Chapter 46#

Entering the Dream#

Yin Yuheng was half-drunk, but still able to walk.

As the top of the four great families, the Shen family’s gardens and courtyards were also designed to be elegant and secluded. A maid pushed Shen Liyuan’s wheelchair, while Yin Yuheng walked beside him. The moonlight was quiet, and for a moment, they really seemed like a pair of close friends wandering side-by-side.

This dreamlike feeling made Shen Liyuan indulge, followed by a deeper longing.

Not just a friend… he wanted to be Yin Yuheng’s only one.

Passing by a stream, Shen Liyuan suddenly signaled the maid to stop.

“Your Highness, do you remember this place?” Shen Liyuan said nostalgically, “This is where I first met you.”

From the first moment he saw you, a dark thought took root and sprouted in his heart.

Yin Yuheng was stunned, and after recalling for a while, he smiled slightly: “At that time, I didn’t expect you to reach where you are today.”

From a discarded son of the Shen family who was loathed by everyone to the actual controller of the Shen family, the effort Shen Liyuan put in was unimaginable.

“I must also thank Your Highness for your appreciation,” Shen Liyuan sighed softly.

Yin Yuheng was actually a bit surprised now: “You know?”

Shen Liyuan smiled.

By this stream that year, the little Prince pulled him up from the mud, smiled at him, and left without another word. However, Shen Liyuan soon found that his life in the Shen family had become much better. His father, who had already given up on him, rearranged his cultivation lessons. When the servants saw him, they became a bit more respectful.

Shen Liyuan was a clever person and quickly guessed who had brought about these changes. That day, sitting in his quiet and cold room, he bowed his head and both cried and laughed.

His concubine-mother and brother had spoken sweet words in front of him, but in the end, gave him the deepest betrayal.

The little Crown Prince, who met him by chance, had secretly helped him in private, yet said nothing about it. He wouldn’t even put on an act of kindness; he helped him without getting any benefit in return. Shen Liyuan thought, Is this person a fool?

Shen Liyuan smiled and wiped away his tears. That was the last time he shed tears; afterwards, no matter what happened, he never cried again.

Shen Liyuan was originally a boy with extraordinary talent, and by seizing this sliver of opportunity, he actually climbed out of the former mire. After experiencing betrayal, he also learned to be duplicitous, insidious, and calculating. Under his arrangement, his concubine-mother and brother stepped into a dead end, struggling to survive.

That day, sitting in a wheelchair, he calmly looked at the woman on the bed who was withered and about to die. She stared with bloodshot eyes, her thin and bony hands curled in a claw-like posture, and intermittently begged him to let her son go. Shen Liyuan enjoyed her despair, only smiling faintly, watching his once-beloved brother kneeling at his wheelchair, holding his legs, crying in repentance and pleading.

He was unmoved.

Later, there was an “accident” in the Shen family. There were no other casualties, only Shen Liyuan’s brother who “accidentally” fell into a pile of poison vines, was entangled and hung up for three days and three nights, and died screaming, drawing sighs from people.

*

Shen Liyuan signaled the maid to push the wheelchair and continue forward. Shen Liyuan sighed: “It’s all in the past, and the people who hurt me that year have also passed away. Without Your Highness, I wouldn’t be where I am today… Here we are; please stay here tonight, Your Highness, and don’t feel constrained.”

Yin Yuheng was a distinguished guest of the Shen family, and the arranged accommodation was quiet, elegant, and very carefully prepared. Yin Yuheng didn’t mind this and thanked Shen Liyuan. He was drunk after all, and after lying on the bed, he soon closed his eyes.

Shen Liyuan sat in the moonlight outside the window, silently looking at his legs. After a while, he raised his hand, and a maid came over, bowing respectfully.

A flash of the gentleness when Yin Yuheng said “I’m thinking of a way” to him crossed Shen Liyuan’s mind, and he hesitated for a moment. But in the end, he said: “Bring the incense.”

The maid stiffened all over, glanced into the room, and said: “…Yes.”

Shen Liyuan was a bit preoccupied and didn’t notice her abnormality. The maid soon brought the incense and respectfully handed it over.

