Chapter 5 The Mushroom's First Steal: The Mushroom Panics, the Mushroom is at a Loss!

"Why isn't General Liang accepting this cup of wine?"

Liang Fu stood to the side, his face ashen. He had told him countless times not to cause trouble when they arrived, but now he was actually trying to snatch the emperor's palace maid in front of so many people in the main hall!

"Liang He!" Liang Fu roared from the side.

"Alright." Liang He seemed to have finally sobered up a bit from his drunken state. He slowly released the palace maid's wrist and took the cup of wine from Han Jiqing.

"General Han, please."

The moment their eyes met, it was as if lightning had struck. Gu Huizhou, who was in the distance, narrowed his eyes. He did not miss the disdain in Liang He's eyes when he looked at him. He tapped his elbow lightly on the table and put down his wine glass with a crisp sound.

The two men in the distance finished their drinks and returned to their seats, while the little palace maid had long since disappeared.

The commotion ended abruptly. Gu Huizhou gave Cui Xiangzhu a look, raised his cup to the two men, and left the palace banquet alone, not forgetting to take his mushroom with him.

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Inside the Cloud Palace.

Gu Huizhou sat on the soft couch, his expression unreadable, but anyone who knew him even slightly would know he was in a very bad mood. He picked up the wine on the table and drank it one cup after another, his mind replaying the scenes from the palace just now.

Liang He —

Thinking this, a sinister glint appeared in the man's eyes. "If you can't stand someone, you might as well just kill them." He tapped his finger twice on the table, and a figure immediately appeared in a dimly lit corner.

Thirteen knelt on one knee and bowed, "I hope Your Majesty will consider this matter carefully."

He looked up with a solemn expression.

Gu Huizhou waved his hand impatiently and irritably, his brows furrowed tightly. "How's the investigation into the military merits going?"

"Your Majesty, the process is already halfway complete."

As if something had finally gone smoothly, Gu Huizhou said in a low voice, "Hmm." After saying that, he didn't say anything more, but kept his eyes fixed on the plate of mushrooms on the table. He had brought it to the palace banquet earlier, and surprisingly, he didn't notice anyone with a strange expression, but quite a few people looked curious.

"Was I holding this in my hand at the time?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Gu Huizhou seemed to be deep in thought. Before he fainted, he had grabbed the boy's hand, but his bodyguard said that he was holding a mushroom. Could it be that the mushroom in the pot was the boy in disguise?

Thinking of this, Gu Huizhou couldn't help but laugh. "It's time to find the imperial physician to prescribe some remedies for my delusions."

"His Majesty--"

"Go down." He paused for a moment after saying that, then continued, "Send someone to the capital to find a fair-skinned young man with round, dark eyes, skin like jade, and snow-white complexion, dressed in coarse linen, who looks at people like..."

Like a frightened fawn in the mountains.

Gu Huizhou squinted as he spoke, while Thirteen's expression gradually twisted. This didn't sound like an assassin; it sounded more like one of the brothels in Twelve's place...

Could it be that someone is finally going to join the harem? Is this mushroom the token of love that the young man left for our Emperor?

Thirteen thought about it more and more and it made sense. He was overjoyed and vowed to find that fair-skinned young man for their emperor. "Yes! Your subordinate obeys!"

Gu Huizhou: "..."

What's gotten into him this time? "Go ahead."

The temperature on the evening of the twelfth lunar month was getting colder and colder. Gu Huizhou actually fell asleep on the soft couch by the window. Just an arm's length away from him was the pot of mushrooms.

Yao Ruyi is still trembling with fear. What does he want from him?

Recalling the murderous glint in the man's eyes before he fainted, Mushroom shuddered. He was better off not letting the man find out. Otherwise, if this emperor of the mortal realm knew that he not only stole his blood but also that it was poisonous, he wondered if he would be sent to the imperial kitchen.

"squeak--"

The door opened, and Cui Xiangzhu entered. Stepping abruptly from the freezing cold outside into this warm place, the head eunuch couldn't help but shiver. He stiffened for a moment, then saw Gu Huizhou resting on the soft couch. He relaxed a little and walked towards him with a smile.

A complex emotion flashed in his eyes as he glanced at the mushroom out of the corner of his eye.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty?"

Gu Huizhou opened his eyes. "They're all gone?"

Cui Xiangzhu nodded, "Your Majesty, all the officials have finished their meal and returned to their respective residences. I have also instructed the carriages to carefully escort the intoxicated officials back to their residences." As he spoke, he hesitated.

Gu Huizhou, "Hmm?"

Cui Xiangzhu's expression was conflicted, "However, General Liang was already completely drunk when he left. He kept insisting on taking Huayu back to his residence..."

The flower's meaning is that of the palace maid in the main hall.

Just as Cui Xiangzhu had expected, the man's composure vanished after he finished speaking, replaced by a chill and murderous intent. "The Liang family is getting bolder and bolder, daring to steal things right under my nose."

Cui Xiangzhu stood aside, not daring to utter a sound.

"Go ask her. If she's willing, send someone to General Liang's residence tomorrow." Gu Huizhou turned and opened the window. Snow had started falling outside. "I'm not so heartless as to not even be willing to part with a palace maid."

Cui Xiangzhu paused, "Your Majesty, this servant saw that Hua Yu struggled very hard at the palace banquet, presumably because she was unwilling."

Gu Huizhou didn't turn around. "That's not necessarily true."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Gu Huizhou didn't speak again about this matter. After a while, a group of palace servants filed in, but Hua Yu was nowhere to be seen. The palace servants in the Cloud Palace were busy for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and finally managed to tidy up everything before the emperor went to bed.

Cui Xiangzhu carefully closed the window. "It's chilly at night, Your Majesty should avoid being exposed to the wind."

