhang had just left the queen's chamber, he felt very strange.
Why on earth did the Prince of Yuzhang send the male dog's private parts to the queen? To nourish the body? Women didn't need such things for nourishment.
The eunuch knew exactly what it was at a glance. He had raised dogs before, and being a man of experience, he was well aware that it wasn't what they claimed it to be.
Aunt Meijiang stepped forward, her eyes red.
"Your Majesty, please stop being so sad. Lie down and rest for a few hours. You have to go to the Zichen Palace to accompany the emperor to bed before dinner. What if the emperor sees you like this?"
At this time, Yu Zan walked over, her face beaming with joy, in stark contrast to Aunt Meijiang's distressed expression.
"Your Majesty, this servant will go take a bath and cleanse herself first. I'll use the finest milk today to nourish my body."
Aunt Meijiang gave Yu Zan a cold look. "You seem very happy. What on earth are you so happy about?"
Yu Zan thought to herself that she was indeed very happy. She hadn't taken any contraceptive pills recently and was just waiting to get pregnant. Then she would secretly keep it from everyone.
When the pregnancy was more obvious and couldn't be hidden anymore, she would inform the queen. By then, it would be too late to abort the child.
The queen would have no choice but to arrange an identity for her so that she could become a mistress in the future and help the Southern Chu retain the emperor's heart.
She bit her lips and said weakly, "This servant isn't happy. I'm just preparing to take Your Majesty's place to accompany the emperor to bed."
Aunt Meijiang sneered at her. "You look so lewd all over. Get out!"
Yu Zan's eyes welled up with tears as she retreated from the chamber. Dugu Luanyue then said, "Aunt, why are you always so harsh on Yu Zan? She doesn't seem to have done anything wrong today."
Aunt Meijiang said coldly,
"Is Yu Zan blind? Can't she see that Your Majesty is in great pain?
This servant got angry when she saw her walking in with a happy face.
It's true that Yu Zan is sometimes pitiful, but this servant always feels that she's not on our side."
Dugu Luanyue's cold eyes darkened slightly, and the tip of her nose turned slightly red. She said in a solemn voice,
"Aunt, you've never been one to scold maids casually. I naturally trust your words more.
But so far, we haven't found anything wrong with Yu Zan. Moreover, I need her, so I have to keep her in this position.
It's just that we have to be more careful."
Aunt Meijiang nodded. "Su Rou has always appeared as a dancer in the music bureau. Does Your Majesty plan to support her?"
Dugu Luanyue pondered for a moment.
"I'll have to ask the emperor's opinion on this...
But Aunt, I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany the emperor to bed for a while. Even if Yu Zan takes my place, the records will still show my name.
That madman Huo Wei doesn't know what he's up to. He won't allow me to accompany the emperor to bed, or else he'll harm Yunqi again."
At this point, Dugu Luanyue covered her face and cried again. Just thinking about Sheng Yunqi being tortured by Huo Wei made it hard for her to calm down.
Sheng Yunqi, the eldest son and the only son of the most prominent family in the Southern Chu. Her heart was almost broken.
Aunt Meijiang frowned tightly and patted Dugu Luanyue's back, constantly comforting her.
"Your Majesty has suffered so much. But how are you going to deal with the emperor?"
Dugu Luanyue removed her hands from her face and looked at her haggard reflection in the bronze mirror.
"I know of a kind of medicine that can disrupt a woman's menstrual cycle and make her bleed continuously."
Aunt Meijiang exclaimed sternly, "No!"
Dugu Luanyue turned to look at her, her expression serious.
"Aunt, Yunqi is in Huo Wei's hands. I have no choice but to stabilize Huo Wei first. We can plan further later."
Aunt Meijiang was extremely angry. She slapped the table in front of the bronze mirror and gritted her teeth.
"No, no!
First of all, this kind of medicine is extremely harmful to a woman's qi and blood. If you keep bleeding for a long time, how much blood do you have to lose? It will do great harm to Your Majesty's body.
Secondly, not accompanying the emperor to bed means that your relationship with the emperor will become cold. There's also the calculating Concubine Xian and the ambitious Concubine Zhao in the palace.
It's not easy for Your Majesty to have such favor now. How can you make such a plan?"
The tears in Dugu Luanyue's eyes had dried up. She lifted her chin and said calmly,
"Go prepare the medicine. I'll figure out how to deal with Huo Wei. Once I rescue Yunqi, I can stop taking the medicine."
Aunt Meijiang flung her sleeves and said with hatred, "This servant will remember the Prince of Yuzhang!"
Before dinner, Dugu Luanyue urgently summoned the imperial physician to diagnose her pulse. The imperial physician reported to Murong Min that the queen had a disease of excessive vaginal bleeding and needed time to recuperate, so she couldn't accompany the emperor to bed for the time being.
Murong Min heard this and said somewhat disappointedly, "Ying Xi, summon Concubine Zhao to accompany me to bed instead."
Eunuch Ying Xi bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty."
Dugu Luanyue stayed in the palace in seclusion for more than half a month. Huo Wei didn't show up for half a month either. It was said that he was busy building official residences.
The court looked down on Huo Wei's actions, saying that his petty favors to win over the poor scholars were not worthy of mention.
Murong Min also didn't want to spend the money. He thought that since they were all here to serve him, as the Son of Heaven, why should he stoop to win them over?
In order to push the matter forward quickly, Huo Wei reported that all the silver needed for building the official residences would be borne by the Prince of Yuzhang's Mansion.
In this way, Murong Min readily agreed.
Shen Guilan found out about this and quickly spread the news.
As a result, Huo Wei won the hearts of more of these new scholars. From the very beginning, they only remembered Huo Wei, not the emperor.
When Dugu Luanyue heard about this, she quickly rushed to the Zichen Palace. She had already found a way to deal with Huo Wei and rescue Sheng Yunqi.