An hour later, the two returned to the carriage. They saw Huan Tong and Hua Lu sitting outside the carriage, sitting shoulder to shoulder. Huan Tong was shouting excitedly, pointing at the fireworks blooming in the night sky. Hua Lu had her face in her hands, quietly admiring the beautiful scenery. Despite how enchanted she was, she still didn’t forget to think it would be good if Young Master Hou could see the magnificence of the Lantern Festival up in Heaven.

One was still and the other active. Huan Tong, who was noisy and shouting, no longer looked so steady in comparison. Huan Tong was a year younger than Lin Qingyu and he too was almost at weak crown. Gu Fuzhou and Huan Tong were of the same age and although there were a lot of times when Gu Fuzhou acted strange, he would never be careless when the situation called for him to be calm.

Just like now; the two of them had just expressed their affection for each other but Gu Fuzhou didn’t seem to be too excited and he didn’t talk much the entire way. If he hadn’t heard his answer clearly, Lin Qingyu would have thought that he had misunderstood – perhaps Gu Fuzhou didn’t like him that much.

Lin Qingyu quickly rejected this idea. He wasn’t blind; he had seen every little bit of how Gu Fuzhou interacted with him. He wasn’t stupid either; the mountain has trees and the trees have branches, my heart has you yet you don't know — Gu Fuzhou poisoned himself in order to return to him; no matter how sleepy he was, he would wake up to see him off to work; he could force himself to get out of bed in the early winter morning to pour him tea. If this wasn’t love, how could there be lovers in this world?

Then, why was Gu Fuzhou being so quiet?

The groom saw Lin Qingyu and Gu Fuzhou, and said, “General, Madam, you’re back. Will you be heading back to the mansion now?”

Lin Qingyu glanced at Gu Fuzhou. Gu Fuzhou, slow to react, opened his mouth to say, “Let’s…go back…”

Lin Qingyu understood it somewhat now and he couldn’t help but smile silently. He took the lead in getting into the carriage. As soon as that light medicinal fragrance got farther away, Gu Fuzhou seemed to recover his senses. He grabbed Huan Tong and asked anxiously, “How do I look like?”

Huan Tong was perplexed. “How do you look like? The General looks about the same as usual.”

Gu Fuzhou said bitterly, “But I feel like an idiot, the kind who can’t even walk straight.”

Huan Tong carefully looked at Gu Fuzhou. “Now that the General mentioned it, you do seem to be a lot stiffer than usual.”

Gu Fuzhou’s back straightened and his whole body became even more rigid. At this time, the groom gave him another fatal blow. “Just now, when I saw the General and the Madam walking together, the General’s arms seemed to be swinging in tandem with his steps.”

Gu Fuzhou: “…”

Lin Qingyu’s voice came from the carriage. “Aren’t we leaving yet?”

Gu Fuzhou took a deep breath. “I’m coming.”

As soon as he entered the carriage, the surrounding noise instantly receded. With the door closed, it felt like only this piece of space remained in the entire world. Gu Fuzhou sat down beside Lin Qingyu. The groom let out a shout to spur the horses on and the carriage started running.

Lin Qingyu’s scent lingered around Gu Fuzhou once again. Gu Fuzhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed and he said, “Qingyu.”

Lin Qingyu looked down at his hand on his knee. “En?”

“Did you hear me just now when I said I wanted to date you?”

“I heard you.”

“So you really did hear me.” Gu Fuzhou still wasn’t completely at ease and confirmed again, “I said…”

You said, ‘I will, I want to. I have liked you for a long time. I liked you when I read about you. When you died, I cursed eighteenth generations of the author’s ancestors. I am willing to get up early for you, to fight for you. I will accompany you wherever you want to go and I’ll give to you to spend all the money I make. I will protect you and even if you wake me up in the middle of the night, I won’t ever be angry with you. I like wating for you, I like watching you deal poison, I like listening to you and I want nothing more than for you to always be happy…I like you, I want to be with you.’ Lin Qingyu repeated Gu Fuzhou’s words word for word, “These words , I heard them all.”

Gu Fuzhou was stunned and he could hardly believe it. “No way, was I that incoherent and illogical? Why was ‘protect you’ followed by ‘won’t ever be angry with you’. How are these two even connected?”

