Du Gu Luanyue walked over with a beaming smile. She would also indulge him and cherish this rare time they spent together. After she left the Northern Yan in the future, she feared that they might never see each other again in this lifetime.
With a charming look in her eyes, she gazed at Huo Wei. "Sure."
Huo Wei's heart skipped a beat. Since that day in the small border town of Southern Chu when Du Gu Luanyue confessed her feelings to him, he felt that the fierce aura around this woman would always dissipate in front of him.
A faint rose fragrance wafted into his nostrils, sweet and alluring, making his heart flutter.
Under the bamboo shadows and sunlight, her amorous eyes and bright red lips exuded a charming and seductive air.
Du Gu Luanyue looked at him amusingly. "Why are you in a daze? I deliberately told His Majesty to let you lead the troops when we came to Fuyue Temple this time. It was originally going to be the Third Prince."
Huo Wei asked, "Why me?"
Du Gu Luanyue leaned on his shoulder. "Naturally, I wanted to see you."
Huo Wei slowly turned his head to look at her black hair bun and the smooth, shiny white earlobes. In the sunlight, he could even see the fine fluff on them. With her black hair and fair skin, she was extremely beautiful.
He felt the reassuring feeling of her soft body leaning against him, and his heart was immediately comforted.
The toughness he showed in the prince's mansion yesterday was nowhere to be found at this moment. Even if he just sat here with her for an afternoon, he would be content.
"Was your father strict with you when you were a child? Did he beat you?" he suddenly asked.
Du Gu Luanyue shook her head. "He wasn't strict. Not to mention beating me, he never even scolded me once.
I was quite naughty when I was a child, but the teachers in charge of my education and my father always reasoned with me and communicated with me patiently.
If I really refused to listen, my father would punish himself by not eating to scare me, and then I would admit defeat."
Huo Wei forced a smile. "You were really happy when you were a child. Even though you were born into the royal family, you could still have such a warm childhood."
But he didn't have that. Since he had memories, his master had told him that the only purpose of his life was to avenge the lives of his nine clans.
It seemed that there was nothing else to do in his life except for revenge.
Du Gu Luanyue chatted with him slowly, their fingers intertwined.
"What's wrong? Why are you unhappy? Didn't you have anything worth remembering in your childhood? I remember you had a master."
Huo Wei said calmly, "Yes, I have a master who raised me. Once a teacher, always a father. He came to the prince's mansion recently. My childhood was just training, day and night, and constantly reminding myself of what I had to do.
But unlike you, my master was very strict. Half of the scars on my body were left by my master's whip, not from battles."
There was a hint of surprise in Du Gu Luanyue's eyes.
"How could the person who wholeheartedly helped you be so cruel to you? How much force and frequency would it take to leave whip scars?"
She leaned over to look at Huo Wei and found that his face was a bit pale. She immediately felt that he was not only in a bad mood but also seemed to be injured.
"Are you injured? Let me take a look." she asked nervously.
Huo Wei nodded. He took out a medicine bottle from his bosom and then untied his clothes. "Apply the medicine for me."
Du Gu Luanyue took the medicine bottle and walked behind Huo Wei. Her pupils shrank suddenly, and her eyebrows frowned. She said unhappily,
"Did your master beat you? Huo Wei, you're a prince after all. Why do you just take it silently when your master treats you like this?" She got angry and felt heartache.
Huo Wei just said calmly, "After all, he's my master who raised me since I was a child."
Du Gu Luanyue said sharply, "Just because he raised you, does that mean he can abuse you at will?"
Huo Wei was silent for a while and then changed the topic. "After you go back to Southern Chu and become the female emperor, spending all day on state affairs, will you still have your own life?"
While applying the medicine, Du Gu Luanyue also felt that Huo Wei was acting strange today. "Naturally, I will. My life in Southern Chu is very rich.
Being the crown princess is just a part of my life. I will also wear flowers, go horseback riding, sneak out of the palace to eat in the imperial city, and be lazy.
I'm a human being, not a god. It's impossible for me to lose the most basic living needs just because I'm the crown princess."
Huo Wei thought that even the female emperor could have her own life. He just wanted to take revenge. Why didn't his master allow him to have anything else except for revenge?
But what he envied the most was that Du Gu Luanyue was treated gently in her childhood, while he had no parents and had never felt the word "family affection".
After Du Gu Luanyue finished applying the medicine, she suddenly asked, "Huo Wei, will this injury affect your archery?"
Huo Wei picked up the clothes on the stone and started to put them on slowly. He looked at her in confusion. "It doesn't affect. They're just flesh wounds. Why do you ask?"
Du Gu Luanyue said, "Eunuch Yingxi told me that besides burning incense and praying in Fuyue Temple, His Majesty is going to a place in the back mountain and doesn't want anyone to follow.
I sent someone to check. There's a tomb with an unmarked stele under a pagoda tree in the back mountain, and there's also a so - called soul - suppressing ritual.
I think it must be Murong Min's heart knot, so he wants to go and have a look. Later, you hide in the dark and shoot a hidden arrow at Murong Min. I'll block the arrow. That's the plan."
Huo Wei frowned and said coldly, "No."
Du Gu Luanyue got serious. "I saw your archery skills during the incident in Huayin last time. Your skills are much better than anyone in the Fengling Guards, so I want you to shoot the arrow.
In this way, I can be a bit more confident and it won't be so risky."
Huo Wei said, "You want me to shoot at you. No, I can't do it."
Du Gu Luanyue grabbed his arm and said in a deep voice,
"This is a very important opportunity to gain Murong Min's trust. Don't worry. I'm wearing something that arrows can't penetrate. I won't be in danger of losing my life.
Just don't shoot at the places that will be life - threatening. The operation will be before dusk today. Don't hesitate. I'm confident."
He stared at her with his black eyes. "You'd better be afraid of death."
On this afternoon, Murong Min usually had the habit of taking a nap, but he just couldn't fall asleep. He was always restless.
He even felt that something was wrong with his body. Did God start to punish him for the tragedy he created back then?
Murong Min got up from the wing - room and set off for the pagoda tree in the back mountain. He stood in front of the tomb with the unmarked stele but didn't dare to step forward. He always kept a distance.
Du Gu Luanyue knew that he didn't want anyone to follow, but she still found an excuse to come.
"Your Majesty, I've come to give you an amulet to ward off evil spirits. You've been distracted all day. I'm worried."
Under the pagoda tree, it was extremely cold and gloomy. At this moment, dark clouds covered the sun, making it even more strange.
Suddenly, a shrill woman's laughter came from the forest. Sometimes it was crying, sometimes it was laughing. It was extremely creepy.
Eunuch Yingxi's legs went weak and he knelt down, trembling like a sieve.
Murong Min looked around. His face was gloomy. He quickly took the amulet from Du Gu Luanyue's hand and roared, "Who is it? Who is pretending to be a ghost!"
Du Gu Luanyue pointed forward and said in a panicked voice, "Your Majesty, look! What's that?"