Just after Xu Junyuan put away Jiang Xingâs letter, there came an announcement from outside, âThe Empress Dowager has arrivedââ
Xu Junyuan said, âJiang Gongzi⌠No, I should now respectfully address you as âYour Majestyâ.â
âStop it with your garbageâ was writ all across Jiang Xingâs face.
âI know Your Majesty is in a hurry but to prevent the Empress Dowager from getting suspicious and causing unnecessary trouble, I ask that Your Majesty be patient.â
This was a reminder him for him not to act too out of character too soon. Jiang Xing nodded. He pointed to the door, signaling Xu Junyuan to leave the ink and go.
Xu Junyuan said again, âDo not worry, Your Majesty. I will definitely send Your Majestyâs âletter homeâ to Master Lin as soon as possible.â
As soon as Xu Junyuan finished speaking, the Empress Dowager trotted in hurriedly with the support of Lai Fu. âLiâerâ!â
While pretending to be a âgod of warâ general had been a bit difficult, pretending to be a dullard was a piece of cake. Jiang Xing put away the expression on his face, lowered his head and said nothing. Just that was already half the game.
The Empress Dowager held Jiang Xingâs hand and found that he was frighteningly cold. âGo quickly and bring in a charcoal brazier â Whatâs going on? Why did the Emperor come running to Qinzheng Hall for no rhyme and reason?â
Xiu Jiao momo told the empress dowager exactly what had happened. Jiang Xing hated how he couldnât speak for himself. Fortunately, after she finished speaking, Xiao Songzi added, âThe Emperor seems to be looking for Master Lin.â
The empress dowager hurriedly said, âThen please summon Master Lin to the palace!â
Nice! He knew he could always count on XIao Songzi.
Xu Junyuan knew that the empress dowager wasnât going to let him go anytime soon. So he glanced at Jiang Xing and said, âThis humble servant shall arrange for someone to go and summon him.â
The empress dowager ordered the momos to take Jiang Xing to for a bath and a change of clothes. Afterwards, just as Xu Junyuan expected, she turned to him, âNational Teacher, what is happening to his MajestyâŚ?â
Xu Junyuan explained, âThat the Emperor can respond to the outside world is a good thing. Itâs better to be emotional than not at all.â
The empress dowager was immediately overjoyed. âDoes the National Teacher mean that the emperorâs soul-loss disease will start to improve?â
Xu Junyuan smiled and said, ââNine stars in the heavens, the true son follows the right path; the soul returns to its body, unifying the countryâ. Your Highness, these words by this humble servant were truly from what this humble servant has seen of the stars.â
The empress dowager couldnât contain her excitement. âAijia has been looking forward to this for so many years. Finally, this day has comeâŚâ
After taking a bath, Jiang Xing put on a new dragon robe. He stood in front of the mirror, looking at the young man in the mirror. Xiao Li looked very much like him, though seemingly a little shorter and thinner than when he was seventeen, probably from all those times he played in the mud before.
Weâre sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so weâre going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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âNo,â said the empress dowager, âAijia will rest in the side hall. If the emperor wakes up, come and inform Aijia immediately.â
As soon as the empress dowager left, Xu Junyuan dismissed the other palace maids and eunuchs with different excuses. With everyone else gone, Jiang Xing immediately lifted the quilt and sat up. He could finally think about how to coax Lin Qingyu later. He couldnât speak for the time being, so he could only write down what he wanted to say.
He wrote haphazardly, writing whatever came to mind. Let alone writing them with any sort of logic, he even forgot there there was no such thing as punctuation in the Dayu. He was worried that the characters would be too small for Lin Qingyu to read clearly, so he wrote the characters quite large. Every sentence needed its own sheet of paper.
Xu Junyuan said that his loss of voice was only temporary. This body had never utilize its voice box so it couldnât adapt so easily. If so, would he be able to vocalize with a bit of trial and practice?
The palace official tasked with the message rushed to the Generalâs Mansion. He explained to Yuan Yin his intention for coming. Yuan Yin said, âGong gong, please wait a moment. I will report to the Madam now.â
Half an hour ago, Lin Qingyu had returned to the Generalâs Mansion. During the past year, Lin Qingyu to returning home late at night had become a normal occurrence and Yuan Yin didnât find it strange. He welcomed Lin Qingyu into the mansion as usual and asked if he would like to have a midnight snack. Lin Qingyu nodded and said yes.
It was all business as usual.
When Huan Tong sent in the meal, he saw Lin Qingyu calmly rummaging through boxes and cabinets calmly. He asked, âYoung Master, what are you looking for?â
âThe box.â Lin Qingyu said in the usual tone, âWhere is the box with the ring and the letters?â
âOh, here it is.â Huan Tong kept feeling that something was a little strange. Before he had time to think about it too much, he brought the brocade box and handed it to Lin Qingyu. When Lin Qingyu took it, a chill crept up Huan Tongâs back.
