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Lin Ling nodded.

As soon as he left, Shi Changyuan returned to work mode. From time to time, he summoned various ministers, and the Imperial Study instantly became bustling again.

Sometimes, when Shi Changyuan spoke privately with certain ministers in the Imperial Study, many other officials gathered in the garden outside, talking in twos and threes.

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 confusing. Afraid of getting lost, Lin Ling kept walking in a straight line, climbing over any walls or other obstacles he encountered.

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

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

Lin Ling came across an old acquaintance, the hidden guard he had once crouched on the same roof beam with. Acting as though they were already familiar, he squeezed in beside him behind a towering rockery, one in black and one in white.

The hidden guard gave a start. Lin Ling's white clothes were far too conspicuous, and he feared Lin Ling would expose him.

To his surprise, although Lin Ling was not particularly bright, his qinggong and skill at concealing himself were quite impressive. Even among their batch of elite hidden guards, he should have ranked highly.

The hidden guard immediately began to see Lin Ling in a new light.

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

After saying that, Lin Ling listened to gossip with him. The two men meeting nearby seemed rather furtive, and they could vaguely hear an invitation like, "South City Temple Fair, perhaps we could speak there?"

The two of them immediately scribbled it down at the same time, but their records were completely different.

What the hidden guard recorded: Plotting something major!

What Lin Ling heard: South City Temple Fair!

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

The hidden guard had arrived before Lin Ling to report to Shi Changyuan. He recounted the entire matter, including Lin Ling's appearance.

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

In Mushroom's telling, secret plotting became a clandestine rendezvous.

...Did Mushroom even understand what a clandestine 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 vigorously. "Yes, yes! I've never seen what a temple fair is 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 young man before him. After a moment of silence, he said, "I cannot leave the palace lightly."

Lin Ling immediately grew dejected.

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

Compared to being 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 under the current circumstances, one small move can affect the whole situation."

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 matched the term "willful" in the least.

"All right."

Lin Ling lay disappointedly across the desk and sighed. "Then I guess there's no chance."

The Capital City normally had a curfew. In recent days, the examination fraud scandal had implicated rebels, making everyone tense and anxious.

For this South City Temple Fair, the curfew was exceptionally relaxed for one day. Nearly everyone in the Capital City went to join the festivities, and its scale suddenly expanded several times over.

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

"Hmm...? 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 packed my things already. 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 been bored out of his mind as a mushroom. Seeing 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, then nodded uncertainly. "I think so. Why?"

He tilted his head, seeming to sense that Shi Changyuan was unhappy. He reached out and patted Shi Changyuan's shoulder in consolation.

"Spirits naturally belong in the mountains and wilderness. I'm just an accident. I don't even know how my spores ended up on your roof beam."

"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 he had only just turned around and had not yet left the Imperial Study when Shi Changyuan spoke behind him. "Before you leave for good, do you really not want to see the temple fair?"

Lin Ling froze. Turning around, he saw Shi Changyuan had also risen and walked to his side.

"Let's go."

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

Lin Ling watched as Shi Changyuan merely called out a name, and a hidden guard appeared. His build and features were nearly fifty percent similar to Shi Changyuan's. Then the two of them entered the side hall 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.