Lin Qingyu’s figure was hidden within the peach grove. Around here, there were few people and the conversation between the two came into his ears more clearly.
No wonder Lu Wancheng was willing to come this time. He must have come here for Xu Junyuan. Lu Wancheng has always been the type not to stand if he could sit, not to sit if he could lie down. Since their marriage, Lu Wancheng has only gone out twice — one, was to come here and the other, was to go to the Lin Residence. The things that could get him moving must be things that even salted fish thought was important.
He remembered that Lu Wancheng once showed great interest in stories about supernatural beings. He also mentioned wanting to meet this National Teacher which legend said “had access to the Heavens and knew the ways of ghosts and gods”. He never expected he would actually come, let alone manage so easily to meet Xu Junyuan to ask this absurd question.
Resurrection from the dead and soul transfers. If there were such a thing in the world, how could there still be so much ignorance and resentment? Doctor wouldn’t need to cure diseases and save people. They would just learn how to resurrect the dead, wait for the patients to die and then resurrect them. Wouldn’t that be simpler and easier?
Xu Junyuan seemed a little surprised. Whether he was surprised at Lu Wancheng’s question or at his straightforwardness was uncertain. He pondered for a bit and said, “From ancient times to the present, there have been many people who have pursued immortality and resurrection from the dead. Among them, many are emperors who have made their marks on the annals of history. What the Son of Heaven cannot do with all the power of the world, does not exist. Once the human body is gone, it is gone. It dissipates and passes away, unable to be retrieved by anyone. As for a soul transfer…” Xu Junyuan smiled, “Pray forgive my ignorance but I do not know.”
Lu Wancheng raised his eyebrows, “Turns out there are things even the National Teacher does not know.”
“I do not know because I have yet to see it with my own eyes.” Xu Junyuan said, “But simply because I have not seen it, does not mean it does not exist.”
Lu Wancheng let out an “Oh”. Though no longer interested in talking, he still politely said, “As to be expected of the Dayu’s only National Teacher. Listening to his Eminence's words is like listening to words.”
This was saying that all Xu Junyuan said was insignificant nonsense.
Xu Junyuan kept a cleansing spring breeze-like smile on his face the entire time. “If there has been a case of soul transfer, I would really like to see it. However, I am afraid the person involved wouldn’t speak so readily. Because…”
Lu Wancheng said, “Because he knows no one would believe him. Even if he were to be believed, it would cause a lot of trouble.”
Xu Junyuan smiled and said, “Young Master Hou is wise.”
“Young Master?” Huan Tong emerged from nowhere, pushing along Lu Wancheng’s wheelchair. Lu Wancheng must have gotten tired from walking and he was dispatched to get a wheelchair from the carriage.
Following his voice, Lu Wancheng and Xu Junyuan both looked over. Lin Qingyu walked out calmly, “Young Master Hou.”
Lu Wancheng used his hand to prop his forehead. He looked at him with a smile but addressed Xu Junyuan as he said, “National Teacher, this is my wife.”
Lin Qingyu was startled. This was the first time he has heard Lu Wancheng address him like that and he felt… very awkward. He didn’t know how Lu Wancheng could say it so naturally.
Although he resided in the Hou Mansion and he and Lu Wancheng were nominally husband and wife, neither of them took this “predestined” marriage seriously. Now that his “mother-in-law” who found him so objectionable has also been confined, he could now, from time to time, forget about this aspect — that he was Lu Wancheng’s “wife”.
Upon catching sight of Lin Qingyu the smile in Xu Junyuan’s eyes grew even more, “Madam Lu.”
Lin Qingyu’s hands in his sleeves clenched slightly. He said calmly, “Greetings to the National Teacher.”
“Madam Lu is blessed with beauty and grace. Young Master Hou is very lucky.”
Lu Wancheng also stared at Lin Qingyu, and smiled. “Yes.” He openly admired Lin Qingyu as though admiring a most splendid peach blossom in full bloom.
Lu Wancheng’s gaze made Lin Qingyu a little wary but he could tell that Lu Wancheng didn’t look at him the same way that the lechers did. Lu Wancheng really was just enjoying the scenery.
But Lin Qingyu still threw a knife-sharp look at him — Does this look good?
Lu Wancheng looked away but the corners of his lips still ticked up in a smile, as if to say: I’m not talking nonsense.