Lin Qingyu raised his eyelashes. Holding back a smile, he said, “You’ll have to ask yourself that.”

Gu Fuzhou lowered his eyes and said sullenly, “Just now, I was completely un-cool, wasn’t I?”

Lin Qingyu didn’t forget to learn about Gu Fuzhou’s hometown dialect. He asked curiously, “Does ‘cool’ mean handsome?”

Gu Fuzhou nodded. Angry with himself, he said regretfully, “Sigh, I wanted to deliver lines with ease, to appear witty. That would have been a lot morre handsome. I’ve already thought about it, you know. I was going to use poetry to express my feelings for you. I was gonna appear classy and say a funny joke to ease the awkward atmosphere. But this is my first confession and I have no experience, so I was so fucking nervous.” Gu Fuzhou gave a low laugh, “Don’t think badly of me, Qingyu. I will try my best be a lot more cool in the future so that I won’t embarrass you. If you found my confession is too confusing, I can confess again. But you’re going to have to give me a little time to prepare…”

“No need.” Lin Qingyu raised the corners of his lips. “I think the one just now was pretty good. You were very handsome; I liked it a lot.”

Gu Fuzhou was in a daze. After a while, he said, “Then, are we together now?”

Lin Qingyu’s cheeks went slightly red. He grabbed Gu Fuzhou’s hand that seemed not to know where to go. “En, we’re together now.”

Instantly, a tremor ran throughout Gu Fuzhou’s body, paralyzing his heart, his limbs, every corner of his body.

And Lin Qingyu had done nothing more than grab his hand.

Before the confession, the two of them had held hands. They’ve even hugged and slept together but never has he felt this kind of burning.

Is this what it’s like to be in a relationship with someone you like? It’s a bit… heady.

It was near zishi by the time they got back to the General’s Mansion. It was quite late and they were all somewhat tired. After washing up and changing clothes, Gu Fuzhou stood in front of the bunk bed, feeling a bit at a loss.

Sleeping on the same bed on the first day of a relationship, wouldn’t that be moving too fast? Gu Fuzhou asked tentatively, “Hey, Qingyu, should I climb up to sleep now?”

Lin Qingyu paused. He nodded and said, “Alright.”

After Gu Fuzhou got into bed, Lin Qingyu blew out the candle. The room went dark and only sources of light were the clear moonlight shining in from the window along with the light of the lanterns under the eaves.

This night, although Lin Qingyu was tired, he didn’t feel sleepy. It was quiet in the upper bunk had been quiet and when he thought that Gu Fuzhou might already be sleeping soundly, he couldn’t sleep even more.

It was the first time they were officially in a relationship and unexpected made him, a man, like a girl harboring thoughts of of spring. He kept tossing and turning the entire night, unable to fall asleep. This thing called affection cannot be underestimated.

Lin Qingyu didn’t fall asleep until it was almost dawn. In his sleep, he heard someone calling “General”. When he opened his eyes, he saw that it was Huan Tong, calling Gu Fuzhou to wake up.

Lin Qingyu was usually the one who woke Gu Fuzhou up but today even he slept in. Huan Tong had no choice but to brace himself and be the one to do it. Huan Tong didn’t want to wake up the Young Master so he kept his voice low. But instead of waking up the General, he had disturbed the Young Master’s sleep.

Lin Qingyu sat up. “Go and prepare the General’s uniform; I’ll get him up.”

Gu Fuzhou was dragged out from under the quilt by Lin Qingyu. Yawning, he got out of bed. Noticing that Lin Qingyu’s complexion was not very good, his sleepiness disappeared immediately, “Qingyu, didn’t you sleep last night?”

“En.”

Gu Fuzhou looked down at Lin Qingyu, helping him dress and asked, “Why weren’t you able to sleep well?”

Lin Qingyu raised his eyes and glanced at him. “What do you think?”

Turned out he wasn’t the only one who felt flustered. After one night, Gu Fuzhou seemed to be back to normal. Lin Qingyu saw a smile appear on his lips and Gu Fuzhou said, “Doctor Lin had looked so calm, his heart like still water. I thought our pledge of love didn’t mean much to you.”