It was an exquisite small jade box, containing a little fine powder.

“Relocating Emotions (Yiqing), huh…”

*

Yin Yuheng lay on the bed, seemingly sleeping soundly.

“He took the ‘Relocating Emotions’ incense.” Little White’s spiritual sense was extremely strong and soon noticed Shen Liyuan’s actions.

The “Relocating Emotions” incense, which should have been lit by Lu Yan in the original plot, ultimately appeared in Shen Liyuan’s hands.

Yin Yuheng slightly opened his eyes and smiled softly.

“Actually, I once felt that this person, Shen Liyuan, was somewhat like me, especially his gaze when he was lying in the mud when I first saw him… I once appreciated him and thought if we could truly become friends.”

“Later, during the year of the Immortal Order… he invited me to play chess, but in fact, he was plotting against me. I was very disappointed and understood that it was impossible for me to become friends with such a person.”

“It’s a pity that due to the plot constraints, I can’t strike first and kill him.”

Little White was silent.

While he couldn’t act, Little White knew that Yin Yuheng had quickly adopted another method.

Gentleness that was neither too far nor too close, half-true and half-false care, and unconscious indulgence. Shen Liyuan originally had an extraordinary obsession with Yin Yuheng, sinking deeper and deeper, finally reaching the level of madness.

Shen Liyuan wanted Yin Yuheng’s eyes to only have him, but he didn’t realize that in his own heart, only Yin Yuheng was left. A single look from Yin Yuheng could pull his emotions. He thought he was the hunter who controlled everything, but his mind had long been controlled by the prey.

A strange fragrance wafted over, and Yin Yuheng knew that the “Relocating Emotions” incense had taken effect. Little White released its spiritual sense to isolate Shen Liyuan and Yin Yuheng.

“As long as the two of you don’t enter the dream together, your sanity won’t be affected,” Little White said. “Just treat it as having an ordinary dream; I’ll look after you.”

Under the effect of the “Relocating Emotions” incense, one will dream of the person they like. Yin Yuheng closed his eyes, wondering who he would dream of.

It’s impossible to really be Li Guanghan.

Like… would he also have the emotion of liking someone? Perhaps he wouldn’t dream of anyone.

Or, there’s also… Lu Yan.

Would he dream of him? Yin Yuheng’s heart suddenly beat very fast. The fragrance swirled, and Yin Yuheng gradually fell into a deep sleep. The scenery before him underwent a bizarre change, and Yin Yuheng understood that he had entered a dream.

Yin Yuheng looked around but was stunned.

The surroundings were bustling with people, and it was the very familiar city of Chaoge. But Yin Yuheng remembered that his first meeting with Lu Yan was outside the city of Chaoge.

Could the person in his dream not be Lu Yan?

Yin Yuheng blinked in confusion, turned his head, and suddenly saw his own reflection in the lake water nearby.

It was himself in his teens.

Why was he here? Yin Yuheng suddenly felt like he had forgotten something. He thought carefully and remembered that he was thirteen years old this year and was playing in the city of Chaoge…

While he was dazed, a sudden commotion came from nearby. Someone shouted: “Look out!”

An arrow light streaked towards him, and Yin Yuheng couldn’t react in time, seeing that he was about to be hit. At the critical moment, a figure suddenly pounced in front of him. Yin Yuheng’s footing was unstable, and he slipped, falling into the lake water together with the person who pounced over with a splash.

Yin Yuheng: “…”

Yin Yuheng barely stood straight and wiped the water off his face.

He looked up and saw a boy standing up nearby, also covered in water, giving him a smile.

“Are you okay?” The other’s eyes were slightly bright, “Someone wanted to kill you.”

“…I’m fine. Thank you.”

Yin Yuheng had defensive artifacts on him and wouldn’t have been hurt anyway. Now, he was soaked for nothing and still had to say thank you.

Yin Yuheng tried hard to maintain a smile: “Thanks to the young hero’s righteous help, may I ask your name?”

“Lu Yan,” the other person flipped onto the shore and reached out his hand to Yin Yuheng, “Come up.”