Chapter 14: Xingzhi Temple (14)
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Yuanqing didn’t read the letter, but Xiao Fu did, and he told him, “Let the surnamed Tang give you a zither and also a wooden box.”
The letter was politely worded, showcasing Lin Zikui’s inherent decency. Apart from that, there were no ambiguous words that made Xiao Fu uncomfortable.
It seemed Lin Lang didn’t like Tang Mengyang.
Probably not fond of men either.
The wind lamp under the eaves flickered, Xiao Fu leaned on the windowsill, absentmindedly clutching the banana leaf that had popped up in front of him.
Yuanqing rushed back to Jinling overnight. It wasn’t even dawn yet, and the city gates were already closed.
Yuanqing took out his token, “General Chen!” The guards immediately opened the city gates for him. General Chen went straight to the Prime Minister Residence and turned it upside down. Finally, beside Prime Minister Xue’s pillow, he found the Ai Dai.
After concealing the Ai Dai, he carefully scattered a few pieces of glass fragments on the ground, creating the illusion of a broken Ai Dai scene.
With Prime Minister Xue’s temperament, he would probably only hold the fragments and shed tears.
This item was rare, and Yuanqing worried it might bring trouble to Graduate Lin. Lord Marquis acted without considering the consequences, perhaps because of his status and lack of restraint since childhood. Yuanqing, however, was different; he had to consider the consequences.
When it was fully daylight, Yuanqing went to Tang Mengyang’s residence.
This residence of a fourth-rank grand academician was actually located on one of the best streets in Jinling. Yuanqing disguised himself as a commoner and didn’t reveal his identity, just saying he had a letter from Young Master Lin to deliver to LordTang.
The servant opened the door and courteously said, “Brother, my master has gone to court. Please come back later. Or you can give me the letter, and I’ll pass it on to my master.”
Yuanqing shook his head, “It’s alright, I’ll come back later.”
He was about to sneak in secretly to investigate the truth about Grand Academician Tang when he heard cries of a woman from the neighboring residence.
“Lord, lord! Please spare the child! The child is still young! I beg you!”
“The Emperor has decreed that anyone practicing witchcraft at home will have their household confiscated! Madam, you better come with us obediently.”
“No, it’s not my husband, Lord Guo who practices witchcraft, it’s that wretched woman, that wretched woman who keeps insects locked in her room, trying to harm the child in Zhao Shi’s belly! It has nothing to do with the Guo family!”
As the Ministry of Justice conducted the confiscation, passersby kept their distance.
Yuanqing looked towards the sound, “The Guo family, Guo Mao, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?”
He was aware of the incident of the Emperor being bewitched, but he hadn’t expected the Emperor to indiscriminately kill innocents, not even sparing the elderly, weak, or infirm.
Watching the entire Guo family being taken away, he felt deeply saddened.
Yuanqing didn’t dwell on it any longer, silently sneaking into the Tang Residence’s courtyard.
The residence wasn’t large, with few servants in the front and back yards. Sitting in a desolate pavilion by the pond was a frail-looking man with disheveled hair, playing the zither mournfully, expressing a sorrow as deep as autumn.
There were no concubines; instead, there was a demon-like man in the backyard.
Yuanqing remained still, observing. At quarter past nine, Grand Academician Tang returned home from court in a carriage.
The demon-like man playing the zither hurriedly went to his room to tidy up upon hearing the master’s return. After putting on heavy makeup, he delicately approached, “Master, why did you return from court so early today?”
Tang Mengyang sat in his chair with his eyes closed, “The Emperor’s mood wasn’t good today. Prime Minister Xue lost the Ai Dai and angered the Emperor… Forget it, there’s no point in telling you.”
“Please tell me, so I can share your burdens, Master.”
Tang Mengyang just shook his head, letting him massage his shoulders. Suddenly, he remembered something and opened his eyes, “Prepare your things and go to the secluded manor outside the city later.”
“Why, why are you suddenly sending me to the secluded manor?”
Tang Mengyang frowned, “How many officials have been confiscated in the capital? Haven’t you noticed?”
“I saw it. Lord Guo’s family members were all taken away today. I’m so scared, I didn’t even dare to go and see.”
“The situation is unusual lately. Even the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue… Prime Minister Xue pleaded for Lord Guo today, and the Emperor was furious! He fined him three months’ salary. With such a big move, if they come to confiscate our residence the next day, they’ll drag you out! If it gets out, it will damage my reputation!”
Their ambiguous behavior made their relationship clear at a glance, causing Yuanqing to frown deeply, feeling a chill down his spine.
