Chapter 43

After receiving the emperor’s appointment, Lin Qingyu did not delay a second longer. He returned to the Hou’s Mansion and began to pack up, preparing to formally draw a line between him and the the Nan’an Hou’s Mansion.

When he married, he only brought clothes and medical books. Later, he added one Huan Tong. All these he would be taking away now that he’s leaving. The rest was family property he and that person snatched away together. — The silver was stored in the bank and exchanged for silver notes; the antiques, calligraphies and paintings, the deeds to the farmlands, shop and houses, as well as what was left of Wen Shi’s dowry, he all took with him.

Several stewards have been making an inventory of all the items for the greater part of the day but still couldn’t finish. There were simply too many things. As Lin Qingyu watched them pack the things in boxes, a sense of satisfaction at having exacted revenge rose in his heart.

Naturally, he had no need for so much money. Neither of his parents were extravagant people, and he himself didn’t have of anything to spend the money on. But he would rather give all this money to the roadside beggars than leave it to the Nan’an Hou’s Mansion.

These riches were given to him by that person. Why wouldn’t he take them?

Pan Shi had been handling matter for Lin Qingyu the entire time. She has been in charge of the household for so long, naturally, she knew about the family property. She watched as the Blue Wind Pavilion was practically emptied, as the greater part of the warehouse’s contents were taken away. She remained silent. At this moment, this branch of the Lu Family has withered, the incense burning in front of the temple has been severed. There was only one proper master left in his enormous Hou Mansion. No matter how much money there was, what was the use? She has dismissed the servants who had served Liang Shi and her children before and it didn’t cost much to keep the rest. In the end, Lin Qingyu didn’t completely empty out the Hou Mansion. He left behind some fields and shops for them. Even relying on just these, it was enough that she would never have to worry about clothes and food her entire life.

On the day Lin Qingyu left, Pan Shi went to the Blue Wind Pavilion to see him off.

“Shaojun… No, I should call you Imperial Physician Lin.” Pan Shi smiled gently, “I wish Imperial Physician Lin all the best in the future. May you be a famous doctor like Lin Yuan Pan who practices medicine to help the people.”

This might be a bit difficult. With his pettiness and vindictiveness, how was he to become someone like his father?

“Thank you.” Lin Qingyu said, “I shall let Zhang Shiquan stay at the Hou Mansion. He may be of much use to you. If you do not find it disagreeable, you can let him continue to help you with managing the household.”

Eventhough he was leaving, he still wanted to keep one hand within the Nan’an Hou’s Mansion. The Nan’an Hou has served the emperor for many years, he may still be worth using.

Pan Shi might have seen through his deeper meaning but she didn’t say a word, merely nodding her head.

Pan Shi was an obedient and smart person. Lin Qingyu did not find it repulsive to work with such a person. Seeing that Pan Shi had lost a lot of weight, that wrinkles had begun to appear at the corners of her eyes, he spared her a rare few more words, “As I remember, you were sold into the Hou Mansion back then?”

Pan Shi said, “Yes. Back then, after my mother departed from this world, I was left all alone. Even had I not entered the Hou Mansion as a concubine, I would have ended up serving as a slave or maid to another rich family.”

“If you also wish to leave the Hou Mansion, I can help you find a way.”

Pan Shi was momentarily stunned. Her grip on the silk handkerchief in her hand tightened.

Seeing that she didn’t immediately agree, Lin Qingyu figured he already knew the answer. “Or do you wish to continue looking after the Nan’an Hou?”

“I…” Pan Shi sighed faintly. “I have been in the Hou Mansion for more than ten years. This is my home. If I leave, where else could I go?”

Lin Qingyu said, “Since I would be helping you leave the Mansion, I would, of course, make sure that your life worse in the future won’t be any worse that it is now.”

Pan Shi shook her head and smiled bitterly. “This concubine deeply appreciates Imperial Physician Lin’s kindness. It is just that Master Hou is my husband, after all. How can a woman leave her husband?”

Lin Qingyu disagreed. “There is no such thing as being unable to separate from someone. Even more that there is no such thing as one being unable to live without another.” He glanced in the direction where the memorial tablet was enshrined and said indifferently, “One simply needs to get used to it.”

Just like how he was now; was he not living well?