He now realized the reason for this sense of wrongnessâHis young master had a photographic memory, how could he not even remember where such an important thing was put away?
Lin Qingyuâs movement as he opened the brocade box remained unhurried, calm and composed. Finally, he found what he was looking for. He smiled and said, âLook, he promised me.â
Huan Tong said in alarm. âYoung Master?â
âHe wrote me a letter of guarantee.â Lin Qingyu said firmly, âHe wouldnât lie to me.â
Huan Tong became more and more flustered, âYoung Master, what are you talking about?â
Lin Qingyu seemed unable to hear his words. Or rather, he was deliberately avoiding everything in this world and immersing himself in another illusory world. âItâs just a dreamâŚitâs just a dream. âHis expression suddenly became cruel and distorted but his face remained beautiful and delicate, âHow dare he lie to me!â
In the brocade box, apart from the letter of guarantee, there was also the engagement ring Jiang Xing gave him and every letter he wrote him this past year.
Lin Qingyu picked up the top one. In the letter, Jiang Xing said aggrievedly that he was very hungry and couldnât get enough to eat; that he wanted to eat his mother-in-lawâs plum cake. At the end of the letter, Jiang Xing told him to eat well and sleep well.
Eat⌠Jiang Xing wants him to eat well.
Lin Qingyu walked to the table, picked up the pastry off the plate and stuffed it into his mouth. Before he could even swallow one, he had already stuffed another in. Huan Tong hurriedly stopped him. âYoung Master!â
Lin Qingyuâs eyes were red but he couldnât get any tears to fall. His tears had already dried up in his dream.
As soon as Yuan Yin entered the room and saw the scene in front of him, even he who had seen a great many things, was startled, âMadam?â
Lin Qingyu forcibly swallowed what was in his mouth. He lightly brushed the crumbs from his lips with his fingertips and said nonchalantly, âWhat is it?â
Yuan Yin didnât dare to look directly at Lin Qingyu. He bowed his head and said, âThere are people from the palace asking you to go see the Emperor. The palace officer also brought a letter.â
Hearing the word âletterâ, Lin Qingyu swayed a little, unsteady on his feet. Huan Tong supported him to stand firm.
What were the people from the palace going to tell him⌠was it about the Northwest?
Lin Qingyu heard himself say, âBring it here.â
When the letter was handed over to him, he suddenly felt sick, so sick that he wanted to vomit. He even had the urge to tear up the letter. But what if, what if it was Jiang Xingâs letter home?
Lin Qingyuâs lashes trembled. His hands shook as he opened the letter.
A line of familiar characters came into view: a sentence he had silently recited countless times and the name engraved in his heart.
From the depths of his chaotic memory, a voice sounded in his mind, âWe can agree on a secret signal. If I donât die and transmigrate to someone elseâs body, weâll use this signal to recognize each other, okay?â
Lin Qingyuâs face showed a rarely seen expression of blank shock. His frighteningly calm breathing sped up as though he were burning up, burning so hot he could nearly lose consciousness.
Yuan Yin said worriedly, âMadam?â
âPrepareâŚprepare the carriage.â Lin Qingyu said in a daze, his eyes unfocused. He said sounding distracted, âIâm heading to the palace.â
âŚâŚIs it you?
If itâs youâŚit must be you⌠Please, it must be.
The carriage could only go as far as the gates of the palace. Lin Qingyu went down too fast and for the first time in his life, he stepped on the hem of his robes. Unless there were special circumstances, running through the palace like this wasnât allowed. But he didnât care.
Just like that year during the Lantern Festival when he fought his way through the crowd and threw himself into Jiang Xingâs arms.
âââDoctor Lin, what are you running for?â
âââI was coming to you, of course I had to run.â
The magificent palace was growing bigger and bigger as he drew nearer and nearer.
He heard âMaster Lin is hereâ and he entered the emperorâs bed chamber.
The young man in the black dragon robe looked towards him. The young manâs originally still and gloomy face now shone with brilliance. His eyes were as bright as stars. It was as though they could speak, concealing boundless unbearable love.
The young manâs eyes gradually merged with Jiang Xingâs eyes from his dream. At this moment, Lin Qingyu felt he had been fished out from the bottom of a cold deep lake.
When the two looked at each other, one word slipped out of the boyâs mouth with difficulty, âQing-yu.â
This was the only word he could say.
Lin Qingyu looked at him blankly.
Jiang Xing wanted to speak again, but couldnât make any more sound. He could only take out the words he had written in advance, holding them up one after another for Lin Qingyu to read: