The voice was low and yet, Lin Xiao could feel the gentleness being exuded by the tone that was used. Lin Xiao’s eyes never left the Emperor’s so he could see those myriads of emotions within the eyes of the Emperor. People say that the eyes are the windows to one’s soul.

Lin Xiao thought that he saw hope in those eyes, but he quickly threw the thought away, thinking that his mind is now playing tricks on him. After all, he himself knew how deeply in trouble he is currently.

He remembered that the guard who was the cloaked figure from before had said that the dagger was something his ‘master’ had been searching for. If he had known that the so-called ‘master’ was the Emperor himself, would he still snatch the dagger?

“Xiao-er,” Long YinLian’s voice pulled Lin Xiao out from his thought and Lin Xiao instinctively turned to look at the older man. “His Majesty is asking you for your name,” Long YinLian reminded Lin Xiao.

“Oh, I… am called Lin Xiao,” after a slight hesitation, Lin Xiao simply introduced himself as he normally did.

As soon as Long YinLian heard this, he quickly went down on his knees and pulled Lin Xiao down once again. “Begging His Majesty to forgive this foolish son of mine! It is this servant’s fault for not educating his son properly. If His Majesty wish to punish him, please punish this servant instead.”

“Shi—” Lin Xiao didn’t get to finish even a word when he felt himself being pinched by the arm. So, he could only keep quiet and lowered his head.

“Son?” Qin YiJun looked at Lin Xiao and the blind man beside him. “The two of you do not look alike…”

“Your Majesty, a son can also be someone who is not blood-related. Your humble subject is already like this, there will be no father who wants his daughter to spend the rest of her life living with someone who is disabled. Therefore, this servant decided to adopt a son instead,” Long YinLian replied.

Qin YiJun continues to look at the two, then his eyes linger more on Lin Xiao. “How did you get adopted?” he asked Lin Xiao.

“I… was lost in the forest, without any recollection of my past… and then, Shizun found me and took care of me these past two years,” Lin Xiao replied.

‘These past two years?’ this sentence repeated in Qin YiJun’s mind. The time frame fits the time when he lost Li FangMing. His suspicion that this person before him is indeed Li FangMing and not just someone looks like him became more solid. ‘And he also lost his memories… is that why you don’t recognize me, Ming-er?’

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Qin YiJun’s gaze became gentler. But before anyone could catch it, he quickly closed his eyes and put back his indifferent mask. “Zhen’s guard mentioned that you stole the dagger that Zhen has been looking for from him,” Qin YiJun raised up his hand in front of Lin Xiao. “Zhen ask you to return it.”

‘Return it?’ Lin Xiao was reluctant as his hand rests on the dagger. He gripped the hilt of the dagger tightly, unable to bring himself to raise it up and place it on Emperor’s hand.

“The dagger does not belong to you, return the dagger,” the Emperor spoke up and Lin Xiao just grits his teeth. Even though he’s unwilling, he took out the dagger and handed it to Qin YiJun. But when the Qin YiJun was about to take it, Lin Xiao’s grip on the dagger tighten.

The young Emperor just frowned as he gazed at Lin Xiao who had a defiant look. “Why are you so attached to something that is not yours?” he asked.

“And why are you so attached to it yourself, Your Imperial Majesty?” Lin Xiao asked back, a hint of sarcasm can be heard from his tone.

This sentence was spoken out loud that everyone in the hall could hear it. There was a moment of awkward silence before it was broken by two voices.

“Insolence!” the official who was in charge of their case exclaimed as he pointed at Lin Xiao.

“Xiao-er!” Long YinLian called out almost at the same time. He then quickly lowered his head as he kowtowed to the Emperor, pleading for the Emperor to forgive Lin Xiao. “Imploring His Majesty to forgive this foolish son of mine! Your humble subject is willing to give away his life in return for the crime of disrespecting the Emperor…”

After hearing what Long YinLian had said, Lin Xiao’s heart shook. He quickly unsheathed the dagger and knelt down before Qin YiJun. “Let go of Shizun. I am already an adult so I will be responsible for my action. If the crime of disrespecting the Emperor warrants the death penalty, then let Lin Xiao pay with his own life,” as Lin Xiao said this, he pointed the tip of the dagger to his neck and was about to drive it through his throat.

Seeing this, Qin YiJun quickly took hold of Lin Xiao’s arm, stopping his action. In his panic, he roared out at Lin Xiao angrily. “Did you not promise Zhen that you will not die?!”

Hearing the Emperor’s angry tone, everyone within the hall knelt and lowered their heard in fear. Only Lin Xiao has his head up, staring at the Emperor with wide, confused eyes. The room fell into complete silence as the two people stared into each other’s eyes.

The more Lin Xiao stare at the Emperor, the more he felt that the other is extremely familiar to him. As if this person before him is someone very important to him in the past. Just then, an image flashed within Lin Xiao’s mind. It was an image of a young man, which coincides very much with the Emperor before him.

A sudden splitting headache came down to strike Lin Xiao and because of the extreme pain, Lin Xiao closed his eyes and dropped the dagger. The clanging sound of the dagger falling down on the floor resounded in the hall, making the others can’t help but raise their head slightly to the source of the sound.

The image they see had almost sent their soul all the way to the yellow river. In order not to accidentally became the object of the Emperor’s rage, they quickly lowered their head to the ground, eyes glued to the floor.

It was only Long YinLian, who is unable to see what happened, called to Lin Xiao worriedly. “Xiao-er, what’s wrong? Your Majesty, please don’t hurt him…”

At the moment, Lin Xiao was wrapped in a warm embrace as he clutched his head in pain. He grits his teeth to hold back the pain and to not make a sound, but the headache only continues to get worse. When he heard Long YinLian called out to him, Lin Xiao wanted to answer. But what escaped his lips was only a pained groan.

Qin YiJun, on the other hand, was kneeling down on the ground, holding Lin Xiao close to himself. He noticed that Lin Xiao seems to be in pain, so he used one of his hands to gently gave the other’s head a massage. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to help with the pain at all. When he heard Long YinLian begging him to not hurt Lin Xiao, Qin YiJun only felt that he was wronged.

“Don’t worry. Zhen will not harm him,” Qin YiJun murmured in a soft voice. The soft, gentle voice of the Emperor somehow soothed Lin Xiao’s heart.

Lin Xiao struggled to look up at the Emperor only to see the other looking at him with worry in his eyes. Lin Xiao parted his lips, but he couldn’t hear what he himself was saying before finally passing out from the splitting pain in his head.

Lin Xiao couldn’t hear, but Qin YiJun heard it clearly. It made his heart beat faster as he held Lin Xiao closer to him, as if not wanting to let him go.

‘YiJun…’

That was the only two words that came out of Lin Xiao’s lips earlier and that alone made Qin YiJun certain that this is the person he’s looking for this whole time. Qin YiJun leaned down and pressed his lips against Lin Xiao’s forehead before whispering in a very low voice: “Ming-er… you’ve finally returned to my side. Welcome home…”