This time, Emperor Xing Wu did not rage. He was very calm, but the calmness felt somehow more threatening than his usual rage did.
Everyone knew that the Liu family from Xi Yuan was at an end.
As far as Long Xuan went, the letters exchanged with Si Ma Zhu Xie were all by Liu Shuang Shi’s hands. Liu Shuang Shi was extremely careful to not mention Long Xuan’s name in any of the letters, and didn’t leave anything that would incriminate his nephew. Thus, Long Xuan escaped this near calamity.
Luo Wei returned to the estate. He’d barely made it to the door when his father’s attendant summoned him to his father’s study.
“This is all your doing?” Luo Zhi Qiu asked at the sight of Luo Wei.
Luo Wei answered, “Not all by myself.”
Luo Zhi Qiu and Liu Shuang Shi had struggled with one another for half a lifetime. He didn’t think that in the end, it would be his son who brought Liu Shuang Shi down.
“Father,” Luo Wei posed a question to Luo Zhi Qiu, “Do you think His Imperial Majesty is going to go easy on the junior chancellor this time?”
Luo Zhi Qiu answered frankly, “Treason and betrayal of one’s own nation, Liu Shuang Shi dug his own grave.”
Luo Wei nodded, “Almost all of the soldiers that the Liu family control are at Yun Guan, overseen by my eldest brother. The ones that are left in the capital are all civil ministers. His Imperial Majesty should have nothing to worry about.”
Luo Zhi Qiu didn’t betray any happiness on his face. He only waved Luo Wei over, “Let me see your hand. Have all your injuries healed up?”
Luo Wei asked while extending his hand for Luo Zhi Qiu to check over, “Father, are you not happy?”
Luo Zhi Qiu checked Luo Wei’s finger as carefully as Emperor Xing Wu had done before him, “What is there to be happy about? One Liu Shuang Shi cut down, and other Liu Shuang Shi’s will rise in his place. Wei Er, did you think that we would be able to live peacefully without the Liu family around?”
Luo Wei asked, “Who’s going to be the next Junior Chancellor?”
Luo Zhi Qiu replied, “His Imperial Majesty requested the forestry minister(1) Qiu Che to be transferred to the capital half a month ago. Qiu Che used to be the emperor’s studying companion. I believe this Minister Qiu is going to be the next Junior Chancellor.”
Qiu Che? Luo Wei didn’t know this name at all.
Luo Zhi Qiu let Luo Wei’s hand go, “Minister Qiu’s fifth younger sister is Concubine Qiu Yi, he’s the ninth prince’s uncle.”
Ninth prince? The ninth prince’s name was Long Yi, Emperor Xing Wu’s youngest son. Luo Wei did his best to remember, but after a while, he could only recall that in the past life, this prince was just a grand prince with absolutely no ambitions.
Luo Zhi Qiu followed, “Concubine Li is also pregnant. Even if the second prince has no chance, did you think no one else would be interested in the throne in the Crown Prince’s hall?”
Luo Wei looked dumbstruck.
Luo Zhi Qiu said, “Even if the Liu family fell, Liu Shuang Shi’s disciples are still around, the second prince is not going to be left all by his lonesome for long.”
It only took a second for Luo Wei’s expression to change, “Father, you’re saying that I did things too hurriedly this time. We’ve only lead the fire to the Junior Chancellor, but it won’t stop the second prince from vying for the throne?”
Luo Zhi Qiu pulled Luo Wei to sit beside, “The situation this time was a chance in a thousand. If we let it go, then there would be no way to get rid of the Liu family. Once the Liu family falls, support for the second prince suffers as well. Everyone knows that Liu Shuang Shi is the second prince’s own uncle, and who did this uncle do all these things for is a question that anyone with a brain would know the answer to.”
Luo Wei’s eyes turned in thought, “Father is saying that we should investigate the second prince?”
“Of course,” Luo Zhi Qiu answered, “But we won’t need to. The wall falls not from the push of a single man, we don’t need to add our hands to it.”
Luo Wei frowned, “And the Junior Chancellor’s disciple won’t help their master?”
Luo Zhi Qiu explained, “I’m afraid that these people just happen to be the ones who want Liu Shuang Shi to die the most right now,” Seeing that Luo Wei didn’t quite understand, Luo Zhi Qiu went further, “Liu Shuang Shi betrayed and sold our nation out to the enemy, the closer they are to him, the more afraid they are of being pulled down with him.”
Luo Wei understood, “So the person who wants the Junior Chancellor to die the most would be the second prince himself?”
Luo Zhi Qiu nodded once.
Luo Wei suddenly felt like laughing. With the way things were, what were the Liu family losing their lives over? “I understand now,” Luo Wei said to Luo Zhi Qiu, “I won’t say anything more about this in front of His Imperial Majesty.”
FOOTNOTES:
1. Forestry Minister – The original text is yu hou, which according to research is a position in historical China. The position entails overseeing or managing specific types of lands called shan zhe, the English translations of which are very vague, and allude to wildlands.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES:
Man, the translation for that specific position stumped me so much that I had to leave this translation half finished last night and only finished it tonight. I had originally thought he was a marquis because “hou” usually means some rank like marquis or duke or whatever, but it turns out that it has a different meaning…
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