Chapter 76
Gu Fuzhou meant for the emperor to take the initiative to abolish Xiao Chen’s position as crown prince. This was easier said than done. For decades after he ascended to the throne, the emperor had refused to name a successor. They said he was being cautious, but in fact, he had been creating a Gu. He turned a blind eye to the battle of the princes in order to wait for the final winner.
Four years ago, Xiao Cheng stood out from amongst the princes, proving to the emperor that there was no better choice for crown prince. For this reason, all the other princes had died or had been laid to waste. In the end, the only ones left were an idiot and a dullard. The price of the battle for succession was so great that the Xiao Clan could no afford another one anytime soon. Even if Xiao Cheng has been remiss in his official duties as of late, even if Xiao Jie were able to come out with remarkable achievements, the emperor would not change the crown prince.
Unless, Xiao Cheng were to do something that the emperor simply could never tolerate. Even if Xiao Cheng were to defile the harem, the emperor might still protect him; only grave crimes such as attempting regicide and treason, collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country, would be able to shake his position as heir.
But even though Xiao Cheng was devoting himself to the search for Shen Huaishi, it wasn’t to the point that he had completely lost all sense of rationality. Shen Huaishi had merely turned him from a smart person into an ordinary one. He knew that so long as he didn’t make any grave mistakes, sooner or later the country would belong to him. Therefore, how could he go attempting regicide and treason or collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country?
Lin Qingyu expressed his doubts, and Gu Fuzhou said, “Do you remember the six names I wrote down?”
“I remember. Xiao Cheng, Shen Huaishi; Xiao Jie, Xi Rong; Xiao Li, the Empress.”
“They are each other’s weaknesses and if you want to do something to one of them, the best breakthrough point is in the other person — this is the general principle of the entire book, Huai’s Refusal of the Monarch”. Gu Fuzhou said, “With this principle, it is not difficult for us to see that if we want Xiao Cheng to do something crazy, it will have to be through Shen Huaishi.”CHeCk for new stories on no/v/el/bin(.)c0m
Lin Qingyu pondered, “You’re right, but right now no one knows Shen Huaishi’s whereabouts.”
Gu Fuzhou said unhurriedly, “Don’t worry, in the time it takes for a song to be played, I’ll have thought of a way.”
Lin Qingyu sneered lightly, “You’re overestimating your own capabilities.” No matter how smart Gu Fuzhou was, it was impossible for him to come up with a comprehensive solution in such a short period of time. He thought that it would take Gu Fuzhou at least two or three days to give him an answer. But who could have guessed that after they alighted from the carriage, Gu Fuzhou said, “Didn’t you tell Xiao Cheng before that Shen Huaishi might have escaped to the north?”
“En.” The Northern Border was located in the extreme north of the Dayu and the King of the Northern Border was the only king of the Dayu from a different clan. Before Princess Jingchun was married to him, he was said to be hidden danger to the court. Even now, the emperor was very guarded towards the king of the Northern Border. He made Xiao Cheng think that Shen Huaishi might be in the north, so naturally, Xiao Cheng dispatched a lot of people to look there. Batch after batch of the crown prince’s trusted men were sent to the north, allegedly to catch the assassin. But the frequency of the dispatches and the attention the crown prince gave to this matter drew tha dissatisfaction of the emperor. It had even begun to draw suspicion.
Lin Qingyu had said this before to plant a seed of doubt in the emperor’s heart. As for whether this seed could grow, he was not completely sure.
Thinking of this, Lin Qingyu vaguely guessed Gu Fuzhou’s intentions. “You want to make use of the Northern Border...? But since marrying the Princess Jingchun, the relationship between the Northern Border and the capital can be described as that of brotherly friendship and respect. It’s impossible for the the King of the Northern Border to rebel at this time; he has no reason to.”
Gu Fuzhou only said, “Later, call Zhang Shiquan over. Have him handle one matter.”
After Lin Qingyu used the matter of the illegal salt business to coerce the Nan’an Hou into submission, naturally, Zhang Shiquan could no longer stay in the Hou Mansion. Zhang Shiquan was thorough, reliable and loyal to him. Lin Qingyu invited him to the General’s mansion and had him continue looking after the household’s accounts for him.