Lin Qingyu’s cheeks burned hot and he couldn’t help but retort, ”That’s right. It really isn’t much. I’m not flustered at all.”

Gu Fuzhou simply didn’t believe it and he smiled happily, “You’re already losing sleep over it and you’re still being stubborn.”

Lin Qingyu said, unconcerned, “Are you happy seeing me lose sleep?”

“To be honest, a little bit.” Gu Fuzhou said honestly, “But losing sleep over me this once is good enough. You have to make sure to sleep well in the future.”

“Naturally.”

After Gu Fuzhou got dressed, Lin Qingyu saw him off at the gate of the mansion as per usual. Before getting on the carriage, Gu Fuzhou suddenly asked him, “What do you guys in the Dayu usually do after getting together? Are you allowed to seek pleasure and make merry with complete abandon?”

“No.” Lin Qingyu said indifferently, “According to the Dayu’s customs, even when you’re in a relationship, you must still abide by etiquette. Revel in the feeling, treat with courtesy; joy without wantonness.”

The smile on Gu Fuzhou’s face disappeared. “Then, treat it as though I never asked.”

Lin Qingyu felt a little like laughing. “Get in the carriage, don’t miss the morning court.”

Gu Fuzhou stood still and said slowly, “No, but the rules you mentioned are rules for people who’ve pledged their love but have yet to be married. Since we are already married, why are we still ‘Revel in the feeling, treat with courtesy; joy without wantonness?”

Lin Qingyu said, “Then what do you want?”

Gu Fuzhou smiled, “Since the Dayu’s rules are not suitable, we should follow the rules of my hometown.”

With that said, Gu Fuzhou leaned down and touched his lips lightly onto his forehead.

Like a dragonfly skimming the surface of the water; parting with barely a touch.

Lin Qingyu only felt a heat on his forehead. Before he could fully feel it, Gu Fuzhou’s scent that shrouded him was already fading.

Gu Fuzhou straightened his body and caught Lin Qingyu’s bearing, composed and unruffled, as though just now had been nothing but the wind blowing against his face.

At the same time, Lin Qingyu’s pale cheeks quickly flushed, his long lashes also trembled slightly.

Gu Fuzhou could his heart about to melt. He smiled. “As expected of Doctor Lin, so unruffled despite being just kissed. Unlike me whose heart is about to jump into my throat.”

Lin Qingyu calmed down and said, “You collapse all to easily with a single blow.”

So, in Gu Fuzhou’s hometown, the custom after marriage was just forehead kisses. And here he thought, he would do something more. He was thinking too much. It seems that people from Gu Fuzhou’s hometown were mostly reserved people uninterested in self-indulgence.

Not long after the New Year, Lin Qingyu received news from Zhang Shiquan that he had completed all his assigments.

Rumors that queen of the Northern Border was a man and that the king was furious upon finding out spread like wildfire in the north. Naturally, shadow guards of the Tianji Camp, sent to the north by Xiao Cheng to look for Shen Huaishi also caught wind of this. ear. The shadow guards of the Tianji Camp spured their horses to full speed, rushing to report this matter to their superiors.

How the Tianji camp informed the Rmperor, and how the emperor reacted upon hearing it, Lin Qingyu did not know. All he knew was that the emperor flew into a rage and his bouts of headache recurred. It had now reached the point that he needed to stay in bed to recuperate. Even so, the emperor first summoned the empress and berated her. He then, that same night, he summoned all his confidants and trusted ministers to discuss the matter of the Northern Border.

The war in the northwest had yet to cease and the treasury has been empty for a long time. If there was disloyalty at the Northern Border at this time, the court will be beseiged on both sides. The army’s provisions wouldn’t be enough; they would be short on soldiers and would have no general to lead them. They would simply have no way to withstand it. The only fortunate thing was that until now this was nothing more than an unconfirmed rumor. The King of the Northern Border had also sent a letter wishing for the Emperor’s good health not long ago. It was no different from other such letters sent before.

A palace maid turned out to be a man. If this matter was true, the Empress, who was in charge of the palaces, could not escape responsibility. When Lin Qingyu went to greet the Empress, this was what was weighing on her mind.

