News of Lin Qingyu’s imminent second marriage to Gu Fuzhou spread quickly. A year after his first marriage, the Lin family had again become the topic of gossip among the nobility of the capital. Or, rather, rumors had never stopped from the moment Lin Qingyu married Lu Wancheng.
All kinds of speculation about Lin Qingyu spread through the Department of Imperial Physicians. Several times, Hu Ji had wanted to ask Lin Qingyu what exactly was going on. When he saw Lin Qingyu acting as though nothing had happened, however, he found himself unable to open his mouth.
Lin Qingyu hated gossips. If someone wanted to be friends with him, they had to know what could be mentioned, and what should never be.
When Hu Ji returned from work elsewhere that day, he ran into a few imperial censors walking together, discussing Lin Qingyu’s remarriage.
“Although male wives aren’t unheard of, the previous marriage didn’t end well, did it? Why would Great General Gu go out of his way to marry a male widow? I just don’t get it.”
“I heard that he went to the imperial preceptor, who told him that Lin Qingyu would bring him luck.”
“Ridiculous! Gu Fuzhou must’ve been seduced by Lin Qingyu’s beauty and bribed the imperial preceptor to say that. If he’s so willing to indulge in a man’s beauty, then if the enemies send him a beautiful woman, won’t he fall for the trick immediately?”
“I think that Lin Qingyu seduced him. He didn’t remain a widow for his late husband’s sake. Instead, he kept showing his face in the palace as an imperial physician. I wouldn’t be surprised by anything he does. It’s just a shame that he’s ruined Great General Gu’s heroic reputation…”
Hu Ji couldn’t stand these awful words, but as a lowly physician, he wasn’t in the position to stop the censors’ discussion. He was about to go around them when someone behind him said, “If I may—”
Hu Ji and the other officials looked back, only to see Gu Fuzhou standing behind them in his first-rank military official uniform embroidered with a pair of flying eagles. His expression was cold and serious as he towered above the censors like a crane among a group of chickens.
“Enough is enough,” he said slowly. “Whose fiancé do you think you’re talking about?”
Gu Fuzhou’s voice was oddly calm, but his vaguely oppressive and destructive tone struck fear into everyone’s hearts.
The censors exchanged glances as they acknowledged him. “These lowly officials greet you, Great General.”
Yang Geng, who was among the censors, gathered his courage. “We’re censors personally appointed by the emperor,” he informed Gu Fuzhou. “Imperial censors are responsible for upholding discipline and monitoring conduct around the palace, and we’re allowed to report any breach of conduct to the emperor. Imperial Physician Lin’s actions have been improper, even shameful. Why should we not speak of that?!”
Gu Fuzhou’s gaze swept over each of them. “Listen, all of you. I was the one who begged the emperor for Imperial Physician Lin. Imperial Physician Lin himself was unwilling to give in, but he was forced to due to the power I hold. If you’d like to reproach me for anything else, say it.”
“Great General Gu, you’re forcing us into a corner. Do you wish to raise your weapon against us?!” Yang Geng roared.
“Can I not?”
As soon as Gu Fuzhou said this, rage erupted in the group of censors. “Of course not! This is the imperial palace, not a northwestern battlefield or the combat grounds of a general’s encampment!”
Gu Fuzhou smiled. “Oh—you must think that I’ve never fought any battles elsewhere.”
Yang Geng’s face and neck flushed bright red in anger. “Great General Gu, I only have one question: Do you or do you not respect the emperor?!”
Seeing their altercation escalating, Hu Ji feared that Lin Qingyu would get dragged into all this. He hurried over. “Great General!”
Naturally, Gu Fuzhou remembered this imperial physician with intimate ties to the Lin family. “What?”
“Please calm down, Great General. This is the palace, after all. If the emperor hears about this and blames Imperial Physician Lin, then…”
Gu Fuzhou lost interest. “Scram,” he told the officials.
The general had been headed toward Qinzheng Hall to discuss the war in the northwest with other officials, so he didn’t stay for long.
When Hu Ji returned to the Department of Imperial Physicians, he saw Lin Qingyu reading pulse records and couldn’t resist approaching him.
“Great General Gu…” Hu Ji shuddered. “He’s a bit scary.”
Lin Qingyu was a bit surprised. “Why would you think that?”
Hu Ji told him what had just happened. “It’s no wonder he’s scary, though,” he remarked. “How many souls have perished under the general’s Qingyun Jiuzhou spear? Only the war god of the northwest could emanate an aura that weighed so heavily on those imperial censors that they struggled to breathe. I always thought that Great General Gu was a reserved, composed warrior, yet he said that he’d been in fights outside the battlefield…”
When Lin Qingyu heard that, he couldn’t help but smile. His past and future husband seemed to have a side that Lin Qingyu didn’t know about.
A gust of wind blew in through the open window, bringing a hint of frost. “The days are turning colder, aren’t they?” Lin Qingyu asked.
“Yes,” Hu Ji said. “It’s almost winter.”
“Time passes so quickly,” Lin Qingyu sighed, feeling wistful out of nowhere.
Once again, a winter’s story was about to unfold.