After Xi Rong was injured, he stayed in Xiao Jieâs palace. The two were practically inseparable. Lin Qingyu heard from Xiao Songzi that Xiao Jie would stay by the otherâs sick bed whenever he was free and would even feed Xi Rong his medicine himself. Xiao Jie has always been the pampered one and he wasnât very good at serving others. He was clumsy when feeding Xi Rong, his medicine and the concoction would spill on the bed; but Xi Rong basked in the attention.
âHow is this an emperor and his eunuch?â Xiao Songzi marveled, âEven blood brothers arenât so close.â
Xi Rongâs ruse of self-injury actually worked. Apart from him, Xiao Jie held no one else in his eyes. As soon as morning court was over, Xiao Jie rushed to the bedroom â he wanted to accompany Xi Rong as he had his bandages changed.
Xiao Jie sat in the sedan chair and complained to Xiao Xuanzi, âIt makes no difference whether I attend morning court or not. I donât understand any of those things. In any case, the Empress Dowager is behind the curtain to listen in on court affair. And LinâŚâ Halfway through the words, Xiao Jie gritted his teeth, and said bitterly, âThereâs also that person listening in. They donât need me. So why must they keep me in Zichen Palace to hold court? With this time, I might as well accompany AâRong.â
Xiao Xuanzi said, âYour Majesty, Eunuch Xi said that you are the Son of Heaven and you sit upon the Imperial Throne. Save for you, no one can sit on the Dragon Throne in the Zichen Hall. By sitting on it, you are telling all the civil and military officials that the Dayu belongs to your Xiao Family.â
âThe Dayu has always belonged to the Xiao family.â Xiao Jie said, âAll the officials know it well. There is no need for me to remind them.â
Xiao Xuanzi said in a low voice, âBut I heard that some people think that half of the Dayu is surnamed Wen and the other half is surnamed Lin.â
Xiao Jie was taken aback for a moment. âWenâŚLin?â
This âWenâ, of course, referred to Empress Dowager Wen. After Empress Dowager Wen began holding court behind the curtain, Wen Guogong returned to the cabinet and many of the members of Wen Clan attained important positions. Among them was a man named Li Chan. Xiao Jie had some impressions that this man â appearing pure and bright, despite his young age he was already a fourth-rank assistant minister in the Ministry of War. Li Chan had said a lot of things in todayâs morning court. It seemed he was asking the Ministry of Revenue for the funds and provisions of the army in the Northwest. As for this âLinââŚ
Just as Xiao Jie was lost in thought, the sedan chair suddenly stopped. He looked to the front and his face suddenly sank.
This âLinâ, who else could it be but Lin Qingyu?
Lin Qingyu and Li Chan ran into Xiao Jie on their way to the Ministry of War and as decorum dictated, they knelt down to salute him.
No matter how stupid Xiao Jie was, he was well aware of how he came by his throne. Before Xi Rongâs âassassination attemptâ, he has always polite to Lin Qingyu, never letting him perform such exaggerated courtesy. He had even wanted to take the initiative to get close to him because of his pretty face. But now, whenever he saw Lin Qingyu, he would think of Xi Rong dying in a pool of blood.
In his eyes, Lin Qingyu was still the same Lin Qingyu with that cold demeanor forming a bewildering contrast with his bright distinctive appearance. But whenever he caught sight of him, his heart would be alarmed and his body would be sent leaping in fear. â It was this kind of great beauty who almost took away AâRongâs life.
He wonât admire a person who wants to harm AâRong. He wants to protect AâRong. He wonât let anyone hurt him again.
Lin Qingyu and Li Chan stayed kneeling on the ground. Having not heard âriseâ after such a long time, Lin Qingyu looked up at Xiao Jie. Meeting his gaze, Xiao Jie shrank back subconsciously, fear and wariness in his eyes. It wasnât until Xiao Xuanzi reminded him that Xiao Jie said, âThen, g-get up.â
Lin Qingyu said, âYour Majestyâs complexion isnât so good. Is something weighing on Your Majestyâs mind?â
Xiao Jie tried hard to keep a composed face and said sternly, âZhenâs affairs is none of Imperial Physician Linâs concern â Xiao Xuanzi, let us head back to the palace.â
Li Chan is one of the Empress Dowager and Lin Qingyuâs agents in court. Seeing the emperorâs attitude towards Lin Qingyu, Li Chan couldnât help becoming worried. âImperial Physician Lin, are you certain you do not wish to explain the situation to the emperor? Even if His Majesty does not concern himself with the running of the country, he is still the Son of Heaven. It is better to have his Imperial favor than to not.â
Lin Qingyu said, âExplanations are useless. Fools will only believe what they want to believe. Besides, since Xi Rongâs intention is to place the blame of this attempted âassassinationâ on the Tainji Camp, he must have made certain that the Tianji Camp would not expose him. If my guess isnât wrong, during this period while Xi Rong was in power, he must have used the name of the Emperor to win people over to his side.â
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.
