In the Imperial prison in the capital, Luo Zhi Qiu and Liu Shuang Shi sat drinking with one another.
“You actually remembered that I like osmanthus wine,” Liu Shuang Shi sighed at Luo Zhi Qiu.
Luo Zhi Qiu smiled bitterly.
The two of them have struggled with each other for more than half their lives. Who could guess that they used to be close friends when they were young, never leaving each other’s side?
“If it weren’t for the fact that I’m about to die,” Liu Shuang Shi said, “We probably wouldn’t have the chance to sit and eat together like this, would we?”
Luo Zhi Qiu shrugged, “You took this path yourself, don’t blame me.”
“You?” Liu Shuang Shi laughed, “Does this have anything to do with you? I’m guessing it’s the Third Young Master, right?”
Luo Zhi Qiu asked, “You’re that sure it’s all his doing?”
Liu Shuang Shi answered, “You’re not the type to do something as insidious and cruel as this. You’d stop things before they even happened, not go along with things and use someone’s plans against them. You wouldn’t let discord be sown in the borderlands, get inspiration, and sit here and cry wolf.”
Luo Zhi Qiu sipped the osmanthus wine in his cup, his silence affirming Liu Shuang Shi’s suspicions.
Liu Shuang Shi smiled, “See? I know you too well. That’s why you couldn’t beat me.”
Luo Zhi Qiu looked at him, “And yet you’re the one who’s waiting for his execution, but I’m still living quite well.”
Liu Shuang Shi picked a mouthful of the assorted vegetables, rather enjoying it, “Luo Wei’s good. A dutiful minister in times of peace, an ambitious schemer in times of war.”
“The sons of my family won’t be ambitious schemers like that,” Luo Zhi Qiu was rather offended by Liu Shuang Shi’s judgement of Luo Wei’s character.
Liu Shuang Shi asked Luo Zhi Qiu, “Aren’t you rejoicing that Luo Wei was one of you Luo Clan’s offsprings?”
“He’s my son since birth, why would I be rejoicing any more than normal?” Luo Zhi Qiu said, “I didn’t think that you’d still be able to think of other things after falling so low so quickly, have you made peace with death?”
“Does it matter if I haven’t?” Liu Shuang Shi said, “We’ve been serving the court all these years, how many powerful clans have gone up in smoke in our time? They’ve all enjoyed their times of fortune and favor, but they’ve all gone to ruins in the end. I’m the one to blame in the Liu family, but I don’t regret a thing. I’ve done everything I can. If fate won’t allow me to succeed, then there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Luo Zhi Qiu set his cup down, and spoke to Liu Shuang Shi earnestly, “I’m going to give it a few more years here, and then I’m going to resign.”
“Have you decided then?” Liu Shuang Shi wasn’t surprised, “Going to go and hide out in a log cabin?”
Luo Zhi Qiu laughed, “The world is full of beautiful places, I want to take the wife and travel some.”
“Is it because of Luo Wei?” Liu Shuang Shi asked.
“What?”
“Is it because Luo Wei’s here to protect the Crown Prince?”
Luo Zhi Qiu nodded, “He’s more suited to the intrigues at court than I am.”
Liu Shuang Shi knocked his knuckles on the table softly, eyes focused on Luo Zhi Qiu sitting opposite him. The years have been kind to him. He’d already been halfway to old age, but still looked more or less how he did when they first met at the imperial academy. Still handsome and bookishly elegant, only with the addition of some white hair and a few shallow lines at the corners of his eyes. If he hadn’t been one of the Luo family, or if he hadn’t been one of the Liu family, the two of them would still be friends right now. How funny life is, how fate traps everyone and leaves people no routes of escape. “That’s true,” Liu Shuang Shi said to Luo Zhi Qiu, “This place doesn’t suit you at all. Traveling is good. I recall how you said you were going to write a book of your travels.”
Luo Zhi Qiu sighed with a smile, “My strong suit is all in imperial documentation now, travel notes? I don’t think I could write one of those if I tried.”
Liu Shuang Shi smiled too, “Why don’t you tell me where you’d like to go first, then?”
And so, these two political adversaries who’d fought tooth and nail for years and years began discussing natural wonders and exotic locales, as if they were back in the old days. In those old days, when they were still youths, they were only young men making their first forays into the wide world, talking to one another about how the nation ought to be run, full of ambition. In those old days, they had no idea that their futures were already decided, fated to be enemies.