Chapter 17

Lin Ling ingratiatingly tugged at Shi Changyuan's sleeve, then asked with a touch of righteous indignation, "Didn't I leave you a note?"

Shi Changyuan's expression did not change. "I didn't receive it."

Lin Ling froze for a moment and explained, "Maybe the wind blew it away... No, that's not right."

The clever Mushroom immediately looked suspicious. "Then how did you find me?"

Shi Changyuan immediately laughed.

"Is finding you really that difficult for me?"

Shi Changyuan pinched Mushroom's cheek, clearly not giving him a serious answer as he said half-jokingly, half-seriously, "Even if you were at the ends of the earth, I could still find you."

After saying that, Shi Changyuan looked at Shi Liuwan, the "culprit" who had abducted his Mushroom, and said bluntly, "This one time only."

"Come on. Return to the palace with me."

Lin Ling's collar was still in Shi Changyuan's hand, so he could only let the other man take him back.

Before leaving, Mushroom said goodbye to his friends. He waved. "Goodbye, Auntie. Goodbye, Miss Liu. I'm going back to the palace first."

Shi Liuwan said, "Goodbye, you poor little thing."

Lin Ling waited for quite a while, but Liu Xiangyu made no response. When he looked up, he saw that she seemed to be lost in thought, her face full of excitement as both hands tightly gripped the handles of her wheelchair, as though she could stand up the next second.

Lin Ling asked in confusion, "Miss Liu, what's wrong?"

Lin Ling called out to her, but it seemed useless. After spacing out for a long time, Liu Xiangyu suddenly fixed her burning gaze on Lin Ling and Shi Changyuan beside him, muttering to herself, "So this is the emperor's ration?"

"Eek! I've eaten it!"

Lin Ling: ...?

A question mark slowly appeared over Mushroom's head. Shi Changyuan also looked at her strangely, as though it was not her legs that were broken, but her brain.

Only then did Liu Xiangyu realize she had behaved improperly before the emperor. She hurriedly apologized, but Shi Changyuan ignored her and directly carried the mushroom spirit away.

Now it was the mushroom spirit's turn to panic. Even after he was carried onto the carriage, Shi Changyuan did not say another word.

Alone in the carriage, Lin Ling looked at Shi Changyuan, whose expression did not seem very good. He edged closer, then hooked his index finger around Shi Changyuan's.

"Don't be angry, okay?"

Shi Changyuan lowered his eyes to glance at Lin Ling's finger, his expression unchanged. "I'm not angry."

"Then why are you in a bad mood?" Lin Ling asked in confusion.

Shi Changyuan watched Lin Ling grow bolder and bolder, already daring to hold his hand and play with it. His eyes darkened.

If he wanted to seize the spirit before him and shelter him beneath his wings, he could not treat him as he would an ordinary person.

"I'm not in a bad mood." Shi Changyuan smiled, catching Lin Ling's troublesome finger in his backhand grip. He gradually tightened his hold until Lin Ling could not pull free even if he struggled.

As long as he could hold on to him, any method would do.

When Lin Ling saw his hand had been caught, he tried to struggle, but failed. So he simply let Shi Changyuan hold it.

He thought he had managed to muddle through the matter, but several days later, before Shi Liuwan left for the northern frontier, she delivered a letter on Liu Xiangyu's behalf.

[Young Master Lin, I hope this letter finds you well.]

Before Shi Changyuan returned from court, Lin Ling studied the letter alone for a long time, only able to guess at what she was trying to say.

She seemed to be asking how he had been lately, and how His Majesty had been lately. Most of the letter seemed to say that she had found new inspiration and had written a new storybook because of it.

As for the rest of the storybook-related content, Mushroom could not understand it at all.

For a little mushroom with limited literacy, this was simply a disaster! At that moment, Lin Ling finally realized how important it was to learn how to read.

So Lin Ling could only wait for Shi Changyuan to return from court, then gaze at him eagerly and wait for him to translate the letter.

Shi Changyuan looked at the letter in his hand and fell silent for a moment before saying, "She says she plans to write a new storybook, with the same original protagonist."

"But this time, she plans to write of real love, hatred, and entanglements. A new character will also appear: a handsome, kind-hearted young nobleman. The two may become romantically entangled, and she wants to know what you think."

Besides that, the letter went into great detail describing Liu Xiangyu's new character, including his appearance, height, and build. Every detail was meticulous, as though he were a real person.

Lin Ling went blank the moment he heard it. His first thought was—

Oh no. I shouldn't have let Shi Changyuan read this letter.

Had he discovered that Miss Liu was writing a storybook based on Shi Changyuan? After all, Shi Liuwan had said that this was an offense against imperial dignity and could result in punishment.

What was more, Miss Liu had actually invented a spouse for Shi Changyuan out of thin air—

He guiltily glanced at Shi Changyuan's expression and tentatively asked, "W-what do you think?"

Shi Changyuan looked at Lin Ling, who was hesitating and even asking him in return. He raised a brow and pointed out the key issue. "This romantic entanglement refers to...?"

Little Mushroom's eyes instantly went round.

Shi Changyuan smiled, his meaning unclear. "What, are you unhappy?"

The character described in the letter was far too specific. Anyone with eyes could tell at a glance that the new character was based on Lin Ling. This letter was probably a roundabout way of asking whether the person involved minded.

But not only could Mushroom not understand it, he was also slow-witted and had not realized it at all.

Hearing Shi Changyuan's seemingly sarcastic words, Lin Ling immediately shook his head and waved his hands. "No, no. If you don't like it, I'll go persuade her not to write it."

Shi Changyuan paused. "Why would I be angry?"

Lin Ling froze. How was he supposed to tell him that the character was based on him? Miss Liu had not only invented a lover for him out of thin air, but that lover would even be a male consort.

In other storybooks, this was the kind of setup that led to unbearable angst!