“This…” An Yi was unable to answer him right away. He hesitantly glanced over at the Emperor in an attempt to ask for help. The Emperor saw his helpless expression and decided to grant him amnesty from answering Lin Xiao’s double-edged question.
“The two of you hold the same rank under the heaven. You may behave as you see fit,” Qin Yijun said to Lin Xiao. But who would have known that things would escalate to the point that even he almost couldn’t salvage?
When they entered the banquet hall, his royal uncle was already seated at his usual table. Naturally, their entrance caught the attention of his uncle. Thus, the older male greeted Qin Yijun with a smile on his face.
“Royal Nephew, it’s been a while since we’ve last met,” he said. Despite the friendliness in his tone, Qin Yijun could clearly see the shrewdness in his eyes.
He knew that this royal uncle of his had never given up on trying to gain power over the throne ever since his Imperial Father passed away. If it was only him alone, then Qin Yijun would’ve dealt with him earlier but unfortunately, he knew that there are more behind him. If he wanted to deal with the matter, he would need to uproot every single pawn of his uncle before he can finally deal with the head.
“Royal uncle,” Qin Yijun greeted him. “The last time we met was a couple of months ago. Indeed, it’s been a while,” Qin Yijun replied. “What is the purpose of your visit this time?”
Qin Yijun’s voice was neither friendly nor was it aggressive. But one could sense the indifference coming from the Emperor. Of course, Kuanshe Wang, Qin Luozhuo could also perceive this. The older male inwardly grits his teeth as he forced himself to continue smiling. After all, he needs to keep up the pretence in order to get the Emperor’s favour.
“Naturally it’s about the matter we discussed last time,” Qin Luozhuo said. Then he glanced at Lin Xiao and the other meaningfully before addressing Qin Yijun once more. “I believe this discussion should be held privately. Did I not mention in the letter?”
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.
Hlc Oebhteb’r wfjclcu kjr mifjg. Lf kjcafv Olc Wljb jcv atf gfra ab ifjnf yea rlcmf atfs jqqfjg ab yf atf Swqfgbg’r uefrar, tf mjc’a rlwqis bnfgrafq tlr jeatbglas jcv jrx atfw tlwrfio. Vb tf mbeiv bcis tlca la ab Hlc Tlpec.
Unfortunately for him, Qin Yijun doesn’t want to cooperate with him. “Zhen personally invited them. They will stay to accompany Zhen for dinner.”
Vlcmf atf Swqfgbg tjr rqbxfc, Hlc Oebhteb mjc bcis klatvgjk. Coafg atf rtbga mbcnfgrjalbc, Hlc Tlpec ufraegfv obg atf rfgnjcar ab ifjv Olc Wljb jcv tlr mbwqjclbcr ab atflg ajyif ktlmt kjr jigfjvs qgfqjgfv.
Earlier, while Qin Yijun conversed with his uncle, Lin Xiao’s eyes never left the older male. For some reason unknown to him, he felt that this man is familiar. Not only that, his instinct is screaming inside him, telling him that this man is dangerous. And this was the first time Lin Xiao actually felt extreme fear ever since he woke up without his memories.
‘But… this is clearly our first meeting…’ Lin Xiao thought to himself as he tried to remain calm. Though he is now beginning to doubt himself. He started to question his very own identity ever since coming to the capital. He, surprisingly found his supposed family, and based on what he learned, he was indeed abandoned.
Bits and pieces of clues pointed that he might be the infamous Xinglan Wang, but if that was true, then from what he heard, he is actually a notorious criminal who was suspected to have assassinated the previous Emperor.
‘If that was true, then for what purpose did the Xinglan Wang kill the previous Emperor?’ as he continued to think about this, his head started to hurt. Massaging his head, he decided to back down and think of it more once he returned. He felt that this matter is more complicated than he might have thought.
Fortunately, dinner arrived soon after. Lin Xiao stared at the sumptuous meal in front of him and he couldn’t help but swallow his saliva. Because he had lived in the mountain for the past few years, his meals were mostly cooked over a roast pit. He glanced over at Meng Chen and An Yi, and he noticed that they were missing several dishes.
A curious frown formed on his forehead, then his eyes moved over to look at Kuanshe Wang who was sitting directly opposite of him. On his table, he saw that their dishes were exactly the same. Then, to sate his curiosity even further, he glanced over at the Emperor’s side and he almost regrets it.
‘Is that a deer’s meat?’ Lin Xiao who has lived on the mountain can immediately recognize a deer’s meat. It was different from the meat that was served on his table. It must be said that ever since he arrived at the capital, he hasn’t eaten any wild meat that he hunted by himself. He admits, he missed the taste for wild meat.
After a while, he looked back on his own dishes, he realized that it couldn’t even be compared to what the Emperor was currently having. From this alone, he realized that the meal served was based on the ranks they hold. ‘I wonder if I could sneak some of these out for Shizun…’
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he saw that another dish is added to his table. It was the deer meat which he eyed earlier, cut into smaller pieces. When he looked up, his eyes caught the surprised expression of Qin Luozhuo before his eyes narrowed dangerously, scrutinizing Lin Xiao.
This gaze appears to have touched something within Lin Xiao because at that exact moment, he seems to enter a dazed state as a scene replayed in his mind. Lin Xiao did not know how long he was in a daze for but when he snapped out of his stupor, it was because a servant was calling out to him softly.
“Wangye, are you not going to eat?”
That single question made Lin Xiao look around him. He saw that Meng Chen had already eaten, so did An Yi who seems to stop mid-way through eating as he shot a worried look at Lin Xiao. He wasn’t the only one who seemed to have stopped eating, he also saw that Qin Yijun was staring at him with concern.
Then, his eyes went from the Emperor to Qin Luozhuo who sat opposite of him. The male is still eating calmly but when Lin Xiao saw his figure, his hands clenched into a tight fist. Now, other than fear, there was a wave of unspeakable anger and hatred in his heart for this man.
Unfortunately, Lin Xiao was unsure of how to handle this sudden surge of emotion. He considers himself a simple person. If it was merely up to him, he would’ve dealt with Qin Luozhuo right at that moment. The only reason that he didn’t was because of two reasons.
One, he did not want to implicate his Shizun even more.
Two, deep inside him, he knew that now is not the right time.
Thinking up to this, Lin Xiao finally raised his hand and picked up his utensil. He slowly ate his food. When the meal was first placed on his table, he was looking forward to it. Now, he could even barely enjoy it. All the time when he was eating, his mind went back to the scene that had been replayed in his mind just a few moments ago.
‘In the end… just what does that mean?’
A/N:
This author has a question. Would you prefer to have some of the terms of address in Chinese (romanized as I have done so far) or do you want it all to be fully translated to English?
Aaah finally an update love u author. I like the way it is don’t change anything 😍😍
I also like how it is now. Hope all is well this past month.
Thanks to Heaven and thanks to u for this update.. Hope all is well to your side.. Address in Chinese is not bad but if u explain it later it’s much better.. Like Zhen, why emperor called himself zhen?? Or what is the meaning of Zhen.. That’s it.. Thanks a lot. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thx for the chapter! I prefer Chinese address.
Finally an update, thanks! Been waiting for this anxiously^^.
The terms of address in Chinese are fine, though an explanation would be helpful for some words.