Chapter 58
To let Shen Huaishi know about the matter with Heavenly Prison Gate as soon as possible, the butcher in faraway Suicheng in Xuzhou was the key. This person’s alias was Zhu Yongxin, and according to Gu Fuzhou, he was the double agent that the Heavenly Prison Gate had placed in Tianji Camp. Zhu Yongxin was extremely good at hiding his identity and even uptil the destruction of Heavenly Prison Gate, he had not revealed his identity.
In the Heavenly Prison Gate massacre, only Shen Huaishi and Zhu Yongxin survived. Zhu Yongxin once thought about telling Shen Huaishi the truth, but when he saw how readily Shen Huaishi joined the Tianji Camp, he was disheartened and didn’t dare stay in Tianji Camp any longer. And so, he escaped by faking his death during a mission. He then went into hiding and became a seemingly ordinary butcher.
Zhu Yongxin knew the whole ins and outs of the matter. In “Huai’s Refusal of the Monarch”, it had been him who told Shen Huaishi everything the day before Xiao Cheng ascended the throne. What Lin Qingyu has to do was to get this day to happen in advance, the sooner the better.
After Shen Huaishi got the Heavenly Prison Gate’s jade plaque, he too had wanted to rush to Xuzhou as soon as possible to find its owner. However, Xiao Cheng refused to let him leave the capital and the matter was delayed again and again.
Lin Qingyu thought about letting Zhang Shiquan bring the butcher to the capital instead. However, Zhu Yongxin was cautious and refused to rush into the capital. Zhu Yongxin was a trained and skilled martial artist and Zhang Shiquan was but an administrative manager; how could Zhang Shiquan possibly make off with him.
Gu Fuzhou said: “Leave this to me, and I will get him to the capital.”
Lin Qingyu asked, “What are you going to do?”
“Naturally, I have my ways.” Gu Fuzhou smiled, “I’m not the chief general for nothing.”
Lin Qingyu asked, “Oh, aren’t you?”
Gu Fuzhou woke up as though from a dream. “Ah, it seems I really am chief general for nothing.”
It was a long journey from the capital to Xuzhou. These days, Gu Fuzhou was often called into the palace by the Emperor and the Empress for various reasons. In addition to the seventh princess, he was also forced to meet with the granddaughter of the Prime Minister, the daughter of the Minister of War, and the niece of the Crown Prince’s Herald… In short, all the eligible ladies from every noble family.
The residual poison in Gu Fuzhou’s body had already been cleared and he should already be rushing back to Yongliang to preside over the battle. Last time, Gu Fuzhou’s defeat of Xixia, forced Xixia to retreat and recuperate, to feed the horses and sharpen their weapons. Although Zhao Mingwei was not as ever-victorious as Gu Fuzhou, he was also a general. With him stationed on the frontier, Xixia couldn’t make any movements for the time being. At this time, the Emperor was in no hurry and he let him stay in the capital for a little longer, determined to settle this major turning point of lifelong import before his departure.
Since Gu Fuzhou was in the capital and in good health, he was of course, expected to attend court and discuss politics like the other military officers. His idle days were soon over and he returned to the nightmare of deep water and scorching fire. Lin Qingyu, busy in the Imperial Medical Office, was forced to divert some of his attention to listen to him blame god and man, pouring out his grievances.
In the library, Lin Qingyu shuttled between the bookshelves, putting back the medical books he had read. Gu Fuzhou followed behind him, blindly following suit, “Qingyu, I really can’t stand it anymore.”
Lin Qingyu didn’t even look at him. “What’s the matter?”
“This morning, as soon as the rooster crowed, Yuan Yin forced me out of bed. What followed was morning court; I had to go to Qinzheng Hall to discuss matters and I was forced to listen to a bunch of nonsense. Finally! Finally, we got to lunch but instead of letting me go back to the mansion for an afternoon nap, the Empress invited me to listen to opera with the Imperial Academy’s Senior Official Sun’s great-granddaughter — even the donkey working in the mill isn’t tormented like this.” Pained, Gu Fuzhou covered his face with his hands. “Middle-aged people are already prone to hair loss to begin with. If things go on like this, I really will go bald.”
