Luo Wei obviously did not expect Wei Lan to suggest they go back to the capital, and for a moment, he just stared at Wei Lan in a daze.
“I’ll go check if our food is ready,” Wei Lan got up and walked out.
Luo Wei sat on the bed, watching Wei Lan leave, wanting to call out to him to wait a moment, but ultimately didn’t manage to say anything.
Wei Lan found the kitchen of the inn, where the fragrant rice porridge he ordered for Luo Wei was simmering on the stove.
“Guest?” The waiter in the kitchen saw Wei Lan coming in and greeted him, asking if there was anything he needed.
“It’s alright,” Wei Lan pointed to the porridge on the stove. “This is the porridge I ordered. I’m just here to watch.”
The waiter felt that Wei Lan didn’t trust them, but seeing Wei Lan focused on the small pot of porridge, he didn’t dare say anything more. They had all heard that a couple of handsome young men had checked into their inn, and it seemed that Wei Lan was one of them.
Wei Lan watched the porridge carefully, stirring it occasionally with chopsticks. Wei Lan felt his heart sinking as he thought about taking Luo Wei back to capital. With Long Yu dead, by the time they returned, the imperial city would surely be in Long Xuan’s hands. How would he and Luo Wei enter the capital again, and could they still come out unscathed in the end? Wei Lan was completely unsure. If by then the situation of the Luo family was also bad, Luo Wei would surely be involved with the fate of the Luo family. Wei Lan sighed and secretly made a decision to risk his life to keep Luo Wei safe.
The waiter in the kitchen put the meals prepared for Wei Lan and Luo Wei into food boxes, then called out to Wei Lan, asking, “Should I send the meals up now?”
Seeing that the fragrant rice porridge was also ready, Wei Lan said, “I’ll take them up, no need to bother you.”
The waiter helped Wei Lan pack the cooked porridge into the food box as well.
Wei Lan left the kitchen. The snow outside was getting heavier, and the north wind was blowing, stinging his face. Afraid that the food in the box would cool down, he hurried to the upper room where he and Luo Wei were staying.
The waiter standing at the kitchen door felt his eyes blur, and the person holding the food box disappeared in an instant. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things, but when he opened his eyes again, he realized that there were no footprints left in the snow where Wei Lan had just walked. A master? The waiter suddenly started to dream of the martial world again. Had he really seen a hero from the martial world?
Wei Lan pushed open the door and entered the room, placing the food box on the table. “Hungry?” he asked Luo Wei.
Luo Wei sat on the bed and said, “I’m not hungry.”
Wei Lan brought the porridge bowl out and, as usual, mixed in the lingzhi powder. While doing so, he said to Luo Wei, “You haven’t eaten anything since morning until now. How could you not be hungry? We’re going back to the capital and we have a long way to go. Young Master’s body needs to be nourished. You need to take care of your health, Young Master. When the time comes, the masters will see that you’re not well, and I will be blamed.”
“We’re not going back to the capital,” Luo Wei said from the bed.
“What?” This time it was Wei Lan who was stunned. Was this person disregarding the lives of his family?
“I’ve made up my mind,” Luo Wei said seriously to Wei Lan. “I’m not going back. We agreed to go to Xuanzhou, so we’ll go to Xuanzhou.”
Wei Lan brought the mixed porridge to the bedside and said, “Young Master, have you really made up your mind? Without consulting the Senior Chancellors and the young masters?”
Luo Wei took a sip of the porridge that Wei Lan fed him and said, “If Long Xuan harms my family, news of the Luo family’s downfall will surely spread. If it’s not reported, it means they should be fine.”
Wei Lan asked, “Young Master, are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Luo Wei said. “Now, in the army, apart from Chang Ling, Long Xuan doesn’t have many reliable people.”
Wei Lan said, “When I left the capital, the third prince, Long Xiang, was also leading troops.”
“Long Xiang leading troops?”
“Yes.”
“Lan, how many things haven’t you told me?” Luo Wei said to Wei Lan.