In some peopleâs eyes, even the Empress Dowager, who held court behind the curtain, is, after all, just a waiqi. There is no need to mention how little they thought of a mere imperial physician. This was true for Cui Lian and it was also true for those old kings from the Xiao Clan. In the name of loyalty to the Xiao Family, they would rather take orders from a eunuch than see a waiqi monopolize power.
Li Chan thought for a while and said, âCould it be because of the Northwest? Right now General Gu is trying to take back Yong Liang. Yong Liang is the Dayuâs gateway to the north. Once Yong Liang is taken back, that would be half the trouble in the Northwest laid to rest.â
Lin Qingyu said, âWith him being injured, Xi Rong has to rest and recuperate. He is unable to interfere in government affairs. At this juncture, why has he chosen to risk letting go of power?â
âPerhaps, he wants us to relax our guard?â Li Chan suddenly realized, his expression changing slightly, âDoes Imperial Physician Lin mean that heâs planning a big move?â
âBefore the storm, there is always calm.â Lin Qingyu said coldly, âAs long as he still has some sense left in him, he shouldnât be looking for trouble at this time lest Xixia take advantage of it.â
âHe is a eunuch.â Li Chan was even more worried. âSince ancient times, how many powerful eunuchs have actually cared about the country and the people? As long as they can achieve their goals, there is nothing they wonât do.â
Lin Qingyu suppressed his surging malice and slowly took a deep breath. âBut we are not him. At this time, our focus should solely be on the Northwest â where is that batch of provisions now?â
Li Chan said, âBased on the estimated schedule, it should have already reached Yong Liang.â
Lin Qingyu stayed in the Ministry of War until late at night. He originally intended to spend the night in the palace but changed his mind in the last second. The Generalâs carriage was waiting at the gates of the palace. Lin Qingyu put away the umbrella he used to shield himself from the snow and got into the carriage. He said to the groom, âWeâre not heading to the Gu Mansion. Go to the Lin Residence instead.â
Father Lin and Mother Lin thought that something serious must have happened for their eldest son to come unannounced in the middle of the night. Lin Qingyu assured them that nothing has happened for now.
Lin Rushan frowned, âFor now? You mean, something will happen?â
âThis is just my guess and intuition. But just in case, Iâd like for Father to ask for leave from the Imperial Hospital. Take Mother and Qinghe away from the capital. Lie low for awhile.â Lin Qingyu smiled lightly, âI remember that Grandmotherâs seventieth birthday is next month. You can go to Jin Province and celebrate with her.â
Mother Lin said with concern, âIf weâre leaving, what about you?â
âOf course, I will stay.â
âButâŚâŚâ
âMadam, donât ask anymore. Qingyu has his own plans.â Lin Rushan said decisively, âIâm sorry to trouble Madam to begin the preparations.â
Mother Lin wanted to say more but kept hesitating. Unable to hide her worry, she said, âQingyu, you have to take good care of yourself, alright?â
Lin Qingyu gave her a comforting smile. âI will.â
Lin Rushan could give no warnings to his eldest son. He simply said, âBe very careful.â
The next day, Lin Rushan left the capital with his wife and child on the pretext of visiting relatives. During the next few days, Lin Qingyu attended morning court as usual. He occasionally went to see Xiao Li and took time to see Xiao Songzi who was not feeling well â Xiao Songzi had hurt his throat from talking too much. A few days of keeping quiet should solve the problem.
The 15th day of every month was the day Gu Fuzhou used to look forward to the most. Dayuâs officials only had this one day a month to rest. Lin Qingyu was taking half a day off to feed the little Gu worms snake blood in the medicine room. Yuan Yin walked in and said, âMadam, someone delivered a letter.â
Lin Qingyu asked, âWho?â
âI do not know. The messenger left as soon as he left the letter.â Yuan Yin said, âAccording to the guard at the door, it was a man wearing a hood.â
Lin Qingyu stared at the completely blank and unadorned envelope, feeling a little uneasy. Yuan Yin stood aside. He watched as Lin Qingyu opened the envelope and took a look at the letter. With just one glance, Lin Qingyuâs body turned cold.
Yuan Yin carefully probed, âMadamâŚ?â
Lin Qingyu carefully set down the little Gu. Saying as he did so, âPrepare the carriage. I am heading to the palace.â
Hua Lu hurriedly said, âIâll help you change your clothes.â If you wish to enter the palace, you have to do so wearing your official uniform.
