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Some transparent golden fuzz covered it, practically announcing in plain sight that it was poisonous.

Shi Changyuan reached out and gave it a pinch. It was as soft as he had imagined. His brows lifted slightly, and he smiled. "Just as I thought—plump and pale."

Caught off guard by the pinch, Lin Ling's stalk trembled, and his cap curled inward slightly, as though he were doing his utmost to avoid those wicked fingers. He looked utterly pitiful.

"Don't pinch me! You'll damage me."

Hearing that, Shi Changyuan gave an oh and continued fishing for information openly. "A Mushroom that has become a spirit can still be damaged?"

"Mushroom is a very fragile species to begin with." Lin Ling did not realize at all that he had exposed his own weakness. After returning to human form, the tips of his ears were still red with embarrassment.

"Fine, you've looked, and you've pinched me. When are you going to compensate me—"

Before he could finish, Lin Ling saw the ruler across from him smile, his tone perfectly matter-of-fact. "You did make a request, but I never agreed to it."

Lin Ling froze. Thinking back on their earlier conversation, it seemed as though the other man really might possibly not have agreed—

"Ah..."

The young man's round, dull eyes were full of disbelief. He hesitated, wanting to say something, but...

He really had not agreed.

No agreement meant it did not count.

Shi Changyuan watched the Mushroom before him, who practically had Could this be my fault? written across his face. He sighed silently. He was far too innocent, far too easy to deceive.

"Really easy to bully."

"You're bullying me?" Lin Ling was still half a beat slow to react. He looked at Shi Changyuan, trying to confirm it. "You did it on purpose?"

The spirit before him was weak, innocent, kind, inexperienced in the ways of the world, and completely incapable of protecting himself. He posed no threat to Shi Changyuan or Great Li. Shi Changyuan could obtain whatever he wanted from him without any effort at all.

"Not quite." Shi Changyuan gathered the chess pieces one by one, the smile fading from his face. The majesty of a sovereign showed plainly between his brows. "If I truly intended to bully someone, I'm afraid not even their bones would remain."

Although Lin Ling did not understand, he shuddered unconsciously. It was like an instinct for survival, telling him that the man before him was dangerous.

But instinct was instinct. Lin Ling understood the literal meaning of the words. He hooked one finger around the emperor's sleeve and said happily, "Then that means you weren't planning to bully me."

Shi Changyuan: ...

"What I mean is, all beneath heaven belongs to the king; thunder and rain alike are the sovereign's grace."

Do not push your luck.

After saying that, Shi Changyuan saw Lin Ling's blank eyes and seemingly empty head. He paused, then understood. "You're an illiterate Mushroom, too?"

Since ancient times, spirits born in a certain place were bound to share similar dispositions. The officials who came and went from the Imperial Study were all learned scholars and top scorers of the imperial examinations. Influenced by them day after day, Lin Ling truly should not have been unable to recognize a single character.

The Mushroom stammered as he tried to explain. "I-I'm just Mushroom."

He had been born in the study, not out in the mountains.

The Mushroom often worried anxiously that if he returned to the mountains, everyone else would be illiterate while he alone could read, and they would exclude him for it.

Shi Changyuan, upon learning what the Mushroom was thinking, did not know how to respond.

Innocent, easy to fool, unable to recognize a single character, like a child—Shi Changyuan felt that if he seriously argued with such a spirit, he would be the one at fault.

"Forget it. Tomorrow, I'll give you a flowerpot."

"Really? Yay!" Lin Ling jumped up and hugged Shi Changyuan. His slightly chubby cheek pressed against the emperor's jaw, soft and warm to the touch.

Shi Changyuan's temple throbbed sharply. Before he could even reprimand him for his "impertinence," the young man left with smiling eyes, waving as he went.

The dream changed as the young man departed. Shi Changyuan rose from beside the bed and unconsciously reached out to touch the place where the young man had pressed against him, but the soft warmth was already completely gone.

Forget it. The emperor lowered his hand.

He was only a Mushroom who knew nothing.

An emperor's word was gold. Since he had promised to compensate him with a flowerpot, he would certainly keep his promise. Though he could not remember what the Mushroom's flowerpot looked like, returning an ordinary one at random would simply damage imperial dignity.

Just then, Southern Huai sent tribute. The emperor's gaze swept carelessly over the priceless offerings before settling on several sky-blue glazed flowerpots. After a moment, he swept his sleeve. "Put these in the Imperial Study."

Following Shi Changyuan's gaze, the chief eunuch looked at the flowerpots and asked hesitantly, "Your Majesty, should we plant something..."

"No need."

The several sky-blue glazed flowerpots were lined up in the most conspicuous place in the Imperial Study. After nightfall, a lamp was even lit nearby, for fear the Mushroom might fail to notice them.

But that ungrateful Mushroom broke his appointment.

Shi Changyuan's dream remained a barren wasteland. Until it was nearly time for morning court, nothing changed.

When the chief eunuch entered to attend him, he was shocked to see Shi Changyuan's gloomy expression. He immediately dropped to his knees, only daring to tremble as he rose after receiving permission.

"Your Majesty... did you not rest well?" the chief eunuch ventured.

Shi Changyuan turned his head slightly to look at him. After only a few breaths of silence, every eunuch in the room dropped to their knees with a rustle.

"Rise." Shi Changyuan straightened his cuff, his voice icy. "It was no different from usual."

Everyone keenly sensed the emperor's foul mood. Though they did not know why, they could only think that the sovereign's heart was unfathomable. They did not dare say another word, silently finished their tasks, and quickly withdrew.

News of the Son of Heaven's poor mood spread at once. Even during morning court, the ministers who quarreled all day lowered their voices, chose refined words, and maintained an atmosphere of perfect harmony.

Yet even after court, that gloomy mood did not ease.

Shi Changyuan sat in the Imperial Study reviewing memorials. Their contents gave him a headache, and when he looked up at the flowerpots in the center of the study, he felt even more stifled. "Shunde."