Chapter 60
Lin Qingyu had no appetite, but still listened to Gu Fuzhou and opened the food box on the carriage. On the top layer was freshly baked biscuits; golden, crispy, and steaming. Lin Qingyu picked up a biscuit and ate them in small bites as he reorganized in his mind the things that had happened last night.
If he hadn’t known the ins and outs of the whole thing in advance, he would definitely have thought that Xiao Cheng really was suffering from a sudden illness. Despite such a big event, the palace guards hadn’t made any moves. The Crown Prince was attacked by an assassin. Shouldn’t they be searching the entire palace? Why had they simply blocked any news from coming out of the Eastern Palace?
How did Shen Huaishi succeed in attacking Xiao Cheng? Did he escape successfully? And where was he now?
Lin Qingyu knew that over-thinking was useless. For now, the only plan was to wait and watch for changes.
That afternoon, Gu Fuzhou rushed to his house. This time, he didn’t climb over the wall and instead, walked straight through the main entrance. When Huan Tong saw the god of war he so admired, his eyes shone and his hands trembled as he served tea.
Gu Fuzhou assumed a reserved and unsmiling expression, asking Huan Tong with a straight face if he wanted his autograph.
Lin Qingyu couldn’t help but admire how Gu Fuzhou was still in the mood to tease at a time like this. He sent the confused Huan Tong away and asked, “How is the situation in the palace?”
Gu Fuzhou took a sip of tea and said, “At morning court, Xiao Cheng was absent due to illness and the Prime Minister presided over the meeting. On the surface, everything else seemed the same as usual, but the atmosphere in the palace was obviously not right. It felt as though a rising wind forebodes a coming storm.”
Lin Qingyu asked, “Illness? Exactly how ill? Is Xiao Cheng still clear-headed?”
Gu Fuzhou said, “I don’t know.”
The many imperial physicians who had gone last night had not returned, indicating that Xiao Cheng was seriously injured and that his life was hanging by a thread. Who ordered the blockade of news and arranged his substitution at morning court – the emperor?
Gu Fuzhou went on and said, “I asked the guards on duty in the palace and they also haven’t received any news last night. They also hadn’t heard about any assassin. To sum up, whether it was Xiao Cheng or the Emperor, neither of them probably wants the whole city to learn of this incident.”
Lin Qingyu nodded in agreement. Although the emperor’s condition has improved, he was still only able to read reports in his sleeping chambers. Discuss issues, making decisions on major matters and other such things were still left to Xiao Cheng.
With the emperor’s current state, if something were to happen to the crown prince responsible for supervising the country, the ministers would be left without a leader, the government will be destabilized and the country will be thrown into turmoil. If he were Emperor, he too would choose to suppress news of this incident and then send secret agents to investigate secretly.
The more Lin Qingyu thought about it, the more irritable he felt. He rubbed his temples and said, “If Xiao Cheng had just been killed on the spot, this situation wouldn’t be so troublesome. Couldn’t Shen Huaishi have been a bit more decisive, even just this once?
“It might not be that he’d gone soft-hearted. There may have been other circumstances at the time.” Gu Fuzhou smiled, “Qingyu, do you know how to deduce using scenario reproduction?”
Lin Qingyu had never heard of it but he could more or less guess what Gu Fuzhou wanted to express. “How do you want to do it?”
Gu Fuzhou pulled Lin Qingyu to stand up, eager to try it. “Think of yourself as Xiao Cheng and think of me as Shen Huaishi. Let’s re-enact what may have happened at that time, maybe it can help you clear your mind.”
Lin Qingyu sat back down. “Boring.”
“Then I’ll play Xiao Cheng and you play Shen Huaishi?” Without waiting for Lin Qingyu to utter another “boring”, Gu Fuzhou sat down on the bunk, glanced at Lin Qingyu and did a remarkably accurate impression of Xiao Cheng. “Still struck dumb? What? I haven’t seen you for a few days and now you’ve forgotten how to serve me in bed?”
