298 Under my control
Lóng Wei was ready to leave to meet Xiaoming and Mingquan. However, Li Hua stopped him from leaving.
“What happened? Do you have something to say to me?” Lóng Wei walked up to her.
“Feng Lao has sent a message for me.” Li Hua brought her hands to the front and forwarded the letter to Lóng Wei. He took it from her and opened it. He read the message thoroughly and asked her why she hadn’t told him earlier.
“His Highness was happy after such a long time, so I decided to tell him about it later,” Li Hua replied.
“He is clever,” Lóng Wei chuckled, and asked her if she was worried. “I know you are, so you do not need to lie to me.” He tucked the hair strands behind her right ear.
“I should not be saying this, but I am concerned for Feng Lao,” Li Hua said and she lowered her head. She had promised herself that she would not be easy on him, but she wasn’t cruel enough to do that. “He has no one around him and...” Li Hua paused and gulped the lump that had formed in her throat.
Lóng Wei put his hand on the back of her head and pulled her in for a hug. Her forehead rested on his chest while his other arm wrapped around her back.
“I will see what I have to do. My assumption about Feng Lao was wrong. I also thought of him as our enemy, but he did what was right for him at that time. I will bring him to Qinping,” Lóng Wei said, and kissed the top of her head.
Li Hua pulled away and looked into his eyes. “I don’t love him, so please do not think that I am concerned for him because...” Before she could complete her words, Lóng Wei sealed her lips with a kiss. He peered into her eyes, who was startled by it.
.....
“I didn’t think that, Wifey. I know that you love only me and this heart belongs to me.” He leaned close to her again, their noses touching and their breaths mingling. Soon, their lips met again, and after kissing for a brief moment, Lóng Wei asked her to cheer her mood up.
“Here, take this,” he said as he handed her the letter and curled her fingers into a fist. “I will be back soon. You can go and meet Liu Jin Yu. Stay with her for a while,” he suggested to her.
“Prince Lóng Wei trusts Liu Jin Yu,” Li Hua said in amusement.
“Hmm. She will not harm you. I don’t trust the others,” Lóng Wei asserted. Li Hua hummed and asked her not to be aggressive with Kang Huijuan.
“Now, Prince Lóng Wei is the Governor, so he has to act like one,” Li Hua told him and rested her hands on his chest. She tiptoed and kissed the left side of his cheek. “I gave my good luck to His Highness,” she said. Lóng Wei gave her a friendly smile and lightly pinched her cheek.
“Thank you for this good fortune,” he said, pulling his hand back and kissing her in the middle of her forehead once more. He left after that, while Li Hua decided to practice archery.
Since it was the evening time, Liu Jin Yu must have been learning how to brew the tea. It was an important skill that every noble lady had to know. Her presence might disturb her concentration.
Lóng Wei arrived at the manor of the Crown Prince. To his wonder, Mingquan had already arrived. Xiaoming smiled to see him and asked the tea server to serve tea for Lóng Wei as well. He sat on the broad chair and refused to take the tea.
“I drank tea a while ago,” Lóng Wei briefed them.
Xiaoming asked the tea server to leave, and she left with Sun Fuguo.
“We have limited time. So, Kang Huijuan burned the place where he had hid the documents,” he stated as he looked at Xiaoming.
“Yes. I should have acted earlier, but I was so busy that it slipped from my mind,” Xiaoming said, and he knitted his brows in a fury.
“What about the investigation?” Lóng Wei asked.
“Brother Lóng Wei, it seems Kang Huijuan gave money to the royal inspectors because they aren’t serious about it. Furthermore, the location was in the middle of the forest, which made it ideal for bandits to come at any time, according to them,” Mingquan explained. He had collected the information from the low rank inspectors in the office in the capital.
“We will make Kang Huijuan confess the truth. We don’t need to find evidence because no evidence can prove his secret relationship with Xin Jue,” he suggested to them.
“How will he confess?” Xiaoming asked.
“I have two plans: First, I will threaten him with his father’s life. However, if he doesn’t care for his life, then there is the second plan,” Lóng Wei stated. “The most precious secrets which he tried to burn in that fire, I will reveal them tomorrow in court.” He victoriously smiled.
“What? Did Brother Lóng Wei retrieve those documents which he hid in that place?” Xiaoming was puzzled for a while.
“Chang Shi had informed me about it. So, I asked him to take them out and replace the box with a similar one,” Lóng Wei stated and smirked.
“Then, why didn’t Brother Lóng Wei reveal it today?” Mingquan was curious to know what was on Lóng Wei’s mind.
“I want the Kang Family under my control,” Lóng Wei said and showed them their fist. “Kang Xi never stopped humiliating me, and so did his son. I should tell them who has authority over them,” he stated and chuckled.
“What are Brother Lóng Wei’s true intentions?” Xiaoming was still unable to understand him.
“I want to crush the Kang family. We will not demand to snatch away Kang Xi’s position, but we will make sure tomorrow that Kang Huijuan will never become a minister or official in the future,” Lóng Wei stated.
“An enemy shall be eliminated completely,” Xiaoming opined.
“Shui Xiaoqing said one word before dying,” Lóng Wei asked the Crown Prince, who got puzzled. He was perplexed as to why Lóng Wei had suddenly brought him in their discussion.
“He managed to say one word. It was the word ‘K’. I want to find out if Kang Xi was behind the massacre of the Xu and the Shui families,” Lóng Wei stated. Xiaoming didn’t know about this when Mingquan explained the matter to him.
“Why would the Kang family do this?” Xiaoming muttered.
Lóng Wei didn’t tell him about the prophecy that was made for Li Hua. It would not be wise to speak about it.
Mingquan suddenly raised the question, “I remember that earlier, Brother Lóng Wei said that the enemy is in the palace.”
“Kang Xi usually works in the palace for long hours. I can’t neglect this fact that he is the closest to the royal family,” Lóng Wei explained to him.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om