Chapter 137#

The Frail and Sickly Powerful Minister#

“Cold and dampness entering the body…”

“A condition from his youth…”

In a daze, Lin Xiaodong heard faint voices nearby.

His eyelids twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.

“Master!”

A youth of about ten years old suddenly threw himself toward the bedside, his voice heavily choked: “You’ve finally woken up, Master!”

Lin Xiaodong stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, feeling as if half his body were soaked in an ice cellar. Every limb and bone throbbed with a dull pain, and his chest felt incredibly heavy.

The next second, he began to cough heart-wrenchingly.

“Master! Master, are you alright?”

The youth hurriedly poured a cup of hot water for him, carefully supporting his head and slowly feeding it to him drop by drop. Only then did the metallic taste surging in Lin Xiaodong’s throat barely subside.

An old hand was placed on his pulse. He looked up and saw a white-haired old man with a beard. The youth noticed his gaze and hurriedly introduced: “Master, this is the most famous doctor in all of the capital, Doctor Nian Song.”

This youth’s name was Xie Chen, an orphan Lin Dongqing had saved on the border in the past. He was extremely loyal to him.

Lin Xiaodong forced himself to sit up halfway, coughing twice lowly. He said to Nian Song: “Thank you, Doctor Nian, but I know my own body. Just speak plainly: how much time do I have left?”

Xie Chen said in panic: “Master, what are you saying? Doctor Nian’s medical skills are exquisite; you will certainly be fine!”

But on the bed, the youth in white undergarments with long hair scattered only stared fixedly at Nian Song. Although he had a weak and sickly appearance, his expression was stubborn, as if he only wanted an answer from the other party’s mouth.

The old man half-closed his eyes, frowned for a moment, and slowly withdrew his hand.

“This old man can only do his best,” he sighed. “Although the dose of poison Master Lin ingested was not large, its toxicity was not small. Furthermore, your body was already hollowed out. At an optimistic estimate… five years.”

“Five years…”

The youth closed his eyes and murmured: “That’s enough.”

But Xie Chen suddenly stood up: “But Doctor Nian, you didn’t say that just now! You clearly said that if he took proper care of himself, it wouldn’t be a problem for Master to live for several more decades!”

“I did say that, but the premise is that Master Lin stays away from court politics and stops overworking himself.” Nian Song looked at him and then at Lin Xiaodong leaning against the headboard, his old face showing a complex and indiscernible expression. “But can Master Lin do that?”

Xie Chen gritted his teeth, not saying a word.

If it were a time of peace and prosperity, it might be fine, but now is a tumultuous time. Based on his understanding of Lin Dongqing, even if he were killed, he would definitely not do that.

“I understand now,” Lin Xiaodong opened his eyes and said hoarsely. “Doctor Nian, I’ll have to trouble you for the next few years.”

Nian Song paused for a moment and bowed to him: “A doctor has a parent’s heart. Master Lin has worked hard for the country; please take more care of your health.”

Lin Xiaodong nodded slightly and waved his hand for Xie Chen to see the doctor out for him.

By the time Xie Chen returned, he saw the youth sitting on the bed wrapped in a large cloak. Although his eyes were weary, he held a scroll of official documents waiting to be reviewed in his hand.

“What are you doing!”

He was both anxious and angry. For a moment, he forgot his status, strode forward, grabbed the brush from Lin Xiaodong’s hand, and shouted: “Master, how could you forget what Doctor Nian said just now as soon as he turned his back? You just returned from the gates of hell; even the most urgent matters must be put aside for now!”

Lin Xiaodong blinked, examining him with a very curious gaze.

He didn’t have much of an impression of Xie Chen. Since he transmigrated, he had only seen him a few times at the Lin manor. He felt like a boy with a low presence who followed Lin Dongqing’s every word.

He truly didn’t expect this child to actually have the courage to confront him face-to-face.

Perhaps finally realizing under Lin Xiaodong’s gaze what a rebellious thing he had done, the boy holding the brush turned from red to pale, then plopped down and knelt by the bed.

“Master, I…”

“Get up; I’m not blaming you.” Lin Xiaodong rubbed his aching temples and said flatly: “Come here and massage my shoulders for me.”

The youth with his head bowed suddenly lifted it, his eyes, which had been full of panic and guilt, lighting up instantly.

Feeling the perfectly measured massage on his shoulders, Lin Xiaodong slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, thinking about his plans for the next few years.

