Chapter 81
Chen Guifei was banished and the crown prince was beaten severely by the emperor. It could be said that the entire court in such a strained state that it would jump at the sighing of the wind or the call of a crane. After Lin Qingyu achieved his goal, he temporarily pulled back and lay low, not going anywhere save for the palace. On normal days, he would read books at the General’s Mansion, make drugs, and raise Gu.
As early as when he decided to support a new emperor, he began to raise Gu. This was so that when the right time came, he could coerce the Emperor and command the ministers. This Gu was different from the ordinary Southern Border Poisonous Gu. It needed to be able to escape the detection of other imperial physicians. The imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital each had their merits, escaping their scrunity would not be an easy task. Lin Qingyu tried several times and the Gu diead batch after batch. But finally, he bore some results this spring.
It was a Southern Border female scorpion, only about the size of a little finger but it had passed five passes and slayed six captains, rising above all the other mixed-breed Gu. She will quietly burrow into the human body to lay eggs while the person is sleeping. And it will be these Gu eggs that would be the planted Gu.
Lin Qingyu threw himself into raising the Gu. The first thing he did when he woke up was to check the Gu’s condition, leaving him with no time to send Gu Fuzhou to court. When Gu Fuzhou returned to the mansion, there was no beautiful wife to greet him. He went looking to the study and saw Lin Qingyu holding a small and dainty pair of tweezers, feeding bit by bit the little Gu with specially made minced meat. Gentle, patient, and attentive; completely oblivious to his husband’s return.
Gu Fuzhou felt a little like laughing. The last time he was hand fed by Lin Qingyu was back when he was Lu Wancheng. He hadn’t enjoyed this sort of benefit for such a long time but this little Gu suddenly had a great beauty feeding her.
He coughed lightly to announce his presence. Lin Qingyu didn’t even lift his head, continuing with his task, “You’re back.”
Gu Fuzhou pulled carelessly, untying the clasp on the collar of the official uniform. He sat down beside Lin Qingyu. Lin Qingyu was facing the table, while he was leaning against it. Tilting his head to look at Lin Qingyu, he said, “I’m hungry.”
Lin Qingyu said, “Go to the cook if you’re hungry. I can’t cook.”
Gu Fuzhou choked. He turned around and placed his chin on Lin Qingyu’s shoulder. “I want to eat with you.”
“I’m very busy.” With Gu Fuzhou’s added weight, Lin Qingyu found it difficult to control his right hand and feeding the little Gu was a delicate job. Gu Fuzhou was in the way, so Lin Qingyu shoo-ed him away, “Eat by yourself first. Don’t get in the way of my work here.”
Gu Fuzhou looked at the ugly little bug that was eating happily in the jar and couldn’t help but feel sad. “If I get the chance to be reborn once again, I’ll just transfer straight into this thing. All it does is eat and sleep all day and when it eats, its even got a great beauty to feed it. Now, look at me, I discuss government affairs, lift weights. I wake up early every day and sleep late at night. I’m dog-tired. But the life of a pampered Gu, now, that’s the life.”
Lin Qingyu finally looked straight at him and said, displeased, “Don’t say such foolish nonsense. You’re not going to be reborn again.”
To be reborn, one must die first. Gu Fuzhou realized that he had said the wrong thing and accidentally touched the matter Lin Qinyu was concerned about the most. He immediately changed the topic, “By the way, Qingyu, I have already ordered for that former palace maid named Wu Ya to be housed in a courtyard out in the open. I also have some of my most trusted guards watching over it secretly. Now, we wait and see when Xiao Cheng comes sniffing to her door.”
Lin Qingyu nodded lightly. “The Emperor too will soon be finished.”
In the fall of last year, he was the one who had brought the dying Emperor back from the gates of hell. Now that Xiao Cheng had nearly reached his end, the Emperor was going to outlive his usefulness; it was time for him to report back to the gates of hell.
Lin Qingyu smiled lightly at the little Gu. “Child, you must work hard for your father.”
