130: What do you really want?

"Me? I've never really thought about that question."

Mo Yingqi, who was walking with Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning on the Estate, suddenly heard Luo Yongan asking him if he had ever thought about what he wanted. He turned back to look at the sisters in a daze.

"At the beginning, my mind was full of revenge..."

"Oh, not that. Suppose we didn't exist, and you weren't born into such a family, but were just a young master of an ordinary wealthy family."

"Uh..."

Luo Yongan's words left Mo Yingqi momentarily unsure of how to answer. These twenty years of life weren't long, but they were a real experience for him.

But when it came to such a question, Mo Yingqi truly had never thought about it.

"Actually, it seems my life has been like being pushed along, as if nothing was my choice, yet everything seems like it wasn't my choice..."

Mo Yingqi thought about his life so far; even marrying Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning seemed passive. Originally, he wouldn't have had to seek revenge and could have been like a child of an ordinary family, studying literature and martial arts, seeking official titles, or learning business.

However, because his family was so unique, Mo Yingqi's study of literature and martial arts was only to take revenge on his biological father. He had never considered a serious career in officialdom; even joining the Pacification Bureau was only because he felt it would be convenient.

"Speaking of which, back in the Northern Frontier, my sister and I already asked you this question, didn't we?" Luo Yongning bent down slightly, leaning sideways to look at Mo Yingqi cutely. "Back then, Yingqi was also this distressed, as if you really had never shown interest in these things."

"Because after my mother passed away, my only thought was revenge. Because of that, everything I did was to get back at Zhang Jiawen." Mo Yingqi smiled sheepishly. "Besides, being in the Northern Frontier back then, it was freezing cold and sparsely populated. Every day, apart from being with you two, I was learning skills from my master. Over time, I gradually stopped thinking about fame and fortune—uh, also, my family doesn't lack money to spend..."

"Then, what about now?" Luo Yongan looked into Mo Yingqi's eyes while slowly leaning closer to him. "Does the current Yingqi have anything he wants?"

"Now? Probably just living peacefully with you two for the rest of my life." Mo Yingqi wasn't shy as usual; instead, he looked at Luo Yongan with a steady gaze. "Sister Yongan, Sister Yongning, I've thought about it. If this matter ends, let's not go traveling around. I suddenly feel that just staying on this Estate, watching the sun rise and set, being together day and night, seems enough for me."

Mo Yingqi never had any ambition, even though he knew that if he truly wanted to enter the court now, attaining a first-rank official position wouldn't be difficult.

With Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning by his side, and with the trust and entrustment of The Emperor, if he really relied on this relationship to pursue a career in officialdom, he would eventually enter the Grand Secretariat or even become a Grand Chancellor in the future; it was definitely not a pipe dream.

Or he could follow the Shen Family into the military; achieving merits on the battlefield and commanding troops would be another bright path.

But Mo Yingqi wanted nothing and cared for nothing. During this year in the Pacification Bureau, Mo Yingqi had seen far too much of the intrigue and deception in officialdom. This wasn't The Emperor's fault; one could only say that officialdom had always been this way. There were some underlying rules that even The Emperor wasn't unaware of, but if they were harmless, The Emperor would just pretend not to know.

But Mo Yingqi was unwilling. He found such a life boring and tiresome. Even though he worked with Lu Qianyuan and Tang Jingzhong in the Pacification Bureau every day and drank and ate meat together in their spare time, at the end of the day, he was still struggling in officialdom.

Furthermore, although Mo Yingqi was cold-hearted, in the end, no one wanted to spend every day dealing with human lives, interrogating and torturing, and raiding homes to arrest people.

"Silly, even though Yongning and I are in the Imperial family and seem to have thousands of favors bestowed upon us, the happiest time for us was our childhood in the Northern Frontier, growing up with you." Luo Yongan leaned gently into Mo Yingqi's embrace. "Besides, I've mentioned to Father Emperor that we still have you. After we finish helping Father Emperor with these final matters, the affairs of the imperial court will have nothing more to do with us."

