Scum Gong Walks the Career Line in the Crematorium

Lin Hanchuan stood outside the window, not knowing how long he had been watching. When he saw Gu Shi noticing him, his gaze softened.

Following Gu Shi’s line of sight, Su Congyu also saw Lin Hanchuan. He raised an eyebrow, “At a time like this, you still have time to visit the child?”

Lin Hanchuan walked into the makeshift study, casually picked up a textbook, and said, “I’m done with my tasks.”

Su Congyu looked skeptical. Removing the chronic illness of a dynasty was not such a simple task.

Gu Shi, unaware of the turmoil behind the scenes, was just happy. He abandoned his studies and squeezed next to Lin Hanchuan, looking up at him with hopeful eyes, “Wangye, now that you’re done…”

Struggling to find the right words for a long time, Gu Shi finally stammered, “Can you come home for dinner?”

Since his birth, it seemed like Gu Shi never had a place to call home. Leaving the brothel, he wandered everywhere, staying in rundown temples outside the town and dilapidated houses on the mountains. Later, when he had some money, he rented a farmhouse… but none of these places was truly his home.

It was only in the Nanshan Mansion that Gu Shi first felt like he had a home.

From the Nanshan Mansion to the Regent King’s mansion in the capital, Gu Shi’s heart was restless during the journey. It wasn’t until he saw Lin Hanchuan that his fluttering heart finally settled.

Neither the Nanshan Mansion nor the Regent King’s mansion was his home. Home was where his family was.

Lin Hanchuan replied, “Yes.” He couldn’t help trembling when he saw Gu Shi’s eyelashes fluttering.

As he said those words, Gu Shi’s face lit up with joy and excitement.

Both of them were happy, but one person was not quite satisfied, “It’s still early. He hasn’t finished his lessons for today. Why talk about dinner?”

Lin Hanchuan looked at the book in his hand and hesitated for a moment.

Seeing that Lin Hanchuan was persuaded by Su Congyu, Gu Shi hurriedly said, “There’s so much to learn. If I don’t study today, I can do it tomorrow. Why rush it?” One can learn at any time, but it’s rare for the regent to come back. If he misses the chance, it’ll be a long time before they can see each other again.

“Balance work and rest,” Lin Hanchuan put down the book, solemnly saying, as if there were no ulterior motives, “If the student is too tired, they cannot study efficiently. Let him have a day off today.”

After hearing Lin Hanchuan’s words, Su Congyu had no choice. He turned around slowly, collected his teaching materials, and sighed, “The sea of learning knows no bounds, but he has many tomorrows. He’s slacking off like this, when will he be able to shoulder great responsibilities…”

Before he finished speaking, Su Congyu turned around to find that Gu Shi and Lin Hanchuan had already disappeared. He was left speechless, shaking his head in helplessness.

Gu Shi took advantage of Su Congyu’s turn and dragged Lin Hanchuan away. They left the courtyard, and only when they had put some distance between them and Su Congyu did their breaths finally slow down.

Lin Hanchuan was led by Gu Shi the whole time. Unable to hold back, he asked, “You don’t like Mister Su?”

Su Congyu was a famous scholar back then, more adaptable than those old Confucian scholars, and more suitable for teaching Gu Shi. That’s why Lin Hanchuan tried his best to bring Su Congyu back to the capital.

“Mr. Su is a good person!” Gu Shi quickly shook his head, explaining earnestly, “It’s just that… his lessons are too heavy.”

Gu Shi had never studied before; he had just recently learned to read and write his own name, and even reading books relied on guesswork. During this period, to avoid embarrassing Lin Hanchuan, he worked hard to study, but he only had so little time, and the results were not great.

Su Congyu, however, began teaching him using some difficult and obscure ancient texts, which often made Gu Shi feel drowsy. Once Gu Shi fell asleep, Su Congyu would wake him up without mercy, never taking it easy on him.

If anyone else dared to hit Gu Shi, he would have found a way to hit back, but this was Su Congyu, his teacher. Gu Shi understood the principle of respecting teachers and valuing education, like respecting his father and elders.

Over time, Gu Shi began to feel some fear towards Su Congyu.

Upon hearing these things, Lin Hanchuan couldn’t help but find it amusing. He comforted Gu Shi patiently, “I’ll talk to him about this matter and ask him to reduce your workload.”

Gu Shi, who had thought he would be scolded, widened his eyes and asked in astonishment, “Really?!”

“Would I lie to you?” Lin Hanchuan said with a smile.

Gu Shi looked at Lin Hanchuan with sparkling eyes, his eyebrows curved, and his gaze was sweet and admiring. He felt moved in his heart and said, “Your Highness, you are really kind.”

He knew that Su Congyu was not an ordinary person; being his teacher was all because of Lin Hanchuan’s status. Every time Gu Shi attended the class seriously, he never complained to Lin Hanchuan, no matter how hard it was. He didn’t expect that Lin Hanchuan would actually talk to Su Congyu on his behalf to find a way to reduce his workload.

Gu Shi’s appearance also stirred some emotions in Lin Hanchuan’s heart. He hesitated for a moment, deep in thought.

Learning in ancient times was not easy, partly because the path to promotion was narrow and almost monopolized by the noble families. Another reason was that ancient characters were complex, making it extremely difficult for commoners to study, unlike the noble families who had learned from childhood.

