Chapter 56
Lin Qingyu returned to his residence. He told Hua Lu and Huan Tong that there would be a guest coming tonight. Since the establishment of this residence, no guest has been to it. Huan Tong guessed that the guest would be Hu Ji and Hua Lu said it would be a relative of the Lin Family.
“Neither.” Lin Qingyu said, “It is my adopted brother, General Gu.”
Huan Tong was overjoyed to hear it and Hua Lu’s face flushed with excitement. In the Dayu, Gu Fuzhou was a god of war, known by all. Many of the men and women their age worshipped Gu Fuzhou. There was no need for Lin Qingyu to say more. The two of them happily got busy, preparing the wine, tea and snacks for the guest.
Lin Qingyu remembered something, and asked Huan Tong, “Is the thing I asked you to order ready?”
“Yes, it’s already in the study.”
After Lu Wancheng’s death, he was still able to enjoy the lighting of incense from the Lu Family’s ancestral hall. However, the famous and honored General Gu had gone without anyone knowing that he had already laid down his life for the country, unable to enjoy the worship of later generations. Since Gu Fuzhou claimed to have gotten the chance to be reborn from saving the life of a pregnant woman, then General Gu, a good soldier who had saved countless lives, must have also gone to be reborn in another world. Regardless, Lin Qingyu still asked Huan Tong to order a blank stone tablet to be enshrine in the dark room behind the study.
It was getting late. Though it was already after dinner time, Gu Fuzhou had yet to be seen. Huan Tong who’d been keeping watch at the door was looking around expectantly. In the end, it was Yuan Yin that he led inside. Yuan Yin told Lin Qingyu that Wu Guogong suddenly visited the general’s mansion with a couple jugs of good wine, wanting to drink and reminisce with the general. Wu Guogong was an elder and he has expended a lot of effort regarding this matter with the Tianji Camp. The general could not refuse and said he would be late in coming over.
“The general also said that if it is getting too late, Imperial Physician Lin should not wait for him and go to bed first.”
Lin Qingyu thanked Yuan Yin and went to the study after dinner. Although Gu Fuzhou told him not to wait, how could he fall asleep knowing that Gu Fuzhou would come?
It wasn’t until late in the night, nearing the end of haishi that Lin Qingyu suddenly heard a whistle and knew that a certain someone had arrived. It stood to reason that if Gu Fuzhou had arrived, Huan Tong would announce his arrival. He had no idea what the hell that man was up to.
Lin Qingyu walked out of the study, and saw a black figure jump over the wall. Moving like drifting clouds and flowing water, he landed steadily on the ground. Gu Fuzhou clapped his hands and said, “Good evening, Qingyu.”
Lin Qingyu was expressionless. “Why did you have to climb over the wall? It’s not as though I didn’t leave the door unlocked for you.”
“What’s so interesting about walking right through the front door when you’re visiting a widow’s house? Since we’re pursuing excitement, then we’ve got to follow it through to the end.”
“…Who said we’re pursuing excitement?”
Gu Fuzhou asked knowingly, “It’s not for the pursuit of excitement, why would Imperial Physician Lin be inviting this general to visit his residence in the middle of the night?”
Thinking of how pitiful this person’s last life had been, Lin Qingyu took a deep breath and tried his best to restrain his temper. He said patiently, “It’s inconvenient to talk in the palace during the day — come here.”
Lin Qingyu’s house was more than a little bit smaller than the Nan’an Hou’s Mansion and the General’s Mansion. Gu Fuzhou looked around and said, “I’ve given you so much property, you could have bought a mansion as big as the Nan’an Hou’s.”
Lin Qingyu said, “And be accused of overstepping my authority by the Imperial Censor? There’s only a handful of people in my house, why would I need to make it so big?”
The two headed to the study. The study had two rooms, an inner and outer room. The outer room was lined with bookshelves, and the long table in front of the window was where Lin Qingyu spent his time hunched over his books. If he got tired from reading and writing, he could go to the inner room to rest for a while. As soon as Gu Fuzhou entered the inner room, he saw the bunk bed he had designed for him and Lin Qingyu to sleep in.
