Jiang Xing couldn’t stay outside the palace for very long. After kissing the little widow, he went to see the Second Young Lady Gu and the Third Young Master Gu. When he’d left for the Northwest, these two had only been the size of fingernails, but now they are as thick and long as his fingers. It showed how much Lin Qingyu cared for them. After that, Jiang Xing took advantage of cover of night to return to the palace.
Xiao Songzi assisted him in changing his clothes. Even Lin Qingyu praised Xiao Songzi for being tight-lipped. He considered this little eunuch useful. Thus, naturally, Jiang Xing trusted him too. “Xiao Songzi.”
Xiao Songzi said, “Your Majesty?”
“Go and find Shen Huaishi for Zhen.”
Xiao Songzi was dumbstruck. It was his first time hearing His Majesty say so many words in one go. And it had none of its usual childlike tone. He sounded no different from ordinary people. Was the emperor suddenly fully recovered?
Jiang Xing smiled. “Why, did you not understand?”
Xiao Songzi came back to his senses and hurriedly said, “This servant shall go immediately.”
“Also,” Though Jiang Xing’s tone was gentle, it seemed to carry a hint of warning, “Zhen trusts that you won’t tell anyone aside from Master Lin of what Zhen says or does within the palace.”
Xiao Songzi gulped. “This servant is His Majesty’s to command.”
Shen Huaishi has always been elusive. Even when tasked personally by the Emperor, Xiao Songzi still had to use a lot of effort to bring him to the palace. With only an hour left before dawn, Shen Huaishi was ordered to come to Xingqing Palace. The person who sent the message said that it was the Emperor who issued the summons. But how could His Majesty want to see him for no reason? It must be Lin Qingyu, using the name of the emperor, who summoned him.
Lin Qingyu and the son of heaven… Thinking of what he’d seen just now, a haze begun to cover Shen Huaishi’s eyes and he quietly clenched his hands into fists.
No wonder Lin Qingyu could so calmly face the news of General Gu’s death. Long before General Gu died in battle, he and the new emperor must have already been…
But the General still thought of no one but Lin Qingyu. Even during his last moments, all he thought about was Lin Qingyu.
Shen Huaishi forcibly suppressed the resentment in his heart and stepped into the hall. He fully expected to see Lin Qingyu inside; unexpectedly, he was met with the sight of the Emperor alone. The young man had on him the black dragon robe. He was seated atop the throne, his forehead resting against his fist, his eyes closed in a doze.
Xiao Songzi said, “Your Majesty, Shen Gongzi is here.”
Jiang Xing opened his eyes and said with a smile, “Shen Gongzi has kept Zhen waiting.”
Shen Huaishi’s brows furrowed slightly. He had heard that the son of heaven’s soul-loss disease had taken a turn for the better. But a full recovery wasn’t something achievable in a day. The emperor in front of him was not at all like someone with a mental deficiency.
Shen Huaishi was filled with misgivings. He brushed aside the lower hem of his robes and knelt down. “Greetings to His Majesty.”
Jiang Xing said to Xiao Songzi, “You go and invite the National Teacher here.”
After Xiao Songzi left, Jiang Xing sized up Shen Huaishi and said, “Shen Gongzi doesn’t seem to be in a very good mood. Master Lin returned home to the General’s Mansion today to attend to General Gu’s funeral. Shen Gongzi must have also gone to offer his condolences. I’m a little curious, what did you see?”
Shen Huaishi’s eyes turned gloomy and he said in a hoarse voice, “This subordinate… saw nothing.”
“Good.” Jiang Xing got up and walked to the window. Looking at grayish light off in the horizon, he suddenly said, “Dawn? That’s great.”
Shen Huaishi instinctively froze. He looked up at His Majesty who was speaking and behaving strangely.
This was the last thing General Gu had said before his death and only he knew it. The emperor summoning him in the middle of the night and saying this sentence — was it a coincidence or did it have some deeper meaning?
Shen Huaishi quickly came up with an answer. This sentence though said infrequently was common enough. Besides, it was indeed dawn so there was nothing strange about the Emperor saying it.
Jiang Xing caught the hesitation on Shen Huaishi’s face, and said with a smile, “Zhen asked you a question once, but you didn’t answer. For some reason, I really want to know the answer today and so I called you to the palace.”
Sweat broke out on Shen Huaishi’s forehead. “This subordinate is slow-witted. I ask that His Majesty speak clearly.”
Jiang Xing said, “Have you used the fake death drug that my wife gave you that day?”
Cold sweat broke out all over Shen Huaishi’s body. He choked out, “… Your Majesty?”
