Chapter 50 (1/2)

When Long Yinlian finished recounting his tales, he waited for the Emperor’s next request. No matter how hard it is, Long Yinlian was willing to do so as long as he can assure Lin Xiao’s safety. He was tense with worry and would occasionally fidget. This could be seen by the Emperor himself.

“Relax,” Qin Yijun said to Long Yinlian. “Zhen will not harm him. Did Zhen not say that before? Do you think Zhen will go back on his words?”

“No! I… Your humble subject wouldn’t dare,” Long Yinlian managed to correct himself before he made a big blunder.

“Was he happy?” Qin Yijun suddenly asked, taking Long Yinlian by surprise. Seeing that Long Yinlian didn’t answer, Qin Yijun thought that he wasn’t clear enough, so he repeated the question. “Was he happy? Did he ever experience any difficulties? Was there anyone who dared to bully him?”

Long Yinlian took a moment to understand what the Emperor was asking him. ‘It sounded like he is worried?’

“Well?” Qin Yijun pressed on.

“Ah, no… not at all,” Long Yinlian finally replied. “Everyone in the village likes him, and he is quite popular with the young maidens.”

As soon as the sentence left Long Yinlian’s lips, he suddenly felt as if the temperature around him had turned cold. It was only unfortunate that Long Yinlian was unable to see, or else, he would have understood the reason.

Qin Yijun’s expression had turned extremely cold, and his mood turned sour. It was only after he looked down at Lin Xiao’s face did he felt himself calm down. “So, he is popular with the young maidens… Did he welcome their advances?”

Somehow, Long Yinlian felt that he is currently threading on a dangerous road. He felt that if he were to give one wrong answer, the Emperor would be furious. “Your Majesty, Lin Xiao is still… young,” Long Yinlian answered.

“But by law, he is already at a marriageable age,” Qin Yijun replied.

“Yes, but Xiao-er is not like that. Even if he is chased, he would always politely reject them,” Long Yinlian said. “He said that he isn’t interested in having a family of his own. This humble subject thinks that Xiao-er is not lying whenever he said that, so one day, I went ahead and asked him about it.”

“Mmn. And then?”

“He said, whenever he thought of himself being with someone else… his heart becomes unsettled. He said that his heart couldn’t accept anyone else.”

At this, Qin Yijun’s eyes narrowed as several hypotheses run through his brain. “He couldn’t accept anyone else… does he already have someone in his heart?”

“This is something that only Xiao-er knows. He might have forgotten his past, but his heart probably still remembers…” Long Yinlian replied.

Qin Yijun nodded his head, satisfied with Long Yinlian’s answer. He was just about to say something when there was a movement from Lin Xiao. He held his breath and waited, his heart beating excitedly against his ribcage.

The lashes trembled as Lin Xiao finally opened his eyes. His unfocused gaze landed on Qin Yijun as soon as he woke up, and it took him a moment to register what he had just seen. When he finally realized who it was, Lin Xiao was stunned for a few seconds before finally rushing to get off the divan. His action was so quick that one would think that the divan is on fire.

“Xiao-er?” Long Yinlian, whose hearing is sensitive, could hear the movement made by his disciple. He called Lin Xiao out worriedly, wondering if something happened.

“Shizun,” Lin Xiao turned to Long Yinlian and breathed out a sigh of relief. Then, he came to another realization. He is somewhere unfamiliar. Everything around him looked priceless as if no amount of money would be able to buy them. “Shizun, where are we?” Lin Xiao asked as he warily looked around while walking towards Long Yinlian.

Qin Yijun, who was feeling ignored by Lin Xiao felt his mood plummet down to the dark abyss. His eyes followed Lin Xiao’s figure who is now settled to standing beside Long Yinlian. “You are at Zhen’s palace, Tianlong Palace.”

Lin Xiao heard the Emperor speak and he nervously looks over to the monarch. He saw that the Emperor appeared to be a bit displeased and thought back about what happened when he woke up. ‘I was hoping that it was only an illusion… that the Emperor was just a fragment of my imagination. But why are you talking, ah! Now I can’t pretend you’re not here!’ Lin Xiao thought to himself.

Lin Xiao didn’t speak afterwards, but Long Yinlian helped him understand their current situation. “Xiao-er, you fainted earlier, and His Majesty brought you to the palace to recuperate.”

“En. Zhen was worried about your condition, so Zhen brought you to Old Pan to look over,” Qin Yijun added. “Luckily, it is nothing serious.”

“I see…” Lin Xiao didn’t seem to believe what Qin Yijun said, but decided to play along since that was what Long Yinlian was saying. “Since there is nothing wrong, then… may Lin Xiao asked to be excused?” Lin Xiao has yet to get used to speaking to the Emperor, so his sentence had sounded awkward.

“Are you that eager to leave? This is Tianlong Palace. Not anyone can be allowed inside,” Qin Yijun said, trying to get Lin Xiao to stay a while longer. But unfortunately, his sentence was misunderstood by the others as a threat instead.

“Your Majesty, Lin Xiao promise not to say anything about what I’ve seen here. If I ever say a word to someone else, then Lin Xiao is willing to pay with his life- “