Pan Shi didn’t want to leave, but Hua Lu knelt down and begged Lin Qingyu to take her away with him. Hua Lu was originally a maidservant given by Wen Guogong to Lu Wancheng; she didn’t have any attachments towards the Nan’an Hou’s Mansion. Lin Qingyu’s original intended was to let her return to the Guogong’s Mansion, but she herself wanted to stay by Lin Qingyu’s side.

“Before Young master Hou left, the one he was most worried about was Shaojun. Hua Lu promised Young Master Hou that she would serve the Shaojun with all her heart, that after he departs, she would urge the Shaojun to eat well and sleep well.” Hua Lu’s eyes were red; with tears in her eyes, “I beg Shaojun to take Hua Lu with you!”

Lin Qingyu chuckled lightly. “Did he say that?”

That Jiang thought that as soon as he left, he wouldn’t eat or sleep well. He really thought too highly of himself.

Hua Lu nodded, “Shaojun, just accept Hua Lu, please!”

Lin Qingyu said, “Tomorrow, I will send someone to the Guogong’s Mansion to get your deed of indenture.”

Hua Lu was both surprised and overjoyed. “Thank you, Shaojun!”

“You have now become a member of the Lin Residence. From now on, there is no need for you to call me ‘Shaojun’.”

Hua Lu nodded like pounding garlic. “Thank you, Young Master!”

Before leaving, Lin Qingyu finally gave the Nan’an Hou some face and went to seek an audience to bid him goodbye in person. However, the Nan’an Hou was unwilling to see him.

When Lin Qingyu married into the Hou’s Mansion last year, Nan’an Hou was still the right-hand man of the Emperor, in charge of the entire Ministry of Revenue. Naturally, he was somewhat well-regarded. But in just a short year, he had become a hopeless person, with a head of gray hair and a completel apathetic heart. He didn’t even know that his family property had been hollowed out. But even if he knew, what could he do?

In the end, Lin Qingyu went to the Lu Family’s ancestral hall and lit a six sticks of incense for Lu Wancheng. Among those, three sticks, he lit in place of that person.

After doing this, Lin Qingyu left the Nan’an Hou’s Mansion, taking with him with dozens of carts of property, a bunk bed, and that person’s memorial tablet.

Walking out of the gate, he turned around and glanced at the solemn vermilion gate of the Hou’s Mansion and at the words “Lu Mansion” hanging high above it.

He didn’t know if Liang Shi, before she succumbed to madness, and the Nan’an Hou, as he lay in bed recuperating, if they regretted forcing him to marry into the Nan’an Hou’s Mansion; if Lu Qiaosong, before he died, and Lu Niantao, as she spent night after night alone at home, regretted humiliating him.

It was only right that they regret. He liked seeing the people who have offended him weep bitterly, regretting their actions.

After leaving the Hou Mansion, Lin Qingyu did not return to the Lin Residence. In the eyes of others, Young Master Hou has been dead for less than three months, his body had yet to grow cold. And yet, that male wife of his has already requested to leave his husband’s house of his accord. Not only was he not abiding by the etiquette of living in widowhood but he was also appearing so blatantly in public. Such utter disregard for etiquette, was he not afraid of being called on by his deceased husband in the middle of the night?

Rumors of how a male wife was inauspicious intensified in the capital. Lin Qingyu may not care about these rumors, but he still had to think about his parents and his younger brother, after all. Even though Mother Lin wanted him to return to the Lin Mansion, he still refused.

Long before going south, he had asked Zhang Shiquan to buy him a three-structured courtyard house in the capital. While it wasn’t some grand mansion, it was quite enough for him to live. The house was not too far from the Imperial Palace and the Lin Residence and everything in it was already its proper place. It was simple waiting for its master to move in. The servants were all personally selected by Zhang Shiquan. They were all honest, taciturn and capable in their work. Their backgrounds were also very clean. As soon as Lin Qingyu entered the door, the steward led them all to shout in unison, “Master, welcome back!”

Lin Qingyu: “…Master?”

Huan Tong burst out laughing. “Young Master is only nineteen this year. Why did you call him ‘Master’? You’re making him sound old.”

The steward explained with a smile, “Master has split from the family and he is now the head of this household. So naturally, he is ‘Master’.”

“You do not need to call me that.” Lin Qingyu said, “You can continue to address me as you have before.”

