Chapter 401: 401. Father’s love is like a landslide

Translator: 549690339

Upon learning that Su Liang was going to Huguo Temple, Ji Xiaoshu immediately said he wanted to go too, with a good reason, “My master’s wife has never taken me out to play!”

Gu Ling shook his head, “There is a serious matter. You need to go to class, practice your calligraphy well, and I’ll check it when I come back.”

Ji Xiaoshu turned and hugged Zhengzheng, “Big brother, please help me beg them!”

“Grandpa Lin is coming, and we have to take classes; we can’t go out to play.” Zhengzheng stressed the importance of studying. As a disciple of their Master and his wife, it would be shameful if he were not skillful enough.

Old Mu stayed at home to look after the children, and Gu Ling disguised himself as Qi Yan to accompany Su Liang. This time they were “fishing”; their opponent was strong, so they needed to be cautious.

Fortunately, Gu Xiaonuan was not so clingy anymore, both of them could leave as long as it didn’t take too long, she wouldn’t cry and make a fuss.

After feeding Gu Xiaonuan a meal, Su Liang rode out on her horse with Gu Ling following on his horse. He carried a basket in which two books were placed. These were the medical books she had once borrowed from the Scripture Pavilion in Huguo Temple. She had forgotten to return them due to an interruption, and today was the perfect opportunity to return them in an open and honest manner.

The two rode through the lively streets and bumped into Lu Yu, greeting him. Lu Yu said that he and Wan Hui would bring their youngest son to visit Zhengzheng at Su Mansion tomorrow. Although Zhengzheng used to stay at Su Mansion most of the time, he often went back home. But since Ji Xiaoshu arrived, Zhengzheng stopped going home and only visited his parents and younger brother every other day, leaving quickly.

Last time, Wan Hui joked that Zhengzheng might be treating his home as an inn. Zhengzheng replied that both were his homes, and he wanted them both.

At the foot of Huguo Temple’s mountain, Su Liang dismounted, “Qi Yan, how about you wait at the foot of the mountain? I’ll see the Abbot Master, return the books, and come back quickly.” Su Liang said.

Gu Ling shook his head, “The Marquis ordered me to follow the Master.”

“Alright then, let’s go.” Su Liang said and walked up.

Gu Ling tied up the horses, carried the basket, and followed half a step behind.

“I haven’t seen Little Monk Cheng Yun for a long time; I wonder how he is doing.” Su Liang chatted with Gu Ling.

Gu Ling replied, “He has returned to his original temple; he should be fine. When the Master goes to the north in the future, she will see him. Maybe Little Master Cheng Yun will come to the capital again; I remember he had a deep connection with Zhengzheng.”

“Yes, it was Gu Ling, Cheng Yun, and I who saved Zhengzheng together back then.” Su Liang smiled, “It has been two or three years in the blink of an eye. I am already a mother now; time flies fast. That little rascal Gu Nuannuan only clings to me when she is hungry; when she is not hungry, she clings to her dad.”

Gu Ling coughed lightly, “The Little Master is very smart.”

In fact, Su Liang was slandering Gu Xiaonuan on purpose so that anyone who might be following them could hear and think that Gu Ling was at home taking care of the child.

Gu Xiaonuan’s clinginess was very arbitrary, and it was difficult to tell who she depended on more between her parents.

As the two reached the mid-hill, they found an open stone platform with a wide view. Su Liang walked over and looked down at the capital city. The once towering city walls and grand imperial palace now appeared small like a model when viewed from a high place. Since learning about the existence of another transmigrator who possessed a portable space, many of Su Liang’s previous perceptions had also changed. She admitted that before this, although she had been cautious in her actions, she subconsciously believed that the combination of her and Gu Ling was invincible, mainly relying on Gu Ling. Now, she felt a great sense of crisis.

After admiring the scenery for a while, the two continued to walk up.

“Master, do you miss Little Master? Actually, it would be enough for me to return the books at Huguo Temple; there’s no need for the Master to make a trip personally.” Gu Ling said.

