Chapter 24

Luo Wei kept his head down and read. He said those things intentionally to Emperor Xing Wu. After all, Emperor Xing Wu had a world of wealth and didn't care much about money. However, Luo Wei doesn't believe that Emperor Xing Wu could just sit comfortably and let his ministers battle it out when he knew that someone was scheming to rob him of his throne. It doesn't matter if what Luo Wei said was true or not. If it was about the empire, Emperor Xing Wu would definitely investigate it to the very end.

They sat together until noon. Luo Wei ate lunch with the emperor. Xing Wu had ordered someone to find out from the Luo estate what Luo Wei liked to eat. He knew that the boy wasn't interested in meat lately, so this lunch was mostly vegetarian.

After lunch, Emperor Xing Wu had a habit of taking a short rest. Luo Wei took the chance and asked the emperor, "Your Imperial Majesty, may I go see the empress?"

Emperor Xing Wu gave him leave.

Luo Wei then arrived at the Hall of the Gracious Phoenix(1).

Luo Zhi Yi didn't have a bias against her nephew like Bo Hua did, she rather liked him. Though she was still startled when he showed up all of a sudden. Like others, she also thought that it was Luo Zhi Jin--her younger sister--come back to life. She recovered quickly enough and pulled him closer to ask how he was doing.

Luo Wei had more than enough ability to play cute and make people happy now. A few words here and there and he was already able to draw smiles out of the empress. On the inside, however, he was sighed heavily for Luo Zhi Yi. This aunt of his was generous and open as a person, and still retained some of her innocence even though she'd been deep in the palace for years. A woman like this couldn't survive in the depths of the Back Palaces if she fell out of favor with the emperor. Luo Zhi Yi's days had become arduous when she became estranged from the emperor in the past life. It was only then that she had thought of plotting for herself, a last ditch attempt at competition, but she didn't have the skills. So her final end was to see her family be destroyed, her title as empress be taken away, and eventually commit suicide in the Cold Palace.

After he was done charming Luo Zhi Yi and making her happy, Luo Wei bid her goodbye and excused himself.

A few steps out of the Hall of the Gracious Phoenix, Luo Wei addressed the one who saw him off quietly. This man was the head eunuch of the Hall of the Gracious Phoenix, Shang Xi, "Mister(2), do you know a place where we could have a few private words with each other?"

Shang Shi lead Luo Wei to a quiet, secluded spot.

Without saying anything, Luo Wei took the jade ornament hanging from his belt and handed it to Shang Xi.

"Young Master?" Shang Xi startled, and hurriedly got on his knees, "This humble servant is not worthy."

Luo Wei bent down and helped Shang Xi up. He didn't question this elder eunuch's loyalty. In the past life, when the empress had died by her own hand, everyone had pretended that nothing had happened. This eunuch was the only person who found his own way to the Cold Palace, and observed proper rites by poisoning himself so he could follow his mistress to her death. He certainly didn't do it out of desperation, considering he'd already been dispatched to the Hall of Eternal Light two years before. The empress' death made no direct impact on his position.

"Young Master, what are you doing this for?" Shang Xi asked Luo Wei quietly.

"Do you not like this piece of jade?" Luo Wei asked back.

Shang Xi answered quickly, "This humble servant doesn't dare, but I can't accept a reward if I haven't done anything to deserve it."

"I was in the Hall of Eternal Light just now and heard Doctor Sun reporting to the emperor. He said that Consort Liu was having issues with her pregnancy," Luo Wei kept his voice low as he spoke to Shang Xi, "For the next few days, I want you to keep a close eye on Consort Liu's residence at the Hall of the Blossoming Beauty(3)."

Shang Xi asked, "Is Consort Liu going to do something to Her Imperial Majesty?"

Luo Wei responded, "We can't be too careful. From the imperial physician's tone, he's scared that this pregnancy will end in a miscarriage. Don't let her use this as an excuse to start trouble. I'll be in the palace for the next few days. If anything happens, find a way to get news to me as soon as you can."

"Young Master..." Shang Xi was a little confused. Could he trust this young master from the Luo family?

Luo Wei smiled lightly, "Her Imperial Majesty is my own aunt, how could I harm my own people?"

It was because of this sentence that Shang Xi agreed to the order.

"Take it, you deserve it," Luo Wei tucked the jade ornament into Shang Xi's arms, "Just remember, don't let Her Imperial Majesty know about this."

"Yes, this humble servant understands." Shang Xi took the jade in his hands. He could tell from touch that this was an expensive piece, Luo Wei had given him a valuable gift.

Luo Wei turned to leave, and Shang Xi pretended nothing had happened as he returned to the Hall of the Gracious Phoenix.

For the next few days, Luo Wei slept over in the Hall of Eternal Light. This gave him better insight into Emperor Xing Wu's daily life. Everyday, he received morning audience, then made comments on the imperial missives or discussed national matters with ministers in the Hall of Eternal Light. Eating, sleeping, all of it was done in the hall, and sometimes he went to the Imperial Garden for a walk. None of the concubines from the Back Palace ever came to the Hall of Eternal Light, and the emperor didn't go to the Back Palace either. He was the emperor of a nation, but somehow seemed to live a life of abstinence.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Hall of the Gracious Phoenix - Original text says Hall of the Appearance / Bearing of the Phoenix. This translation will be used in the interest of conserving words, and to pull in the connotation of gracefulness in the word used in the original text.

2. Mister - Luo Wei addressed Shang Xi as "gong gong" in the original text. This can be translated as "grandpa" in English, and is to show deference and respect to the eunuch since they're so influential in the palace. However, "gong gong" is used no matter the age of the eunuch in question, and grandpa in English sounds insulting, as if Luo Wei is making fun of Shang Xi's age. "Mister" will be used when addressing eunuchs in a respectful way.

3. Hall of the Blossoming Beauty - Again, name translations are dicey. The choice was made early on that these halls will have translated names as opposed to romanized names because in a lot of academic texts, translations are used for the real halls and palaces of the Forbidden City. The original text says "e" which could mean maiden/beautiful woman, and "ying" which could mean heroic in modern Chinese, but in literary texts it often refers to the petals of flowers.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE:

Late update since I got very involved with work today! Thanks so much for reading along and your support! : ) Luo Zhi Yi is too nice!!! I'm glad that Luo Wei had someone who liked him no matter what, hehe. Sorry for the slow burn torture but we're still... 15 chapters away from the ML...!! I hope you all hang on until then because of the intrigue and drama. ;) I promise to keep updating fast!