“My father will never give up on his plan. Otherwise, why do you think General Lin would choose to guard the border and even make his beloved daughter lonely and helpless in the Capital City?”

Long Tianyu had never been an indecisive person. Since he wanted to protect Lin Mengya, he had to find a way to satisfy both sides.

Fortunately, the Crown Prince and the empress were busy making plots now. Even his father, the emperor, had to keep the position of the Lin Family in the army for the time being due to the pressure.

“I see.”

Ling Ye was not good at tactics. The only thing he could do was to keep his duty silently.

Long Tianyu patted him on the shoulder. He knew that Ling Ye had his best interests at heart, but given the current situation, he had to be very careful.

“From today on, you are no longer my secret guard.”

On the way back, Long Tianyu, who was walking ahead, suddenly spoke.

At this moment, there was a hint of astonishment in Ling Ye’s calm eyes.

What, what did that mean?

“When Master brought you here, he once said that you would be my closest friend in this world. He asked you to be my secret guard because it was not the right time before. But now, although we’re threatened by growing crisis, it’s the best timing.”

Long Tianyu explained without looking back. Ling Ye looked at his master in confusion, and his eyes gradually became clear because of Long Tianyu’s words.

“Your Highness, do you mean…”

Long Tianyu stood still, suddenly turned around, and said seriously, “Back then, Master passed on everything to you. So now, I need you to go back and completely inherit everything from him.”

If he wanted to protect Lin Mengya, to defeat the Crown Prince’s and the empress’s plot, and to resist the pressure from his father, what he needed was the power that could control everything.

It seemed that the imperial court owned imposing power, but the power had long been divided.

Even with his arrangements, he could only obtain less than a tenth of the power.

Therefore, he had to make full use of everything!

“But Master said that I am your shadow and shield. Even if I die, I should die by the sharp sword that comes at you.”

For 15 years, Ling Ye had been by Long Tianyu’s side from a naive child to now.

There were some things that had subtly become his state of survival.

Protecting Long Tianyu, standing up for him, and obeying his orders seemed to have already become automatic responses in his body.

Nonetheless, he had never expected Long Tianyu to utterly deny his previous life and ask him to take over a kind of fate that he had never thought of one day.

Strong as Ling Ye was, he couldn’t help but be stunned on the spot.

“That was before. Ling Ye, have you really forgotten Master’s teachings?”

In fact, Long Tianyu was also a little reluctant to part with him.

He came to his senses and looked at his brother who had gone through thick and thin with him.

Master did ask Ling Ye to stay with him, but it was not just to protect him.

Only by staying with him could Ling Ye grow up safely.

For so many years, they had been protecting each other.

…”I… Yes.”

He was used to obeying orders. Even though he had always been tough, a crack of fear had appeared in his heart as he received the order.

However, the trust he had developed since he was a child made him unconditionally choose to trust Long Tianyu and carry out his every order with loyalty.

“Ling Ye, this is not an order, but a request. It’s the request of Long Tianyu, your only senior brother, to you. If you don’t want to go, just take it as if I didn’t say it.”

After all, Long Tianyu valued his brotherhood with Ling Ye.

He wanted power, but Ling Ye didn’t want that kind of life.

At the same time, Long Tianyu also understood that it would save Ling Ye a lot of danger if he served as his shadow.

Nevertheless, the life hidden in the darkness was not supposed to belong to Ling Ye, who was equally outstanding.

Ling Ye raised his head and looked into Long Tianyu’s eyes.

It was the first time that they had been so frank since they grew up. They put aside their master-servant relationship and only looked at each other with brotherhood in their eyes since they were fellow apprentices of the same master.

In the end, Ling Ye still nodded.

He cupped his hand and bowed, turned around as usual, and left in a natural and unrestrained manner.

But only when Long Tianyu stood there and saw Ling Ye, who had entirely disappeared from his sight, did he realize that from then on, Ling Ye, who had hidden in the darkness and shielded him from all danger, could no longer show up.

He felt a little melancholy deep inside.

He suddenly understood Lin Mengya’s state of mind when she sent Lin Zhongyu away.

They were as close as brothers. What was more, Ling Ye had grown up with him since he was a child.

Unfortunately, when a bird’s nest is overturned, no egg can remain intact.

Even if it was Ling Ye, he had to be cautious in order to become their helper.

The darkness faded away, and the night gradually disappeared in the dawn.

Long Tianyu pretended as if nothing had happened and walked back to his tent.

No one knew what he had done last night, and no one knew his state of mind at this moment, either.

The smoke from the kitchen rose from the chimney as usual.

Long Tianyu restrained all his abnormal emotions and returned to the tent where he and Lin Mengya lived.

