Chapter 18

Thinking it was time to go back, the two of them returned to their beds one after the other. When Lin Xing returned, Lin Huan was already waiting for her in the room. After they said good night, Lin Huan lay down with peace of mind.

On the other side, Shen Ling discovered that Yu Hang came back even faster than him, and he had even laid down. Shen Ling tiptoed back and found that Yu Hang was not asleep and still had his eyes open.

He lowered his voice and asked, "Am I a good person?"

Although Yu Hang was puzzled, he still answered honestly: "Yes."

Shen Ling did not reply and went to sleep contentedly. He finally met a soulmate today, leaving Yu Hang alone in silence. After a while, the sound of steady breathing could be heard, and they both fell asleep.

Unlike the two people who were sleeping soundly, Lin Xing just lay down when she remembered that the letter sent by Liu Lian was still on her. Worried that the letter was wrinkled, she sat up and took out the letter.

Before Lin Xing put the letter on the ground aside, a piece of paper fell on her pillow. I looked at the dropped letter and then at the one in my hand. It was really strange. Didn’t Sister Liu Lian only send one letter?

After picking up the letter, Lin Xing found that it was too dark to see anything. In order not to disturb everyone who was sleeping, Lin Xing chose to sneak out to see it.

Lin Xing read the letter in the moonlight, and Liu Lian wrote down some major events that had happened in the city recently. The camp was closed, and Lin Xing only now found out that Master Zhao had been disobedient and outspoken in the city, and had even injured officers and soldiers in the street.

Thinking of what happened today, Lin Xing felt that Mr. Zhao would not let it go, so she decided to call Shen Ling and Yu Hang to discuss countermeasures and synchronize the information.

They left as soon as they said they would. When they arrived in front of their shed, Lin Xing's hand stopped when she tried to lift it. Yu Hang didn't care, but Chen Ling should be very careful about the relationship between men and women, so how should she go in decently?

Lin Xing's eyes swept over the stones on the ground, and she had a good idea. Picking up the stone and saying sorry secretly, Lin Xing lifted the curtain, took a quick look, and threw the stone in her hand over.

“Pah.”

"ah."

The stone hit Yu Hang right on the spot. He woke up and sat up, only to see Lin Xing with only her eyes showing, and stood there in a daze.

Lin Xing was originally congratulating herself on her accuracy, but when she saw Yu Hang stunned, she felt very disappointed with him. She gestured frantically to him to come out, and Yu Hang finally understood.

"Why are you here? Is there something wrong?" Yu Hang walked to Lin Xing, lowered the curtain and asked softly.

"I just found out that there is something else in the letter Liu Lian sent. It's a serious matter, so I want to discuss it with you and Shen Ling."

Hearing Lin Xing's intention, Yu Hang nodded and said, "Then why don't you just go in and call us?"

Lin Xing said proudly: "I didn't consider that Shen Ling couldn't accept it."

Yu Hang showed an expression that said you are still smart, and Lin Xing quickly pushed him to call Chen Ling.

After a while, Yu Hang came out, with the sleepy Shen Ling behind him. The three of them came to a remote corner and began to observe the letter sent by Liu Lian.

Lin Xing had already read it, so she simply handed the letter to the other two people and asked them to read it carefully. The two had surprisingly similar expressions and read the letter with frowns on their faces.

Shen Ling spoke first: "He is going too far. The Prime Minister ordered everyone to stay indoors, but he openly led the resistance. Where does this put the Prime Minister? Where does this put the Emperor?"

"I said it on the carriage coming here, that dignitaries are more difficult to control than ordinary people." Unlike Shen Ling's indignation, Lin Xing expressed her own views calmly.

"Lin Xing is right. They rely on their power and influence to do whatever they want. There are many such people."

Shen Ling didn't expect that the straightforward Yu Hang could say such a thing, but he was still very angry. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Shen Ling slammed his hand hard into the ground, and only then did he calm down.

"What should we do next?"

"I'm just a small shopkeeper. It's not convenient to reveal Yu Hang's identity." After a proper silence, Lin Xing looked at Shen Ling, and he immediately understood Lin Xing's unspoken meaning.

"So I have to solve this problem?" Shen Ling pointed at himself, and the other two nodded.

"You should return to the city early tomorrow morning. We two will be enough to take care of the things here. When you return to the city, go visit Mr. Zhao first, feel out his attitude, and give him a simple warning. This should not be difficult for Mr. Shen, right?" Lin Xing said, raising an eyebrow at Shen Ling.

"It's not difficult. My family and the Zhao family are old friends. I think he will be more restrained."

At the beginning, that atmosphere was broken by Lin Xing's teasing, and Shen Ling returned to his previous state as Mr. Shen.

Shen Ling didn't keep his state for long before frowning again, "But if I leave, can you two handle it? If Master Zhao secretly interferes again..."

"Then kill them all." Listening to Shen Ling's worries, Yu Hang said indifferently. He was very confident in his own strength.

The two were stunned for a moment, then started laughing, and Yu Hang was also infected and laughed out loud. Then they made a plan, thought of many unexpected situations, and thought about how to solve them.

As they were chatting, they went off course.

"By the way, why did you two come here to help these disaster victims?"

"Of course it's because we are righteous."

Shen Ling naturally didn't believe Yu Hang's answer and waited for Lin Xing's serious answer.

"You are entrusted by others, aren't you?"

