Chapter 37: Ceremony
Yan Mu Lin knew what type of voice he should use to confuse the Crown Prince. Using that voice, he dispelled the alertness Qin Ming felt towards himself and at the same time, made him seem kind.
Different voices would make people feel different feelings. Yan Mu Lin had to decide whether the voice was light, heavy, slow, or fast. The words he spoke would only get the desired effect when the tone and modulation were properly grasped.
If he wanted to attract other people"s attention, Yan Mu Lin had to use a specific rhythm. Speed up and slow down at the proper timing. This was because people would only be willing to listen if he knew when to start and stop speaking or else, it might make people feel sleepy like they were listening to a lullaby.
Voice acting is pretty much just speaking. Different characters had different speaking styles, and Yan Mu Lin has mastered this skill. Of course, he had characters and lines to refer to most of the time. It is different when he has to speak to another person. He had to think of the tone to use so that he would not appear indifferent and arrogant. Yan Mu Lin had to make himself appear approachable, and the topic interesting.
Right now, Yan Mu Lin was using his skill in voice acting to grasp the Crown Prince"s curiosity. A person who got sent to a treatment center must be feeling very lonely. He would need someone who can dispel his inner confusion.
Yan Mu Lin could communicate with the Crown Prince because he did not treat him like a patient from beginning to end. If he had to face a real patient, he would probably be at a loss. Right now, he knew that the Crown Prince was an innocent transmigrator. An ancient person who came over and had to adapt to science and technology. The Crown Prince was really pitiful.
The Crown Prince"s curiosity was peaked. He asked Yan Mu Lin: “Then which world are you from?”
The Crown Prince has been in the treatment center for six months. He knew about the world and thought that it was square. He did not expect that in the future, the books would say that it was rounded and that they were actually floating in the air. When the Crown Prince saw Earth in a photo, it almost scared him to death. He was afraid that he would fall to G.o.d-knows-where in the middle of the night.
The Crown Prince no longer talked like someone from ancient times as he has been in contact with modern people for six months. That only happens when he gets up in the middle of the night to recite poetry.
Yan Mu Lin sighed, “My world is quite similar to this one so I adapted easily.”
Qin Ming asked him warily, “How old were your parents in your original world?”
Yan Mu Lin looked for a comfortable sitting position on the gra.s.s and said, “Since this is my secret, you should give information in exchange, deal?”
The crown prince stood up from his chair and sat beside Yan Mu Lin: “Deal. Say yours first.”
The cameraman was filming them on the side. He was a.s.sumed to be Yan Mu Lin"s bodyguard and was ignored by the Crown Prince. Of course, n.o.body knows if he would regret that later.
Yan Mu Lin nodded, “Okay, I"ll tell first. My father is an ordinary civil servant and my mother is a teacher. When I was six, they got a divorce.”
The prince knew the terms divorce, civil servant, and teacher. He heard of it at 8 o"clock dramas, “After that? What did you do? How did you get here?”
Since the other party was eagerly asking questions, Yan Mu Lin knew that he caught Qin Ming"s attention.
Yan Mu Lin was not making anything up. All of the words he said without thinking were all true. However, the directors at the monitoring room were breaking out into cold sweats for Yan Mu Lin. They were afraid that his story would have loose ends. After all, his story sounded ridiculous, but when they think about it, it was reasonable. He was talking to someone with a mental illness.
Yan Mu Lin leaned on his right leg using his arm. He said with hints of fondness and loneliness, “Then my parents formed their own families. I stayed with my mom for several days and the other days with my dad. After living like that for a few years, they now had their own children and had no time to take care of me, so I moved to the school dormitory. When I finished college, I looked for a job so that I did not have to burden my family. I tried to fulfill my dream. However, after receiving my first award, I got into an accident and woke up in this world.”
Yan Mu Lin did not know if the Crown Prince understood everything, and just watched him as he fell deep into his thoughts. Yan Mu Lin sat there quietly, giving Qin Ming time to think.
After a long while, the Crown Prince said slowly, “I am the first son of my father and mother. Aside from me, there were various prince and princesses. My mother was not very favored. There were various imperial concubines that father liked more than my mother. However, my mother was tired of competing with them for my father"s favor. It is not easy to manage the entire harem, she has to work hard every day. After coming here, I regret that I did not understand my mother"s wishes. I now wanted to study hard, to learn swordsmanship, and to learn to govern the country properly. Even if I understood all that now, I will never see my mother again.”
The Crown Prince was so immersed in his memories, he almost cried. However, he believed that real men do not shed tears, so he did not. Yan Mu Lin patted him on the shoulder, “How did you get here? I don"t mean to be rude, but Crown Prince, this is a treatment center. It is a place where they treat patients. You are a normal person, so you should not be staying here. What"s past is past, you can never return. You should be living in this world and not tell others that you were once a Crown Prince. That would be your secret that no one should now. Do… you understand what I am saying?”
He did not know how old the real Crown Prince was, but he could tell that he would not be older than eighteen years old. The Crown Prince seemed to be still going through p.u.b.erty. Arriving here gave him the time to think about life as a rare moment of peace.
The Crown Prince nodded reluctantly, “I get what you are saying. You want me to leave the past alone and live in this world just like you, right?”
Yan Mu Lin smiled and said, “You haven"t grown up yet so you have the chance to study and get a diploma before working. Naturally, my occupation is an exception. Everything that will happen in the future depends on you.”
The Crown Prince"s eyes lit up, “I can become an emperor?”
Yan Mu Lin smiled, “Yes. However, in here, the ruler is not the emperor but the prime minister. The emperor"s position is pa.s.sed down and they no longer have the power to rule the country. They are only there for diplomacy. You can learn more about it yourself.”
In the next few decades, the Crown Prince will embark on a road to power due to Yan Mu Lin"s remarks today. Anyway, this does not need to be addressed for the time being.
After chatting, Yan Mu Lin thought of the words that were said to him. Since tomorrow"s task was to satisfy the patient"s wish, Yan Mu Lin asked the Crown Prince: “Crown Prince, have you ever thought of saying goodbye to your past? Like doing a simple farewell ceremony? You would now be known as Qin Ming and will no longer be the Crown Prince.”
The Crown Prince held his chin and thought about it. He looked at Yan Mu Lin up and down and smiled quite evilly, “This Prince wants to see you dance the 《Raiment of Rainbows and Feathers》, happy?”
Yan Mu Lin"s jaw dropped. The directors said–this was even recorded–that when the patients made a wish, no matter how hard it is, they had to agree. The program team would do their best to help.
Yan Mu Lin was so irritated that he could not stop himself from rubbing the top of the prince"s head, “Not happy.”
The Crown Prince looked at Yan Mu Lin, “I want to see the 《 Raiment of Rainbows and Feathers 》in the farewell ceremony you were talking about just now. My mother did the turns very well, can you turn?”
Yan Mu Lin shook his head immediately: “No. Is there no other way to do the farewell ceremony?”
The Crown Prince looked into the distance, “No. I miss my mother and I see her gentleness in you. I want to see you do the turns.”
d.a.m.ned child, d.a.m.ned child, d.a.m.ned child!