Both of them were cut sleeves*, but how different Tang Mengyang’s situation was from that of his family’s Lord Marquis!
Note: cut sleeve: gay/homosexual.
At this moment, the gatekeeper’s servant walked in and reported, “Lord.”
Tang Mengyang looked over, “What is it?”
“Just now, someone came to deliver a letter, saying it was sent by Young Master Lin. You previously mentioned that Young Master Lin’s letters should be paid special attention to. I… rushed to report to you.”
“Is it from Zikui?” Tang Mengyang stood up, his face showing delight, “Who delivered it? Where is he?”
Before long, Yuanqing visited again, entering through the main gate in a proper manner.
He stood tall and straight with hands behind his back, somewhat arrogant, “I am a devoted beliver of Xingzhi Temple. I have come to Jinling on a mission. Young Master Lin asked me to deliver a letter to you, mentioning that there are some items stored with you that he wants me to bring back to him.”
The Chen brothers were usually not in the capital, so Tang Mengyang only glanced at him casually, not recognizing that this was the general who guarded the borders. He quickly opened the letter. It wasn’t long, and after a moment, he finished reading it, then pondered and said, “The items Brother Huai Fu wants, I’ll take a few days off and personally deliver them to him at the Xingzhi Temple.”
“That won’t do,” Yuanqing smiled, “Young Master Lin instructed me to bring back all the items mentioned in the letter to him, so I must bring them back without missing any.”
Tang Mengyang looked up at him again upon hearing this.
Yuanqing exuded an extraordinary aura, his restrained decisiveness making him as taut as a sword.
Tang Mengyang couldn’t help but feel uneasy deep down, but he didn’t outright refuse. He sent someone to fetch the zither from the storeroom. “Brother, please take this back to Brother Huai Fu.”
Yuanqing took the zither carefully in his hands and asked, “Anything else?”
Tang Mengyang replied, “Have you read the letter?”
Yuanqing shook his head, “I only heard about it from him.”
“…There’s also a box.” Tang Mengyang had to send someone to retrieve it from the storeroom. “Brother, please pass on a message to Brother Huai Fu for me. Tell him I’ll visit him at the Xingzhi Temple in a few days to see how his eyes are doing.”
Yuanqing remained silent, holding the zither and the small wooden box, and left without wanting any further interaction with Tang Mengyang.
Following Lord Marquis’s instructions, Yuanqing also bought the best writing materials. The Prince Yunnan Residence was wealthy enough to rival a kingdom, and Marquis Xiao didn’t spare any expense.
Several days passed before Yuanqing finished his tasks.
During these days, every morning Lin Zikui would study at the Qingxin Pavilion with Taoist Lingbo, and in the afternoon, Xiao Fu would accompany him. However, during this time, Lin Zikui was often absent-minded, so he didn’t let Xiao Fu read to him much.
At night, it got colder and colder, with only a little charcoal left in the charcoal basin at the Hall of Purifying the Heart. After nightfall, Lin Zikui called for Mo Liu to come to bed with him. “Mo Liu, come, let’s sleep together to keep warm.”
The charcoal basin was surrounded by a screen, emitting a dim orange light. Master and attendant snuggled under a quilt, and Mo Liu shivered from the cold. When his foot accidentally touched Lin Zikui’s, he said, “Young Master, you’re so cold. Shall I get up and make some hot broth for you?”
“No need, it’s too late. If you go out to fetch firewood and light the fire now, you’ll freeze before the broth is ready.”
“It’s okay, let me go. I’m not afraid of the cold.”
“If you’re not afraid, why are you shivering? Don’t go.” Lin Zikui kept his eyes closed tightly, opening his arms to comfort the servant. “Quickly go to sleep. Once you’re asleep, you won’t feel cold anymore…”
Mo Liu, being young, truly regarded Lin Zikui as an older brother and crawled into his arms with his eyes closed.
By midnight, the charcoal had burned out, and the wind outside was howling. The window was blown open, and Mo Liu woke up from the cold in the middle of the night. He got up to close the window and saw that it had snowed outside, with silver frost covering the ground, shimmering in the moonlight along with the osmanthus tree.
Too cold to appreciate the beauty of the first snow, Mo Liu quickly closed the window, wrapped himself in all his clothes, and then covered Lin Zikui with the “rabbit fur” that the Second Young Miss had given him when he saw Lin Zikui curled up sleeping.
When the hour of the Dragon came, Mo Liu got up.
Note: 7-9am.
But Lin Zikui was still asleep.
Mo Liu industriously swept away the snow at the door, prepared a hot broth, and slipped it into the bed to warm Lin Zikui’s feet.
