Fengluan Palace.
Du Gu Luanyue had already taken off her bright red phoenix robe embroidered with gold thread and neatly placed all her gold hairpins on the dressing table.
She lowered her eyes and looked at her plain white-clothed reflection in the mirror. Her expression was somewhat gloomy.
"Hu Wei has been on the throne for three days. The imperial court has completed all the official appointments. Why haven't I received any news yet?"
Aunt Meijiang returned after inquiring for news.
"Your Majesty must be busy and forgot.
Didn't you and His Majesty agree last time that after the seventh day of mourning for the late emperor, you would be sent away?"
Du Gu Luanyue stood under the window. "I'll go to the Zichen Palace to see him and ask for his intention.
Does he plan to announce to the world that I'll be buried alive with the late emperor, or send me to the hot spring palace to spend the rest of my life in retirement?"
Dressed in white with a black belt, she only brought Aunt Meijiang with her and walked towards the Zichen Palace.
When she reached a corridor, she heard Hu Wei and Shen Guilan standing under a tree outside the corridor. Their conversation seemed to mention her name.
Du Gu Luanyue stretched out her arm to stop Aunt Meijiang. The two of them hid behind a pillar and listened to what they were saying.
Shen Guilan, dressed in a purple official robe, stood in the cold spring wind, frowning.
"This is an ill-fated relationship! Your Majesty, the queen will never agree. All your words will be in vain."
Hu Wei said indifferently, "In Beiyan, do I need to waste my breath?"
For several nights, he had reached the gate of Fengluan Palace but still didn't step in.
It was the period of national mourning in Beiyan. As the new emperor, if he stayed in the late emperor's queen's bedroom at this time, it might cause quite a stir.
So he endured and endured, planning to wait until after the seventh day of mourning.
Shen Guilan said, "Let her go."
Hu Wei said coldly, "No."
Shen Guilan tightened the memorial in his hand and sighed deeply. "Why do you have to do this? You clearly know there won't be any good outcome. Are you going to imprison her for the rest of her life, just like Murong Min did to your mother?"
The imperial crown on Hu Wei's head swayed slightly. Then a cold smile appeared on his lips.
"All my life, I've been pushed forward by others. Now that I'm at the top of the Beiyan Empire, why can't I do whatever I want just this once?"
All his life had been filled with schemes and lies. He had never lived for himself, never been willful even once. Just this once, if he acted recklessly, how great a mistake could it be?
The spring wind was gradually becoming gentle.
The wind silently blew across her bright and beautiful face, but it left a bit of chill.
Du Gu Luanyue lowered her eyes. There was no hatred, but a hint of sadness.
"Aunt, we'll leave in the next few days. Let's sneak out during the mourning ceremony in the palace."
It seemed that it was impossible for her to have a proper farewell as she had planned.
Aunt Meijiang nodded. "Okay."
Before leaving, she didn't pack many things. She didn't take any of her gorgeous clothes or gold hairpins. She only took the fox-shaped wooden box that Hu Wei had once given her.
Late at night, Du Gu Luanyue and Aunt Meijiang disguised themselves as palace maids sweeping the floor. They pretended to be sweeping near the end of the Forbidden Palace.
Shen Guilan's people came to pick them up. They walked out through the side door behind the Forbidden Palace. After walking a long, long corridor, they finally left the palace.
Shen Guilan stood in front of the palace gate, dressed in a black robe. Hidden in the night, his expression was gloomy.
"I wish Her Highness the Crown Princess a smooth journey south."
Du Gu Luanyue nodded. "Thank you, Prime Minister Shen. Please take good care of Hu Wei in the future."
Her eyes were sour. It was really time to let go of this ill-fated relationship. Sitting in the carriage, she couldn't relax her brows for a long time.
The Fengling Guards escorted Du Gu Luanyue all the way south. Shen Guilan stood in front of the palace gate, watching the direction where they disappeared. His heart was extremely heavy. Hu Wei didn't know anything about this yet.
He was still in the palace, crazy about appointing Du Gu Luanyue as the queen. In the inner hall of the Zichen Palace, even their bright red wedding clothes had been prepared.
The next day after the court session, Hu Wei, in a good mood, pulled Shen Guilan into the Zichen Palace. He put on a wedding dress and said, "How about it? Am I a million times more handsome than that old fool Murong Min when he married her?"
Shen Guilan said, "The new emperor appointing the late emperor's queen as his own queen. What a disgrace! Hu Wei, are you really crazy? Do you want the world to scold you?"
Hu Wei stroked the bright red phoenix robe again and again, his movements gentle. His black eyes were full of affection. "I don't care."
He straightened his red wedding clothes, then turned around and said, "Everyone should live for themselves once."
Shen Guilan had talked himself hoarse. He knew that Hu Wei was crazy at this moment. No matter what he said, Hu Wei wouldn't listen.
Appointing Du Gu Luanyue as the queen was simply too absurd. It would surely cause an uproar in the court.
Fortunately, Du Gu Luanyue had already left. As long as she stepped out of the Beiyan border, Hu Wei would be helpless.
He looked up. Hu Wei was like a groom about to get married, looking forward to his bride's arrival and a lifetime together with a longing look on his face.
Shen Guilan couldn't help but feel a bit sad. Hu Wei's life had indeed been full of scars.
He had lost his parents when he was young. During his growth, he had been schemed against by the people who raised him. He had only loved one person wholeheartedly, but she had left without saying goodbye.
He had truly suffered. In the end, God gave him a dragon throne, but this was not what Hu Wei wanted.
At night, Hu Wei ordered someone to send Du Gu Luanyue's phoenix robe to Fengluan Palace. But the palace maid came back to report that the queen was not in the palace and her whereabouts were unknown.
Hu Wei suddenly raised his black eyes. The vermilion pen in his hand stopped in place. A drop of cinnabar fell on the rice paper. "Unknown whereabouts?"
The palace maid nodded. "The head maid in Fengluan Palace is also missing."
Hu Wei tightened his sharp jaw. A deep smile appeared in his long and slanting eyes. Without asking further, he already knew what had happened in his heart.
Du Gu Luanyue must have known that she couldn't escape, so she left without saying goodbye.
And he only found out after she was gone, which could only mean that someone with extremely special power in the palace had helped her.
"She's gone. She's really gone." Hu Wei's voice changed from desolate disappointment to vicious and murderous. The curve on his thin lips was like a curved knife.
When he got up to leave, the vermilion pen on the imperial desk was broken into two pieces on the rice paper, bright red, bloody and ferocious.
Meng Tan was summoned into the palace. Hu Wei didn't say much. Meng Tan led a team of elites and rushed out of the palace gate.
They sped towards the south, taking all the shortcuts, as if they already knew where that person was.
On the seventh day of mourning for Murong Min, Hu Wei wore red.
Wearing the imperial crown and a red wedding dress embroidered with a golden dragon with twelve patterns, he stood in front of Murong Min's coffin. He held a cup of strong wine in his hand and drank it up.
There was a commotion outside the hall. Du Gu Luanyue and Sheng Yunqi were escorted in from outside the hall.
Hu Wei casually patted the coffin board twice. His deep and slanting phoenix eyes were full of hostility and arrogance. He said slowly,
"Run! Why don't you run anymore?"