“Then it looks like I've hurt him in the end,” Luo Wei watched Wei Lan.

“His fortune and ill-fortune is not something the young master can alter,” Grandmaster Fu Yi answered, “Only the person drinking the water can know if it's hot or cold, the young master cannot judge so decisively.

Luo Wei's emotions were in a state of chaos. He decided not to talk about Wei Lan anymore, and instead asked the grandmaster, “Everyone says that the grandmaster can see into the past life of a person and determine their future. I wonder if the grandmaster knows of my past life?” Luo Wei got the words out, and anxiously awaited Grandmaster Fu Yi's answered.

Grandmaster Fu Yi only stared at Luo Wei, for a very long time.

“Grandmaster?” Luo Wei was becoming more and more nervous from the grandmaster's stare.

“I don't have that sort of power,” Grandmaster Fu Yi only opened his mouth once he realized that Luo Wei was having trouble keeping still.

Luo Wei was a little dumbfounded as he sat there. This man stared at him for all this time, and his only response was this? “That's not possible!” In his excitement, Luo Wei stood suddenly from the seat and raised his voice.

“Young master?” Wei Lan heard the noise from within the room and noticed something wrong. He didn't care that it was the Imperial High Priest that was sitting inside and rushed in.

Luo Wei saw Wei Lan and was still for a moment before he realized he'd acted improperly.

“Direct action is more to the young master's personality, is it not?” Grandmaster Fu Yi stood as well, a warm smile spread out from the corner of his mouth, “Young master, our appearances take shape from what's inside our hearts. When I said that the young master had hate in your heart, it's because I saw it.”

Luo Wei's face went pale. He couldn't remember what kind of hate he felt that day in front of the palace.

“A person lives no longer than a hundred years,” Grandmaster Fu Yi looked at the hand Wei Lan used to support Luo Wei, “Third Young Master, you ask of the past life, but the past life is already gone, why not focus on the here and now? Treasure the one in front of you, if you can leave this place, then leave.”

“Where would you have me go? My family is here, where could I go?”

“Could the young master guard them for a lifetime?” Grandmaster Fu Yi asked, “And how could your family not wish you a peaceful and happy life? If something were to happen to you, how could they ever have peace in theirs?”

“Other than asking me to leave, is there nothing else the Grandmaster wants to say to me?” Luo Wei asked.

“Take care of yourself, young master,” The grandmaster answered, “Leave when you still have the chance, and go far away from here.”

“How could you know that I won't be able to leave in the future?”

“The longer a person stays in a place, the more entangled they become to that place. The more you achieve, the harder it'll be to let go.”

Luo Wei was silent for a mere moment before he smiled at Grandmaster Fu Yi, “Grandmaster, you may be able to recluse yourself from the world(1) and be free, but I am just a regular man and am unable to understand your words. Grandmaster, to be honest, I don't want very many things in this world, if I accomplish my dreams, then no matter where I am at that moment, I will be sure to leave.”

“Young master,” Grandmaster Fu Yi recited a Buddhist phrase quietly, “I hope that the young master can remember what he said today and not lose sight of it in the future.”

“I've promised someone that one day, we'll visit where he came from,” Luo Wei gripped Wei Lan's hand tightly, “Even though it may be a long journey, but I will make it one day.”

The hand that Wei Lan used to hold Luo Wei grew that much tighter.

“I take my leave,” Luo Wei didn't get the answer he wanted because the Imperial High Priest would not answer, so he didn't feel like pressing the matter. The conversation wouldn't stray from the fact that he should leave, but how could he leave now?

“Perhaps the young master could stay here for a day,” The grandmaster opened his mouth again with an invitation, “And let things quiet around you.”

“Grandmaster, you must know that the tenth prince has been born. I need to enter the palace to offer my congratulations, perhaps I will come back another day to take up some more of your time,” Even with that kind invitation, Luo Wei declined. A quiet and clean place such as a temple didn't seem like a place someone like him should dally at.

