After Luo Wei joked around with Luo Ze, he asked Luo Zhi Qiu, “Father, has His Imperial Majesty made a decision about the second prince going to the south?”

Luo Zhi Qiu watched as Wei Lan exited the room with the small table in hand before answering, “Grand Scholar Zhou was trying to stop him, so His Imperial Majesty is still trying to decide.

“The second prince wants to go south?” Luo Ze asked, “Then let him go, otherwise he’s just going to make trouble for us here.”

Luo Wei quickly answered, “It’s better if he stays in the capital. That way, no mater what he does, we’ll be able to watch him. Once he heads south, who knows what he’ll do?”

Luo Zhi Qiu nodded, “Wei Er, do you really think it’d be better if the second prince stayed here?”

Luo Wei answered, “If there was nothing to gain for him in the south, then why would he actively seek the crown prince’s help in going there?”

Luo Zhi Qiu then asked, “And what about the crown prince’s assassination this time, what are your thoughts about that?”

Luo Wei had been thinking about this question, but he hasn’t been ale to come up with anything, “Chancellor Qiu said he was going to investigate it,” He looked at his father and brother, “Perhaps we should wait to see what he comes up with.”

“Qiu Che?” Luo Ze made a noise of discontent, “That man is up to no good!”

“What are you complaining about?” Luo Zhi Qiu yelled at Luo Ze, “Is anyone up to any good in your eyes?”

“Why is Chancellor Qiu up to no good?” Luo Wei asked Luo Ze.

Luo Ze lowered his voice, “You’ve been ill for all these days, and we didn’t want to say anything about the stuff going on outside. After this Qiu Che came to the capital, he managed to pull god know how many of his own people to court. Father couldn’t even say no.”

Upon hearing this, Luo Wei only smiled. It was only natural that Emperor Xing Wu wouldn’t want the Luo family be the only pillar at court. His support for Qiu Che’s rise was something Luo Wei had already suspected. As he thought of Qiu Che, Luo Wei suddenly realized something, and asked Luo Zhi Qiu, “Father, do you want the second prince to leave the capital and head south?”

Luo Zhi Qiu sat in front of Luo Wei’s bed. He had already grown tired and disgusted about everything at court, but now was not the right time for him to leave, “Wei Er, you have to know that the tree that grows taller than the rest of the forest is in danger of felling by the wind. Having the crown prince face all the animosity at court alone can never be a good thing.”

Luo Ze didn’t quite understand what his old man was saying, but it seems that Luo Wei understood. It was only that if Luo Zhi Qiu truly intended for Long Xuan to stand in front of Long Yu, and thus help shield Long Yu from the desire of the throne from other princes, it might be an impossible task.

“Wei Er,” Luo Zhi Qiu asked just then, “Are you afraid of the second prince?”

Luo Wei startled, him? Afraid of the second prince?

“I don’t think Qiu Che would agree to the second prince’s request to head south either,” Luo Zhi Qiu’s brows furrowed slightly, “We don’t need to do anything. Even if the crown prince wanted to help, once the Grand Scholar Zhou rejects the proposal, the crown prince will change his tune too.”

“Man,” Luo Ze grew impatient. It annoyed him to even have to listen to these matters of court, “Xiao Wei, you don’t know yet, do you? Grand Scholar Zhou wants you to be his son-in-law!”

“What?” Luo Wei was startled yet again, what was this now?

“The seventh daughter of the Zhou family, they’re promising her to you,” Luo Ze thought that for once, Luo Wei looked a little stupid, “Aren’t you happy to get a wife?”

Luo Wei finally managed to understand and come up with the proper response. Zhou Ning Wen was gifting his daughter to him, “Doesn’t he know that I’m very ill?” Luo Wei’s expression suddenly soured, “Promising me his daughter? Is he interested in me, or interested in our family’s power?”

Luo Ze was happy originally when he mentioned this, but hearing Luo Wei, his smile disappeared in an instant, “Xiao Wei, what’s wrong with your body? Are you ill again? Aren’t you better than before?”

“This Zhou Ning Wen isn’t a great guy either,” Luo Wei answered, “Father, brother, you shouldn’t pay attention to people like this.”

“When did Zhou Ning Wen cross you?” Luo Ze asked.