When the hour of the Snake came, Lin Zikui was still asleep.
Note: 9-11am.
Mo Liu began to feel something was wrong. “Normally, Young Master always wakes up at the hour of the Rabbit, wind or rain, without exception.”
Lin Zikui’s face was unnaturally red, his lips dry, and he was trembling slightly.
Mo Liu reached out and touched him, startled, “Oh no!”
“Bad news!”
He panicked, “It’s so hot! Young Master, wake up, you’re burning up.”
Lin Zikui was groggy, shaken awake by him. He coughed lightly, “Mo Liu, what time is it?”
“It’s almost noon.”
“Noon?” Lin Zikui tried to sit up upon hearing this, but Mo Liu pressed him back down, “Young Master, don’t get up. You’re burning up, you have a fever. I’ll go make you a bowl of ginger soup, and then find the physician!”
Lin Zikui couldn’t muster any strength and drifted back to sleep.
Mo Liu was resourceful. Knowing he needed help, he first sought out a Taoist, “My Young Master has a severe fever! Could you please ask the Taoist physician from the temple to come and check on him?”
Then he went to the kitchen to brew ginger soup.
Xiao Fu usually woke up late. Since Lin Zikui hadn’t come over today, he asked Yuanwu, who said he hadn’t seen him this morning either. Puzzled, he went to look for him.
As Xiao Fu arrived at the Hall of Purifying the Heart’s entrance, he coincidentally met the young Taoist physician from the temple hurrying over with a medicine box. Xiao Fu immediately walked over, and the physician recognized him, “Benefactor Xiao, is Benefactor Lin inside your acquaintance? His attendant said Benefactor Lin has contracted a fever, and he’s delirious. I hurried over as soon as I heard!”
“He has a fever?!” Xiao Fu quickly pushed the physician inside. “Stop talking nonsense, go check on him!”
After Xiao Fu entered, he indeed saw Lin Zikui lying on the bed, sound asleep and unresponsive, his eyes tightly shut. When Xiao Fu reached out to touch him, he was burning up.
The young Taoist physician felt Lin Zikui’s pulse, opened his mouth to check his tongue coating, and then examined his eyes.
Even so, Lin Zikui still hadn’t awakened!
Xiao Fu’s expression changed constantly, “How is he?”
“It’s a fever. With yesterday’s first snow, he must have caught a chill during the night.” The physician opened his medicine box, “I’ll prepare some herbal medicine for Benefactor Lin.”
Xiao Fu also felt Lin Zikui’s pulse, and as the physician prepared the medicine, he asked, “Do you also know medicine?”
“Yeah.” He knew a little, but he had no sense of taste and his sense of smell was distorted, so he wasn’t suitable for practicing medicine. By feeling Lin Zikui’s pulse, Xiao Fu could tell he had a weak constitution and probably had poor digestion.
His wrist was thin, his face pale, his forehead was pressed against the grass seed pillow, as if he was trapped.
Xiao Fu suddenly felt a slight pang in his heart.
Very slight.
But once he felt it, he furrowed his brows.
A sense of unease arose within him.
Although Lin Zikui hadn’t opened his eyes, he vaguely sensed someone was there and first called out, “Mother…”
Then he muttered, “Father, I’ve been unfilial, I haven’t passed the exam…”
Both his parents were no longer alive.
Xiao Fu sat down by the bed, noticing the charcoal basin nearby, still burning with a few pieces of firewood emitting a faint warmth.
Why was there a fire burning?
After the physician prepared the medicine, he instructed, “Apply three patches a day, boil twice in the morning and evening.”
At this moment, Mo Liu also returned with a pot of freshly brewed ginger soup. “I’m here, I’m here, Young Master! Second Young Miss? Why are you here too?”
“I just came to take a look. Your Young Master is ill. Why didn’t you inform me?”
Mo Liu placed the pot of ginger soup on the table, reproaching himself, “It’s my fault. Young Master didn’t wake up this morning, and I didn’t realize he had a fever. The charcoal in the room burned out last night, the window was blown open, and I was sleeping in his bed while he was holding me. He caught a chill, but I was completely fine.”
This sentence was full of implications.
Xiao Fu’s expression darkened. “The charcoal ran out. Why didn’t you come and ask me for more?”
“Young Master… how could Young Master ask you for charcoal?” Clearly, they didn’t have much money. Previously, Lin Zikui even wanted to buy silver charcoal to give to the Second Young Miss. Fortunately, such charcoal wasn’t easy to buy. Mo Liu bought ordinary charcoal and returned, but he didn’t come to ask Xiao Fu for more.
