Long Xuan’s carriage arrived at the entrance of Yi Jin Garden, where he saw Imperial Physician Wei again.
“Has the prince gone to bed?” Long Xuan asked while sitting in the carriage.
Imperial Physician Wei, wearing a troubled expression, replied, “The prince went out.”
Long Xuan immediately panicked, “He left the palace? When did this happen?!”
Hearing Long Xuan’s tone, which sounded like he was about to kill someone, Imperial Physician Wei quickly shook his head and said, “No, the prince is on Emerald Island. He hasn’t left the palace.”
Long Xuan’s tone softened slightly. “It’s so late. Is he not sleeping and taking a walk instead?”
“He…” Imperial Physician Wei hesitated but decided not to tell Long Xuan that Luo Wei was suffering from insomnia every day. Instead, he said, “The prince couldn’t sleep tonight and went to see the lotus flowers by the pond.”
Long Xuan got off the carriage. “Those are red lotuses, not lotus flowers.”
Imperial Physician Wei wiped his sweat. Red lotuses were a type of lotus flower, right?
“Is he there alone?” Long Xuan took a step forward and then pulled back to ask Imperial Physician Wei.
“Ten and his men are guarding him there,” Imperial Physician Wei hastily replied.
“Why are you here then?”
Imperial Physician Wei stepped aside to let Long Xuan see the eunuch standing behind him and said, “I was just about to deliver medicine to the Prince.”
Long Xuan looked at the eunuch holding the medicine bowl and said, “Give the medicine to me.”
“Are you going to deliver it to the Prince?” Imperial Physician Wei asked, pretending not to know.
“You all wait here. You don’t need to follow me,” Long Xuan turned around to say to his attendants, no longer paying attention to Imperial Physician Wei.
Everyone responded with obedience.
Long Xuan carried the medicine bowl and went to the pond to look for Luo Wei alone.
Luo Wei sat crookedly on the bridge railing, looking at the red lotus in the pond in trance.
When Long Xuan arrived, he didn’t see the shadow of Ten and his men, but he knew that these five men must be hiding nearby. He only saw Luo Wei sitting on the bridge, looking even thinner under the moonlight.
Hearing Long Xuan’s deliberately heavy footsteps, Luo Wei turned his head and saw Long Xuan.
“Why are you sitting here alone so late?” Long Xuan handed the medicine bowl to Luo Wei and asked, “I heard from Imperial Physician Wei that you couldn’t sleep tonight?”
Luo Wei drank the medicine in a few gulps.
“Here, have this,” Long Xuan watched Luo Wei finish the medicine and handed a piece of candy to him.
“Is this also from Imperial Physician Wei?” Luo Wei asked.
“I grabbed it at Changming Hall,” Long Xuan took advantage of Luo Wei opening his mouth to speak and stuffed the candy into his mouth, saying, “I’ll have one to refresh myself if I stay up late at night.”
The candy was sweet with a hint of mint flavor, but Luo Wei didn’t have the patience to slowly savor it. After chewing the candy a few times, he swallowed it.
“Do you like it?” Long Xuan asked as he stood by.
“It’s alright,” Luo Wei replied.
“Tomorrow, I’ll have someone bring you more,” Long Xuan took off his outer robe and draped it over Luo Wei.
Luo Wei looked at the bright yellow dragon robe on him and said, “Is it appropriate for me to wear this?”
“I said you could wear it. Who would dare to say otherwise?”
Luo Wei didn’t say anything else and just sat on the bridge draped in Long Xuan’s dragon robe.
“You haven’t said anything yet, why can’t you sleep tonight?” Long Xuan leaned on Luo Wei’s shoulder and asked, “Is something bothering you?”
“My eldest and second brothers are going to the battlefield again,” Luo Wei said. “How could I not worry?”
“What about me?”
“What?”
“Are you worried about me?”
A cloud drifted across the moon above them, casting a shadow, and Long Xuan couldn’t see the coldness in Luo Wei’s eyes.