Although he knew it was useless, Lin Qingyu still gave a token urging, “When Heaven sends a great responsibility to the people, they must first suffer their minds and wills, labor their muscles and bones, and starve their bodies and skin. This is just the beginning.” This book, “The Imports of Surgery” should be placed on the top shelf. Unable to reach it, he would need to find a stepladder.
Gu Fuzhou took the “The Imports of Surgery” from Lin Qingyu’s hand, raised his hand and put the book in the correct position. “I understand the principle behind it but I just don’t want to hear it.”
After putting back the books, Lin Qingyu sat down at the table and opened a volume of old medical records and said, “Then you can report in sick.”
“Wouldn’t that be a crime? Deceiving the Emperor?”
“Does it matter? You’ve done a lot of those already.”
Gu Fuzhou sat down beside Lin Qingyu, and said slowly, “Qingyu, I’m not telling you this because I want you to educate me on big truths. Nor do I want you to propose a solution.”
Lin Qingyu was puzzled. “Then what do you want?”
Gu Fuzhou said honestly, “I want to be comforted and hugged.”
Lin Qingyu: “…”
“You definitely won’t give me a hug so, please comfort me.” Gu Fuzhou lay down on the table, feeling hopeless, “I’m really tired.”
Lin Qingyu looked around. It was nearing curfew and they were the only ones in the library. Apart from him, no one else could see Gu Fuzhou’s salted fish side. General Gu’s honor would be preserved.
Lin Qingyu really didn’t feel much like hugging him. But comforting was still possible. Gu Fuzhou had let his hand lay haphazardly on the table and Lin Qingyu gently put his hand over it.
Gu Fuzhou, who was thirty years old outside but eighteen years old inside, opened his eyes slightly.
Lin Qingyu felt that Gu Fuzhou’s hand gradually stiffen and he couldn’t help the corners of his lips from raising up slightly. He said warmly, “Just be patient. When our plan is successful, we’ll have the new Emperor reward you with an idle position. You won’t need to go to morning court, you won’t need to discuss politics but your salary won’t be low. You can sleep as long as you want every day. When you’re awake, you’ll eat, drink and enjoy looking at the flowers; you’ll play touhu and watch plays. And when you get tired, you’ll sleep. — Alright?”
Gu Fuzhou, who had been so eloquent just now, only had one word, “Alright.”
Lin Qingyu let go and stroked Gu Fuzhou’s hair instead. “You won’t go bald, don’t worry.” Before Gu Fuzhou could say anything, Lin Qingyu added, “And even if you do, I will find a way to make it grow back.”
Gu Fuzhou didn’t know where to put his hands. Because he didn’t want to appear flustered in front of Lin Qingyu, he tried his best to keep it funny, and joked, “If you can do that, if you somehow find a way to my hometown one day, you’ll be rich overnight.”
Faced with the Emperor’s urgings of marriage, Gu Fuzhou could only perfunctorily shirk and evade. He said that he liked the gentleness of women from the South more than the luxurious women of the capital. When the Empress came out with a few chosen women from the South for him, he then claimed he liked the candidness of the women from the Northwest the best.
Gu Fuzhou dragged on and on until Zhu Yongxin arrived at the capital. It was the soldiers of the general’s mansion who brought Zhu Yongxin into the capital. These soldiers were all extraordinarily skilled and they were loyal to Gu Fuzhou. These were people he could trust.
Lin Qingyu and Gu Fuzhou met this butcher who could reverse Shen Huaishi’s life in Lin Qingyu’s residence. Zhu Yongxin was in his thirties. His appearance was unremarkable and his sense of presence was extremely low. Ordinary people would immediately forget such a face.
Zhu Yongxin was a person who had gone through life and death. Even if he had been forcibly brought to the capital, he was neither arrogant nor humble when facing them. He even laughed out loud. “I never expected that I, a humble pig-killer, would have a beauty and a general see me off to my death. Not bad, not bad!”
“Death?” Gu Fuzhou sat on the large sandalwood chair, his expression indifferent, showing the temperament of one who has always enjoyed ruling over in a high position, “Why do you think you will die?”
Zhu Yongxin said indifferently, “The general forced me back to the capital from a thousand miles away. If it isn’t for the Tainji Camp, what else could it be?”
