Chapter 11

With a soft metallic click.

Shi Changyuan released Lin Ling from his embrace.

"All right." Shi Changyuan admired his handiwork, the corner of his lips lifting slightly as he murmured.

"Locked up."

Chapter 11

On the swaying carriage ride back to the palace, Lin Ling had worn himself out completely. Not long after sitting down, he closed his eyes.

When Lin Ling fell asleep, his consciousness fading entirely as he uncontrollably toppled to one side, Shi Changyuan caught him at once, gently laying him down with his head on his lap.

Looking at the youth sprawled across his legs, Shi Changyuan felt troubled for the first time.

From a very young age, he had known that power was useful.

Chosen as a hostage in the Cold Palace, then crawling out from piles of corpses, fighting across the land and unifying the realm for generations—it had all relied on struggle, on seizing, on methods that could hardly be called merciful or kind.

Even now, he still relied on fear and intimidation to suppress the remaining rebels and former officials plotting restoration.

But he realized that his usual methods seemed no longer workable. He could not exploit the youth's trust, coerce or entice him, seize him by force, and truly lock him away in the depths of the palace.

When it came to this matter, Shi Changyuan was even somewhat at a loss, able only to feel his way forward by instinct.

"Wake up."

By the time the carriage came to a complete stop, the driver had already left on his own. Shunde, having learned what was happening inside, wisely did not approach, leaving the two of them enough space.

"We're back at the palace."

Shi Changyuan called several times before Lin Ling finally reacted. He sat up groggily, rubbed his eyes, and stared dazedly out the carriage window. "Are we home?"

Seeing Lin Ling's sleepy appearance, Shi Changyuan felt as though something soft had poked his heart. Going along with his words, he said, "Mm. We're home."

Only after receiving Shi Changyuan's answer did Lin Ling slowly rise to get out of the carriage. But the moment he stood, the little trinkets on him began falling off with a clatter.

Lin Ling reached out to catch them, but he could not manage both ends at once. When he caught things on one side, things fell from the other.

"I'll help you."

"Okay, thank you!"

Shi Changyuan smiled and helped Lin Ling pick them up, but he kept them in his own hand rather than returning them.

Mushroom, who had held out his hand to take the things, froze.

"Where do you intend to put all these things?" Shi Changyuan asked with a smile at the corner of his lips, deliberately teasing him. "Are you planning to pile them all up on the narrow little beams of the Imperial Study?"

The question caught Lin Ling completely off guard.

Right, where was he going to put them?!

Holding his things, Lin Ling jumped out of the carriage and ran all the way to the Imperial Study, looking around—

The entire Imperial Study was already packed full, from the storage shelves to Shi Changyuan's desk.

With no other option, Lin Ling looked up at the ceiling, seeming to seriously consider whether he could really put all his little things on the rafters.

"You certainly dare to imagine it." Shi Changyuan followed behind Lin Ling and rejected the unreasonable request before Lin Ling could voice it.

Lin Ling immediately became dejected, even the corners of his eyes drooping. "Then, then I..."

"How about I give you a side hall?"

Lin Ling thought for a long while, somewhat hesitant. "N-no need to go to that much trouble, right?"

After all, even a side hall was far too large for a mushroom. Perhaps he only needed a small room... no, a small box would be enough.

"It's no trouble." Shi Changyuan looked at Lin Ling, his tone allowing no refusal. "It's empty anyway."

Hearing this, Shunde immediately understood which palace Shi Changyuan meant.

"Um... all right." Hearing Shi Changyuan say so, Lin Ling no longer insisted. He gathered up all his scattered little trinkets and followed at Shi Changyuan's side.

This palace was not far from the Imperial Study. It was practically the nearest sleeping palace.

It was lavishly decorated, entirely unlike anywhere Lin Ling had seen before.

Lin Ling looked up at the plaque before the courtyard. There were three characters, but he could not recognize a single one. He could only tell that the first character was especially complicated.

"This is Li'an Hall." Shi Changyuan followed behind Lin Ling, his gaze following Lin Ling's to the plaque.

"Li'an... okay, I'll remember it!" Lin Ling's eyes curved as he stepped inside.

Li'an Hall was large and empty. It was obvious no one had lived there for a long time, yet it contained everything one could need and had been cleaned thoroughly, as though it were waiting at any moment for someone to rest there.

Lin Ling looked around curiously, peering here and there. Mushroom did not recognize the materials or know how valuable anything was; he only felt that this palace was lavish to an excessive degree.

He always felt there was something unusual about this sleeping palace, so he quietly asked Shunde. But Shunde said that every palace had a different layout, and that this was perfectly normal.

Mushroom was skeptical, but he truly could not find anything wrong with it. So he casually chose a side hall that was shady, damp, and faced away from the sun, then carried his things inside.

At first, Lin Ling only tentatively piled all his belongings onto the table, but Shi Changyuan beside him seemed quite dissatisfied.

"Didn't you say you wanted to hang this sachet beside your bed?"

Lin Ling looked at the pinwheel Shi Changyuan had picked up and hesitated. "That was what I planned, but..."

Seeing Shi Changyuan's gaze, Lin Ling did not dare finish the rest.

Fine, Shi Changyuan had paid for them, so he got the final say.

Lin Ling took the sachet from Shi Changyuan's hand, then went around the screen to the bed curtains and hung it up.

But Mushroom had not expected this to be only the beginning.

Under the human ruler's compulsory demands, Lin Ling placed almost every little thing he had bought in the places he had previously imagined for them.

Looking at the utterly transformed room, Lin Ling suddenly felt as though it had been filled with his things and had completely become his own.