Chapter 111(2/2): A slap in Duan Ling’s face

Lin Ting still remembered the time he had used a drug to knock her out and had long wanted to get revenge.  

Duan Ling also looked up at the moon but didn’t answer, instead asking, “You want to put a poison on me?”  

Lin Ting was caught but denied it.

“Not really, just curious. Besides, why would I bother? I’m not that idle.”  

He slowly shook the wine pot, the liquid sloshing inside.

“I thought you still ‘held a grudge’ against me for drugging you back then.”  

Lin Ting: “….” 

She took back the wine pot.

“I’m not that vindictive. You’re overthinking.”

If anyone held a grudge, it was Duan Ling—remembering the line “He’s not worthy to lick her feet,” even after marriage.  

Duan Ling’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

“I was being suspicious of a nobleman’s heart with a villain’s mind.”  

Lin Ting coughed guiltily and didn’t bring up the matter again.  

“The city is about to fall. What are His Majesty’s plans next?”  

“He wants to leave Jingcheng.”  

She knew Emperor Jiade wanted to preserve the future and not despair of hope, but leaving Jingcheng wasn’t easy now.

“The city is surrounded by the Shian Marquis’s men. How does he plan to leave?”  

Duan Ling tapped the glazed tiles a few times, listening to the sound they made.

“There’s a secret tunnel leading out of the palace to outside the city. He can leave through that.”  

Lin Ting lay back, resting her head on the blanket she asked, “Do you know where the tunnel is?”  

He lowered his eyes to her slightly flushed face from the wine.

“No. The people who built the tunnel were all silenced by Emperor Jiade—he’s naturally suspicious. Even though he views the Imperial Guard and the Eastern Depot as his right and left arms, he never told us about the tunnel.”  

After Emperor Jiade fell ill, the Crown Prince replaced the Imperial Guards around him with the Forbidden Army.  

The Crown Prince disliked the Imperial Guard and immediately began curbing their power after ascending.

Duan Ling, as the Imperial Guard’s Deputy Commander, was the first to detect the Crown Prince’s intentions.

But at that time, Lin Ting had fallen ill with a strange sickness, so he didn’t want to meddle in such matters.  

Lin Ting understood and replied, “I see.”  

She felt warm from the wine, the evening breeze blowing softly—comfortable and sleepy.

She closed her eyes.  

Duan Ling, smelling the wine on the breeze, said softly, “It’s late. Shall we go back to the room?”  

Lin Ting didn’t respond or move.

She lay quietly on her side, her breathing steady.  

After a while, he reached out as before to check her breathing.  

When the warm breath brushed his fingers, he realized he had forgotten to breathe.  

She was asleep.  

Duan Ling sat quietly for a moment, then lifted Lin Ting in his arms.

He stepped over the wine pot she had casually left on the tiles, and with the moonlight guiding him, he steadily left the rooftop.  

Just as Madam Feng and Duan Xinning had left, Li Jingqiu saw Duan Ling carrying Lin Ting down from the rooftop, walking toward them.

“Is she drunk?”  

He smiled slightly, cradling her neck in his palm.

“She’s not drunk, just asleep.”  

Li Jingqiu poked Lin Ting’s flushed cheek.

“She sure is carefree—falling asleep on the rooftop in the wind without worrying about catching cold.”  

Suddenly, Lin Ting threw a punch.  

Li Jingqiu reacted quickly, catching her fist, tapping it lightly.

Embarrassed, she said to Duan Ling, “She’s a little restless in her sleep. Thank you for your trouble, Ziyu.”  

They were married, so they already knew each other’s sleeping habits, but tonight Madam Feng, seeing Lin Ting trying to hit someone even in her sleep, felt the need to speak up.  

Li Jingqiu was Lin Ting’s mother and had shared a bed with her before—she knew how uncomfortable it was.  

Previously, whenever they shared a bed, Li Jingqiu would tie Lin Ting up just to get a good night’s sleep.

When Lin Ting drank, she was even more aggressive.

Li Jingqiu couldn’t help but worry about Duan Ling.

“Why don’t you let her sleep in my courtyard tonight?”  

Duan Ling didn’t intend to let go of Lin Ting so he replied, “No need. I’m used to it.”  

Just then, Lin Ting slapped him.  

Li Jingqiu’s eyelids twitched.  

She felt the pain just hearing the slap.  

Lin Ting stopped after hitting him and fell soundly asleep.

Duan Ling’s face didn’t change.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll take her back first.”  

“Go ahead.” Li Jingqiu wanted to ignore the slap mark on Duan Ling’s face but couldn’t—the mark was too red on his pale skin.

Her daughter’s strength was really something.  

Duan Ling carried Lin Ting back.  

Their courtyards were next to each other; turning right at the door brought them back to their place.  

Inside the room, there were heated dragons and stoves.

Lin Ting was woken by the warmth and complained it was hot.

Duan Ling helped her undress—winter clothes meant many layers, so it took some time.  

