Luo Zhiqiu hurried to the Changming Palace. As soon as he entered the palace, he found that the atmosphere there was not right. None of the eunuchs who served in the hall could be found. There was only Emperor Xingwu, sitting behind the imperial desk like a stone statue. Even after Luo Zhiqiu had bowed three times and kowtowed nine times to Emperor Xingwu, Emperor Xingwu still didn't respond, as if he hadn’t noticed his presence. "Your Majesty?" Luo Zhiqiu could only amplify his voice and call out.

Luo Zhiqiu's voice seemed to waken Emperor Xingwu. He lifted his eyes to look at Luo Zhiqiu, and raised his hand to let him rise.

"Your Majesty summoned this minister urgently. What is his majesty’s command?" Luo Zhiqiu asked.

"This is the peace treaty written by Sima Qingsha of Northern Yan, please take a look," Emperor Xingwu said, throwing the treaty written by Sima Qingsha himself to Luo Zhiqiu.

Luo Zhiqiu had been prime minister for years, and he had seen many treaties — nothing more than silver, grain and land. Picking up the document, he thought that there was something amiss with Emperor Xingwu's expression. Maybe the amount of silver Sima Qingsha requested was too unreasonable? Unexpectedly, only a few lines in, Luo Zhiqiu dropped the treaty on the ground, "This, how is this, how is this possible?!" Luo Zhiqiu was almost shouting at Emperor Xingwu. Sima Qingsha's peace treaty clearly stated that Emperor Xingwu of the Great Zhou Dynasty loved his son, Luo Wei. How did Sima Qingsha know this secret?

"How many people know about this?" Emperor Xingwu asked Luo Zhiqiu.

Luo Zhiqiu answered subconsciously, "I have never said a word about this matter, this minister has never wanted Luo Wei to leave my Luo family!" 

Emperor Xingwu saw that Luo Zhiqiu looked out of place, and also believed that Luo Zhiqiu was not the one responsible for exposing the secret. When he had first read the treaty, Emperor Xingwu breath hitched and he nearly fainted, and he almost ordered the Northern Yan envoy to be dragged out of the palace to have his body torn into pieces. "It's impossible for me to send Luo Wei away!" Emperor Xingwu shouted back at Luo Zhiqiu.

"Send him away?" Luo Zhiqiu bent down to pick up the treaty after hearing Emperor Xingwu's words. He read it quickly. Seeing that Sima Qingsha wanted Luo Wei to go to Northern Yan’s Hefang city, Luo Zhiqiu's head felt dizzy for a moment. He is demanding Luo Wei as a hostage? Sima Qingsha had deep hatred for Luo Wei. If Luo Wei went to the Northern Yan, would he survive?

"I'm going to ask the Empress Dowager!" Emperor Xingwu hadn't thought about what would happen to Luo Wei if he went to the Northern Yan. His thoughts were set on who could have told the people of the Norterhan Yan that Luo Wei was the emperor's son. Obviously it wasn’t himself, nor Luo Zhiqiu, so it could only be the Empress Dowager.

"Your Majesty," Luo Zhiqiu saw that Emperor Xingwu was going to the Empress Dowager.Afraid that Emperor Xingwu would have another conflict with her, he hurriedly called out to stop him.

"You wait here," Emperor Xingwu couldn't listen to anything now. He asked Luo Zhiqiu to wait in the Changming Palace, and was about to leave the hall.

"Your Majesty," Luo Zhiqiu stood in front of Emperor Xingwu, blocking his path, and said, "I don't think it's possible for it to have been the Empress Dowager." 

"Besides the Empress Dowager, only you and I know about it," Emperor Xingwu said, "If not the Empress Dowager, then was it you?"

"Even if I die, I won't harm Wei'er!" Luo Zhiqiu was in a hurry, and in front of Emperor Xingwu, he also called Luo Wei Wei'er.

"Then tell me, who the hell was it?!"

Luo Zhiqiu couldn't figure it out.

Emperor Xingwu stood there for a while. His mind calmed down a bit, and he said to Luo Zhiqiu, "Come to the Hall of the Eastern Buddha with me."

Luo Zhiqiu wanted to tell Emperor Xingwu that it would be pointless to look for whoever leaked the secret at this time. Instead, they should be thinking about what to do about Sima Qingsha's peace treaty. However, Emperor Xingwu was truly angry, and at the moment he was in no position to calm down and think rationally about things. Luo Zhiqiu had to swallow back his plea, and follow the emperor to the Eastern Buddha Hall.

