When people are lucky, they can be sitting at home, and good things will fall from the sky. When a person is unlucky, he will choke on his own saliva. During the New Year of the Great Zhou Dynasty, when bad news reached people's ears one after another, everyone chanted "National Fortune" without any hope. Great Zhou’s fortune this year seemed to be broken.
The king and ministers of the Great Zhou Dynasty also had no intention of reliving this year. From the floods in the south to the wars in the southeast, everything was difficult to handle. On top of that, there was the drought in the northwest that accumulated from years ago, and the epidemic in Yunzhou that had been spreading all the way from the north.
Emperor Xing Wu sighed, "I had planned on recognizing Wei’er this year, but it seems that this is not a good year."
"Must Your Majesty recognize Luo Wei?" Listening to the words of Emperor Xing Wu, Luo Zhiqiu’s mental strength faltered.
"He is my son," Emperor Xing Wu was very dissatisfied with Luo Zhiqiu's sudden change of face. He said: "Wei'er is outstanding in talent. His brothers can't compare with him. Why shouldn’t I recognize him? Or is it that your Luo family wants to dominate him?!"
Luo Zhiqiu knelt down directly, "Your Majesty," he said, "I beg Your Majesty to think twice about Luo Wei's matter."
"Thinking twice about what?" Emperor Xing Wu said: "This is not a good year. In the coming year, when my Great Zhou is prosperous again, I will recognize Wei’er and will not wrong him any longer."
"Your Majesty," Luo Zhiqiu said, "You have great love for Luo Wei, this minister knows, but Your Majesty, you must not abandon the crown prince for Luo Wei's sake!"
Emperor Xing Wu thought that his intentions had been well hidden, but now Luo Zhiqiu pointed them out so bluntly. He couldn’t hang on to his face, and said angrily to Luo Zhiqiu: "What do you mean? I recognize Luo Wei, what does that have to do with the crown prince?!"
"Your Majesty!" Luo Zhiqiu kowtowed to Emperor Xing Wu: “There is something I have always wanted to say, so let me just say it today. Luo Wei has the talent, but not the heart to rule the world, let alone to love the people. I am afraid that he will disappoint His Majesty's high expectations!"
"Luo Zhiqiu!" Emperor Xing Wu slapped away the vermilion pen on the imperial desk. "Wei’er was raised by you alone, and he has always devoted himself to your Luo family! Do you think I can't see that he is against Long Xuan? Is it not out of concern for the future of your Luo family? His body is made like this, also for your Luo family! You actually say this about him? Is it possible that Luo Wei, who you raised single-handedly, is a selfish and vicious person who only cares about himself and has no regard for others?!"
Luo Zhiqiu was scolded by Emperor Xing Wu and could not hold his head up. "I had no such thoughts," he said to Emperor Xing Wu, "It's just that this country, what kind of weight does it have? I raised Luo Wei from a baby until today, and I understand his temperament. Luo Wei can't shoulder this country, Your Majesty!"
Xing Wu closed his eyes in anger. "Luo Zhiqiu, aren’t you afraid that Luo Wei’s heart will break if he hears such words? I’m really worthless to him now. He has done so much for your Luo family over the years, it turns out it’s for his own self-interest."
"I only hope that Wei’er can live a peaceful life. If there is any hardship in his life, I would be willing to take his place and suffer in his stead," Luo Zhiqiu said: "If there is even a slight falsehood in my words, my Luo family and I will not die peacefully!"
Luo Zhiqiu's sworn curse fell on himself and on the Luo family. Emperor Xing Wu was moved, but he quickly reacted and shouted at Luo Zhiqiu: “You mean that I will harm Wei'er?! Luo Zhiqiu, you are so bold!"
"Your Majesty!"
"I will give these beautiful rivers and mountains to Wei'er..."
"Your Majesty!" Luo Zhiqiu refused to let Emperor Xing Wu say this, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily: "What's wrong with the prince? He is the eldest son, and he is known as a virtuous man. If your majesty treats Luo Wei like this, where do you want to put the prince? Since ancient times, the hierarchy of young and old has been upheld and maintained the status quo, the royal family can't violate this ancient law of human relations!"
"Your Majesty," just as Emperor Xing Wu was about to argue with Luo Zhiqiu again, Zhao Fu, who was guarding outside of the hall, said loudly behind the door: “Marquis of Jinyi, the third son Luo has arrived."
The two people in the hall fell silent.
