After Luo Wei went to Northern Yan, Long Xuan had been very busy. Now that he no longer had the support of the Liu clan, he had become the only prince in the Great Zhou Dynasty, aside from the crown prince, who could handle official matters. His mind was filled with various affairs of state, involving scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Just as he finished one task, there was always a new one waiting for him.
Long Xing’s child would soon be born, and Consort Chang had been diagnosed as pregnant over a month ago. People who knew how to flatter said that this was an auspicious sign of the Great Zhou Dynasty’s turnaround. When Long Xuan heard this in the court, he only sneered inwardly. Seeing that the prince’s favor was gone and that Long Xuan was being used in important positions, these people started to come to him one by one. The child of Long Xuan hadn’t even been born yet, but it was already seen as an auspicious sign for the Great Zhou Dynasty’s turnaround. There were many ridiculous things in the world, and this kind of flattery was one of them.
“Your Highness,” Fu Yun walked lightly into the study and said to Long Xuan, who was buried in reading official documents, “The midwife from the palace says that the Consort is feeling unwell.”
“Am I a physician?” Long Xuan asked without raising his head, “Is it useful to tell me if the Consort is unwell?”
Fu Yun hurriedly retreated, not daring to look Long Xuan in the eye, only staring at the ground beneath his feet.
Long Xuan finished reading the document in his hand, rubbed his eyes, closed the thick stack of documents, and glanced at the desk where there was no shortage of official documents. Long Xuan rummaged through the pile of documents but still found no documents related to the southeast. His father, the Emperor Xingwu, was currently utilizing him, but he didn’t allow him to intervene in matters related to the Luo family. Long Xuan also understood Emperor Xingwu’s intentions. The Luo family was meant for Luo Wei. In his heart, Luo Wei was still the one he envisioned as his successor to the throne.
Fu Yun led the servants who brought the evening meal.
Long Xuan only pointed to the small table not far from the desk and then bowed his head again.
“Your Highness,” Fu Yun said, “You should have your meal first.”
“Mm.”
“The physician has already come to see the Consort.”
“Mm.”
“Shall I serve you your meal, Your Highness?”
“Leave.”
Fu Yun couldn’t say anything more. He was only told to leave for now, but if he said another word, he might be ordered to leave permanently.
“Eunuch Fu,” outside the door, there was still the personal maid of Chang Shi.
“His Highness knows that the physician has come,” Fu Yun said.
“Is His Highness going to see the Consort?” the maid asked, “The Consort is bleeding this time.”
“His Highness is busy with official matters,” Fu Yun said with a stern face, “When he has time, he will go see the Consort.”
The maid waited for a long time, but she only got this response from Fu Yun, so she left somewhat unwillingly.
Fu Yun saw the expression of the maid, and in his heart, he couldn’t help but find it amusing. She wasn’t willing to give in. How come these people had no sense of tact? This master in Qingshi Hall probably didn’t care whether Consort Chang lived or died, so why would he care about her being pregnant and bleeding? Since knowing that Consort Chang was pregnant, Long Xuan had been the same as usual, as if the child in Consort Chang’s belly wasn’t his, and he hadn’t even asked about it. Fu Yun was serving Long Xuan closely, so he noticed Long Xuan’s reaction, but he couldn’t speak out. In Fu Yun’s view, there wasn’t a woman in Qingwen Hall who could make Long Xuan take her seriously. It was all fate. Fu Yun often thought this way when he saw these women trying to please Long Xuan in every possible way.
A eunuch from Changming Hall entered with a stack of memorials in his arms.
Fu Yun hurried forward and said, “Eunuch Wu, His Majesty has sent these memorials to His Highness again.”
“His Majesty said these should be dealt with by tomorrow morning,” Eunuch Wu placed the memorials into Fu Yun’s hands and said, “His Highness should take a look at these first.”
“Alright, I understand,” Fu Yun said, “Does Eunuch Wu need to see His Highness?”
“There’s no need,” Eunuch Wu was young, but like Zhao Fu, he wore a cold face when facing eunuchs and palace maids from other palaces.
“What a bunch of dogs,” Fu Yun muttered under his breath as he watched Eunuch Wu walk away, “Just like Zhao Fu!”