"That's right, that's right, Yingqi. If Father Emperor has any instructions in the future, just leave them to the people of Partridge Sky." Luo Yongning nodded and said. "Sister and I have done enough over the years. Now, whether it's the salt trade, grain trade, tea trade, or shipping, Partridge Sky can maintain perfect order and share the court's burdens."

Mo Yingqi was a bit surprised; he couldn't believe they would give all this up so easily. Even if Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning remained the leaders of Partridge Sky, would their influence in Partridge Sky still be effective if they did this?

"Yingqi, I know what you're thinking." Luo Yongan quickly read Mo Yingqi's mind. "You can rest assured, Yingqi, nothing will happen. Yongning and I have already made arrangements. Not to mention, Father Emperor still has Mother Empress, who can also help manage things. Besides, Yongning and I have never cared about these things. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have left the Northern Frontier, and we don't have much interest in Partridge Sky."

"In this world, you are the only one in our thoughts. You are the only one Yongning and I care about most—caring about you as a person and everything related to you."

"Other than that, everything else is just useless people and useless things to us."

Compared to the confused Mo Yingqi, who had never thought about his future, Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning had long since established their only goal in life—to capture Mo Yingqi and keep him by their side forever and ever.

"Me? My only thought is not to be The Emperor."

"What a coincidence, Big Brother, I think so too."

"...I'll slaughter both of you rebellious sons!"

On a whim, Luo Nantian asked his two sons the same question. Who would have thought that his two traitorous sons would almost drive Luo Nantian to death with anger.

"I'm just looking for trouble for myself. Look at you two, you are truly legitimate sons. This throne will have to be chosen from between the two of you sooner or later."

Luo Nantian wasn't afraid that his words would cause the two brothers to turn against each other, because such a possibility simply didn't exist.

Using a phrase he often used to describe these two sons, who were both reassuring and extremely infuriating: "Other fathers hope their children are brotherly and harmonious. These two of mine... tsk, they really are brotherly and harmonious, thinking every day about how to anger me to death!"

"And they would fight over the throne? Hah, if even one of them were willing to rebel, I could send the dragon robes to them right now. Look at these two rebellious sons, which one looks like they're cut out for it?"

"Having given birth to these two sons is like eating manure. Now that the Luo family's territory has reached me, I truly feel ashamed before my ancestors!"

Luo Nantian felt as if his family had been cursed. His two sons and two daughters were all paragons among men, but his sons were bent on slacking off, and his daughters... that was even harder to describe.

"Honestly, Father Emperor, Big Brother and I have watched since we were young how you were secretly protected by Imperial Grandfather and had to undergo trials." Luo Yongze looked at his father with helplessness and, even more so, a kind of heartache. "It's not that Big Brother and I are lazy, nor is it that we don't want to do something for the world, for the people, or for ourselves. No matter which of us you appoint, we are willing to do our utmost to assist the other. It's just that being The Emperor is truly too exhausting."

Luo Nantian's lips trembled a few times, but he couldn't say a word. He had walked this path step by step himself, so how could he not know the taste of it?

Now, Luo Yongfu had personally taken action, leading Fang Wenbo to secretly capture his third son and put him under house arrest in the Clan Administration Office. It was feared that his third son, who had not yet married or started a family, would never come out again in this lifetime.

Even so, Luo Yongfu felt uncomfortable. What about himself? Back then, although he knew he was the successor his father favored, he still dreamed of brotherly harmony. Little did he know that as the Late Emperor grew older, these brothers all revealed their ambitions and claws.

That past harmony was like a reflection in the water or a flower in a mirror. Thanks to the Late Emperor's protection and the occasional reminders from Grand Secretary Ning, he just focused on his duties and didn't have many conflicts with his brothers.

At that time, the Late Emperor had privately reprimanded him: "If you ascend the throne in the future, will you still hide from them like this?"

Luo Nantian didn't answer. If possible, who would want to reach a point of no return with the brothers they grew up with? But the reality was just that: if you don't harm others, others will harm you.

Luo Nantian had been careful enough, but in order to ascend the throne smoothly, his brothers still plotted against him. Especially when the Late Emperor passed away and it was revealed that the throne was passed to him, his third brother, who used to have the best relationship with him, actually cursed him for being hypocritical.