“A beautiful scenery and a happily married couple. All we’re missing is good wine.” Xu Junyuan called in a little monk and said, “Go and fetch the wine I buried under the peach tree the year before.”
Lin Qingyu said, “Young Master Hou is sick. It is not advisable for him to be drinking wine.”
“I was negligent.” Xu Junyuan raised a cup to the two of them, “Then I will replace the wine with tea and toast the two of you.”
Lu Wancheng was about to pick up his tea cup but seeing that Lin Qingyu had absolutely no intention to move, he quickly put his hand back. No ripple appeared on his face, but in his heart, he felt like an absolute f*cking dog.
He knew that Lin Qingyu was unhappy seeing the National Teacher. Later, if Lin Qingyu was unhappy, he wasn’t going to be happy either. Oh, how pitiful he was.
Xu Junyuan’s smile remained undimmed. “It seems that Madam Lu does not wish to give me this face.”
Lin Qingyu said, “March 11th in the year of Guiwei, Chenshi.”
Xu Junyuan nodded. “If I remember correctly, this should be Madam Lu’s birth date.”
“The National Teacher has a good memory.” Lin Qingyu said coldly, “Like Young Master Hou, I too, have something I am puzzled about for which I wish to ask the National Teacher for advice.”
Xu Junyuan smiled and said, “I would be happy to offer advice. I but ask Madam Lu to speak what is on his mind.”
Lin Qingyu gently began to speak, “Why me?”
Xu Junyuan seemed to have guessed Lin Qingyu’s question and pointed upwards. “Such is the Will of Heaven.”
“The Will of Heaven? Huh.” Lin Qingyu couldn’t hide the ridicule in his words, “When I was young, I wandered everywhere with my mentor. There were often superstitious people who, when sick wouldn’t see a doctor or take their medicine. They would rather find some ‘sorceress’ and purposely make a mystery of simple things. If the illness is cured, then everything was fine; if the illness was not cured, then it was ‘the Will of Heaven’. The fate of the patient has already been fixed and mortals have no way to reverse the rotation of the sky. Is this the ‘Will of Heaven’ that the National Teacher speaks of.”
“Whether this is the Will of Heaven or not, the two of you should know better than I.” Xu Junyuan said calmly, “After the Chongxi, did Young Master Hou’s condition not improve?”
Lin Qingyu objected. “It’s just a coincidence.”
Xu Junyuan smiled helplessly. “If Madam Lu thinks so then there is nothing that I can say.”
Lu Wancheng thought for a while, and said, “Such being the case, can the National Teacher tell us the process by which you came up with your calculation? Or are the mysteries of Heaven not be revealed?”
Xu Junyuan looked pensive. “Naturally, the mysteries of Heaven are not to be revealed, but it won’t hurt to occasionally divulge a bit of it. That day, Young Master Hou was critically ill. Madam and Master Hou entrusted the Empress with asking me for help. I drew up a divination diagram and figured that Young Master Hou was not destined to die yet. If he were able to obtain a precious person, perhaps he would have a slim chance of survival, that’s all.”
Lu Wancheng smiled. “But now, I have someone precious and yet I am still not long for this world. It can be seen that the Chongxi was of no use. Next time, it may be best that the National Teacher not point to mandarin ducks so haphazardly, so as not to harm someone’s future.”
Lin Qingyu heard these words and glanced sideways at the person beside him. Lu Wancheng had said everything he wanted to say.
Xu Junyuan sighed lightly. “Young Master Hou can be so indifferent to life and death. I am ashamed of my inferiority. It is a pity that your fate…” Xu Junyuan paused his words. Turning to Lu Wancheng with different look in his eyes, “Perhaps, Young Master Hou goes by some other name aside from ‘Lu Wancheng’? I can use your alternative name to draw up another divination diagram for you.”
Lu Wancheng looked directly at Xu Junyuan without batting an eyelid. His eyes were hidden under long eyelashes. After a moment, he replied, “I don’t.”
Lin Qingyu has heard a little about Lu Wancheng’s name. It was chosen by his biological mother who had died prematurely during childbirth. After his birth mother passed, Lu Wancheng was raised by a wet nurse and was later raised by Liang Shi herself. Whether by the wet nurses or by his stepmother, Lu Wancheng was never been given a nickname. If so, then why did Lu Wancheng hesitate before answering this question?