“If we had a younger sister, would you be happy to marry her off to a sickly little noble like me?” Luo Wei asked.

“What are you talking about?” Luo Ze grew unhappy, “Why are you calling yourself a sickly little noble? Do you know how many young daughters of prestigious families want to be betrothed to you?”

“Brother, you found your own wife, why can’t I find my own? I want to find someone for myself.”

“That’s different.”

“How is that different?”

“Alright, alright,” Luo Zhi Qiu saw the two of them were about to get into it, so he piped up first, “All you had to say is that you don’t like the idea. I’ll let Grand Scholar Zhou know.”

“Then what kind of girl do you like?” Luo Ze wouldn’t let it go, and asked Luo Wei.

“Girl?” Luo Wei grinned, half serious and half joking, “I didn’t say anything about liking girls.”

“If you didn’t like girls, are you trying to say that you like men?” Luo Ze suddenly remembered the rumours in the past about how Luo Wei was into Long Xuan, but no one was repeating those rumours now. Could it be that this kid really liked men?

“What?” Luo Wei asked Luo Ze, “Are you trying to say that you don’t want me as your little brother if I liked men?”

“You,” Luo Ze looked at Luo Wei for a good while before managing to say, “You really like guys?”

“Well, now’s not the time to talk about this,” Luo Wei suddenly laughed, “Wow, I didn’t think you’d be this bad at taking a joke.”

“How can you joke about stuff like this?!” If it weren’t for the fact that Luo Wei was sick, Luo Ze would show his little brother what’s what.

Wei Lan entered with the medicine.

“You should rest after you take the medicine,” Luo Zhi Qiu wanted to chat with Luo Wei more about the crown prince, but he saw that Luo Wei was looking worse than he had in the day time, and decided that no matter what he had to say, he’ll find another time for it.

Luo Wei nodded. He was getting tired. His brain was still going, but his body was yearning for sleep.

“What are we going to do about the crown prince? Is there no plan?” Once they had exited Luo Wei’s bedroom, Luo Ze couldn’t hold it in anymore and asked Luo Zhi Qiu, “Who did His Imperial Majesty send to investigate this thing?”

“Quietly,” Luo Zhi Qiu waved a hand at Luo Ze, “Don’t wake your brother.”

The only thing Luo Ze could do was follow Luo Zhi Qiu out of the part of the estate that was Luo Wei’s, then he asked, “So who did he send? Are we just going to leave it like this?”

“He didn’t send anyone,” Luo Zhi Qiu stood at the corner of the gate, replying in a quiet tone, “I don’t know what His Imperial Majesty is up to. I want to wait until Xie Yu wakes up, and ask him what really happened.”

“Do you think the crown prince brought it on himself?” Luo Ze quickly asked, “Could there be something we don’t know?”

“The floods in the south,” Luo Zhi Qiu shook his head, “Anyway, it’s complicated. Let’s talk about it again when Xie Yu’s up and about.”

“If that’s no good, I can go and ask him myself,” Luo Ze grew up with the crown prince, and they’d been playmates for all that time, so their relationship is better than most people. Once he heard the reticence in Luo Zhi Qiu’s voice, he quickly said, “He’d tell me the truth if I go and ask him myself.”

“It’d be better if you spent that energy on asking the crown prince to stay away from the second prince,” Luo Zhi Qiu said, “This isn’t the time to get too concerned with brotherly love.”

“I’ve asked him to do that before, lots of times,” Luo Ze said, “But he doesn’t listen. What else am I supposed to do?”

All Luo Zhi Qiu could feel at the moment was the beginnings of a pounding headache. The crown prince, Long Yu, had a generous quality about him, and he didn’t like to compete with others. He’s rather like his mother, the empress Luo Zhi Yi in that respect, but it was this sort of personality that caused the most trouble for those standing behind them in support.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES:

hello everyone!!! Sorry for the delay of the two weeks… my grandmother got very sick so our entire family went to the hospital to stay with her. We all work so we had to take shifts to keep by her bedside, and between my new job, taking care of her, and talking to my mom about her condition, I didn’t have a lot of time to spend on translating.

She is getting better though, and will be out of the hospital tomorrow! I will be more active in translating starting next week. : ) I hope you all are safe, and your families are safe too… it’s always such a scary time when someone close to you is sick. <3 please take care everyone!!