Lin Qingyu: “…”
Gu Fuzhou’s original intention was to make Lin Qingyu relax but there was no helping it if he wouldn’t go along. Just as he was thinking of other ways to coax the other, he heard Lin Qingyu say, “Shen Huaishi has been missing for two days. Shouldn’t Xiao Cheng ask him where he’d gone first?”
Gu Fuzhou curled his lips into a smile and changed his words, “Where have you been these past two days?”
Lin Qingyu walked slowly to the bed, thinking about what Shen Huaishi could have possibly said and done. Since Shen Huaishi failed to kill Xiao Cheng with a single strike, it was very likely that he had still given Xiao Cheng a chance to quibble. “I…I have something to ask you, I hope you can tell me the answer.”
Gu Fuzhou narrowed his eyes. “First, tell Gu where you have gone.”
Lin Qingyu pursed his lips and said nothing, a storm brewing in his eyes. Suddenly, something clamped around his waist. Gu Fuzhou had grabbed him around the waist and pulled him to the bed. Lin Qingyu wanted to struggle, but felt that this was indeed a move that Xiao Cheng would pull, so he let Gu Fuzhou press him down.
Gu Fuzhou supported his body with one hand and pinched Lin Qingyu’s face with the other. He said coldly, “I haven’t seen you for two days. You’ve got some temper. I asked you a question. Are you deaf or stupid? Did you not hear…!”
Gu Fuzhou didn’t put his weight on Lin Qingyu but simply pressed him down with his hand, without much of any force behind it. Lin Qingyu could easily break free, just like Shen Huaishi could easily break free from Xiao Cheng.
But would Shen Huaishi have broken free? Obedience to Xiao Cheng’s orders was an instinct engraved in his bones and his body has long been conditioned to satisfy a man’s desires in bed. It might take some time before Shen Huaishi is able to break through the shackles and resist his instincts.
Lin Qingyu didn’t struggle, shrinking back deeper into the bed.
He didn’t know if Shen Huaishi would shrink but he himself wanted to create a bit more distance between himself and Gu Fuzhou. Although they had hugged before, it was the first time for them to be in bed like this, in this one-above-the-other position.
Looking at Gu Fuzhou from this angle, he could see Gu Fuzhou’s Adam’s apple and sharp chin. His own figure was too different from Gu Fuzhou’s. His whole person was shrouded in the breath of another man. The feeling of domination and control made him inexplicably flustered.
“Still not talking? Very well.” Gu Fuzhou’s breathing gradually became messy, “It doesn’t matter. Gu has a way to get you to speak.”
After speaking, Gu Fuzhou stopped moving.
Lin Qingyu forced himself to remain composed and asked, “What is your way?”
Gu Fuzhou looked down at the teardrop mole at the corner of Lin Qingyu’s eye. He calmed himself and said with a smile, “Five hundred words are omitted here. He probably pulled some evil tricks of you, taking advantage of you, messing with you until your clothes are in disarray, your hair scattered haphazardly…”
Out of respect, he wouldn’t mess with Lin Qingyu’s clothes but it shouldn’t be too out of line to play with his hair.
Gu Fuzhou’s hand touch Lin Qingyu’s hair and he took off the hair clasp that he was wearing. His black hair was scattered like satin and hung down on Lin Qingyu’s shoulders, adding a touch of glamour to him.
Gu Fuzhou put the hair clasp on the pillow and said, “At this time, Shen Huaishi must have been thinking about the Heavenly Prison Sect but his body was insulted by Xiao Cheng. The servility he had cultivated for many years was finally broken – he had awakened and he wanted to resist!”
This emotional change was reasonable. Lin Qingyu tried to push Gu Fuzhou away but was held down even more forcefully by Gu Fuzhou.
“What are you resisting for? — After doing it so many times, are you still afraid?” Gu Fuzhou said in a deep voice, “There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m not big at all, there’s no need for you to bear anything.” After speaking, he couldn’t hold back and even laughed out loud. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I broke character.”
Lin Qingyu put his hands on Gu Fuzhou’s chest, raised his eyebrows and said, “Would Xiao Cheng say that about himself? But say the opposite and that should be about right.”
“Don’t worry about these details.” Gu Fuzhou whispered, “Let’s continue.”