Gu Fuzhou: “…”
Lin Qingyu loved the little Gu so much that he almost forgot that he had a husband who had just professed his love to. Gu Fuzhou once suspected that Lin Qingyu might take that porcelain jar with him to bed. Fortunately, Lin Qingyu wasn’t that dramatic. Gu Fuzhou could also understand this kind of behavior. Lin Qingyu had devoted countless efforts to raising this Gu. Immeasurable blood, sweat and tears had been exchanged for it. Just like an academic researcher in his world, finally showing results after so much hardship, it was only natural that it would be protected like a treasure.
On this day, as Lin Qingyu was feeding the little Gu so chicken blood, he accidentally splashed chicken blood on his hands. He disliked this smell and immediately got up to clean his hands. When he returned, he found that he had forgotten to put the lid back on and the porcelain altar was now empty.
In an instant, Lin Qingyu’s heart clenched and he barely managed to maintain his composure. It only took a moment for him to clean his hands, the little Gu couldn’t’ have crawled far. She was definitely still in this room. He searched every nook and cranny. But the Gu was too small, the slightest carelessness and it could easily be missed.
Lin Qingyu was about to call a servant to come in and look with him when from out the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a black spot crawling near the door. He breathed a sigh of relief and took the porcelain jar to bring back this little runaway. Just as success was in sight, a leg came into view—
“Young Master, what would like for the evening meal?”
Lin Qingyu watched helplessly as the Gu that he had raised with all his efforts disappeared under the sole of Huan Tong’s shoe. His face turned pale and he froze in on the spot.
Huan Tong had no idea that he had just stepped on the Young Master’s “child”. He asked, “Young Master?”
Lin Qingyu closed his eyes. As though if he couldn’t see it, it couldn’t be true.
Seeing that Lin Qingyu didn’t speak, Huan Tong became more and more uneasy, “Young Master, what’s the matter?”
Lin Qingyu has always been able to restrain his emotions, and this time was no exception. He was calm when he spoke. “You trampled my Gu to death.”
“Ah!” Huan Tong instinctively took a big step back and he saw the corpse of a scorpion where he had been standing just now. Huan Tong knew the importance of this Gu and his voice trembled with fright, “Young Master, I-I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know it was there.”
Lin Qingyu lowered his eyes and looked at the motionless little Gu. He sighed softly.
Huan Tong knelt down with a thud. “Young Master, it’s all my fault. Punish me! Fine me thirty big lashes and deduct me a month’s… No, three months’ salary. Don’t be sad… …”
Lin Qingyu said indifferently, “Forget about the punishment. Just collect her corpse. Her corpse is also poisonous, so be careful.”
Huan Tong wrapped the body of the little Gu with a handkerchief and buried it under a tree in the back garden. After doing this, he returned to the study. He saw Lin Qingyu reading the book as if nothing had happened. He cautiously leaned over. “Young Master.”
Lin Qingyu asked, “Have you dealt with it?”
“Yes,” Huan Tong whispered, “Young Master, I’ll go to Steward Yuan to get my thirty lashes.”
“No need.”
“But that was the Gu you raised with so much hardship. Do you really not mind?”
“This is the end of the matter. What’s the use of getting mad?” Lin Qingyu said calmly, “The Gu is already dead. She won’t come back even if I resent and punish you.”
Huan Tong felt ashamed: “Young Master, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. You’re not completely to blame for this.
Lin Qingyu has always been protective of his and his people’s shortcomings. He may regard people he consider insignificant with contempt but he has always been a little soft-hearted towards his own people. Furthermore, if he hadn’t forgotten to put the lid back on, the Gu wouldn’t have been trampled to death by Huan Tong. The responsibility for this was on him.
After that, Huan Tong kept observing Lin Qingyu. Seeing that he wasn’t acting any different than usual, he finally relaxed a bit.
As time for the evening meal approached, someone announced from outside, “The General has returned.” Lin Qingyu put down the medical book and strode out of the study.
Gu Fuzhou had just stepped into the yard and he saw his beautiful wife hurriedly walking towards him, even running the last few steps. This made him quite flattered and the exhaustion of the entire day was swept clean away.
Lin Qingyu stood in front of him. “You’re back.”
Gu Fuzhou knew something was wrong as soon as he saw Lin Qingyu’s expression. “Qingyu?”
