By the time Shen Huaishi withdrew, it had already gone dark outside. Lin Qingyu and Jiang Xing looked at each other without saying a word, separated by the scattered scrolls.
Feeling the coldness radiating from Lin Qingyu’s body, Jiang Xing panicked a little. He’d made Lin Qingyu distressed again. He wasn’t afraid of Lin Qingyu being angry with him, but he was afraid of being unable to coax him.
Jiang Xing was worrying about how to coax him when Xiu Jiao momo came in and reminded Lin Qingyu, “Master Lin, it’s about time for His Majesty to head to bed.”
It was already a violation of the rules for the emperor and his minister to live together in Xingqing Palace. If they were even going to sleep together in the same room, even the Empress Dowager would not agree. For the past few days, Lin Qingyu has been staying in the side hall, only a few steps away from the emperor’s bedroom. But even still, he sometimes felt it wasn’t enough. When he couldn’t fall asleep, after waking up from a dream, he would go to the main hall to take a look, just to make sure that Jiang Xing was still there.
At this moment, he didn’t want to let Jiang Xing go. And so he blurted out, “He can’t go.”
Xiu Jiao momo was so frightened by Lin Qingyu’s cold tone that she didn’t even dare to breathe too loud. Master Lin wasn’t easy to get along with even at the best of times and now, he had just lost his husband. He must be in a terrible frame of mind. Who would dare to provoke him at a time like this?
Jiang Xing said slowly, “Withdraw for now.”
Xiu Jiao momo was stunned. When did the Emperor start sounding like a grown man? Even one with the air of one used to being followed? She didn’t have time to think about it. She bowed and retreated.
Jiang Xing looked carefully at Lin Qingyu’s expression. He said coldly, “Jiang Xing, sure enough, you are a great big liar. Just how many things are you hiding from me?”
Lin Qingyu frowned, “Are you play-acting me now?”
Jiang Xing wound his arms around Lin Qingyu’s waist, smiled and pulled him into his arms. “I’m just speaking for you. You know, so you can rest for a while.”
Lin Qingyu whispered, “You said… it was quick.”
“And it really was very quick. Thousands of arrows pierced my heart. How can it not be quick?” Jiang Xing said half-truthfully, “To be honest, I think this way of dying is quite pleasant, much better than dying slowly from illness.”
Lin Qingyu closed his eyes, tightly gripped his fingers. “That wasn’t a faithful reenactment.”
“Oh?”
“I won’t call you a big liar.”
Jiang Xing suddenly said, “That’s right, you should call me a ‘brute’.”
Lin Qingyu paused and said, “Jiang Xing, you great big idiot.”
Jiang Xing laughed out loud, “Baobei, you aren’t angry anymore?” This coaxing task was a lot easier than he expected.
Lin Qingyu shook his head. “I can’t bring myself to get angry anymore.” He lowered his head and leaned on Jiang Xing’s shoulder. His voice trembling slightly, “Why do you always have to suffer like that? It happened to Lu Wancheng and even as Gu Fuzhou you couldn’t escape it.”
Jiang Xing smiled. “I’m curious too. Why is it always me?” He said casually, “I don’t think I’ve done anything so atrocious as to offend the Heavens.”
Lin Qingyu’s shoulders stiffened and his eyes grew wide. Jiang Xing, who was holding him, immediately noticed his strange behavior. He looked down at him. “What’s wrong?”
Lin Qingyu held his breath and clung to him even tighter. “…It’s nothing. Can you not leave tonight?”
Jiang Xing carried Lin Qingyu and walked towards the bed, saying seriously, “General Gu died in battle and Madam Gu was suffering from a painful loss. He was grief-stricken and inconsolable. Allow Zhen to comfort you.”
Lin Qingyu buried her head in the crook of his neck and chuckled lightly, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Jiang Xing accompanied Lin Qingyu until he fell sleep. Once Lin Qingyu was sleeping sound, he quietly returned to the main hall. From the warm, fragrant and soft embrace, he returned bitterly to his cold bed.
He had to find a way to be able to sleep with Lin Qingyu openly and aboveboard. While they might be just sleeping next to each other in bed now, later on, if after making love he would still need to pull up his pants and leave, well, that was just too miserable and truly proper scumbag behavior. But more importantly, running back and forth like this every night was really tiring.
The news of Gu Fuzhou’s death spread in throughout the capital. Everyone in the city, from high to low, from civil and military officials to ordinary common fold, all sighed woefully. In the barracks, all these burly soldier had their eyes swollen from crying. When Wu Guogong heard the bad news, tears burst from his aged eyes and cried bitterly about how Heaven had no eyes. Wu Zhan was also overwhelmed with grief; the hair on his temples turned gray and he was no longer are lively and vigorous as before. Even some of the imperial censors who disliked Gu Fuzhou had to put on a show and shed a few hypocritical tears.
