Chapter 38#
The mist and rain were dim, and fine rain fell gently onto the river’s surface, creating ripples. It hadn’t been raining just a moment ago, but now the drizzling rain fell, adding a unique charm to the river.
Aboard the painted pleasure boat, Lin Huaiyu’s slender fingers held a chess piece that was as smooth and warm as jade. Before him was a chess game that had already been in progress for half a day. Lin Huaiyu placed a piece and looked opposite him.
Jing Fei was fanning himself with one hand while gazing at Lin Huaiyu. He placed a piece without much thought; his movements seemed casual, but his attention was entirely on Lin Huaiyu.
Lin Huaiyu naturally knew this, as Jing Fei’s gaze had been drifting to him from time to time since the match began.
Lin Huaiyu placed another piece and asked: “Why does the Seventh Prince keep looking at me?”
Jing Fei smiled and said as if it were only natural: “Mister Yuxi is so good-looking; naturally, I want to look a few more times.”
Lin Huaiyu had long known that the other’s mind wasn’t on the game, so he stopped caring about Jing Fei’s moves in his layout: “The Seventh Prince has sent me so many medicinal herbs and has now invited me for a lake cruise; surely it isn’t as simple as just wanting to look at me?”
Jing Fei casually placed another piece, failing to see the trap Lin Huaiyu was setting, and said: “If I said I liked you and wanted to marry you back to Daxing as the Seventh Princess, would you be willing?”
Lin Huaiyu raised his eyes to look at Jing Fei, his gaze showing not the slightest surprise. His expression was calm: “Are you sure this is what you wanted to say to me when you invited me today?”
Seeing Lin Huaiyu’s unshakable demeanor, Jing Fei couldn’t help but smile, yet he still nodded and said: “Yes.”
Lin Huaiyu lowered his eyes, scanned the chessboard, and said calmly: “If that’s the case, I should disembark.”
Jing Fei quickly reached out and used his fan to block Lin Huaiyu’s movement as he rose: “Wait, wait, wait, Mister Yuxi is too heartless. I only mentioned it; how could you turn hostile so quickly?”
Lin Huaiyu sat back down and said simply: “I know your purpose for coming here. Daxing is currently in a period of many troubles. If my understanding is correct, you and the Crown Prince are at a standstill, caught in a dead end.”
As Lin Huaiyu spoke, he placed another piece. Only then did Jing Fei turn his gaze to the chessboard—the game had indeed become a dead end.
Jing Fei’s gaze shifted slightly, and he finally could only laugh helplessly: “Lord Lin is truly Lord Lin; you have the situation in Daxing at your fingertips as well.”
Lin Huaiyu didn’t bother to refute the other’s hypocritical praise, only saying: “Now you can say what you want.”
Jing Fei looked at Lin Huaiyu, his gaze resting deeply on Lin Huaiyu’s face, before he finally compromised: “Fine. My coming here is indeed for you. I want to invite you to be my strategist.”
Without waiting for Lin Huaiyu to speak, he continued: “Anything Great Yong can give you, this Prince can give you as well. Anything Su Yang can give, I can give too. Just name what you want, and I will surely give my all.”
“And your illness—I will surely search far and wide for famous doctors and reclusive masters to cure you, as long as Mister is willing to assist me.” Jing Fei’s expression was now serious, dropping his usual leisurely manner. He looked at Lin Huaiyu, even appearing a bit nervous.
Lin Huaiyu lowered his eyes and chuckled: “But I don’t have a second life to give you.”
Jing Fei was stunned, somewhat confused by the remark, but still said: “I will certainly not let Mister fall into danger. If anyone wants Mister’s life, I will surely stand before you.”
Lin Huaiyu shook his head gently: “No need. I will not go to Daxing with you.”
A flash of disappointment appeared in Jing Fei’s eyes. Although he had prepared himself for Lin Huaiyu’s refusal, now that he was actually rejected, he still felt a bit sad.
Currently, he was in a difficult position in Daxing. Although he could stand his ground against the Crown Prince, if this situation wasn’t broken soon, the Crown Prince would inevitably ascend the throne. By then, there would be no more room for maneuver, leaving only a path to death for him and his subordinates.
Lin Huaiyu was his only hope.
Feeling somewhat unwilling, he tried to persuade him further: “If Mister can help me, I can agree to any condition.”
Lin Huaiyu gave a faint smile, took a sip of the tea beside him, and said: “No need. I don’t want anything now; I only wish to live out my remaining days in this Jiangnan town.”
Jing Fei gazed at Lin Huaiyu and said with pursed lips: “I remember that Lord Lin once gave his all for Great Yong, carving a path of blood for Su Yang from the Cold Palace and helping him onto the throne. But now, ending up like this… do you feel it wasn’t worth it?”
Lin Huaiyu curled his lips slightly, looked at the Jiangnan mist and rain outside the window, and shook his head: “It’s not that it wasn’t worth it. I helped him because he once saved my life on a snowy night. Later, after entering the palace, I also observed the brothers. The Crown Prince’s cruelty is known to all; he could use any means to torture even someone within the palace—he was extremely cold-blooded. The second prince had no opinions of his own and relied entirely on the Crown Prince and the third prince; he was weak-willed and not clever enough. The third prince’s character was actually decent, but unfortunately, he was foolishly loyal and only listened to the late Emperor. Whatever the late Emperor wanted him to do, he would do, even if he knew it would harm the common people.”
Jing Fei couldn’t help but follow up: “Then what about Su Yang? I’ve heard that for this past year, he has barely attended court, neglecting state affairs and showing no desire for progress. Was that your choice? If you could choose him, then I…”
Lin Huaiyu interrupted him: “His personality is somewhat paranoid, but he can distinguish the overall situation and knows what his goals are. You say he neglects state affairs, but when stack after stack of memorials was sent to the Imperial Study, he never once tossed them aside and ignored them.”
