“Sixth Uncle,” just as Luo Wei was feeling stifled in his heart, Long Xiao’s voice came to his ears. Looking up, he saw the little prince standing in front of him, blinking his big eyes as he looked at him.
“Why did you come here?” Luo Wei forced a smile. He hadn’t even noticed when the child walked in just now.
“Xiao’er is here to see Sixth Uncle,” Long Xiao looked at Luo Wei and said, “Sixth Uncle, what’s wrong with you? Are you upset?”
“No,” Luo Wei touched the chubby face of the child, and somehow his hand reached towards Long Xiao’s throat.
“Sixth Uncle?”
“Mm,” Luo Wei responded to Long Xiao, but his eyes were fixed on the child’s slender neck. This little thing had a lot of flesh on his body, but his little neck was really thin. It seemed like if he exerted force, he could break it.
Long Xiao couldn’t possibly know Luo Wei’s thoughts, so he tiptoed and his little hand touched Luo Wei’s forehead.
When Long Xiao entered from outside, there were four charcoal braziers in Luo Wei’s study. The little prince sweated after coming in, and Luo Wei felt a moist hand touching him. He quickly moved back and said, “What are you doing?”
“Is Sixth Uncle sick?” Long Xiao asked with some concern. “Sixth Uncle’s eyes are red.”
Luo Wei released Long Xiao’s neck and tapped the child’s little head with his finger. “Don’t worry about it. Did you tell Imperial Grandmother that you came to see me?”
Long Xiao nodded quickly.
“Thirteen,” Luo Wei shouted to the door.
Thirteen appeared in the room.
“Take His Highness out for a walk,” Luo Wei said to Thirteen. “Be careful and don’t let him play in the snow all the time.”
Long Xiao now knew that his Sixth Uncle was afraid of the cold. He didn’t pull Luo Wei out to play but ran to Thirteen, grabbing his hand without hesitation, and said, “Thirteen, let’s go.”
Thirteen saw Luo Wei sitting there waving to him, and hurriedly took Long Xiao out. Looking at Long Xiao’s little face, Thirteen was a little depressed. It was said that royal children were precociously intelligent, but how come this little Highness couldn’t tell that his Sixth Uncle did not want to see him? Was this little prince too stupid, or was Luo Wei too good at pretending?
After sending away Long Xiao, Luo Wei called for Zhao Fu again.
“Your Highness,” Zhao Fu hurried in.
“Go find Prince Li,” Luo Wei said. “Ask him to come over.”
Zhao Fu hurried off.
Long Xing arrived quickly. When Zhao Fu went to find him at his mansion, Long Xing already knew that Long Xiang was probably dead, otherwise Luo Wei wouldn’t have wanted to see him.
When Luo Wei saw Long Xing, he stood up to greet him and called out, “Your Highness.”
Long Xing sat down nonchalantly in the chair beside Luo Wei and said, “Yunqi, you should call me Third Elder Brother.”
Luo Wei shook his head and smiled, personally pouring a cup of tea for Long Xing.
“How long has it been since we last met?” Long Xing suddenly asked Luo Wei.
Luo Wei thought for a moment and said, “It seems like a long time.”
It has been a long time indeed,” Long Xing assessed Luo Wei in front of him and said, “Since you’ve returned, I haven’t been able to enter the palace to see you.”
Luo Wei set down the teapot in his hand and said, “Long Xiang died in Wuzhou.”
Long Xing was about to sip the tea when he heard Luo Wei’s words, but he paused and said, “Is that so?”
“This is his death notice,” Luo Wei pushed the letter he had read over ten times in front of Long Xing.
Long Xing took a sip of tea and said, “We’re currently at war on both fronts. Is it appropriate to hold a grand funeral for Long Xiang at this time?”
“You really don’t feel sad at all,” Luo Wei said.
“I never regarded him as a brother, so naturally, I wouldn’t be sad,” Long Xing said. “Yunqi, are you really grieving for him?”
“He never had any malicious intentions towards anybody,” Luo Wei said.
Long Xing chuckled twice and said, “With his full-blooded brother around, there’s no need for him to harm anyone.”
Luo Wei sighed.
“Tell me, why did you summon me?” Long Xing drank all the tea in the cup and began to toy with the delicate tea cup in his hand.
“Burn all the letters,” Luo Wei said in a low voice. “Deal with the people who delivered them to you yourself. Keep the ones you trust, discard the ones you don’t.”
Long Xing looked at Luo Wei in surprise. He hadn’t expected Luo Wei to say these words to him.
“Long Xuan has always been protective of Long Xiang. If he finds out you had a hand in it, I’m afraid he won’t spare you.”
“Are you helping me?”
“I’ve sent someone to invite my aunt,” Luo Wei said. “You and your mother can meet here later. She has always missed you.”
Only then did Long Xing stop playing with the tea cup in his hand. “Empress Dowager Mother will come here?”
“Yes,” Luo Wei said. “When you meet later, don’t mention Long Xiang’s matter. Just talk about everyday things.”
Long Xing quickly looked at himself. He had hurried out today and hadn’t paid attention to his attire. Since he was about to meet his mother, he had to look a bit more presentable.
“Go to the side hall and wait,” Luo Wei said with a hint of amusement on his face when he saw Long Xing’s actions. “You look fine like this. You should let my aunt see how you look in your daily life.”
Long Xing stood up and said to Luo Wei, “I acknowledge your favor. Yunqi, rest assured, I’ve dealt with those people. I know very well what kind of person Long Xuan is.”
While Long Xing waited in the side hall to meet Luo Zhiyi, Luo Wei, alone in the study, was restless. At this moment, he was only thinking about when it would be best to make Long Xiang’s death public and how to prevent his second brother, Luo Ze, from being implicated because of Long Xiang’s death.
The meeting between Luo Zhiyi and her son was a heartfelt one. Long Xing regretted not being able to take his mother out of the palace to live out her days in peace, but Luo Zhiyi was satisfied to be able to see Long Xing.
While Luo Wei waited in the study for news from Xie Yu and Minister Wang, General Zhao Henian, who had retired to his hometown before Luo Zhiqiu, arrived in the capital. After receiving Luo Wei’s personal letter, Zhao Henian came to the capital and requested an audience from the palace gates.
Hearing that Zhao Henian had arrived, Luo Wei impatiently shouted for Ten, “Ten, hurry and go receive General Zhao.”
Ten obediently went to the palace gate to greet General Zhao.
As Zhao Henian walked towards Yi Jin Garden, he asked Ten, “Wouldn’t I encounter palace people if I take this road?”
Long Ten hurriedly replied, “His Majesty has issued an edict that no one in the palace may set foot in the Yuxin Lake area. So you can rest assured that besides us, there won’t be any palace people here.”
“What if a palace servant accidentally comes here?”
“Then they will be killed,” Ten said.
Zhao Henian breathed a sigh of relief. This was much better. As long as he didn’t encounter anyone from the palace, Luo Wei’s reputation wouldn’t be tarnished.
Although Ten didn’t quite understand why Zhao Henian asked him these questions, he couldn’t inquire further. He simply answered while leading the way to Yi Jin Garden.
Boundless Dao 
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