Chapter 145#

The Frail and Sickly Powerful Minister#

“My Lord, what’s wrong?”

Noticing the young man’s dazed expression, the observant small eunuch beside him asked in a low voice.

“Ah, nothing,” Lin Xiaodong came back to his senses, glanced at the sky, and asked, “When will His Majesty arrive?”

Answering him was not the small eunuch, but Jing Ji’s steady voice: “I am already here.”

Jing Ji sat down opposite Lin Xiaodong but did not meet his eyes, merely ordering: “Serve the meal.”

Since their unpleasant parting that day, Jing Ji hadn’t continued to avoid him like before. Whether early or late, as long as he had time, he would dine with Lin Xiaodong.

There weren’t many dishes on the table, mostly home-cooked meals that Lin Xiaodong liked. Jing Ji expressionlessly placed a piece of sweet and sour pork rib into his bowl: “Teacher, eat more.”

Lin Xiaodong looked at his deliberate attempt to look serious and didn’t expose him. After saying “thank you,” he followed suit and placed a chopstick-full of bean sprouts into Jing Ji’s bowl.

Jing Ji: “…………”

He hated bean sprouts the most.

But seeing Teacher’s calm expression, Jing Ji couldn’t help but wonder if he was overthinking. So, with a crumpled face, he silently polished off the bean sprouts in his bowl.

…It tasted so bad.

Seeing the kid’s conflicted look, Lin Xiaodong laughed his head off internally.

As expected, maintaining a good image usually pays off.

The young man couldn’t help but start coughing while laughing. Jing Ji frowned and asked, “The weather is getting warmer, why are you coughing again instead?” He turned to glare at the small eunuch beside him, “How have you been taking care of Teacher?”

The small eunuch was so frightened that he immediately knelt and kowtowed repeatedly. Lin Xiaodong lowered the hand covering his lips and shook his head at Jing Ji, signaling him not to be so tense.

“I just accidentally choked,” he said nonchalantly.

However, You Shu, standing beside him, caught sight of the bright red between Lin Xiaodong’s fingers with his sharp eyes. He immediately gasped, drawing everyone’s attention.

‘Shh.’

Lin Xiaodong calmly turned his body, wiped the blood from his fingertips with his thumb, pressed a finger to his lips, and gave You Shu a faint smile.

‘Keep it a secret for me.’

He mouthed.

Jing Ji’s frown deepened. He looked up and asked, “What’s wrong?”

You Shu opened his mouth, took a quick glance at Lin Xiaodong, and finally lowered his head deeply: “No, this servant just accidentally pulled a muscle in my waist. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me.”

Jing Ji looked at him suspiciously. He was standing perfectly fine; how could he suddenly pull a muscle?

Under the Emperor’s icy gaze, You Shu felt a chill run down his spine. His knees weakened, and with a thud, he knelt on the ground just like the other small eunuch.

You Shu’s forehead was pressed against the cold, hard stone tiles. Although his body was trembling with fear, he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

After an unknown amount of time, which felt as long as several centuries in his consciousness, You Shu finally heard Jing Ji say flatly, “Both of you, get up.”

Only then did he rise tremblingly, his back already completely soaked with cold sweat.

After this small interlude, Jing Ji didn’t have much appetite to continue eating. Out of a minister’s duty, Lin Xiaodong also put down his chopsticks. Jing Ji waved his hand: “Teacher, don’t mind me. Eat more.”

Lin Xiaodong shook his head: “I am already full.”

“…Is that so?”

Listening only to their conversation, there was basically no difference from before. Jing Ji’s gaze drifted for a moment, and he didn’t know whether he should smile bitterly or feel fortunate.

Teacher already knew his feelings but hadn’t given any reply. Jing Ji knew this was actually a disguised rejection.

If he could do it over…

No, there was no doing it over.

Jing Ji stood up: “Teacher, take a rest. I’m going to review the memorials.”

“Take care, Your Majesty.”

Let it be.

As he left the palace, Jing Ji thought that if they could maintain this state, perhaps after three or five years, or even ten or twenty years, Teacher might slowly come to accept him.