Jiang Xing put away his smile and presented a rare display of seriousness. “Huaishi, you’ve had a difficult journey.”
Shen Huaishi was completely dumbfounded. He was originally the reticent sort but now he was so shocked that he simply lost all words. His reaction was just as Jiang Xing expected. Most people wouldn’t believe in soul transfers and explaining would be troublesome. Just then, Xu Junyuan arrived and the task of explaining to Shen Huaishi fell to the National Teacher.
Xu Junyuan didn’t expect that the son of heaven would call him here in the middle of the night just for this kind of thing. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He had no choice but to narrate systematically and in complete detail about how Gu Fuzhou’s soul returned to his body upon his death.
Hearing all this, Shen Huaishi was taken aback. He was completely struck dumb. This matter was simply too outrageous. But if he took it to be true, a lot of these strange things now made sense.
Like how the new emperor’s soul-loss disease suddenly improved, why Lin Qingyu reacted so casually to Gu Fuzhou’s death, how Lin Qingyu and the emperor could stand in front of Gu Fuzhou’s memorial tablet and…do something like that.
Can a soul change bodies? Was there really such a bizarre thing in the world?
“Of course, there is.” Jiang Xing said, “If you don’t believe me, you can ask me some questions that only Gu Fuzhou would know the answer to.”
After being dealt with successive shocks, Shen Huaishi was a little dazed and it took a long time before he said, “Before the siege, General Wu caught two cut-sleeve soldiers…”
“Are you asking for the names of those two people? Jiang Shiyue and Lin Lan.” Saying this, Jiang Xing felt a heaviness in his heart. He made a note of asking Lin Qingyu later about the issue of compensation for the deceased soldiers.
Shen Huaishi looked more and more dazed. Based on his expression, he probably beginning to doubt whether this world was even real.
Jiang Xing said again, “Huaishi, you are the one who accompanied General Gu to the very end. Only you know what he said before he died. Can you tell me what he said?”
Shen Huaishi spoke instinctively, “The General said he didn’t want to die. He said…said that Doctor Lin was still waiting for him.”
Jiang Xing shook his head. “You remembered wrong. Before his death, General Gu said that he couldn’t hold on any longer but he didn’t want for Imperial Physician Lin to waste his life. He only hoped that Imperial Physician Lin could find someone to love again, to build a good relationship; someone he could grow old with. — This is General Gu’s last wish. If Imperial Physician Lin were to truly grow old and die alone for him, he would not be able to die in peace.” Jiang Xing sighed quietly, “Zhen has heard from the National Teacher that people who die with their eyes open cannot be reincarnated, they can only be reduced to wandering ghosts, unable even even to enjoy the fragrance of incense. Tsk, how truly wretched.”
Xu Junyuan suddenly realized what he was after and said with a smile, “His Majesty is wise. I had wondered why the emperor chose not to tell the Empress Dowager the truth but confessed instead to Shen Gongzi. So that is how it is.”
Shen ‘honest man’ Huaishi still couldn’t wrap his head around it. “But that’s not what General Gu said.”
Jiang Xing smiled lightly. “But he could have.”
Half a month later, Gu Fuzhou’s body was escorted to the capital by Shi Pei. Lin Qingyu and the people from the Ministry of Rites went out of the city to welcome them in person, receiving them with proper etiquette.
When he had set off on this expedition, he was at the head of a powerful army sent off with music of solemn fervor. It was a stirring sight. When he returned, he was nothing but a single shattered corpse, lying quietly.
Shi Pei led a group of trusted aides to escort Gu Fuzhou’s bier and coffin from the Northwest all the way to the capital. When they saw the city gate, these hot-blooded men on the battlefield burst into tears, sighed and sobbed, “General, we’ve finally brought you home.”
Gu Fuzhou had no father or mother and no one knows the location of his ancestral grave. In light of his meritorious service, the Empress Dowager allowed him to be buried in the imperial tomb. He was the first subject to enjoy this honor since the founding of the country.
Shi Pei handed the Qingyun Jiuzhou Spear to Lin Qingyu and he asked in a hoarse voice, “Madam, would you like to take one last look at the General?”
Lin Qingyu stared at the coffin. He hesitated for a long time and then shook his head lightly. “I won’t be disturbing the General rest anymore. Let this Qingyun Jiuzhou Spear be buried with the General so as to let him quickly be at rest.”
There was no need to cling to the past. Obstinately sticking to the wrong course would only add to troubles. Jiang Xing hoped that he could move on and he also needed to move on.
He wanted to bid farewell to Gu Fuzhou formally like he’d done before for Lu Wancheng. From now on, the only person who would accompany him was Jiang Xing.
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