“What matter?”
“Have him find people he can trust and rely on in the Northern Border. Have them spread two rumors; one true and one false.”
Lin Qingyu asked, “What’s the true rumor and what’s the false one?”
Gu Fuzhou realized that something was not right, and blinked his eyes: “Huh?”
Not only had Gu Fuzhou not come forth with information about important clues but he was even putting on airs in front of him. Lin Qingyu was so angry that he wanted to poison him. Miffed about having taken to long and now he has missed his chance, Lin Qingyu simply ignored Gu Fuzhou.
Gu Fuzhou was now deeply aware of his own mistake. He proffered a birch and asked for a flogging; he knelt by his bedside that night and told Lin Qingyu every little detail he could remember from Huai’s Refusal of the Monarch; not leaving out even the details of Xiao Cheng and Shen Huaishi’s first time in bed after they managed to make up.
His excited retelling was coldly interrupted by Lin Qingyu. “Why do you remember these plots so clearly?”
Gu Fuzhou sighed innocently, “It’s not like I want to, but the author’s writing was so detailed, so exaggerated. It left a huge shadow on my heart. You know, at seventeen, I wasn’t all that clear on how two men did it. But the author spent several thousand words eloquently describing how Xiao Cheng found a good jade ball, matching it with his own twin dragons plunging into the sea. My expression at the time was like this –” Gu Fuzhou picked up a book and his facial features wrinkled together, vividly reconstructing the situation at the time. “Is this alright? That can’t go in. No matter how I think about it, that just won’t go in.”
A vein popped on Lin Qingyu’s forehead. “...Enough, shut up.”
After that, Lin Qingyu dispatched Zhang Shiquan to the Northern Border. Meanwhile, Gu Fuzhou picked out a few capable soldiers from his own personal guard and following the route he had planned, went to seek out Shen Huaishi’s whereabouts.
In the blink of an eye, it was the fourteenth day of the first lunar month and tomorrow was the Lantern Festival.
The annual Lantern Festival was the liveliest time of year in the capital. Usually there was a curfew in the capital. People weren’t allowed to go out after dark. But during the Lantern Festival, the curfew in the capital was temporarily relaxed for the evening festivities.
Gu Fuzhou has been in the Dayu for two years but had yet to celebrate the Lantern Festival. “I heard that for you, the Lantern Festival is equivalent to a carnival. Is this true?”
“A carnival?” Lin Qingyu smiled lightly, “You could say that.”
It was the night of the Lantern Festival. In the Dayu, groups roaming around to admire the lanterns was very popular. It was night and the capital was a sea of lights. Poetry riddles were written on lanterns, all sorts of performances were being put on show and women all travelled around in groups. The tip of the willow reaches the moon and lovers meet at nightfall. Young ladies from well-off families are only able to go out during the Lantern Festival to meet up with the men they like.
Hearing that last sentence, Gu Fuzhou was slightly surprised. “Really? I thought that you people of the Dayu don’t date at all before marriage. I thought all matters regarding the marriage are decided by your parents.”
Lin Qingyu’s heart moved. He asked, “What does ‘ dating ‘ mean?”
Gu Fuzhou explained to him patiently, even telling him the story behind this word. “Look at the big boats in the canal. They’re all dragging along small boats. Once they get near the shore, the big boats will create a deep draught, making it is difficult to pull in to shore. At this time, it’s the small boat that can unload and go ashore. In this way, they rely on each other to go back and forth. So in my hometown, ‘dating’ refers to when two people fall in love and begin to rely on each other, making them loathe to be apart. To explain it in your words, it probably means holding someone’s hand and growing old together.”
Lin Qingyu said slowly, “So, ‘dating’ also means a pledge of one’s love?”
“You can understand it to be like that.”
Lin Qingyu looked at him meaningfully, “Oh.”
The author has something to say: Salted fish reading the original book: Grandpa in the subway looking at his mobile phone.jpg