Lin Qingyu said, âNo need.â
Lin Qingyu put on a fox fur cloak and left the house. He told Yuan Yin, âFind that messenger.â
âYes, Madam.â Yuan Yin asked, âWhat should we do with him once we find him?â
Lin Qingyu got into the carriage and without looking back, said, âKill him.â
Dressed in this own personal clothes, Lin Qingyu walked all straight to Qinzheng Hall, where he happened to meet Li Chan coming out of the hall.
âImperial Physician Lin!â Li Chan said anxiously, âI was just going to find you. Somethingâs wrong. The supplies sent to Yong LiangâŚâ
Lin Qingyu said coldly, âIt was robbed.â
Li Chan was stunned. âYou already know? Fortunately, the officer who transported the provisions is very skilled. He did his all and protected 20% of the supplies but that is only enough to support the army for a few days.â
âLetâs go in.â Lin Qingyu said, âThe Emperor will tell us whatâs going on.â
In Qinzgheng Hall, Xiao Jie, the Prime Minister Cui Lian and the Minister of Revenue, the Nanâan Hou were all there. Xi Rong was also there, his injury obviously hasnât yet healed and his androgynous face had on a sickly pallor; but as before, he maintained his calm and composed manner.
Lin Qingyu cast him but a fleeting glance before turning to Xiao Jie, âYour Majesty, why donât you explain?â
Xiao Jieâs already pale face turned even paler. âZhe-zhen does not know what youâre talking about.â
âIs that so? But someone told me that the Emperor has ânegotiated peaceâ with the Xixia and that the bountiful grain and fodder is your gift to them for the peace negotiation.â
Xiao Jie looked blank. âZhen didnât! I justâŚâ
Xi Rong cut off Xiao Jieâs words, âWho told Imperial Physician Lin? Imperial Physician Lin, you must beware misinformation sown by the enemy.â
Lin Qingyu simply found it ridiculous, âBetween you and I, is there any need for someone else to feed misinformation?â
Xi Rong seemed to have expected this day long ago and said indifferently, âI did have contact with Xixiaâs envoys. I pretended to negotiate peace with them to lure them into an ambush. I still have the Xixia envoysâ letters in my house and the troops who laid in wait for the ambush can testify.â
Xiao Jie nodded quickly. âI can also testify! I agreed with AâRongâs plan. I helped come up with this plan. I donât know why they werenât fooledâŚâ
Hearing Xiao Jie stammer through his account of what had happened, Lin Qingyuâs features filled with hostility. âIf you could figure that it would be easy to lay an ambush along the narrow path, why canât the Xixia commander? How could any person with sense use this transport route? By giving them this route, you gave them the route to rule out and all they had to do was look for the opposite route. The Xixia commander defeated Zhao Mingwei and within a year captured nearly half of the Dayuâs Northwest. Even Xu Junyuan called him the âDemon Commanderâ. He knows better than anyone else where to store grain and how to transport it. He can even surmise the situation in the capital so clearly. Where did you come from? Confidently attempting to outwit him. You think someone of insignificant talent can deceive him?â
Xiao Jie felt guilty and didnât know what to do. âZhen didnât do it on purpose. I really just wanted to helpâŚâ
Lin Qingyu chuckled lightly, âAll by your little self?â
Nanâan Houâs expression changed. Cui Lian said angrily, âImpudent! Lin Qingyu, donât forget who you are! You are talking to the Emperor!â
Lin Qingyu didnât even spare a glance at Cui Lian, thinking it a waste of time. He asked Xi Rong, âThe Emperor was unable to see through it. Are you saying, you failed to see through it too?â
No flaw could be found on Xi Rongâs face. âI really did not expect for the Xixia commander to be able to see through it so clearly.â
âYou didnât? Fine.â Lin Qingyu said calmly, âGuards.â
Two palace guards came in. âYour Majesty, Imperial Physician Lin.â
âTake Xi Rong out â flog him to death.â
In the ensuing silence, Xiao Jie was the first to react. âNo! I wonât let you hurt AâRong again!â He jumped up and stood in front of Xi Rong, âI, I am the emperor, why are you giving order when Iâm right here!â
Lin Qingyu said indifferently, âHe collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country, bewitching the Emperorâs heart.â
Xi Rong covered the wound in his abdomen, coughed lowly and said, âAs Iâve said, I have evidence. I didnât collaborate with the enemy, let alone betray the country.â
Cui Lian added, âImperial Physician Lin accuses Eunuch Xi of betraying the country. What evidence do you have?â
Lin Qingyu smiled suddenly. âAre you all misunderstanding something? I will kill him. What evidence do I need?â
A crack finally appeared on Xi Rongâs perpetually calm face. âYouâŚâ
âEven if you did sincerely try to deceive them, so what?â Lin Qingyu looked at Xi Rong, as if looking at a stray cur, âI will kill you regardless.â