The young man, upon hearing Luo Wei’s inquiry, quickly replied, “Sixth Uncle, I am your nephew, Long Tang.”
Luo Wei searched his mind but couldn’t recall who this Long Tang was.
“The father of this nephew is Prince Yu,” the young man continued without waiting for Luo Wei to ask, knowing well that Prince Jin, with his lofty status, might not recognize him.
Long Xiang only had two sons, and his legitimate son had always been kept close by the Emperor’s side. This one seemed to be the younger illegitimate son. “Raise your head, let me take a look,” Luo Wei said.
Long Tang lifted his head, facing Luo Wei without any trace of timidity.
Luo Wei inwardly exclaimed, “Ah.” He had seen Long Rong, Long Xiang’s legitimate son, before and knew he didn’t resemble Long Xiang. Yet, this illegitimate son bore a striking resemblance to him.
“Sixth Uncle,” Long Tang bowed respectfully to Luo Wei.
“Come closer,” Luo Wei motioned for Long Tang to approach, feeling guilty towards Long Xuan.
Long Tang walked up to Luo Wei’s palanquin and stood quietly with his head bowed, ready to receive Luo Wei’s instructions.
“Why are you standing here?” Luo Wei asked Long Tang. “Why not enter the hall?”
Long Tang replied, “This nephew can kowtow outside the hall; there is no need to get close and disturb His Highness inside.”
Luo Wei scrutinized Long Tang’s attire and noticed that although he wore the formal clothes of the imperial family, the garments appeared old and worn at the seams. “Since you are already here, come with me,” Luo Wei felt pity for Long Tang, realizing he was likely another illegitimate child bullied within his own home. Despite being called an imperial price, his life might not be as comfortable as that of an ordinary officials’ child.
“Yes,” Long Tang didn’t refuse. After Luo Wei spoke, he followed alongside Luo Wei’s palanquin.
Meanwhile, Long Xuan had received the report from Fu Dao and knew that Luo Wei had arrived. He brought Long Xiao out of the hall to welcome Luo Wei. Luo Wei had just recovered slightly, and it was winter – Long Xuan really didn’t want Luo Wei to make this trip. But this was Long Xiao’s bride-fetching ceremony, and if he refused, both the uncle and nephew might harbor resentment against him.
As Luo Wei arrived at the gate of Qingwen Hall, Long Tang took the initiative to help Luo Wei dismount from the palanquin. Luo Wei didn’t mind and allowed Long Tang to help him down.
When Long Xuan walked out of Qingwen Hall and saw Long Tang assisting Luo Wei, he immediately exclaimed, “What are you trying to do, Long Tang?!”
Hearing Long Xuan’s shout, Luo Wei turned his gaze towards him, surprised by the panic in Long Xuan’s voice.
“Sixth Uncle,” Long Tang called out softly when Luo Wei looked at Long Xuan.
“What?” Luo Wei was about to turn back to Long Tang when a stab of pain shot through his abdomen.
Long Xuan was rushing over, but could only watch helplessly as Long Tang stabbed Luo Wei in the belly with a dagger.
Everything happened too quickly. By the time Ten reacted, slapped Long Tang away and reached to support Luo Wei, Luo Wei still couldn’t comprehend what had happened.
Long Xuan watched in horror as Long Tang stabbed Luo Wei. He rushed to his side, pale as a sheet.
At that moment, Luo Wei hadn’t yet felt the pain. He simply stared blankly at the dagger lodged in his abdomen, unable to understand why Long Tang would attack him. It was their first meeting, and if this weren’t Long Xiang’s child, Luo Wei wouldn’t have spared him a second glance.
“The physicians, call the imperial physicians!” Long Xuan shouted hoarsely, cradling Luo Wei in his arms.
The originally joyous atmosphere in Qingwen Hall vanished in an instant, replaced by Long Xuan’s roars of anguish.
“Mother,” Long Tang, knocked down by Ten’s slap, suddenly laughed loudly. “Your son has avenged you!”
The crazed laughter echoed ominously in front of Qingwen Hall’s main gate.
“He…” Luo Wei looked at Long Tang, utterly bewildered.
“He’s Lady Gao’s son1. How could you let him near you?” Long Xuan carried Luo Wei away, his mind in turmoil. Although Qingwen Hall had plenty of chambers, Long Xuan only wanted to take Luo Wei back to Yi Jin Garden.
“Seize him!” Long Xiao ordered. He was no better off than Long Xuan and was shaking all over.
Lady Gao? Luo Wei didn’t have time to contemplate who this Lady Gao was. He passed out in Long Xuan’s arms, the dagger still embedded in his abdomen. The wound hadn’t yet begun bleeding, but the excruciating pain was already unbearable for the extremely weak Luo Wei.
Long Xuan had never run so fast in his life. He could feel Luo Wei’s life slipping away in his hands.
Imperial Physician Wei wasn’t with Luo Wei at Qingwen Hall; he was sitting under the tung tree in the courtyard, basking in the sun. When he saw Long Xuan rushing in carrying Luo Wei, he exclaimed, “Your Majesty, what happened to His Highness?” Overwhelmed, he forgot about courtesies and jumped up from his seat, hurrying to Long Xuan’s side.
“He was stabbed. Quick, take a look!” Long Xuan didn’t stop, heading straight to Luo Wei’s chambers.
Imperial Physician Wei followed behind Long Xuan, not yet seeing the dagger in Luo Wei’s abdomen. However, the word “stabbed” was enough to tell him that something terrible had happened.
“Luo Wei, Luo Wei,” Long Xuan called out loudly after laying Luo Wei on the bed.
“Your Majesty, let this subject examine him,” Imperial Physician Wei pushed Long Xuan aside.
Long Xuan didn’t blame Imperial Physician Wei for his rudeness. “See how he is,” he urged.
Only then did Imperial Physician Wei see the dagger plunged deep into Luo Wei’s belly and nearly collapsed on the bed.
“Hurry up!” Long Xuan, seeing Imperial Physician Wei’s fearful expression, shoved him towards Luo Wei, nearly knocking him onto the bed.
Turning around, regardless of whether anyone was outside, Imperial Physician Wei shouted, “Fetch hemostatic powder from the imperial hospital for treating knife wounds! Quickly!”
“Aren’t you going to remove the dagger?” Long Xuan was now beside himself, his eyes staring at Imperial Physician Wei.
Imperial Physician Wei took a deep breath, struggling to compose himself, “It is not the time to remove it yet. Once the dagger is pulled out, he’ll start bleeding. Without hemostatic powder, if the bleeding can’t be stopped, His Highness will be in danger.”
“Nothing can happen to him!” Long Xuan shouted loudly.
“Yes,” Imperial Physician Wei said as he began to unbutton Luo Wei’s clothes. “His Highness cannot be harmed.”
When the physicians arrived with the hemostatic powder at Yi Jin Garden, Imperial Physician Wei had already given Luo Wei a bowl of ginseng soup, and Luo Wei had regained consciousness.
Imperial Physician Wei instructed the physicians to prepare the powder while ordering someone to elevate Luo Wei’s head.
Before anyone could touch Luo Wei again, Long Xuan stepped forward, cradling Luo Wei, “Are you going to remove the dagger now?”
Imperial Physician Wei saw the prepared styptic powder a physician held out, folded a cloth into several layers, and placed it in Luo Wei’s mouth for him to bite down on. “Your Highness, this will be painful. Bear with it!”
- So I’m a bit confused because in chapter 446 it clearly says the child in her womb did not survive the torture after she was arrested. I guess it was a previous child that she had. ↩︎
Boundless Dao 
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