Luo Zhen waited a few days, but when he saw that Duke Jing Guo’s only punishment for his daughter was to have her kneel in the ancestral hall for two days, as if this was all he owed the second branch, his heart was inevitably resentful. He had five sons, and because of strict parenting, and teaching each child according to their ability, two of them successfully passed the imperial examinations, and although the other three were still young, they were already showing promise. Whether a family flourished or not depended solely on the offspring’s brilliance or incompetence. Luo Zhen dared not vocalize it, but he absolutely believed that the second branch would eventually surpass the main branch, so whenever he faced Duke Jing Guo, he not only didn’t feel inferior, he felt quite proud.
Duke Jing Guo humiliated Luo Zhen in such a way, and he himself was also not very interested in keeping ties with Jing Guo Duchy, if he was going to properly manage his small branch, wouldn’t it be better to separate? That Duke Jing Gou was so short sighted, he’d already made up his mind to help the Gong Prince usurp the throne, not even thinking about whether he had the talent to accomplish it, or what would happen if the plan failed.
Luo Zhen had secretly advised him a few times to no avail, so he felt like a guillotine was hanging over his head at all times, its fall imminent. He resented the Empress Dowager for pulling him into this muddy water, and racked his brain for ways to turn things around, in the end, he could only think of the route of absolute loyalty to the Emperor.
The Emperor was ruthless, but he was also very benevolent, and he paid great attention to talented people. He believed that as long as he didn’t make a mistake, his family wouldn’t be implicated. Thinking of this, Luo Zhen felt increasingly thankful for having such a wise Emperor, in this way, he could use his talent to serve the country at ease. After coming to a decision, he became more and more active in the imperial court, and clearly felt the Emperor becoming more appreciative of him. Years ago, the Jing Guo Duchy had tried pushing for more power, and the Empress Dowager tried monopolizing the imperial court to improve her status, but even though the Emperor began suppressing the Empress Dowager and company, he’d left him alone. Back then, he really should’ve realized how broad and open-minded the Emperor was.
This day in the imperial court, Luo Zhen once again witnessed the Emperor’s fine governance, his wisdom once again touching his heart and mind. Back at his official residence, he found his wife sitting in the living room, her expression gloomy, she seemed to have been waiting for a long time.
“Is something wrong?” Luo Zhen asked, his heart filling with an ominous premonition.
“Our daughter has been sick for many days, even the imperial physician hasn’t been able to take care of her, so I invited the famous healer, Doctor Jin Lao, to look over her. Guess what he discovered.” Lady Luo forcefully rubbed the tears filling her eyes away, then calmly opened, “Lan-er is not in shock, she’s been drugged.”
“What drug?” Luo Zhen asked, his complexion ashen. The Lady would never joke about such a thing, she certainly investigated things thoroughly before reporting to him.
Indeed, Lady Luo did secretly investigate for a few days. She’d invited Doctor Jin Lao to diagnose her daughter’s pulse three days ago, the man had exposed a hesitant expression at that time, but seemed to be afraid of being questioned closely, and gave a vague explanation, prescribing a dosage of medicine before hurriedly leaving. Lady Luo was intelligent and capable, how could she not see the clues? Her heart tightening in anxiety, she forced herself to calm down, and repeatedly recalled Doctor Jin’s expression, more and more convinced that something was wrong. So, she secretly invited more doctors, carefully observing their expressions when she asked about her daughter’s condition, and unexpectedly, each of them had evasive eyes and gave vague explanations.
