Qin Yijun merely threw that words casually but when Huang Zhexian heard it, he began to sweat profusely. ‘Just what is his identity?! For His Majesty to excuse him from kneeling, just what important position did he held?!’
Unfortunately, if he found out the answer to his question, he would immediately faint on the spot. Worse, his Huang Family might be gone the moment he woke up if the Emperor found out he captured Lin Xiao only because of spite.
Lin Xiao, on the other hand, was feeling a bit nervous. He had already made up his mind to pay his respect to the Emperor but suddenly, he was told that he didn’t have to. On one hand, he was thankful, but when he remembered what happened earlier in the carriage, his heart was incensed, making him not want to listen to the Emperor.
But alas, the Emperor is a monarch, the Son of Heaven. For the sake of his master, Lin Xiao couldn’t afford to push his luck too much so he lowered his head slightly and cupped his hands together. “Thanking the Emperor for his benevolence,” he said in a soft voice.
“En. Other than Minister Huang, all of you may rise,” Qin Yijun said in an authoritative tone.
Upon hearing this, Huang Zhexian knew that he was in a very deep trouble. His brain began to work frenziedly as he tried to think of an excuse. Just from how the Emperor excused Lin Xiao from kneeling, one can already know how special Lin Xiao was. Every citizens know that even the Emperor’s Royal Uncle who was related by blood will also need to kneel to the Emperor.
“Yi, come over and give Zhen your report.”
Huang Zhexian’s figure went stiff and his hands began to shake against the floor. As his eyes were trained to the floor, he was unable to see the shadow guard going over to the Emperor’s side and whisper to his ear. He didn’t know that when the Emperor heard the report, his expression turned from calm to livid.
“Lin Xiao, come closer,” Qin Yijun said as he beckoned towards Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao could see that the Emperor appears to be furious so he slowly approached him. If the Emperor dared to make a move that he couldn’t accept, he can always run away again.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Once Lin Xiao was close enough, Qin Yijun stood up and reached out to the lapel of Lin Xiao’s robe. Lin Xiao instinctively wanted to move, but Qin Yijun was faster. He grab hold of Lin Xiao’s left shoulder and said in a low voice: “Don’t move…”
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“Your General obeys!” Bai Chenyi replied as he quickly rushed out of the residence. He borrowed one of the horses so that he could quickly carry out the Emperor’s order.
After Bai Chenyi left, Qin Yijun eyed the kneeling Right Minister with a cold gaze. “An Yi, without Zhen’s order, do not let Minister Huang get up. Let him kneel there until Zhen is satisfied!”
After saying that, Qin Yijun immediately brought Lin Xiao over to another room within the main hall. Once they were alone, Qin Yijun finally turned to Lin Xiao. “Take it off,” he said in a low voice.
A frown formed on Lin Xiao’s face. He lifts his gaze to look at the Emperor’s facial expression. “Take what off?” he asked worriedly.
“Your clothes.”
Hearing the answer, Lin Xiao’s expression darkened and he began to look around, trying to find a path to escape to. Qin Yijun seemed to notice this and knew that the other misunderstood his intention.
“Zhen only wishes to see how bad the injury is so Zhen can punish Minister Huang accordingly,” he quickly said so that Lin Xiao wouldn’t be wary of him.
“Oh,” after hearing the explanation, Lin Xiao felt slightly relieved. But he still did not do as the Emperor had asked and instead, he seemed to close his robe even further. “It’s only a flesh wound, Your Majesty…” Lin Xiao replied.
“Yi had told Zhen about what happened. That punishment whip was laced with barbed metals. Minister Huang also used to be a person under the previous Minister of Justice so he is very proficient in using whips,” Qin Yijun explained. Then, he raised his hand to cup Lin Xiao’s face, his thumb running gently over the lower eyelid of Lin Xiao’s left eye. “And he even dared to try and take your sight away…” he murmured in a soft whisper.
Lin Xiao could hear the hurt within the Emperor’s voice and he could feel his heart skips a beat before pounding hard against his ribcage. There was an unexplainable anger that rose within Lin Xiao when he saw the pained emotion in the Emperor’s eyes. A small voice seems to be telling him to go out and end Huang Zhexian’s life for making the Emperor show such expression. Fortunately, he managed to control himself.
Because he felt that he might not be able to control his emotion the more he looked at the Emperor’s eyes, Lin Xiao hurriedly looked away. “Your Majesty, Lin Xiao is really fine. These kind of injury is nothing compared to the ones Lin Xiao received few years ago,” he said once again. It was not a lie. Though he disliked being in pain and would do anything to avoid getting injured, there are some situation that he could not avoid. And this dislike of pain came from the fact that when he first woke up without his memories, all he could register was intense pain throughout his body.
“Few years ago… is it two years ago?”
Lin Xiao was surprised that the Emperor knew and wondered if the other had sent someone to investigate him. “Did His Majesty sent someone to investigate Lin Xiao?” he asked.
“No…”
“Then, how did His Majesty found out?”
‘Because two years ago, you went missing!’ Qin Yijun wanted to say but when he remembered what happened in the carriage, he stopped himself. He knew that at the moment, in Lin Xiao’s own mind, he is not Li Fangming. So he only let out a sigh. “Zhen merely took a guess,” Qin Yijun replied.
“I see…” Lin Xiao still feels suspicious, but decided to let the matter go. After that, there was an awkward silence between the two as they do not know what else to say. In the end, it was Qin Yijun who decisively broke the awkward atmosphere.
“Your injury… are you really not letting Zhen see?” Qin Yijun asked.
A frown formed on Lin Xiao’s face before he slowly shook his head.
“Is it because of what happened earlier? Are you now uncomfortable with Zhen?” he asked again. When he assumed the identity of Bai Ruohan, he felt that his interaction with Lin Xiao had returned to the time before he ascended the throne. He thought that he could keep it that way but it seems that he was wrong.
Lin Xiao didn’t answer his question but he merely looked down to the floor. This action is already enough to tell Qin Yijun of his answer so with a heavy sigh, Qin Yijun decided to retreat before he did anything else that will make him regret again. “Wait here… Zhen will send An Yi over to look over at your injury.”
The Emperor left and not long after, An Yi came in with a nervous expression. “Lord Lin, please allow this slave to look at your injury,” he said as he stood before Lin Xiao.
“Why is His Majesty worry too much? It is merely a flesh wound,” Lin Xiao mumbled softly but An Yi could hear him clearly.
“Lord Lin…” An Yi started but then stopped himself. He wanted to tell Lin Xiao how special his existence is to the Emperor but then remembered how the Emperor had warned him to not mention anything that is related to the Xinglan Wang.
“Fine, fine. It seems that he won’t let go until he knew the extent of the injury,” in his annoyance, Lin Xiao had forgotten the proper way to address the Emperor but An Yi didn’t seem to say anything about it. He slowly removed his outer robe, only to wince when he moved his injured shoulder.
“Wangye! Please allow this slave to help!” An Yi, when he saw that Lin Xiao was in pain, panicked. And in this panicked state, he accidentally cried out to Lin Xiao, calling him by his title.
“You… what did you just call me?” Lin Xiao asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously at An Yi.
And the first chapter of the year!!
LOL i feel so bad for the shadow guard HAHAHAHAHA i find the shadow guard so cute too kawai lil bunny😘😂
Poor guy’s just trying to do his job, c’mon XiaoXiao, cut him some slack!
I feel sorry for Qin Yijun…😟
And the poor shadow guard, lol, he can’t seem to get a break.😏