Chapter 146#

The Frail and Sickly Powerful Minister#

“…Teacher? Teacher! Someone, quickly!”

Jing Ji supported him helplessly, his face full of terror, calling out to him over and over in a trembling voice.

But no matter how loud he shouted, Lin Xiaodong could no longer hear.

The candlelight and Jing Ji’s face blurred before his eyes, forming a colorful picture that finally faded into infinite darkness.

To be honest, he didn’t feel much pain. Instead, he felt a sense of relief like, “Ah, finally this day has come.”

But the unconscious Lin Xiaodong couldn’t see how terrifying his current appearance was. Jing Ji knelt on the ground, his face pale, holding him. Half of his body was stained with blood, he felt as if he had fallen into an abyss, and his brain couldn’t think at all.

It wasn’t until You Shu hurried in with the imperial physician to separate the two that he very slowly pushed himself up from the ground. When he first stood up, he even stumbled two steps like a child who couldn’t walk.

“Your Majesty!”

You Shu hurriedly stepped forward to support him in shock, but was waved away by Jing Ji.

“Get out! I’ll settle accounts with you when I come back!”

His eyes were filled with hideous bloodshot veins, and he glared at You Shu fiercely with a terrifying gaze before following the retreating footsteps of the imperial physician without looking back.

You Shu trembled all over. At this point, His Majesty must have known he had hidden Lord Lin’s physical condition. But for some reason, apart from the fear for his future, he didn’t feel much regret.

…Truly crazy.

He shook his head with a bitter smile.

When Lin Xiaodong woke up again, it was three days later.

His body was heavy like an old spinning machine. With a slight movement, his bones made a clicking sound. His chest was heavy and stuffy, and the old wounds on his body were like holes on a tattered tarpaulin, constantly reminding the owner of the fact that he was about to be scrapped.

…His right hand was also pressed numb.

Lin Xiaodong struggled to lift his eyelids and take a look. As expected, he saw Jing Ji sleeping soundly beside his bed, with one arm pressing on his right hand and a memorial tightly clutched in his hand.

Looking at the dark circles under his eyes, this child probably hadn’t rested well for a long time.

Probably feeling the movement of the person on the bed, Jing Ji’s little finger flickered slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.

“Your Majesty…” Lin Xiaodong opened his mouth, but before he could speak, he was pulled into his arms.

Feeling the boy’s body trembling, the young man’s pale face couldn’t help but soften. He raised his hand and patted Jing Ji’s hair soothingly: “How is Your Majesty still like a child?”

“If growing up means losing Teacher, then I would rather never grow up.” Jing Ji buried his head in his neck and said in a hoarse voice.

“How is that possible.” Lin Xiaodong smiled, coughed twice, and asked flatly, “Your Majesty, how much time do I have left? If you give me just one more month, I can die without regret after General Zhao pacifies the Northern Border.”

He got no answer.

“Teacher,” after a long silence, Jing Ji pulled back from the hug and looked at him fixedly, “besides pacifying the Northern Border, do you have no attachment to anything in the world, including me?”

Lin Xiaodong really hadn’t thought he would ask this question. But in the time he was dazed, Jing Ji seemed to have understood something. He gave a miserable smile, let go of the hug, and said hoarsely: “I understand. In that case, Teacher should rest well and recover from your illness.”

“Wait—”

Lin Xiaodong looked at Jing Ji’s dejected back as he left, pulled back the quilt, and struggled to get out of bed. But just the movement of getting up made him dizzy for a while, and he had to sit on the edge of the bed for a long time.

When You Shu just entered the door, this was the scene he saw.

“My ancestor, please don’t move blindly!”

He hurriedly helped Lin Xiaodong back to bed and brought the medicine juice brewed by the small eunuch nearby: “Lord Lin, Your Majesty is truly heartbroken this time. Just obediently treat your illness and stop tossing around.”

The young man muttered something that sounded like “who’s tossing”, then reluctantly took the medicine bowl and drank it all—

“Cough! Cough cough…”

An unprecedentedly strange bitterness spread across his tongue and lips. Lin Xiaodong’s face turned pale: “What medicine is this?”

You Shu said: “It’s the new medicine the imperial physician prescribed for you. The imperial physician said that the original prescription absolutely cannot be taken anymore. Your Majesty even got angry because of this and docked the salaries of the entire Imperial Medical Academy.”

But there was one thing You Shu didn’t tell Lin Xiaodong: in fact, he was the one who bore most of His Majesty’s anger. Because of privately hiding Lin Xiaodong’s condition, You Shu received a full thirty strokes of the paddle, and even now, he still walks with a bit of a limp.

Although he didn’t know why His Majesty still let him serve Lord Lin, You Shu thought, if it wasn’t because His Majesty saw that he was indeed wholeheartedly devoted to Lord Lin, he would probably have had his head cut off long ago.

