Seeing Prince Hengyang’s enlarged face bending down, the youth’s eyes were cold, reflecting Lu Xian’s flustered countenance. Lu Xian leaned back suddenly, causing the folding chair beneath him to topple. Second Young Master Lu fell awkwardly, landing on the ground with a groan as he rubbed his waist.
Liu Mu’s eyes immediately showed contempt and impatience.
From the side came another young lord’s voice: “Second Young Master Lu, awake now? If you’re awake, quickly get the files His Highness Prince Hengyang needs. Oh right, Prince Hengyang will be working with us from now on, so show the young master around to familiarize him with the environment.”
That young lord wore official robes, mentioning it casually before hurriedly leaving the government office. As Lu Xian watched, Liu Mu’s expression visibly worsened.
Second Young Master Lu then remembered his current situation: he had been assigned by his father to work under the Grand Minister of Works as an official. The Minister of Works’ office managed matters of land and sacrificial rites, usually handling practical affairs, and was quite busy. It just had nothing to do with the escalating warfare at the current border between the Southern and Northern countries.
While Prince Hengyang had always wanted to enter the Ministry of War—which controlled the Southern country’s military affairs.
Yet unexpectedly, during the brief afternoon nap Second Young Master Lu took at the office, Prince Hengyang had come here, saying he would be his colleague. And Prince Hengyang’s expression was displeased.
As Second Young Master Lu got up to fetch the files for Prince Hengyang, he was the only one on duty here due to the upcoming festival. After observing the young man’s expression for a while, Lu Xian had a sudden insight and asked softly: “…Could it be that someone at the Ministry of War pushed you out, forcing you to our side?”
Liu Mu gave him a sinister glance.
That glance carried a complex meaning, as if wanting to stab himself, and after a moment’s pause, Second Young Master Lu understood and asked with difficulty: “…Could it be that His Majesty deliberately targeted… I didn’t complain to His Majesty or say anything wrong about you! Didn’t Prince Chen help suppress that previous incident between us, so His Majesty doesn’t know about it?”
Previously when Prince Hengyang had wanted to kill Second Young Master Lu, Prince Chen Liu Shu was unwilling to lose a prince over this. Afterward, Second Young Master Lu completely denied Prince Hengyang’s ambitious intentions, and with Third Young Master Lu’s mediation, Prince Chen and Prince Hengyang worked together to minimize the incident’s impact. After Second Young Master Lu and Liu Mu clasped hands, they decided to be scholars who didn’t ask or interfere, pretending not to know what Liu Mu planned for His Majesty. Who knew that after more than half a month, Liu Mu had made no moves, while His Majesty’s subtle suppression became increasingly overt?
Liu Mu said lazily: “It has nothing to do with you.”
Second Young Master Lu followed him, lowering his voice: “I said I would pretend not to know what you planned to do…”
Liu Mu snorted: “I don’t plan to do anything.”
He had already lost. Even after clasping hands with Second Young Master Lu, he didn’t trust him. The best strategy was to do nothing. Doing nothing inevitably led to his brother the Emperor suppressing him more and more severely.
Liu Mu couldn’t be bothered to say more, taking the files from Lu Xian and sitting down somewhere randomly. He hadn’t said what he wanted to do, while Lu Xian stood beside him, staring blankly at the young man. Lu Xian felt a slight heaviness in his heart, thinking that if he hadn’t changed fate, Liu Mu would now be close to outlasting the current Emperor. This Prince Hengyang would have been much more prominent than in the current reality.
Lu Xian had saved his brother at the cost of sacrificing Liu Mu.
Liu Mu spread open the files, actually just intending to put on a show, not planning to look much. But with Second Young Master Lu standing there staring at him, Liu Mu raised his head with a dark expression: What, want to monitor me?
Who would have thought that when he looked up, he would see Lu Xian looking at him with… guilt?
Liu Mu paused, the harsh words dying in his throat.
Lu Xian forced a smile: “Actually our Ministry of Works isn’t bad, not much worse than the Ministry of War. At least it’s safe here, without the disturbance of warfare. I hear the Ministry of War is now dispatching troops everywhere, the borders are in chaos, and young lords are being forced to go there. The frontier cities are desolate, not good places. My third brother wanted to go, but I scolded him back. A perfectly good young lord who’s never been to battle, why seek trouble? Those going to the borders now are all young lords who’ve been pushed out, their power being suppressed…”
After several months of serious official work, Second Young Master Lu had figured out how the noble families operated.
Liu Mu coldly interrupted Lu Xian’s chatter: “I want to go to the borders.”
Lu Xian: “…?!”
Liu Mu stopped pretending, tossing aside the files in his hand and leaning back casually. Liu Mu raised his eyebrows, looking at Lu Xian mockingly, and repeated: “I’m only transitioning here with you for a couple of days, once I’ve made arrangements, I’ll naturally go to the battlefield. Although those going to the borders are all fools…”
Second Young Master Lu instantly changed his words: “Young master, you’re brilliant and mighty, willing to go fight at the borders—truly the spirit of a great general. Completely different from those ordinary young lords seeking death! With you there, young master, I believe the warfare will surely be quickly pacified… I first wish you victory in battle!”