The Empress Dowager was still in the small Buddhist hall dedicated to Guanyin. Seeing Emperor Xingwu push open the door and enter, followed by Luo Zhiqiu, the Empress Dowager was startled.

After Emperor Xingwu entered the hall, he did not salute the Empress Dowager, but just stood there and glared at her.

Luo Zhiqiu closed the door of the temple.

The idlers outside were all cleared away by the imperial guards to ensure that the conversation between mother and son in this small Buddhist hall would not be overheard.

"What's the matter?" The Empress Dowager saw from Emperor Xingwu’s posture that he was not here to pay her respects. Irritated, she said, "Your Majesty, you’ve come to see aijia. What did I do to make His Majesty dissatisfied?"

"Luo Wei’s matter," Emperor Xingwu didn't bother being roundabout with her now. He asked directly, "Did you divulge it?" 

“Luo Wei?" The Empress Dowager said, "What's wrong with that little bastard?"

"You answer my words!" Emperor Xingwu clenched his hands into fists when the Empress Dowager swore at Luo Wei again. Holding back his anger, he said, "Don't insult him any more!"

“I stay here in the Hall of the Eastern Buddha, fasting and chanting Buddha's name, [1]” said the Empress Dowager "I can't control Luo Wei's affairs even if I wanted to." 

Luo Zhiqiu thought about it. The Empress Dowager knew of Luo Wei’s lineage, that was true, but she had been imprisoned in the Eastern Buddha Palace all along. How would the Empress Dowager reveal Luo Wei's roots? How would she inform Sima Qingsha? Luo Zhiqiu entered the hall and saw how heavy the security was in this place. He felt that it would have been impossible for the Empress Dowager to have leaked information to the outside, "Your Majesty," Luo Zhiqiu called Emperor Xingwu. He wanted the emperor to stop talking to the Empress Dowager. It would be better for her not to know of the Northern Yan’s peace treaty.

"Then how did Sima Qingsha of the Northern Yan know that Luo Wei is my son?" Emperor Xingwu's question came out faster than Luo Zhiqiu's words.

The Empress Dowager looked at Emperor Xingwu with great interest. From her son's distraught appearance, something bad must have happened to Luo Wei. If Luo Wei was not well, then the Empress Dowager was happy, "How, you ask?" The Empress Dowager asked Emperor Xingwu, "So what if Sima Qingsha knows that Luo Wei is the emperor's son? Will he marry Luo Wei as his concubine? That face of his is enough, but no matter how beautiful, he is still a man, right?"

The Empress Dowager said that Luo Wei would be humiliated, which made Emperor Xingwu, who loved his son, even more furious. Before even thinking about it, he rushed to accuse her, "Sure enough, you really want Wei'er to fall into Sima Qingsha's hands?!"

The previous night Long Xuan had ordered someone to tell the Empress Dowager that the Great Zhou and the Northern Yan were fighting at the foot of Black Frost City. The Empress Dowager pondered over it all night, but she couldn't figure out why Long Xuan had asked someone to inform her about this. Whether Black Frost City is kept or lost, it seems that it has nothing to do with her, the imprisoned Empress Dowager. But now, thinking about Luo Wei and Sima Qingsha, the Empress Dowager seems to understand a little bit.

"Your Majesty," Luo Zhiqiu finally had a chance to speak when the royal mother and son were in a stalemate. He said to Emperor Xingwu, "I think the Empress Dowager is ignorant of this matter, so I ask Your Majesty to please return to Changmin Hall."

"A hostage?" The Empress Dowager said right then.

Emperor Xingwu and Luo Zhiqiu stiffened at the same time.

The Empress Dowager laughed. Long Xuan had ordered someone to take the risk to sneak in and tell her about the war that was about to ensue. The Empress Dowager understood.

"It was really you?" The answer was in front of his eyes, but Emperor Xingwu couldn't believe it.

"That's right," the Empress Dowager ceased her joyous laughter. Her wish fulfilled, she said to Emperor Xingwu with a satisfied smile, "It was me."

Translator Notes:

[1] 吃斋 - fasting / abstaining from meat

Sorry to keep you all waiting. From now on I'll update more slowly, but I'll try to post at least once or twice a month. I'm also slowly editing some of the previous chapters according to the notes Cyrrene, one of the previous translators, has kindly shared with me.

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