Su Liang shook her head, “I have borrowed these two medical books for a long time and forgot to return them. If I don’t apologize personally to the Abbot Master, it would be very impolite. The Master agreed to lend them to me in the first place, all because of Cheng Yun’s face.”

As Su Liang spoke, she looked up at the sky, “The weather today is not very good.”

This was a secret code she had agreed upon with Gu Ling to inquire whether someone was following them.

Gu Ling responded, “Maybe it will rain.”

This meant “someone is watching us.”

“Then let’s hurry.” Su Liang quickly scanned the lush pines and cypresses around them without stopping her steps.

However, even after they entered Huguo Temple, the assassin did not reveal themselves.

Su Liang whispered, “Perhaps they are waiting for me to come down the mountain to act.”

Gu Ling nodded slightly, and then accompanied Su Liang to meet the Abbot Master of Huguo Temple.

After returning the books, Su Liang said that since she had come to Huguo Temple, she would take the opportunity to visit the back mountain and enjoy the scenery.

The two went to the back mountain, and Su Liang walked to the edge of the cliff, “I’ll sit here for a while; Qi Yan, you go to the Vegetarian Hall and get some vegetarian dishes that Gu Ling likes. He will be very busy, and we won’t have time to come back.”

Gu Ling understood, watching Su Liang sit down on a rock, he turned and left.

The surrounding silence lasted only for a moment before Su Liang sensed someone coming!

She turned around and saw an elderly man wearing an iron mask, with a sword in his hand, rushing towards her with a murderous intent.

Fortunately, no explosives were used… this was Su Liang’s first thought at the moment.

Su Liang knew that in terms of Martial Arts, she could not compete with these old monsters, and this person might not be He Wei. According to their knowledge, after the first assassination attempt on Duanmu Chen failed, there were at least two other people in that group.

Only one appeared now, and Su Liang didn’t hesitate to pull out the nail gun she carried with her, aiming it at the old man’s brow!

Since everyone but He Wei were Death Soldiers, Su Liang intuitively thought that the person who came to kill her was not He Wei, but the one who was saved by He Wei that night. He Wei was their leader, and he wouldn’t make a move himself until the last moment, instead choosing to let others take the risk first.

The old man’s eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly dodge! Because Su Liang was right, he was the assassin who escaped that night and he knew how powerful the weapon in Su Liang’s hand was.

Su Liang’s eyes were calm, lowering the muzzle and pulling the trigger, hitting the old man’s right thigh.

She didn’t hit a critical point because the nails were smeared with a poison that would quickly paralyze a person’s body, allowing her to subdue her enemy while also keeping them alive.

Su Liang thought the old man would flee, but instead, he continued charging at her with a murderous look in his eyes, seemingly willing to give up his own life to take hers!

Today, Su Liang wasn’t disguised and this old man might recognize her face as resembling Mo Yan’s daughter. If that’s the case and he still chose to kill Su Liang, it would reveal that Gu Ling’s previous guess was correct: these highly skilled old men, loyal to Mo Yan, share the same goal and aren’t genuinely devoted to Mo Yan.

Su Liang fired again, and the old man fell to the ground in a nearby position, struggling to lift the sword in his hand but his arm fell weakly. The sword fell, its tip only half an inch away from Su Liang’s toes.

Then, Su Liang didn’t bother with the fallen old man, carefully watching her surroundings, waiting for their real target to appear.

About a quarter of an hour later, Gu Ling returned, shaking his head at Su Liang, indicating that there was no one else nearby.

Su Liang frowned and asked the old man on the ground, “Do you recognize me?”

The old man’s body was paralyzed, but his consciousness was still clear. He didn’t react to her words and just lay there silently.

“You have another accomplice, where is he?” Su Liang asked again, knowing that it was unlikely that she would get an answer.

As expected, a corpse soon appeared in front of Su Liang. Today’s operation could not be considered a complete success or failure.

He Wei was the key figure, and it didn’t matter if there were more or fewer Death Soldiers.

