novelraw Chapter 685 Shaving
Chapter 685 Shaving
Chapter 685 Shaving
Lin Kun hesitated for a moment. He felt that Zhu Yu was just a minor official, and although she was highly regarded, she was still a nobody and her words carried little weight. It would be pointless to talk to her about it.
But then I thought, this Chief Clerk Yu is much easier to talk to than the Imperial Censor. Maybe there's room for negotiation. Even if he can help persuade him to plead for leniency later, that would be good.
So he changed his mind and pleaded with Zhu Yu, "Chief Secretary Yu, I have offended you and the Censor in many ways before. I hope you will forgive my mistakes and not hold it against me."
"Young Master, I've watched you grow up, so I was indeed a bit out of my mind before and said some nonsense. Could you please put in a good word for me with the Imperial Censor and ask him to take me along as well?"
"This..." Zhu Yu looked at Lin Kun with some difficulty, "Guard Lin, your appearance... makes you quite easy to be recognized, doesn't it?"
More than a decade has passed. The other guards who remained in the manor have simply grown old, but they are probably not so old that their eyesight is failing or their memory is failing.
"If you go along looking like that... won't you be recognized immediately?"
Lin Kun was taken aback, touched his long beard, and turned to leave.
In no time at all, he was back. Zhu Yu was waiting for him at the door. From afar, she could see that Lin Kun's beard was gone, and the skin on his cheeks was still red, probably because he had just hurriedly shaved it clean.
"Guard Lin, what is this...?" Zhu Yu looked very surprised as he sized up Lin Kun, who was striding forward.
“Chief Secretary Yu, look at my appearance now. Compared to before, isn’t there a lot of difference? If I cover it up a little more, can I fool them?” Lin Kun circled around in front of Zhu Yu.
"This..." Zhu Yu looked at him with a troubled expression, thought for a moment, and then turned to look at the room. "Otherwise, you can let your young master take a look himself. If he thinks that you are not easily recognized like this, then it may be feasible."
Lin Kun thought about it and realized that this made sense. He wasn't very familiar with Chief Secretary Yu, so he couldn't really tell whether he had changed a lot or a little.
So he quickly nodded, stepped past Zhu Yudao's door, and knocked on the door: "Your Excellency, Young Master, I have something I want to report. Would it be convenient for you two to let me in to talk?"
After waiting for a while, Lu Qing's voice came from inside the door: "Come in."
Lin Kun hurriedly pushed open the door and went in, with Zhu Yu following behind him, her eyes full of interest.
Lin Kun entered the room and saw Lu Qing standing with his hands behind his back. At the table sat a thin-faced man who looked to be around thirty years old. He looked quite unfamiliar and wondered if he was someone under Situ Jing's command. After all, he hadn't bothered to get to know each of the hundred or so people who had arrived.
At this moment, his mind was even less on getting to know the other people. He only glanced briefly at the person's face before scanning the room again. He was surprised to find that there was only Lu Qing and the stranger there, and Chang Yu was nowhere to be seen.
He looked at Lu Qing with some uncertainty, then at Zhu Yu: "My lord... did my young master... leave earlier?"
"Guard Lin... seems a little different today." Lu Qing glanced at Lin Kun, not answering his question, but commenting instead. Lin Kun touched his smooth cheek, which he wasn't used to, and nodded with an embarrassed smile: "To be honest, Your Excellency, I was really worried about the young master traveling alone without anyone to look after him. Besides, I'm familiar with that place, so I wanted to go to the Prince Lan's residence with you."
Just now outside the door, Chief Secretary Yu reminded me that my appearance was too conspicuous and that I would be easily recognized by the old guards from the old mansion, so I shaved off my beard...
"Do you think I'm old enough to travel with you all?"
“Well…” Lu Qing frowned, glanced at Lin Kun, then turned to the unfamiliar man at the table and asked, “What do you think?”
The thin-faced man shook his head: "In my opinion, this alone is definitely not enough."
Lin Kun reluctantly shaved off his beard, which he had grown for many years. He was still a little heartbroken, but he endured it in order to protect the young master. However, now this complete stranger suddenly appeared out of nowhere and denied him as soon as he opened his mouth, which made him feel very unhappy.
But before he could react, he suddenly came to his senses—although the thin-faced man's appearance was completely unfamiliar, and he had never seen him before, the voice he had just heard was all too familiar…
"You...you..." Lin Kun looked at the man with some hesitation, took a few steps closer to examine his appearance carefully, and confirmed that his nose, eyebrows and eyes were all unfamiliar to her, but his eyes had an inexplicable familiarity.
"Uncle Lin, I thought you would recognize me right away." The thin-faced man, who had been trying to keep a straight face for a long time, finally couldn't hold back anymore and said to Lin Kun with a smile.
As soon as the address was uttered, Lin Kun immediately confirmed his earlier unsure guess: the person in front of him was indeed Chang Yu. His eyes widened, and he quickly moved closer to take a closer look.
Chang Yu's eyes are still the same familiar eyes, but his facial features have all changed.
"This...Young Master...what is this..." Lin Kun stared wide-eyed in surprise.
"It was the Imperial Censor who disguised me with a fake skin. Even you didn't recognize me just now, so I doubt anyone in the Lan Prince's mansion would recognize me either." Chang Yu smiled and took a few steps. "Even if some of them have seen me before, they were when I was a few years old. I look different now, both in age and appearance, so it's definitely safe."
Lin Kun was so surprised that Lu Qing had such a trick up her sleeve that she could hardly find her tongue and didn't know what to say. Her eyes were wide open as if she wanted to take a cow out of her head.
"Uncle Lin, don't just be surprised." Chang Yu was almost laughing out loud at Lin Kun's expression, but he managed to hold it in and quickly reminded him, "You've only shaved your beard, so you're probably still easily recognized. If you really want to be absolutely sure, you'll probably need the Imperial Censor's help."
Lin Kun then came to his senses and hurriedly ran to Lu Qing: "Your Excellency, please help me disguise myself so that I can go to the Prince Lan's mansion with the young master!"
“I had the same idea. I was worried that Guard Lin might be reluctant to shave off his beard, which might make things difficult. But now that you’ve taken care of it so readily, please have a seat.” Lu Qing nodded and gestured to a chair next to him.
[I'm asking here in case some of you might miss it.]
Yesterday, some readers left comments wanting to see a side story about Lu Zhang and Yan Shu, so I was curious to ask, what are your thoughts on them? Do you hope this couple ends up with a tragic ending or a happy ending?