Luo Wei and Long Xuan left Yannian Hall. Seeing Long Xuan was going to follow him back to Yi Jin Garden, Luo Wei asked, “Is there no state affair to attend to? Your Majesty, do you have nothing to do today?”
“I’m sending you back because there’s something I want to tell you,” Long Xuan replied, not caring whether Luo Wei was willing or not, as he helped Luo Wei up the steps.
From the moment they met Long Xuan had been saying he had something to discuss, but until now, even after finishing a meal, he hadn’t said anything. Luo Wei felt anxious but, considering the presence of so many people, he had to endure it.
Upon arriving at Yi Jin Garden, Imperial Physician Wei had already arrived ahead of them.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness,” Imperial Physician Wei bowed upon seeing the two entering the courtyard.
“He has been coughing all day,” Long Xuan led Luo Wei into the study, speaking to Imperial Physician Wei as they walked, “Come and check on him to see if he caught a cold.”
Imperial Physician Wei glanced at Long Xuan holding Luo Wei’s hand and couldn’t help but sigh. They even held hands?
“What are you looking at?” Luo Wei noticed Imperial Physician Wei staring at their hands and asked. He wanted to shake off Long Xuan’s hand, but he couldn’t.
“Please, Your Highness,” Imperial Physician Wei bowed slightly, noticing Luo Wei reluctant expression. It seemed that this person was unwilling. Is this what they call ‘the fallen flowers have intentions, but the flowing water is indifferent’?1 Bah! Imperial Physician Wei scoffed in his heart. From start to finish, he hadn’t seen any romantic interactions between these two. The notion of romantic entanglements was utterly unrelated to them.
After entering the study, Imperial Physician Wei took Luo Wei’s pulse. After a while, he asked Luo Wei, “Your Highness, did you not sleep last night?”
“I didn’t,” Luo Wei replied.
Long Xuan wanted to say that he didn’t sleep because he spent the night outside, but he still held back. If Luo Wei knew that he was aware of his every move, who knew what would happen.
“You’ve caught a chill,” Imperial Physician Wei said after examining Luo Wei’s pulse, “Your Highness, your body is your own. If you don’t care for it, no matter how skilled I am, I can’t cure you.”
“That’s enough,” Luo Wei glared at Imperial Physician Wei, “Why are you so talkative? Go and prepare the prescription. I heard you asked for leave from His Majesty. Where are you going?”
“He wants to go out for a change of scenery, I allowed it,” Long Xuan didn’t let Imperial Physician Wei speak, and said himself, “If you don’t want him to leave the palace, just let him stay.”
“Am I incapable of living without him?” Luo Wei glanced at Imperial Physician Wei, somewhat disdainfully, “It’s fine for him to go out for some fresh air. The sooner he goes, the sooner he comes back.”
“I’ll obey your command,” Imperial Physician Wei hurriedly replied.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” Imperial Physician Wei went to prepare the medicine, so Luo Wei asked Long Xuan.
“I want to attack Southern Zhao,” Long Xuan finally said.
“Haven’t you been talking about attacking Southern Zhao all along?” Luo Wei asked, “I know that.”
“In seven days, I will send out troops.”
After a moment’s pause, Luo Wei asked, “Have you thought it through? So soon?”
“This battle must be fought,” Long Xuan said, “I don’t want to wait any longer.”
“Is it really necessary to fight this battle?” Luo Wei became serious and said, “You’ve already imposed two extra taxes this spring alone. Are you going to let the entire country go hungry just to fight Southern Zhao?”
“The tax money is already enough,” Long Xuan said, “I won’t impose any more taxes for the rest of the year.”
“Why do you have to attack Southern Zhao?” Luo Wei asked, “Can you swallow Southern Zhao in one go?”
“If we want to attack Northern Yan, we must first defeat Southern Zhao.”
“Southern Zhao is nothing but the Crown Prince Jianing, who was put in power by Sima Qingsha,” Luo Wei said, “He came to power through a palace coup. Is it necessary for you to wage a war to destroy Southern Zhao?”
