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 at first glance exactly like bowl-cut bangs.

"What a cute shape!"

Lin Ling's eyes lit up, and he seemed delighted.

Cute?

Hearing that, Shi Changyuan looked at the oddly shaped mushroom again and, for the first time, questioned a spirit creature's sense of beauty.

After all, as a spirit creature capable of bewitching people's hearts, it ought to conform to human aesthetics no matter what.

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

Shi Changyuan looked away. "...No."

Mushrooms did not understand what it meant to say one thing and mean another. Lin Ling looked at Shi Changyuan's utterly unashamed expression, then at the fungus in his hands. Though he found it a little strange, he hesitantly chose to believe the human's nonsense.

"It really is cute."

Holding the flowerpot, Lin Ling found a small corner in the imperial study and sat down. He placed it on his lap and admired the newly sprouted fungus with great focus, occasionally reaching out to poke its cap. He looked exceptionally well-behaved.

Meanwhile, Shi Changyuan reviewed memorials beside him. The two spent the entire day in peace, neither disturbing the other.

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

Quiet, worry-free, able to stay in one spot for a very, very long time. Whenever some incomprehensible memorial angered Shi Changyuan to the point that he could barely suppress his emotions, all he had to do was turn his head to see the young man beside him, smiling with curved eyes and swaying his head from side to side.

Just looking at him made even the strongest emotions subside without him realizing it.

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

But this mushroom was clearly not the quiet sort. If he truly had been some young master raised by a prestigious family, he would probably have climbed onto the roof and torn off tiles by now, relying on favor to run wild without restraint.

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

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

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

"Mm, I suppose." Letting Shi Changyuan rub his head as he pleased, Lin Ling thought back. "Besides spacing out, I slept a lot. Sometimes I'd lift the roof tiles and secretly bask in the moonlight."

"After all, mushrooms don't 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, and he gave it a pinch. "No wonder the imperial study always leaked for no reason before."

Lin Ling: !!!!!

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

A teasing glint flashed through his eyes as he deliberately said, "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 were important, and he was not the one who had to recopy them.

He had lifted the tiles to bask in the moonlight, only for it to rain in the middle of the night. The mushroom had been unlucky too. But how was a mushroom supposed to know?

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

He defended himself in a small voice. "Wasn't I planning to switch to a flowerpot and move myself out?"

"Who knew you'd 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 in indication. "I compensated you for it."

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

The illiterate mushroom blanked out for a moment. He looked at the human ruler whose lips remained slightly upturned. "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 received such an accusation before. He was so shocked that he could barely speak.

Looking at Shi Changyuan before him, he racked his brains, trying to prove that he was not a bad mushroom.

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

Unable to think of any way to prove himself, he could only admit it dejectedly. Then, like a pitiful mushroom spirit without a penny to his name, he asked the emperor who possessed the realm before him—

"Then... then what should I compensate you with?"

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

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

Receiving his confirmation, Lin Ling looked even more troubled. Shi Changyuan looked at him and chuckled. "You can owe me for now. I won't make things difficult for you."

At once, Lin Ling's eyes sparkled. He called Shi Changyuan a "good person."

It was the first time Shi Changyuan had been given a good-person card. He paused for a moment before a shadow guard suddenly appeared in the imperial study.

Watching the palace servant who had suddenly appeared, Lin Ling was confused. Then he heard Shi Changyuan sigh softly beside his ear. "I'm hardly a good person."

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

"We have thoroughly investigated all officials implicated in the cheating case. We have also forced the captured spies to talk. There are some connections between the two."

Though Lin Ling understood none of it, he keenly sensed that Shi Changyuan was angry—very angry. 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 before holding the secret letter over the candle flame and burning it to ashes.