After holding court, Emperor Xing Wu was conversing with the Senior Chancellor as he stepped into Jin Chun Garden(1) along with the Crown Prince Long Yu, second prince Long Xuan, and a bevy of military commanders. He walked briskly, and everyone following him knew that when the Emperor was not happy, he always walked briskly. Because of this, Emperor Xing Wu and the Senior Chancellor Luo Zhi Qiu were the only one speaking, everyone else remained completely silent. As Emperor Xing Wu stopped suddenly without warning, many of the ministers following closely bumped into one another.
"Zhi Jin?" Everyone present heard Emperor Xing Wu uttering these words and so they turned to follow the Emperor's gaze.
A youth in white brocade stood beside a peach tree. It's March, the time that peach trees were in full blossom. The spring sunshine was vibrant, the air moved with a soft breeze, and the peach blossom petals fell like rain. The sunshine fell upon the youth through the cracks of the tree's foliage. As the youth looked up at the flowers around him, he didn't notice at all the ministers and the emperor standing nearby across a small stream. Neither did he notice the picture he made in this fantasy of peach blossoms, turning into a wondrous painting in other people's eyes.
"Zhi Jin?" Emperor Xing Wu became absorbed, he would never forget this face, not in this lifetime. Muttering this name, he walked towards the youth.
Those who have met the third daughter, Luo Zhi Jin, of the Luo family, have all had a moment of loss like this. No one thought that there'd be a day where they would be able to see this once-famed beauty again.
"Zhi Jin!" Emperor Xing Wu shouted, no longer caring about his dignity as the Emperor. Like a young man who'd seen someone he loved, he quickened his steps and ran across the little jade bridge.
Luo Wei, who had been waiting near the peach tree to see the Emperor's entourage, heard the cry from Emperor Xing Wu and turned around. He was shocked at the bewildered joy in the Emperor's face as he ran towards him. In Luo Wei's memory, the Emperor had always been a serious person, what's going on with him today? In a startled daze, he'd actually forgotten to kneel.
"Zhi Jin?" And in Luo Wei's momentary daze, Emperor Xing Wu had reached him, staring at him with a heated gaze. Please don't let this be a dream, Emperor Xing Wu prayed to all the gods and spirits. Luo Zhi Jin, who had never once visited him even in dreams, had somehow appeared right in front of his eyes. This reality, this could not possibly just be a dream.
"Your Imperial Majesty." Luo Wei came to his senses and quickly kneeled down to show obeisance to the Emperor and his ministers, "Luo Wei greets Your Majesty."
Emperor Xing Wu's smile froze, "Who... Who did you say you were?" He pulled back a few steps, almost as if he couldn't keep himself up.
"I'm your humble subject, Luo Wei," Luo Wei was also wondering why Emperor Xing Wu had lost his composure.
This person was Luo Wei? Those in attendance were all thinking the same thing, even the father and brother of Luo Wei. The Luo Wei in their memory was always an arrogant and domineering fat idiot. How could the slim youth before them with a face like a painting be Luo Wei? Luo Zhi Qiu and Luo Ze only knew that Luo Wei had gotten thin, but hadn't really taken a good look at him. Both of them were absolutely dumbfounded.
Emperor Xing Wu looked up at the blue washed sky with a sense of loss. He remembered that the woman he knew, without peer, had passed years ago. The beauty of yesteryear had already become white bones beneath the yellow soil. Everyone knew that he, Emperor Xing Wu, had lost his love thirteen years ago, how could he himself have forgotten?
Luo Wei had never seen his birth mother, so he had no idea that he inherited his appearance from her.
"You may rise, Wei Er(2)," Emperor Xing Wu had used the shortest time possible to readjust his confused feelings, and lent a hand to help Luo Wei up from his kneeling position, "So it's Wei Er. I have mistaken you for someone else. You look so much like your aunt." Emperor Xing Wu's gaze stayed on Luo Wei's visage, he's not Luo Zhi Jin, but being able to remind him of Luo Zhi Jin was a very good thing.
Luo Wei smiled bitterly. He's Luo Zhi Jin's son. It's not surprising that he happens to look like his mother. Luo Wei remembered that back then, when the Noble Consort Liu had already become Empress Dowager, she pointed at his emaciated body and blamed him for misfortune. In his ten years career as a male whore, he received countless humiliation and torture, injured all over his body, only his face was left unmarred. That was, until the first of January in his very last year, when Emperor Ping Chang personally came to see him at the brothel. Long Xuan at the time had seen him locked in an iron cage under the watchful eyes of a crowd, pressed under a dog. Long Xuan had become furious all of a suddenly and dug out one of Luo Wei's eyes with his bare hands. That was when his face was finally destroyed.
FOOTNOTES:
1. Jin Chun Garden - While uncertain if this garden is historical, the Jin in its name is the same Jin in Luo Zhi Jin's name, so perhaps the garden was named after her.
2. Wei Er - A very familiar and familial way of referring to Luo Wei. See the previous footnote on "Er".
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES:
I forgot that even though Long Xuan is in this chapter, they don't really interact. I will update another chapter tonight, and let's see how Luo Wei acts around his old enemy / lover. : )