Lin Qingyu said, “Given how you’re acting, it seems that you are ready to die. Since that is the case, you should have just sacrificed your life for your master when Heavenly Prison Sect was destroyed. What are you running for?”
Zhu Yongxin’s expression changed. “How do you know that I am from the Heavenly Prison Sect!”
Lin Qingyu sneered. “Since you hadn’t chosen to die, you could have continued to stay in the Tianji Camp and wait for an opportunity to take revenge. They say that everyone in the Heavenly Prison Gate was willing to lay down their lives. It seems that wasn’t the case.”
Zhu Yongxin laughed loudly. “Even the young master of the Heavenly Prison Sect has joined the Tianji Camp. What can I do alone!”
Gu Fuzhou said, “Shen Huaishi didn’t defect to the enemy. He simply believed the Crown Prince’s words, thinking that the Heavenly Prison Sect was destroyed by enemies from the Jianghu banding together. He also thought that the Crown Prince had saved him.”
Zhu Yongxin was taken aback. “Is this true?”
“I can arrange a meeting between you and Shen Huaishi.” Lin Qingyu said, “He is now in the Tianji Camp and is a shadow guard closely serving the Crown Prince. He can do a lot more things that you can.”
Zhu Yongxin had wanted to tell Shen Huaishi the truth three years ago and he said without hesitation, “Alright, I would like to see the Young Master again and tell him the truth. I’ll recount everything systematically and in detail!”
“Systematically and in detail?” Lin Qingyu sneered, “What’s the use of telling him the truth? You’ll tell him that the culprit was the Emperor and that the Crown Prince relented and backed out of doing something to Heavenly Prison Sect at the last minute? You know very well the personality of your young master. Given his affection for the Crown Prince, what would this trifling recounting manage to do? I’m afraid that hearing your so-called truth, he would struggle and suffers for a while but ultimately chooseto let go and forgive. He’ll continue to serve Tianji Camp and the Crown Prince. ”
Gu Fuzhou looked at Lin Qingyu’s bright face and sinister smile. A fire was suddenly sent burning in his heart.
“You have to tell Shen Huaishi that all this had nothing to do with the Emperor. It was Xiao Cheng who took the initiative to sacrifice the lives of all the people in the Heavenly Prison Sect to show his loyalty to the Emperor and secure his as Crown Prince.” Lin Qingyu leaned down and whispered in Zhu Yongxin’s ear, “That’s the real truth. Do you understand?”
Lin Qingyu’s eyes were like bottomless cold pools that could almost drown a person. Zhu Yongxin’s pupils gradually became slack and he said meekly, “Understood.”
“Very good.” Lin Qingyu straightened up and instructed Huan Tong to see Zhu Yongxin out.
Gu Fuzhou looked at him with a smile, “When did Imperial Physician Lin learn to tamper with the plot?”
“It was worth learning,” Lin Qingyu said indifferently, “Isn’t it simple enough that anyone can do it?”
Gu Fuzhou had also wondered when he read “Huai’s Refusal of the Monarch”. In the early parts, Xiao Cheng obviously valued the position of Crown Prince the most. Why did he suddenly turned soft-hearted when it came to the matter of the Heavenly Prison Sect when he hadn’t even fallen in love with Shen Huaishi yet? Later, he realized that since the author wanted to write a happy ending for them, she naturally couldn’t write it out to be so final and uncompromising. She had to make it convenient for Xiao Cheng to be whitewashed in the future — Was it intense and deep-seated hatred? It didn’t go that far. Didn’t Xiao Cheng regret it at the end? Wasn’t it the Emperor who had the Tianji Camp carry it out? Therefore, there should be no problem for them getting together.
But Lin Qingyu clearly understood these routines. He completely blocked this whitewashing point and killed any excuse for Shen Huaishi to grow soft-hearted.
Lin Qingyu said, “I’m going to take a bath.”
“A bath during the day?” Gu Fuzhou remembered the scene just now, “You were so close to Zhu Yongxin just now. Did you do something to him?”
“I planted Gu on him to prevent him from talking nonsense and disrupting our plans.” Lin Qingyu’s voice was cold, “If Shen Huaishi still won’t lay a hand on Xiao Cheng after hearing this, then he isn’t even worthy of being human.”