Lin Qingyu’s eyes darkened. He turned over and sat on Gu Fuzhou’s back. He picked up the hair clasp by the pillow and pressed it against his throat. “Three years ago, how was the Heavenly Prison Sect destroyed?”
Gu Fuzhou put away his smile and said in shock, “Did someone say something to you? Shen Huaishi, if you dare lay a hand on me, I won’t spare you!”
“I’m just asking you. Was it the Red Fang Sect or the Tianji Camp that fought the Heavenly Prison Sect that night!
Gu Fuzhou gritted his teeth and said, “Where did you hear this from!”
“Tell me. I just want the truth.”
“The truth?” Gu Fuzhou sneered, “The truth is that you should have gone down to the Yellow Springs along with the rest of the Heavenly Prison Sect. It was I who saved you. I did everything to let you live. What else do you want!”
Lin Qingyu imagined himself as Shen Huaishi and gradually lost himself in his role. “So, it’s all true. It was the Tianji Camp. It was you…!”
Gu Fuzhou grabbed Lin Qingyu’s wrist and said sternly, “An assassin organization in the imperial court, having lost the trust of the Emperor, will surely die. No one could have saved them, not even I. That I could save you is already…”
“Shut up.” Lin Qingyu exerted strength in his hand, and the hair clasp almost pierced Gu Fuzhou’s throat, “I will never trust you again. Go to hell…!”
At the climax of the play, Huan Tong’s voice, so out of tune with the situation, suddenly came from outside the door. “Young Master, it’s time to eat. Will General Gu be staying for the meal as well?”
The two looked at each other. Gu Fuzhou said, “Could it be that Shen Huaishi had also been interrupted?”
“It’s possible.” Lin Qingyu got off Gu Fuzhou, “Shen Huaishi panicked and made a slip. He didn’t have time to completely frag him.”
“Why do you sound more and more like you came from my hometown?” Gu Fuzhou was too lazy to move, and maintained his previous posture, “But these are just speculations. I’m afraid that only Shen Huaishi and Xiao Cheng actually know what happened that night. We’ll just have to wait. There’ll be news.”
Lin Qingyu pondered, “People in the Eastern Palace are the most tight-lipped. If we want news, the only possibly sources are Hu Ji or Xiao Songzi.”
Gu Fuzhou asked, “Who’s Xiao Songzi?”
“A eunuch in Qinzheng Palace. A lot of the information I know, I got from him.”
Gu Fuzhou joked, “With such a loose mouth, no wonder he’s called Xiao Songzi.”
Lin Qingyu: “…”
Huan Tong, who still hadn’t gotten a response outside, asked again, “Young Master, are you in there?”
Lin Qingyu asked Gu Fuzhou, “Are you going to stay for dinner?”
“Yes.” Gu Fuzhou said lazily, “I can finish off three bowls of rice in one meal now, so ask Huan Tong to prepare more meat.”
Lin Qingyu still had his long hair loose. He instructed Huan Tong, keeping the door closed between them. There was no mirror in the study, so he tried several times but failed to tie his long hair. He couldn’t help complaining, “We might have been reproducing the scene, but did you have to mess with my hair?”
Gu Fuzhou smiled and said, “Sorry, I couldn’t hold back. Here, let me help.”
Lin Qingyu sat at the table and let Gu Fuzhou fiddle with his hair. He suddenly thought of something and said, “By the way, let me feel your abdominal muscles.”
Gu Fuzhou was a little surprised, but also a little gratified. “Imperial Physician Lin actually asked to touch my abs. Come, come. No need to be polite, feel free.”
Lin Qingyu touched it a couple of time and said, “It wasn’t just my imagination just now.”
“What do you mean?”
Lin Qingyu jokingly said, “Your abdominal muscles really aren’t that tight anymore.”
Gu Fuzhou was immediately on high alert and he touched it himself. “No way! I lift weights every day.”
“I heard that when General Gu used to stay in the capital, he would train for eight hours a day. It was only then that he managed to develop such a figure. How long do you lift weights now?
Gu Fuzhou said, depressed, “About an hour.”
Lin Qingyu said lightly, “Looks like you need to take care then, General Gu.”
