Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 407 We Don't Want to Be Emperors (1)

"That's it?"

Song Yan was taken aback by Luo Tianshu and Luo Tianquan's reactions.

He had considered what the two of them would do—perhaps be taken aback, perhaps burst into laughter and pat him on the shoulder, saying the joke wasn't funny at all. Who would have thought they'd be so casual, not even a tactical lean back? He'd been pondering and hesitating for so long. However, Song Yan breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head: "Looks like I was being nosy. I'm just curious, when exactly did you two find out, and how much do you know?"

Luo Tianshu and Luo Tianquan picked up their wine glasses at the same time and drank them down in one gulp. After casually wiping his lips, Luo Tianshu said, "When I was eleven or twelve, I already had some doubts."

"As for me, it's even earlier." Luo Tianquan smiled as well.

"As for the specific details, I don't know very well, but I can guess that it was probably to save our lives."

"Of course, it's just a suspicion."

“Mother did everything meticulously, leaving no loopholes. Apart from the fact that the resemblance between my brothers and sisters was getting more and more intense, which deepened our suspicions, we had no way to find out the truth. Now that you've said this, we can confirm it.”

They are two formidable ones, though.

If they were on the throne, perhaps they would have done a better job than Emperor Ninghe?
"Could it be that the entire Luo family knows?"

“Tianyang naturally wouldn’t know.” Luo Tianchu and Luo Tianquan said almost in unison, then couldn’t help but smile as they spoke.

Considering the third brother's personality, expecting him to see through the truth is really asking too much of him.

In fact, this is fine.

A simple mind means less overthinking. Less overthinking means fewer worries.

It was as if he secretly infiltrated the Japanese army, thinking he had done it flawlessly, and no one could see through his true colors. He was satisfied with killing one foreign enemy after another on the battlefield.

"Qingyi and Caiyi are too young, they probably didn't think that much about it."

"My older sister suffers from illness for many years and has no time to think about those messy things."

"As for whether Tianyi has thought of these things, we don't know."

Without a doubt, Luo Tianyi hadn't considered this. In some ways, this sister-in-law was actually quite similar to Luo Tianyang.

Song Yan shook his head: "Since you already know, you should also understand that your identities are extremely dangerous. The Yang family has long suspected this, and I think it won't be long before they make their move against you." He let out a breath and said again: "Why don't you go to Pingyang too?"

“Pingyang has the best army in the entire Ningguo, and even the Yang family’s reach cannot extend there.”

Luo Tianshu and Luo Tianquan frowned slightly, and could see the helplessness in each other's eyes when they looked at each other. In the end, it was Luo Tianshu who spoke up: "Let it go."

“We are doing quite well in Ningping. Although Ningping is just a small place, we have lived here for so many years and now we are the local officials. We have developed some feelings for it.” Luo Tianchu stretched his stiff arms. Working in the office is much easier than working in the fields, but sitting in the magistrate’s chair for a long time still makes him feel tired.

Although tired, he looked very satisfied.

"I don't know much about the magistrates of Ningping County over the past hundred years, but at least the last magistrate was an absolute scoundrel. Despite being a land of plenty, the people there all looked pale and emaciated, with dull, lifeless eyes."

"It has been less than a year since I took office."

"The bandits have all been wiped out. The food on people's tables has become thicker, their clothes have become thicker, their smiles have increased, and their eyes have regained their sparkle."

"Then I felt that everything I had done had value." Luo Tianchu said with a smile, "I'm not bragging. If you don't believe me, go out and ask around. In the whole Ningping County, which commoner doesn't praise me, the county magistrate, and call me a good and upright official?"

"I'm still a little reluctant to leave now."

"As for my safety, there's no need to worry. In Ningping County, who would dare to harm me, the county magistrate? Not to mention the constables and police in the county government, even the common people on the road would not stand for it."

Song Yan was somewhat shocked, never expecting that Luo Tianshu could manage to become such a powerful county magistrate.

Luo Tianquan chuckled and chimed in, "That's no exaggeration. A while ago, a merchant used a dual contract to cheat farmers and seize farmland. My brother ruled the contract invalid, and the merchant not only had to return the seized farmland but was also fined. The merchant was dissatisfied and ordered his servants to try to take action while my brother was off duty. But as soon as they took out their sticks, they were surrounded by the people on the street."

"He got a good beating."

"His limbs were all broken, and he died before the doctor from Huichuntang arrived."

