When Prince Hengyang bent down, his enlarged face reflected in the youth’s cold eyes, which mirrored Lu Xian’s own panicked expression. Lu Xian leaned back suddenly, causing his chair to topple over. He fell awkwardly to the ground, groaning as he rubbed his waist.
Liu Mu immediately showed contempt and impatience.
From the side came another young lord’s voice: “Lu Xian, are you awake? If you’re awake, hurry and get the documents Prince Hengyang needs. By the way, Prince Hengyang will be working with us from now on. Show him around the environment.”
The young lord in official robes casually mentioned this instruction to Lu Xian before hurriedly leaving the government office. In Lu Xian’s view, Liu Mu’s expression visibly worsened.
Lu Xian finally remembered his current situation: he had been transferred by his father to work under the Grand Minister of Works as an official. The Minister’s office managed matters of land and sacrificial rites, dealing with practical affairs that kept them busy. It had little to do with the escalating war at the current border between the Southern and Northern countries.
While Prince Hengyang had previously wanted to enter the Military Affairs Bureau—which controlled the Southern country’s military affairs.
Unexpectedly, during Lu Xian’s afternoon nap at the office, Prince Hengyang had arrived, saying he would be their colleague. And Prince Hengyang didn’t look pleased.
Lu Xian got up to fetch the documents for Prince Hengyang, as he was the only one on duty due to the upcoming festival. After observing the young lord’s expression for a while, Lu Xian had a sudden realization and asked quietly: “…Could it be that someone from the Military Affairs Bureau pushed you out, forcing you to come to our side?”
Liu Mu gave him a sinister glance.
That glance held a peculiar attitude, as if wanting to cut into him. After a moment of surprise, Lu Xian understood and asked hesitantly: “…Could it be that His Majesty deliberately targeted… I absolutely didn’t report anything to His Majesty or say anything wrong about you! About that previous matter between us, didn’t Prince Chen help suppress it, and His Majesty doesn’t know about it, right?”
Previously, when Prince Hengyang had wanted to kill Lu Xian, Prince Chen Liu Shu had been unwilling to lose a prince over this.
Afterward, Lu Xian completely denied Prince Hengyang’s ambitious intentions, and with Lu Yun’s mediation, Prince Chen and Prince Hengyang worked together to minimize the incident’s impact.
After making a pact with Liu Mu, Lu Xian decided to be an official who neither asked nor interfered, pretending not to know what Liu Mu planned to do to His Majesty. Who knew that after more than half a month, Liu Mu hadn’t made any moves, while His Majesty’s subtle suppression became increasingly obvious.
Liu Mu said lazily: “It has nothing to do with you.”
Lu Xian followed him, lowering his voice: “I said I would pretend not to know what you were planning to do…”
Liu Mu snorted: “I don’t want to do anything.”
He had actually already lost. Even after making a pact with Lu Xian, he didn’t trust him. The best strategy was to remain inactive. But staying inactive inevitably led to his brother the Emperor suppressing him more and more heavily.
Liu Mu didn’t bother saying anything more, taking the documents from Lu Xian and sitting down somewhere randomly. He hadn’t said what he wanted to do, while Lu Xian stood beside him, staring at the young lord in a daze. Lu Xian felt slightly depressed, thinking that if he hadn’t changed his fate, Liu Mu would now be close to outlasting the current Emperor. This Prince Hengyang would have been much more prosperous than in reality.
Lu Xian had saved his brother but sacrificed Liu Mu.
Liu Mu spread out the documents, actually just planning to make a show of it, not intending to look much. But Lu Xian kept standing beside him staring, so Liu Mu raised his head with a dark expression: What, want to monitor me?
But when he looked up, he saw Lu Xian’s expression looked… guilty?
Liu Mu paused, the harsh words not leaving his mouth.
Lu Xian forced a smile at him: “Actually our Minister of Works office isn’t bad, not much worse than the Military Affairs Bureau. At least it’s safe here, without the troubles of war. I hear the Military Affairs Bureau is now sending troops everywhere, the border is in chaos, and young lords are being forced to go there. The border cities are desolate, not good places. My third brother wanted to go, but I scolded him back. A proper young lord who’s never been to battle, why seek trouble? Now those who go to the border are all young lords who have been pushed aside, their power being suppressed…”
After serving seriously at court for several months, Lu Xian had clearly figured out how the noble families operated.
Liu Mu coldly interrupted Lu Xian’s chatter: “I want to go to the border.”
Lu Xian: “…?!”
Liu Mu stopped pretending, throwing down the documents in his hand and leaning back casually. Liu Mu raised his eyebrows, looking mockingly at Lu Xian, and repeated: “I’m only transitioning here for a couple of days, and once I’ve made arrangements, I’ll naturally go to the battlefield. Although those who go to the border are all fools…”
Lu Xian instantly changed his words: “Your Highness is brilliant and mighty, willing to go fight at the border, truly showing the spirit of a great general. Completely different from those ordinary young lords seeking death! With Your Highness there, surely the war will quickly be settled… This official first wishes Your Highness victory in battle!”
Indeed, Prince Hengyang was now heavily suppressed in Jianye, and he was unwilling to return to Xiangyang to be a mere prince. Who knew when his imperial brother might have him killed? The best method was to stake everything on one throw, going directly to the border – no advance without destruction!
Liu Mu: For Lu Xian’s brother, Lu Xian hoped he wouldn’t go to his death; for himself, Lu Xian just let him go die?
Lu Xian’s inconsistency left him speechless.