The young Emperor looked up towards the birdcage hanging on a branch over the palace wall, facing the brilliant noon sunlight. The bird with vivid feathers stayed quietly in the cage, not chirping, just staring blankly at its peers under the distant blue sky.

It traded the price of freedom for a life free from worry about food and clothing. But perhaps, from the very beginning, it never had the power to choose.

The eunuch beside him asked: “Your Majesty, do you want to see the bird? This servant can open the cage. That bird has been tamed by the palace nannies and won’t run away.”

Jing Ji was silent for a while, then suddenly laughed.

“No need.” He withdrew his gaze, and his mood inexplicably improved.

At least, Teacher would always stay by his side and go nowhere.

That was enough.

Life in the palace was monotonous and boring. Time was like fine sand between fingers, slipping away unnoticed.

The war in the Northern Border grew increasingly fierce. The battle reports sent to the capital changed from one every three or four days to one every day. Sometimes, the next military report would be on the way even before the previous messenger reached the post station.

The official documents piled on Lin Xiaodong’s desk also grew. This was the result even after Jing Ji helped share the load. Late every night, a dim yellow candlelight would be lit in the hall. The young man, looking increasingly thin lately, sat at the desk draped in a cloak, holding a brush and knitting his brows as he wrote down strategies that decided the lives and deaths of countless people on the border.

Provisions, firearms, reinforcement scheduling… Although General Zhao was experienced, the importance of logistics for a battle went without saying.

In any case, Lin Xiaodong would never allow the soldiers at the front to fight to the death while the ministers at the back bickered and dragged their feet, causing delays in sending provisions to the front line.

He knew very well that the current Minister of War of the Jing Dynasty was a coward who only wanted to work peacefully for a few more years before asking His Majesty to allow him to retire to his hometown. Therefore, he was hesitant and extremely indecisive in his actions. Normally, Lin Xiaodong would have endured it, but in times of war, he hated such incompetent officials even more than corrupt ones!

However, Lin Xiaodong was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Works. He couldn’t easily interfere in the affairs of the Ministry of War. He had no choice but to find a way through Jing Ji on one hand and secretly send messages out on the other, letting Xie Chen send all the provisions and weapons accumulated by the Lin residence to the front line.

By now, he was too lazy to hide anything anymore.

Therefore, at the court session a few days later, a memorial shocked the entire court.

“Your Majesty, Lin Dongqing harbors evil intentions and has privately stockpiled firearms. His intentions are punishable!”

Although Lin Dongqing covered the sky with one hand in the Jing Dynasty, he had made many enemies in the process of climbing to this position above all but one. Having finally caught him in a mistake, those who had been spying in the dark for a long time naturally wouldn’t let him go. They unanimously requested Jing Ji to first put Lin Dongqing in the heavenly prison for trial and listed seventeen counts of crimes, all with evidence.

Jing Ji looked coldly at the memorial joint-signed by the ministers, his attitude noncommittal.

Seeing this, the ministers thought there was hope and stepped forward one after another to make impassioned speeches. Within a few sentences, they described Lin Dongqing as a traitorous person who stole from the country and was shameless. The double standing at the front being targeted didn’t dare to look up at all, only forcing himself to keep a steady, expressionless face to avoid showing any abnormality. Meanwhile, Gu Xinwen, not far from him, unexpectedly didn’t participate. He only gave an unidentifiable sneer when hearing them impeach Lin Dongqing, then closed his eyes with little interest, openly catching up on sleep in the court.

A bunch of people who don’t know whether to live or die, he thought coldly.

The reason His Majesty dealt with Lin Dongqing this way—wasn’t it because of the friendship between the two? Even if a dragon and a tiger really couldn’t coexist in this court, it was no reason for outsiders to speak wildly about Lin Dongqing in front of His Majesty.

On the dragon throne, Jing Ji listened silently. His fingertips clutching the memorial turned white from excessive force, while the ministers below remained oblivious, still talking incessantly:

“…When the late Emperor was alive, he showed no respect for his superiors. Now it’s even worse. Clearly already being the Minister of two departments, he still arrogantly tries to overstep and interfere in the affairs of the Ministry of War. Your Majesty, this servant suspects he wants to steal military power and collaborate with General Zhao from within and without to hold onto his own army!”

