In the middle of the night, the palace seems to be silent.

But if you listen carefully, you can still make many soft whispers, as well as the footsteps that people are careful to lighten.

After Ludwig left, Lin An's mind was occupied by chaotic thoughts for a while, and after thinking about it, he simply left the four-leaf flower hall and walked to the courtyard of the Maple Palace.

The moonlight in the middle of the night is brighter than before midnight, and the breeze of early summer blows away the dark clouds and sprinkles the moonlight.

The palace under the cover of night also presents a completely different scene from the daytime.

The majestic palace complex is like a sleeping beast, lying down and quietly entrenched in the night.

Merlin's court architecture was known for its solemnity and simplicity, and one of the main features was its penchant for sculpture.

As a representative building, the palace has collected many sculptures from famous artists from all over the world, and more are antique statues handed down from the generations of the Merlin royal family.

From the "Stargazer" of the great Renaissance sculptor Rochetor a thousand years ago, to the "Rebel" of the emerging art master of the Holy Empire in recent years, to the "Ideal Town", the highest work of the fantasy series of abstract masters......

In any corner of the palace, between the twists and turns of the path, the visitor may be pleasantly surprised to find a sculpture of precious artistic value and long history hidden in the deep forest.

Works of art are precious because of the imagination and thinking that their authors put into their creation, which often resonate with others.

Even if the same sculpture is in the eyes of the same person with different states of mind at different times, it will be found to be completely different from the usual gaze.

Lin An was fascinated by these sculptures that showed different qualities in the night, and temporarily forgot the thoughts in his heart, and unconsciously admired the statues of different styles, and gradually went deep into the courtyard maple forest, away from the palace.

It wasn't until the lights in the palace that were completely obscured by the maple trees that Lin An realized that he had deviated from his course.

After looking back at a statue called "The Sacrificial Maiden", Lin An planned to return the way he came.

Suddenly, his keen ear power caught the slight sound of his clothes, and his skin felt the abnormal flow of airflow, and Lin An looked up vigilantly.

The maple forest is not dense, through the sparse branches, Lin An can clearly see a black shadow falling in the air, at a slightly faster speed than falling, flying obliquely to this side, like a maple leaf flying from the branches, falling to a flat ground with a thin moonlight not far away.

"It turned out to be Master Lin."

Master Rice, who looked like a middle-aged scholar, was wearing a black robe, and pulled out a silver chain from the pocket on the left chest of the robe, and pulled it to the position where the placket overlapped and hidden, and nodded to Lin An:

"In the dead of night, I didn't expect Master Lin to be in the mood to visit the night."

"I just finished meditating, and I couldn't calm down, so I wanted to go out for a walk."

Lin An bowed slightly, replied, and asked again:

"The master is on duty tonight?"

Master Rice smiled faintly and nodded in acquiescence.

The two sides did not maladjust to the equal attitude in each other's Q&A, Lin An thought that the greetings on the scene were over, and was about to say goodbye, but Master Rice unexpectedly sent out an invitation:

"It's still early, if you're still interested, why don't you come with me?"

Although he was already nominally a member of the court mage group, Master Rice, as the chief archmage, had never had a private conversation with Lin An.

In terms of the chance of intersection, Master Alberta and Master Don Quixote, and even Master Ulysses, have a more familiar relationship with Lin An than Master Rice.

But the content of Master Rice's invitation was mediocre, and he couldn't see any hidden meaning, Lin An couldn't judge for a moment whether this was a whim or an ulterior motive, thought about it, or obeyed Master Rice's words, and happily responded:

"I can't ask for it."

The two of them just walked slowly.

Probably due to the deviation from the position of the main hall, there were no patrolling guards along the way.

Lin An occasionally saw one or two sculptures hidden in the maple forest, and Master Rice casually said one or two allusions related to them, which were not exhaustive, but concise, which often made Lin An feel to the point.

This feeling is also similar to Master Rice's consistent impression of Lin An: concise, focusing on efficiency, and rarely doing superfluous things.

Although Master Rice is known to be Yokjadan's teacher, the Chief Court Archmage comes across as rather low-key and seemingly inactive.

But if someone underestimates Master Rice because of this, it will inevitably suffer a big loss.

From the Ice Plain to the Imperial Capital, from the Merlin Royal Family to the Holy Empire, from the Mage Tower to the Hidden Inheritance, Lin An has not really seen this Master Rice's move, but in many things, there seem to be traces of this master behind it.

But Lin An never grasped the real handle of Master Rice.

