Chapter 3

"Your servant is here."

"Smash it."

"Forgive this servant's stupidity, Your Majesty, but what do you wish to have smashed?" The chief eunuch waiting nearby immediately knelt and begged forgiveness, awaiting more specific instructions from the emperor. Yet after a long while, no order came.

Silence spread through the study. At last, Shunde heard a light voice drift from behind the desk. "Leave."

That night, the emperor's dream remained barren.

Shi Changyuan was truly enraged this time. Just as he was about to order Shunde to throw the flowerpot out for good, the fresh scent of earth after rain suddenly filled the air, and his desolate dream began to change.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I'm back!"

The moment Lin Ling appeared, Shi Changyuan's entire dream brightened.

The young man appeared with an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to stand you up. I went to rescue my friend."

Feeling somewhat guilty, Lin Ling did not even dare sit down. Standing beside Shi Changyuan, he got straight to the point, his eyes sparkling as he asked, "Were those flowerpots in the middle of the room prepared for me?"

Shi Changyuan paused with a chess piece in hand and denied it. "No."

Lin Ling's eyes immediately dimmed.

After a moment of silence, Shi Changyuan spoke again. "They were tribute from Southern Huai, not prepared for you."

Lin Ling blinked, not quite understanding what the emperor meant. "Then... where are the flowerpots you planned to give me as compensation?"

Click.

The entire dream fell silent, leaving only the sound of chess pieces landing on the board. After they sat in mutual silence for the time it took an incense stick to burn, Shi Changyuan finally relented.

If it had been one of the clever people in his palace, they would have already honestly explained the whole story in perfect detail. Why would he need to question them word by word?

But what could he expect a mushroom to understand about reading the room?

"Go pick any one of those flowerpots."

After saying that, Shi Changyuan took the initiative to ask, "And tell me about that friend of yours. What sort of friend needed a mushroom to rescue him?"

Lin Ling nodded happily, then sat down before Shi Changyuan and briefly explained what had happened the day before.

"It was my turtle friend. He lives in the Imperial Garden. He crawled onto the rockery to bask in the sun, but someone caught him and nearly stewed him."

Shi Changyuan's hand paused slightly as he placed a piece, as though confirming something. "That Old Turtle in the Imperial Garden?"

Lin Ling hurriedly nodded. "You know him?"

"Of course. I will send someone to investigate."

At Shi Changyuan's words, Lin Ling's eyes lit up again. "Are you helping me?"

"No."

Shi Changyuan answered almost at the same time.

"The Imperial Garden bears the word 'imperial'; it represents the majesty of the Son of Heaven. Every blade of grass and every tree is tended by designated attendants. Other than me, no one may touch anything there lightly."

"Because it is the Imperial Garden." Shi Changyuan placed a black piece on the board and spoke slowly. "It belongs to the emperor."

"So... if something belongs to you, then aside from you, no one else can act rashly toward it?" Lin Ling did not understand the deeper meaning behind it. He could only think along the most superficial logic, trying to draw parallels.

"Of course."

Having received confirmation, Lin Ling grabbed the black chess piece Shi Changyuan had just placed. As if he had discovered a whole new world, he eagerly said, "Then if I grew in the imperial palace too, and someone wanted to pluck me and stew me into soup, would you protect me too?"

Shi Changyuan raised a brow, seemingly not expecting the question. The corner of his lips lifted slightly as his fingertips tapped the desk.

"Only things that belong to me can receive my protection."

"Do you belong to me?"

Chapter 3

"Um..."

Lin Ling actually considered the matter with great seriousness. He scratched his head, then stroked his chin before answering, "I suppose so."

"Although I'm not a citizen of Great Li, I am a Great Li mushroom."

Lin Ling's thought process was still easy to understand.

Great Li belonged to him, the emperor. Therefore, the mushrooms growing on Great Li's land naturally belonged to him as well.

Looking at the mushroom's earnest expression, Shi Changyuan said, "In that case, I will protect you from being stewed into soup."

Lin Ling's eyes immediately brightened. He reached out and patted the emperor on the shoulder, declaring as though they were sworn brothers, "Although lots of people secretly say bad things about you, from today onward, you're the best human ruler in my heart!"

Shi Changyuan immediately laughed softly at that.

At dawn, the palace attendants discovered that the emperor was in an exceptionally good mood. One of the sky-blue glazed fluted flowerpots in the center of the Imperial Study seemed to be missing.

"What kind was missing?"

Facing the trembling attendants, who kept kowtowing and begging forgiveness, Shi Changyuan waved a hand and granted them pardon.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it was the smallest one, about a palm's width across."

After learning this, Shi Changyuan looked at the pile of sky-blue glazed fluted flowerpots and merely murmured, "At least he isn't greedy," before ordering the rest removed.

The next day, the palace attendants discovered that the emperor was in a bad mood again. His face was dark, and he sneered repeatedly. They came to deeply understand what it meant to serve a ruler as one would serve a tiger.

Shi Changyuan also came to deeply understand that a mushroom's mouth was a demon that beguiled humans. The day before, he had spoken sweetly and coaxed so cleverly, but after getting the flowerpot, he had vanished without a trace for several days.

"Your Majesty, the weather is fine today, and the flowers in the Imperial Garden are blooming splendidly." The chief eunuch boldly suggested, "Perhaps..."

The moment Shi Changyuan heard the words "Imperial Garden," he remembered something. "Shunde, fish the Old Turtle out of the Imperial Garden for me."

"Old Turtle?"

The chief eunuch took a moment to react, then immediately thought of the Old Turtle that had lived through several dynasties. Just as a question arose in his mind, he met Shi Changyuan's gaze. He no longer dared ask another word and lowered his head to carry out the order.

Thus, when Lin Ling brought his flowerpot to show Old Tortoise, he discovered that Old Tortoise had been taken away again.

"What happened?"