"We are different. I agreed because the Prime Minister promised me. Could it be that you are the same?"

Lin Xing gave Shen Ling a meaningful look, “If I say I don’t know, would you believe it?”

"Believe it, why not?" Shen Ling thought Lin Xing would say something shocking, but it turned out to be the same as if she said nothing. He looked at Yu Hang, there was nothing wrong with his expression, so he should be telling the truth.

Lin Xing sneered, "Maybe the Prime Minister has something to ask of me."

Lin Xing was still not serious, and the three of them saw smiles in each other's eyes.

"No matter what the reason is, what we can do now is to protect the people. This is worthy of the Prime Minister's explanation." Shen Ling did not ask any more questions. Some questions do not necessarily have answers, just like there is not necessarily a moon in the sky at night.

Shen Ling looked up at the sky, there was the moon, and he also knew the answer to the question after the banquet.

Considering that Shen Ling had to rush back to the city tomorrow, Lin Xing urged him to go back to bed and said that they still had something to talk about. Shen Ling is a smart man, he doesn't act like a light bulb here, he yawns and goes back to sleep.

After Shen Ling left, a gust of wind blew a cloud that blocked the moon, and the surroundings became dark. The two people who were left couldn't see each other's faces clearly.

"I have a question for you, too."

Yu Hang's voice was a little dull. Lin Xing wondered the reason in her heart. Was it that the moon disappeared or was he sleepy?

"Why didn't you agree to go back to the capital with me?"

Lin Xing's thoughts were pulled back to that time when the two of them stood facing each other. In her memory, Lin Xing boldly observed Yu Hang opposite her, and only then did she realize that he seemed very sad.

"The reason is very simple. At that time, I didn't want to be involved in the court struggle. I just wanted to eat well." Even now, this is still Lin Xing's idea, but she has no room for refusal.

This answer made Yu Hang feel relieved. Fortunately, it wasn’t because she didn’t like him.

"And now?"

"I no longer have the power to refuse. If I am not mistaken, our situation was planned by the Prime Minister. Nanru County is right outside the capital, so why hasn't it received support yet? This is also part of his plan."

Shen Ling knew that Lin Xing would be able to guess it with her intelligence. He was too stupid. He obviously had more information than her and knew everything earlier than her, but until now he had not figured out how to face Lin Xing honestly.

"You have the power to choose. If you refuse, I will definitely help you."

Lin Xing turned her head and looked at Yu Hang. She didn't expect this fool to say that.

"I accept." She replied in the same firm tone.

"I've understood a lot of things in the past two days. Perhaps only by accepting them can I get a glimmer of hope. I don't want to be manipulated by others and become a pawn."

Lin Xing is much stronger than Yu Hang thought. She accepts all challenges and always sticks to her bottom line.

The serious topic ends here, and everyone’s souls are one step closer. The two began to chat about the past.

"Do you miss home?"

"Are you okay? Do you miss home?" Lin Xing really didn't miss home at all. Compared to that place, the restaurant was her real home.

"No, my parents divorced when I was very young, and I lived with my father, but he drank every day and beat me. I wanted to escape from there every day, so how could I want to go back?"

Lin Xing didn't expect that she and Yu Hang would be so similar. Since Yu Hang took the initiative to talk about it, she no longer concealed it.

"You and I are similar. It seems that we will be the ones who understand each other the most here in the future."

Both of them spoke in a nonchalant tone, but only they themselves knew that these things actually hurt them. But from now on, they will become each other's family and rely on each other in this cold dynasty.

The moon came out again, and Lin Xing noticed a red mark on Yu Hang's face. Thinking of her behavior just now, she felt really guilty.

"Did it hurt when the stone hit you?"

"It doesn't hurt, not at all, I didn't feel anything. You hit me very accurately, I'll teach you some martial arts to defend yourself then." Yu Hang touched his nose.

"Lucky, I didn't expect to hit you so quickly."

Both of them had done something wrong and did not notice the guilt in the other's tone. Yu Hang would never tell Lin Xing that he dreamed of her. When he was woken up by the falling stone, he thought it was a dream.

As the night grew darker, the two decided to go back to sleep and walked slowly back together. We lay back in our respective beds and soon fell into a deep sleep. I wonder if we will dream about each other.

When Lin Xing woke up in the morning, she felt her mind was particularly clear, not at all like someone who had stayed up late. She hurried to find Shen Ling, as she had forgotten to tell him something last night and hoped that he had not left yet.

When Lin Xing arrived, Shen Ling was making final preparations. She ran to Shen Ling and said, "You still have to wear the mask when you go back. Don't take it off easily. Even if you are with your confidantes, you can't take it off. Remember?"

Thinking that Lin Xing was going to say something important, but it turned out to be this, Shen Ling was a little disappointed. He thought that Lin Xing came specially to see him off, so he didn't want to answer her.

Seeing that Shen Ling didn't answer, Lin Xing thought he didn't hear clearly, so she repeated it again, and Shen Ling had to speak.

"Remember, I will never take off my coat."

"And remember to write to us from time to time to synchronize information. Don't forget."

There was not a word that Shen Ling wanted to hear. He turned around and got into the carriage. After sulking for a while, he secretly lifted the curtain and found Lin Xing was still waiting there.

Shen Ling's heart softened, and he said to Lin Xing: "I remember everything, go back quickly, don't wait any longer."

Lin Xing turned and left after hearing what he said. He secretly added, "I don't have a confidante."