Marrying Salted Fish

55

Faced with the emperor's urging for marriage, Gu Fuzhou could only perfunctorily evade the emperor's request. He said that he preferred the gentleness of Jiangnan women to the elegance of Beijing women; when the empress selected several Jiangnan ladies for him, he said that he loved the frankness of Northwest women the most.

Gu Fuzhou kept delaying until Zhu Yongxin came to Beijing. Zhu Yongxin was brought to Beijing by the soldiers of the General's Mansion. These soldiers were all very skilled and loyal to Gu Fuzhou, and were trustworthy.

Lin Qingyu and Gu Fuzhou met the butcher who could turn Shen Huaishi's life around at his house. Zhu Yongxin was in his thirties, plain-looking, and had a very low sense of presence. Ordinary people would forget him after just one look.

Zhu Yongxin was also a man who had experienced life and death. Even though he was forcibly brought to the capital, he remained neither arrogant nor humble when facing them, and even laughed out loud: "I didn't expect that a butcher like me would have a beauty and a general to see me off before I die. Not a loss, not a loss!"

"Death?" Gu Fuzhou sat on a large sandalwood chair with a cold expression, showing the temperament of a high-ranking official. "Why do you think you will die?"

Zhu Yongxin said nonchalantly: "The general brought me back to the capital from afar, wasn't it just for the matter of Tianjiying?"

Lin Qingyu said: "From your appearance, it seems that you have been ready to die. If so, you should have loyally sought to die for your master when the Heavenly Prison Gate was destroyed. Why are you running away?"

Zhu Yongxin's face changed: "How do you know I'm from Tianyumen!"

Lin Qingyu sneered, "Even if you don't die for your master, you can still stay in the Tianji Camp and wait for an opportunity to take revenge. It is said that all the people in the Tianyu Sect are deadly warriors. Now it seems that they are just that."

Zhu Yongxin burst into laughter: "Even the young master of Tianyumen has joined Tianjiying, what can I do alone!"

Gu Fuzhou said: "Shen Huaishi did not surrender to the enemy. He just believed the prince's words and thought that the Tianyu Sect was destroyed by the enemies in the martial arts world. He also thought that it was the prince who saved him."

Zhu Yongxin was stunned: "Are you serious?"

"I can arrange a meeting between you and Shen Huaishi." Lin Qingyu said, "He is now in the Tianji Camp and is a secret guard beside the prince. He can do much more than you can."

Zhu Yongxin wanted to tell Shen Huaishi the truth three years ago, and said without hesitation: "Okay, I would like to see the young master again and tell him the truth!"

"Tell him everything?" Lin Qingyu sneered, "What's the point of telling him the truth? Let him know that the culprit is the emperor, and that the prince was soft-hearted and regretted before taking action against the Tianyu Gate? You know your young master's character. Given his friendship with the prince, these few things can't affect him. I'm afraid that after listening to your so-called truth, he will be entangled and painful, and finally choose to let go and forgive, and continue to serve the Tianji Camp and the prince."

Gu Fuzhou looked at Lin Qingyu's radiant face and cold smile, and his heart suddenly burned with anger.

"You have to tell Shen Huaishi that all this has nothing to do with the emperor. It was Xiao Cheng who offered the lives of all the people in Tianyumen for the position of crown prince and to show his loyalty to the emperor." Lin Qingyu leaned over and whispered in Zhu Yongxin's ear, "This is the real truth, do you understand?"