R:DSAT Chapter 162: Young Master, Who is A-Chou?

    Only Luo Wei and Wei Lan were left in the bedroom.

    “Hungry?” Wei Lan asked.

    Luo Wei shook his head.

    “No matter how much, you should still eat something. If you don’t eat how will you get better?” Wei Lan said. 

    “Okay,” Luo Wei agreed, “I’ll eat.”

    Wei Lan saw Luo Wei agree to eat so easily this time, and actually couldn’t believe it. “Will you really eat?”

    “Actually I am not hungry,” Luo Wei replied. 

    “Young master, wait a minute, I’ll go see if the congee is ready?” Wei Lan hurriedly got up and walked away, fearing that Luo Wei would back out in this short amount of time. After trying to get Luo Wei to eat once, Wei Lan knew how difficult it could be. 

    Luo Wei watched Wei Lan run out and then quickly come back carrying a bowl of egg custard. 

    “The kitchen is still boiling the congee,” Wei Lan sat down beside Luo Wei. “Xiao Xiao is watching it over there, eat some egg custard first.” 

    Luo Wei opened his mouth obediently, letting Wei Lan feed him. The custard didn’t have any condiments. Wei Lan tried a bit to test its temperature, and didn’t find it tasty at all. However, when he saw Luo Wei eating this bland, tasteless egg custard with gusto, he found Luo Wei’s tastes even harder to guess at. 

    What Wei Lan didn’t know was that Luo Wei’s thoughts were not on the custard in his mouth at all. Looking at Wei Lan, Luo Wei began to feel that this world held wonders. He originally thought that this was someone who had no relationship with him in the previous world, but who knew Wei Lan was actually A-Chou.

    “The food is tasty?” Wei Lan asked. If Luo Wei loved to eat bland food, then he would tell the kitchen to make these unseasoned dishes in the future. If Luo Wei could obediently eat every meal like this, Wei Lan would be happy. 

    Luo Wei unexpectedly responded with: “Lan, when the poison finally acts in the Qi Lin Shadow Guards, does the entire body fester?” 

    “Yes,” Wei Lan said. He had seen the appearance of his poisoned predecessors. They would become unrecognizable and rot to death. 

    “How would the Qi Lin Villa deal with poisoned shadow guards?”

    “If the poison acts, the person would be useless,” Wei Lan said. “Let him leave the villa and run the course of his life on his own.”

    Luo Wei asked, “Just like that?”

    Wei Lan nodded his head. This was the best ending. The shadow guard would be allowed to find a place he liked to be buried, which was better than being buried alive or being dragged away to test drugs for medicine men. Wei Lan stuffed a spoonful of egg custard in Luo Wei’s mouth. He didn’t want to talk too much about the Qi Lin Villa with Luo Wei. If he could forget, Wei Lan would rather he never recall those memories of his past. 

    Looking at Wei Lan’s appearance, Luo Wei knew that the man was hiding something from him. The Qi Lin Shadow Guards had powerful martial arts. Back then he could not figure out why these people would not rebel when humiliated. In the end it was Imperial Physician Wei, who had treated Long Shi and Wei Lan, who told him. Qi Lin Shadow Guards took a substance from an early age. If one day they did not intake Qi Lin Villa’s secret substance, then their whole bodies would be in so much pain that living would be worse than death. If not for Luo Ting Chao tactfully handing over the formula for the secret substance, Imperial Physician Wei admitted that he would not be able to resolve Wei Lan’s reliance on the substance. Only after discussing at length with Imperial Physician Wei did Luo Wei recall that Wei Lan would take a soybean-sized pill every day on the road to Yu Zhou and back to the capital. At the time, he thought it was medicine prescribed by a doctor, and did not inquire further.   

    “Young master,” Xiao Xiao shouted from outside the door.

    Luo Wei looked at the entrance.

    “Come in,” Wei Lan said.

    Xiao Xiao carried congee in and said, “Young master, have some congee. Fresh off the stove.” 