Little did he know that when his third brother was young, even though they weren't born of the same mother, he still treated him like a biological brother. Whenever he received a reward or found something rare, he would give the best to him immediately.

"I actually understand why you think that way. If the person my father appointed back then wasn't me, I wouldn't have wanted to sit on this dragon throne, nor would I have had to let your Mother Empress down by taking concubines." Luo Nantian sighed. "Fine, let's talk about this later. Right now, the priority is that the old fellow is finally going to make a move."

Luo Yongfu and Luo Yongze heard this, looked at each other, and then looked at Luo Nantian. Luo Nantian also shook his head with a sigh and then smiled bitterly: "Don't look at me like that. The old fellow making a move is completely within my expectations. Your Granduncle is in charge of the Two Jiangs, and with the officials I've carefully selected, everything in the Two Jiangs is currently stable."

"This world doesn't belong to Zhou Chutian alone. From the moment I planned to eliminate these two-dynasty pests, I already knew this day would come. Years ago, before I even ascended the throne, Grand Secretary Ning had already begun to travel privately, selecting those who were suppressed and buried by Grand Chancellor Zhou, who had talent and ambition but no way to display them."

"Why do you think he summoned his Disciples so frequently, and even many provincial officials flocked to the capital? That's because I had already made my move. Although I hold military power and can't truly purge these officials for fear of causing panic among the people, it's enough to intimidate them."

"Isn't he having these officials challenge me? I'll just flip the table on them. Those who should be replaced will be replaced, and those who should be dealt with will be dealt with. As long as I pull out soldiers to help suppress them, it will be enough."

Hearing this, Luo Yongfu finally understood why the capital had been so strange lately, with those provincial officials flocking to the Grand Chancellor Zhou's residence.

"However, some things actually have nothing to do with me..." Luo Nantian frowned. "That old fellow probably guessed that after these people were dismissed, they would come to the capital to pull strings. But it doesn't matter. I've already ordered the Pacification Bureau to secretly place some officials under house arrest. Although they haven't been sent to the Imperial Prison, they have already been interrogated."

"Father Emperor, I'm afraid this old fellow is throwing us a smokescreen, right?" Luo Yongfu spoke hesitantly. "He always does things meticulously, and Father Emperor has acted so quickly now, I'm afraid he..."

"Yes, that's why I'm curious. Your Imperial Grandfather always said this old fellow has a trump card in his hand, but I simply cannot find where these so-called troops are." Luo Nantian rubbed his forehead. "These officials coming to the capital are just discussing with him how to play Tai Chi with me, and there are no letters for them to take out of the capital. The Zhou Residence has long been under my secret surveillance, and his household servants have no abnormalities. As for that Old Daoist Priest, he stays behind closed doors all day..."

"Naturally, they wouldn't imagine where the soldiers in my hands actually are."

Zhou Chutian put down his paintbrush and looked at the 'Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix' painting he had copied. With a satisfied look on his face, he took his seal and stamped it on the painting.

"Never mind that they don't know; I've been in your residence for many years, and I never knew you were hiding such a backup plan?" The Daoist sat in the chair opposite him, drinking tea while speaking with a hint of mockery. "The world is vast. To raise private soldiers while hiding from both Partridge Sky and the Pacification Bureau, how exactly did you do it?"

"Haha, the Daoist Master also said it: the world is vast. Even for them, there are always places they can't see and people they can't attend to, right?" Zhou Chutian answered while looking at his painting. "Alright, someone come and have this painting mounted and put it away."

"Heh, you still have the heart for this?"

Looking at him like this, the Daoist felt irritated. He was clearly surrounded on all sides, yet this man acted as if it had nothing to do with him, reading and painting at home every day, and occasionally even inviting musicians to the residence to sing songs for entertainment.

"If I were you, I'd be thinking about where my way out is, instead of being so leisurely all day." The Daoist put down his teacup. "To be honest, even though you've told me countless times, I still have to ask you: do you really know what you want?"

"Haha, maybe I know, maybe I don't." The Emperor also, as usual, never gave a clear and truthful answer. "I only know that everything I do is what I should do, and that's all..."