The side palace that everyone often mentioned was called Jinyang Palace, and it was only a day’s travel away from the main palace. If rushed, a horse-drawn carriage could make the trip in half a day. Jinyang Palace had been built near the water for the imperial family to spend summers in. Since the emperor had been ill recently, he hadn’t been to the palace in a long time. Besides a few of the previous emperor’s elderly consorts, Xiao Li was the only member of the royal family who lived there. The maids and eunuchs there naturally wouldn’t be as attentive or loyal as those in the main palace. Even the imperial physicians stationed there were the worst within the ranks.
When Lin Qingyu told his father that he wanted to visit the sixth prince in the side palace, Lin Rushan didn’t question his son; he quickly arranged things for him. The first snow had fallen in the capital, and once the cold settled in, many people got sick. Most imperial physicians didn’t want to go to the side palace, and Lin Rushan’s excuse for Lin Qingyu’s visit was that the understaffed side palace needed a physician who—though lacking a title—had real skills. Few people would interfere with that arrangement.
A return trip by carriage to Jinyang Palace would take Lin Qingyu two days. After learning this, Gu Fuzhou wanted to come along, but Lin Qingyu mercilessly rejected that idea. “Don’t you need to go to court?”
“I do,” Gu Fuzhou said, pained, “but I’ve contracted an illness. I’ll wilt if I don’t see you every day, Physician Lin.”
“Does this illness affect your sleep?”
“Good question.” Gu Fuzhou rubbed his chin, thinking. “In Yongliang it did, yes. Back then, the stupid emperor wouldn’t let me come back, and I was so worried that I lost sleep.”
Lin Qingyu calmly packed his medicine chest. “So long as it doesn’t affect your sleep, it’s not important. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
Gu Fuzhou knew that Lin Qingyu was attending to serious business, so despite his complaints, he didn’t try to stop his wife from leaving.
The journey went smoothly. After confirming his identity, the guards of Jinyang Palace only asked Lin Qingyu a few questions before letting him inside.
The palace grounds contained an abundance of hills and flowing water. Both tall and short pavilions and buildings had been constructed; the grounds were sure to be beautiful and lush in the summer. In the winter, however, they only looked desolate, with a few eunuchs and maids sweeping the courtyard. It didn’t even look as lively as the general’s estate.
Lin Qingyu followed a eunuch to the palace apothecary. Only one physician was on shift there; he was so fat that his uniform barely fit over his oversized belly. He was currently roasting potatoes over a charcoal fire. Hearing footsteps, he didn’t even raise his head. “There’s no medicine here,” he said. “If you’re sick, either get a treatment outside the palace or brew your own.”
“Imperial Physician Huang,” said the eunuch, “someone’s here from the Imperial Academy of Medicine.”
Hearing those words, Imperial Physician Huang immediately stood. Upon seeing Lin Qingyu, he seemed outright shocked. “You’re…”
“My family name is Lin.”
Only a few people within the Imperial Academy of Medicine had that family name, and this one was exceedingly beautiful; anyone who kept up with any news could easily guess who he was.
“Oh, Lady Lin—Great General Gu’s wife,” Imperial Physician Huang said with a servile smile. “I’m so sorry.”
“You said there’s no medicine within the apothecary?”
“Indeed no,” Imperial Physician Huang said, forcing himself to continue smiling despite Lin Qingyu’s icy expression. “As soon as winter came, more people got sick. Colds, coughs, all that. The apothecary ran out of medicine quickly.”
“What if His Highness the sixth prince fell ill? Would you tell him to either leave the palace for medicine or brew it himself?”
For a moment, Imperial Physician Huang had no words. “That… What’re you saying, Lady? His Highness’s health is fine.”
“I mean hypothetically.”
“Th-then of course we’d figure something out. His Highness is the emperor’s only legitimate son. We wouldn’t dare ignore him out of fear for our lives.”
Working in the palace had already accustomed Lin Qingyu to how certain people feigned compliance only to act insubordinately behind the scenes. “Where is His Highness now?” he said. “I’ll take his pulse today.”
Imperial Physician Huang didn’t dare to object, afraid that Lin Qingyu would rat him out to Head Imperial Physician Lin or even the empress. He could only cautiously appease the visitor. “Yes, of course. This way, please.”
As Lin Qingyu entered Xiao Li’s courtyard, he spotted a young man dressed in black squatting in the snow, his head lowered as he played with something. The day was bone-chillingly cold, but the young man wasn’t even wearing a cloak.
“That’s His Highness?” Lin Qingyu asked the eunuch.
“Y-yes…” the eunuch stammered.
Xiao Li didn’t even react to the people speaking beside him. Sticking his red, raw hands into the snow, he grabbed a handful and lifted it to his mouth.
“Your Highness!” A eunuch rushed over and grabbed his hands. “You can’t eat that.”
As they tussled, the snow in Xiao Li’s hands fell to the ground. He looked dazedly down at it, then slowly stood and peered at Lin Qingyu.