This master has a huge network and incalculable influence, if he does nothing, has no personal charisma, and can only be said by people who really don't know him.

As far as Lin An knows, Lawrence, a disciple of Master Rice, is quite influential in the Northern Front Mage Tower, and even Yorkiadan can covet the throne under his influence.

A teacher who can teach such two disciples cannot be ordinary in character.

Lin An has long been aware of a very contradictory phenomenon:

The Emperor's expectations of Yokartan from the very beginning should have been in a direction similar to that of Master Don Quixote, and it is impossible for Master Rice not to know this.

However, the Emperor turned a blind eye to the deviation from the path of Yokjardan.

Interestingly, Master Rice connived at this and did not worry about what the emperor thought.

Lin An didn't know how much these old guys had in their hearts.

But only from the strange atmosphere between the emperor and Master Rice, who seemed to be close but estranged, Lin An felt that this master seemed to be shrouded in a fog, what he was thinking, what he was going to do, people couldn't see his purpose clearly, the only feeling was that this master should not be taken lightly.

Of course, this does not mean that Lin An is afraid of Master Rice.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed to this sudden invitation to travel together.

"Actually, I've been following you since I was thinking earlier."

Passing by a low bush, Master Rice spoke without warning:

"When Lawrence first mentioned you in his letter from Icefield, I had already begun to follow you."

Lawrence is the great disciple of Master Rice - currently.

The reason why Lawrence is only the current big disciple of Master Rice is because Master Rice is not the first disciple of Master Rice.

None of the disciples that Master Rice accepted in the early days survived their teacher, and for a long time after that, Master Rice was immersed in the study of magic and did not accept any more disciples.

It wasn't until a few years before Yokjardan became his disciple that Master Rice began to re-select suitable apprentices, seemingly intending to produce a disciple to inherit the mantle before the end of his life.

It was in this context that Yokjardan became a disciple of Master Rice and a successor to the mantle of outsiders.

This history is not a secret, and many people in the imperial capital know it.

When a person is in a higher position, there is no need to inquire more, and a lot of information will automatically pass to the ear.

But when Lin An first heard about it, he felt as if there was something inside, especially after learning that there was also a Master Don Quixote from the royal family in the court mage group, this feeling was even stronger.

Will Jokjardan become a disciple of Master Rice, will it be a plausion, a buy-off, or a compromise?

Judging from the later developments, Lin An's intuition leaned towards the last.

What exactly is the real relationship between Master Rice and the royal family?

What is the purpose of what he has done for so many years?

Lin An thought of a point, and always felt that he was quite close to the truth, but there was always a lack of a key in his mind, which made Lin An unable to connect all the clues reasonably.

There were many thoughts in his mind, but Lin An said in slight surprise: "I feel deeply flattered. ”

Master Rice saw through the alienation under Lin An's social tone.

"Master Lin, you don't have to be too vigilant, I don't mean anything."

He smiled slightly, as elegant as a scholar, "Just as you and Yokyatan have long since turned enemies into friends, I think you should see that I have no prejudice against you other than conflicts of interest." ”

That's true.

Since he had come into contact with the court, Master Rice had never shown any special attitude towards her, either in concern or embarrassment - not even a single glance.

Because of this, Lin An will be vigilant.

She thought for a moment, and raised the language.

"Most of the mages I know are very sensible, but I personally think that there are very few people who can match you."

Looking ahead, Lin An said unhurriedly:

"Many people have strong self-control, and most of the time they can restrain their selfishness and control their own behavior, which is normal."

"But if a person has never even had a superfluous look or an inconsequential conversation when he is paying attention to another person, then this person's sanity and self-control have reached a peak of perfection."

"I believe what you just said."

"I'm also confident in my perceptual acumen."

"So, you're exactly what you're talking about."

Lin An's words made Master Rice show a little interest, and the eyes that seemed to contain profound wisdom were looking at Lin An with deep meaning, and answered gently:

"Oh, that's a funny statement, it's the first time I've heard someone say about myself in person...... So, that's why you're guarding me? ”

"Nope."

Lin An denied it.

"It's not all."

"Enjoyment, and indulgence in the fulfillment of one's desires, is an instinct of man. Even the most withdrawn mages will have all sorts of petty hobbies or quirks. ”

"But I don't see that in you."

“…… You are self-disciplined, sensible, and in this court, but you rarely take the initiative to contact outsiders and use resources to develop your network...... I don't see in you the desire to grab power, but I do realize that you have reached into the ice plains, and even intended to get involved in the succession of the throne. ”

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