“You need to be careful too,” Luo Wei whispered to Long Xuan. “Even if you don’t have to fight with the Northern Yan people in person, you still need to be careful.”
“Alright,” Long Xuan stroked Luo Wei’s face. “Don’t worry, I will return victorious.”
Luo Wei endured without pulling away from Long Xuan’s hand and said, “When will that be?”
“What do you want to ask me?”
“When will you return victorious?”
“I don’t know either,” Long Xuan said. “Luo Wei, just wait for me to return to the capital.”
“Mm,” Luo Wei responded.
“On the day of my return, will you come to meet me outside the city?”
“Sure.”
Luo Wei’s straightforwardness made Long Xuan somewhat suspicious. “Really?”
“If you destroy Northern Yan, I will be happy,” Luo Wei said. “I will definitely come to meet you. I also want to see what Sima Qingsha, who will become a prisoner under my Great Zhou, will look like at that time.”
“Well,” Long Xuan hesitated, then said to Luo Wei, “I may not necessarily be able to capture Sima Qingsha alive.”
“There is no way to capture him alive?” Luo Wei looked disappointed.
Long Xuan immediately changed his words. “I promise you, I will try my best to capture him alive. I will also give you the Northern Yan Sima Family Palace in Hefang City.”
Luo Wei chuckled softly, “Are you really going to give me a palace? I will never go to Northern Yan again in my life. Even if you give me this palace, I can’t live there. Even if I just wanted to sell it, I couldn’t find a buyer.”
“Well,” Long Xuan thought for a moment and said, “then I won’t keep it. I’ll just burn it down.”
“These are all stories for later,” Luo Wei turned his head to look at the red lotuses in the pond. “You better win this battle first. Long Xuan, I don’t want my eldest brother to get hurt again. Can you promise me?”
“How could Shiyi be injured so easily?” Long Xuan hugged Luo Wei and said, “Ning Fei is also going this time. Don’t worry, your eldest brother is very capable.”
“Is Lan going too?” Luo Wei asked.
The smile on Long Xuan’s face faded, he lowered his head to look at Luo Wei in his arms, and said, “Yes, he is going too. This is a great opportunity for Wei Lan to advance in ranks and nobility.”
“I don’t want him to get hurt either,” Luo Wei said. “If something happens to Lan, I don’t think I can go on with my life. Don’t…”
“Are you worried that I will use this battle to assassinate Wei Lan?” Long Xuan didn’t let Luo Wei finish speaking; he said it for him.
“I want to believe you, but I can’t stop worrying,” Luo Wei said.
“I understand,” Long Xuan hugged Luo Wei tighter. “If my words don’t convince you, I’ll show you. When Wei Lan gains military merits and advances in ranks, you’ll believe me.”
“When are you leaving?” Luo Wei seemed to sigh and asked Long Xuan again.
“In five days.”
“Is it already set?”
“I need to hurry to Yunguan,” Long Xuan said. “If it gets to winter, we won’t be able to fight Northern Yan.”
“It’s still summer now; there’s still time.”
Long Xuan hugged Luo Wei, his heart beating a little faster. He wanted to talk to Luo Wei about Chang Ling, but when the words came to his lips, he still didn’t say them.
“It’s going to rain tomorrow,” Luo Wei said at this moment.
“How do you know?” Long Xuan asked quickly.
Luo Wei pointed to the pond in front of them. “The dragonflies are flying lower.”
Long Xuan looked at the pond, where many dragonflies were flying, occasionally dipping into the water.
“These red lotuses are beautiful,” Luo Wei said again.
Long Xuan looked at the pond full of red lotuses. Compared to the pink or white lotus flowers, these red lotuses lacked purity but had more brilliance. “When you’re in the mood, paint a picture of red lotuses for me,” he said to Luo Wei.
“Alright,” Luo Wei still didn’t refuse Long Xuan.
Long Xuan hugged Luo Wei and looked at the lotus pond under the moonlight, the words he wanted to say still left unspoken.
Translator: Ugh, the constant intimacy LX is forcing on LW is stressing me out so much! He’s so delusional =_=
Boundless Dao 
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