Gu Ling searched the assassin’s body and found three signal flares like the ones used by Madam Min, along with his sword, which were collected. Then, he dragged the body to the edge of the cliff and kicked it down.

Su Liang watched quietly, remembering something, “The huge rock that appeared here back then, was it a coincidence or someone’s doing?” Judging by the timeline, at that point Mo Yan already knew about Su Liang and suspected her of being a transmigrator. Was that rock Mo Yan’s doing, intending to provoke Duanmu Yi to attack Su Liang, thereby forcing Su Liang to retaliate, disrupting the previously harmonious relationship between the monarch and his subjects, and further testing her abilities?

Gu Ling shook his head, saying he couldn’t be certain, but it was worth suspecting Mo Yan.

The two quickly left Huguo Temple and went down the mountain, their horses were still grazing at the foot of the mountain, and they didn’t encounter any more trouble on the way back.

When they returned home, Lin Shuzhi had already finished teaching the two children and was taking a walk by the lake with Gu Xiaonuan in his arms. The children were sitting face to face by the window, writing seriously.

“Master,” Su Liang went over, and Lin Shuzhi handed Gu Xiaonuan to her.

Gu Xiaonuan kissed Su Liang happily, and Lin Shuzhi smiled and asked, “It’s rare for you to go out. Is everything all right?”

Indeed, since Su Liang became pregnant and returned home, she significantly reduced her time outdoors, and after giving birth, she even rarely went out.

“Nothing’s wrong. I’ve been meaning to return the two books I borrowed from the Scripture Pavilion of Huguo Temple, but kept forgetting. Today, I finally remembered and personally delivered them, also apologizing to the Abbot Master,” Su Liang said with a smile.

Lin Shuzhi chuckled, “Besides you, no one else reads those books. I think the Master won’t mind.”

Su Liang nodded, “Indeed, the Master said he had already forgotten.”

“Mother!” Ji Xiaoshu waved the brush in his hand to greet Su Liang.

Ink splashed from the brush on Zhengzheng’s face, he said with a resigned expression, “Xiaoshu! Focus on your work!”

“Eldest brother, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it,” Ji Xiaoshu realized he caused trouble and hurried to wipe Zhengzheng’s face.

“It’s fine; I’ll wash it off after we’re done writing,” Zhengzheng said.

Ji Xiaoshu grinned, “Then let’s take a bath together later!”

Zhengzheng agreed.

Then, Ji Xiaoshu was picked up by Gu Ling, and placed back in his original position.

“Master, would you like to take a bath with us later?” Ji Xiaoshu enthusiastically invited, “My dad used to take me with him all the time!”

Gu Ling shook his head, “No, you weren’t focusing. I’m giving you extra homework.”

Ji Xiaoshu let out a mournful cry and collapsed on the table.

After Lin Shuzhi left, Gu Ling changed her clothes and secretly went to Min family again. Min Rui was still in the same condition, half-dead, and no black mist appeared on his brow.

However, Gu Ling believed this didn’t indicate that Min Rui wouldn’t be killed within three days; it just meant there was no need for her to save him.

The Min family accepted Min Rui’s sudden stroke quite naturally. Firstly, Min Rui’s health had always been poor and not yet recovered; secondly, his wife and daughter abandoned him and ran away. If he had a fit of anger, it could lead to a complete collapse and cause such symptoms.

Min’s secretary originally planned to invite Su Liang or Gu Ling to treat Min Rui, but then he learned about the incident in the palace and that Gu Ling had become the Regent King.

Thinking that Gu Ling must be too busy, he dared not ask the Regent King to be the doctor for his criminal son, so he invited Imperial Physician Gao instead.

In the past two or three years, the stroke patients treated by Su Liang and Gu Ling, apart from Old Duke Qin and Situ Han, were familiar to all, including Imperial Physician Gao.

Thus, after examining Min Rui’s condition, Imperial Physician Gao felt that his stroke was different from that of Old Duke Qin. It was more similar to the already dead Wan Family’s master and Duanmu Yi, who was still alive.

