Page 19

"It was definitely possible!"

Lin Ling flipped off the bed at once, craned his head as he paced around the room for a while, then leaped up onto the thickest, straightest, prettiest roof beam.

Lin Ling sat on the beam, looking down at everyone in the room. In an instant, a familiar feeling washed over him.

With everyone watching, Lin Ling could not turn back into Mushroom. After thinking it over, he decided to lie down directly on top of it.

Mushroom slept very peacefully. He did not move at all, and even with a human-sized body, he definitely would not fall off.

Lin Ling thought this was only natural, but he nearly scared all the palace attendants out of their wits. They hurried to the Imperial Study and invited the Emperor over.

"Come down."

Shi Changyuan stood beneath the beam. His tone and expression carried a hint of helplessness, but he seemed to understand why Lin Ling had done this, so he did not ask anything. He merely said blandly, "Have you no sense of decorum?"

The moment Lin Ling saw Shi Changyuan from above, he poked his head over the beam. After hesitating for only a few seconds, he hugged the pillar and slid down with a swish, landing before him.

"How is that true?" Lin Ling looked at Shi Changyuan, his expression much more animated. "I just couldn't sleep."

Feeling Lin Ling's burning gaze, Shi Changyuan raised a hand and stroked the corner of his eye, chuckling softly. "So when you can't sleep, you climb onto the roof and tear off tiles?"

Mushroom did not understand the depth of human language and culture. He only felt that he had been slandered. He clenched his fists and corrected him, "I was moonbathing. I wasn't tearing off tiles."

"Fine." Shi Changyuan stopped teasing him and gently pushed Lin Ling back toward the bed, soothing him. "Go to sleep early. Tomorrow, I'll take you to see something nice."

"But..."

Before Lin Ling could finish, Shi Changyuan picked up the candleholder beside his bed and sat down at the table opposite the bed.

Outside the door, Shunde lowered his head and placed the bamboo slips he had been carrying onto the table before withdrawing and closing the door.

After sitting down, Shi Changyuan picked up the bamboo slips from the table and said to Lin Ling, "The problem might not be the bed. I'll stay here. You sleep."

Shi Changyuan's words seemed to carry an innate persuasiveness. Lin Ling barely questioned him before climbing back into bed and wrapping himself in the blankets.

The quilt on the bed immediately bulged into a little hill, with a narrow gap left at the side as he watched the figure across from him continue working.

"Then I'm going to sleep, okay?" Lin Ling asked quietly.

"Mm."

After Shi Changyuan answered, the room fell silent again, as though only the two of them breathing could be heard.

This was a novel experience Lin Ling had never had before. He lay in bed and found a comfortable position, but after only a few seconds, he could not help turning his face toward Shi Changyuan. In the dim light, he continued chatting idly, "Will you leave later?"

"That depends."

"Okay."

After asking, Lin Ling closed his eyes. Before long, he spoke again. "Then if you don't leave, are you going to sleep here too?"

As he spoke, he wriggled several inches farther inward while wrapped in the quilt, making a small empty space on his left.

"I made room for you."

Lin Ling patted the bedboards like a carp springing from water, trying to draw his attention. "If you get sleepy, you can lie here."

Shi Changyuan's attention had indeed been drawn. He sighed and lowered the bed curtains around Lin Ling, blocking some of the light. "Stop fussing and go to sleep."

Perhaps the words of a human ruler truly were convincing. Lin Ling soon drifted off drowsily, and when he opened his eyes the next day, daylight was already bright.

He looked at the space beside him. There was no sign that anyone had slept there.

"Young Master Lin is awake?"

A young eunuch stepped forward and placed the newly made clothes prepared long ago before Lin Ling as he relayed the Emperor's instructions.

"His Majesty said that after you change and wash up, you should go to the Imperial Study to find him."

"Okay." Lin Ling looked at the two sets of clothes by his bed. One was what he usually wore, while the one beside it looked somewhat exotic just from its colors alone, immediately catching his eye.

"His Majesty said these are clothes from North of the Frontier. Today, the general stationed at the Northern Frontier returned to the palace to report on his duties and brought back quite a bit of this fabric. His Majesty asked whether you might like it," the young eunuch explained from beside him.

From North of the Frontier? No wonder the colors were so different.

Lin Ling reached out to pick it up and examine it. The garment was rather thick, seemingly made from some sort of animal fur. It looked like clothing meant to prepare for winter.

The fabric of the inner garment felt very different too. Its texture looked quite coarse, yet it was unexpectedly comfortable.

The outfit also had decorations such as canine teeth, rubies, feathers, and bells. It looked very cool and handsome.

Mushroom was completely smitten.

"Can I wear this?" Lin Ling lifted the clothes, spread them out, and looked them over again as he asked.

"Th-this..." While the young eunuch was still considering it, Lin Ling picked up the clothes and began putting them on. After struggling with them for ages, however, he still could not figure them out.

Shi Changyuan learned that Lin Ling had awakened, but after waiting in the Imperial Study for a long time without seeing him, he got up and headed back. When he rounded the screen, he saw Lin Ling in a complete mess, loosely wrapped in layers of cloth.

Shi Changyuan could not help smiling. He peeled away layer after layer of fabric and brought Mushroom's head back into the world.

"The size is probably unsuitable." Shi Changyuan forcefully saved Mushroom's dignity. "I'll have someone alter it later."

Mushroom believed him completely. "So that's how it is. All right, then."

After Lin Ling changed back into his clothes, he followed Shi Changyuan out to broaden his horizons. After all, Shi Changyuan had said that many interesting things had been brought back from the Northern Frontier.

Lin Ling was a little mushroom with a strong curiosity. He would never get to see such a colorful variety of things elsewhere.

Only then did he belatedly realize the benefits of growing in the imperial palace.

Lin Ling followed Shi Changyuan to a side hall of the Golden Luan Hall. Everything brought back from court that morning had been temporarily placed there, specifically waiting for Lin Ling to come look at it.