Du Gu Luanyue said, "Yes, Your Majesty. In order to come back earlier to see Your Majesty, I left my savior on the way and rushed back in a hurry."
Mu Rong Jue, who was listening quietly on one side, silently raised his head to glance at Du Gu Luanyue, then silently lowered his head again without saying a word.
Mu Rong Min raised his arm, and Mu Rong Jue and his mother withdrew. He took a sip of tea casually and said,
"I suppose the Queen must have exerted a great deal of effort during this trip to Danyang City, right?"
Du Gu Luanyue knew exactly what Mu Rong Min was thinking. The image she had created in his mind was always that of a young step - queen with good looks but no brains.
She only knew how to take hot springs and accompany him in eating, drinking and having fun. She was just a vase. That was why Mu Rong Min had readily agreed to let her go to Danyang City, believing that she wouldn't play any real role.
According to Mu Rong Min's expectation, the young and inexperienced queen would either hide in the room crying or die of the plague after arriving in Danyang City.
In short, Mu Rong Min thought it didn't matter whether she returned to the palace or not.
However, after he lost track of the situation in Danyang City and didn't hear any news of the plague spreading southward, he began to panic and wonder who was saving the city.
And she, the princess of Southern Chu, was the most likely candidate.
She gently nestled on Mu Rong Min's shoulder and said with a smile,
"Yes, Your Majesty. I find it really interesting to save the country and its people.
This time, I imitated the Third Prince and did a lot of things with the city officials.
Although what I did was not much and not very useful, I'm still happy that I've contributed to Northern Yan."
Mu Rong Min's face darkened, but he had no way to scold Du Gu Luanyue. After all, it was he who had allowed her to go to Danyang City. What right did he have to say anything?
He could only swallow this bitter pill silently.
It was really a pity that such a rare opportunity to conquer Southern Chu had been missed. If there were really a war in the future, it would be the national strength of Northern Yan that would be exhausted in the real - blade fight.
"The Queen has worked hard," he said with a faint smile.
However, when his unfathomable eyes fell on Du Gu Luanyue's charming appearance, his Adam's apple rolled.
The looks of the concubines in the harem really couldn't compare with this princess who had been raised in luxury.
He added, "I'll go to Fengluan Palace tonight. Go back and get prepared."
Du Gu Luanyue's expression turned cold. It was about serving the emperor again. But since she returned to the palace these days, she always felt that there was something strange about her jade hairpin.
She pulled herself together and took out a piece of paper from her sleeve.
"Your Majesty, during my trip to Danyang City, I accidentally found this in the city. It was originally engraved on a stone, and I recorded it. Have a look."
Mu Rong Min took the paper. A flash of panic crossed his sly face. Suddenly, he crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it on the ground, with a hint of anger and panic in his action.
The paper read:
[The orphan of Jinyang will reappear in the world fifteen years later. Crown Prince Mu Rong shall pay for his blood debts with blood.]
Du Gu Luanyue sneered several times when she saw his reaction but said nothing.
There was a hint of ferocity in Mu Rong Min's eyes. He roared, "How could there be such things in Danyang City? It must be the work of those former traitors."
Du Gu Luanyue stood behind Mu Rong Min and said with a faint smile, "There was a heavy rain in Danyang City that day. The rain washed the mountain rocks and revealed this.
The local people were spreading the news like wildfire. Out of curiosity, I brought this message on the stone back for Your Majesty.
I was thinking that the Crown Prince Mu Rong fifteen years ago was Your Majesty himself, wasn't he?"
Fifteen years ago, Danyang City was not called Danyang City. Its original name was Jinyang City.
Jinyang City got its name because there was a high - ranking official guarding the border in the city many years ago.
Many years ago, between Northern Yan and Southern Chu, Southern Chu often sent troops to invade the border of Northern Yan. It was because of this high - ranking official's guard that Southern Chu failed to break into Northern Yan.
This high - ranking official was named Xie Jinyang. Because of his outstanding military achievements, the former emperor named the city after Xie Jinyang to commemorate his great contributions.
However, the name Xie Jinyang had become a taboo in Northern Yan over the years, especially for Mu Rong Min.
Mu Rong Min, who was extremely suspicious, immediately thought of something.
"No wonder Hua Yin died in Danyang City. There must still be some followers of Xie Jinyang who are not completely dead and still want to rebel!"
Just thinking of the name Xie Jinyang, Mu Rong Min couldn't calm down even after all these years.
Du Gu Luanyue whispered, "Your Majesty, don't be anxious. It may just be a few villains trying to make trouble taking advantage of the plague.
It won't be anything strange. Don't think too much about it.
I also heard in Danyang City that after General Xie Jinyang died, he turned into a ghost... But it's just a baseless rumor. Don't take it seriously."
During her trip back to Southern Chu, Du Gu Luanyue accidentally talked to her mother about the past in Danyang City and thus learned about Xie Jinyang.
This general, who was like a war god, had been loyal for three generations.
However, not long after Mu Rong Min ascended the throne, he was framed for treason and killed in the imperial capital, and his nine - clan was also exterminated. It was really a pity.
But Du Gu Luanyue's mother also told her a very important piece of information.
That was, the blood of the nine - clan of the Xie family in Danyang City had turned into a demonic obstacle. There were rumors in the city that the Xie family was wronged and the city was haunted.
At that time, Mu Rong Min had just ascended the throne and was very reluctant to hear such news that would insult his imperial reputation.
So, Mu Rong Min invited a Taoist master to hold a ceremony. Instead of exorcising the dead souls, he suppressed all the wronged souls in the city so that they could not be reborn.
He changed the name of Jinyang City to Danyang City. The character "Dan" meant cinnabar, which was used to exorcise evil spirits.
Later, when there was a plague in Danyang City, Mu Rong Min, as the emperor, easily sacrificed the lives of the people in this city.
This incident was enough to show that Mu Rong Min harbored deep hatred for this city.
Du Gu Luanyue thought she could give it a try. Maybe she could find Mu Rong Min's weakness in this matter and use it.
Mu Rong Min supported his cold forehead and said, "The orphan of Jinyang, the son of Xie Jinyang and Lu Wanyin, should be twenty now.
Order the Ministry of Revenue to investigate all the men in Northern Yan who are twenty years old and kill them all. Just say we are hunting down the remaining followers of the traitors."
Du Gu Luanyue stood there stunned. She never expected Mu Rong Min to do this. She thought it was just a weakness, but unexpectedly it was a mental demon.
She looked at him in horror and quickly said, "Your Majesty, please think twice. Even the Son of Heaven should not kill the innocent unjustly."
Mu Rong Min showed no sign of heeding the advice. The news spread until it reached the Prince of Yuzhang's Mansion.
Shen Guilan stood in front of Huo Wei's door and said, "Kill all the twenty - year - old men in Northern Yan. Coincidentally, aren't you twenty too?"