As such, Imperial Physician Gao had a clue in his mind: Min Rui’s stroke was probably related to Gu Ling and Su Liang, rather than occurring naturally.

But this didn’t mean to Imperial Physician Gao that Gu Ling and Su Liang were wrong and intentionally harmed people. It only indicated that Min Rui was the one with the problem. It wouldn’t take such a method for Gu Ling and Su Liang to really want to kill Min Rui.

Therefore, Imperial Physician Gao did not say that he could cure Min Rui, nor did he say he couldn’t; he just said he would try his best. After prescribing medicine and administering acupuncture to Min Rui, he said he would come back the next day.

When Min’s secretary sent Imperial Physician Gao away, he quietly asked whether he knew the situation inside the palace.

Imperial Physician Gao showed no particular reaction. He just calmly said that since there was no summons from the palace, he didn’t know as he hadn’t been to the palace in recent days.

It was getting dark.

Gu Ling did not stay at the Min Mansion. After checking on Min Rui’s condition, she went back. A pile of yet-to-be-checked memorials was sent from the palace. Gu Ling dealt with them in the afternoon and had them taken away.

The dinner was prepared by Gu Ling and Su Liang. As the two cooked and continued sorting out the recently obtained information, they used their imagination to guess about Mo Yan’s background and motives. If they considered all aspects, they might guess some facts, at least being prepared mentally.

Before dinner, Gu Ling checked the writing of the two disciples that day. Although Ji Xiaoshu was naughty and mischievous, he was quite talented in reading and writing, and he was not worse than Zhengzheng.

“Master, when will we catch tadpoles?” Ji Xiaoshu asked.

Gu Ling handed them a chicken leg each, “Wait till I have time.”

“When will Master have time?” Ji Xiaoshu asked again.

Gu Ling replied, “Tomorrow.”

Ji Xiaoshu cheered, “Great!”

Su Liang thought, “Tomorrow and tomorrow, Gu Ling is definitely fooling the child…”

At night, Gu Ling left her house again before and after midnight, going to the Min Mansion. Finding no movement there, she went to the palace.

As Duanmu Chen was suffocating in the Library Pavilion, he couldn’t light the lantern for fear of attracting enemies. While he was tossing and turning in bed, he suddenly saw a dark shadow beside his bed and was immediately frightened, “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” Gu Ling spoke.

Duanmu Chen sat up, patting his chest, “Gu, can’t you stop scaring people like this?”

“Please come here, Your Majesty,” Gu Ling said, turning and walking to the window.

Duanmu Chen was somewhat puzzled but still quickly put on his shoes, got out of bed, and walked to Gu Ling’s side to look out, “What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you foresaw an explosion at other places in the palace.”

Instead, Gu Ling looked back at Duanmu Chen’s brow under the moonlight, and the black mist had disappeared. Did this mean that He Wei temporarily gave up killing Su Liang and left the capital?

“What are you looking at?” Duanmu Chen was feeling strange, “Are you predicting my fortune?” Nowadays, he was not particular about “Your Majesty” and “I” in front of Gu Ling.

Gu Ling nodded, “Your Majesty can live a long life.”

Duanmu Chen rolled his eyes, “You’ve been really strange lately… Does Su Liang know about this?”

“She likes me this way,” Gu Ling replied. The disappearance of the black mist on Duanmu Chen’s brow was a good sign.

Duanmu Chen sighed, “Can’t I leave the Library Pavilion yet?”

“Just wait a bit more. With so many books, the Emperor can read them slowly.” Gu Ling said.

Duanmu Chen snorted lightly, “You might as well be the Emperor.”

Gu Ling shook his head, “Too tiring, I wouldn’t have time to accompany Su Liang and Nuannuan.”

Duanmu Chen:…He couldn’t tell for a moment whether he was using Gu Ling or Gu Ling was using him.

Gu Ling guessed what Duanmu Chen was thinking and said indifferently with four words, “Pleasant cooperation.”

No one can say who is the tool… Duanmu Chen wants the imperial throne, Gu Ling wants freedom, each taking what they need, and they have already reached a tacit understanding through a long period of running-in.

