After Lin Xiao brought Long YinLian away, Xia YuanFeng continued to stand on the same spot for a long while. He still could not believe that Long YinLian was still alive and he even suspected that he was dreaming at first. But he knew that this wasn’t a dream. The warmth he felt earlier when he hugged Long YinLian told him that this was a reality.

“Ah’Yin…” he called out in a soft voice. Twenty years, he thought that Long YinLian is dead. He couldn’t even find a body to bury and it made his heart ache. Twenty years, he tried to move on and focus on his family, but his heart just won’t move on. For twenty years, he longs for Long YinLian, and several times, he thought of following the other to the Yellow Spring, but he couldn’t bring himself to. At first, he thought it was because he felt that he needed to fulfill his responsibility to his family but now, he knew it was because his heart had known that Long YinLian is alive all along.

‘Since you’ve returned to my side, I won’t let you disappear again…’ Xia YuanFeng thought to himself before he reluctantly leaves the spot he had been standing on.

In the guest room, Lin Xiao helped Long YinLian to sit on the daybed before helping him take off his shoes. “Shizun, would you like to take a bath?” he asked as he gently massaged the older male’s legs.

“Hmm, a bath sounds nice. I’m pretty sure that the Xia family have their own pools for bathing. Let us wait until Hai Shi before we go there. Usually, at those times the pool would be empty,” Long YinLian said before his tone turned into a more serious, somber tone. “Xiao-er, what I am about to tell you next, I want you to keep it close in your heart and remember…”

Lin Xiao heard this and stopped with his massage as he looked up to Long YinLian. He had never heard his master use such tone before and knew that whatever he hears next is bound to be more serious than he initially thought. “Is it about the one backing the Xia family?”

“En. The one backing the Xia family is related to the Royal Family. Back then, when the previous Emperor passed away, there was a struggle for power. Although the previous Emperor only had two sons, the family of his Empress at that time were eyeing the throne. Not only that, even the Minister of War had greedily tried to usurp the throne,” Long YinLian said before letting out a heavy sigh. “I was still young at the time, and I do not know much about politics nor do I know about all those dark, heavy schemes of the Imperial Palace. All I know is that the rightful heir should be the Emperor, so I supported the second prince at that time, Qin WuZhen.”

“Why the second prince?” Lin Xiao can’t help but ask. “Don’t people usually support the first prince?”

Long YinLian just smiled and reached out to gently pats Lin Xiao’s head. “Though the first prince is born earlier than the second prince, the second prince has more rights to the throne because he is born from the honorable consort while the first prince was born from a third-ranked concubine.”

“I see… then the backer for the Xia family is the second prince?”

At this, Long YinLian shook his head. “It is the first prince, Qin LuoZhuo.”

When Lin Xiao heard the name, he felt something resonate within him. His heart started to palpitate, and he felt uneasy. His palm became sweaty and his breathing became uncontrollable.

“Xiao-er?” Long YinLian called out when he noticed that something is wrong with his disciple.

Lin Xiao snapped out of his state when Long YinLian called him and the uneasy feeling inside him disappeared without a trace. He frowned and lifts his hand up to his chest, feeling that heart slowly returning to its normal rate.

“What’s wrong?” Long YinLian asked in a worried tone when Lin Xiao didn’t reply to him.

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking of how things end,” Lin Xiao said as he avoids telling Long YinLian the truth. “Did the second prince lose and the first prince won? Is that why you’re wary of the Xia family?”

“Is the current Emperor not Emperor Qin WuZhen?” Long YinLian asked. He had lived in seclusion for a long time, so he did not bother with the news of the Empire. He didn’t know that Emperor Qin WuZhen had been assassinated, nor did he know that the person in front of him was the prime suspect of the assassination.

“I don’t know. Should I ask around?”

“No need. We won’t be staying for long,” Long YinLian replied.

“Then, Shizun… Lin Xiao apologizes if this question offends Shizun but,” Lin Xiao paused as he tried to think of a way of asking his question without sounding rude. In the end, he could only ask it outright without beating around the bush. “What was your relationship with martial uncle? Seeing how he acts and how the other elders look at you… it feels like Shizun has a relationship that is more than fellow martial brothers with martial uncle.”

Long YinLian’s whole body became tense at Lin Xiao’s question. Then, he let out a heavy sigh before he leaned his back on the daybed. “Xiao-er, what kind of relationship do you think that we used to have?”

“Lovers?” Lin Xiao answered.

“And now?”

“I… don’t know. Martial uncle already has his family so… back to martial brothers?”

“En. No matter what we had in the past, it did not matter anymore. He already has a family, and tomorrow, we will go back to the mountain. Then we will each return to our daily routines,” Long YinLian said with a smile though Lin Xiao could see that the smile was actually forced.

‘Shizun is bad at lying…’ he thought as he continued to stare at Long YinLian. Then after a while, he finally spoke up. “Shizun, if you want to, we can stay longer, and we can see what martial uncle will do. If—”

“There will be no ‘if’, Xiao-er,” Long YinLian quickly cut off Lin Xiao’s sentence. “I do not wish to become someone who will destroy another’s marriage.”

The words that Long YinLian spat out were heavy and there was a hint of sorrow within. Lin Xiao felt his heart ache as he stared at Long YinLian. “Lin Xiao understands. Tomorrow, we’ll leave early. Let’s forget about the bath and rest. If we leave at Yin Shi, we can avoid seeing martial uncle. Don’t worry. Whatever it is that Shizun wants, let Lin Xiao helps,” Lin Xiao said as he then helped Long YinLian up and brought him to the bed. He also called for the three tigers to come closer so they could finally settle for the night.