Zhao Fu wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. Emperor Xing Wu could hide Luo Wei's origins from others, but Zhao Fu, the head of the Changming Palace, never left his side. Even if the Emperor wanted to, he couldn't hide it. Zhao Fu saw Luo Wei passing through the archway and walking towards the main hall from a distance. Seeing Luo Wei approaching, he hurriedly informed the hall so that the monarch and minister would stop arguing.
Luo Wei arrived at the steps in front of the hall. He didn't know that Luo Zhiqiu was inside at the moment, and said to Zhao Fu: "Mr. Zhao, please announce me."
Zhao Fu ran down the steps, bowed his waist and said to Luo Wei: "His Majesty has permitted the young master entrance.”
"Oh, good," Luo Wei said. "Thank you, Mr. Zhao."
Zhao Fu hurriedly said, "It’s this servant’s job."
Luo Wei looked at Zhao Fu with a smile and went up the stairs to the hall.
Behind Luo Wei, Zhao Fu let out a sigh of relief. He knew how much Emperor Xing Wu favored Luo Wei. Now that even these splendid rivers and mountains should be sent to Luo Wei’s hand, Zhao Fu could only serve Luo Wei more attentively. [1]
"How come you are the only one in charge here?" Luo Wei looked at the front of the main hall of Changming. Except for Zhao Fu, there was not even a guard, so he couldn't help asking, "Is there no one else serving?"
"My lord," Zhao Fu whispered to Luo Wei: "Your Majesty is discussing important matters with Lord Luo in the palace, and no one can overhear, so there is only this one servant guarding here."
"Then did I disturb them?" Lou Wei asked.
"My lord is also here for state affairs," Zhao Fu coaxed Luo Wei, "For state affairs, it's not a disturbance."
"Mr. Zhao is also flattering me now?" Luo Wei looked at Zhao Fu with friendly but inquisitive eyes.
"My lord, please," Zhao Fu lowered his head and invited Luo Wei to enter the hall. Luo Wei entered the hall, and Zhao Fu closed the door behind him. Zhao Fu stood in front of the palace, thinking about Luo Wei, and then about Long Yu. Zhao Fu suddenly felt sorry for Long Yu, who had always strived to be filial and worthy [2], fulfilling his duty with almost no mistakes. He was nothing compared to a son who was raised outside. Where should His Highness the Crown Prince go to about this? Luo Wei was not as generous as Long Yu, so he was not easy to serve.
When Luo Wei entered, he felt that the atmosphere inside the hall was not right. After saluting Emperor Xing Wu, he looked at his father with concern. Now is an eventful time, what did father fail to do well to offend the emperor?
Emperor Xing Wu felt angry when he saw Luo Wei treating Luo Zhiqiu like this; he felt that Luo Wei still had a one-track mind. "Wei’er," Emperor Xing Wu asked, "What is the purpose of you coming to see me?”
Luo Wei quickly delivered the documents in his hand to Emperor Xing Wu’s desk. He said: "This is the inventory of silver taels and supplies cleared to be sent to the disaster-stricken areas in the south. Please have a look at it, Your Majesty.”
Emperor Xing Wu flipped through the list and asked Luo Wei, "Is there any new information from the south?"
Luo Wei said, "Yes."
"Then you tell me."
Luo Wei really stood up and diligently recited the emergency report that the Ministry of Revenue had just received to Emperor Xing Wu.
When Luo Wei was finished, Emperor Xing Wu asked Luo Zhiqiu: "Did Wei'er recite something wrong?"
Luo Zhiqiu also had a copy of the urgent report received by the Ministry of Revenue, but hadn’t had the time to read it yet, "Not that I’ve seen," he said to Emperor Xing Wu.
"Then where do you see that Wei'er has no heart for the people?" Emperor Xing Wu asked Luo Zhiqiu still: "You are busy, but Wei'er has nothing to do except sit and read the report at the Ministry of Revenue?”
Luo Wei, listening on the side, was stunned. No heart for the people? As a courtier, he just does things honestly. Does he need to love and serve the people wholeheartedly?
Translator Notes:
[1] In case it wasn’t clear before, jiānshāng 江山, lit. rivers and mountains, is the word for “country” in Chinese.
[2] 承欢 chéng huān; to cater to someone to make them happy (esp. to one's parents).
Hm, I don’t remember how previous translations went about Luo Wei’s mode of address for Zhao Fu. If people think “Mr.” is too weird, just let me know what would be better and I'll change it.
❄︎ ❄︎ ❄︎