“Good,” Grandmaster Fu Yi didn't ask him to stay again, and instead commanded the little monk from before to see Luo Wei and Wei Lan out of the temple.

As Wei Lan walked through the temple, he couldn't stop his curiosity and peered around as he took his steps.

“What are you looking for?” Luo Wei asked. Wei Lan was rarely like this.

Wei Lan answered quietly, “Young master, is there really a nine level treasure tower in here?”

Luo Wei stopped too. They were standing in a clearing in front of the temple's altar. Luo Wei looked all around but all he saw were grand temple halls, their hips high and curved into the sky, crossing with one another. That tower of legend was nowhere to be found.

“Does the young master need something?” The little monk who had been leading them out asked as he noticed the two of them stopping.

“Young master,” Luo Wei asked the little monk, “Isn't there a nine storey tower in the temple? Why can't we see it?”

“That is something I wouldn't know about either,” The little monk didn't seem like he was lying.

“You don't know either?” Luo Wei found it hard to believe.

“I've been at the temple since I was five,” The little monk answered, “In the last six years, I've really never seen anything like that tower.”

“I see,” Luo Wei smiled, “We were only curious. Please continue leading the road, young master.”

The little monk saw Luo Wei and Wei Lan all the way out of the temple, and watched them until Wei Lan helped Luo Wei onto the carriage before he doubled back inside. He closed the little door in the grand gate and stopped the curious glances from those attendees still waiting outside.

Once in the carriage, Wei Lan asked Luo Wei, “Is it a legend?”

Luo Wei leaned on the soft cus.h.i.+ons inside the carriage, “That was only a young monk, how much would he know of the temple? You wouldn't be able to enter that temple without the allowance of the Imperial High Priest even if you were the crown prince.

“Then the tower is real?”

“I don't know,” Luo Wei answered, “That's something for the imperial family to worry about, why would we ministers be involved?”

Wei Lan thought that Luo Wei was right in his statement. Even if there was a tower, why would he, a commoner think about it if the only ones who could enter were the Imperial High Priest and the emperor himself?

“Lan,” Luo Wei sipped a mouthful of the warm water that'd been in the carriage the whole time, and addressed Wei Lan, “Give me some time, when I can leave here, we'll go to Xuan Zhou.”

Wei Lan nodded.

“Aren't you going to ask me how long it's going to be?”

It was then that Wei Lan asked quietly, “Is it after the crown prince has taken the throne?”

Luo Wei looked at Wei Lan with some surprise, “I thought Lan didn't understand any of this, looks like you get it too.”

Wei Lan replied, “I've been in the chancellor's estate for so long, but the only thing I know is that the chancellor and the rest of the family can only be comfortable when the crown prince takes the throne and solidifies his power. Young master's running about all day for the crown prince, is really for the chancellor and the rest of them.”

“That's right,” Luo Wei listened to Wei Lan, suddenly realizing that he didn't understand Wei Lan fully at all. He thought that Wei Lan didn't understand this imperial intrigue or matters of court, but looks like he sees it clearly after all.

“I will wait for the young master,” Wei Lan announced very seriously.

“It wouldn't be that long,” Luo Wei smiled, leaning close to Wei Lan's ear in a whisper, “If we were waiting for the crown prince to take the throne, when will that be? We'll be old men by then and won't even be able to walk. What'll we do then?”

Luo Wei's words made Wei Lan grin. How long would it be for them to grow into old men? “If that were really the case, I don't think we'd be able to wait that long.”

Luo Wei didn't have to move much as he laid his head on Wei Lan's lap. He knew when Emperor Xing Wu would die. It would only be seven years from now. Seven years. He could wait that long.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Being a recluse from the world – Grandmaster Fu Yi's priest name is Fu Yi, meaning literally to shake one's clothing. The word “fu yi” in Chinese can also be used to refer to being a recluse from the world or severing ties with the everyday life and becoming a monk, as to not care about the goings on of the daily struggles. Luo Wei is making a pun / reference to his name.