The next day, Yao Ying and Yao Ling were called to w.a.n.g Luo Hai"s study after they finished breakfast. They looked at each other and it seemed like w.a.n.g Luo Hai decided to tell them about the organization.
They went to the study room and w.a.n.g Luo Hai already waited for them there. "Come in," w.a.n.g Luo Hai said when he heard the knocking sound on the door.
When he saw the couple coming in, he gestured for them to sit down. "I know that you must have a lot of questions. I will answer it all. Just ask me what you want to know." w.a.n.g Luo Hai knew that it was time to tell them the truth, they already put it off a bit too long.
Yao Ying and Yao Ling looked at each other and they seemed to be in a tacit understanding to let Yao Ying ask the first question. "Why didn"t you tell me anything and go straight away to let me meet Mei Li gu niang and drank the poison?" This was the question that he wanted to ask the most.
"I"m sorry," w.a.n.g Luo Hai apologized first before jumped into the explanation. "I am deeply integrated into this organization. There is an unspoken rule that my descendant shall continue the works of her or his predecessor. I now have you as my child and you are the only successor that I have. It can only be pa.s.sed down to you."
"But why didn"t you tell me all about it beforehand?"
"Because I am afraid to lose both of you!" w.a.n.g Luo Hai said softly. He wanted to have children of his own for so long and he finally found them, so he didn"t want to let them go.
Yao Ying and Yao Ling were dumbfounded. There were so many possible reasons, but they never thought about this. "Afraid to lose us?" Yao Ying asked him in confusion.
"It"s hard for me to find a son that I truly like and what sane people would agree to drink poison to a new organization that he has never heard of?"
Yao Ying and Yao Ling thought to themselves, "No sane person, of course!" They were both speechless. w.a.n.g Luo Hai already understood about that point and yet... he still did it.
"There"s another rule. If my descendant didn"t want to continue doing my work, they would hunt you down. I want to ensure your safety because there"s no other choice for you. You have to join the organization." w.a.n.g Luo Hai told them the truth.
Yao Ying sighed. w.a.n.g Luo Hai might do it the wrong way, but he did it because he cared and he didn"t have the heart to blame him. "I know, but you should trust me too. I might get angry at first, but once I made a decision to become your son... I will follow it until the end." Yao Ying was a decisive person, once he put his mind into something, he would do it until the end.
w.a.n.g Luo Hai felt his heart touched by Yao Ying"s thoughtfulness. He sighed in relief. "I"m afraid that you will hate me for that."
"You are my father. How can I hate you?" Yao Ying smiled softly.
"Yes... you are our father. We are family, so Father... Yao Ying is correct. You should trust us. If you have something in mind, you can share the burden with us." Yao Ling added.
"This is my fault. I won"t do it again." w.a.n.g Luo Hai promised them. "What else do you want to know?"
"What kind of organization is it?"
"Do you know the political condition of our kingdom?" w.a.n.g Luo Hai asked.
Yao Ying and Yao Ling shook their head. Yao Ying answered on their behalf, "We were just peasants. We only know that currently, our kingdom is in peace due to a peace treaty. Other than that, we really have no idea."
w.a.n.g Luo Hai nodded. "Fair enough..." Sometimes he forgot that they used to be mere peasants because they were always so smart and behaved elegantly, especially after Yao Ling took Zhang Mo Mo"s lesson. They are also able to read and write --- which is rare for peasants.
"There are a few reasons for the peace treaty. The peace treaty with the Qin Kingdom is because of the political marriage between the King of Qin and a princess from our Shu Kingdom -- Princess Huai Yi. The princess is popular because of her beauty and cleverness. Once she met the King of Qin, she was able to capture his heart and successfully became the Empress. Thus, we are able to maintain the peacefulness. As long as Princess Huai Yi stays powerful, we don"t have to worry about the Qin Kingdom. About the Han Kingdom, the people there are more barbaric. Their living condition is far worse than us, hence they always raid our borders just to find some foods."
"Barbaric in what term?" Yao Ling asked curiously. She was always interested in learning new things and this information really piqued her interest.
"For example, the way they dress up. We, Shu people, always use fabric to make clothes. They prefer pelts."
"Oh? Besides that?"
w.a.n.g Luo Hai laughed at her. "You look so interested... Well... They are more rugged, burly and bigger than most of us -- even the women."
"And then?"
"How about this? I will give you a book and you can read about their civilization from there? It will take a lot of time if I tell you about it one by one," w.a.n.g Luo Hai offered.
"Then... thanks to Father," Yao Ling grinned widely.
w.a.n.g Luo Hai nodded in return, then he continued talking, "It"s a bit hard to subdue the barbaric, but we have one general that they really fear of, General Wu. He is currently stationed on the border and after crus.h.i.+ng their famous general, we are able to sign a peace treaty."
"Father, what"s the connection of that matter with the organization?" Yao Ying asked, feeling impatient. He wasn"t interested in knowing the history between the countries.
w.a.n.g Luo Hai shook his head and said, "You have to know at least to know that much, it"s connected to our organization too."
"What?"
Yao Ling nudged Yao Ying and whispered to him, "Just let Father finish the story first!" That shut him up.
"Because of the peacefulness, the court starts to get restless. There are a lot of princesses, but only a few prices --- only five. Some of them start to get restless because the crown prince hasn"t been announced by the king. Even between the princes, there are also small factions that divided them."
Yao Ying furrowed his eyebrows and started to realize that the organization seemed to have a connection with one of the prince. He sighed but he already joined the organization, so he could only go with the flow. They lived a bit far from the capital and yet their father was actually having a deep connection with the royal family.
w.a.n.g Luo Hai noticed Yao Ying"s expression and smiled, "You seem to understand something."
Yao Ying nodded, "Is the organization somehow connected to one of the princes?"
"Yes. To be exact, two princes."
Yao Ying raised one of his eyebrows. "How so?"
"The princes have the same birth mother, so they are in a good relations.h.i.+p. One of them isn"t really interested in becoming King, but instead... his hobby is making money. He uses his talent in making money to fund and support the other prince."
Yao Ling asked, "Such a good brother? I heard from my deceased mother that the royal family is bloodthirsty and they don"t hesitate to even kill their own kins." Yao Ling was a bit skeptical about that so-called kind prince.
"A lot of people think that way, but so far... he proves himself that he indeed doesn"t have the desire to acquire the throne. The other prince is the one who has the brain to solve the country"s problem."
"Father, have you ever thought... what if... later they separate?" Yao Ying asked curiously.
"I know both of them really well and I believe that won"t happen!" w.a.n.g Luo Hai answered resolutely.
"Do they have a connection with the previous Empress?" Yao Ying suddenly asked.
w.a.n.g Luo Hai looked at him in surprise. "How do you know?"