Chapter 57
Xiao Cheng’s assassination was something Lin Qingyu needed to accomplish in his life. When Gu Fuzhou was still Lu Wancheng, they had also tried but it ended in failure. But things were different now. One of them was the head of the military generals, and the other was a close official of the Emperor. Things were unlike before, when he couldn’t even enter the palace. He has also gotten to know the key person — Shen Huaishi. This time, he had a 50% chance of success.
If the plan was successful, Lin Qingyu would try to save the Emperor’s life before Xiao Cheng dies and Gu Fuzhou would also pull Xiao Jie on board during this period. When Xiao Cheng dies, the Emperor will be deeply saddened and he would have no time to think about Gu Fuzhou’s marriage. And even if he did, Lin Qingyu would let him go to heaven before he decreed the marriage. At that time, only Xiao Jie would be left to inherit the throne.
If the plan fails, Xiao Cheng and the emperor will live well but Gu Fuzhou will inevitably get married. Seeing how he was so opposed to marry someone else, it wasn’t completely out of the question for him to block this marraige for Gu Fuzhou... And unless the emperor is tired of living, it was impossible for the emperor to dismiss him while he was still ill. Even if he gets married to Gu Fuzhou again, it won’t prevent him from continuing to study medicine in the Imperial Medical Office.CHeCk for new stories on no/v/el/bin(.)c0m
It wasn’t the first time they got married anyway. As for who to would be taking on a wife and who would be taking on a husband, that was a matter to consider later.
The two had more or less agreed and it was already zishi. Gu Fuzhou sat cross-legged on the lower bunk and yawned. “Qingyu, it’s so late. The General’s Mansion must be closed by now. Can I stay overnight here in your place?”
Lin Qingyu smiled lightly. “If you were to go back, would the people of the General’s Mansion dare not open the door for you?”
Gu Fuzhou smiled and said, “Then I must just be finding excuses.”
Lin Qingyu said, “You can stay but you’ll have to sleep on the top bunk.” In the past, when Lu Wancheng was in poor health, he always slept on the top bunk. Going up and down, up and down had been really annoying.
Gu Fuzhou immediately stood up and tidied up the bed put into disarray by his sitting. “Please.” After saying so, he put his hands on the upper bunk and pulled himself up to sit easily.
One was on the top bunk and the other was on the bottom bunk. It was as if they were back in the past when they were still in the Nan’an Hou’s Mansion. Back then, they would occasionally chat before going to bed. Sometimes Lu Wancheng would talk about his hometown and teach him a bit of his hometown dialect; sometimes they would discussed how to do bad things together; sometimes Lu Wancheng would wake up because of the poison acting up, Lin Qingyu would then get out of bed and gently hug Lu Wancheng in his arms.
After Lu Wancheng’s death, Lin Qingyu slept alone in the bottom bunk for a long time. He never slept well, his heart feeling empty. Tonight, there was finally someone above him, and his heart now seemed filled.
He had clearly just been conspiring to kill the emperor just a while ago, but he was surprisingly calm. Even if there were wolves around and the road ahead was unclear, you were likely to lose your life with the slightest carelessness, but as long as he had this person to accompany him all the way, he had nothing to be afraid of.
“It’s hardly historical material.” Gu Fuzhou said leisurely, “All of this—whether it’s your fate or the love-hate entanglement between Xiao Cheng and Shen Huaishi, is all written in a novel called “Huai’s Refusal of the Monarch” And I was fortunate enough to finish reading this extraordinary book.”
“Huai’s Refusal of the Monarch?” Lin Qingyu sneered, “No wonder Xiao Cheng and Shen Huaishi are the protagonists.”
“Yeah, this book revolves around the two of them.”
Hearing Gu Fuzhou say this much, Lin Qingyu had something he was puzzled about, “If you weren’t gay in the past, why would you read this kind of book?”
“If we’re going to talk about this, I’m going to lose all thoughts of sleep.” Gu Fuzhou sat up, looking like he’d been deceived, “My older female cousin recommended me this book, saying it was about a shadow guard’s leveling up and counterattacking. I had a good feeling when I saw the title of the book. So, I flipped through a few pages and it opened the doors to a whole new world for me.”
Lin Qingyu was puzzled, “You saw there was something not quite right when you were reading it. Why did you finish it?”
“It certainly wasn’t quite right. But Shen Huaishi was really miserable. I wanted to scold him. I was so looking forward to the day he rises up.” Gu Fuzhou complained, “Do you know that feeling? That feeling like you just can’t stop? I was cursing him the entire time I was reading it. I couldn’t stop and before I knew it, I had reached the end.”
Lin Qingyu didn’t quite understand the feeling of being unable to stop that Gu Fuzhou was talking about. If he had been the one to read this novel, he definitely wouldn’t have read more than a page. “So, in “Huai’s Refusal of the Monarch”, what was their ending?”
“Shen Huaishi blackened after learning the truth – I explained the word ‘blackened’ to you, right?”
“En.”
“He was going to avenge the Shen Family. But just as he was about to succeed, Shen Huaishi’s heart grew soft. He abandoned his sword and fled, leaving the Eastern Palace. He then began wandering the world. When he left, Xiao Cheng realized that he cared about him in his heart. Heedless of everything, he wanted to pursue him back. He even dissolved the harem for him and staged a scene of imprisonment. One day, Shen Huaishi found an opportunity to assassinate Xiao Cheng and Xiao Cheng, who was already the emperor by then, presented his chest openly and delivered that classic line — ‘Kiss me and my life and country are yours’. Then — Shen Huaishi was moved! Can you believe that? He was moved! He accepted Xiao Cheng once more and became the first male empress of the Dayu. The two lived happily ever after.”
Gu Fuzhou still remembered how he felt when he read that book.
After Lin Qingyu heard the whole story, he quickly arranged his thoughts. If they wanted to get rid of Xiao Cheng before the emperor’s decree of marriage could be delivered, they would need to do two things. First, they had to let Shen Huaishi know the truth about the destruction of the Heavenly Prison Sect as soon as possible. Second, Shen Huaishi must not be allowed to let his heart soften.