Chapter 35
Father Lin’s prescription used poison to fight poison, using poison to stimulate the potential vitality of the patient, thereby prolonging his life. The toxicity of the medicine was too strong. After entering the body, the poison is released, bringing unbearable pain and some uncontrollable side effects to the patient. After only three days of taking the medicine, Lu Wancheng’s legs gradually lost feeling.
Even so, the time it could buy was limited. After winter began, every day could be Lu Wancheng’s last. But as long as he was still alive, Xiao Cheng would not be stupid enough to lay his hands on the Hou Mansion’s Shaojun. Just as Xiao Cheng himself had said, he would wait and when Lu Wancheng died, everything would be over.
In mid-October, Zhang Shiquan, who had been away from the capital for several months, was finally able to return. The first thing he did after his return was to ask to see the two masters.
During this period, Lu Wancheng was asleep most of the time and Zhang Shiquan only saw Lin Qingyu alone.
“Shaojun, I have investigated the matter completely.” Zhang Shiquan’s voice was extremely low, “The extra income from the villages in Xuzhou did indeed come from a private salt business.”
Lin Qingyu’s eyes darkened, and he laughed. “To say that Liang Shi is capable, but she can’t even protect her own children; to say that she is incompetent, but she has the guts to do such deeds that once exposed would earn the death penalty. Oh but she is truly an extraordinary person.”
During the reign of the late emperor, Dayu’s illicit salt trade ran rampant despite repeated prohibition, which seriously affected the income of the court. After the current emperor ascended the throne, he vigorously cracked down on the illicit salt trade, even introducing a new salt law. Selling illicit salt in excess of a certain amount was a capital offense. However, the profits of private salt trade were huge and many people still took the risk out of great desperation. Lin Qingyu didn’t expect that Liang Shi would be one of them.
Lin Qingyu thought for a while and then said, “If it is a private salt trade, the income on the books shouldn’t be just that much.”
“Shoajun is wise. The village is just a pretense and most of it falls to the hands of the Madam’s family.”
This was not surprising. Compared to the Hou Mansion, Liang Shi’s family could only be regarded as a humble one. Thinking they were in a remote place where law and decrees were not strictly enforced, they used the name of the Nan’an Hou Mansion’s village to act as they saw fit in Xuzhou, amassing wealth while keeping a low profile. The local officials in Xuzhou, even if they perceived something off, turned a blind eye for the sake of the Nan’an Hou’s face.
Given the cautiousness of Nan’an Hou, he definitely wouldn’t have dared to do engage in such shady business. It may be assumed that he has been kept in the dark. Once the matter was exposed, His Majesty, in light of his many years of devotion, might not resort to such drastic steps as to execute the whole family and confiscate all his property but seizure of some of the family’s wealth was inevitable.
Zhang Shiquan asked, “Shaojun, can you tell Young Master Hou about this?”
“No need.” Lu Wancheng was still alive. He was nominally a member of Nan’an Hou household and he would be implicated when the matter was revealed. Lin Qingyu looked out the window and said indifferently, “After he goes, I will take care of… everyone.”
The two talked about the details of the many evidences gathered. Lin Qingyu thought about how Xuzhou was not far from Hongzhou and asked, “On your way back to the capital from the south, did you encounter an epidemic?”
Zhang Shi’s face was grave. “The epidemic is raging. Once people are infected, they will have a high fever and abdominal pain the next day, with blisters all over their bodies. Those who are weak will die within three days. Villages and villages in Hongzhou are filled with the dead. Many refugee families are making their way north and in the north, cases have begun to appear. Who knows when this will bring disaster to the capital. I heard that famous doctors from all over the world are gathering at the Imperial Physician’s Office, in order to find an effective cure for the epidemic as soon as possible.”
It was troubled times and the situation was unstable. This may be the coldest winter for the Dayu in the past ten years.
There was a low cough from the inner room. It was Lu Wancheng, who had just woken up. Zhang Shiquan said, “Shoajun, I wish to pay my respects to Young Master Hou. I do not know…”
When all was said and done, it was Lu Wancheng who called Zhang Shiquan to the mansion. Lin Qingyu understood his loyalty and said, “Go, don’t stay too long.”
When Lu Wancheng woke up, he wanted to drink his medicine. Today’s medicine was late and Lin Qingyu planned to go to the pharmacy to personally take a look. Zhang Shiquan followed Hua Lu into the inner room. He saw Lu Wancheng lying on the bottom bunk, his face, gray and ashen. He needed to be supported by others even just to sit up. Even if Zhang Shiquan wasn’t a doctor, he could tell that Lu Wancheng was wasting away from sickness and that he didn’t have long.
