Married Thrice to Salted Fish

19.

Chang Yang became a frequent visitor of Nan’an Hou Mansion. Every three days, he would go to Qingdai Pavilion to examine Lu Qiaosong’s pulse. Afterwards, he would go to the Blue Wind Pavilion to stay for a bit, occasionally bringing some small gifts for Lin Qingyu.

It was a joy to be able to see his Shixiong so often. It was just that every time they met, Shixiong would have Young Master Hou beside him. Young Master Hou looked as though he had really hit it off with him; looking more thrilled to see him that his Shixiong was, as though he were his Shixiong. To say nothing of telling Lin Qingyu his plan, he couldn’t even get the opportunity to speak with Lin Qingyu alone.

On this day, before Chang Yang came to the Nan’an Hou Mansion, he first went to the most popular pastry shop in the capital, queued up for half an hour and bought two boxes of plum cakes that his Shixiong loved. He had just stepped through the door of the Blue Wind Pavilion, food box in hand, when he heard the clucking of chickens mixed with Lu Wancheng’s hearty laughter. “Little Shidi is here again. You could just bring yourself, there’s no need to bring gifts. Come in, come in.”

Before Chang Yang could see the scene in the courtyard clearly, a figure covered in a riot of color flew in front of his face. When he came back to his senses, a feather floated down from the air and landed on his head. With the chicken feather in his hair, he was the spitting image of the filial son by the roadside, selling himself as a slave to bury his father.

Chang Yang once again froze. “Young Master Hou, this is…”

There was a smile at the corner of Lu Wancheng’s lips. “Cockfighting.”

It was only then that Chang Yang saw clearly that what had flown past his eyes just now was a rooster that had lost a half its feathers, looking ragged and exhausted. That flight should have been its last stubborn struggle. After that flight, it fell to the ground, gasping its final breaths. And the other rooster, the culprit, stood proudly at Lu Wancheng’s feet, confidently shaking its little rooster head.

Looking at the chicken feathers littering the ground, Chang Yang couldn’t help but feel distressed. Heaven has no eyes; how could they allow his Shixiong, this immortal like existence, to marry this spoiled fop whose actions were a disgrace to his good looks?

Lu Wancheng’s excessive impropriety strengthened his determination to rescue his Shixiong from this abject misery. “Greetings to Young Master Hou. Where is my Shixiong?”

“He found me too noisy, so he went out to relax. He should be back any time now.” Lu Wancheng looked at the door and smiled, “Oh? Speak of Cao Cao and he will be here.”

Lin Qingyu had taken Huan Tong to the garden to bury a few pots of medicinal materials under a tree. When he came back to see the lively scene at the Blue Wind Pavilion, a vein on his forehead twitched.

He blamed the medicine he formulated for Lu Wancheng for being too effective. With the weather becoming warmer every day, it gave Lu Wancheng the energy to “seek out a life of dissipation” at home, throwing the entire Blue Wind Pavilion into turmoil, with chickens flying and dogs jumping.

Lu Wancheng welcomed Lin Qingyu. Meeting his icy gaze, he said with a smile, “Qingyu came back at just the right time. Your little Shidi is here.”

Chang Yang: “…Shixiong.”

Lin Qingyu looked up at Chang Yang’s head. “What are you doing with that chicken feather in your hair?”

Lu Wancheng turned his face away and gave an impolite “Pft.”

Chang Yang was extremely embarrassed. He quickly took off the chicken feather from his head and said, shamefaced, “Shixiong, I bought you two boxes of plum cakes. Try them later.”

Lin Qingyu nodded. “Thank you very much.”

“Qingyu, you’re late.” Lu Wancheng leaned over and picked up the cock that had won many victories for him. “You didn’t get to appreciate my great Baobei’s heroic posture in combat.”

“And I have no wish to appreciate it.” Lin Qingyu said indifferently, “If you have had enough fun, ask someone to clean up the yard. This mess is unbearable and you’re not even embarrassed to let outsiders see it.” Lin Qingyu caught sight of the rooster in Lu Wancheng’s arms from out the corner of his eye. The topic of conversation changed again, “Only… this chicken looks a bit familiar.”

Lu Wancheng: “Huh? You recognize it?”

“It seems like I do.” Lin Qingyu thought for a while, “It looks like the rooster that took your place when we got married.”

Lu Wancheng said in surprise, “You remember even this?”

“I have a highly retentive memory.”

“…” Lu Wancheng looked down at the rooster in his arms, his expression looked quite complicated. Chang Yang also turned to look. In his eyes was something like…envy?

Lu Wancheng handed the rooster to Huan Tong and instructed, “Go and find out if this one is the rooster that worshipped with Qingyu.”