When their gazes met, Lin Qingyu was slightly shocked.
Xiao Li was extremely beautiful, quite tall and thin. He was only fifteen years old, but he was already as tall as Lin Qingyu. His eyes were delicate and handsome, and his facial features were lovelier than anyone else’s, but his gaze was blank and dead. That certainly canceled out his beauty.
For some reason, Lin Qingyu thought that Xiao Li looked vaguely familiar. He bowed. “Lin Qingyu greets Your Highness.”
Xiao Li didn’t react. He only squatted back down and continued to scoop up snow to eat.
“Where are the aunties in charge of looking after him?” Lin Qingyu asked harshly.
Cold sweat beaded on the eunuch’s forehead. “I’ll look for them now!”
Lin Qingyu stood beside Xiao Li for a while, watching him. He then reached out and helped him stand. “Your Highness, let’s go inside.”
Xiao Li let himself be guided into the room like a zombie, not crying or fussing. Lin Qingyu sat him down in a chair and took his pulse. He could only tell that the cold was bothering Xiao Li; other than that, his pulse felt no different from a normal person’s.
Lin Qingyu finally understood what “lost soul” meant. Sixth Prince Xiao Li was naught but an exquisite shell; he was empty inside.
After a long time, the maids and eunuchs in charge of caring for Xiao Li finally arrived, each looking more frightened than the other.
These servants had been with Xiao Li for a long time. Although the sixth prince was his legitimate son, the emperor pretended he didn’t exist, and the empress only saw him twice a year. The sixth prince couldn’t speak, so if he was mistreated, he couldn’t tattle. Thus, these servants only needed to pretend to work hard whenever the empress sent her own servants to check in. On normal days, they slacked off spectacularly.
Lin Qingyu didn’t ask where they’d been. He only ordered, “Make His Highness some ginger soup. He’s been afflicted by the cold.”
While everyone busied themselves working, Xiao Li just sat in his chair, still and silent, as if he didn’t exist in this world.
Lin Qingyu wrote a prescription for expelling a chill and told the eunuch to give it to Imperial Physician Huang. “I know that the apothecary has no medicine left. I’ll tell my father to report that to the empress and ask her to send more.”
That sentence essentially ended everyone’s lives. “Physician Lin, I know I was wrong. I’ll certainly take good care of His Highness in the future… Please, please…”
Lin Qingyu smiled kindly. “You should say that to the empress.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Lin Qingyu didn’t stay long in Jinyang Palace. He returned to the capital overnight.
“You’re finally back, Physician Lin.” Gu Fuzhou had just returned home from court. He was still wearing his uniform as he welcomed Lin Qingyu. “I haven’t seen you in two days, and it feels like it’s been two days.”
Lin Qingyu frowned. “What are you even saying?”
Gu Fuzhou held back a laugh. “Nothing.” Without asking, he took Lin Qingyu’s fox-fur coat and draped it over his arm. “Do you have anything to say to me after not seeing me for so long?”
“Yes.” Lin Qingyu stepped into the room. “But please pour me a cup of tea first, General.”
After drinking the tea his husband had poured, Lin Qingyu recounted everything he’d encountered in Jinyang Palace. “I’ll ask to see the empress again tomorrow. I don’t believe she’ll turn me away again.”
Gu Fuzhou listened absently. “What else?”
“What?”
“What else do you want to say to me?”
Lin Qingyu thought for a while. “What did you look like before?”
Gu Fuzhou hadn’t expected him to ask that. “Are you serious? Didn’t you see me in that dream?”
“I forgot.” For some reason, Lin Qingyu felt guilty.
Gu Fuzhou raised his eyebrows. “You said you have a perfect memory. Why did you forget my appearance?”
Lin Qingyu’s expression didn’t change at all. “How can you compare dreams to real life? Looking at anything in a dream is like looking at a reflection in water—like peering through a haze. There’s always something between people. It’s normal that I forgot.”
“But I don’t know how to describe it to you,” Gu Fuzhou protested. “Plus, I haven’t been in my original body for a long time. After a few more years, even I might forget my original appearance.”
Lin Qingyu sank into thought. In his dream, Gu Fuzhou’s appearance had truly shocked him. Xiao Li hadn’t even come close to that. That said, he was still a beautiful young man; what a pity that he was intellectually disabled.
Gu Fuzhou scrutinized Lin Qingyu for a long time, finally letting out a long sigh. “I’m so annoyed.”
Lin Qingyu pulled himself back from his thoughts. “What now?”
“It seems like you didn’t even miss me these past two days.”
Lin Qingyu was rendered speechless.
Gu Fuzhou was only venting; he didn’t expect Lin Qingyu to respond. But after a long time—so long that he began to feel sleepy—he suddenly heard Lin Qingyu say, “Maybe you’re wrong.”
Gu Fuzhou didn’t understand what he meant. “Huh…?”
Cheeks burning slightly, Lin Qingyu changed the topic. “I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”