After the New Year’s Eve incident, the Empress Dowager was imprisoned in the inner palace. Regardless of the reason, he definitely wouldn’t be able to get rid of the label of a treacherous subject. He expected that during the next court session, memorials impeaching him would pile up on Jing Ji’s desk.

Originally, he planned to use some gentle methods, but since his time left in this world was short, he might as well…

The youth thought with a cold smile: Since Empress Dowager Changfeng thinks I am a major problem for the Jing Dynasty that must be removed, I’ll show them what a power broker who covers the sky with one hand really looks like!

Lin Xiaodong pondered and didn’t speak for a while, and the boy behind him quietly massaged his shoulders and back for him.

For a time, the only sound in the room was that of gentle pounding and the rustling of fabric.

For convenience, Lin Xiaodong simply gathered his long hair, which had been scattered behind him, to his chest, revealing a section of snow-white, thin neck. Xie Chen’s gaze involuntarily shifted downward, looking at his master’s back, which had become even thinner, and his protruding spine, feeling a stabbing pain in his heart.

“Master, I don’t understand,” he asked in a low voice. “It was the same when we were at the border; why do you have to work so hard?”

If it were to repay the Late Emperor’s kindness, Xie Chen could still understand. But Lin Dongqing was still so exhausted for the little Emperor currently sitting on the throne, even at the cost of being misunderstood by the world and bearing the infamy of future generations just to pave the way for his future… To say something rebellious, in the eyes of Xie Chen, an orphan, this was simply thankless and incredibly foolish.

Clearly, with Master’s current status, being a wealthy person of leisure would be something both His Majesty and the officials would be happy to see, Xie Chen thought aggrievedly. Furthermore, Master is not someone who pursues fame or fortune. How much money and bribes those subordinate officials send to Lin Dongqing, and how much is spent and sent out from the manor every month—how could he, as the housekeeper, not know?

“Ding, Good Person Card +1.”

Upon hearing the notification tone, Lin Xiaodong knew this boy must be thinking the wrong way. How was he so great?

If the person in the palace weren’t Gu Xi, he would have quit a long time ago.

So he didn’t answer, only saying with his eyes closed: “I’ll act as if I never heard those words. Xie Chen, what did I say when I adopted you?”

Xie Chen’s movement of massaging his shoulders tightened involuntarily: “You said… you only want obedient subordinates.”

“You’ve done a very good job over the years,” Lin Xiaodong said meaningfully. “I hope you won’t let me disappoint.”

Xie Chen’s lips moved.

In a place where it couldn’t be seen, the youth showed his adopter an expression that was both like a smile and a cry. He gazed deeply at the back of the long-haired youth with longing and replied in a low voice.

“…Yes.”

The New Year had not yet passed. As Lin Xiaodong expected, the matter of Empress Dowager Changfeng caused an uproar throughout the Jing Dynasty.

Even Prince An, who was currently in a tenuous alliance of interests with Lin Dongqing, wrote a letter to reprimand him for being too reckless and disrespectful to the Empress Dowager, telling him to release her immediately. Not to mention those officials who already found Lin Dongqing distasteful.

In the dead of winter, a group of people knelt outside the palace gates, pleading with His Majesty to rescue Empress Dowager Changfeng and to immediately deal with Lin Dongqing to uphold the imperial prestige.

Lin Xiaodong’s response was equally tough—

Let them curse, let them cause a fuss, release her?

Dream on!

So a bunch of old men calling themselves loyal ministers could only watch with eyes wide in fury as Lin Xiaodong sat in his sedan chair and swaggered past them, entering straight through the Imperial City gates. They were so angry that their mouths and eyes were crooked, and their blood pressure soared.

“Ruining the court… Lin Dongqing, you won’t have a good end!”

Hearing the loud cursing from behind, Lin Xiaodong snorted with laughter and ignored it entirely.

But they hadn’t walked far in the palace when they were stopped at a corner.

A young man with an upright appearance pointed a finger at him, his face full of righteous indignation: “Lin Dongqing! You-you-you… you actually dare to appear in the palace? Truly shameless!”

Oh, a new face.

He became slightly interested and asked loudly: “Who are you?”

“Compiler of the Hanlin Academy, Guo Xinwen!” The young man was a “newly born calf not afraid of a tiger” and answered loudly with eyes wide with anger.