Lin Xiaodong frowned slightly. He closed his eyes and leaned against the pillow, speaking weakly: “Nonsense! My presence in the palace was already a secret. Does he want the entire court to know that the ‘Lin Dongqing’ in court now is a fake?”

After a pause, he asked again: “Is His Majesty still outside?”

You Shu didn’t dare to answer and could only lower his head silently.

“Forget it,” Lin Xiaodong saw this and changed the subject: “Eunuch You, tell me, how much time do I have left?”

You Shu said in fear: “What are you talking about, my Lord? His Majesty will never let you—”

“I want to hear the truth.”

Lin Xiaodong interrupted him directly.

While You Shu was in a dilemma, Jing Ji’s low voice suddenly sounded from outside the door: “Tell him.”

You Shu’s eyelid jumped. He looked at Lin Xiaodong’s calm eyes, his lips trembling, and after a long time, he spat out a sentence.

“Less than three months.”

And that was the most optimistic estimate.

No more sound came from inside the room. Jing Ji closed his eyes and stood in the sun with his head tilted back. The blazing sun in the sky seemed to have lost its heat.

He just felt as if he were having a dream he couldn’t wake up from.

The bitter smell of medicine drifted in the air, and the low coughing sound of the young man in the room was like thorny vines piercing his heart. Despite the urgent war in the north, Jing Ji still ordered people to go all over the country to spend heavily on collecting all kinds of precious medicinal herbs and invited famous doctors from all over to try everything to keep the young man whose life was coming to an end.

But with little success.

Lin Xiaodong’s health continued to deteriorate. In the last days when he was clear-headed, he met with Empress Dowager Changfeng. No one knew what topic the two discussed in the room. But when Jing Ji rushed there, all he saw was the young man lying on the bed falling back into a deep sleep, and his mother whose expression was complex and hard to decipher.

“What did you say to him!?”

Jing Ji asked sternly, even forgetting the etiquette he should have as a son.

But Empress Dowager Changfeng didn’t have an outburst this time, just saying flatly: “We just talked about things in the court. Don’t worry, I haven’t thought about doing anything to him now, after all, the person is already…” She paused and curled her lips, “If I had known Lin Dongqing had such a temperament, I wouldn’t have needed to poison that bowl of bird’s nest back then.”

As she finished speaking, she suddenly noticed Jing Ji’s expression froze abruptly.

“You—poisoned him?” Jing Ji asked softly.

“When was this?”

There was no expression on his face, but it made Empress Dowager Changfeng involuntarily take a half-step back: “You, you actually didn’t know?”

Jing Ji pulled the corner of his mouth, but the gaze with which he stared at Empress Dowager Changfeng had no hint of a smile: “There’s a lot your son doesn’t know. After all, Mother has done many things behind my back these years.”

He took a deep breath, used all his self-control to control his hand from trembling too much, then strode into the room without looking back.

If Empress Dowager Changfeng weren’t his biological mother, Jing Ji would have torn her into pieces today!

He sat by Lin Xiaodong’s bed with his head lowered, holding the young man’s right hand tightly with both hands. His red eyes were hidden in the darkness. Although the room was silent, You Shu seemed to hear the powerless struggle and roar of some trapped beast.

“Tell me,” Jing Ji suddenly spoke, “what was Teacher thinking?”

He thought Lin Xiaodong only had a ruler-minister relationship with him. But if it weren’t for truly thinking for him and considering his feelings at the time, how could he have suppressed the matter of being poisoned by Empress Dowager Changfeng and just endured it alone in silence?

Since he fell ill, Jing Ji even hated the late Emperor. If it weren’t for the fact that his father only used Lin Xiaodong as a blade that could be broken at any time and never considered his body, how could the young man’s energy have been consumed to such an extent at such a young age?

But it was only now that he realized that he was also one of the accomplices.

“Teacher,” he lowered his head tremblingly and kissed the fingertips of the person on the bed with an almost pious expression, “please, don’t leave me…”

As long as he could bring Teacher back, Jing Ji was willing to try anything.

A low sigh sounded in his ear. The young Emperor’s movement froze. Then he suddenly lifted his head and shouted almost crazily towards the empty room: “You haven’t left yet, have you?”

“Who are you exactly?” he asked excitedly, “Forget it, I don’t care if you’re a person, a ghost, or an immortal. Tell me, do you have a way to save him?”

“As long as you can save him, I’ll pay any price!”

You Shu kept guard outside the room, his scalp tingling as he watched His Majesty walking back and forth in the room like he was crazy, talking to someone invisible. Even though it was the peak of summer, his back still broke out in a cold sweat.

Who was His Majesty talking to?

But he was destined to get no answer. What made You Shu let out a long sigh of relief was that Jing Ji quickly returned to normal after that day’s abnormality, only occasionally talking to himself.

