Chapter 15

As a result, the dishes Lin Ling wanted to eat could not all be accommodated at once. Even the daily menu was already scheduled half a month ahead.

Still, the pastries and Imperial Cuisine really were delicious, QAQ.

Although Shi Changyuan had assigned Lin Ling an "enormous" task, he had not treated Mushroom harshly. Mushroom had even somehow learned to slack off and nap at the side, yet Shi Changyuan said nothing.

Lured by delicious food, after learning quite a few characters, little Mushroom became engrossed in all kinds of storybooks. Wildly imaginative tales were far more engaging than dull, difficult poetry and classics.

Some storybooks had too many words for Lin Ling to understand, so he had Qiu Fu buy him illustrated ones with fewer words but equally exciting stories.

At this point, Mushroom displayed an extraordinary talent for learning.

"Your Majesty, what does this character mean?" Lin Ling pointed at the character "鬓" in a line at the bottom of his picture book.

"It means hair by the cheeks." Shi Changyuan merely glanced over it, gave his answer, and returned to his work.

"What about this one?" Mushroom held out another character.

"Entwine."

"Um... then what do these two phrases mean? What are they doing?"

Limited by his level of literacy, Mushroom had to guess his way through the stories.

"What are you reading?" Shi Changyuan froze for a moment, then seemed to realize something. Frowning, he snatched away Mushroom's storybook.

Seeing that Shi Changyuan seemed interested as well, Lin Ling excitedly recounted the story to him. "It seems to be about a scholar and a fox spirit."

After Shi Changyuan skimmed through the story, just as he was about to sneer at its tired plot, his gaze fell on the part Lin Ling had been reading: "their ears and temples brushed together, entwined in lingering passion."

His expression remained unchanged as he closed the book. "Confiscated."

At the word "confiscated," Lin Ling immediately looked disappointed.

He tried to get back into studying, but it was completely hopeless.

Lin Ling stretched both hands forward, then slumped his upper body onto the desk and sighed. "I suddenly feel that it's perfectly normal for the scholar in the storybook to be unable to resist the fox spirit's temptations."

Mushroom's face was filled with resistance toward studying as he muttered softly, "Spending so much time reading every day, getting up early and going to bed late, not being allowed to go anywhere... that's so pitiful—"

"If it were me, I wouldn't be able to resist temptation either."

Before Lin Ling had even finished speaking, he felt someone seize the back of his neck.

A hand had gripped the throat of his fate.

He thought he had blocked Shi Changyuan from reviewing memorials again and tried to get up, but the hand on the back of his neck instantly applied pressure, pinning him down.

It was not particularly forceful, not painful, and did not even make breathing difficult, yet he could not sit back up.

Lin Ling wanted to raise his head and speak to Shi Changyuan, only to meet his eyes. They were beautiful, black as ink.

Shi Changyuan seemed to bend down. His long hair slipped forward and brushed Lin Ling's cheek, making it itch. Lin Ling wanted to turn his head away, but he could not move at all and could only keep fluttering his lashes.

He watched Shi Changyuan's face draw infinitely closer before him, the distance seeming far too small. Looking into Shi Changyuan's eyes, Lin Ling always felt they contained so many things that he could not help holding his breath.

"Heh."

Shi Changyuan seemed to give a cold laugh.

"What temptation could you not resist?"

Chapter 15

Lin Ling: QAQ

Though he did not understand, Mushroom's instincts told him that if he did not answer this question properly, he would probably become mushroom soup.

He looked at the person before him with pleading eyes. Unable to lie, and failing to muddle through by acting cute, he thought for a long while before he could only tell the truth. "Eating, drinking, and sleeping...?"

"And?"

"And?" Thinking Shi Changyuan was dissatisfied with his answer, Lin Ling carefully recalled the contents of the storybook, trying to find what other temptations the scholar had encountered.

Mushroom's newly grown brain whirred wildly before he attempted to summarize. "Um, looking at beautiful people?"

Shi Changyuan had only just loosened his hold when he heard that remark. His expression darkened at once, and his voice turned chilly. "Oh? Mushroom knows how to look at beautiful people?"

Startled, Lin Ling immediately sat upright and stared blankly at Shi Changyuan. Instinctively, he wanted to deny it. "I don't..."

Before Lin Ling could finish, Shi Changyuan pinched his lips and cut him off with a smiling expression.

"Why not tell me what kind of person counts as beautiful in Mushroom's eyes?"

Looking at Shi Changyuan, Lin Ling seemed extremely interested in the question. His eyes immediately lit up, and without caring that his lips were still being lightly pinched, he answered loudly, "You—"

As his lips opened and closed, the finger that had been pinching them slipped between Lin Ling's teeth. Mushroom instinctively held it between his teeth and gently gnawed at it.

Shi Changyuan raised an eyebrow, though it was unclear whether it was at the "Mushroom Bites People Incident" or Lin Ling's answer.

Lin Ling realized what he had done in an instant and hurriedly leaned back, moving away from Shi Changyuan's finger.

"You've learned bad habits."

Seeing Lin Ling's reaction, Shi Changyuan seemed to smile. His meaning unclear, he reached after him and held Lin Ling's chin with one hand. It was unknown which matter he meant—or perhaps both.

His finger gently pried open Lin Ling's mouth, revealing Mushroom's neat little white teeth, without even the slightest hint of sharp canines.

Just like his master, he looked entirely harmless.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bite you." Looking at the silent Shi Changyuan, Lin Ling tried to explain. "And I didn't use any force. Next time, I won't..."

Before Lin Ling could finish, Shi Changyuan lowered his hand and smiled with his eyes downcast. "I am not angry."

Mushroom could not quite understand how human emotions could change so quickly. They were strange, nothing like mushrooms, whose emotions were so stable.