Lin Xiaodong began to laugh.

However, after being poisoned, his originally poor constitution had become even worse. He couldn’t make any major movements now; even laughing would make him cough uncontrollably. But he stubbornly resisted the itch in his throat and said to Guo Xinwen: “So it’s a sixth-grade petty official. I thought it was some big shot. Young man, it’s one thing to have a low rank, but you are also from the Hanlin Academy; at least you’re a Jinshi, right? After studying for so many years, don’t you even know how to read the room?”

Guo Xinwen said angrily: “For a treacherous official like you, what need is there to read the room? Rebelling, launching a palace coup to imprison the Empress Dowager, and attempting to control His Majesty—a criminal like you should be taken outside the Meridian Gate and cut into a thousand pieces! Although I am only a sixth-grade official, I also have a heart for the country. At tomorrow’s morning court, I will definitely submit a memorial of impeachment to His Majesty!”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already broadly understood what kind of image I have in everyone’s eyes,” Lin Xiaodong propped his chin, not angry, just sitting in his sedan chair with a beaming smile. He pointed a long, thin finger toward the old ministers kneeling outside the distant palace walls with faces full of righteous indignation. “But I wonder if you’ve noticed: from beginning to end, these people’s actions have been ’loud thunder but little rain.’ You, on the other hand, don’t even know you’ve been pushed out to take the hit.”

“You—”

“Am I wrong?” Lin Xiaodong narrowed his eyes. “Young man, if I had even a sliver of intent to ‘kill a chicken to scare the monkeys,’ your blood would have splattered the Imperial City today.”

“I—”

“You want to say it’s just death, which would perfectly complete your loyalty as a subject, right?” Before Guo Xinwen could speak, Lin Xiaodong interrupted him again. “But have you thought about what impact your death would have on me? Have you thought about how to pave the way for His Majesty’s future before you die? In my view, your so-called completion of loyalty through death not only brings no benefit to His Majesty but is even worthless! It merely leaves His Majesty in a dilemma!”

Guo Xinwen was rendered speechless by him, his face turning from blue to white.

But although his chest was filled with rage, he involuntarily frowned, looking hesitantly at the youth with an indifferent face before him.

This guy Lin Dongqing, why is he saying this to me?

“Let’s go.”

Without waiting for him to think carefully, Lin Xiaodong had already left in his sedan chair.

Being in the palace, after all, although Jing Ji was still young and basically had no usable people under him, he still learned of this minor episode from a eunuch’s mouth.

Hearing Lin Dongqing question Guo Xinwen, “Have you thought about how to pave the way for His Majesty’s future before you die?” he felt it was both ironic and couldn’t help but hold a sliver of hope: Lin Dongqing could actually say these heartfelt words to a sixth-grade official and didn’t punish him. Does it prove that he actually has me, the Emperor, in his heart?

Maintaining such complex feelings, Jing Ji stayed in his study pretending to be buried in his books, waiting for Lin Xiaodong to come and talk to him. But he didn’t expect that after waiting and waiting, he still didn’t come; he was almost unable to keep up the act!

The Grand Tutor beside him saw his distracted appearance, let out a sigh, and said: “Since Your Majesty’s mind is not on studying, then let’s end today’s lesson here.”

Jing Ji lowered his eyes, implicitly agreeing.

After the Grand Tutor took his leave, Jing Ji sat blankly at the study table, staring at the blank Xuan paper before him for a long time.

He thought Lin Dongqing had come to the palace to apologize to him about his mother. Even if it weren’t an apology, with the other’s character, he would at least find a grand excuse.

Actually, Jing Ji’s feelings for Empress Dowager Changfeng were not deep. He understood better than anyone what kind of person his mother was: selfish, crazy, and with a strong desire for power… Since his ascension, Empress Dowager Changfeng’s control over him far exceeded Lin Dongqing’s a hundredfold.

Although very angry, Jing Ji was already prepared to believe unconditionally whatever the youth said.

…As long as he was willing to explain.

But Lin Dongqing entered the palace but didn’t come to see him.

Furthermore, he let him develop his own eyes and influence in the palace, seeming not to mind at all if he reclaimed his power.

The little Emperor’s intestines were almost tied in knots from overthinking. His original seventy percent of rage became a hundred percent, and he was both angry and a bit aggrieved.

What about controlling me? What about ‘holding the Emperor to command the nobles’?

Liar!