Generally, when seeing His Majesty like this, You Shu acted like he was blind. But obviously there weren’t many smart people like him. Empress Dowager Changfeng seemed to think Jing Ji had lost his mind due to being affected by Lin Xiaodong’s illness. But before she could take any measures, Jing Ji unhesitatingly confined her again, and she likely won’t be able to leave the palace for the rest of her life.

When the first leaf drifted from the branch, General Zhao finally led the army to crush the alliance formed by the three princes of the Northern Border in one fell swoop, marching north directly towards the royal tent.

The city that had been ceded for over a hundred and thirty years finally returned to the territory of the Jing Dynasty.

Lin Xiaodong’s spirit was very good these days. He put on his old clothes from before. Although he found the belt had widened quite a bit, at least he could get out of bed and walk around a bit in the courtyard.

However, Jing Ji couldn’t be happy at all.

“Lord Lin’s body is exhausted. Being so abnormal lately, I’m afraid he’s… not long for this world.”

Compared to the previous rage upon hearing these words, the Emperor, now a young man, only stared silently at the trembling imperial physician kneeling below, his eyes somewhat empty, wondering what he was thinking.

But in the end, he just waved his hand powerlessly and let the imperial physician leave.

When he came to the courtyard, Lin Xiaodong was draped in a cloak, standing under a ginkgo tree with his hands in his sleeves, looking up at the half-green, half-yellow leaves. Hearing the footsteps, he looked back and gave Jing Ji a faint smile: “Your Majesty.”

Jing Ji walked to his side and tried to force a smile: “Teacher’s complexion is good. Have you eaten?”

Lin Xiaodong nodded.

A quiet atmosphere spread between the two. Jing Ji looked at the side profile of the young man beside him, suddenly reached out to brush away his hair, and said softly: “Teacher, you have white hair.”

“Is that so?” Lin Xiaodong was stunned for a moment but was somewhat happy, “I thought I wouldn’t live to see this day.”

The young man looked at Jing Ji, who was now more than half a head taller than him. His eyes were curved, and his handsome and elegant face still maintained its youthful state, as if time hadn’t brought any changes to him.

Just like when he and the boy walked side by side on the snowy palace path that winter.

Jing Ji gazed at him deeply, then suddenly took a step forward and took him into his arms.

Lin Xiaodong’s body stiffened for a moment but soon slowly relaxed, asking in a calm voice: “Did something happen in court?”

“No,” Jing Ji rested his chin on his shoulder, “I just suddenly wanted to do this. Is it okay?”

Lin Xiaodong said helplessly: “Even if I say no, haven’t you already hugged me?”

They sat together under the tree. Because of his lack of energy, Lin Xiaodong soon began to feel sleepy. Jing Ji pulled the shawl on him and said in a gentle voice: “Teacher, go to sleep if you’re tired.”

“Mhm…”

Lin Xiaodong slowly lowered his head. Jing Ji pressed him onto his shoulder with very careful movements.

“I agree,” after an unknown amount of time, he looked at the crimson palace wall in the distance and suddenly spoke, “Although I don’t know if what you said is true, even in the next life, I want to be with Teacher.”

“Good,” Gu Xi said.

Jing Ji slowly exhaled, leaned his head back against the tree trunk, and closed his eyes somewhat tiredly.

In this life, meeting Teacher was his greatest luck.

As if hearing something, the sleeping young man made a low hum from his nose.

That was the prompt sound of the mission in this world being completely finished.

Dusk was approaching.

You Shu looked at the sky and walked over cautiously, wanting to wake up the two under the tree. Lin Xiaodong was sleeping very soundly and didn’t wake up. The person beside him, after a brief daze, soon woke up and opened his eyes.

The young man picked up the sleeping Lin Xiaodong in a princess carry. You Shu wanted to help but was stopped by his gaze.

A minute later, he came out of the room.

“Your Majesty, dinner is ready,” You Shu followed behind him and reported in a low voice.

“Mhm.”

“Should I call Lord Lin up?”

“No need.” He turned his head, “Do you have anything else?”

You Shu quickly took a look at His Majesty who looked no different from usual, pushed that bit of doubt to the bottom of his heart, shook his head and said: “Nothing else, Your Majesty.”

Intuition told him that in just one afternoon, some huge change seemed to have occurred in Jing Ji.

But when You Shu observed carefully, he found His Majesty seemed to be the same as before, no difference.

Gu Xi looked at him flatly and didn’t speak.

This eunuch’s feeling was indeed very keen. No wonder even Lin Xiaodong held him in high regard.

He had never been anxious about merging consciousness, because Gu Xi knew that he didn’t need to force him; Jing Ji would take the initiative to find him.

They were originally one person. After the memories of the boy Emperor and the memories of hundreds of years of cycles merged, the aura around Gu Xi became more profound and majestic, which was why You Shu sensed something was wrong.