“Shut up!”

Jing Ji threw the memorial in his hand directly at his face.

The minister’s voice stopped abruptly. He knelt on the ground in terror, not knowing where he had angered Jing Ji. But Jing Ji didn’t have even a bit of patience left. He stood up abruptly, the bead curtains on his crown clattering due to his anger.

This was the first time the entire civil and military officials saw His Majesty so furious in court.

When You Shu informed him of this, Lin Xiaodong raised his eyebrows and smiled: “Is that so? Then please tell His Majesty for me that anger hurts the liver; there’s no need to be angry for those people.”

After he took a step back voluntarily, the conflict between the ruler and the minister was also resolved.

It could be said that Jing Ji was his greatest reliance now.

After You Shu accepted the message, he didn’t leave immediately. He stood by the desk, watching Lin Xiaodong drink the medicinal soup brought by the palace maid in one gulp without blinking. Soon, a faint blush visibly appeared on the young man’s pale face.

But this color gave a sense of incongruity. It didn’t look like the natural blush that would appear on a healthy person’s face, but rather like some… alarming overdraw.

He hesitated for a long time before finally asking, “Lord Lin, what kind of medicine are you drinking every day?”

As a eunuch who grew up in the palace, although You Shu didn’t understand medicine, he knew some basic herbs and their properties. Because when small eunuchs got sick, they either brewed medicine themselves or saved money to buy the cheapest herbs; calling a doctor was simply impossible.

He had gotten hold of the prescription Lin Xiaodong gave the palace maid, and his first reaction was: “Is this thing really medicine to cure illness?”

It wasn’t that these herbs weren’t good, but for someone like Lin Xiaodong whose body was so weak that he coughed blood in the wind, taking such strong medicine was practically taking his life in a different way!

Lin Xiaodong put down the medicine bowl and casually wiped the medicine stain from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand: “To supplement qi and invigorate blood. What’s wrong?”

You Shu: “This servant just thinks, why not have the imperial physicians in the palace take a look at you as well? Perhaps it could have a different effect.”

“Cough, cough, no need.” The blush on Lin Xiaodong’s cheeks came and went quickly. Within the time of a conversation, he returned to his previous bloodless appearance. “You may leave now.”

“…Yes.”

You Shu spoke no more. He just lit the candles in the room for Lin Xiaodong and then silently retreated.

Half an hour later, the door to the room was pushed open, and Jing Ji walked in looking exhausted.

Lin Xiaodong quietly made a space for him.

The two discussed the Northern Border map for an entire night. Jing Ji was fine; after all, he was young and strong. Even staying up all night wasn’t a big deal, just a bit tired. But listening to Lin Xiaodong’s talk, when he turned his head to look, he found that under the candlelight, the young man didn’t look tired at all.

Although his cheeks had thinned a lot due to the summer heat, his eyes watching the map were as focused as if they were glowing. The flickering candlelight jumped in the depths of his pupils, like some ultimate brilliance blooming after reaching a dead end.

Jing Ji looked at him and started dazing for a moment.

…Teacher is really good-looking.

“Your Majesty,” Lin Xiaodong stopped talking, covered his mouth and coughed twice, then sighed and asked, “Did you hear clearly what I just said?”

Only then did Jing Ji snap back to reality, immediately shifting his gaze. His earlobes turned a faint pink.

“I, I of course heard clearly.”

Lin Xiaodong looked at his guilty conscience and couldn’t help but curl his lips. Just as he was about to say something, a sudden sweetness surged from the depths of his throat. Accompanied by sharp pains in his chest, he instinctively arched his body and began to cough heart-wrenchingly.

“Cough! Cough cough cough…”

Jing Ji stared blankly as droplets of blood overflowed from between his fingers, finally dripping onto the map of the Northern Border, gradually blooming into a patch of eye-catching bright red.

—Like some ominous omen and prediction.