abcnovels
Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Luo Zhi Qiu looked at the two slips of paper that Luo Ze handed him. His expression didn't change dramatically, only looking down with a sense of surprise at Luo Zhong who knelt before him. How could it be him? Luo Zhi Qiu asked himself. Luo Zhong grew up with him, had always followed him and always observed proper protocol. In the many years they spent together, he never made mistakes. How could a man like this betray him?
"Three male guests arrived in the estate the day before last, from their accent it's possible they're from Yu Zhou." That was the message Luo Zhong sent tonight.
"Why did you do this?" Luo Zhi Qiu asked Luo Zhong.
Luo Zhong didn't say a word. No matter what Luo Zhi Qiu asked him, he only kept his head down and stayed quiet.
Luo Wei stared at Luo Zhong coldly. He had thought this man was a deathly loyal member of the Luo estate too. But on the day when the Luo family's property were being confiscated, he saw Luo Zhong leading the soldiers with his own eyes, directing them to search through all of the secret rooms in the estate. This man had turned spy for Long Xuan ten years ago, an a pair of eyes for Long Xuan in the Luo estate. Having been reborn, how could he, Luo Wei, let this pair of eyes keep existing?
"Father," Luo Ze grew angrier as he thought, he couldn't find a single reason where they had wrong the man kneeling before them. How dare he betray the master of his house?! "This guy's got a stubborn mouth, you cant get anywhere asking him questions."
Luo Wei pulled out a list of names and said to Luo Zhi Qiu, "Father, you can start by apprehending all the people on this list."
"What is this?" Luo Zhi Qiu's eyes were raced as they scanned through the list of names.
Luo Wei replied, "They're all people who'd been living on our salary while helping others under the table."
Luo Ze's heart seized with terror. Are there other spies in the estate other than Luo Zhong?
Luo Zhi Qiu sent down the order for the captures and didn't ask any questions. Luo Zhi Qiu knew that if Luo Wei could catch Luo Zhong in the act, he's obviously knowledgeable about the spies in their house. With the way things are now, listening to Luo Wei wouldn't be the worst he could do.
"Uncle Zhong," Luo Wei turned to the kneeling man, "Those little slips of paper you've been sending the Junior Chancellor(1) didn't say a lot of good things about me."
At this point, Luo Zhong lifted his head to stare at Luo Wei. He always thought Luo Wei was an idiot. How could he not think that Luo Wei might have been faking it all along?
"Uncle Zhong," Luo Wei was smiling. The belligerence he usually showed was gone now, but somehow seemed more devious, "Don't look at me like that. Did you think I was really just playing a dog for the Second Prince, trying to make him happy? To tell the truth, it wasn't easy finding all of you. I spent a lot of time and energy, and wasted a lot of years on this."
The Luo Wei from the past life never actually had brains like this. This was all for Long Xuan to clearly understand just how much of a stupid pig he was, that all of his devious schemes have been discovered by Luo Wei, his once-captive prisoner. Luo Wei remembered clearly how rich Luo Zhong had become in the past life, how he stood in front of Luo Wei with the posture of a master, telling Luo Wei everything about his glorious achievements back in the chancellor's estate.
A total of eleven spies had been seized and brought to the main hall.
"Uncle Zhong, why don't you check and see if all your friends are here?" Luo Wei said to Luo Zhong.
Luo Zhong took a look then closed his eyes. He knew that Long Xuan and Junior Chancellor Liu Shuang Shi's(2) many years of hard work was gone. Eleven people, not missing a single one, and every one had been right on the money.
From the look on Luo Zhong's face, Luo Zhi Qiu knew that Luo Wei had caught all the right people.
The people in the hall were all shouting they were innocent. They hadn't been caught in the act like Luo Zhong and naturally wanted to put up a last-ditch struggle against the accusations.
"Father," Luo Wei said to Luo Zhi Qiu, "In matters like these, even if we kill the wrong ones, we can't let them go."
Luo Zhi Qiu said, "Then tell me, how did you discover them?"
Of course Luo Wei was able to give him the details, none of them stopped themselves from gloating in front of Luo Wei before. As he recounted everything in tireless detail, the people in the hall stopped claiming their innocence. All the things they did behind people's backs had been recounted as if the third young master had witness them with his own eyes.
"Why did they all do this?!" This time Luo Ze, who was always an honest and straightforward man, couldn't help but raise his voice at Luo Wei.
Luo Wei didn't take it to heart as he spoke to Luo Ze, "There's no need to get angry, big brother. They don't want to be servants all their lives. Someone gave them a chance to get above their station and live out the rest of their lives in wealth, it's only natural they'd never let it go."
FOOTNOTES:
1. Junior Chancellor - As with Senior Chancellor, Junior Chancellor is the "right chancellor" in the original text. Though through research it's been explained as the more junior position between the two chancellors.
2. Liu Shuang Shi - As a background and reminder, Liu Shuang Shi is the uncle of Long Xuan, and brother of the Noble Consort who is second to the Empress.
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES:
Luo Wei is getting his revenge!! It only starts here, and pity that Long Xuan doesn't know why Luo Wei's doing this since he doesn't know anything that's happened in the past life. I have some mixed feelings about Luo Wei getting revenge on someone who doesn't understand what they did, but the main thing I keep reminding myself is that Luo Wei is doing this for his family!!