There were rumors that after the new emperor ascended the throne, he began to grow more familiar with human affairs. When he learned of Gu Fuzhou’s death, it was as though he had lost an elder brother and he went so far as to cut off his hair as a sacrifice to be burned, to comfort Gu Fuzhou’s spirit in heaven.
Lin Qingyu was Gu Fuzhou’s widow and the only remaining master of the General’s Mansion. He had no choice but to go back to the Mansion to oversee the funeral. He was dressed in mourning clothes of plain white, white like snow; even the ribbon that held his hair was white, spotless and clear as icy jade.
Jiang Xing’s eyes widened. He smiled and said, “Where did this beautiful little widow come from? Come here and give Zhen a hug.”
Although Lin Qingyu cared nothing for worldly customs, he was wearing mourning clothes and being affectionate with another man while wearing this was a little too much even for him. “Don’t make trouble.” Lin Qingyu said, “I’ll be heading back to the Mansion. You…”
Jiang Xing said, conscious of the situation, “I’ll obediently wait for your return in the palace and I won’t go anywhere.”
Lin Qingyu nodded. After taking a couple of steps, he still felt worried and hurriedly turned back. “Do you want to go back to the Mansion to see the little Gu’s? They’ve gotten very big…”
Jiang Xing smiled lazily. “Alright.”
Lin Qingyu breathed a sigh of relief. He called in Xiao Songzi to help change Jiang Xing’s clothes. “If the empress dowager asks, tell her that the emperor has already fallen asleep and it would be inconvenient for him to see visitors.”
Jiang Xing changed into the attire of a normal son of nobility. His short hair was too eye-catching so Lin Qingyu put a hooded fox fur cape on him. No one in the Gu Mansion had yet to see Xiao Li so they should not be able to recognize him.
The two got into the carriage and Jiang Xing joked, “Can you rely on Xiao Songzi to cover up for us? He is ‘Xiao Songzi’, after all.”
Lin Qingyu said, “He is very tight in front of me. He is a trustworthy person.”
Jiang Xing’s smile faded. “This…”
Outside the General’s Mansion, Yuan Yin had brought Huan Tong, Hua Lu, Zhang Shiquan and the others to await his arrival. Looking from a distance, they were a swath of bleak, plain white. Jiang Xing looked at the words “Gu Mansion” written on the white banner hanging over the gates and felt as though he were seeing something from a lifetime ago.
Ever since Jiang Xing entered the dream within Gu Fuzhou’s first seven days from death, Lin Qingyu had yet to return to the Gu Mansion. Yuan Yin was a very capable person. After receiving the news, he held back his grief and set up the mourning hall, preparing everything. “Madam, you’re back.”
Huan Tong said with eyes turned red. “Young Master, is the General really…is he really gone? He was so powerful, how could he just be gone like that… Could they have made some sort of mistake?”
Lin Qingyu made no comment. He said, “Don’t stand around here. Let’s go in.”
Seeing the young man following Lin Qingyu, Yuan Yin was taken aback. He asked, “Madam, who might this be?”
“Do not mind him. Simply take it that he goes with me.”
Gu Fuzhou’s body had yet to arrive at the capital but there was already an endless stream of people who came to the Gu Mansion to offer their condolences. Most were Gu Fuzhou’s former subordinates and Lin Qingyu had to take great care to receive them. Jiang Xing was hidden away in the side hall by Lin Qingyu. Separated by a curtain, he fell asleep listening to the sound of sobbing and weeping. Until a loud voice rang out and jolted him awake.
“It was me! It was I who killed the General! If I hadn’t forced the General to take command of the Northwest, how could the General have ended up like this! General, General, without you, what would the Dayu do in the future… I have became the Dayu’s eternal sinner…”
Yuan Yin watched Wu Zhan wailing loudly, already losing control. He asked Lin Qingyu, “Madam, should you try to comfort General Wu?”
Lin Qingyu was kneeling in front of Gu Fuzhou’s memorial tablet. “It’s fine, let him cry.”
While Wu Zhan howled all the way til dusk, many people came one after another. Zhang Shiquan announced each one to Lin Qingyu as they came. “Madam, Master Li from the Ministry of War is here.”
There was only one ‘Li’ in a position of power within the Ministry of War — Li Chan. Jiang Xing had heard Lin Qingyu talk of Li Chan. Lin Qingyu’s evaluation of him was “a person possessing of both within and without; can be used”. It was much higher than Xiao Songzi’s evaluation. — F*cking ‘possessing of both within and without‘.
Jiang Xing lifted the curtain, just in time to see Li Chan walking into the mourning hall. With a handsome appearance and the strong style of a man of letters, he was indeed a young talent.
Li Chan held the lit incense sticks and bowed three times in front of Gu Fuzhou’s memorial tablet. He then walked up to Lin Qingyu and said, “Master Lin.”