"Moreover, my brother and I are not children anymore, and we have ways to protect ourselves." Luo Tianquan smiled. "In addition, there are anti-Japanese soldiers in Ningping County, and we are accompanied by elite soldiers when we go out."

“Speaking of the Japanese pirates, the number of soldiers has recently reached eight thousand. Songzhou can't recruit many soldiers anymore; most of them come from nearby prefectures and counties. After all, the treatment here is really good, and many people who can't make a living have joined the army. When you return to Pingyang this time, take five thousand with you, along with a full set of armor and equipment,” Luo Tianshu said. “The workshops here, except for the coldest days, are almost always working overtime to produce, and the soldiers' training has never been neglected.”

"You have wiped out most of the Japanese pirates along the coast. Compared to Ningping, Pingyang needs these soldiers more."

Song Yan sighed, feeling somewhat moved.

He sent Luo Tianshu and Luo Tianquan to Pingyang not only for protection, but also to allow them to gain some military merit. Military merit gives them more prestige in the army, and it will also give them more leverage in the future competition for a position. Song Yan did not believe that they could not understand this meaning.

However, both men refused, and even asked him to take the soldiers with him.

“I’ve met Luo Jingyu.” After thinking for a moment, Song Yan changed to a more direct way of saying it: “He’s the eldest prince born to Yang Guifei.” “He’s not a good one.” Song Yan’s voice was somewhat suppressed as he looked up at the dark night sky: “If Luo Jingyu ascends to the throne, the situation in Ning Kingdom will be even worse.”

"Are you really planning to hand over Ningguo to him?"

"Give way?" Luo Tianchu smiled. "It wouldn't be accurate to call it giving way."

Luo Tianchu glanced at Luo Tianquan: "Actually, even if we both guessed our own backgrounds, we never intended to become emperors."

Song Yan was somewhat surprised.

That was the supreme ruler, the one who held the reins of power over the world.

Luo Tianchu and Luo Tianquan, aren't you even a little bit tempted?
He glanced at Luo Tianquan, only to find that Luo Tianquan had a faint smile on his face, with little expression.

Seemingly sensing Song Yan's doubts, Luo Tianchu sighed softly, leaned back, and his posture revealed a hint of laziness: "Brother-in-law, you should know that for nearly twenty years, Tianquan and I have lived in Ningguo as commoners."

"Let alone a prince, even a prince of such noble status has no connection with any title."

Song Yan nodded slightly.

He understands this kind of thing.

The rules of this era are somewhat different from those of the previous life. A princess's daughter is a county princess, but a princess's son's title follows his father's lineage.

If the father's lineage is also noble, the princess's son can inherit his father's title.

If the father has no title, then the princess's son will not have any special title.

"As for the throne, I've never even considered it." Luo Tianchu twirled the wine glass in his hand, gently shaking it, his gaze fixed on the ripples spreading within. "Now, even if they knew we were the sons of Emperor Ninghe, it would be difficult for them to have any other thoughts about the throne."

"At most, it's just a feeling of 'ah, so our identities are not simple at all'..." Luo Tianchu frowned again, carefully choosing his words, as if it was not easy to describe this feeling: "No, actually it's not that complicated. After all, our mother is the eldest princess. Even without a title or honorary title, her identity is already noble enough."

"Therefore, the impact is not too great."

"And even if Tianquan and I were to sit in that position, could we really do a better job than Luo Jingyu?"

"Not necessarily." Luo Tianchu put down his wine glass and stood up.

With his back to Song Yan, he looked up at the night sky, seemingly gazing at the bright moon or the starry sky.

The night wind rustled the hem of her clothes, making a loud noise that conveyed a sense of freedom.

"Tianquan and I both consider ourselves to be somewhat intelligent."

"But we are by no means born emperors."

That's too modest.

These two brothers are far more intelligent than just a few points of intelligence; at least Song Yan felt he couldn't compare to them... Compared to these two brothers, Song Yan's advantage was probably his knowledge from his previous life, which allowed him to think about problems from a longer-term perspective, as well as his passable hands-on skills. However, when it came to scrutinizing details, he was far inferior to these two.

However, Song Yan agreed with the latter statement.

In this world, there are very few born emperors. In Song Yan's knowledge, there are only a handful of born emperors, such as Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng and Emperor Xuan of Han Liu Xun.

“We grew up under our mother’s protection and never learned any imperial arts. Even if we were to ascend to the throne, we would not know how to handle state affairs, how to distinguish between loyalty and treachery, how to balance the court, or even how to control our own emotions.”

"Neither of us has any foothold in the court."

