That day, Prince Lu Wei entered the palace with a mixed feeling . The prince was anxious . The Emperor had summoned him into the palace just after the Crown Princess proposed marriage with him . He did not know how he should answer if the Emperor asked him about it . After all, Prince Lu Wei had not given much thought about the matter .

Yesterday, when he returned to his room, Prince Lu Wei had found a letter from his grandmother . When the Prince asked around, the servants said that no one came to deliver a message . Then, it could only mean that the people sent by his grandmother was too skilled that he could sneak into his room without any of the servants and guards noticing . Or, one of the servants and guards were his grandmother's people .

The letter from his grandmother was brief . She only wrote that she knew his situation with Qian Rong . If Prince Lu Wei wanted to return to their clan, all he needed to do was to leave the bamboo emblem at a stationery shop at the eastern side of the city . Then, his grandmother will arrange for people to take him back to Sui Country .

Prince Lu Wei did not know whether he wanted to return . Sui Country was the place where his mother grew up until she was a fifteen . Back then, when his clan was ma.s.sacred, his mother, along with a few others escaped to Qian Rong . Once his mother met the Emperor of Qian Rong and had him, she never returned to the place where she was born and raised .

However, his grandmother had sent letters to her frequently, a.s.suring his mother that the others who stayed in Sui Country live well . In the prince's memory, he had only seen his grandmother twice .

When his mother was chosen to accompany the Emperor to visit a state in Qian Rong, his mother's maidservants would help to let the mother and daughter secretly .

Prince Lu Wei snapped out of his thought when he heard the shrill voice of a eunuch announcing his arrival . After a minute of waiting outside, the eunuch ushered him into the Emperor's study .

When he entered the study, the Emperor was sitting behind the table . His hand was holding a brush, and his attention was on the paper .

"Your Majesty . May you live long and prosper," Prince Lu Wei cupped his hands and bowed to greet .

The Emperor of Da Cheng did not make a sound and continued his job . Only when he put down the brush on his hand did the Emperor raised his head to look at the prince . "You can be at ease . "

"Thank you, Your Majesty . "

The Emperor of Da Cheng circled his table and descended from the stairs . He glanced at Prince Lu Wei and said, "Come with me . "

Prince Lu Wei bowed again . "Yes, Your Majesty . "

Soon, he was taken into a smaller room . On the center of the room were a round table and two stools . There was a pot of hot tea and a few snacks on the table . The windows were opened to let the wind come in . Outside, Prince Lu Wei could see the beautiful scenery of a small lake with a few pear blossom tree around it .

"Have a seat," the Emperor said . He poured tea into two cups and gestured the prince to drink from one of them . "Do you know why I called you here today?" the Emperor asked after a while .

"Forgive me, Your Majesty . I don't . " Prince Lu Wei could think of several reasons why the Emperor summoned him into the palace . However, it would not be wise for him to guess merely .

The Emperor reached for the cup but did not take a sip from it . "Your brother, the Emperor of Qian Rong has sent out a letter to me," the Emperor spoke slowly . "He wanted me to return you to Qian Rong and had sent along for an envoy to accompany you back . "

Prince Lu Wei frowned . He had heard from the Princess that his brother wanted Da Cheng to return him to Qian Rong . However, the prince did not know that his brother had sent an envoy to pick him up .

Qian Rong tried their best to be diplomatic by sending an envoy . This way, Da Cheng had no other way but to let Prince Lu Wei returned to Qian Rong with the others . However, if Prince Lu Wei refused to return, then Qian Rong will definitely accuse Da Cheng as keeping Prince Lu Wei as a hostage .

The Crown Princess was not joking when she said that a war between the two countries could start because of him .

"At the beginning, I only allow you to stay in Da Cheng because we were partly responsible for your injuries . However, once your injury healed, you were only able to stay in Da Cheng this long with the Crown Princess protection," the Emperor said . He let out a long sigh before he continued . "I don't wish to let this matter implicate my daughter and Da Cheng in any way . If it were up to my decision, I would send you back . You are a guest of the Crown Princess . Therefore, I wanted your opinion . What do you think? What are your plans?"