Aunt Mei Jiang stared wide-eyed. "Ah? Your Highness, this... this is against the rules! You're the true Crown Prince now. This won't do!"
Huo Wei ordered his men to take Aunt Mei Jiang away. Then he turned around, picked up Duguluan Yue, and gently placed her on the phoenix bed. In his unhurried tone, he looked noble and languid.
"Don't struggle in vain. Now, the entire Northern Yan is in my hands."
He reached out to untie her belt and peel off her clothes, but Duguluan Yue grabbed her collar and refused to let go.
Huo Wei said, "Resist? That old maid of yours seems quite important to you. Should I vent my anger on her? Cut off her fingers or ears?"
Duguluan Yue's lips trembled, and her jade-like eyes turned red. "Huo Wei, how have you become like this?"
Huo Wei took off the last layer of her sheer veil. Her fair and smooth back was marked with several hideous red and purple scars.
He reached out his finger and gently touched one of them. It felt as if his own flesh was being cut inch by inch.
But his face remained cold and expressionless.
"Because only by becoming like this, standing at the highest point without any enemies, can I do whatever I want, achieve everything I desire, and not be controlled by others for the rest of my life."
Duguluan Yue lay on her back facing away from him. When he applied the medicine, the skin on her back ached slightly. She frowned.
"Huo Wei, we each have our own destiny. Unfortunately, our paths lead in opposite directions.
I have my own responsibilities, and you have your own goals. We'd better part amicably. Let me return to Southern Chu as soon as possible."
Huo Wei applied the medicine to her slowly. Her bare back, although marked with hideous scars, became more alluring when his eyes slid down to her waist.
His eyes darkened. "Why should I listen to you?"
Duguluan Yue frowned again. It seemed that Huo Wei wouldn't listen to anything now.
Huo Wei draped her clothes over her back. His dark eyes drooped halfway.
"Duguluan Yue, you were the one who provoked me from the very beginning. After using me, are you just going to discard me like this?"
Duguluan Yue sat up on the bed, covered her chest with the quilt, and shrank back. "Then what do you want to let me go? Name your conditions. We can negotiate."
There was a hint of disappointment in Huo Wei's dark and sinister eyes.
"As expected of the Empress. You rely on tactics to do things and conditions to negotiate. You never show a bit of affection."
He got up and left the Fengluan Palace. He didn't stay in her palace openly that day.
But the imperial guards had heavily guarded the Fengluan Palace. Even if she had extraordinary abilities, she couldn't fly out.
Once Huo Wei became vigilant against someone, it was hard to deceive him.
More than half a month passed. Duguluan Yue's wounds were almost healed, and Huo Wei didn't show up.
But the ointment was changed once, and her scars began to fade faster. There was also a faint fragrance of roses in it.
A month passed, and the snow and wind still hadn't stopped. News came from the Zichen Palace that Murong Min was even sicker. He had been asking the Taoist priest Yanxu for the golden pills and had become addicted to them.
Someone from the Zichen Palace came and asked Duguluan Yue to go and attend to the sick. Only then did she get out of the Fengluan Palace.
...
Huo Wei had been busy in the court for some time. It wasn't easy to secure his position on the dragon throne.
In the Eastern Palace, his expression was cold as he buried his head in the mountain of memorials.
He was dressed in a bright yellow imperial robe with dragon patterns, and the golden crown on his head hung on his black hair, glinting in the light.
Meng Tan entered the study. "Your Highness, Military Advisor Shen invites you to the Yuzhang Prince's Mansion. He says he wants to confess everything to you."
After the argument with Shen Guilan that day, Shen Guilan went out to meet He Zhizhou and then returned to the Yuzhang Prince's Mansion alone. He wasn't afraid that Huo Wei would come after him and kill him.
He just quietly stayed in the mansion, planting his herbs, and never went out again.
Huo Wei's vermilion pen paused, and he slowly raised his black eyes. "I see. I'll leave the palace later."
In the Yuzhang Prince's Mansion, the messy medicinal field was still covered with unmelted snow.
In winter, there was no medicinal herb to plant. He just dug the field back and forth with a hoe, turning it over several times.
It was a cloudy day. The snow had stopped, but the wind was still blowing. There was a table and stools by the medicinal field for boiling tea. There was a yellow umbrella beside it. When he turned around, he was surprised to see Huo Wei. "What are you doing here?"
Huo Wei's expression darkened. "Didn't you invite me?"
The butler hunched over and walked over, holding silver charcoal in his hand. "Your Highness, Military Advisor, I'm here to change the charcoal for you. The previous one has burned out."
He slowly picked up the teapot on the small red clay stove and placed it on the table. Then he used the tongs to take out the extinguished silver charcoal and replaced it with new ones.
After lighting it, he put the teapot back on the small stove.
The butler smiled. "I've changed it. You can enjoy your tea slowly."
After saying that, he watched the water boil, then washed and brewed the tea on his own. After pouring the tea for Huo Wei and Shen Guilan, he handed them the teacups. "Your Highness, it's cold on this snowy day. Have a cup of hot tea."
Shen Guilan bent down to change into a pair of shoes without mud and walked over to sit down. He asked calmly, "Who told you?"
Huo Wei took the teacup and took a small sip. "The butler informed Meng Tan, and Meng Tan informed me."
The butler silently stepped back and didn't interrupt their conversation anymore. He quickly disappeared from sight.
Suddenly, Shen Guilan lifted his sleeve and knocked the teacup to the ground. "I never told the butler to inform you."
After saying that, he took out a silver needle from his sleeve and put it into the teacup in front of him to test for poison. The silver needle quickly turned black.
Shen Guilan's hand trembled slightly. He quickly picked up the teapot whose handle was already scalding hot and sniffed the smell inside.
"The butler of the mansion is a problem. He's actually He Zhizhou's man. He's been lurking in the mansion for so many years. He's an old servant from before. I didn't expect him to have someone behind him."
Shen Guilan grabbed Huo Wei's wrist to feel his pulse. "You've been poisoned. Do you know?"
Huo Wei's expression was calm as he took back his wrist. "Since you were He Zhizhou's man from the beginning, why did you come back? Waiting for me to kill you at any time?"
Shen Guilan frowned tightly. "I've never been Master's man. He Zhizhou and I are father and son by blood."
Huo Wei raised his shocked black eyes and looked at him in disbelief. "What did you say?"
Shen Guilan stood up from the stool. His eyes were a bit bloodshot. "I never thought that He Zhizhou, my own father, would be so cruel that he even wanted to kill me.
Doesn't he worry that I'll drink this tea too?" Shen Guilan's last glimmer of hope finally died.
Thinking of all these years, he had obeyed his father's orders and done whatever he was told. He didn't expect that after just one act of resistance, He Zhizhou would treat him as a disposable pawn.
Meng Tan rushed in from outside the yard. "Your Highness, something's wrong!"