They were arguing about Duan Ling and the late eldest son, Duan Lisheng, and they were hiding it from Duan Xinning?
Lin Ting asked again, “You only heard their names, nothing else? Think carefully.”
Duan Xinning recalled carefully, “My mother seemed to say something like, ‘If it weren’t for you, how could he have died?’ That’s all I heard. Was my mother blaming my father for not taking good care of my eldest brother, who was also a member of the Imperial Guards?”
Even as a member of the Duan family, she wasn’t clear about this, let alone Lin Ting, who had just married Duan Ling.
“Perhaps,” Lin Ting didn’t jump to conclusions, but she wanted to understand the reason for their argument.
Just at noon, Duan Ling entered the palace, not heading to the grand hall for discussions but to the alchemy room.
The curtains in the alchemy room blocked the sunlight, making the interior gloomy.
A eunuch walked ahead, lifting the curtain for Duan Ling to enter.
Emperor Jiade was still dressed like a Taoist priest, sitting facing south.
A few strands of his hair were graying, and the wrinkles on his face were more pronounced than before, eroding his once handsome appearance.
His complexion didn’t look good either.
As Duan Ling entered, he glanced at the emperor, then looked at the ground.
“Your Majesty.”
Emperor Jiade first inquired about state affairs, “Have you found out who in the court is secretly aiding the rebels?”
This matter was of utmost importance.
The thought of someone in the court helping the rebels infuriated the emperor.
Duan Ling seemed hesitant, “Your servant…”
Hearing the hesitation in Duan Ling’s voice, Emperor Jiade lifted his eyelids and tapped on an unused alchemy furnace, listening to its sound.
“Hmm?”
Duan Ling lowered his gaze, standing a few steps away, and spoke calmly, “Your servant has not yet identified who in the court is secretly aiding the rebels, but I have discovered that someone in the capital is sending messages to the rebel Xie Qinghe.”
The curtains swayed silently, brushing past Emperor Jiade’s face.
His gaze turned cold, “Who is it?”
The eunuch knelt in fear.
Duan Ling’s tone remained flat, “The message was sent by a maid from the Empress’s side.”
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jiade suddenly stood up, staggering slightly.
The eunuch hurried forward to support him, while Duan Ling remained motionless.
Emperor Jiade’s expression was strange, “A maid from the Empress’s side? Where is the evidence?”
Duan Ling took out the letter intercepted by the Imperial Guards.
The eunuch quickly rose to take it and present it to the emperor.
Emperor Jiade rarely allowed officials to approach him directly; usually, the eunuch would receive it and then present it to him.
He quickly scanned the contents of the letter, his face growing increasingly grim as he crumpled the paper.
Duan Ling acted as if he didn’t notice.
Emperor Jiade tore the letter apart and burned it.
The eunuchs in the alchemy room were all silent, fearing his wrath.
After burning the letter, Emperor Jiade seemed to have aged a few more years.
“Do not tell anyone about this.”
Duan Ling replied respectfully, “Yes.”
Emperor Jiade waved his hand, and the eunuch brought a bowl and a dagger as usual.
Just as Duan Ling grasped the dagger, someone burst in.
The eunuch chasing from outside kept shouting, “Empress!”
The next moment, the Empress appeared before them.
She first glanced at Duan Ling, then at Emperor Jiade, and bowed, “Your Majesty.”
Emperor Jiade helped the Empress to her feet and called for a servant to bring her a chair.
“Why have you come? You’re ill and shouldn’t be exposed to the wind,” he said, ready to reprimand the palace attendants responsible for her care.
The Empress did not sit.
“It was my decision to come and see Your Majesty. It has nothing to do with anyone else.”
“If you wished to see me, you could have sent a message, and I would have come to you. Why risk worsening your condition by coming here yourself?” he asked with concern.
She coughed a few times but did not respond.
Instead, she walked past Emperor Jiade and stood before Duan Ling, scrutinizing him.