But halfway through his praise, Lu Xian’s words gradually stopped. Because he belatedly realized that reality was truly different from his previous dream. Reality had changed – in the dream, Prince Hengyang didn’t need to go to the border, but in reality, Liu Mu explicitly said he would go to the border.
Then that dream he had during his afternoon nap… that new fragment that completely didn’t match what he had dreamed before…
Lu Xian’s face suddenly turned pale – reality had entered the dream, yet the dream continued!
Could it be… could it be… he really could predict the future?
Thinking of this, Lu Xian could no longer sit still in the government office. Regardless of anything else, he took paper and pen, wanting to hand over his duty shift to Liu Mu, begging Prince Hengyang to cover his shift if nothing was wrong. Liu Mu initially refused, but was pestered until annoyed and had to agree. When signing the handover, Liu Mu casually asked: “What are you in such a hurry to do?”
Lu Xian hesitated, then honestly said: “Return home to sleep.”
To dream.
Liu Mu’s brush froze above the paper: “…”
Lu Xian prepared himself to be scolded by Liu Mu, but Liu Mu just glanced at him and said meaningfully: “Since Lu Xian is returning home to rest, why not do one more thing along the way.”
Lu Xian humbly asked for guidance.
Liu Mu sincerely suggested: “Go to the court physician to check your brain illness, perhaps there’s still a chance for recovery.”
Lu Xian: “…”
It seemed Prince Hengyang was convinced he was ill. Poor Lu Xian had no way to explain his suffering – things he himself wasn’t certain about, despite praying to countless Buddhas and seeking countless masters. If he spoke of dreams that no one could explain, surely more people in the world would think him mad. Lu Xian could only smile awkwardly, bow and leave, truly returning home.
The first thing upon returning to the Lu residence in Danyang was to bathe and change clothes. He lit all the incense in his courtyard’s small Buddhist shrine, bowing again and again to the Buddha statue he had requested from the temple, muttering continuously. Lu Xian devotedly became a Buddhist worshipper, making the servants in the courtyard anxious and afraid that if word of his fervent behavior spread outside, it would again cause rumors.
After doing all this, and lighting sandalwood incense in his chambers too, Lu Xian didn’t wait for nightfall before lying down, forcing himself to sleep. He had an instinctive feeling that he would definitely dream.
…
Indeed he dreamed again.
A dream completely different from before, yet inherently extremely unstable. Lu Xian traversed through patches of darkness in the dream, sometimes hearing the sound of war horns and fire, sometimes hearing celebratory music. At times he saw mountains and rivers overturned, the country destroyed and people dead; at other times he saw the country prosperous and peaceful, with favorable weather.
…
This time, there were two completely different dreams.
He first had the first dream, which was the one Lu Xian hadn’t finished during his afternoon nap at the Minister of Works office—
A world of white, snow and mist everywhere. In the dim world, Lu Xian couldn’t see anything clearly, only a beautiful lady stumbling through the mist. He called out loudly asking if anyone was there, running over to catch up with her: “Cousin Luo, Cousin Luo, where is this—”
He had never been to such a place, never seen such thick mist. Looking down at his feet on the snowy ground, Lu Xian confirmed that with the South’s humid climate, he had never in his life seen such deep, fluffy snow reaching his knees.
And Luo Lingyu was walking in the snow and mist.
All dirty, in crimson robes with white fox fur collar and sable sleeves, she couldn’t see Lu Xian, only looking around everywhere, tears glistening in her clear eyes. She called out sorrowfully, again and again: “Lu Yun— Lu Yun… Lu Yun!”
Lu Xian caught up to her: “Where is this? Is this the Northern country? How did you come to the North with him? Where is he? Cousin Luo, why… why…”
Why are you alone?
Lu Xian stood stunned in the snow, watching Luo Lingyu cry covering her face, watching her frantically searching in the mist. Love comes and goes, love like spilled water, arriving with a crash, then departing with a collapse. The world was desolately white, and she finally fell sitting on the ground, sobbing continuously: “Lu Yun—!”
How could he leave her alone?
…
Lu Xian stared dazedly, his eyes fixed on the lady crying in the snow. That person had left this world, and another person’s world began to collapse. Bit by bit, falling apart, taking everything away. In this dream, he followed Cousin Luo’s gaze, but Cousin Luo never found his third brother. And so neither did he. But quickly, the world spun, and before Lu Xian could wipe away his tears, he fell into the second dream.
This dream was full of wine cups clinking and folding fans waving in the light.
Lu Xian saw himself among the guests.
He dreamed of Lu Yun and Luo Lingyu’s wedding day.
He watched with his own eyes as the incomparably handsome young lord led the lady hiding her face behind a folding fan, step by step toward the hall. Old Madam Lu and other elders couldn’t stop smiling, and the old Marquis who had been in Lingnan also returned for his grandson’s wedding. Lu Xian watched them bow once, twice, thrice.
The folding fan tilted slightly, the lady’s face flushed red, her beautiful eyes like flowing water meeting the young lord’s gaze.
Setting up the grand feast’s light, forming a hundred years’ good match.
…
Waking from the dream covered in cold sweat, noticing the bright daylight outside the curtain. Lu Xian’s head ached terribly, he raised his hand to block the light, touching the tears at the corners of his eyes. He sat dazed, full of doubts: Why were both dreams this time vague and unclear, yet he dreamed both? Which one was true?
Did his third brother meet with trouble, or marry Cousin Luo? Did the two different dreams foretell something?
Suddenly remembering his previous dream of his third brother dying pierced by countless arrows… Lu Xian called the servant outside, asking: “Is Third Brother in the residence?”
“Is Cousin Luo in the residence?”
Leave a Reply