Lin Qingyu nodded towards Li Chan. “Master Li.”
Li Chan couldn’t help reaching out his hand, wanting to lay it on that slender shoulder. As soon as he was about to touch, his hand dropped once again. In the end, he still didn’t have that much courage. He only dared to use words to comfort him. “The dead cannot be brought back to life. I hope Master Lin can find it in himself to restrain his grief and accept this inevitable loss.”
Jiang Xing chuckled. He let the curtain fall to a close, sat back and continued to drowse.
Hua Lu and Huan Tong knelt in front of the brazier burning paper money. The former muttered, “Why is the Young Master so calm?”
Huan Tong said, “You forgot, when Young Master Hou passed away, Young Master was also very calm. But in his heart, he must feel more aggrieved than anyone else.”
Hua Lu shook her head. “It’s different.” She could feel the subtle difference but she couldn’t tell what exactly was different.
With the sunset, the guests gradually dispersed. According to the Dayu’s customs, Lin Qingyu had to keep vigil for his deceased husband for three days.
Seeing that Lin Qingyu had dismissed all the servants, Jiang Xing came out of the side hall, yawning. Lin Qingyu cast a sidelong glance at him. “Will you light incense for yourself?”
“No.” Jiang Xing leaned over and wrapped his arms around Lin Qingyu from behind. “Qingyu, I’m sleepy.”
Lin Qingyu said, “Go back to your room and sleep then.”
Jiang Xing said sleepily, “Come with me.”
Lin Qingyu looked at Gu Fuzhou’s memorial tablet and took Jiang Xing’s arms away from his waist. “My apologies, Your Majesty but this minister cannot accept your kind thoughts. I am still observing a mourning period for General Gu.”
Jiang Xing closed his eyes and smiled. “Since aiqing said this, Zhen finds that he is no longer sleep. — how do you plan to observe this mourning period for General Gu?”
“At the very least, I won’t be accompanying the Emperor to sleep under the General’s roof.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Jiang Xing’s eyes were bright, as though brewing they were brewing something wicked beneath the surface. “We’ll do it secretly. We won’t let anyone find out.”
Lin Qingyu: “…”
“So, would you like to have a secret affair with me—Madam Gu?” The words “Madam Gu” were said with a rising tone, the ending sounding as though it carried an ambiguous smile.
Lin Qingyu said calmly, “This body of yours is not yet eighteen.”
Jiang Xing was stunned. “…Huh?”
“I remember you said that in your hometown, there are many restrictions on men under the age of 18. They are not allowed to marry and have sex with others.” Lin Qingyu paused, “In addition, you also said that in your hometown, it’s illegal to sleep with a dullard.”
Jiang Xing tried to take back his words. “Did I say that?”
Lin Qingyu said, “You think I remembered wrong?”
“””But I’m not a dullard anymore. Besides, I’m in the Dayu now. Why should I follow the traditions of my hometown? Here, people who marry early could already have a second child by the time they’re seventeen. Wait, wait. You’re not actually planning to wait until this body of mine turns eighteen before you have sex with me, right? It’s rare for me to find something that I’m willing despite it being tiring. How can you dampen my enthusiasm like this?”
”
Seeing Jiang Xing’s pained face, Lin Qingyu couldn’t help but smile. While donned in mourning clothes, he smiled and Jiang Xing’s heart burned so hot that he lowered his head, wanting to kiss him.
Lin Qingyu raised his hand to cover his lips. “Not here.”
Jiang Xing grabbed his hand. “I insist.”
When he kissed him, Lin Qingyu’s heart suddenly rose and his body trembled. The candlelight cast a dim light. Jiang Xing was too close. Lin Qingyu couldn’t see his face clearly, only a vague outline.
The word “preposterous” flashed in Lin Qingyu’s mind. He put his hand on Jiang Xing’s chest but he couldn’t push him away.
Jiang Xing felt his attempt to push him away and laughed, “Baobei is so nervous — Is it because your deceased husband is watching?”
Before Lin Qingyu could refute his lips were once against blocked by Jiang Xing. He has never been an inflexible person; since he couldn’t escape it, he might as well enjoy it with peace of mind. Lin Qingyu closed his eyes and the mourning hall they were in disappeared, leaving only the gentle and warm touch, the young man’s clean and natural scent.
Suddenly, there was a slight noise from a dark corner.
Jiang Xing slowly raised his eyes and turned towards the sound, only to see a figure leaving in a hurry. He couldn’t see the man’s face but just based on the back view, he already had an idea in his mind.
That this person left such a trace with his skills showed just how frightened he’d been.
Lin Qingyu was so weak from Jiang Xing’s kiss that he hadn’t heard anything. Because of his shortness of breath, a soft moan escaped from lips.
This moan made Jiang Xing’s breath catch. He immediately put the matter behind him, lowered his eyes and concentrated on kissing the mourning beauty in his arms.
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