"An emperor without a solid foundation can only end up worse off than Emperor Yuanjing or Emperor Longtai."

"Too many emperors in Ningguo have died unnatural deaths, and neither Tianquan nor I want to be the next one."

Song Yan remained silent.

In his heart, however, he admired Luo Tianshu and Luo Tianquan's character.

Any man would probably be excited and shout things like, "I'm going to be the emperor!" if he were in this situation.

However, these two brothers were able to keenly sense the hidden danger amidst their immense wealth and promptly control their deepest greed. This composure is truly remarkable.

"Most importantly, chaos is imminent in Ningguo."

"At this time, whoever sits in that position is very likely to become the ruler of a fallen kingdom... The reputation of a ruler of a fallen kingdom is not good."

"Besides, being an emperor is really not a good job. You sleep later than a dog and get up earlier than a rooster every day. I don't want to die young, the kind of death from overwork." Luo Tianchu made a casual joke before turning his gaze away.

Song Yan smiled and said, "That's a real pity. The old master of the Fang family had high hopes for the two of you."

"He plans to marry his eldest granddaughter to you and his second granddaughter to Tianquan."

Luo Tianchu scoffed: "It sounds like something the Fang family would do. But Tianquan and I are capable of managing a county, not a country."

"This time, the Fang family's wishful thinking is likely to fall through."

"By the way, don't tell Mother about our origins. She raised us for so many years, I'm afraid she'll be heartbroken, and it won't be easy to comfort her then."

Song Yanshen agreed.

……

The next day.

The group then left the Luo family.

First, he went to the military camp and took away five thousand black-armored soldiers from there.

Although these people had never experienced the battlefield, after several months of training, they were able to at least obey orders and maintain discipline. Even an old general like Mei Wu couldn't help but sigh when he saw this army. Although these soldiers' faces were still a bit immature, they already had the most basic qualities of an elite force.

The faces showed no confusion or fear about the border, the foreign tribes, or the future; their eyes were filled only with anticipation and excitement.

When they returned from Pingyang City, there were only a dozen or so people, but on their way back, it was a large and imposing group. Luo Tianchu and Luo Tianquan even rode in a carriage all the way to the border of Ningping.

Watching the dark mass of people disappear from sight, Luo Tianchu and Luo Tianquan both breathed a sigh of relief. They looked at each other and could see the helplessness in each other's eyes.

"Brother, do you think what brother-in-law said last night was sincere, or was it a test?" Luo Tianquan finally couldn't suppress his doubts and asked slowly.

Luo Tianchu finally withdrew his gaze, and after a moment's thought, he said, "It must be true."

"Although my brother-in-law has been with the Luo family for some time now, and I consider myself to have a good eye for people, I have never been able to see through this brother-in-law."

Luo Tianquan was somewhat surprised.

In terms of intelligence, Luo Tianquan was confident that he was more outstanding than his brother.

But when it comes to judging people, Luo Tianquan trusts his brother's judgment more.

Those eyes seemed to see right through everything, directly piercing through the deepest, most hidden truths.

There are truly very few things in this world that even Luo Tianshu cannot see through.

Luo Tianchu shook his head, his eyes somewhat lost, as if he were recalling some past events: "Do you still remember when we first met brother-in-law?"

Luo Tianquan nodded.

"Back then, my brother-in-law was staring straight at Tianyi, and Tianyang thought he was a lecher."

"However, I sensed something was different."

"That look in his eyes didn't carry a trace of lust; it was more of a look of shock, as if he had known Tianyi for a long time but was shocked that Tianyi would appear in front of him at that time and place."

"Even when he took out those pills and said they could cure Tianxuan, he was both confident and apprehensive. He was expecting something and fearing something."

“When he arrived at the Luo residence, he could directly stab someone to death with a knife. I could still feel the suppressed trembling and fear deep in his heart. Seeing dead people seemed to be an extremely disgusting thing for him.”

"He behaved humbly and appropriately at the Luo residence."

"But this kind of propriety is actually more like a form of alienation."

Luo Tianquan pondered for a moment: "Does my elder brother mean that he has never considered himself a member of the Luo family?"

“No.” Luo Tianchu shook his head: “That kind of alienation is even more excessive.”

"Whether he cries or laughs, whether he is accepted by us or spoiled by his mother, he is like a block of ice that cannot be melted. We are good to him, he remembers and will repay us. But deep down, he has a sense of alienation, as if he is not a person of this world at all, and is detached from everything."

"It's like a game that's just like children playing house."

"We are all just passersby in his game."

(End of this chapter)