Indeed, Prince Hengyang was now being heavily suppressed in Jianye, and he was unwilling to return to Hengyang as a mere prince. Who knew when he might be killed by his imperial brother? The best strategy was to stake everything on one throw, going directly to the borders—no breakthrough without risk!
Liu Mu: For Lu Xian’s brother, Lu Xian didn’t want him to go die; for himself, Lu Xian was fine with letting him go die.
Second Young Master Lu’s inconsistency left him speechless.
But halfway through his praise, Second Young Master Lu slowly stopped talking. Because he belatedly realized that reality had truly diverged from his previous dream. Reality had changed—in the dream, Prince Hengyang didn’t need to go to the borders, but in reality, Liu Mu explicitly said he would go to the borders.
Then that dream he had during his afternoon nap… that new fragment completely different from what he had dreamed before…
Second Young Master Lu’s face suddenly went pale—reality had leaked into the dream, yet the dream was continuing!
Could it be… could it be… he really could predict the future?
At this thought, Second Young Master Lu could no longer sit still in the government office. Disregarding everything else, he took paper and pen, begging Prince Hengyang to cover his shift if there was nothing else. Liu Mu initially refused but was pestered until he had to agree. When signing the handover, Liu Mu casually asked: “What are you in such a hurry to do?”
Second Young Master Lu hesitated, then answered honestly: “Return home to sleep.”
To dream.
Liu Mu’s brush froze above the paper: “…”
Lu Xian prepared himself for Liu Mu’s angry scolding, but Liu Mu just gave him a look and said meaningfully: “Since Second Young Master Lu is returning home to rest, perhaps do one more thing along the way.”
Lu Xian humbly asked for guidance.
Liu Mu sincerely suggested: “Visit the imperial physician about your brain illness, there might still be a chance for recovery.”
Lu Xian: “…”
It seemed Prince Hengyang was convinced he was ill. Poor Second Young Master Lu couldn’t explain—about things he wasn’t certain of, he had prayed to countless Buddhas and sought 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 laugh awkwardly, cup his hands in farewell, and truly return home.
The first thing upon returning to the Lu residence in Danyang was to bathe and change clothes, then light all the incense in his courtyard’s small Buddhist shrine. He repeatedly bowed to the Buddha statue he had requested from the temple, muttering constantly. Second Young Master Lu became such a devout Buddhist worshipper that the servants and maids in the courtyard grew anxious, fearing such fervent behavior would spread outside and cause rumors.
After doing all this and lighting sandalwood incense in his chambers, Second Young Master Lu lay down before dark, forcing himself to sleep. He had an instinctive feeling that he would dream.
…
Indeed, he dreamed again.
Dreams are completely different from before, yet inherently unstable. Second Young Master Lu traveled through patches of darkness, 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 one he hadn’t finished during his afternoon nap at the Ministry of Works—
A world of white, snow, and mist everywhere. In the dim world, Lu Xian couldn’t see anything clearly, only a beautiful young 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 fog. Looking down at his feet in the snow, 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.
Covered in dirt, her crimson cloak and snow-white fox fur collar and marten sleeves, she couldn’t see Second Young Master Lu, only looking around desperately, tears gleaming in her clear eyes. She called out tragically, again and again: “Lu Yun—Lu Yun… Lu Yun!”
Second Young Master Lu caught up to her: “Where is this? Is it the Northern country? How did you come to the North with him? Where is he? Cousin Luo, why, why…”
Why are you alone?
Second Young Master Lu stood frozen in the snow, watching Luo Lingyu cover her face and weep, watching her search frantically in the mist. Love comes and goes, like water that cannot be gathered up again, arriving with a crash, then departing with a collapse. In the desolate white world, she finally fell sitting on the ground, sobbing continuously: “Lu Yun—!”
How could he leave her alone?
…
Second Young Master Lu stared dazedly, his eyes fixed on the young 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. Neither did he. But quickly, the world spun, and before Second Young Master Lu could wipe away his tears, he fell into a second dream.
This dream was full of clinking cups and waving fans in lamplight.
Second Young Master Lu saw himself among the guests.
He dreamed of Third Young Master Lu and Luo Lingyu’s wedding day.
He saw with his own eyes the incomparably handsome young lord, leading the young lady who hid her face behind a fan, walking step by step toward the altar. Old Madam Lu and the other elders couldn’t stop smiling, and the old Marquis who had been in Lingnan also returned for his grandson’s wedding. Second Young Master Lu watched them bow once, twice, thrice.
The fan tilted slightly, the young lady’s face touched with red clouds, her beautiful eyes like rippling water meeting the young lord’s gaze.
Setting out the grand feast, joining in a hundred years of marriage.
…
Waking from the dream in a cold sweat, he noticed the daylight was bright beyond the curtains. Second Young Master Lu’s head throbbed painfully as he raised his hand to block the light, touching the tears at the corners of his eyes. He sat dazed, full of confusion: Why were both dreams so hazy this time, neither clear, yet he dreamed both? Which one was real?
Did the third brother meet with disaster, or did he marry Cousin Luo? Were the two different dreams trying to portend something?
Suddenly remembering his previous dream of his third brother dying from countless arrows… Second Young Master Lu called the servant outside and asked: “Is Third Young Master in the residence?”
“Is Cousin Luo in the residence?”