Lin Zikui hadn’t mentioned this matter to Xiao Fu, so naturally Xiao Fu didn’t know. They had reached such poverty that they were burning firewood for warmth.
Xiao Fu poured out the ginger soup, took a sip, finding it still too hot, so he put it down to cool off.
Then he looked up, “Wait a minute, why did your Young Master sleep with you?”
“…Huh?” Mo Liu looked innocent, “It was cold, so Young Master said two people sleeping together would keep warm, so we slept together.”
“…Nonsense.” Xiao Fu snorted coldly, turned his face away, then tasted the ginger soup again. This time it was cooler and palatable.
“Attendnat, go and brew this medicinal paste. Use four bowls of water, boil it down to two bowls. Then go to my courtyard and call Brother Chen to bring all the charcoal over.”
“This…” Mo Liu scratched his head.
“I told you to go, so go quickly. I’m going to feed your Young Master the ginger soup.” Xiao Fu wasn’t very polite.
“Yes, thank you, Second Young Miss!” Mo Liu ran out. Xiao Fu took off his cloak and covered Lin Zikui with it. Then he held a bowl of ginger soup in one hand and gently tapped Lin Zikui’s face with the other.
“Little Scholar.”
“Lin Lang, wake up and drink some ginger soup.”
“Get up quickly.” He gently pinched Lin Zikui’s face and ears, finally managing to rouse him with a gentle touch.
Lin Zikui’s eyes were red, dry, and he couldn’t open them properly yet.
Seeing him half-awake, Xiao Fu put down the medicine bowl and reached around him, half-hugging him to sit up.
“Drink your medicine, no, I mean ginger soup. It shouldn’t be hard to drink.” Xiao Fu coaxed him, but Lin Zikui frowned and turned his face away, his voice hoarse, “I don’t like ginger.”
Xiao Fu chuckled, “Why are you being picky? I’m not picky at all. I took a sip for you, it’s not bad at all, no taste at all.”
“Really?”
“I’d be a bastard if I lie to you.”
“…Okay then.”
Lin Zikui blew on the spoonful of ginger soup and took a sip. His expression turned ugly, “You lied to me.”
“I didn’t, really. Be obedient and have another sip.”
Lin Zikui, somewhat groggy, looked up at him, “Second Young Miss.”
“It’s me. You just recognized me?”
Lin Zikui found himself unexpectedly leaning in the other’s embrace, which was spacious and warm. In a half-dreamy state, he struggled a bit and muttered unintelligibly, “I’m sorry, Second Young Miss, I’m afraid I’ll get you sick after I recover.”
“Don’t move, the ginger soup might spill. But even if it does, it’s okay. I’ll have your attendant make another bowl, and I’ll have Yuanwu wash your clothes.”
Lin Zikui immediately stopped moving.
He breathed heavily through his nose, straightened his body slightly, but had no strength to sit up, so he softened back down.
Xiao Fu fed him spoonful by spoonful, coaxing him with words. Lin Zikui drank with a grimace.
Xiao Fu chuckled, “Is it really that bad?”
Lin Zikui nodded, his voice hoarse, “I’d rather take medicine than drink ginger.”
“Alright, you’ve finished it. Sweat it out, and your fever will be gone.” Xiao Fu slowly lowered his arm, helping him lie back down. Due to their proximity, Xiao Fu’s fragrance, his extraordinarily handsome face, his slender neck, were all within reach.
In his half-dazed state, Lin Zikui glanced at his Adam’s apple.
Unable to hold back, he blurted out the thoughts he had been keeping to himself: “Second Young Miss, why does even your Adam’s apple look like a man’s, so prominent…”
After blurting it out, he felt like he might have said something inappropriate.
Lin Zikui pursed his lips and quickly added, “I’m sorry, I spoke out of turn.”
Xiao Fu wasn’t offended at all. He touched his own Adam’s apple, “What’s wrong with being like a man? If you go to the imperial examination, I can help you carry three sets of books.”
Lin Zikui shook his head, “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Xiao Fu then lowered his head and looked into his misty black eyes, lowering his voice, “Lin Zikui, let me ask you, what if I were really a man?”
“Ah…” He was obviously not able to think about this now, considering it an invalid question.
He replied absentmindedly, “It’s fine having a husband or being a husband. There’s nothing wrong with it. If it’s you, it’s fine.”
Xiao Fu chuckled, “So you agree then.”
Lin Zikui: “Hmm…”
Author’s note:
“It’s fine having a husband or being a husband”: Everyone is a man.
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