Du Gu Luanyue cast a cold glance at the maid, her eyes darkening as the corners of her lips curled up slightly.
She still turned her head with a smile and continued to pick up food for Murong Min without reacting at all:
"Your Majesty has been exhausted these days. This wine was specially prepared by your servant to refresh you. Let me pour you a glass."
Murong Min glanced at Yingxi, his personal eunuch, who then tested the wine with a silver needle and took a small sip himself.
After the time it took to drink two cups of tea, Yingxi exclaimed in surprise, "Your Majesty, this wine is really special. This servant now feels refreshed and energetic!"
Yu Zan knew that Du Gu Luanyue had noticed her slightly bulging belly. Despite this,
Du Gu Luanyue, as her mistress, showed no sign of concern, and the emperor remained silent. She began to feel panicked.
Seeing that Yingxi did seem to be more energetic, Murong Min let down his guard and drank the specially prepared wine.
Du Gu Luanyue watched him finish it and whispered, "Your Majesty has a great capacity for wine. Let me pour you another glass."
Yu Zan endured with great difficulty. When Murong Min went to take a bath, she knelt in front of Du Gu Luanyue, crying:
"Your Majesty the Queen, I can't serve the emperor tonight. I'm pregnant with the emperor's child, so I can't take your place. Please grant me a status, Your Majesty!"
Du Gu Luanyue stood up from her chair. Her long phoenix robe, bright red with golden patterns, hung solemnly to the ground. She looked down coldly:
"You're pregnant. Why don't you ask the emperor for a status? Why are you asking me?"
Aunt Meijiang's face darkened. She shouted harshly, "Such a slut deserves to be beaten to death with sticks! A maid seducing the emperor is a capital crime!"
Yu Zan's delicate face turned pale. She sobbed sadly:
"Please spare my life, Your Majesty the Queen! It was the emperor who wanted to favor me. I had no choice. I didn't dare to disobey the order and could only follow the emperor's wishes."
In fact, it was she who had tried every means to seduce Murong Min. Under the pretext that the queen missed the emperor, she sent things to the emperor every day, especially at night.
Although Yu Zan was not as beautiful as Du Gu Luanyue, she had learned many seductive tricks, so it was natural that Murong Min favored her.
She couldn't understand why the emperor didn't grant her a status even though she was pregnant.
Su Rou had advised her that it was useless. The emperor of the Northern Yan was very shrewd and would never grant her a status. Even the child might not be able to survive.
But she didn't believe it. As a member of the royal family, there was no reason not to want an heir.
However, Murong Min was aware of Yu Zan's situation. He only said that the queen was the mistress of the harem and everything should follow her arrangement. At this moment, she was truly panicked.
She didn't expect that she still had to go through Du Gu Luanyue.
Du Gu Luanyue walked slowly in the dining hall in her long red phoenix robe. Her voice was cold and clear: "Yu Zan, you're really selfish, not caring about your mistress at all."
Du Gu Luanyue's fierce and cold eyes fell on Yu Zan's head, just like hailstones after a summer rain, hitting hard.
Yu Zan trembled like a sieve: "I didn't ignore your life, Your Majesty. I had no choice but to obey the emperor!
Now I just want to give birth to the emperor's heir. Please grant me a status, Your Majesty. I won't compete with you for the emperor's favor. I'll still be your servant."
Du Gu Luanyue snorted coldly: "You didn't ignore my life?
You were specially trained to imitate my voice, tone, and body shape. That's why you were chosen to take my place to serve the emperor.
Because of you, I've ordered my people to treat your family in the Southern Chu well. You know that your family has done many evil things in the Southern Chu, but I still showed kindness to you.
Now you're pregnant with the emperor's heir without saying a word. You're happy, but who will serve the emperor now?
You know that I hate Murong Min the most. Recently, I even feel tired of pretending. Do you actually expect me to serve the emperor in person?
Because of the plague in Danyang City, although the emperor of the Northern Yan and I are husband and wife, we're like enemies. How could I share a bed with him? Yu Zan, you've really given me a big problem."
Aunt Meijiang gritted her teeth and said, "Slut! You look so weak and pitiful. I knew you were a bad person!
As soon as the queen and I came back, Su Rou told me everything. The queen knows all about how you seduced the emperor."
Yu Zan's expression froze. She didn't expect it was Su Rou. She still lay on the ground, crying:
"Your Majesty the Queen, I don't want to be a servant forever. Who doesn't want to strive for a better future?"
Du Gu Luanyue raised her voice: "Your better future is built on my pain, right?
Moreover, any maid who has been favored by the emperor in the palace, not to mention being pregnant, would be given a status anyway.
Do you know why the emperor hasn't said a word about your pregnancy and is waiting for me to deal with it?"
Yu Zan shook her head vigorously with red eyes: "I don't know."
Du Gu Luanyue shook her head slowly with a smile. Her jade-like eyes were filled with the desolation of the deep palace:
"After Su Rou served the emperor, I took the initiative to ask the emperor to grant her a status, but the emperor refused.
At that time, I knew that the emperor didn't want any more concubines from the Southern Chu in the harem, let alone have an heir with any woman from the Southern Chu.
The emperor won't allow my influence in the harem of the Southern Chu to grow stronger.
So, even if Su Rou made the emperor happy, she still got nothing.
Yu Zan, it's not that I can't tolerate you. The emperor never took you seriously. He wants me to get rid of the child in your belly and make me the bad guy."
She looked at Aunt Meijiang: "Go and prepare the abortive medicine. This child can't be kept."
Yu Zan suddenly pounced on Du Gu Luanyue's skirt and grabbed it tightly: "No, Your Majesty the Queen! No! You're being too heartless!"
Du Gu Luanyue looked down at her: "Love? When did you ever show any loyalty to me as a mistress? You not only have no loyalty to me, but you also don't care about the safety of your family and the whole clan.
You just want to be a mistress and a concubine in the harem of the Northern Yan. You don't care about the life or death of your relatives in the Southern Chu at all, do you?"
Yu Zan lowered her head and cried bitterly, but didn't dare to say a word, which was enough to prove her guilt.
Suddenly, she raised her head sharply: "If Your Majesty the Queen treats me like this, there will be no one to help you when it's your turn to serve the emperor!"
Du Gu Luanyue raised her eyebrows slightly and squinted her eyes: "You're really contradictory. You can't serve the emperor anyway. Why are you threatening me with this?"
Yu Zan's pink lips instantly turned pale. She had lost her last bargaining chip with the queen.
Aunt Meijiang had already prepared the abortive medicine. After Su Rou visited the Fengluan Palace today, this medicine had been ready.
Aunt Meijiang grabbed Yu Zan's hair, pinched her chin, and pried open her teeth, forcing the medicine juice down her throat.
At this moment, Yingxi came to the dining hall and reported, "Your Majesty, the emperor asks you to go there first."
Du Gu Luanyue's eyes darkened. She didn't expect that she still couldn't escape the fate of serving the emperor. It was too late to drink the medicine to stop the menstruation now.
After the incident in Danyang City, Du Gu Luanyue only felt that Murong Min was disgusting. Now she had to serve him again, and she was already feeling uncomfortable all over.
But there was no way. She still got up and left.