Chapter 27

“This life is unbearable!”

In the blossoming month of February, Lin Qiwu stormed out of Li Mu’s study, full of anger.

The cause was simple: Lin Qiwu had been invited by the Empress to a banquet in the palace to admire the apricot blossoms. The young girl found it boring but knew she couldn’t refuse. Moreover, attending the banquet gave her a legitimate reason to skip a day of classes, so she decided to bring Li Yunxi along. One was skilled in literature, the other in martial arts. Even among the noble girls of fifteen or sixteen, they were outstanding. The Empress praised them repeatedly and finally revealed her true intention: to arrange a marriage between Lin Qiwu and her son. Fortunately, both girls were quick-witted and managed to divert the conversation.

Upon returning from the palace, Lin Qiwu immediately complained to Lin Que. Lin Que reassured her that he would handle the matter and that the Empress wouldn’t dare target her again. He also promised to have someone protect Li Yunxi.

With that settled, Lin Qiwu couldn’t stop talking about the fun things in the palace. Li Mu, being a good listener and not skilled at interrupting, let her talk for a long time.

Sitting nearby, Lin Que fiddled with the jade thumb ring on his thumb, waiting patiently. Seeing that his sister was oblivious, he finally asked, “Have you finished the homework due tomorrow?”

Lin Qiwu jumped three feet high, “I went to the palace today!”

Lin Que smiled. Despite many days passing, the traces of his long coma hadn’t completely faded. His smile was weak, and his words were particularly harsh: “Aren’t you back now?”

Only then did Lin Qiwu mutter, “This life is unbearable,” and ran out of Li Mu’s study.

After Lin Qiwu left, Li Mu tidied up the table. Seeing that it wasn’t very cold and the sun was shining outside, she asked Lin Que, “Do you want to get up and walk around?”

Lin Que replied, “Yes,” and Li Mu went over to support him, letting him lean on her shoulder. They walked from the study to the courtyard, making several rounds.

Lin Que had slept for too long. Although someone had massaged his hands and feet during that time, he couldn’t get out of bed when he first woke up. Even when he did, he needed Gu Chi’s support to walk a few steps. Now, he could manage with Li Mu’s help.

In a few more days, he should be able to walk on his own, Li Mu thought, feeling hopeful about Lin Que’s gradual recovery.

She focused on the path, while Lin Que focused on her.

The discomfort in his body kept Lin Que’s mood low, so he clung to Li Mu these days. Seeing her happy about his recovery lifted his spirits as well.

When they got tired, they sat on chairs brought by the maid. Li Mu also took a break, looking up at the blue sky and saying, “It’s wonderful.”

In modern times—especially in cities with severe air pollution—it’s rare to see such a beautiful sky. After saying this, a piece of golden pastry was handed to her mouth by Xianyun. Lin Que wiped his hands with a handkerchief and took a piece for Li Mu.

Li Mu instinctively reached out to take it, but Lin Que dodged, making her realize and pause for a few seconds before accepting the feeding. She bit the pastry from Lin Que’s hand and continued eating it with her own hand. Although her ears turned red and hot, as long as she didn’t look at Lin Que and pretended it was normal, the atmosphere wouldn’t feel ambiguous.

Yes, that’s right, Li Mu thought, deceiving herself, ignoring how fast her heart was beating and how happy Lin Que looked while pinching her ear.

After a while, they went back inside, and it was time for Wudu to check Lin Que’s pulse.

The relationship between Lin Que and Wudu was hard to describe. When Lin Que could speak properly again, the first thing he said to Wudu was, “How come I didn’t become a monk, but you returned to secular life?”

He hit Wudu right where it hurt.

Wudu wanted to turn around and leave, thinking whoever wanted to treat him could do so. But seeing Lin Que’s younger brother standing behind him, he calmed down and endured it.

Later, Lin Que figured out what Wudu had gone through over the years and even told Li Mu about it as a joke.