“Then if it were you, what would you do?” Long Xuan asked.
“If Sima Qingsha could push Jianing to power, couldn’t you choose a successor yourself and help him succeed?” Luo Wei said.
“What if this person doesn’t succeed?” Long Xuan asked, “Wouldn’t that be a waste of effort?”
“Is it important whether this person succeeds or not? Your goal is Northern Yan. If there is chaos in Southern Zhao, and Sima Qingsha has to send troops to aid Jianing, you and Yang Yuansu can take advantage of the situation to attack Northern Yan,” Luo Wei said, “This kind of thing, you don’t need me to tell them to you, right.”
Long Xuan knew that Luo Wei was the one who could stand shoulder to shoulder with him in the world
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Luo Wei noticed Long Xuan looking at him with a smile but not saying anything. Feeling a bit flustered by Long Xuan’s smile, Luo Wei asked, “Can I fight this battle on your behalf?”
“Luo Wei,” Long Xuan walked from across him and sat down beside him, saying, “This is what I agreed upon with Yang Yuansu.”
Luo Wei raised his eyebrows. It seemed he had worried for nothing again. Wait, Luo Wei suddenly thought to himself, why do I care so much about Long Xuan? Wouldn’t it be more in line with my wishes if his country and family were destroyed?
“I’m just thinking about which one in the Southern Zhao royal family I should choose,” Long Xuan said to Luo Wei, “This Emperor Jianing is weak, but his Empress Consort Ningxue of Northern Yan is quite cunning. The government of Southern Zhao is still firmly in the hands of Emperor Jianing.”
“You,” Luo Wei looked at Long Xuan and said, “Are you discussing state affairs with me?”
“Yes,” Long Xuan said, “I’m talking about it with you. Who do you think can be persuaded within the Southern Zhao court?”
“How would I know about Southern Zhao’s affairs?” Luo Wei said, “You should discuss these matters with the ministers. I’m not interested.”
“Come in!” Long Xuan called out to the door.
A young eunuch came in carrying a stack of documents.
“What is this?” Luo Wei asked, looking at the documents placed in front of him, “Didn’t I say I’m not interested in Southern Zhao’s affairs?”
“These are confidential reports from the Southern Zhao royal family,” Long Xuan pointed to the documents on the tea table and said to Luo Wei, “Take a look.”
“Didn’t you hear what I said?”
“I think you will be interested,” Long Xuan said.
“I don’t want to look at them. Let him take them away,” Luo Wei said.
“If we attack Southern Zhao, who do you think I would appoint as the commander?” Long Xuan asked.
Luo Wei thought for a moment. Naturally, troops would be dispatched from the southeast to attack Southern Zhao. “My second brother?” he said to Long Xuan, “You want my second brother to lead the attack?”
“That’s right,” Long Xuan said, “Are you interested now?”
“Do you trust my second brother to be your commander?” Luo Wei asked incredulously, “Aren’t you afraid?”
“What do I have to fear?” Long Xuan said, “He’s going to attack Southern Zhao. If our pre-arrangements succeed, it will just be a feint.”
Luo Wei took a document and held it in his hand. “You won’t let my second brother handle military logistics, so of course you’re not afraid.”
“Lan?” At this moment, the voice of Imperial Physician Wei came from outside the door.
At the mention of “Lan,” Luo Wei’s hand trembled, and the document in his hand fell to the ground.
Another young eunuch ran in and reported to Long Xuan, “Your Majesty, Prince Consort Wei and Princess Yanjun have come to the palace to see the Empress Dowager and you. Shang Xi of Yannian Hall has led them to Yi Jin Garden to pay their respects to Your Majesty.”
- “落花有意，流水无情” – luò huā yǒu yì, liú shuǐ wú qíng : idiom which translates to “the fallen flowers have intentions, but the flowing water is indifferent.” It metaphorically implies one party having feelings or intentions while the other remains indifferent or unaware, a one-sided affection. ↩︎
Boundless Dao 
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