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"What if you need to use it along the way?"

Shi Changyuan imagined several scenarios for Mushroom. Since Mushroom could not read, he might stay at the Black Inn and get tricked here, then get tricked there.

"In the end, he might be deceived into going the opposite direction and wander farther and farther away."

As Lin Ling listened to the scenarios Shi Changyuan described, his expression gradually turned grave.

It seemed... that really could become a problem.

What was he supposed to do?

Shi Changyuan reached out and smoothed the furrow between Lin Ling's brows, coaxing him in a low voice. He was as bewitching as the fox demon a scholar might encounter on his way to the imperial examinations—more like a supernatural creature than Lin Ling himself.

He said, "Once you reach Kunlun Mountain, no one will know you came from the capital, or from the palace, unless you tell them."

"They certainly will not know that Mushroom can read."

Shi Changyuan delivered the final, most potent lure. "If you come study in the Imperial Study, you can dine with me every day."

Imperial Cuisine?! Lin Ling immediately perked up.

Faced with the temptation of food, Lin Ling's resolve did not last even three seconds.

"All right, your reasons convinced me." Lin Ling sighed helplessly.

He really was a little mushroom who was easily persuaded.

With this move, Shi Changyuan had not only tied Mushroom to the palace in one stroke, but also tied him to his own side.

Scholars had to rise early and work late. Before every court session, Shi Changyuan would first go to Lin Ling's room and pull Mushroom down from either his bed or the ceiling beams.

"Mm...?" Lin Ling was roused from sleep. Half-opening his eyes and seeing Shi Changyuan, he instinctively wrapped his arms around the other man's arm and acted spoiled, nuzzling around in his embrace. "Let Mushroom sleep a little longer."

Yet every time, Mushroom would be ruthlessly hauled up.

At first, Lin Ling thought Shi Changyuan had made a special trip from the Imperial Study to wake him before heading to court, so he felt too embarrassed to keep sleeping.

After all, the Imperial Study and Li'an Hall were still some distance apart.

No matter how sleepy he was, he would prop up his head and leave with Shi Changyuan, then obediently sit in the Imperial Study and doze off while waiting for Shi Changyuan to return from court and teach him to read.

It was not until that evening, when he discovered Shi Changyuan returning with him to Li'an Hall and living two rooms away from him—

"So you moved here just to wake me up?!" Lin Ling stood outside Shi Changyuan's door in disbelief, condemning this outrageous human behavior.

"Hmm?" Seeing that Lin Ling had finally caught on, Shi Changyuan shifted aside and let him look into the room. The furnishings made it obvious that it had been lived in for quite some time; it was not somewhere he had moved into temporarily.

"This has always been my bedchamber." Shi Changyuan looked at the youth before him, sounding perfectly justified.

Lin Ling nodded without giving it much thought. As long as Shi Changyuan was not deliberately bullying Mushroom, that was enough. As for everything else, when the Dao rose one foot, the devil rose ten—

The next day, when Shi Changyuan came to wake Mushroom again, Mushroom said he was already awake and told Shi Changyuan to go to court first. Once Shi Changyuan left, Lin Ling shut his eyes and lay back down. In the end, he only sprinted to the Imperial Study to take his place just before Shi Changyuan returned from court.

"Why were you not dozing off today?" Shi Changyuan clearly knew exactly what guilty thing this mushroom had done, yet he deliberately brought it up anyway.

Lin Ling had not spent enough time around humans and still did not know how to lie. He scratched his head, then scratched his face, stammering for ages without managing to come up with a reason.

"So foolish."

Shi Changyuan gently pinched the back of Lin Ling's neck. "How can you not even know how to lie?"

He smiled and taught him step by step. "You could tell me you had not rested well before, or say that you had overcome your laziness."

Lin Ling could not learn it. After thinking for a moment, he leaned against Shi Changyuan's arm and asked, "Can I use wanting to sleep in as my reason?"

Shi Changyuan nodded. "You can."

"Just learn these hundred characters."

Lin Ling looked at the copybook before him and immediately pulled his head away from Shi Changyuan's arm, like a heartless scoundrel tossing someone aside once he had gotten what he wanted.

He flipped through the copybook with a rustle, his eyes full of weary desolation.

"That is so many."

Lin Ling flung down the copybook in his hand and sprawled half his body across the desk, blocking Shi Changyuan from view. He looked very much like he was throwing a tantrum.

For several reasons, Shi Changyuan had not added another desk to the spacious Imperial Study. Instead, he had simply added a chair and let Lin Ling sit on his left.

In any case, such a tiny mushroom would not get in the way of anything.

The desk in the Imperial Study was large enough for two people to use, but that did not mean one person could lie on it and roll around.

Shi Changyuan looked at the mushroom trying to "make trouble without reason" and laughed in exasperation.

"Is it a lot?"

Shi Changyuan's tone barely changed, but to Lin Ling, it became chillingly terrifying. "If it is too much, then stop slacking off in the mornings and stop eating snacks. You will have plenty of time."

Lin Ling immediately scrambled upright, covered his ears, and refused to listen any longer.

He should go ask around—what mushroom slept less than eight shichen?

As for snacks, Lin Ling grew even angrier at the mention of them.

It was all because he had been too naive. He thought that if he got up early and followed behind Shi Changyuan, he would get to eat Imperial Cuisine. Instead, he discovered that not only did he have to wait until court ended, he also had to wait until the emperor finished speaking with the other ministers one by one.

By then, the sun was already high in the sky, and Mushroom was practically cold. He survived only because the kind-hearted Shunde prepared little pastries for him to tide him over and keep him alive.

"I will not scare you." Shi Changyuan reached out, pulled down the hand Lin Ling had used to cover his ear, and picked up his brush again.

"For every extra character you learn, you can add another dish."

At those words, Lin Ling abruptly raised his head. His eyes sparkled as he asked for confirmation, "Really?"

"Mm."

Lin Ling immediately became energized and began studying with determination.

Although Shi Changyuan was the human ruler, if there were too many dishes at one meal, people would gossip behind his back and say he was wasteful, extravagant, and indulgent.