Gu Fuzhou was momentarily stunned, and then he laughed out loud. “Why’d you bring this here too?”
Lin Qingyu said, “The place didn’t come furnished with a bed.”
He wasn’t counting on Gu Fuzhou to believe such a clumsy lie.
With Gu Fuzhou’s current height, standing on the ground, he was much taller than this bed. He reached out and touched the silk quilt on the top bunk. In the past, Lin Qingyu slept here and accompanied him through nights of being tortured by illness.
Gu Fuzhou turned to look at Lin Qingyu and smiled.
His pupils were dark but his eyes were bright, reflecting Lin Qingyu’s face. Under his gaze, Lin Qingyu felt inexplicably uneasy.
In addition to the smell of pen, ink, paper and inkstone, there was also the faint scent of medicine in the study.
Lin Qingyu lowered his eyes and said softly, “Didn’t you drink with Wu Guogong. Why isn’t there even the slightest smell of alcohol on your body?”
Gu Fuzhou curled his lips. “I took a shower before I came to see you. You know how much I value you.”
“Is it important to take a bath before seeing me?”
“Yes,” Gu Fuzhou said as though he were simply stating the truth, “this is the highest courtesy.”
He wanted to show his best side to Lin Qingyu and he constantly worried that he didn’t appear handsome enough in front of him. He was very strange. He considered himself to be someone of passable appearance, but there were times when he wasn’t confident in the face of the person he liked.
Lin Qingyu smiled lightly. “This is the first time I’ve heard of such a statement.”
Gu Fuzhou’s breathing gradually became unstable. The effect of Wu Guogong’s wine was pretty strong. He had felt fine after drinking, but now it was starting to rise to his head. Gu Fuzhou sat down on the bottom bunk, supported himself by propping his arms behind him. He said in a lazy tone, “Qingyu, I’m a little drunk.”
Lin Qingyu said, “Should I make you some sobering soup?”
Gu Fuzhou shook his head. “Sobering soup is useless. Let’s get down to business first. Even Wu Guogong has heard about the matter of the Emperor wanting to betroth the Seventh Princess to me. He kept congratulating me as we were drinking, saying he would accept my future son as his disciple. Is there any way you can make the Emperor change his mind?”
Lin Qingyu calmed his mind and said, “The Seventh Princess is the Emperor’s youngest daughter, and the Emperor has always regarded her as the pearl in his palm. You are a great general, brave and skilled in battle, having great achievements in battle; Pairing you with her, naturally, you make the ideal couple. But if you were suffering from some hidden disease, the Emperor naturally wouldn’t be willing to marry her to you as a grass widow.”
Suffering from some hidden illness? A grass widow?
Gu Fuzhou reacted and stood up suddenly, saying in disbelief, “Lin Qingyu, are you trying infuriate me to death?”
Lin Qingyu said indifferently, “No.”
Gu Fuzhou said enigmatically, “Alright then. I thought you were trying to get me to drop dead from anger so you could go find yourself a girl to marry.”
“If I wanted to find a girl to marry, why would I need to infuriate you to death first?” Lin Qingyu asked strangely, “Can’t I find one while you’re alive?”
Gu Fuzhou was stunned for a moment. He then laughed from anger. “This conversation is just too beautiful, brother. Your statement is so grounded and reasonable that I can’t refute at all.”
Lin Qingyu said softly, “You’re confident in my medical skills? We’re just going to make you impotent for the time being. When attention is drawn away from you, I’ll make it so that you can get it up again. When you were still Lu Wancheng, weren’t you able to accept this quite well?”
“I was forced to back then. It was to save my life, how could I quibble about that? But it’s different now.” Gu Fuzhou said solemnly, “I must live with dignity.”
Lin Qingyu emphasized, “It’s temporary.”
“It won’t do, even if it is temporary.” Gu Fuzhou sneered, “Earlier you said, for the sake of General Gu’s reputation, you wouldn’t let him carry the title of ‘male wife’. Now, you’re just going to make him put on the impotent hat. Does your conscience not sting?”
Lin Qingyu thought for a while. “What you said also makes sense.” If they were to make Gu Fuzhou impotent and this matter was publicized by busybodies, Gu Fuzhou would lose face and it might even affect his prestige in the army. “If that’s the case, then the only way is…”
Gu Fuzhou was half angry and couldn’t help but answer, “For you to marry me?”
