“Hurry, help the Empress Dowager leave,” Long Xuan saw that Empress Dowager Liu was about to start an endless argument with him. His face darkened. “Imperial Concubine Mother, what are you doing here at Yuxin Lake? Didn’t I say that no one, especially palace members, should come here unless necessary?”
Seeing that Long Xuan didn’t take her side but instead questioned her presence at Yuxin Lake, Empress Dowager Liu was truly heartbroken. This was her own son!
“Empress Dowager!” Everyone exclaimed as Empress Dowager Liu collapsed to the ground.
Of course, Luo Wei wasn’t surprised. Seeing Empress Dowager Liu faint, he just said to Imperial Physician Wei beside him, “Go check on the Empress Dowager.”
Imperial Physician Wei hurried to Empress Dowager Liu’s side. He knew she had fainted from anger, but he still pretended to feel her pulse for appearances’ sake. Then he reported to Long Xuan, “Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager was just a little overwhelmed with anger. It’s nothing serious. She just needs to rest quietly for a few days.”
Long Xuan said, “Is that all?”
“On my head, I guarantee it,” Imperial Physician Wei swore. “If Your Majesty wanted me to, I could needle her right away, and she would wake up immediately.
“Take the Empress Dowager back,” Long Xuan waved his hand.
The palace servants dared not say more and moved to assist Empress Dowager Liu.
“Just put her in the sedan chair,” Imperial Physician Wei instructed the servants nearby. “Are you planning to carry the Empress Dowager back with your bare hands?”
“Are you alright?” Long Xuan turned to Luo Wei before Empress Dowager Liu had even been taken away.
Luo Wei was taken aback. Did this man think he was the one being bullied?
“Your Majesty,” Imperial Physician Wei ran over again and stood beside Long Xuan, whispering to him, “I heard everything.”
“What did you hear?” Long Xuan was annoyed by Imperial Physician Wei’s approach. “Why are you still here? Aren’t you supposed to go back to the palace?”
“I’ll go right away,” Imperial Physician Wei said, approaching Long Xuan a few more steps. His voice was even quieter than before as he said, “Empress Dowager scolded Prince Jin just now, but Prince Jin definitely won’t tell Your Majesty.”
“You may leave,” Luo Wei also found Imperial Physician Wei annoying at this point. This man seemed to be afraid that peace would prevail in the world.
Imperial Physician Wei rolled his eyes at Luo Wei. This man really didn’t know how to appreciate a good deed. Wasn’t he speaking up for him? “Your Majesty,” Imperial Physician Wei ignored Luo Wei and said to Long Xuan, “Empress Dowager just cursed Prince Jin…”
Imperial Physician Wei suddenly realized that if he repeated the word “bitch” to Long Xuan, would he be executed on the spot? A son couldn’t kill his own mother, but this physician might not be so lucky.
“What did she say?” Long Xuan saw Imperial Physician Wei hesitate to continue and asked, “Can’t you speak?”
“Bitch,” Imperial Physician Wei whispered.
“What?” Long Xuan didn’t hear clearly.
“Bitch!” Imperial Physician Wei raised his voice a bit.
“How dare you!” Just as he expected, Long Xuan turned against him.
“It wasn’t me who said it, it was the Empress Dowager,” Imperial Physician Wei hurriedly distanced himself.
“Go check on the Empress Dowager,” Luo Wei urged Imperial Physician Wei to leave. “Come back to see me later.”
Imperial Physician Wei glanced at Long Xuan.
“Go ahead,” Long Xuan said.
Imperial Physician Wei bent down and retreated a distance, then turned and ran. This was a place of turmoil, and it was better for him to run far away. However, as he ran, he thought to himself that looking at the current situation, Luo Wei should be able to establish dominance in the palace. If he had refrained from stopping Luo Wei and had let him beat up the Empress Dowager, it seemed like it wouldn’t have mattered much. Did the Emperor really like Luo Wei? Imperial Physician Wei wondered wildly. After injuring him like this, could the Emperor still like him? Normal people couldn’t do such a thing.
“Are you okay?” Long Xuan asked Luo Wei again after Imperial Physician Wei had left.
“You’re not in court, why are you here?” Luo Wei asked Long Xuan.
“I heard something happened here, so I came to take a look,” Long Xuan said, feeling guilty about Empress Dowager Liu cursing Luo Wei earlier. He said to Luo Wei, “Don’t take what Imperial Concubine Mother said to heart.”
“You really call her Imperial Concubine Mother?” Luo Wei was incredulous. “Didn’t you always call her Mother and say that one day you would openly call her Mother Empress? Why aren’t you calling her that now?”
At this point, Long Xuan pressed Luo Wei’s shoulders and said, “Luo Wei, do you remember our previous conversation?”
Luo Wei hesitated for a moment and said, “I remember some of the things from before.”
Long Xuan felt happy and smiled.
Luo Wei pushed Long Xuan’s hand away and said, “Aren’t you going to check on the Empress Dowager?”
“You didn’t use force, did you?” Long Xuan asked Luo Wei softly.
“No,” Luo Wei said. “These guards aren’t dead. I didn’t lay a finger on the Empress Dowager.”
“As long as you’re fine,” Long Xuan said.
The palace attendants wondered if this meant that it didn’t matter if something happened to Empress Dowager Liu.
“There’s no problem here. You can go to court or see the Empress Dowager now,” Luo Wei didn’t understand why Long Xuan was so happy, recalling some of the things he and Long Xuan had said before. He urged Long Xuan, “I’m going back to rest for a while.”
Long Xuan wanted to say that he knew Luo Wei hadn’t slept all night, but then he realized that if he said that, Luo Wei would think he was monitoring him again. So he said to Luo Wei, “Alright, I’ll go to court, and you go back and rest.”
Luo Wei turned to leave.
“Your Majesty,” Mu Jin, who had been kneeling on the ground the whole time, saw the two of them about to leave separately and realized they had forgotten about him. He had to call out to Long Xuan.
Luo Wei heard Mujin’s call and remembered that there was still something left to do.
“Why are you here?!” Long Xuan’s face, which had just been smiling, turned completely serious when he saw Mu Jin.
“I was also asking him,” Luo Wei turned around and said, “Before I could say a few words to him, the Empress Dowager arrived.”
“This slave was just passing by,” Mu Jin said, trying to sound casual.
Long Xuan knew Mujin was lying. “You came here to see Prince Jin?” he asked Mu Jin.
“No,” Mujin shook his head quickly. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“Take good care of your people,” Luo Wei looked at Mu Jin coldly and whispered to Long Xuan, “Is this the person responsible for what happened to my eldest brother in Tian Shui Yuan? You’re really good at finding people. Where did you find this little thing?”
Long Xuan’s face turned livid.
Mu Jin knelt on the ground without daring to lift his head.
“You can speak,” Luo Wei looked at Mu Jin, who was trembling on the ground like a small animal, and suddenly lost interest in staying here any longer. It wasn’t worth it for his eldest brother to fall into the hands of such a person. For the sake of his eldest brother’s reputation, Luo Wei thought it would be better not to let the Tian Shui Yuan incident get out. He would find another opportunity to settle the score with Mu Jin.
“You go back and have something to eat before you rest,” Long Xuan said to Luo Wei, seeing him about to leave. “Don’t go to sleep on an empty stomach.”
Luo Wei ignored Long Xuan’s words and turned to leave with the guards.
Long Xuan watched Luo Wei climb the steps to Emerald Island, then pointed at Mu Jin and said, “Bring him to me.”
Boundless Dao 
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