As Chang Yang had expected, today, the three of them were gathered together once again and he couldn’t find the opportunity to speak with Lin Qingyu alone. For Lin Qingyu, he was a male outsider, and it was inconvenient to stay for a long time. After exchanging a few words, he must take his leave.

Time was running out, he couldn’t talk about his plan with his Shixiong, so he settled for the next best thing and told interesting anecdotes of their travels with their Master — such as when they went boating on the Jiangnan waterways; traveled across the Shu countryside, sampling genuine peasant fare. One winter, they were forced to spend the night in a ruined temple because they did a last minute rescue of an injured hunter which delayed their journey. In the dead of winter, with the wind bitingly cold, they, their Master, another fellow senior disciple and an accompanying page huddled around the fire, closing in for warmth. Their Master feeling so sorry for them, took off his coat to cover them.

Chang Yang observed Lu Wancheng’s expression as he said all this. But no matter what he said, Lu Wancheng always looked very interested. He asked, urging him on, “Then what happened?”

“For real?!”

“Ah, people.”

“Sigh, this is life.”

……

Lin Qingyu couldn’t stand it anymore and interrupted Chang Yang, “How is Lu Qiaosong’s condition?”

Chang Yang said, “Third Young Master Lu’s illness is almost healed. But the Second Young Lady wishes for him to be brought back to full health. So, she has me come to the mansion every three days just as before, to examine the Third Young Master Lu's pulse. ”

Lin Qingyu and Lu Wancheng looked at each other, sharing a tacit understanding. He then said, “It’s getting late. Shidi should head back.”

Chang Yang was quite unwilling. “Then, I’ll come see Shixiong another day.”

After Chang Yang left, Lin Qingyu said, “Lu Niantao knows about my relationship with Chang Yang and she still asks him to diagnose and treat Lu Qiaosong. There must be a trick.”

Lu Wancheng opened the food box Chang Yang had given. “She probably wants to use your Shidi to do something.”

Lin Qingyu thought about possible actions Lu Niantao might take. He saw a certain someone, minding his own business, steeping tea. He couldn’t help narrowing his eyes and said, “You certainly enjoy eating the cakes my Shidi gives me.”

“Don’t be so stingy, Qingyu.” Lu Wancheng took a small bite of the plum cake, pairing it with tea. A smile appeared at the corners of his lips. “Before, the treats all those men and women gave me, I shared with my brothers. A good Xiongdi shares his blessings.”

Lin Qingyu asked, “What do you mean ‘all those men and women’?”

Lu Wancheng raised his eyebrows. “Why? You’re allowed to have schoolmates but I’m not?”

Lin Qingyu said bluntly, “You’ve been raised in the inner courtyard since you were a child. Reading and writing, they were all taught to you by private teachers. Where would you have had classmates? And even if you had, where would you have gotten female ones?”

Lu Wancheng held back his smile. He was silent for a while and then, said slowly, “Doctor Lin seems to have a lot of questions to ask me.”

“I didn’t ask anything.” Lin Qingyu said calmly, “And I also didn’t ask Young Master Hou to tell me anything.”

Lu Wancheng propped his cheek in his hand. It was difficult to tell by his tone whether what he was saying was true or not. “You can ask. Maybe I’ll answer you truthfully.”

Lin Qingyu paused. He said, “Forget it, I’m not interested.”

Rather than him clucking his tongue, pressing him for an answer, he hoped that Lu Wancheng would tell him of his own accord. Otherwise, even if he asked, Lu Wancheng might not tell the truth.

Lu Wancheng looked at Lin Qingyu for a while, then changed the topic with a smile, “Qingyu, shall we have dinner together tonight? I asked the kitchen to stew the rooster.”

Lin Qingyu followed his lead and asked casually, “Which one?”

“The one that performed the marriage ceremony with you.”

Lin Qingyu was baffled. “What did it do to offend you?”

Lu Wancheng winked. “Looking at it puts me in a bad mood.”

Lin Qingyu sneered. “You kill the donkey as soon as it leaves the millstone. If you’re so capable, back then, why didn’t you get up and perform the marriage ceremony with me yourself?”

Lu Wancheng: “… You’re blaming me?”

Three days later, Chang Yang came to the Nan’an Hou Mansion as usual to examine Lu Qiaosong’s pulse. Lu Qiaosong was extremely impatient; not only did he keep urging the doctor to hurry the entire time but when his examination was finished, he immediately left without even asking for the result.

Lu Niantao said apologetically, “Third Brother must have something urgent he needs to attend to. Doctor Chang, please forgive his rudeness.”

Chang Yang said, “Second Young Lady is being too polite. There is no longer any great obstruction in the Third Young Master’s body. He can already resume his normal work and rest.”

