Her delicate eyebrows knitted tightly together, and her heart tightened.
Her fair hand clutched the letter and crumpled it into a ball. The veins on the back of her hand stood out. Her lips, as red as flames, parted slightly.
There was a solemn look between her eyebrows and eyes. She slowly lowered her eyes, and her thick, dark eyelashes cast a shadow under her eyelids.
Seeing her strange expression, Aunt Meijiang asked anxiously,
"Your Majesty the Queen, has something happened to the Prince of Yuzhang?"
After saying this, Dugu Luanyue still remained silent. Aunt Meijiang continued,
"Don't panic, Your Majesty. The Phoenix Feather Guards have gone with him. There probably won't be any major trouble."
But Dugu Luanyue slowly shook her head. Huo Wei had taken too few men. How could it be easy?
She unfolded the crumpled paper and read it again carefully:
"Shen Guilan, the military advisor beside Huo Wei, has never had any private contact with me. Moreover, this person even looks down on me a bit.
He didn't contact anyone else but started to contact me. This means that something must have happened to Huo Wei, and it's no use looking for others.
Shen Guilan definitely wouldn't come to me for help unless it was an extremely desperate situation."
Aunt Meijiang asked in a solemn voice, "Then what does the letter say?"
Dugu Luanyue handed the wrinkled paper to her and said in a cold voice,
"Shen Guilan said in the letter that Danyang City has long been sealed off by the local officials. No one outside knows what's really going on inside. It's all up to the officials in Danyang City to say.
Huo Wei is impatient. He risked his life to enter the city to find out what was going on.
A few days have passed, and he has completely lost contact with Shen Guilan and the others.
Shen Guilan's handwriting is scribbled. I'm sure he's really panicked. He asked me to find a way to get the court to send people to Danyang City quickly to stabilize the people in the city. Otherwise, such a large city will really riot."
Aunt Meijiang looked at the letter and frowned. Remembering an old incident, she said sadly,
"Decades ago, Southern Chu also suffered a plague.
At that time, some officials also sealed off the city, thinking that when all the people inside died, the plague would naturally end.
But they didn't know that because of the city - sealing, cutting off water and food supplies, the people in the city saw no hope of survival. So they fought desperately to break out of the city gates to survive.
As a result, the plague spread out of the city and spread to every state.
That plague was simply a catastrophe. Too many people died, and it took Southern Chu many years to recover its national strength. Otherwise, Southern Chu wouldn't be behind Northern Yan now."
Dugu Luanyue had been well - versed in the history of Southern Chu since childhood. She knew about that catastrophe and was very aware of the seriousness of this matter.
Danyang City was located at the junction of the north and the south. This geographical location made her, as a person from Southern Chu, very uneasy.
Just as she was deep in thought, Yu Zan said while refilling the tea,
"Let them die. Anyway, they're people from Northern Yan. It has nothing to do with our Southern Chu.
Moreover, if those common people manage to break through the pass and spread the plague to the land of Northern Yan, it will be even better for our Southern Chu. They won't have the strength to attack Southern Chu."
Dugu Luanyue fixed her eyes on Yu Zan, sized her up and down, and said seriously and solemnly, as if dissatisfied,
"Yu Zan, as a king, one should have foresight.
In the short term, it is indeed beneficial. It can make Northern Yan chaotic for a while.
But in the long run, sealing off the city is not beneficial to Southern Chu.
Because Murong Min must know that the spread of the plague is of no benefit to Northern Yan at all. So he will definitely loosen the southern city gates and passes, allowing the plague - infected people to flow into Southern Chu.
By then, Northern Yan won't be in chaos, but Southern Chu will have to bear all the plague - stricken people from Danyang City alone.
The national strength of Southern Chu is already not as good as that of Northern Yan. If there is another plague, there will surely be great chaos.
After Southern Chu exhausts its national strength to relieve the plague, Northern Yan will send its troops south. By then, our Southern Chu will be in danger of national extinction."
Aunt Meijiang gave Yu Zan a cold look and scolded,
"Yu Zan, just do your job as a maid. When I'm talking to the Queen, you go out first!"
Yu Zan opened her lips, lowered her head silently, and walked out.
She didn't understand Dugu Luanyue's words. She only cared about how soon she could get pregnant through serving the king, how soon she could stop suffering from Aunt Meijiang's ill - treatment, and how soon she could become a mistress.
At present, the cooperation between the Queen and the Prince of Yuzhang was uncertain. It was really hard to say whether this task could be completed. She'd better make plans for herself in advance.
The next day was the first day of the lunar month, when all the concubines, princes, and princesses had to come to pay their respects to Queen Dugu.
Dugu Luanyue sat upright on the phoenix chair in a bright red and gold - threaded phoenix robe. Her beautiful eyes sparkled with a smile as she looked at the princes and princesses below. Coincidentally, the Third Prince Murong Jue was also there.
After paying their respects, having tea, and chatting for a while, everyone slowly dispersed. Aunt Meijiang followed the Third Prince all the way and halfway brought Murong Jue to the corridor outside the Fengluan Palace.
Murong Jue was a bit dazed. He looked in surprise and saw a woman standing at the end of the corridor, wearing a golden glazed phoenix crown and a red dress, looking up at the sky.
Murong Jue stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and said, "Your son pays respects to Mother. May Mother be in good health."
Dugu Luanyue's charming and deep eyes lost a bit of their charm and gained a bit of cold heroism.
"Third Prince, do you know how many days the Prince of Yuzhang has been in Danyang City?"
She knew very well that she couldn't go directly to Murong Min. After all, her identity was special. If she wanted to save Huo Wei, she had to find someone else.
Murong Jue. Not long ago, she heard that he was throwing tantrums everywhere because he couldn't go to Danyang with Huo Wei. It seemed that the relationship between Murong Jue and Huo Wei was extraordinary.
Murong Jue scratched his head and rolled his eyes.
"It seems to be more than a month."
He was surprised and didn't know why Queen Dugu asked about this. Being impatient, he added,
"Does Mother know any news about the Prince of Yuzhang? Please tell your son quickly, okay?"
Dugu Luanyue took out the wrinkled letter from her sleeve and handed it to Murong Jue.
"Huo Wei is missing in Danyang City, where the plague is raging. Danyang City is sealed off, and the common people may turn into rioters and break through the city gates. The people sent by the court may be in danger of losing their lives.
Third Prince, Huo Wei mentioned you to me. He said that you are his life - and - death brother on the battlefield of Western Liao. Do you want to help him?"
Murong Jue's delicate but slightly childish face was still a bit confused. He asked,
"My elder brother is missing. How does Mother know? Even Father doesn't know!"
Although he was simple - minded, it was strange that it was the Queen who came to him.
What was the relationship between the Queen and Huo Wei? Why did she get the secret letter?
Dugu Luanyue squinted at him and smiled.
"You're asking so many questions. Do you want to save Huo Wei or not?"
Murong Jue leaned forward and said anxiously,
"Of course I want to save him! Mother, please tell me clearly how to save my elder brother!"