During Luo Wei's recovery, Long Xuan had ordered someone to come visit him, bringing more than a few gifts, and a few words, saying that he despised Feng Wu General's entire family. To this, Luo Wei only smiled.
Long Xuan did this too in the past life, and for these words Luo Wei, his loyal dog, had come out biting. He'd sunk his teeth into the Zhao brothers, who'd injured him, and eventually lead to their exile from the capital. Feng Wu General, Zhao He Nian, had been good friends with the Senior Chancellor for many years, but because of this they'd cut ties with each other. Originally the leading asset behind the Crown Prince, the general became a loyal supporter of the second prince, Long Xuan. The second prince was only fifteen at this point, but he'd already started plotting for his future.
In front of Luo Wei, an eunuch(1) stood respectfully with his hands at his sides. He's one of Long Xuan's close servants, Fu Yun, who'd become the Overseer of all Eunuchs in the Back Palace(2) once Long Xuan ascended to the throne. And it was this one, along with a few other experienced eunuchs, that taught him how to submit under others. At that time, no matter how he'd wail and cry for help, Overseer Fu never gave him even a chance to breathe. He only drugged him, administered cleansing for his bowels, and inserted larger and larger phalluses into him.
"I know," Luo Wei wanted to throw up, but forced himself to keep it down as he spoke dryly to Fu Yun, "Be sure to thank His Highness for me when you get back."
"Yes, this servant understands," Fu Yun answered hurriedly.
"This is a reward for you," Luo Wei took a few silver coins and handed it to Fu Yun.
Fu Yun paused, this was the first time that the young master Luo had given him a reward.
Luo Wei put on a smile, "Thank you for going through all the trouble," He said to the eunuch. The experiences of his past life made him understand that even small characters like this couldn't bear to be offended.
"This servant thanks the young master," Fu Yun accepted the reward with a grin, and didn't notice the ruthlessness that crossed Luo Wei's eyes momentarily.
After Fu Yun departed, Qi Zi asked Luo Wei, "Young Master, where should I put the gifts?"
Luo Wei lifted his gaze at the gifts from Long Xuan. They were all novel and exquisite playthings, and Luo Wei had indeed loved things like these in his past life. "Put them in the storeroom," Luo Wei ordered Qi Zi, he didn't pay attention to the gifts any more than that.
Qi Zi felt an extra layer of suspicion and shock. Previously, his master had treasured anything that came from the second prince, and wouldn't let anyone else touch it. Yet today, he didn't even bother giving it a second glance before ordering them to be put in storage.
"In the future, if the second prince sends someone else," Luo Wei said to Qi Zi after some thought, "Tell them that I'm not feeling well and am resting, don't bring them to see me. Give them a reward and tell them to go."
"Understood," Qi Zi replied. He wished that his master could be as far from the second prince as possible. The Luo family supported the Crown Prince, after all, and were enemies with the second prince, son of the Noble Consort(3) Liu. As Qi Zi left for the storeroom, he took another look at Luo Wei as the young master read in the gallery under the sunshine. Could it be that his master had visited death's door and turned over a new leaf?
Luo Wei's recuperation took a month, and the doctor finally said that he could stop taking medicine.
At dawn a month later, Luo Wei was still dreaming when he was pushed awake by Xiao Xiao.
"What's going on?" Without losing his temper, Luo Wei asked sleepily.
Xiao Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, he'd been prepared to get a good thrashing, "Young Master, you need to get ready quick. The Senior Chancellor has sent down an order, you're being called to the palace."
When she heard that the Emperor had called Luo Wei to the palace, Bo hua, who'd not visited in many days, came to see Luo Wei, "You mustn't talk nonsense when you enter the palace," She made a point to remind him.
"Yes, I understand," Luo Wei could only be respectful to her.
Bo Hua stared at Luo Wei, a little dazed. He used to be pudgy with all the chub piled on his face, but since the injury, he'd gotten thin. Very thin.
"What's the matter, mother?" Luo Wei asked her.
"No-Nothing," Bo Hua replied but didn't turn her gaze from him. She finally figured it out. Luo Wei actually looked a lot like his mother, Luo Zhi Jin.
"Then I'll be on my way," Luo Wei respectfully excused himself. He didn't bother to dwell on the reasons behind her stare, knowing that she would never do him harm.
FOOTNOTES:
1. Eunuchs - Eunuchs were the preferred type of guard / servant for the concubines of the Back Palace due to castration. They fill a variety of roles, as such, servant and eunuch will be used interchangeably for pacing.
2. Back Palace - The Imperial Harem. The transliteration "Back Palace" is used here because "harem" often denotes purely a place where the concubines live, whereas the Back Palace (ie. behind the official palace where the emperor holds court) is for concubines as well as some of their younger sons. It's also harder to denote a difference between different parts of the harem / palace without naming them specifically.
3. Noble Consort - The Noble Consort belongs to a rank of concubines referred to as "Madames", and are second in importance in the harem to the Empress.
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES:
One with a little bit of roughness. We will see Long Xuan as a teenager in the next chapter, are you excited?! I'm still not 100% on some of the translations such as the "back palace", maybe I will make changes if it bothers me enough but right now it feels easier than trying to work around the mental challenges of the word "harem".