The two little eunuchs waiting on the steps stood looking at the ground, pretending they hadn’t heard Fu Yun’s curse.
Fu Yun turned and ascended the steps, carrying the stack of memorials into the study. Once inside, he realized that Long Xuan was already sitting at the small table and beginning to eat. “Your Highness,” Fu Yun said hurriedly, “Why didn’t you instruct me to serve you?”
“No need,” Long Xuan said, glancing at Fu Yun, “From Changming Hall?”
“Yes,” Fu Yun gently placed the stack of memorials on Long Xuan’s desk and said, “Eunuch Wu from Changming Hall said that these need to be sent out by tomorrow morning. His Majesty asked Your Highness to look at this stack first.”
“Is there a war report from the southeast?” Long Xuan asked.
Fu Yun looked through the outer seals of the memorials and replied, “In response to Your Highness, there is no report from the southeast.”
“This thing,” Long Xuan picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and held it up to his eyes, addressing Fu Yun.
Fu Yun hurriedly approached to take a look, only to see that Long Xuan had picked up a piece of sticky rice cake. He quickly said, “Your Highness, is this cake not right?”
“I never asked for this thing, so why was it sent up?” Long Xuan said.
“This was sent by the Imperial Kitchen,” Fu Yun explained. “I heard that early this morning, His Majesty expressed a desire to eat this rice cake, so he ordered the Imperial Kitchen to make more. However, after just glancing at it, His Majesty didn’t eat it and ordered it to be sent to all the halls in the palace.”
“Luo Wei likes to eat this,” Long Xuan returned the cake to the plate and said, “He has loved sweets since he was a child. Do you still remember?”
“This slave remembers,” Fu Yun followed Long Xuan’s train of thought, recalling Luo Wei’s childhood. “At that time, Prince Jin always had candies on him. You could see him eating them wherever he went.”
“But later on, I noticed he stopped eating sweets. Yet he still loves this cake,” Long Xuan said with some distress in his tone. “Don’t you think his taste has changed too quickly?”
How was Fu Yun supposed to answer that? How could he know about Luo Wei’s affairs?
“You don’t know either?”
“This slave was just thinking,” Fu Yun forced out a response, “that eating too many sweets can make a person gain weight, and Prince Jin probably didn’t want to gain any more weight?”
“He should gain a bit of weight,” Long Xuan tossed the chopsticks onto the table, “I don’t even know if he’s eating well in Northern Yan.”
Fu Yun approached to serve Long Xuan soup, unable to discern whether his master genuinely cared about Luo Wei or if he was just speaking out of obligation. Perhaps having his master mention Luo Wei was already a significant matter. Apart from childhood, Fu Yun had never seen Luo Wei give Long Xuan a favorable look. The fact that Long Xuan hadn’t died by Luo Wei’s hand was already a miracle. On the other hand, Long Xuan hadn’t treated Luo Wei any better. These two were truly enemies who couldn’t get along. What did his master mean now? Were they not destined to be enemies? This frightened Fu Yun, almost causing him to spill the soup.
Long Xuan didn’t drink the soup Fu Yun had served him, instead asking for water to rinse his mouth. “Leave the rice cake here,” he said, assuming someone would come to collect the dishes soon.
Fu Yun acknowledged and went to fetch water.
Long Xuan sat behind the desk, once again thinking about Luo Wei and wondering how he was doing. After Luo Wei entered Northern Yan, all the Great Zhou Dynasty knew was that he had visited Sima Shi’s Chonggu Imperial Tomb and then entered the palace of Northern Yan. Long Xuan had heard that Luo Wei was being treated well, and Sima Qingsha had repeatedly stated in front of the envoys of various countries that he was not a narrow-minded person and that state affairs did not involve personal grievances. Long Xuan preferred to believe that what he heard was true because only then could he continue to live in the Great Zhou with peace of mind.
“Your Highness,” just as Long Xuan was thinking about Luo Wei, Fu Yun hurriedly ran in again and said, “Eunuch Wu from Changming Hall has arrived, saying that His Majesty is having another episode with the Crown Prince and asks you to come over quickly.”
Boundless Dao 
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