Married Thrice to Salted Fish

Chapter 52

In recent years, the emperor has grown close to the civil servants and guarded towards the military generals. These upright and honest men have long felt oppressed in their hearts. Most of them have candid, straightforward personalities. If it was one, they would never say two. The reason why they have endured until now was because General Gu, whom they admired, warned them to put the country and the people first, that they should put aside matters of their own honor and disgrace.

Now, the crown prince had gone far and beyond; unexpectedly keeping a surveillance over the commander general, restraining him. How could this possibly be tolerated? The military officers present took advantage of the wine to discuss the matter of forming a group to offer advice tomorrow. Lin Qingyu’s furrowed upon hearing it.

The brains of these military officers seemed to be focused solely on marching and fighting. They weren’t perceptive enough of court matters. They also didn’t understand the prudence of carefully weighing their words and watching their expressions. Rashly offering advise, he was afraid they might not even out-talk those civil officials close to the crown prince.

At this time, Xiao Jie interrupted them, laying bare the truth with a single remark, “But you’ve never won an argument against a civil official.”

The generals: “…”

Xiao Jie added, “Every time you would all get so angry that your face all the way to your neck would flush. None of you know how to hold back your words for very long.”

Lin Qingyu looked at Gu Fuzhou. The man still hadn’t said a word, his face was calm and serene. But Lin Qingyu kept feeling like the other actually wanted to say so much, he was almost bursting with it.

After some discussion, they finally decided to play it by ear. In short, they must save the commander general from utmost misery and return to him the respect and honor he deserved.

Early the next morning, General Wu dismounted at the gate of the palace, ready to attend court. He heard someone calling him, “General Wu.”

General Wu looked back and saw that it was the beautiful imperial physician he had seen at the Fourth Prince’s Mansion yesterday. The beautiful imperial physician was wearing the indigo-colored uniform of a civil official. He stood quietly by the side. That he was here on his own, relying on his own strength, raised his favorable opinion of this civil official.

General Wu drew back the corner of his lips in a smile and said simply, “Is Imperial Physician Lin looking for me?”

Lin Qingyu nodded. “Will the general still be offering advice regarding General Gu’s matter later in court?”

“I must.” General Wu said without the least hesitation, “I have made a promise with my brothers.”

“Then I ask that the general remember this. No matter what the civil officials say, you just have to use ‘And then; And so; Really? I don’t believe it. What you said is reasonable but I won’t listen.’… These are enough.” Lin Qingyu said , “Do not try to reason with them and pay no attention to what they say.”

“And then, And so, Is this true?…” General Wu slowly savored the taste and a smile blossomed on his suntanned face. “Wonderful! This is simply wonderful! This is sure to infuriate those old fogeys!”

Lin Qingyu smiled lightly, “This is what I learned from my deceased husband. I hope it may prove helpful to the general.”

Apart from Gu Fuzhou, the military official with the most prestige was Wu Guogong, who was nearly eighty years old. Wu Guogong once saved the life of the late emperor on the battlefield and was awarded the title of duke of the first rank. Wu Guogong had been enjoying retired life for many years. Hearing about Gu Fuzhou’s situation in the capital, he put on the precious sword bestowed to him by the late emperor and came out once again.