The war report from Northern Yan had yet to arrive and an uneasy atmosphere had finally settled over the court of Great Zhou. The battle report, placed in a hidden compartment of Empress Dowager Liu’s seat, had been left untouched. It wasn’t that Empress Dowager Liu didn’t want to return the report; rather, under Luo Zhiyi’s instructions, the security around the palace had been tightened again, denying Gao Zhu any chance to enter. Consequently, he couldn’t retrieve the report sealed with the five-flame emblem.
Luo Wei seemed unconcerned about the delayed report from Northern Yan. He merely complained about this year’s winter, remarking how it snowed every day, making it impossible for him to leave the house.
Luo Wei waited for Chang Ling’s move, wondering if there was anything else he needed to do. His gaze eventually fell on Long Xiao. If he harmed Long Xiao, would Chang Ling continue to endure it?
Unaware of the murderous intent Luo Wei harbored towards him, Long Xiao, in his innocence, thought highly of his Sixth Uncle. He enjoyed the feeling of being pampered by Luo Wei and often visited him at Yi Jin Garden and played in the snow on Emerald Island. Every time Luo Wei saw Long Xiao’s smiling face and heard the child calling him “Sixth Uncle”, his heart softened and he felt unable to act; Long Xiao seemed innocent.
As Luo Wei wavered between soft-heartedness and murderous intent, news of Long Xiang’s death arrived in the capital a day ahead of Ning Fei’s arrival.
Luo Wei stared at the death notice handed to him by Xie Yu, unable to believe his eyes. He read the notice repeatedly. This letter was not written by his second brother Luo Ze but by Long Xiang’s personal guard who had accompanied him to Southern Zhao.
“How is this possible?” Xie Yu muttered in front of Luo Wei over and over again.
Long Xiang had started off from Linshui Pass in Southern Zhao to Great Zhou a month ago. While riding across a wooden bridge outside Linshui Pass, the bridge suddenly collapsed, causing Long Xiang and his horse to fall into the deep lake below. Pinned under his horse, Long Xiang struggled in the water, and in the process, his right leg was torn off by the frightened horse. When the soldiers pulled Long Xiang ashore, he was already unconscious and on the brink of death. The military doctor in the army urgently treated him. Without time to report to Luo Ze, the commander at Linshui Pass decided to follow the advice of the military doctor and sent Long Xiang back to Great Zhou. The commander was told by the military doctor that the only way to save Prince Yu’s life was with the “Flesh Regeneration Ointment” from the imperial palace. The commander sent a five flames battle report asking for assistance to the capital. Long Xiang struggled for a month, but neither the imperial physician nor the ointment arrived from the capital. In the end, Prince Yu, Long Xiang, passed away in the city of Wuzhou in Great Zhou.
“The rescue report,” Luo Wei urgently asked Xie Yu, “Where is it? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“No one saw the report!” Xie Yu replied.
“The Ministry of War couldn’t have missed the five-flame report, could they?” Luo Wei couldn’t sit still. “How can I believe this?”
Xie Yu stated, “I’ve searched the Ministry of War with my men, but there is no record of a five flames battle report arriving during that time.”
Luo Wei stood there in a daze. He had never considered Long Xiang’s death. This man was supposed to live longer than him. How could he die like this? Could the loss of a leg really end his life?
But Xie Yu didn’t have time to wait for Luo Wei’s thoughts. He urged, “You need to speak up. How should we tell this matter to the court?”
Sinking back into his seat, Luo Wei murmured, “Long Xiang, did he… really die?”
“You have seen the death notice. Don’t you believe it?” Xie Yu asked.
“Even if you haven’t seen the battle report from Linshui Pass, what about a rescue plea? Could Long Xiang’s men have only sent back this one report?” Luo Wei demanded.
Xie Yu rubbed his eyes, “The Ministry of War is looking for it. They’ll bring it soon.”
“You,” Luo Wei said, “what’s the use of bringing me this now that people are dead?”
“In this time of war, apart from the battle reports from Northern Yan and Southern Zhao,” Xie Yu said, “the Ministry of War will postpone any irrelevant letters. There’s no way around it.”
Luo Wei remained speechless for a while. Only those stationed at Lingshui Pass had the authority to dispatch battle reports. Longxiang’s attendants and the provincial governments lacked such authority; they could only send official correspondence. Nowadays, who in the court still had the time to read these official letters? Even the Ministry of Revenue prioritized documents related to grain, tax, and silver from various regions, disregarding all others matters.
“Think about how you want to tell this to Empress Dowager Liu,” Xie Yu said to Luo Wei.
Luo Wei responded, “What do I have to fear?” but he felt restless in his heart.
Zhao Fu led the Minister of War, Wang Wenweng, into the room.
Upon seeing this senior minister, who was Luo Zhiqiu’s contemporary, Luo Wei quickly bowed to him. “Uncle Wang.”
“Your Highness,” Minister Wang’s expression was grim, but he still returned Luo Wei’s greeting before saying, “We’ve conducted another internal investigation at the Ministry of War regarding Prince Yu’s matter, but we still haven’t found that war report. However, we’ve found records at the city gates. These,” Minister Wang said, placing a stack of letters on the tea table in front of Luo Wei and Xie Yu, “are what we found. They are about Prince Yu’s condition and the request for medicine.”
Luo Wei glanced at these letters. Many of them were marked as urgent. If it weren’t for the strict rule of secrecy regarding matters of the imperial family of Great Zhou, these people would have just written the words “Prince Yu is critically ill” on the envelope.
“That’s not right,” Xie Yu said at this moment. “The Ministry of War may not have seen these letters, but shouldn’t the Ministry of the Imperial Household have received them? How could they be completely unaware?”
Luo Wei realized that the person in charge of the Ministry of the Imperial Household now was Prince Li, Long Xing. The Ministry of the Imperial Household was known for reporting royal matters to the Emperor, making it a minor role. That’s why Long Xuan felt confident in letting Long Xing manage this ministry. But Long Xing was a person who would laugh rather than cry after hearing of Long Xiang’s death. It was therefore not surprising that he had concealed Long Xiang’s situation and had not reported it.
Minister Wang, seeing that Xie Yu was still about to question Luo Wei, spoke up to him, “Mingyuan, you can’t meddle in the imperial family affairs.”
Only then did Xie Yu realize his mistake. He had gotten flustered and wanted to ask Luo Wei about these matters, but he suddenly remembered that the Ministry of the Imperial Household was now under Long Xing’s control. Long Xing had once caused a scene after Long Yu’s death, and Long Xiang had publicly slapped him. It would have been strange if Prince Li didn’t take advantage of this opportunity to seek revenge!
“Go and investigate,” Luo Wei said after pondering for a while, addressing Xie Yu and Minister Wang. “We can determine when that battle report entered the capital by checking the records at the city gates. Investigate who receives the battle reports at the Ministry of War. They will all be arrested and interrogated by me! Regardless, I must give an explanation to Empress Dowager Liu.”
“Should we announce Prince Yu’s death?” Xie Yu asked.
“Let’s put it on hold for now,” Luo Wei said. “I will talk to the imperial family members and see how we can bring Prince Yu’s body back to the capital.”
Seeing that Luo Wei had made up his mind, both Xie Yu and Minister Wang didn’t say anything further and left to carry out their duties.
Long Xiang was unexpectedly dead. Sitting alone in the study, Luo Wei felt a pang of pain in his heart. How did things turn out this way?
Boundless Dao 
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