Back then, the Jinyiwei were not under Lin Que’s control, and he wasn’t as well-informed about the entire capital as he was now. Naturally, he didn’t know that before Gu Chi went to invite Wudu to save him, King Yi Heir, who was on good terms with Gu Chi and happened to be staying in the capital, had learned of the situation and went to find Wudu first. Through this, Wudu realized how ruthless Lin Que was in his quest for power, calculating and causing the deaths of many people. King Yi Heir spoke from the perspective of Lin Que’s brother’s friend, sounding fair and objective. His words were based on facts, and combined with Lin Que’s unfavorable appearance, Wudu refused to save Lin Que, deliberately delaying until the late emperor’s death and escaping from the palace during the fire.

Fearing Lin Que would find him, Wudu foolishly went to Luoyang to seek refuge with King Yi Heir. The latter hid him, but within two years, Lin Que destroyed King Yi’s mansion. The servants fled with King Yi Heir, and Wudu escaped with them. It was after escaping the mansion that Wudu realized something was wrong.

When King Yi was killed, the local people were actually happy. They didn’t think it was wrong for King Yan to kill his uncle, and only the high-ranking nobles and royal relatives condemned King Yan, saying he was mad for killing his blood relatives and deserved divine punishment. From then on, Wudu learned to be wary of King Yi Heir and gradually discovered that he wasn’t as kind-hearted as he appeared. At least, in his eyes, the common people weren’t considered human, not worthy of charity.

Although King Yi Heir was bad, it didn’t mean Lin Que was necessarily good. But at least when the national treasury was empty and Grand Princess Zhaoming needed military funds to guard Liaodong, Lin Que didn’t follow the ministers’ suggestion to increase taxes on the people. Instead, he targeted the feudal lords who built their mansions as grand as the imperial palace.

Later, King Yi Heir wanted Wudu to return to the capital, pretending to treat and poison King Yan. After Wudu refused, he realized King Yi Heir wanted to kill him to completely eliminate the possibility of detoxifying King Yan, so he ran away again. He was pursued by King Yi Heir all the way, but fortunately, he encountered the Blood Lady of Shaling Village. She found him handsome, literate, and knowledgeable in medicine, suitable to be a stepfather to her two children, so she took him back to the village. He then grew his hair and returned to secular life, hiding his identity. Otherwise, he would have likely died at the hands of Yi Wang’s son.

Unfortunately, the price of survival was the loss of freedom. The Blood Lady didn’t believe his lies at all and knew that the monk the Yian Sect wanted to kill was him. She kept him confined in the village for several years until the village was besieged, and Grand Princess Zhaoming brought him back to the capital in a burlap sack.

Over these six years, Wudu had a rather fulfilling life, Li Mu thought.

After checking Lin Que’s pulse, Wudu asked a few questions and turned to Li Mu.

When Lin Que woke up, he suggested that Wudu also examine Li Mu, mainly for her insomnia. Although he had gotten used to it, Li Mu clearly still hoped to sleep soundly and peacefully.

For Wudu, having another patient wasn’t a problem, but the issue was that he couldn’t treat this illness.

Wudu sighed, “We’ve already changed three prescriptions for calming the mind. Maybe we should give up. It’s a psychological issue; how can medicine cure it?”

As for what psychological issue, Wudu had asked, but Li Mu pretended not to hear and didn’t want to say.

Lin Que had also asked Li Mu once during the night when it was just the two of them. Li Mu’s expression was terrible, and she looked dejected, so Lin Que promised not to force her to talk.

Li Mu nodded in agreement with Wudu, thinking it was better to give up. Changing three prescriptions without any effect was stressful.

Seeing this, Lin Que said, “If there’s no way, then let’s give up.”

Li Mu tried to advocate for herself, “Can we go back to the original prescription?”

The later medicines were too bitter, while the sour jujube seed calming soup had a sweet aftertaste and was much more pleasant to drink.

Wudu quickly agreed to let Li Mu return to the original prescription, happy to finally escape this torment. In a moment of carelessness, he blurted out, “Neither of you has the face of someone who will live long, so why bother with this?”