    Luo Wei sniffed the fragrance of the congee and was relieved to discover that it did not carry a hint of medicine. It seemed Imperial Physician Wei and the rest spared him this once and didn’t prescribe him any medicinal meals. 

    “Big brother Wei is better at feeding,” Xiao Xiao glanced at the mostly-empty bowl of egg custard and applauded Wei Lan, “The young master ate the whole bowl of egg custard ah!” 

    Luo Wei glanced at Xiao Xiao and said, “Are the people in our courtyard all right these days?”

    “There’s still medicine boiling on my stove.” Xiao Xiao heard Luo Wei’s question and immediately wanted to run, saying, “Qi Zi can’t watch it on his own, young master I’m going to go see to the medicine. Let big brother Wei continue to feed you the congee.” 

    Luo Wei asked Wei Lan, “Did I say something? I only asked him a question, why did he run away?” 

    “The prime minister ordered that no one is allowed to discuss outside matters with the young master. The young master is not allowed any troubles,” Wei Lan replied.

    Luo Wei said, “Then does that mean something happened outside?”

    Wei Lan quickly glanced at Luo Wei and said, “The second prince has gone to Yue Zhou and Young Master Xie has followed him there.” 

    The clear congee in Luo Wei’s mouth suddenly felt like a lump in his throat. “Xie Yu went together with the second prince?” 

    “No,” Wei Lan replied, “The second prince left with General Chen.”

    Luo Wei’s interest was stoked upon hearing that Xie Yu went to Yue Zhou. He really wanted to see who could subdue whom among these two who formed a pair as monarch and minister in another world. “Have they arrived at Yue Zhou?” 

    “Young Master Xie hasn’t written back yet,” Wei Lan said. “Also, all the maternal uncles have arrived at the residence.”

    “Who?”

    Wei Lan reiterated, “The four elder brothers of the Lady.”

    Luo Wei curled his lip, saying, “It’s them ah, they’ve come to the capital to make their reports.” He was not close to these four uncles in his past life. After the Luo family met with misfortune, the Fu family cut off their relations with them. They wisely looked after their own hides and were not wrong in doing so. However, asking Luo Wei to have any genuine good opinions of the Fu family was impossible. Looking at his half-eaten bowl of clear congee, Luo Wei discussed with Wei Lan, “I’ll eat the rest later, I can’t eat anymore.”  

    Imperial Physician Wei had just repeatedly warned Wei Lan in the outer room that since Luo Wei had just woken up, small and frequent meals were better, and if he didn’t want to eat, then he should not be forced to. Wei Lan said to Luo Wei, “The kitchen has made a lot of congee. If the young master wants to eat later, Wei Lan will go get it.” Wei Lan finished speaking and then downed the remaining congee himself. 

    “Truly good,” Luo Wei’s hand stretched out of the quilt, and he wiped Wei Lan’s mouth for him.

    Luo Wei’s hand was warm from having been in the blanket, in turn warming Wei Lan’s heart. Wei Lan said, “What does the young master think is truly good?” 

    Luo Wei replied, “The way things are now. Has Lan been keeping watch here the whole time?” 

    Wei Lan put down the soup spoon and said, “How can Wei Lan leave when the young master is in trouble? I just beg the young master to not scare people like that anymore.” 

    “Okay,” Luo Wei promised Wei Lan, “I won’t scare you anymore.”

    “Young master, why did you faint when you saw my painting? And who is A-Chou?” Wei Lan asked. This question had been suppressed in his heart for many days. Now that they had spoken of other matters, Wei Lan voiced his inquiry and forgot what Imperial Physician Wei had told them: don’t let Luo Wei say or think too much. 

    “It’s not because of that meat bun.” Luo Wei smiled. “I just happened to feel unwell at that time.”

    “Really?”

    “Yeah, can I be scared by a meat bun?”

    “Then who is A-Chou?”

    “What A-Chou?”

    “The young master would yell this name when he was unconscious.”

    “I don’t know ah.” Luo Wei pretended to be at a loss. “I yelled these two words?”