Chapter 7

That would have been one thing, but—

This mushroom seemed to have grown an extra ring of normally shaped gills, making it look exactly like bowl-cut bangs at first glance.

"What a cute shape!" Lin Ling's eyes lit up, clearly delighted. Cute?

Hearing that, Shi Changyuan looked at the oddly shaped mushroom again and, for the first time, questioned the aesthetic sense of spirits.

After all, as a spirit capable of bewitching people, it ought to have looked appealing by human standards no matter what.

Sensing Shi Changyuan's silence, Lin Ling scooped up the flowerpot and held it before him, stubbornly asking again, "Don't you think it looks good?"

Shi Changyuan looked away. "...I do."

Mushroom did not understand what it meant to say one thing and mean another. He looked at Shi Changyuan's utterly unashamed expression, then at the fungus in his hand. Though it seemed strange, he hesitantly chose to believe the human's nonsense.

"It really is very cute."

Holding the flowerpot, Lin Ling found a little corner in the Imperial Study and sat down, placing it on his lap. He admired the newly grown fungus with great focus, occasionally reaching out to poke its cap. He looked utterly well-behaved.

Meanwhile, Shi Changyuan reviewed memorials beside him. The two spent the entire day in peace, without disturbing one another.

Ever since meeting Lin Ling, Shi Changyuan had seen him as an overly lively spirit. This was the first time he had sensed the qualities of a mushroom in him.

Quiet, worry-free, capable of staying in one place for a very, very long time. Whenever Shi Changyuan was so angered by nonsensical memorials that he could barely restrain himself, he only had to turn his head to see the young man beside him, eyes curved in a smile as he swayed his head.

Just looking at him made even the strongest emotions quietly subside.

Shi Changyuan suddenly felt that this mushroom was perfectly suited to keeping him company while he reviewed memorials.

Yet this mushroom clearly was not the quiet sort. If he had truly been a young master raised by a great aristocratic family, he would likely have relied on his favor to run wild and lawless.

Shi Changyuan set down his brush and looked at the mushroom behind him. Suddenly curious about Mushroom's former life, he asked, "Did you often do this before?"

It took Lin Ling several seconds to realize Shi Changyuan was speaking to him. Tilting his head, he asked, "Do what?"

Shi Changyuan twirled a slightly raised lock of Lin Ling's hair. "Space out."

"Mm, I suppose." Lin Ling let Shi Changyuan knead him as he thought back. "Other than spacing out, I slept a lot. Sometimes I would lift the roof tiles and secretly bask in the moonlight."

"After all, mushrooms do not have much else to do."

Shi Changyuan nodded. "No wonder."

"No wonder?" Lin Ling immediately grew curious, blinking as he waited for him to continue.

Shi Changyuan's hand moved from Lin Ling's hair to his face, where he gave it a pinch. "No wonder the Imperial Study always leaked for no reason."

Lin Ling: !!!!!

Seeing Lin Ling's eyes widen at once, filled with guilt and panic, what was there left for Shi Changyuan to misunderstand?

Amusement flashed through his eyes as he deliberately asked, "Do you know how much trouble you caused?"

"All the memorials on the desk had their writing blurred, and quite a few documents had to be copied again." Though none of them had been important, and he was not the one who had needed to recopy them.

He had lifted the tiles to bask in the moonlight, only for it to rain in the middle of the night. Mushroom had clearly been unlucky too. But what did Mushroom know?

Hearing that, Lin Ling shrank his neck, his face full of guilt.

He softly defended himself, "Wasn't I planning to switch to a flowerpot and move myself out?"

"Who knew you would smash my flowerpot right away?"

At the mention of the flowerpot, Lin Ling even gave a little "hmph," subtly expressing his dissatisfaction.

Shi Changyuan looked at Lin Ling and smiled. His fingertip tapped the flowerpot in Lin Ling's arms, indicating it. "I compensated you for it."

"You're strict with others and lenient with yourself?"

The illiterate Mushroom froze blankly for a moment. He looked at the human ruler whose lips remained faintly curved upward. "What does that mean?"

The smile on Shi Changyuan's lips deepened. "It means..."

"You're a bad mushroom."

"Bad mushroom?!"

Lin Ling had never faced such an accusation before. He was so shocked that he could barely speak.

He looked at Shi Changyuan before him, racking his brains to prove that he was not a bad mushroom.

But everything Shi Changyuan had said was the truth. He had neither lied nor distorted the facts.

Unable to think of any way to prove himself, he could only lower his head dejectedly and admit it. Then, as a pitiful Mushroom Spirit with not a penny to his name, he asked the emperor who possessed all under heaven—

"Then, then what do I need to compensate you with?"

Lin Ling lowered his head and thought for a long time, looking troubled. "I just feel like you lack nothing."

Shi Changyuan slightly raised his eyes and reached out to pinch Mushroom's cheek again. "I lack nothing."

Having received his confirmation, Lin Ling looked even more troubled. Watching him, Shi Changyuan chuckled. "Put it on credit for now. I will not make things difficult for you."

The moment Lin Ling heard that, his eyes sparkled, and he repeatedly called Shi Changyuan a "good person."

It was the first time Shi Changyuan had received a good person card. He paused for a moment before a shadow guard suddenly appeared in the Imperial Study.

Watching the palace attendant who had suddenly departed, Lin Ling was somewhat puzzled. Then he heard Shi Changyuan sigh softly beside his ear. "I am hardly a good person."

The shadow guard, kneeling on one knee, presented a secret letter.

"Every official implicated in the examination fraud case has been thoroughly investigated. The spies we captured have also been made to talk. There are some connections between the two."

Though Lin Ling understood nothing at all, he keenly sensed that Shi Changyuan was angry—very angry. So he silently hugged the flowerpot in his arms tighter.

But Shi Changyuan did not smash anything on the desk. He merely gave a cold laugh and held the secret letter over the candle flame until it burned to ash.