It was quiet inside.

It was unknown when she fell asleep with her clothes on. She held Moyan in her arms and curled up on the bed, sleeping soundly.

Long Tianyu softened his facial features.

He stretched out his hand and caressed her little face lovingly.

…”You’re back…”

Perhaps it was because his hand was a bit cold that Lin Mengya woke up at that moment.

She rubbed her eyes and looked at the man in front of her lazily. Her voice was filled with the unique coquettishness she had when she woke up in the morning.

“Did I wake you? Go back to sleep. It’s okay.”

Long Tianyu looked at Lin Mengya on the bed apologetically, but subconsciously, the latter held Moyan in her arms and moved inside.

Lin Mengya gently patted the bed with her small, empty hand. She did not seem to be on guard at all.

“You should rest for a while. It’s still early.”

Lin Mengya took precautions against everyone except for him.

At the sight of the person who trusted him with all her heart and soul, Long Tianyu felt a surge of feelings deep inside.

He took off his coat and lay down beside Lin Mengya.

He held her and Moyan in his arms, and there was a flash of light in his deep eyes from time to time.

“Mengya, when we get back to the Capital City, will you really be my princess?”

It was a test, as well as an inquiry.

But it was more of a game of cunning that he played when Lin Mengya was not fully awake.

It was only at this moment that Lin Mengya did not look as shrewd as she usually was.

And it was only at this moment that she would agree to all of his wicked requests in a daze.

…”Hmm…”

The noise made by her nose was heard, and it dragged her into a strong sense of drowsiness.

Since she had been half asleep and half awake, she did not hear what the man had said in her ear at all.

Alright, go to sleep, my princess.”

Long Tianyu’s trick succeeded, although Lin Mengya had agreed to it when she was still in a daze.

However, he still showed a slightly relaxed smile.

It seemed that the heavy burden on his shoulders had become insignificant because of Lin Mengya’s answer.

He held her with both hands and feet.

He finally closed his eyes. It didn’t matter even if the Crown Prince took all the credit from him.

Only the woman in his arms was the most precious of all.

Everyone would eventually wake up from their dreams.

Lin Mengya, who had stayed up for almost the whole night, looked a little haggard.

She had always felt that there seemed to be a mosquito buzzing in her ear.

Perhaps, it was her illusion. How could there be mosquitos in April?

Comparisons were odious.

Both Long Tianyu and she had been busy for a whole night, yet she was too sleepy to keep up her spirits, while Long Tianyu, who slept less than her, was still in high spirits.

It seemed that if she did not use the Shen Nung system’s Spirit-summoning Function, she would probably have to spend the day in a daze.

Nonetheless, she didn’t know if it was her illusion.

She always felt that the more she used the Shen Nung system, the more tired she would be.

Perhaps, the effect was the same as that of caffeine.

After all, the brain was a part of the human body. No matter how powerful it was, it needed rest.

What was more, her current physical condition was sometimes good and sometimes bad.

Therefore, when she didn’t need to use it, she tried her best not to use it.

That led to Lin Mengya’s sleepy look all day long.

Even Mr. Baili couldn’t stand it. He told her to behave well and sit aside to rest.

Holding her chin with both hands, Lin Mengya watched Mr. Baili quickly prepare portions of medicine one by one. Although that was mechanical repeated work, he remained meticulous.

It seemed that every portion of medicine needed to be carefully considered by him.

It could be seen that Mr. Baili really loved these medicinal herbs.

Otherwise, he would not have been crazy for poison for his lifetime.

“Mr. Baili, do you think it’s possible for Gu Die to be the mastermind behind the plague?”

In fact, Lin Mengya had discussed this problem with her teacher on the way.

But she had no idea why Mr. Baili denied it on behalf of Gu Die without thinking when she mentioned it again last night.

“Little girl, although Gu Die is abominable, you must remember that her family will never do such a heartless thing. For example, every generation of the Baili Family will be obsessed with the art of poison. Something is rooted in their bones and blood, and that will never change.”

Looking at her teacher’s serious look, Lin Mengya didn’t comment.

She covered her mouth, yawned, and then retorted leisurely, “Nevertheless, Baili Wuchen doesn’t know how to use poison. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have cried and begged me to be your student.”

When Baili Rui heard her mention Baili Wuchen, his hand, which was grabbing the medicine, stopped in the air for several seconds.

In the end, he continued to dispense prescriptions, but his tone turned somewhat heavy.

“In fact, Wuchen is not my nephew. Only the two of us know about this. Girl, the reason why I told you this is that I hope you don’t suspect Gu Die anymore. Although she is a little muddleheaded, she is not a bad person.”