Lu Niantao smiled and nodded. “Thank you for your hard work. Since that is the case, we will no longer need to inconvenience Doctor Chang going to come her every three days.”

Chang Yang was stunned, and said, feeling a sense of loss, “Then, I shall be taking my leave.”

After Chang Yang left, Lu Niantao summoned her trusted maid and instructed her, “Follow Doctor Chang and make sure that you’re not discovered. If he does anything out of the usual, report back immediately.”

Gaining entry into the compound of a wealthy family such as Nana’an Hou was not an easy matter. Chang Yang was well aware that today might be his last chance. If he misses it, he didn’t know how long he would have to wait. Chang Yang considered it over and over and then, made up his mind. He wrote a note with the pen and paper he carried with him. Just as he was worrying how he was going to get the note to Ling Qingyu, he saw Huan Tong coming from the direction of the garden with two medicine jars in his arms. Without any hesitation, he blocked his path.

Lin Qingyu had brought Huan Tong with him during his travels, so Huan Tong and Chang Yang were quite familiar with each other. Huan Tong accepted Chang Yang’s note and said, “Don’t worry, Chang Gongzi, I will definitely deliver this.”

Chang Yang warned, “Don’t let anyone else know about this, especially Young Master Hou.”

Huan Tong hesitated but agreed, “This… alright.”

When Huan Tong returned to the Blue Wind Pavilion, Lin Qingyu and Lu Wancheng were playing chess against each other by the window. Lu Wancheng had already lost seven games in a row and was being regarded with disdain by Lin Qingyu, saying that the chickens were better than him. Lu Wancheng pressed down a chess piece and said, “I learned only a little bit when I was a kid. Being able to play like this is already pretty good, ok?”

Lin Qingyu sneered, “How very humble of you.”

The two of them won’t be done for quite some time and Chang Yang seemed to be in a rush. Huan Tong leaned close to Lin Qingyu’s ear and whispered quietly, “Master, I have something to tell you.”

Lin Qingyu frowned and moved away. “If you have something to say, then just say it directly.”

Huan Tong glanced at Lu Wancheng and said, feeling awkward, “But…”

“Say it.” He and Lu Wancheng were already tied to the same boat. There was nothing about the Nan’an Hou Mansion that couldn’t be said in front of Lu Wancheng.

Since the Young Master said so, Huan Tong said aloud, “Chang Gongzi asked me to give something to the Young Master and he said that Young Master Hou must not find out about it!”

Lin Qingyu: “……”

Lu Wancheng threw the chess piece on the board, and said slowly, “Okay, now, I’m a little angry.”

Putting up an act in front of him, he could still regard as watching some sort of show. But getting up to petty tricks in private and paying no regard to martial ethics was crossing the line.

Lin Qingyu asked, “What is it?”

Huan Tong took out the note and Lin Qingyu opened it in front of Lu Wancheng. Only six words were written on it: Meet me in the back garden.

” The willow sways beneath the moon, and lovers meet at nightfall.” Lu Wancheng recited this line of poem, deliberately enigmatic. “Will Doctor Lin be accepting his Shidi’s invitation? How very curious, I’m looking forward to it.”

Lin Qingyu had a good guess as to the purpose behind Chang Yang’s private meeting with him. It was still probably about taking him out of the Hou Mansion. He muttered, “Shidi’s every word and deed within the mansion must be within the control of Lu Niantao and the others. I think I already know Lu Niantao’s intentions.”

“You only found out now?” Lu Wancheng laughed, “Everyone can see your Shidi’s blind affections towards you. You can’t blame them for trying to use it to make trouble.”

Lin Qingyu was displeased. “Can you not speak properly?”

Lu Wancheng raised his voice. “I can’t. Someone’s about to f*cking undermine my foundation and you think I can still speak properly?”

“Didn’t we make a bond as sworn brothers? Aren’t we good brothers partaking food together? What ‘undermining foundation’ are you talking about?”

Lu Wancheng was left speechless by his retort. After he calmed down, he suddenly realized that what Lin Qingyu said made sense. How could a good brother possibly put a green hat on you?

As long as he treated his wife as a brother, a green hat would never grace his head.

Lu Wancheng lay back on the chair and said lazily, “You’re right. Forget I said anything.”

Lin Qingyu gave a sarcastic smile and said to Huan Tong, “Go and reply to Chang Yang. Have him leave the Hou Mansion. He mustn’t come back again.”

“Wait.” Lu Wancheng’s eyes were dark, as though some evil tricks were brewing within. He saw him raise the corner of his lips into a wicked smile. He said, “My good brother, I think you should still go and meet with your Shidi.”

Lin Qingyu raised his eyebrows. ” What's your idea? “