Lu Wancheng didn’t have the strength to speak. “You’re back.”
Zhang Shiquan felt a soreness in his heart. “I’m here to pay my respects to Young Master Hou.”
Lu Wancheng asked Hua Lu to withdraw first and asked, “Have you done what Shaojun asked you to do?”
Zhang Shiquan remembered that the Shaojun told him to talk too much and so he said, “Do not worry, Young Master Hou. Everything is under the Shaojun’s control.”
Lu Wancheng nodded lightly. “Then about that thing I asked you to handle, have you found the person?”
“I have.” Zhang Shiquan took out from his bosom something wrapped in a handkerchief. “This is the token that Young Master wanted.”
Lu Wancheng moved his finger and motioned Zhang Shiquan to open the handkerchief. Zhang Shiquan asked, “Can I tell the Shoajun about this?”
Lu Wancheng shook his head. “The time hasn’t come yet.” He thought for a while and said, “Go and call the house’s carpenter for me.”
On the other side of the mansion, before Lin Qingyu could even enter the pharmacy, he heard the sounds of arguing, among them was Huan Tong’s voice.
“Blue Wind Pavilion uses this kind of fleeceflower root every day. Everyone knows it!”
“The Eldest Young Master is sick, but can you say that the Third Young Master isn’t? There aren’t many pharmacies that have the thousand-year fleeceflower root. Your Blue Wind Pavilion used to take it all before. So what if we take a little bit today?”
Huan Tong said angrily, “How can the illness of the Third Young Master be compared with that of the Young Master Hou’s!”
Lin Qingyu interrupted: “What’s going on?”
When everyone saw Lin Qingyu, they immediately closed their mouths; however, they were obviously unconvinced. This time, the Madam was making a comeback, and the Eldest Young Master was dying, he didn’t have much time left. The servants were naturally less respectful to this Shaojun who was about to become a widow.
“Young Master!” Huan Tong ran up to him and told him what happened, filled with righteous indignation.
With the encouragement of his mother and sister, Lu Qiaosong regained his strength. He found countless doctors to examine his condition. He didn’t dare expect to be able to return to his previous state of doing it seven times a night; he just wanted to leave a way out for himself.
A few days ago, there was a doctor from the Jianghu who came to the mansion to volunteer his services, saying that he had a sure way to make Lu Qiaosong regain his glory. Men at death’s door will turn in desperation to any doctor. Without any concern about this quack’s origins, Lu Qiaosong had his servants make the medicine according to his prescription. Among the ingredients was the thousand-year fleeceflower root. As the name suggested, it was a once in a millennium potent medicine. Even in a noble’s house like the Nan’an Hou’s, their supplies were meager.
Lu Wancheng’s medicine also needed the thousand year fleeceflower root. Lin Qingyu spent a lot of money to find some and the supplies on hand were for Lu Wancheng’s medicine. Today, Huan Tong came to get the medicine as usual and happened to bump into the people from Qingdai Pavilion asking the pharmacy staff to give them some of the thousand-year fleeceflower root from Blue Wind Pavilion. Huan Tong rushed in immediately to stop it.
Lin Qingyu said: “In the future, the Blue Wind Pavilion’s medicines will not be kept in the pharmacy. Huan Tong, bring back the Young Master Hou’s medicine. We will prepare it ourselves.”
A daring momo from Qingdai Pavilion stepped forward and said, “Shaojun, the Eldest Young Master and the Third Young Master are biological brothers. The Third Young Master needs medicine. Can the Young Master Hou as the older brother not give way to his younger brother?”
“No,” Lin Qingyu said coldly, “Tell your Third Young Master that his illness will never be cured in this life. He will always be a ‘useless’ person.”
Momo gritted her teeth and said, deliberately ambiguous, “Shaojun said that. I can only relay what you said to the Third Young Master and the Madam. When the Madam visits the palace, she will also be informing the side concubine about this.”
Lin Qingyu sneered and said, “You better not miss a word.”
Back at the Blue Wind Pavilion, Huan Tong took the medicine and went to the small kitchen to make the medicine. When Lin Qingyu entered the bedroom, Lu Wancheng was already sitting up.
Lu Wancheng was having a hard time getting out of bed now. He asked the carpenter to make a small square table that could be placed on the bed. His hands were shaking so badly that he had to hold the wrist of his right hand with his left hand in order to barely be able to continue to write.