After seeing Duanmu Chen, Gu Ling left the palace and went home. He saw that the first floor of Yuanming Pavilion was lit, and as he entered, he saw Lin Bojun was there, talking to Su Liang.

“Second Brother Lin has found something.” Su Liang said to Gu Ling, “You go out of town with him and take a look. It might be He Wei’s hiding place recently.”

Since the first assassination, Gu Ling had Lin Bojun arrange people to search openly and secretly investigate the recent newcomers to the capital city and vacant houses, but it had yielded nothing.

Yesterday, Gu Ling asked Lin Bojun to turn the search to the city’s outskirts, pay close attention to valleys and caves, and expand the scope, but he must be careful.

Lin Bojun knew he was looking for the hideout of the assassin group and made meticulous arrangements in and out of the capital city.

Not until tonight was a place found that matched Gu Ling’s description.

“There are traces of an explosion.” Su Liang said. However, since the location was hidden, it had not been discovered before.

“No one is there, but bloodstains.” Lin Bojun added.

Su Liang continued, “If He Wei accidentally blew himself up while making explosives, that would be great.” After all, He Wei hadn’t gone into the imperial palace to find Duanmu Chen, and he didn’t find Min Rui, nor did he show up to kill Su Liang, which was somewhat abnormal.

Gu Ling let Su Liang wait at home and followed Lin Bojun out of the city to the newly discovered location.

It wasn’t near Wangxiang Mountain, because at the foot of Wangxiang Mountain was the City Guard Army camp, but it was in a mountain range further away from the capital city.

When Gu Ling arrived, the soldiers held torches, and he saw a cave in a rock wall.

The entrance of the cave was blackened, with traces of burning.

Lin Bojun let Gu Ling look at a tree outside the cave. The trunk was stained with dried blood, and there were some traces on the ground. From this, it can be inferred that an injured person had once leaned against the tree and left bloodstains on it.

“They might have gone that way.” Lin Bojun pointed at the dark woods, “Some bloodstains were found inside.”

Gu Ling examined the cave inside and out and felt that Su Liang might have guessed correctly. Except for He Wei, everyone else who had appeared in the group had died, and those who were dead did not have any injuries when they took action.

He Wei was hiding here, needing to eat and make explosives. He might not light a fire, but he might too. Perhaps after bombing the palace, He Wei hid here and planned to make a grenade-like weapon to kill Su Liang, but he failed and exploded himself? After all, the skill was very complex, definitely taught by Mo Yan, and what He Wei used before might have been made by Mo Yan. He Wei thought he could do it, but he actually wasn’t very skilled?

“Aling?” Lin Bojun patted Gu Ling’s shoulder, “What’s wrong with you?”

Gu Ling shook his head, looked around again, “Nothing. Let them put out all the torches, leave here first, and not enter the cave. I will come back to check during the day.” There might still be residual explosives inside, which would be very dangerous. Even if He Wei was really injured, since he could still escape, he would still be a very dangerous existence.

Gu Ling returned home after sending Lin Bojun back to the palace.

“How is it?” Su Liang hadn’t slept yet.

Gu Ling hugged her, “You might have guessed right.”

Su Liang smiled, “Although I’m not sure, I still think today is a good day.”

“Yeah, let’s celebrate.” Gu Ling hinted.

Su Liang coughed lightly, “Aren’t you going to take a bath after coming back from outside?”

“Let’s take it together.” Gu Ling pulled Su Liang out, leaving sleeping Gu Xiaonuan in the room. It was not appropriate to make noise in the house next door that had a master and disciple, so they occasionally went to another courtyard in the residence to take baths and sleep.

“What if your daughter wakes up?” Su Liang said, not stopping. They’ve been really tired lately, and with the crisis temporarily resolved, it was worth relaxing a bit to relieve fatigue.

Gu Ling said calmly, “She will cry.” Once she cried, someone would come from next door to take care of her.

Su Liang coughed lightly, “Fatherly love is like a mountain…landslide.”