Chapter 60 Chapter 59 Suspicion

In Chengming Hall, the emperor sat upright on the dragon throne at the top, supporting his head with one hand, not knowing what he was thinking about. Gu Shiyan sat quietly on the chair. Mu Congmo did not say anything, and he naturally would not mention continuing to review memorials.

Just as they were eating, Mu Congmo noticed that Gu Shiyan's tastes seemed familiar, very much like that man's. The first thing that caught his eye was the blanched river shrimp, which Gu Shiyan only glanced at before looking again. So, during the meal, he deliberately observed his tastes. It would have been fine if he hadn't noticed, but after a while, he discovered that their preferences were almost identical.

Back in Jiangnan, he remembered that A-Yan had a rather discerning palate. He would only eat boneless fish, even removing the skin. He would only eat the tenderest parts of vegetables. He disliked fatty meats, onions, ginger, and garlic. This was just his observations over just a few meals with him. But he didn't mind. He was just a picky eater, and he had plenty of money.

Just now, Gu Shiyan subconsciously placed the steamed mandarin fish into the bowl and slowly peeled off the skin. However, he frowned slightly as he picked at the fish bones, looking rather impatient. In fact, if it were just this one thing, Mu Congmo wouldn't have been suspicious. After all, those nobles were all served by servants at home.

But today's dishes are all on the lighter side, except for the steamed mandarin fish which is a bit spicy. Gu Shiyan probably chose this dish because the other dishes were not to his taste. As early as in Jiangnan, he noticed that A Yan's taste seemed to be a bit heavy.

Furthermore, he was so dignified during his first meeting with the emperor, even daring to fall asleep in the Chengming Palace where the emperor was handling government affairs. How could an ordinary person do such a thing? A Yan also liked to sleep, and Gu Shiyan's pride was somewhat similar to A Yan's.

He had doubts the moment he saw Gu Shiyan, but he later dismissed them with the excuse, "Not everyone can be compared to A Yan." Furthermore, Gu Shiyan and A Yan's figures weren't very similar; the former seemed taller.

When he saw the boy in Jiangnan, he was only about sixteen or seventeen years old. It was normal for him to have grown taller now. Mu Congmo's doubts once again arose in his heart.

Now that I think about it, Gu Shiyan's identity is already full of doubts, isn't it? A man who came back from nowhere and easily became the prince of the Duke's Mansion. Gu Cheng said that he was raised in the countryside, which is even more ridiculous. With Gu Shiyan's demeanor, how could he be raised in the countryside?

He had not cared about such things before, but now that it concerned A Yan, he had to take care of it.

Gu Shiyan had no idea that Mu Congmo had become suspicious of him. Hua Ling had previously worried that Mu Congmo would discover his identity, and he had harbored a certain amount of contempt for him. After reaching the ninth level of the Free and Unrestrained Realm, Gu Shiyan had concealed his entire cultivation. As long as he didn't actively activate his internal energy, he appeared no different from an ordinary person to outsiders.

Furthermore, he had changed a lot in the past three years, and he was so confident that Mu Congmo would never recognize him. But who would have thought that the emperor would become suspicious based solely on his dining habits? At least Gu Shiyan hadn't noticed yet.

Just as Gu Shiyan was waiting for Mu Congmo to ask him to continue reviewing the memorials, he heard the emperor's majestic voice: "Today's memorials have been reviewed. My dear minister, please return home today and continue tomorrow."

Gu Shiyan was a bit stunned when he first heard it, but after realizing it, he realized for the first time how beautiful Mu Congmo's voice was. He bowed and hurriedly fled the hall. When Mu Congmo was about to see his reaction, the young man was no longer in the hall. Only the emperor's deep voice echoed in the hall: "Is it really that boring?"

Then he thought of the boring content in the memorials and just sighed.

On the second day, Gu Shiyan arrived at Chengming Hall just before Mu Congmo left the court. However, the eunuch did not ask him to wait in the side hall. Instead, he said respectfully, "Your Majesty has ordered that you, the Minister of the Court, may go directly into the hall and wait."

Gu Shiyan once again realized the absurdity of the palace. Wasn't this the palace where the emperor handled government affairs? And yet, he was allowed to enter alone, someone who had only been there a day. He truly didn't understand what Mu Congmo was up to. Was he testing him? Was he trying to see if he would pry into his secrets? Or was he completely confident in the palace's security?

Gu Shiyan walked in, pondering in his mind. At the same time, his internal energy spread to the surroundings of the palace. The dark place was empty. It seemed that this was not a test. Then he thought of the second possibility. In a flash, he thought of Mu Congmo's men. They didn't seem very reliable. He put his hand to his forehead.

He had no interest in the so-called secrets here. Thinking about getting up early today and the upcoming boring memorials, he felt a little irritated. He sat down in the chair he had sat in yesterday. He didn't fall asleep again today. Hua Ling had laughed at him for a long time yesterday because of this matter.