“Is this child the medicinal subject?” she asked, referring to the young man in his early twenties.
The Empress was well aware of the difficulty in creating a medicinal subject and the immense suffering it entailed.
Duan Ling remained silent, observing the scene.
Emperor Jiade tried to pull the Empress back.
“Empress, you need not concern yourself with this matter. I…”
But the Empress snatched a porcelain bowl from a servant and smashed it to the ground.
She was out of breath after just a few movements.
“There is no such thing as an elixir of immortality. Why are you so obsessed? The downfall of Great Yan is partly your fault.”
Shards from the bowl flew up and cut Emperor Jiade’s hand.
The servants were horrified and tried to restrain the Empress, but he stopped them.
“Why do you say I am so obsessed?” he asked calmly.
The Empress closed her eyes deeply, and when she opened them, she slapped him.
“I understand now. It’s because you’re too selfish. How could I have been so blind back then?”
She no longer referred to herself as “your servant” or addressed him with the respectful titles of “Your Majesty” or “you.”
The servants all knelt on the ground in fear.
The Empress’s words were already treasonous, but no one expected her to slap the Emperor.
“You may all leave now,” Emperor Jiade said, still composed and rational.
He dismissed Duan Ling and the servants, not wanting to say too much in their presence.
Duan Ling smiled faintly, though no one noticed.
He left unhurriedly, not returning to his residence but heading to the North Imperial Prison to interrogate prisoners.
By early November, the weather had turned cold, and the trees in the capital shed their leaves in abundance.
The courtyard of the Duan residence was also covered in fallen leaves.
Servants swept the leaves as soon as they fell, the sound of their brooms waking Lin Ting, who was still in bed.
She stretched lazily, got up barefoot, and stood by the window to look at the courtyard without bothering to comb her hair.
“Did we wake you?” a servant asked, noticing Lin Ting’s sleepy appearance.
It was already mid-morning, and the servants, responsible for cleaning, had assumed she was already awake.
Lin Ting yawned and went to brush her teeth and wash her face.
“No, you can continue,” she said.
She planned to visit the bookstore today.
Since their parting at Linglong Pavilion, Lin Ting had not seen Jin Anazi for nearly half a month.
During this time, she had visited the bookstore twice, but he was never there.
Lin Ting strongly suspected that Jin Anazi spent most of his time outside the Eastern Palace, looking for an opportunity to assassinate the Crown Prince, which was why he was rarely at the bookstore.
She thought this because, in the past, she would usually see him whenever she visited.
However, Jin Anazi still cared for the dog in the bookstore’s backyard.
Every time Lin Ting visited, she noticed that the dog’s food was fresh, indicating that he made time to return and prepare meals for it.
Before heading to the bookstore, she decided to stop by the North Imperial Prison to see Duan Ling.
Yes, it was just a detour.
Yesterday, when Lin Ting went to pay her respects to Lady Feng, she mentioned Duan Ling’s busy schedule and expressed concern that he might not be eating well.
Since she was passing by the North Imperial Prison, should she bring him some food?
It was impossible for her to cook.
She could manage grilling meat, after all, meat always smells good when grilled, and even if it turned out bad, it wouldn’t be too terrible.
But cooking proper dishes?
No, she’d likely end up becoming the second Xie Qinghe, churning out nothing but culinary disasters.
Forget it, she’d just have the manor prepare some food.
Duan Ling might not be used to eating outside.
Lin Ting instructed the servants to hurry with the meal, then quickly finished her morning routine.
After breakfast, she prepared to head out.
Before she could leave, Duan Ling returned.
Duan Ling’s gaze swept over Lin Ting’s neatly tied hair.
“Are you going out today?”
On days when she didn’t leave the manor, she usually kept her hair half-up and half-down, dressing for comfort.
But today, she had her hair fully tied up and was dressed properly, clearly planning to go out.
