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Lin Ling nodded.

As soon as he left, Shi Changyuan returned to work mode. He summoned ministers from time to time, and the Imperial Study instantly became as busy as ever.

Sometimes, when Shi Changyuan privately spoke with certain ministers in the Imperial Study, many other officials gathered in the garden outside, chatting in small groups.

They had clearly divided themselves into several different factions.

Mushroom had no interest in that. He looked away and continued toward a quieter, more secluded garden.

The imperial palace was vast and maze-like. Afraid of getting lost, Lin Ling kept walking in a straight line, climbing over obstacles such as walls whenever he encountered them.

While walking off his meal, Lin Ling ran into several "colleagues." They were all lurking behind walls, spying on ministers conversing in the distance and recording every word they said.

"So you have to do this kind of work too."

Lin Ling ran into the familiar secret guard he had once crouched on the same roof beam with. Acting as though they were old friends, he squeezed in beside him behind a towering rockery, one dressed in black and the other in white.

The secret guard was startled. Lin Ling's white clothes were simply too conspicuous, and he was afraid Lin Ling would expose him.

Unexpectedly, although Lin Ling was not particularly intelligent, his qinggong and ability to conceal himself were quite good. Even among their elite group of secret guards, he would likely rank well.

The secret guard immediately saw Lin Ling in a new light.

Lin Ling proudly raised his tail. "Of course!"

After saying that, Lin Ling listened in on gossip with him. The two people meeting nearby seemed rather furtive, and they could vaguely hear an invitation along the lines of, "The South City Temple Fair—would you perhaps be willing to meet?"

The two of them immediately scribbled it down at the same time, but what they recorded was completely different.

What the secret guard recorded: Plotting something major!

What Lin Ling heard: South City Temple Fair!

Lin Ling had never seen a temple fair before, so he happily ran back to the Imperial Study. Once Shi Changyuan had some free time, he told him the news.

The secret guard had arrived one step ahead of Lin Ling to report to Shi Changyuan. He recounted the entire matter, including Lin Ling's appearance.

Shi Changyuan heard about the same incident twice, but Lin Ling's focus was completely different.

In Mushroom's telling, secretly plotting had turned into a private rendezvous.

...Did Mushroom even understand what a private rendezvous meant?

"What do you think?" Lin Ling's words pulled Shi Changyuan back from his thoughts.

"The temple fair?" Shi Changyuan's tone was unreadable.

Lin Ling nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes! I've never seen what a temple fair looks like. Have you? Do you want to go with me?"

"I have."

Shi Changyuan set down the memorial in his hand and looked at the youth before him. After a moment of silence, he said, "I cannot leave the palace lightly."

Lin Ling immediately became dejected.

"Why?" He looked at Shi Changyuan, unable to hide his curiosity. "Aren't you the ruler? Are there things even you can't do?"

Compared to calling him a ruler, when Lin Ling had still been a mushroom, he had more often heard people secretly curse Shi Changyuan as a willful tyrant. He had asked Old Turtle what that term meant.

"Of course."

"When the ruler of a nation leaves the palace, it generally causes a great commotion. Especially given the current situation, one small move could affect the whole."

Shi Changyuan's tone did not change in the slightest, as though it were only natural.

Though Lin Ling did not understand, neither Shi Changyuan's words nor his expression seemed to have anything to do with the term "willful."

"Alright."

Disappointed, Lin Ling lay sprawled across the desk and sighed. "Looks like there's no chance, then."

The Capital City normally had a curfew. A few days ago, the cheating scandal in the imperial examinations had implicated rebels, making everyone tense and on edge.

For this South City Temple Fair, the curfew had exceptionally been relaxed for one day. Nearly everyone in the Capital City went to join the festivities, and its scale suddenly grew several times larger than usual.

"What do you mean, there's no chance?" Shi Changyuan keenly sensed that Lin Ling's low spirits were unusual and pressed him for an answer.

"Hm...? I told you before." Lin Ling pushed himself up from the desk and propped up his head as he looked at Shi Changyuan.

"I'm planning to return to the deep mountains and old forests. I've already said goodbye to all my friends in the palace."

Lin Ling scratched his cheek, his expression serious. "I've already packed my belongings. I was originally going to leave this evening, but... I was just too curious, hehe."

Shi Changyuan's gaze darkened slightly.

The Mushroom before him had probably found life as a mushroom unbearably dull. Having seen the bustling mortal world for the first time, it was only natural for him to be curious and reluctant to leave.

"If there were no temple fair tonight, were you planning to leave just like that?"

Lin Ling hesitated before nodding. "I guess so. What's wrong?"

He shook his head, seemingly sensing that Shi Changyuan was unhappy. He reached out and patted his shoulder in consolation.

"Spirits naturally belong in the mountains and wilderness, while I'm just an accident. I don't know how my spores ended up falling onto your roof beam either."

"So don't be too sad. Partings are always unavoidable. Maybe we'll have a chance to meet again."

After Mushroom said that, he stood, stretched lazily, and turned to leave.

But just as he turned around, before he had even left the Imperial Study, Shi Changyuan spoke behind him. "Before you leave for good, don't you really want to see the temple fair?"

Lin Ling froze for a moment. Turning around, he saw that Shi Changyuan had also risen to his feet and walked to his side.

"Let's go."

Shi Changyuan said, "To avoid making a scene, we'll need to make some arrangements."

Lin Ling watched as Shi Changyuan merely called out a name, and a secret guard appeared. His build and features were almost fifty percent similar to Shi Changyuan's. Then the two entered a side hall at the same time to change clothes and disguise themselves.

When they emerged again, there was "Shi Changyuan" and someone entirely different from before. Standing side by side, they were almost flawless.