"Um."

Cui Xiangzhu turned to leave, but after glancing at the pot of mushrooms again, he couldn't help but speak, "Your Majesty."

Gu Huizhou looked up from a book. "What is it?"

"Today, Your Majesty brought that mushroom to the palace banquet, and many people noticed it. After you returned to the palace, a gardener secretly approached me and told me that the mushroom was highly poisonous, reminding Your Majesty not to carry it with you at all times."

Gu Huizhou raised an eyebrow. "I understand. You may leave."

Seeing that he didn't care, Cui Xiangzhu couldn't say anything more. "Yes, Your Majesty didn't eat anything at the palace banquet, so I have already ordered the Imperial Kitchen to send some pastries."

"This servant takes his leave."

The Cloud Palace returned to its quiet state. Since Gu Huizhou ascended the throne, he had changed some of the rules.

His bedchamber never needed eunuchs on duty. So at this moment, there was complete silence everywhere. Gu Huizhou's gaze swept over the pastries, but he didn't look at them for long.

He turned and walked to the bed, taking the medicine to treat his wounds himself, his movements appearing even more skilled than those of the imperial physician.

Yao Ruyi was fine, so he could only watch Gu Huizhou's every move.

Mushroom frowned deeply upon seeing the gruesome wound. He couldn't even tolerate the scrapes on his wrists and the swelling on the soles of his feet, yet this person could actually apply medicine and bandage his own wounds. Yao Ruyi remained motionless for a long time.

Is this what it means to be an emperor on earth? He doesn't even have anyone to keep him company when he's at his leisure, and he can only eat a plate of pastries for dinner?

I smelled the mushrooms; they smelled quite nice.

As Yao Ruyi reflected on the scenes she had witnessed that day, she felt that Gu Huizhou's life as an emperor was very different from what she had read in books.

The emperor mentioned in the book was attended to by dozens of palace maids and eunuchs from the morning onwards. Afterwards, he would announce his decisions and discuss the way to govern the country with his ministers at the morning court.

At lunchtime, he would instruct the imperial kitchen to prepare hundreds of dishes, and then he would handle memorials in the imperial study. At dinner, he would eat hundreds more different dishes, and as dusk fell, he would choose one of the hundreds of concubines in the harem who suited his taste to retire with.

But this one is different.

He could sense the hostility those courtiers held towards the emperor.

Mushroom sighed. After all, it had absorbed so much of this person's blood, and it would need to absorb more in the future.

He always wants to repay kindness.

This thought lingered until the emperor fell asleep, the air filled with the sound of even breathing, accompanied by the subtle sweet aroma of the pastries.

On the table near the window, a pot of mushrooms gradually emitted a halo of light. After a moment, the halo disappeared, and the fair-skinned boy from Gu Huizhou's memory was standing on the side of the soft couch where he took a nap in the evening.

Yao Ruyi's face lit up with joy; he could now conjure up a thin veil!

A white robe draped over his body in layers, even the ribbons binding his hair shimmered with every movement. From a distance, the fabric appeared to be just as fine as Gu Huizhou's.

Yao Ruyi liked it more and more as he looked at it; it was made from the fabric he had imagined that emperor wore. It was indeed extremely comfortable, and even the abrasions on his wrists and ankles disappeared.

Once the clothes were on, the whole person exuded an air of nobility, looking even more refined than the noble young masters of the capital.

Feeling the abundance of her cultivation within her body, Yao Ruyi walked confidently toward the dragon bed. She paused, picking up the stack of pastries along the way.

For two hours straight, Yao Ruyi sat leisurely on the emperor's chest, munching on snacks. He controlled his weight like the weight of a mushroom, bobbing up and down with Gu Huizhou's breathing, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Yao Ruyi's cheeks puffed out, "No wonder it's the Imperial Kitchen."

He radiated a halo like sunlight, and the flowing radiance enveloped the two of them together. Under Gu Huizhou's robes, the hideous wounds gradually grew new flesh and blood under the healing effect of the halo.

Yao Ruyi ate the food with great relish, and even took some Longjing tea from the emperor's table to quench his thirst and cut through the richness.

Reaching for the jade plate again, she only managed to touch one piece. Yao Ruyi swallowed hard. "It seems I ate too much."

"What if the emperor wakes up and finds the pastries are gone?"

The mushrooms were startled; the mushrooms were at a loss.

Yao Ruyi quickly put the last piece of pastry back, placing the plate and pastry on the table by the window. Looking at the palm-sized jade plate with only one pastry neatly arranged…

"It should look like a plate, right..."

Yao Ruyi closed her eyes.

He turned to look at Gu Huizhou, who was fast asleep, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face. He muttered, "I've been healing you every night for the past few days. Is it alright if I eat a few of your pastries?"

As he spoke, he secretly pulled open Gu Huizhou's clothes. He planned to heal 70% of the wound today, and if he did this for three or four days, he would be completely healed by the fifth day.

He had secretly smelled the medicine in Gu Huizhou's bottle. Although it wasn't as fast as his magic, it could still heal a person's wounds within seven days. He was only two days faster than the powder, so as not to arouse suspicion from others.

Yao Ruyi thought to himself with satisfaction that he had repaid a small part of the debt of gratitude. Once his transformation was completely stable and he had repaid the debt, he would leave the palace and find a school to study diligently.

He still remembered the eldest son of the Liang family that they had mentioned today. The great scholar they spoke of must be the same one that the group of students had talked about before they went to the capital. He would go and see him someday...

After carefully and finally prying off the clothes, the mushroom remained silent.

What happened to that gruesome forearm-length wound?

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[Green Heart][Green Heart][Green Heart]

Mushroom: Oh no!!!! Where's the injury?!