Lin Ting took a step back, looking up at him.
“I was planning to go to the Northern Administrative Bureau.”
He lowered his head.
“To see me?”
Just then, a servant brought over a food box.
Lin Ting took it and showed it to him.
“I was bringing you some food. Madam Feng… uh, Mother was worried you might not eat well at the bureau. But why are you back today?”
Duan Ling replied, “It’s my day off.”
Lin Ting was puzzled as she asked: “I thought your day off wasn’t today. Did I remember wrong? Or do your days off change?”
The corners of his eyes lifted slightly as he smiled softly.
“You remember when my days off are?”
Lin Ting: “……”
Duan Xinning had mentioned it once, and she’d remembered.
Her memory was just too good-it wasn’t like she’d intentionally asked about his schedule.
“Ling Yun mentioned it, and I remembered.”
Duan Ling opened the food box to inspect the dishes inside.
Since he was already back, there was no need to take the food to the bureau.
He sat down and asked: “Did Mother ask you to bring this, or did you decide to on your own?”
Madam Feng hadn’t directly asked her to bring food to Duan Ling.
She’d only mentioned it in passing yesterday, so it couldn’t be said that Madam Feng had instructed her.
Lin Ting hesitated for a few seconds.
“It was me…”
Duan Ling picked up his jade chopsticks and took a few bites.
She sat across from him, watching.
“You didn’t come back last night. Were you working the whole time?”
Duan Ling ate slowly, every movement exuding an innate elegance.
When he wore his crimson official robes, he seemed almost otherworldly.
Yet, in bed, he could be surprisingly tender, lying beneath her, asking her to kiss him, then burying his face in her neck, breathing softly.
Though they’d seen each other less frequently recently, he still sought her closeness.
Sometimes, Lin Ting would wake in the middle of the night to find Duan Ling kissing her.
One night, she’d looked at his flushed face and, in a moment of weakness, agreed to help him with her legs though still clothed.
She must have been half-asleep, because the next day, she was still dazed thinking about it.
For some reason, Lin Ting always felt as though she was being “slowly boiled like a frog in warm water.”
Duan Ling listened quietly as she spoke, then swallowed his food before replying, “How did you know I didn’t come back last night? Did you stay up all night?”
Lin Ting felt that he was focusing on the wrong point, always shifting the attention to others.
“I got up in the middle of the night, and you weren’t here. It was already very late by then.”
“That suspect last night was too tight-lipped. I interrogated him until dawn, so I didn’t come back.”
“Then you should rest after you finish your meal.”
Since Duan Ling had returned, she would have to postpone her visit to the study.
Today, she would just read and not disturb him.
Just then, a maid entered to report that someone outside the residence was looking for Lin Ting.
“Who is it?”
The maid recognized Xia Zimo, as he had visited the Duan residence multiple times.
“It’s Young Master Xia.”
Xia Zimo?
What was he doing here to see her today?
Was it about Duan Xinning?
But he wasn’t even planning to propose anymore, so what was there to say?
Besides, didn’t he say he would talk to Duan Xinning himself?
Lin Ting responded rudely, “I won’t see him. Tell him to go back to his Shian Marquis residence.”
She was really giving him face.
Duan Ling calmly asked, “Did Young Master Xia ask you to look for Lingyun?”
“When Young Master Xia first arrived, he asked for the Third Young Lady, but she refused to see him. Then he called for me to come in and look for the Young Madam.”
Lin Ting understood.
Xia Zimo wanted to see Duan Xinning, but after learning that he wasn’t planning to propose, Duan Xinning didn’t want to see him.
Unable to meet her, he wanted Lin Ting, as her close friend, to persuade her.
What a clever plan, but Lin Ting wouldn’t help him.
However, she was about to go out and give Xia Zimo a good beating when she suddenly heard the system’s voice:
[Triggered the Villainess Mission. Please purchase a love potion and administer it to the male lead, Xia Zimo.]