The room fell silent.

Li Mu, Lin Que, and the maids all looked at Wudu, making him feel uneasy.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant…” Wudu wished he could slap himself.

Lin Que turned to signal Nanny Liu to take the maids out. Seeing Lin Que’s cold eyes, Nanny Liu quickly lowered her head and led everyone out.

With only the three of them left, Li Mu looked dazed, and Lin Que, with a stern face, asked Wudu, “What do you mean by that?”

What did he mean by saying neither of them had the face of someone who would live long? Lin Que could accept it for himself, but his Weixi was healthy and free of illness, so why couldn’t she have the face of someone who would live long?

Wudu quickly explained, “It’s a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding!”

He elaborated, “When I escaped from the palace, I encountered King Yan’s consort.”

Li Mu tilted her head, calculating the time. At that time, she hadn’t traveled through time yet, so Wudu had met the original owner.

“I didn’t dare say it directly at the time,” Wudu said to Li Mu. “So I subtly told your family that you wouldn’t live past sixteen. If you could survive, it would benefit both your family and the country.”

Li Mu was just learning about this. She grabbed Wudu and stared at him, her heartbeat gradually accelerating. “You said ‘I’ wouldn’t live past sixteen?”

Li Mu, who usually spoke very little and, even when she did, was emotionally flat, suddenly overreacted, startling Wudu. “Yes, yes, but I could only see that much. I couldn’t see why you wouldn’t live past sixteen, nor did I know you would marry King Yan if you survived. I also didn’t know how your survival would benefit the country. So, if you ask me more, I’m afraid I can’t answer.”

“Um, could you let go of my hand? It wouldn’t be good if my wife saw and misunderstood.” Wudu claimed he was taken back to the village against his will and had to take on the responsibilities of a husband and father. However, he was quite self-disciplined in his behavior.

Li Mu released Wudu. Although he said he couldn’t answer, she couldn’t help but ask, “You really can’t see anything else?”

Wudu looked at her face from side to side. “Anything else?”

Wudu shook his head. “I can’t see anything else.”

Li Mu felt disappointed. She had hoped Wudu knew she was from another time and knew how to send her back.

Lin Que’s expression softened slightly upon hearing Wudu’s explanation, and he began to pay attention to Li Mu’s reaction. He had known about this matter for a long time and had deliberately kept it from Li Mu, fearing that she would be hurt if she found out that the Li family’s old lady treated her well because of Wudu’s prophecy, for the sake of the Li family.

Li Mu didn’t feel hurt. She said, “Judge by actions, not intentions.”

No matter the reason, the old lady treated me well and didn’t harm me, so why should I feel hurt?

“In this matter, that’s how I see it,” Li Mu added cautiously, setting a condition.

Lin Que thought for a moment and agreed, “Yes, sometimes it’s important to consider intentions, and they aren’t always bad.”

Li Mu didn’t quite understand Lin Que’s meaning until the end of the month. She was thinking about what to give Li Yunxi for her birthday and was troubled by it. Lin Qiwu mentioned the crocheted bouquet Li Mu had given her last year and praised it, saying, “Sister-in-law, the lifelike flowers you gave me last year were so beautiful. I’ve never seen such craftsmanship. Could you give me another bouquet for my birthday this year?”

Li Mu repeated the key phrase, “Never seen?”

Lin Qiwu, not noticing anything unusual, generously praised her, “Yes, it’s unique. I’ve never seen anything like it outside. How did you come up with it? It’s amazing.”

Li Mu blinked and asked, “Do you have a white horse?”

Lin Qiwu replied, “Yes, it’s called Jiaguang. I always ride it in my archery class. It was a gift from my aunt on my tenth birthday. It was so small back then.”

Lin Qiwu’s tenth birthday was in September two years ago, but she had written in a letter that she got the foal in January last year.

“Qiwu,” Li Mu asked—

“The one writing letters to me wasn’t you?”