Lin Qingyu looked at Gu Fuzhou, who had a concerned expression on his face. He couldn’t keep his calm any longer and said softly, “The little Gu is dead.”
There was a hint of grievance in his tone.
Gu Fuzhou realized the seriousness of the problem. He first took the fragile beauty into his arms and then asked, “What happened?”
“I forgot to put the lid back on and she climbed out of the jar to the floor. Then…” Lin Qingyu’s voice trembled slightly, “then she was trampled to death by Huan Tong.”
Gu Fuzhou felt momentarily distressed. He stroked Lin Qingyu’s hair with his broad hand. “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll help you find a way – this time you won’t even need to call me ‘Lao Gong’. I’ll help you think of something. Don’t be sad.”
Lin Qingyu buried his face in Gu Fuzhou’s chest. Gu Fuzhou had gone to cavalry camp this afternoon. He was wearing icy armor, a perfect match to his mood at this moment.
“What can you do?” Lin Qingyu complained, “Dead is dead. She can’t be saved anymore. It took a whole month before I was able to raise her to such a size and she was gone with a single step.”
Gu Fuzhou said, “Then let’s raise another one?”
“That’s easy to say. You know yourself how many times I tried before I was able to breed one successfully.”
This matter truly was difficult. Gu Fuzhou didn’t care much; the top priority was to coax the beauty first. Lin Qingyu had no appetite so Gu Fuzhou accompanied him to starve. He took Lin Qingyu back to the bedroom and sent all the servants away.
Lin Qingyu sat blankly at the table. With no outsiders present, he had no need to restrain his emotions. In front of Gu Fuzhou, he could always act without any restraint.
Gu Fuzhou stared at Lin Qingyu under the lights. Lin Qingyu was really sad; the corners of his eyes were even a little red. In front of others, he was calm and self-restrained. But at the moment, the ruthless beauty who poisons and harms people, unexpectedly looked pitiful.
Lin Qingyu was a little uncomfortable being stared at by him. He said, “What are you looking at me for?”
Gu Fuzhou said leisurely: “Huo Qubing was named a marquis at the age of seventeen, Sun Ce dominated the lower reaches of the Chang Jiang River at the age of eighteen and our Doctor Lin, because of the death of the little Gu he raised, lost his temper and refused to eat at the age of twenty.”
Lin Qingyu said: “Do you think you’re being funny again?”
Gu Fuzhou smiled and said, “Well, I can’t be depressed with you. If I’m as depressed as you are, who’ll coax you?”
Lin Qingyu narrowed his eyes: “You can still laugh?”
“I’m also very sad when the little Gu died but the Gu won’t come back to life, so you and I will have to start accepting it.” Gu Fuzhou guided patiently, “You must eat well. If you don’t eat, where will you get the energy to plot murder?”
“I know.” Lin Qingyu was expressionless, “but I just don’t want to eat right now.”
Gu Fuzhou took out his trump card. “Then how about I let you rub your face against my abs?”
Lin Qingyu glanced at him, “You’re playing the same game again.”
“It’s still cold and yet I’m willing to take off my clothes to let you bury your face against my abs and you’re saying that’s not enough?” Gu Fuzhou paused, “Or how about I let you play with the General’s little tongue?”
Lin Qingyu raised his eyebrows lightly. “Play? How?”
Caught off guard, a kiss was suddenly planted on his lips. He heard Gu Fuzhou say, “How do you want to play with it, Doctor Lin?”
The number of times the two have made out wasn’t that many and Lin Qingyu was not yet fully accustomed to this kind of touch. His heart skipped a beat and he unconsciously stepped back. Gu Fuzhou’s palm supported the back of his head, preventing him from evading.
Lin Qingyu suddenly met his eyes. They were as bright as stars, dazzling, reflecting his face.
Lin Qingyu was dazed and he heard a chuckle. When Gu Fuzhou bowed his head to reach him, Yuan Yin’s voice came from outside, “General, Madam, there’s been movement at Wu Ya’s place.”
The author has something to say: After going through a plot-heavy chapter, here’s daily life chapter =w=
