Luo Zeshi's mouth twitched as he stood beside Yu Lian. He seemed about to smile, but then appeared to catch some other meaning in Yu Lian's words, and his eyes brightened.
"Some people's achievements are simply the result of their personal struggles for freedom. But others... others' achievements are closely tied to the fate of their nation, and may even determine the course of history. Which kind are yours?"
"Neither. If every little slip of the tongue gets interpreted like that by you people, what do you think the ideal job for someone like me would be?" Yu Lian said irritably.
"Um, the secretarial department or the office?"
"No, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs! Wait... isn't that basically the emperor's secretarial department and office?"
"Ah, I'm truly sorry." Luo Zeshi realized he'd gotten a little carried away, and discreetly steered the conversation back to normal.
"Actually, you'd already seen through the Empire's plan. You could have foiled it ahead of time. That might have saved your subordinate's liver a great deal of trouble."
"But wouldn't that be terribly unfair to the Empire, after all its careful planning?" Yu Lian said with a laugh. "Besides, they might not have launched their attack now."
"Wouldn't that be a good thing? You've said yourself that the better prepared we are, the more likely we are to hold out."
"But there's a limit to how much we can prepare. The Empire has no such limit. If we don't play along and give them a good hard blow, I'll never be able to let it go."
"Of course, you have your reasons. But I still think you're taking a dangerous gamble. You've made detailed contingency plans and put safeguards in place, but it's still far too risky. I maintain my reservations." Luo Zeshi spoke with