"It was Sima Zhuxie who killed himself and rid the world of his evil," Sun Li would not admit that his master ascended to the throne with his brother's blood on his hands as Long Xuan said.
"Luo Wei is a prince," Long Xuan didn't want to talk about the throne with Sun Li anymore. He explained directly: "If Emperor Sima Qingsha wants Luo Wei as a hostage, as long as it prevents war from ensuing in the north, my father will agree."
"A hostage," Sun Li said the word several times in succession.
"As long as he does not die in Northern Yan," Long Xuan said, "Emperor Sima Qingsha can do whatever he wants with Luo Wei.”
"His beloved son, how could your royal father send Luo Wei as a hostage?" Sun Li said, "Your Highness, is this not wishful thinking?"
"You are just a courtier, there are some things you don't understand,” Long Xuan said. Seeing Sun Li’s puzzled look, he added, "No amount of favor can compare to this country that has been handed down by our ancestors."
"Why should I trust you?" Sun Li instinctively found that Long Xuan was untrustworthy. After dealing with Luo Wei, Sun Li felt that the people of Great Zhou were too deceitful.
"As long as your Emperor Sima Qingsha believes me, it’s fine." Long Xuan didn't care about Sun Li's thoughts at all, "You tell him that as long as you do what I say, Luo Wei will fall into his hands. This is an opportunity bestowed by the heavens. If Luo Wei changes his surname to Long, recognizes his ancestors and returns to his roots, and becomes king of our Great Zhou, your Emperor Sima Qingsha will not be able to catch Luo Wei again in his lifetime."
Sun Li sat silently. He couldn't accept Long Xuan's words at once.
"I won’t keep you anymore," Long Xuan finished speaking and called Fu Yun to see off the guest. He said to Sun Li, "Return to Northern Yan as soon as possible."
"What if my lord isn’t willing?" Sun Li asked.
"He will be willing," Long Xuan affirmed.
Sun Li got up to go out.
Long Xuan untied the dragon-patterned jade pendant around his waist, and threw it to Sun Li, "This is my token, you go back and give it to Emperor Sima Qingsha."
Sun Li took the jade pendant with one hand. He tucked it in his lapels, and walked out.
"If you get caught again," Long Xuan said behind Sun Li, "No one will believe what I said to you today, so it's better not to say it. This jade pendant, I could have lost it, or it could have been stolen by you, so don’t expect me to save you.”
“You really hate him that much?” Sun Li was still entangled in this. He turned around again and asked Long Xuan: "You should also know that Luo Wei will not have a good life if he falls into my Lord’s hands. Even if he is your enemy, he is also your younger brother. Do you not care about his life and death?"
Long Xuan said, "Will you kill the hostage? If Emperor Sima Qingsha kills Luo Wei, he would be criticized by all nations. I believe Northern Yan can't afford to lose face again now."
"What if he lives a life worse than death?" Sun Li said, "Isn't this more painful?"
Long Xuan was silent for a moment, and said, "There is only one dragon chair, so I will get rid of Luo Wei."
“You are using us?"
“Sima Qingsha gets Luo Wei and avenges his father, and I have another chance to seize the throne. This is simply mutual benefit."
"Luo Wei will become a hostage, but there will be one day when he will return to the country. He can still ascend the throne," Sun Li asked, "What will you do then?"
“Everything has to be done patiently," Long Xuan said, "This is just the first step. If the first step is not taken, you can't talk about the rest."
Sun Li took a last look at Long Xuan. He didn't think that one day a pleasing and handsome face like this would make his hair stand on end. Looking at Long Xuan, and then thinking about the chaos in Northern Yan, what is the throne of Jiangshan? Sun Li asked himself, is it the fine nectar that grants humans immortality, or the poisonous plants and evil flowers that seduce people and turn them into demons?
Fu Yun watched Sun Li leave, and then walked back inside. Just a few steps into the small courtyard, he heard the sound of a tea cup smashing. "Your Highness?" Fu Yun was worried that something had happened to Long Xuan, so he ran quickly, pushed the door open and entered the room.