Jing Fei was stunned: “You… you always knew what he was doing?”
Lin Huaiyu smiled, and there was a bit more of an unreadable darkness in his expression: “If he truly intended to burn the Great Yong empire that I painstakingly planned and delivered into his hands to the ground, how could I have tolerated him until today?”
Jing Fei said: “Then what was the purpose of his actions in not attending court?”
Lin Huaiyu toyed with the chess piece between his fingers and smiled: “It was for me to see. He deliberately skipped court to tell the whole world he was neglecting state affairs and ignoring government duties, just to lure me back.”
Jing Fei: “…”
So, he was also one of those who had been fooled.
“The person he wanted to deceive couldn’t be fooled, yet he deceived me, an outsider, for an entire year,” Jing Fei said crossly.
Lin Huaiyu smiled but said nothing.
Jing Fei restrained his smile and sighed: “It seems I’m still a bit too green.”
Lin Huaiyu said: “It wasn’t just you. I heard that six months ago, when Su Yang was causing the biggest scene, Daxing considered invading the border?”
Jing Fei immediately said: “It wasn’t me, it was the Crown Prince. He wanted to test the waters. If Su Yang truly collapsed because of you, it would naturally be a good time to take over Great Yong.”
Lin Huaiyu nodded: “So I said, it wasn’t just you.”
Jing Fei: “…”
Fortunately, the Crown Prince had been afraid that starting a war would trigger external trouble and give him, the internal threat, an opportunity. That was why he finally hadn’t sent troops.
Jing Fei found humor in his misfortune: “From this perspective, the Crown Prince is even stupider than I am.”
Lin Huaiyu was noncommittal: “He has ambition, which isn’t a good thing for you.”
Jing Fei immediately perked up and stared straight at Lin Huaiyu.
Looking at his thirst for knowledge, Lin Huaiyu gave a light laugh: “Since the Seventh Prince has sent me so many rare medicinal herbs, I’ll point out a path for you.”
Jing Fei’s eyes lit up, and he said quickly: “I’m all ears.”
Lin Huaiyu tossed the chess piece back into the box, but then reached out and swept all the pieces on the board onto the floor.
The chess pieces made a crisp sound on the wooden floor of the boat, overlapping with the sound of the rain outside.
Jing Fei watched in a daze, as if something flashed through his mind, but he couldn’t catch it immediately.
Lin Huaiyu said calmly: “Since your game has already reached a dead end, why not ignore everything, crush it, and scramble it? Sometimes you shouldn’t worry too much about whether someone is your person or the opponent’s. To achieve great things, you must learn to be heartless. Regardless of which side they’re on, as long as they can be used by you, isn’t that enough?”
Jing Fei had a sudden realization: “Break the deadlock…”
Lin Huaiyu nodded: “In this situation, it’s not that whoever moves first loses; rather, someone must move. Whoever moves first is the winner.”
Jing Fei had a plan that he originally didn’t dare to execute, but now that plan took shape. He stood up and bowed in thanks: “Thank you, Mister. I have learned much.”
Lin Huaiyu hesitated for a moment but still reminded him: “Your heart is still too soft sometimes. Some people should be used if they can be, and killed if they can’t. Otherwise, if they ruin things at the last moment, you’ll be the only one who regrets it.”
Jing Fei was stunned for a moment, then nodded: “I understand.”
After listening to Lin Huaiyu’s words, he suddenly realized that Lin Huaiyu not only understood the situation in Great Yong but was also clear about the internal situation in Daxing. Having such a person work for him would be like a tiger with wings; if he couldn’t work for him…
Then he must make this person a friend and absolutely not an enemy.
He looked at Lin Huaiyu, who was sitting by the window looking outside, and said suddenly: “Mister, actually, my feelings for you are not false. I truly wanted to marry you as the Seventh Princess.”
Lin Huaiyu didn’t turn around, only saying: “I appreciate the Seventh Prince’s kind intentions.”
Being rejected, Jing Fei could only purse his lips and finish the lake tour with Lin Huaiyu.
As the boat docked, before Jing Fei could speak, a child suddenly ran over and stood before Lin Huaiyu: “Mister, I’ve already sold that storybook to the brother you mentioned!”
Lin Huaiyu smiled, gave a light nod, and gave the child some silver coins: “Well done. Go buy something to eat.”
The child ran off happily again.
Jing Fei held an umbrella for Lin Huaiyu and asked: “What storybook? Does Mister Yuxi also write storybooks for sale? Could I have the honor of buying one?”
Lin Huaiyu shook his head: “A pity, there was only that one, and I didn’t write it anyway.”
Jing Fei responded: “Then forget it. Let me walk you back.”
Lin Huaiyu and Jing Fei walked together, the rain tapping against the umbrella above them. Lin Huaiyu asked: “When do you depart?”
Jing Fei didn’t quite hear and leaned closer to Lin Huaiyu, the umbrella tilting with him: “In a couple of days. Your birthday is in three days; I’d like to be thick-skinned enough to celebrate it for you.”
Lin Huaiyu was stunned, then smiled: “I don’t celebrate birthdays; there’s no need to trouble yourself.”
Jing Fei said quickly: “It’s no trouble. Just consider it… a farewell for me.”
Lin Huaiyu finally agreed.
He and Jing Fei walked toward the Lin residence. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of someone.
Su Yang.
Su Yang was standing not far behind them, soaked again by the rain. He stood in the rain, his gaze fixed on Lin Huaiyu.
He didn’t know what Lin Huaiyu and Jing Fei were saying, but under the umbrella, the distance between the two was very close.