Take the book “Zizhi Tongjian” that Su Congyu was teaching Gu Shi, Lin Hanchuan just glanced at it and found it abstruse and difficult to understand.

After some consideration, Lin Hanchuan asked Gu Shi, “If the characters were simpler and less complex, would you find it easier to learn?”

“Of course!” Gu Shi blurted out, “There are still many characters I don’t recognize; I can only recognize half of them.”

After saying that, he smiled awkwardly.

The two of them, one freed from the heavy burden of study and the other taking a break from busy work, strolled leisurely in the garden, chatting aimlessly, with no particular destination, feeling extremely relaxed and content.

After dinner, Gu Shi looked reluctantly at Lin Hanchuan, reluctant to go back to his room and rest.

Lin Hanchuan also felt a bit reluctant, but he hardened his heart and urged, “Go back and rest. You still have to have a class with Mister Su tomorrow.”

Gu Shi didn’t move for a while, just lightly murmured, “You should also be careful in your usual work.”

He didn’t understand many things, but he knew that what Lin Hanchuan was doing was very dangerous.

During this time, Su Congyu had also taught him a lot about the matters between the young emperor and the regent king.

Su Congyu didn’t mention names when talking about these matters, but Gu Shi could infer who he was talking about.

Gu Shi was generally disliked, and many people hated him, but when he learned about the young emperor, he truly began to hate him. Besides hating, there was also hidden envy in his heart.

He envied the young emperor for receiving Lin Hanchuan’s wholehearted love and trust, and he resented that the young emperor didn’t appreciate it and turned around to throw the regent king into the dungeon using a baseless charge.

When Gu Shi realized that Lin Hanchuan was attempting to control the emperor, the first thought that crossed his mind was happiness.

All these complicated and subtle feelings piled up in his heart, and Gu Shi himself couldn’t sort them out, let alone others. Lin Hanchuan didn’t see Gu Shi’s thoughts; he comforted him for a while, and after a moment of silence, he cautiously probed, “If you were the young emperor, how would you treat me?”

“Me?” Gu Shi was a bit puzzled, but he followed Lin Hanchuan’s words and said, “If I were the emperor, I would definitely enfeoff1is a historical term used in feudal systems to grant land or a title as a fief to a vassal or a noble in exchange for loyalty, military service, or other duties. In feudal societies, the king or ruler would bestow land or estates to his loyal followers or nobles as a way to maintain their support and control over the territory. Wangye as a king with equal status and share the kingdom with you.”

Lin Hanchuan wasn’t surprised by his answer; instead, he felt it was as expected.

Gu Shi became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, “By then, when you read the memorials, I will be by your side. If someone scolds you, I will scold them back and not let anyone bully you…”

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but laugh, as if he had already lived such a life.

Lin Hanchuan was amused and patted Gu Shi, who was immersed in his beautiful dreams, “Alright, alright.”

Gu Shi finally stopped talking, feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

As he left, Gu Shi casually turned back and looked at Lin Hanchuan with a somewhat melancholic expression.

He knew that Lin Hanchuan was his biological father, but just now he had a dream where he was the emperor and Lin Hanchuan was the regent king with no blood relationship to him. Surprisingly, he felt quite happy.

Gu Shi thought that his reliance on and trust in Lin Hanchuan all came from their blood relationship. But now he was terrified to find that even if they had no blood ties and Lin Hanchuan was not his biological father, he still wanted to stay by his side.

Is this… also a form of family love? Gu Shi felt a bit scared, as if there was another kind of joy in his heart.

After watching Gu Shi return to his room, Lin Hanchuan also got up and walked out. When he reached the door, Su Congyu, who appeared out of nowhere, walked side by side with him, saying, “This child is very clever.”

If Gu Shi heard this praise, he would probably be flattered.

Su Congyu’s teaching was very strict; he rarely praised, but sometimes he would unintentionally say a word of praise when Gu Shi wasn’t aware of it.

“He is indeed clever.” Lin Hanchuan smiled with pride.

Su Congyu glanced at him and continued, “Now that you’ve torn your face with the young emperor, if you continue to ignore him and leave him alone, when he becomes strong, the first person he will eliminate is you.”

During this period, Lin Hanchuan not only handled the young emperor’s grandfather and family but also took the opportunity to clean up the entire court, removing all the people who were close to the young emperor, including the prominent officials.

In the entire purge plan, the court was almost half empty, and it had reached a point where everyone was self-preserving. Many people directly sought refuge with the young emperor, and he managed to gather a considerable number of talents through this opportunity.

“He won’t get that chance.” Lin Hanchuan’s eyes were cold, stating firmly.

The reason the young emperor Zhao Yuan was able to contend with Qi Changfeng was nothing more than relying on Qi Changfeng’s soft-heartedness. But Lin Hanchuan would never be soft-hearted.

Lin Hanchuan’s eyes narrowed, “After some time, you will be able to appear in front of people, and by then… the path I paved for him will also be laid out.”

Gu Shi yearned to acknowledge his roots and return to his family, and Lin Hanchuan would clear away all obstacles for him.

TL’s note: The misunderstanding continues HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA xD

1is a historical term used in feudal systems to grant land or a title as a fief to a vassal or a noble in exchange for loyalty, military service, or other duties. In feudal societies, the king or ruler would bestow land or estates to his loyal followers or nobles as a way to maintain their support and control over the territory.