"Get out!" Long Xuan's hand was covering his face, and he leaned back on the chair. By his feet was a celadon tea cup, broken into five or six fragments. [1]
Fu Yun quickly backed out, not daring to go in further, and stood guard outside the door.
Long Xuan sat alone for a long time. He put down his hands, and looked at the lattice window facing him. It was already dusk. Outside the window, the sun was setting, and the unlit room was dark and cold. Feeling the moisture on his face, Long Xuan touched it with his hands, only to realize that at some point, tears had started streaming down his face. The moment he saw Sun Li, he had already thought of this in his heart. It was an evil idea, Long Xuan himself knew it, but he finally turned this evil thought into reality.
"Luo Wei, don't blame me," Long Xuan wiped away the tears on his face, and whispered to himself: "I can give up anything, except this country. I had no other way, but the Heavens gave me such an opportunity, so I can't let it go!"
Shangdu, thousands of miles away.
The lamp on Luo Wei's desk exploded with a snap. [2]
"Ugh!" Hearing the sound, Luo Wei raised his head from the pile of documents in annoyance, and suddenly became upset, throwing the pen in his hand to the ground.
Wei Lan picked up the wick at the side. Seeing Luo Wei like this, he said: "If you are tired, take a break. It's useless for you to strain yourself with this paperwork. These can't all be finished in a day."
Luo Wei said, "Lan, what do you think went wrong? I can't handle His Majesty anymore, and what's wrong with my father? So many official documents piled up here all at once, do they really think I'm going to be the prime minister?"
"Aren’t there things going wrong everywhere now?" Wei Lan picked up the pen that Luo Wei threw on the ground, and said, "If the young master is capable, you can do a little more. It can be regarded as helping the Senior Chancellor."
"He has so many subordinates, they can help him with this," Luo Wei pushed aside the half-read document in front of him, "There's no need for me to read it! What are these?"
Wei Lan stretched his head to look at the document that Luo Wei had pushed away. It was another urgent report asking for disaster relief, "If it's really about saving lives, young master, please approve the funds.”
"I also need to grant silver to the imperial court." Luo Wei hugged his head, "Lan, this is the first time I realized that the court has no money left to spend."
“What?" Luo Wei had just learnt about it, so Wei Lan couldn't even imagine it. He asked Luo Wei: "I also heard the Prime Minister say that the court has no silver. How can the officials have no money?”
"Of course there is no money if it only goes out but not in," Luo Wei said.
"I still don't understand," Wei Lan said honestly.
"This is like," Luo Wei wanted to explain this to Wei Lan, but he couldn't find an appropriate and simple metaphor all of a sudden, "What should I say?" Luo Wei became annoyed again, and said to Wei Lan, "If you don't understand, then don't try. This is something that the elders have to worry about. It has nothing to do with us."
Wei Lan walked behind Luo Wei, and kneaded Luo Wei's shoulders to relieve his fatigue, "This has nothing to do with me, but does it have nothing to do with the young master? If the Senior Chancellor heard the young master say that, he would want to have a word with you again."
Through the back of the chair, Luo Wei leaned into Wei Lan's touch, and said softly, "Lan, I want to go with you right now."
Wei Lan stopped his hand for a moment and said, "To Xuanzhou?"
"Yes," Luo Wei looked at the mountain of documents in front of him. His words carried a lot of expectation, "I really want to find a quiet place there, and live the life I want to live. Lan, will you stay with me?"
“Yes," Wei Lan said, "I will not leave the young master."
Luo Wei raised his head, Wei Lan bent down. Their lips touched, and in the next second they were inseparable.
Translator Notes:
[1] 瓣 can also mean petal.
In this scene, Long Xuan has petals by his feet and looks out the lattice window (花窗 lit. flower window). I felt this detail was relevant considering this scene follows Sun Li's thoughts on the throne as a poisonous flower.
[2] The pronunciation of "snap" 啪 is pā . Somehow, this sentence also has the character for flower 花 huā on it.
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