“For us to find a way to send both the Emperor and Xiao Cheng to the west together.” Lin Qingyu said it so lightly, like he was talking about killing two chickens and making soup. “If the Emperor doesn’t die, your bethrotal is inevitable. If the Emperor dies and Xiao Cheng ascends the throne, our situation will only be more difficult.” Lin Qingyu’s eyes darkened, and his voice dropped, “Unless…they both die and some other prince takes over the throne. .”
Gu Fuzhou was quiet, not too surprised. Lin Qingyu dared to attack the crown prince. How different was that from outright killing him?
“Imperial Physician Lin’s setup is getting bigger and bigger.” Gu Fuzhou said with a smile, “Is it possible that you even want to make the Emperor a puppet, having him in your power and ordering the nobles about in his name?”
Lin Qingyu raised his eyes slightly. “Why not?”
He had no interest in the country or state power. He just wanted to study medicine with peace of mind. But they just kept coming one after another, provoking him and Gu Fuzhou. It was tiresome and he was sick of it. It would be better to just thoroughly carry it through, to support a new emperor who was close to them and would never trouble them.
Gu Fuzhou thought for a while and said, “The Emperor’s princes have died in the battle for succession three years ago. Those who died have died and those you gave up have given up. Now, apart from Xiao Cheng, there’s only Xiao Jie and Xiao Li left. Xiao Li is a fool; even if he is the son by the formal wife, he won’t be able to inherit the throne. So that leaves us with Xiao Jie? A beautiful idiot.”
Lin Qingyu grasped the key point. “You think he’s beautiful?”
Gu Fuzhou’s survival instinct suddenly kicked in and he corrected himself and joked, “It’s so-so. You get used to it when you see it a lot. Unlike Imperial Physician Lin, who is not only a stunner at first glance but also grows more beautiful the more you look. It’s completely different.”
Lin Qingyu snorted coldly and said, “If Xiao Jie is an idiot, he’ll be even easier for us to control.”
Gu Fuzhou disagreed, “There’s someone pretty smart next to Xiao Jie. I’m afraid it won’t be us doing the controlling.”
“Who?”
“You should have seen that person before. He used to be a little eunuch who served Xiao Jie. Later, he grew up to be a proper eunuch and left the palace with Xiao Jie to build his mansion. Now he is the steward of Xiao Jie’s Mansion.”
Lin Qingyu remembered that there was such a person. “Is this guy smart?”
“You can count him among the top three in the Dayu.” Gu Fuzhou said, “And because of his physical deficiency, this person is paranoid, sinister and ruthless. Dealing with him will take some brains.”
The furrow in Lin Qingyu’s brows loosened. “These are all things for later, which is when we’ll talk about it. The most urgent thing is to think about how to kill those two people.” Taking the Emperor’s life wasn’t difficult. He was severely ill to begin with. With a little change to his prescription, he could make the Emperor appear as though he were dying from aggravated illness. After all is said, the most troublesome one was Xiao Cheng.
Gu Fuzhou also thought of this. “Xiao Cheng doesn’t drink medicine. He only eats things from the Eastern Palace. Having learned from his previous mistake, using incense isn’t an option either. If poisoning is impossible, the only possible opening is…”
Lin Qingyu took over, “Shen Huaishi.”
Gu Fuzhou nodded. “But Qingyu, I can’t wait very long. According to the Emperor’s intentions, he wants to set down this marriage immediately.”
“If our plan is successful, the matter of the marriage will be left unsettled; if it fails, it won’t be too late to discuss our remarriage.”
Gu Fuzhou concluded, “That is to say, whether we get remarried depends on when Xiao Cheng dies?”
Lin Qingyu nodded. “That’s right.”
Gu Fuzhou said, a complicated expression on his face, “This mood has suddenly becomes quite subtle. I was originally hoping that Xiao Cheng would die immediately.”
Lin Qingyu’s voice turned slightly cold, “Don’t you want him to now?”
Gu Fuzhou smiled and said, “Then, I still do want him to.”