Lin Ting was half asleep, eyes closed, too lazy to move, sitting on the bed while waiting for him to finish.  

Suddenly, he bent down and kissed her eyelids.  

Lin Ting opened her eyes and looked at his face, the corner of her mouth twitching.

“Is that your face… from where I hit you?” It was serious enough to need something to soothe it.  

Duan Ling smiled and kissed her.  

Lin Ting was dizzy from the kiss and quickly forgot about it.  

***

On the day of the first snowfall, the city gates were breached by the Shian Marquis’s forces.

Jingcheng was a river of blood, the bodies of soldiers piled up on the streets, the stench of blood filling the air.  

The Shian Marquis had explicitly forbidden his soldiers from harming civilians or looting their belongings, so after entering the city, the civilians just shut their doors and did not resist.  

Though they had stormed the city, they had yet to break into the palace itself.  

The Imperial Guard guarded the outermost layer of the palace, with Duan Ling among them, his bright red flying fish robe and Spring Embroidery Dagger both dusted with snow.  

When Xia Zimo rode to the palace gate, the first person he saw was Duan Ling.

“Second Young Master Duan.”  

He still did not address him as “Lord Duan,” treating Duan Ling simply as Duan Xinning’s older brother rather than an Imperial Guard.  

The Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard standing next to Duan Ling frowned upon hearing Xia Zimo call him “Second Young Master Duan.”

The Deputy Commander outranked Duan Ling and had the authority to command him.  

“Go kill him.”  

Everyone knew how loyal the Duan family was to Emperor Jiade—the entire court was a testament to that.  

Even if the Deputy Commander disliked Duan Ling’s rapid rise to his current post at a young age, he never doubted his loyalty.  

Duan Ling drew his Spring Embroidery Dagger.

Snowflakes shook loose and were cut apart by the sharp tip.  

Seeing this, Xia Zimo was uncertain about Duan Ling’s intentions and quickly said, “Second Young Master Duan, the fate of the Great Yan has run its course. We should comply with Heaven’s will. If you don’t think of yourself, then consider Lin Qigu… Lady Lin…”  

Before Xia Zimo could finish, Duan Ling thrust the Spring Embroidery Dagger out with a whoosh of wind.

It struck precisely at the man’s neck, blood gushing out and staining the snow on the ground.  

Duan Ling twisted his wrist and withdrew the dagger, blood dripping from the blade’s tip.  

The Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard, who had just ordered Duan Ling, widened his eyes in disbelief, instinctively clutching his own neck, trying to speak but unable to utter a word.  

The Imperial Guards behind them exchanged confused glances and hesitated, some taking a step back.  

Xia Zimo first shocked, then overjoyed.  

Duan Ling leisurely took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his Spring Embroidery Dagger.

“Open the palace gates.”  

A loyal Imperial Guard stepped forward loudly, “Lord Duan, His Majesty has treated you well, yet you behave so cowardly to save your own life.”  

“You’re loyal, I get it.” Duan Ling smiled at him and struck again, the freshly cleaned dagger once more covered in blood.  

The bodies of the Imperial Guards fell at Duan Ling’s feet.

He stepped over them; with each step, more blood stained the ground.

He no longer wiped the blade, his smile unchanged.

“I’ll say it again—open the palace gates.”  

The gates opened.  

Xia Zimo looked at the open gates.

“Second Young Master Duan, come in with me. You’ll be a hero of the state.”  

“No. I promised her I’d return early tonight.” Duan Ling raised his hand to brush away the blood on his sleeve, but it wouldn’t come off.

He looked at Xia Zimo’s well-mannered entourage. “Please make way.”  

Xia Zimo immediately said, “Step aside.”  

He worried about Duan Xinning and added, “Second Young Master Duan, please tell Linguan that I will definitely visit her tomorrow.”  

Xie Qinghe stepped out from behind Xia Zimo.

“Second Young Master Duan, please also send my regards to Lady Lin. I have heard about Lin Ting’s strange illness and her apparent death-like symptoms.”  

Duan Ling gave a half-smile, nodded, then rode back to the Duan Mansion, passing by them.  

Before entering the mansion, Duan Ling discarded his bloodstained outer robe.  

Lin Ting had arranged for someone to keep watch outside the mansion ever since Jingcheng was breached.

When she heard he was back, she ran out and asked, “Where’s your outer robe?”  

Duan Ling: “I threw it away.”  

She took off her pink cloak, stood on tiptoe, and draped it over him.

“Why throw it away?”  

“It got dirty.”  

Lin Ting fastened the cloak’s tie and asked, “Who did you see today?”  

She was convinced Xia Zimo wouldn’t dare hurt Duan Ling, so she wasn’t overly worried about his injuries, but she still wanted to know who he’d met and what had happened outside.  

“Xia Zimo, Xie Qinghe.”  

Duan Ling hadn’t seen Uncle Gui, who had once bound her.  

Lin Ting didn’t ask further and tugged Duan Ling toward Li Jingqiu’s courtyard.

“You came back just in time—Mother made us lotus root and pork rib soup.”