Chapter 51
LIN QINGYU HAD NEVER invited anyone to his newly established residence, not even his family. And, while Gu Fuzhou was the Lin family’s benefactor, there was simply too much about him that aroused suspicion. Besides, the Tianji Guard monitored him at all times, which meant that Xiao Cheng would eventually learn about everything he said or did.
Thus, bringing Gu Fuzhou to his residence now wouldn’t be a smart move.
“My late husband passed from sickness not even half a year ago,” Lin Qingyu said after considering several responses. “If I take you to my residence, we’ll be raked over the coals.”
Gu Fuzhou thought he had a point, and thus he didn’t insist. “Take me to the marquess of Nan’an’s residence, then.”
Lin Qingyu assumed that Gu Fuzhou had come to the palace on horseback, but in fact he—like Lin Qingyu—traveled around by carriage. Once they arrived, a servant notified the marquess, who was there to welcome them. Unlike when the crown prince had visited, however, the marquess didn’t come outside his residence; instead, he greeted them in front of the main hall. A few months had passed since Lin Qingyu last saw the marquess, who did look much better than before, thanks to the child Lady Pan carried.
Both the marquess of Nan’an and Gu Fuzhou were first-rank officials, so they greeted each other as equals. Lin Qingyu watched quietly from the side as they exchanged pointless pleasantries. Gu Fuzhou appeared serious as he spoke to the marquess, his speech brief and to the point. He conducted himself in the straightforward manner of a seasoned warrior, greatly resembling the austere war god he was rumored to be.
Yet mere moments ago, Gu Fuzhou had been teasing Lin Qingyu with a smile, telling him that breeding poisonous insects befitted a great beauty like him. And he’d made a show of chopping a brick into two with his bare hands a little while earlier.
Once again, Gu Fuzhou’s ability to change his demeanor with ease reminded Lin Qingyu of a certain young man.
The missive from Western Xia, the secret code, Gu Fuzhou’s bizarre words and actions, his overzealous friendly overtures—were all these coincidental? Was Lin Qingyu making something out of nothing? Perhaps…there was some other secret that he wasn’t privy to.
The marquess didn’t seem that gratified to hear that Gu Fuzhou was at the manor specially to pay his respects to Lu Wancheng. Instead, he gave the two guards behind Gu Fuzhou a worried look.
“Thank you for coming, General,” the marquess said, then turned to his servant. “Escort the general to the ancestral hall. I have to head to the palace now, so I won’t be keeping you company.”
Gu Fuzhou inclined his head slightly. “Do as you please, Marquess.”
The marquess pretended Lin Qingyu wasn’t present throughout this conversation, obviously still fixated on the devastation his late son’s male wife had brought upon the marquess’s family. He didn’t want to speak to Lin Qingyu or even give him a single glance.
In the ancestral hall, Gu Fuzhou looked down at Lu Wancheng’s spirit tablet on the lowest shelf, his mouth twitching. He wanted to laugh, but he felt like he shouldn’t, so he merely sighed softly and said nothing.
Lin Qingyu and Gu Fuzhou took three sticks of incense each from a servant before standing shoulder to shoulder in front of Lu Wancheng’s spirit tablet and bowing three times. Gu Fuzhou placed the incense into the brazier first, then leaned sideways so that Lin Qingyu could reach it.
As Lin Qingyu stepped forward, he told Gu Fuzhou in a low voice, “You’re followed by guards no matter where you go, General, and they monitor everything you say and do. Doesn’t it get annoying?”
“I can’t do anything about it,” Gu Fuzhou replied in resignation. “The crown prince is adamant that my hasty return to the capital implies nefarious intentions; he probably thinks that I’m cooking up some wicked scheme with my accomplice in the capital. Let them follow me around; at least that can dispel His Highness’s doubts and prove my innocence.”
“You worry too much, General,” one guard said impassively. “You were poisoned under very suspicious circumstances, and the perpetrator has yet to be found. His Highness ordered us to follow you so that we can shield you from harm.”
Lin Qingyu had thought that his and Gu Fuzhou’s voices were low enough, but the guards standing behind them had heard every single word anyway. As Lin Qingyu heard it, all the Tianji Guard’s members were skilled and powerful in their own right, and now it seemed that was indeed the case.
Gu Fuzhou let out a nonchalant chuckle. “Sure. Whatever the crown prince says.”
Lin Qingyu felt as though Gu Fuzhou was insinuating something. “You wanted to clear your name, yet you openly sought me out at the academy. Don’t you fear that the crown prince will grow suspicious that I’m the accomplice you mentioned?”
A serious frown replaced Gu Fuzhou’s smile. “I don’t want to involve you in this, but aren’t you my godbrother? It should seem normal for us to share a close bond. And our innocence will be clear sooner or later—don’t worry.”
As the saying went, the innocence of the innocent was proven eventually—with the caveat that the person concerned must actually be innocent, or at least convinced of their own innocence, to prevent others from exploiting any words or actions of theirs that could be misinterpreted.
“Does this mean that you rushed back here just to neutralize the poison, with no other goal in mind?” Lin Qingyu asked.
“What nefarious motive could I have? I just want to stay alive and relax for a few more years. However bold I may be, I’d never dare deceive the emperor, lest he have my head.”
“The northwest is devastated by war, and our nation has been torn asunder, causing suffering to those who live on the borders,” Lin Qingyu said. “Yet you recovered from the brink of death with no goal but to enjoy your life. How are you deserving of the trust of the court and Great Yu’s people?”
“There’s something that only I know for sure—that my victories on the battlefield rested on sheer luck alone.” Gu Fuzhou laughed quietly. “Five victories in a row was doable. If I pressed my luck further, though, I’d eventually be met with continuous failure. No one—whether imperial court officials or the commoners of Great Yu—should put their trust in me. I no longer wish to be responsible for millions upon millions of lives; it’s exhausting.
“An incompetent general should shed his armor and take up farming in the fields as early as he can. Only then will he deserve the people’s adoration and trust,” Gu Fuzhou concluded.
Lin Qingyu disagreed that Gu Fuzhou was incompetent. The general merely wanted to slack off. He truly grew to resemble a certain young man more and more by the day.
Having paid their respects to Lu Wancheng, Gu Fuzhou and Lin Qingyu went their separate ways. As Gu Fuzhou entered his carriage, the driver asked, “Will you return to your residence, General?”
After he was met with a long silence, he made to ask again, but then Gu Fuzhou’s voice came from inside the carriage: “No. There’s someone else I want to meet.”