“Soon,” Gu Xi looked back at the closed door and whispered softly with a gentle expression.

They would soon be reunited.

In the autumn of the tenth year of Kanglong, Zhao Ding led the army to recover the Northern Border, and the people welcomed the royal army with food and drink.

In January of the eleventh year of Kanglong, the Emperor of Jing issued a decree to establish a Protectorate to manage the Northern Border. Xie Chen volunteered for the post.

December 3rd of the eleventh year of Kanglong.

Lin Dongqing, Minister of Personnel and concurrently Minister of Works, fell seriously ill and was bedridden in his residence.

The three-month period had passed. Even Lin Xiaodong himself hadn’t expected that he would live to see the day the Northern Border returned.

“When the royal army pacifies the Central Plains in the north, do not forget to tell your father during family sacrifices,” he lay on the bed and smiled weakly, “Looking at it this way, I’m much luckier than Lu Fangweng.”

Gu Xinwen snorted coldly. He endured it again and again but still couldn’t hold back his instinct to be at odds with his old rival: “Others could get on a horse and fight, but you, a sickly person, better give up earlier!”

Jing Ji glanced at him coldly, ignoring the minister whose face suddenly stiffened. He just lowered his eyes and looked at the young man on the bed who was already haggard and bony from the torture of illness, his lips tightly pursed without saying a word.

He sat by the bed and said softly: “The winter jasmine in the suburbs has bloomed. When the weather gets warmer, let’s go see it together.”

The young man coughed: “Okay… cough, Your Majesty should stay further away from me, don’t catch the illness.”

But Jing Ji was annoyed upon hearing this: “What illness? I am the true dragon, the Son of Heaven; am I afraid of these?”

Lin Xiaodong panted twice, lying on the bed, looking at him with a bit of helplessness.

He turned his head to look at the others standing in the room. Besides Jing Ji and Gu Xinwen, several other important ministers had also come. They came under the name of visiting the sick, so the people in the Lin residence couldn’t stop them. But with these people around, there were some things Lin Xiaodong couldn’t say.

He could feel that his time in this world had come to an end.

“Your Majesty,” the young man’s pale and dry lips moved slightly, as if afraid he wouldn’t be in time, repeatedly urging, “after I leave, the position of Minister of Personnel can be taken over by Lord Gu. If floods occur in the Yellow River again this summer, you must send people for disaster relief as early as possible. Also, the hundred thousand soldiers under General Zhao, the border defense… cough cough cough…”

Blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth again, making Gu Xinwen look away in unbearable pain.

Jing Ji said tremblingly: “Stop talking! Teacher, stop talking…”

Lin Xiaodong slowly calmed his breathing. It seemed he was truly immersed in this emotion. His expression gradually became peaceful, his eyes stared straight at Jing Ji’s face, and his pupils gradually dilated.

“Hold his hand,” Gu Xi said.

Jing Ji did so instinctively. His heart was like a wringing pain, and he was lost, sitting there blankly like a puppet.

Only Gu Xi understood that Lin Xiaodong was actually very afraid.

Afraid that he would lose his memory again, afraid of the tragedy like the previous life happening.

“Your Majesty,” probably feeling the temperature from his hand, a faint smile appeared on the young man’s pale face, “please… see for me, this peaceful world and prosperous era.”

The tears filling his eyes finally broke through at this moment.

Jing Ji sobbed: “Okay… Teacher, I will…”

December 5th of the eleventh year of Kanglong.

Lin Dongqing, Minister of Personnel and concurrently Minister of Works, died of illness in his residence at the age of thirty-two.

According to the agreement, after experiencing a long life of an Emperor, Jing Ji merged his consciousness with Gu Xi.

When he opened his eyes again, he didn’t see his colleagues from the headquarters surrounding him like before.

Gu Xi struggled to get up from the dormant pod and found that this was actually his bedroom. He was a bit puzzled. When he turned his head, he saw a familiar back that made his heart skip a beat.

The person was sitting cross-legged in front of the projection, watching the new SpongeBob SquarePants movie with great interest, holding a bag of potato chips in his hand. A big-faced cat whose face was being rubbed until it looked like it had lost its will to live was squatting beside him.

There was a tag hanging around its neck with two words carved on it:

Hearing the sound, the young man turned around and gave him a bright smile: “Yo, you finally woke up? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

Gu Xi stood there for a while, then slowly walked to his side and sat down.

“Want some?” Lin Xiaodong handed him the potato chips.

The man shook his head.

He blinked his eyes and suddenly laughed relaxedly. He dragged the beanbag chair nearby over, took Lin Xiaodong into his arms, and leaned lazily on the soft sofa, watching the silly story of the yellow square and the pink starfish with him.

———End of Text———

The author has something to say:

Thank you everyone for your company and encouragement all the way!

(End of Book)