So he is popular with the young maidens?

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- “

“Xiao-er!”

Lin Xiao ignored Long Yinlian and continued to speak. “Lin Xiao only asks His Majesty to spare Shizun.”

Qin Yijun just stared at Lin Xiao with a look of disbelief. He didn’t know if he should feel amused or disappointed that Lin Xiao had misunderstood his intention. “Zhen didn’t mean it like that. Zhen only wishes for you to stay awhile longer.”

“Why?”

‘Because Zhen wished to spend more time with you!’ Qin Yijun had almost blurted out his thought but managed to hold himself back. “Ming-er…” he called out helplessly.

The moment the words left Qin Yijun’s lips, Lin Xiao felt something within him. The familiarity of the tone, the way the other said it, the gentleness that can be seen from the other’s eyes. Lin Xiao felt as if he had experienced it before. But rather than joy, Lin Xiao became afraid instead.

Lin Xiao’s breathing started to become laboured, and he felt his palm became sweaty. Both Long Yinlian and Qin Yijun noticed his state, and both were worried.

“Xiao-er.”

“Ming-er!”

Both called out to him, but with different names. Both called out to him, but both tones were different. One was full of worry that one would have for their child. While the other was filled with both worry and urgency, silently asking to be acknowledged.

The was a sound of the ruffling of clothes, and Lin Xiao saw the Emperor had stood up. When he saw the Emperor took a step forward, Lin Xiao reflexively took a step back.

Qin Yijun saw this, and his step faltered. He stood in place, and his hands were both clenched into a tight fist as he saw the fear on Lin Xiao’s expression. In the end, Qin Yijun could only sigh in defeat. ‘I guess this means that I shouldn’t rush him to remember?’

As much as Qin Yijun didn’t like the current situation, there was nothing that he could do. “It seems that you are afraid of Zhen. Very well. Zhen will let you leave,” he said, and he could see that Lin Xiao was finally relaxing.

“General Bai!” the Emperor called out loudly, and soon, the general entered the residence. “Help Zhen and escort the guest to their place of residence.”

The general, Bai Chenyi raised an eyebrow at the Emperor’s order. ‘To their place of residence? Not just escort them out? Is there a need to go that far?’ Bai Chenyi wondered but he did not say anything. The Emperor’s words, it is better not to question them.

“Your servant obeys His Majesty’s command,” Bai Chenyi replied with a salute. He then turned to both Long Yinlian and Lin Xiao before saying, “Master Long, Young Master Lin, please come this way.”

Bai Chenyi’s tone is calm and his expression was serious. Long Yinlian stood up, about to follow Bai Chenyi when he felt Lin Xiao grab him by the arm, stopping him.

“Xiao-er?” Long Yinlian sounded confused as he silently questions Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao only tightened his grip on Long Yinlian’s arm before he turned to the Emperor. “Your Majesty, we don’t need escort…”

“Zhen will not feel assured to let you go back on your own at your current state,” Qin Yijun replied, voicing out his worry. But what he did not expect was that it made Lin Xiao even fall deeper into the sea of misunderstanding instead.

“I guess Your Majesty really won’t feel assured unless you have someone to keep an eye on us. Why not have someone act as our ‘bodyguard’ then?” Lin Xiao was being sarcastic, and Long Yinlian heard it. The older male wanted to scold Lin Xiao when he heard the Emperor’s reply.

“That is indeed a good idea. General Bai, until Zhen says otherwise, you will become Min- Lin Xiao’s bodyguard,” Qin Yijun said, making all that were present shocked.

The Emperor’s word cannot be denied. Bai Chenyi bowed his head and accepted his orders while Lin Xiao and Long Yinlian only expressed their disbelief. In the end, even Long Yinlian felt that this arrangement was a bit excessive.

“Your Majesty, your humble subject does not wish to offend but, asking General Bai to be Xiao-er’s bodyguard is unnecessary,” Long Yinlian said. If it was a few simple guards, Long Yinlian could probably accept it but this is a General. Not to mention, to obtain the rank of general, one must first lead an army to war.

“Nothing that Zhen says in unnecessary. All of you should go now. Zhen wishes to rest,” Qin Yijun said as he waved his hand to dismiss them. He felt that if he were to continue looking at Lin Xiao, he might not be able to control himself from locking Lin Xiao up.

‘I don’t wish for him to be more afraid of me than he already is… I will need to consult Old Pan about this matter.’