About half an incense stick of time had passed when Mu Congmo walked in. He was wearing a silver-white robe with a faint dragon pattern on it, adding a touch of gentleness to the majestic emperor. Gu Shiyan was about to stand up and salute when Mu Congmo stopped him with a gesture.

He was a little surprised. Why was Mu Congmo so kind today? If that was the case, then there was no need for him to read the memorial.

Hu Xian held a wooden tray in his hands. Carved with flying dragons and phoenixes, it looked quite old. If one smelled it carefully, one could faintly detect a fresh, ancient sandalwood fragrance. Gu Shiyan only glanced at it casually. There seemed to be some books inside, but he didn't notice what they were.

He originally thought that these books were what Mu Congmo wanted, but when Hu Xian walked straight up to him with the wooden tray, Gu Shiyan asked in surprise, "For me?"

It wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't asked, but once he did, Hu Xian had the opportunity. He exclaimed in a shrill voice, "Oh, Master Gu, you don't know that these words were originally sent by His Majesty to find you outside the palace because he was afraid you would be bored in the palace. He was just trying to cheer you up."

Gu Shiyan glanced at the emperor on the throne. Mu Congmo was currently looking down at the memorials, his face expressionless. In reality, Hu Xian's words had nothing to do with Mu Congmo. While Mu Congmo had indeed given the order, Hu Xian's words were entirely his own, having nothing to do with him.

In fact, the meaning of Hu Xian's words was very simple. He had a few more words left unsaid, "Little Ancestor, see how His Majesty treats you. Let's be more restrained. You should also pay attention to His Majesty."

Mu Congmo's face showed no emotion, and he looked like he was reviewing memorials, but his eyes were always secretly looking at Gu Shiyan. Now that he already had some doubts in his heart, he would naturally be nicer to the other party. If it was really A Yan, what would he do if he made the other party unhappy?

As early as when he was in Jiangnan, he learned from Hongting that A Yan liked to read storybooks. After he became suspicious yesterday, he specially sent people to search for these popular storybooks in Beijing outside the palace. On the one hand, it was to relieve the other party's fatigue, and on the other hand, it was also a bit of a test.

After Hu Xian finished speaking, he signaled to Gu Shiyan with his eyes frantically. He shouted in his heart, "Thank you quickly, Mr. Gu!" He was so anxious that he wished he could thank you on Gu Shiyan's behalf.

Gu Shiyan finally noticed Hu Xian's hint this time. He belatedly said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Yeah," Mu Congmo said softly without even raising his head.

Hu Xian was still anxious, "You should at least be more enthusiastic." Then he sighed in his heart and thought, "Forget it, at least I didn't fall asleep here today."

Gu Shiyan placed all the books on the table beside him, picked up one at random and began to read. However, after reading two or three pages, he felt that the plot seemed somewhat familiar. Then he remembered that Hua Ling had shown him these books a long time ago.

He randomly flipped through a few pages of the remaining books. As expected, he had already read all of them. Seeing these familiar plots, it was hard for him to get into them again. But having these books was better than having none. Even though he had read them once, they were still more interesting than those boring memorials.

Gu Shiyan half leaned back in his chair, flipping through the pages of the book in his hand quickly, looking extremely serious.

But Mu Congmo noticed that there was a hollowness in the boy's eyes, and he seemed to have no interest in these words. Could it be that his guess was wrong? Doubts began to arise in his heart.

Then it was time for today's meal. The two of them had been eating together in the past few days. In order not to arouse Gu Shiyan's suspicion, Mu Congmo had changed the dishes in the palace, but today he specifically ordered the imperial kitchen to prepare only two flavors of food, spicy and light.

The purpose was to test Gu Shiyan's taste, but unfortunately today, Gu Shiyan was a little irritated, and Liang Qiulan specifically told him not to eat spicy dishes, and always watched him eat at home.

All this started yesterday when the Empress Dowager sent over some lychees from Lingnan. Jizhou is far away, and lychees are a fruit that spoils easily, so Gu Shiyan had never seen them before. He found them a bit novel and accidentally ate too much, which caused him to get a little irritated that evening.

This made Liang Qiulan very anxious, and he sent someone to invite a doctor overnight. After examining him, the doctor said that there was nothing serious, but he should pay attention to his diet and only eat light food.

No matter how Gu Shiyan said he was fine, Liang Qiulan was still worried. He had no choice but to assure him that he would only eat light food.

So today, no matter how bright and mouth-watering the spicy chicken was, Gu Shiyan controlled his hands and instead focused on the lighter old duck soup on the side. He just scooped up a few pieces of duck meat and drank all the soup. He even took a few bites of the boiled vegetables that he rarely touched on weekdays.

Mu Congmo secretly observed his movements. Seeing that he picked up some light dishes, he began to doubt himself again. But when he saw Gu Shiyan frowning and removing all the garlic from the vegetables, he became suspicious again.

Gu Shiyan noticed that Mu Congmo's eyes were always focused on him. He didn't care. He just thought that Mu Congmo was crazy again. He didn't know that the other party had so many thoughts in his mind.