Lin Qingyu remembered the annotations in the “Lin’an Travel Notes”. He also remembered some of Lu Wancheng’s “nonsense”… When they first got married, Lu Wancheng wasn’t even clear on his age. He never took Lu Wancheng’s words to heart, only taking it as him feigning madness and acting like an idiot. Thinking about it now, there were many doubtful things.
Resurrection from the dead, soul transfer…Were there really such things in the world?
How could that be? There must be some other hidden secrets.
Lu Wancheng was hiding something from him.
As the three talked, the sky gradually darkened. A little monk reminded them to go back down early, otherwise the road would be difficult to traverse at night and the trip would be unavoidably bumpy. Xu Junyuan stood up and said, “I wish the two of you a safe trip. I won’t be seeing you out.”
Lin Qingyu nodded indifferently. Xu Junyuan spoke decently. He was cultured and refined. He didn’t not rely on his special status to suppress others. He was just barely able to avoid being regarded as annoying. When he comes to seek revenge on him in the future, he could consider using a less toxic drug.
Before leaving, Lu Wancheng casually broke off a branch of peach blossoms. The carriage was parked at the main gate of Changsheng Temple, quite some distance away from the peach grove. The fragile Young Master Hou no longer had any energy to walk. He sat in the wheelchair and was pushed along by Huan Tong. He heedlessly fiddled with the branch of peach blossoms, lethargic. Lin Qingyu walked in the front. The two were immersed in their own thoughts and for a while, no words were exchanged.
It was almost dusk by this time, and there were many pilgrims leaving the temple. Huan Tong found that many of the pilgrims walking in front of them would look back. He said unhappily, “Young Master Hou, so many people are looking back at our Young Master.”
Lu Wancheng gave an absent-minded “Oh”.
Huan Tong stared straight ahead. “You don’t care at all?”
He has been following the Young Master since he was a child and he knew that the Young Master disliked it when strangers too blatantly stared. He too didn’t like when passers-by kept sneaking peeks at the Young M aster. It made him feel uncomfortable.
Lu Wancheng said strangely, “Is thus something to care about? Everyone likes to look at beautiful people.”
Huan Tong mocked, “This married couple who’ve made a bond of brotherhood really is different. Most people would want to hide their wife from the eyes of others. But Young Master Hou is so generous, letting everyone have a look.”
Lu Wancheng smiled. “Let them look if they want. Isn’t my wife’s beauty something I should be proud of? In any case, no matter how much others look, he won’t belong to them and they’re left with only being able to see once.” Lu Wancheng said a “tsk tsk tsk”, sympathetically shaking his head. “How miserable.”
Huan Tong murmured quietly, “And you talk like he’s yours.”
“Uh…” The smile on Lu Wancheng’s face gradually disappeared. But he soon turned relieved, “At least I can see him every day. Although, I won’t be able to see him for long.”
Huan Tong was a little sad. It was true that he wanted to follow the Young Master back to the Lin Mansion as soon as they could, but after getting along these days, he has grown to really like Young Master Hou. If Young Master Hou died, he might shed a few tears.
Huan Tong casually comforted, “It’s not yet May. We’re still a long way off from winter. Young Master Hou can still look for more than half a year.”
“Winter, huh…” Lu Wancheng looked at Lin Qingyu’s back, his eyes narrowed, “Then I want to see your family’s Young Master, red snow cape draped around his shoulders, standing in the falling snow under an umbrella, his cheeks dyed red and his long hair like ink. Definite eye candy.”
Lin Qingyu stopped abruptly and turned around slowly, looking towards Lu Wancheng.
Huan Tong exclaimed in a low voice, “Oops, you were heard by the Young Master!”
The two locked eyes. Lin Qingyu looked at him quietly. Lu Wancheng suddenly had the illusion that what Lin Qingyu was seeing was not this face, but… him.
Lin Qingyu’s voice is slightly cold. “Were you being truthful when you said you have no other name?”
Lu Wancheng’s heart tightened. He joked in his usual non-serious manner. “This question of yours is funny. If I have one, how come I don’t know?”
Lin Qingyu didn’t ask much. He said lightly, “I hope you make it to the first snowfall.”