This palace has already checked the records of the Shangyu bureau at that time. There was nothing wrong with Jingchun’s identity. This matter may just be a rumor but it caused the Emperor to fly into a rage. He has even cast doubt on my ability to govern the palaces…” The Empress closed her eyes and let out a long sigh, “It is simply difficult for me to tell about my suffering.”

Gu Fuzhou said earlier that the reason why Jingchun was able to trick everyone in those days was due to Xiao Cheng’s protection. Xiao Cheng’s handling of the matter was watertight. Naturally, he wouldn’t so easily give the game away. As for the aunt who had covered up the fact that Jingchun had entered the Shangyi Bureau as a man back then, she was already dead.

Lin Qingyu asked, “There cannot be waves without wind. Since such rumors about in the north, there might truly be something doubtful about Princess Jingchun’s identity. That the King of the North has yet to attack, may simply be because he does not wish to beat the grass to scare the snake.”

The Empress said, “I have ordered people to investigate this matter thoroughly. It has been more than ten years since Jingchun entered the palace and the female official in charge of the Shangyi Bureau at the time, has already left the palace to get married. It will take some time.”

Lin Qingyu knew that this matter should not be rushed. So he diverted the topic for the time being, and said, “Niangniang, how has His Highness, the Sixth Prince, been recently?”

With the conversation turning to her child, the empress’ expression softened a bit. “The servants who had been serving Li’er have been beaten and thrown out. I have selected a new group of servants to serve in Jinyang Garden. Having had warning from an overturned cart, they ought to know what they should do. The day before yesterday, Lai Fu went to Jinyang Garden to see Li’er. He said Li’er has grown a little taller and his spirit has improved a lot.”

Lin Qingyu smiled. “That’s good.”

“Even so, I am still unable to rest at ease.” The Empress said, “Jinyang Garden lacks a good doctor. If you are free, go and see him for my sake.”

Lin Qingyu nodded in response.

Lin Qingyu left Fengyi Palace and seeing that it was almost time, he walked towards the Qinzheng Palace. Gu Fuzhou was summoned to the palace by the emperor early in the morning to discuss politics. He should be finishing right about now.

It so happened that it was Xiao Songzi who was on duty at Qinzheng Hall. When he saw Lin Qingyu, he was a little perplexed. “Didn’t Doctor Lin already ask to diagnose His Majesty’s pulse this morning?”

Lin Qingyu said, “I didn’t come to ask to examine His Majesty.”

“Then that’s…”

While the two were talking, the discussion in Qinzheng Hall ended. The Prime Minister came out first, followed by Nan’an Hou. When Nan’an Hou saw Lin Qingyu, his face changed slightly and he took a detour. It seemed he was feeling diffident. Gu Fuzhou did not come out until the end. Meeting Lin Qingyu’s gaze, the corners of his lips curved and he strode towards him.

“Why is the Madam here?”

Lin Qingyu said, “I was just passing by. If the General is finished handling his affairs, would you like to come back to the Mansion with me?”

Gu Fuzhou said politely, “Madam, please.”

Seeing this situation, Xue Ying, who was seeing the ministers out of the palace, couldn’t help but sigh, “General Gu has truly been blessed.”

It was inconvenient to talk in the palace so only when they got into the carriage did Lin Qingyu ask, “How were things in Qinzheng Hall today?”

“It was all a bunch of nonsense.” Gu Fuzhou said in a lazy tone, “The only useful thing was that Xiao Jie did a good job of raising the funds and provisions for the army. The Emperor showered him with praises and asked him to help Xiao Cheng in managing affairs.”

Lin Qingyu told Gu Fuzhou what the Empress had said. “Regarding the case of Princess Jingchun, there is no physical evidence and the witness is already dead. If the King of the North is of a mind to hide this matter for Jingchun, it will be difficult to draw this matter to a close.”

Gu Fuzhou said casually, “It’s not easy to get evidence. Shen Huaishi and Xiao Cheng are both witnesses.”

“Shen Huaishi…” Lin Qingyu pondered, “I hope we can find his whereabouts as soon as possible.”

The author has something to say: As a native of Da Zhuang’s hometown, I do not want to be represented by Da Zhuang (dog head)