The servants then changed the way they addressed him. “Yes, Young Master.”

Lin Qingyu enshrined the memorial tablet of Jiang-Somebody in the mourning hall and ordered his servants to look after it; they had to make sure that incense was kept burning morning, noon and night. People were coming and going, busy putting everything in order. He gave scant attention to other rooms in the residence, however, he had to see to the arrangement of the study and medicine room himself.

Lin Qingyu put the books he brought into the bookshelf one by one. Huan Tong ran to him and asked, “Young Master, where should we put the bunk bed?”

Lin Qingyu thought for a while. “Just put it in the study.”

In the future, if he didn’t feel like going back to the bedroom to sleep, he could spend the night there. He still hasn’t slept in the lower bunk.

At this time, Hua Lu moved in a pot of green bamboo and muttered, “It’s already March, and it’s still snowing…”

“It’s snowing?” Lin Qingyu paused and looked out the window. Sure enough, snowflakes were fluttering outside.

On the first day of the move, Lin Qingyu tidyed up in the study until late into the night. He decided to simply spend the night in the study. He was lying on the lower bunk, listening to the indistinct sound of the night watch in the distance, one slow and three fast—it was already Sigeng.

This day too has passed.

At the end of last year, that person left on a snowy night like this. Today, seventy days have passed.

Lin Qingyu raised his hand and touched the plank of the upper bunk — Jiang wanted him to sleep well but how could he sleep on such a snowy night?

If Jiang were still alive, he probably would be sleeping better than anyone else.

Fortunately, once this bout of snow was over, winter truly would come to an end.

The last snow of the winter fell for a full three days. Lin Qingyu, dressed in the official uniform of a seventh-grade medical officer, walked on snow inside the palace walls.

Leading the way for him was a little eunuch with delicate and pretty features. It hasn’t been long since this little eunuch took up his post. It was his first time seeing such a beautiful doctor and he couldn’t help repeatedly looking behind him.

The Dayu’s official uniforms were mostly dark colored. This Imperial Physician Lin had a slender figure and a striking face. Dressed in the indigo-colored official uniform, he look ed even better than the ladies in the harem.

The two were walking when the little eunuch suddenly heard the beautiful doctor call to him, “Gong Gong.”

The little eunuch thought that he’d been found peeking, and said guilty, “Is there anything you need, Imperial Physician Lin?”

Lin Qingyu said, “Is the Eastern Palace far from here?”

“It’s not far.” The little eunuch said, “Go forward and turn left. Walk for half a stick of incense and you’ll be there.”

Lin Qingyu nodded. “Thank you, Gong Gong.”

The little eunuch’s cheeks were slightly red. “Imperial Physician Lin is very polite.”

The Dayu placed great importance on the medical field. The Imperial Medical Office and the Imperial Academy were of equal status and they were located on both sides to the northwest of the palace. The government offices and the palace were separated only by a wall. After the students of the Imperial Medical Office have completed their studies, they could pass through this wall and become Imperial Physicians in the palace. Lin Qingyu skipped this step and became a seventh-grade medical office of the Imperial Hospital by relying on a prescription for the epidemic.

The little eunuch stopped. “Imperial Physician Lin, we have arrived at the Imperial Hospital.”

Lin Qingyu looked at glittering words, ‘Imperial Hospital’. His heart was filled with a tranquility he had never even thought of.

He was finally here.

Walking eastward from the Imperial Hospital for a stick of incense, one would find themselves at Qingzheng Palace, where the emperor handled government affairs and took short rests. At the moment in Qingzheng Palace, the emperor was discussing with the senior ministers and the crown prince about Gu Fuzhou’s resignation.

“Gu Fuzhou sent ten letters in a row, asking me to allow him to return to the capital immediately, as if staying in Yongliang for one more day would kill him. According to Zhao Mingwei, he stayed up most of the night, busily writing these reports!” Emperor livid with anger, “This Gu Fuzhou, who used to cherish words like gold, is now writing so many words. Just what is he doing!”

After saying so, the emperor waved his arm and threw all the reports on the dragon table to the ground.

The ministesr knelt on the ground. “Please calm your anger, Your Majesty.”

Xiao Cheng knelt down with them. The floor was a mess. He saw several of the scrolls roll open. At the end of each report was written: Your servant wishes a speedy return.