“Is this important?” Wei Lan said. “I thought we would never have to go back to the capital in this lifetime, so this matter had nothing to do with us.”
“I’m not going back,” Luo Wei said. “I won’t go back to the capital in this lifetime.”
“What about the Senior Chancellor and the young masters?”
“What can Long Xiang do by leading troops?” Luo Wei said. “At most, he can help his brother control the capital, but he can’t even count on him for the areas around the capital. A person who has never fought a battle, how much respect can he command? Lan, you’ve also served in the military, you know what the military values the most, right?”
In the army, military achievements and abilities were most valued, and family background was at most the icing on the cake. Wei Lan had experienced this firsthand when he fought alongside Luo Ze in the southeast, so he nodded in agreement with Luo Wei.
There were still some things Luo Wei couldn’t tell Wei Lan. This life was different from the previous one. At least in this life, Ning Fei, the Zhao family, and the Fu family, these military families, were not on Long Xuan’s side. If Long Xuan’s planned to smoothly ascend the throne and then dare to purge the officials of the previous dynasty, as he did in the previous life, it was almost impossible in this life.
“So, does that mean the masters will be safe?” Wei Lan asked Luo Wei. As he heard Luo Wei say they weren’t going back to the capital, his heart inexplicably lightened.
“It will be okay,” Luo Wei said. “Long Xuan wouldn’t dare to do anything to them. He can see people’s hearts clearly. My father, being the Senior Chancellor, has always had a reputation for integrity. If Long Xuan were to harm my father, he would only bring disgrace upon himself.”
Wei Lan shook his head. “Is Long Xuan still afraid of being criticized?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t he be?” Luo Wei said. “He wants to be regarded as an Emperor for eternity and leave his name in the history of the world.”
“It’s a pity that you were sent to Northern Yan because of him,” Wei Lan said, feeling angry again. “Otherwise, with the Young Master in the capital, Long Xuan wouldn’t have succeeded! A person like him, can he be a good Emperor? I don’t believe it. He’s not even a good person!”
“I feel very content with how things are now,” Luo Wei looked at Wei Lan and smiled brightly, “As long as I’m with Lan, I can go anywhere.”
Wei Lan wiped the corner of Luo Wei’s mouth with his finger. “Then let’s go to Xuanzhou and inquire about news from the masters along the way.”
“After my father and the others return to their homeland in Youyan,” Luo Wei said, “we can visit them there. I’m not worried at all. This lifetime, I won’t see them again. As for Long Xuan, I’d rather never see him again.”
“It’s good that Young Master has figured it out,” Wei Lan sighed in relief. “Take a look at these dishes, which one would you like to eat?”
“I don’t like the food from Northern Yan,” Luo Wei said. Now that he had spent time thinking about it and had realized that Long Xuan couldn’t attack the Luo family, his mood had improved and, teasing Wei Lan, he said, “I want pastries from Great Zhou’s Jiangnan.”
“How could they have that here?” Wei Lan said, picking up a piece of meat with his chopsticks and feeding it to Luo Wei. “Young Master, Wei Lan can’t fly. How far is it to Jiangnan from here?”
Luo Wei also picked up his chopsticks, picking up a piece of fish belly and offering it to Wei Lan. “You eat too. When we return to Great Zhou, I’ll definitely feast on pastries from Jiangnan.”
Wei Lan enjoyed the food that Luo Wei fed him and asked, “Young Master, I thought you didn’t like sweet things? Why are you suddenly craving pastries from Jiangnan? Jiangnan cakes are all sweet.”
“I don’t know,” Luo Wei tilted his head, pondering. “I just suddenly thought of it.”
“Not going back to the capital, is this also a sudden whim?” Wei Lan grew worried again. Luo Wei’s mind could change three times a day.
“No, If we were to return to the capital, I don’t know if we’ll be able to leave again. Let’s not risk it.” Luo Wei put another chopstick of fish belly into Wei Lan’s mouth and said, “I still want to spend a few good days with you.”
The steamed fish, extremely light in flavor, tasted particularly delicious in Wei Lan’s mouth.
Boundless Dao 
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