Seeing Lin Qingyu coming, Lu Wancheng put down his brush and said with a smile, “Ah, my Lao Po is back.”
Lin Qingyu: “…”
The word “Lao Po” in Dayu meant an old woman. Lin Qingyu really didn’t know why Lu Wancheng called him that but he knew that Lu Wancheng had no malicious intentions, and he was extremely happy every time he called him that. Perhaps in Lu Wancheng’s hometown, “Lao Po” had other meanings; for example, it could refer to friends and confidants.
Thinking of Lu Wancheng’s half-dead appearance when he was poisoned, Lin Qingyu tacitly allowed him to call him that once or twice occasionally. “Did you see Zhang Shiquan?”
“En, I saw him.”
“What did he tell you?”
Lu Wancheng coughed twice and said, “He just gave me his greetings.”
Lin Qingyu sat down on the side of the bed and saw that Lu Wancheng had drawn a strange symbol on the paper: an arc was embedded in a circle, and inside the arc was a small circle, like an eye. “What is this?”
Lu Wancheng didn’t answer and asked, “Qingyu, do you know what people who play with substitutes have in common?”
Lu Wancheng had told him this question before: “They like holding themselves cheap.”
“That’s one.” Lu Wancheng said, “Another is that these people who play with substitutes will definitely fall in love with one of the substitutes in the end and when they fail to get their love, they will persistently pursue repentance. These substitutes often have the surnames of the Chen, Chu, Bai, Xie…”
Lin Qingyu was glad that Lu Wancheng had met him. Aside from him, who could possibly understand Lu Wancheng’s inexplicable words? “Do you mean that Xiao Cheng will fall in love for real with a substitute?”
Lu Wancheng smiled and said, “How smart.”
Lin Qingyu recalled: “Chen, Chu, Bai… Chen Huaishi?”
Lu Wancheng was surprised. “How did you know?”
“You wrote that name.”
Lu Wancheng snorted and said in admiration, “This is simply too clever.”
“So, who is this Chen Huaishi?” Lin Qingyu asked, “Is she a concubine of the Eastern Palace?”
“No, he’s a man. He’s Xiao Cheng’s shadow guard.” Lu Wancheng stared at the pattern on the paper, his lips turned white. “He’s often hidden by Xiao Cheng’s side. Maybe he has already seen us.”
Lin Qingyu saw the signs of Lu Wancheng’s poison acting up and said calmly, “Let’s not talk about this for now. Just lie down and rest.”
At this moment, there was a sudden noise from outside——
“The Eldest Young Master needs to rest. Third Young Master please come back some other time.”
“Go away!”
“If the Third Young Master wants to force his way in, this servant can only—ah!”
Lin Qingyu stood up. “It’s Lu Qiaosong, presumably here for the fleeceflower root.”
Lu Wancheng coughed a few more times and his face was extremely ugly.
Lin Qingyu was about to call someone to drive Lu Qiaosong away, but Lu Qiaosong had already strode in. Lin Qingyu stood in front of Lu Wancheng’s bed and raised his eyebrows coldly. “Leave.”
Lu Qiaosong’s face was morbidly sinister. His previous dashing-ness could no longer be seen. Even his temperament had become twisted. He pointed to Lu Wancheng and put on a fake smile. “With him like that, no matter how much medicine he drinks, it’s no use! Why does he still contend with me for medicine? Don’t tell me he can still leave heirs for this family!”
Lin Qingyu ignored him. “Servants!”
Huan Tong came with a few of the servants. “Young Master!”
“Drag him out.”
Lu Qiaosong’s hands were bound but he still refused to leave. He stared fixedly at Lin Qingyu. “Lu Wancheng already half-dead. How many more days can you be arrogant, Lin Qingyu? After he dies, what can a widowed male wife like you do? When the time comes, you should be sold to the Jiaofang Shi to be played with by all sorts of men. Growing such a beautiful face would all be in vain!”
Lin Qingyu tried his best to suppress the surging malice. Lu Wancheng needed his rest. He just needed to drive this person away. For the rest, it wouldn’t be too late to deal with Lu Qiaosong after Lu Wancheng falls asleep.
“Qingyu, I-I don’t feel so good. Qingyu…” Lu Wancheng weakly called his name. He suddenly made an “uh” and bright red blood spilled from the corners of his mouth.
Huan Tong exclaimed: “Young Master Hou!”
In an instant, Lin Qingyu’s cold brows surged with anger. He roughly grabbed Lu Qiaosong’s jacket and slammed him against the pillar. “You’re looking for death.”
