Chapter 33: A Sleepless Night. (2/2)

“I said there was something else inside the book and asked him to bring it back.” 

Duan Xinning was full of guilt, 

“But I was afraid my second brother would directly open the book and take out the spring palace painting, so I blurted out that the thing inside was yours and asked him not to look at it randomly.”

The grape in Lin Ting’s mouth no longer tasted sweet. 

This wasn’t the trick she had played in modern times when she was caught reading a novel by her parents and said it was a classmate’s, so they wouldn’t confiscate it.

But what Duan Xinning had hidden in the book wasn’t a novel, but a spring palace painting.

The level of severity was completely different.

Lin Ting laughed in anger: 

“Duan Lingjun, you’re really something. Not only did you not share the spring palace painting with me, but you also made me take the blame for you.”

Duan Xinning hurriedly hugged her: 

“It’s my fault, it’s my fault, it’s my fault. Don’t be angry. I was afraid that if my second brother found out, he would tell my mother, so I didn’t dare to confess to him.”

No matter how good Duan Ling’s temper was, he was still her second brother. 

Duan Xinning didn’t dare to mess around in front of him.

Lin Ting was both amused and frustrated: 

“But you didn’t have to use this excuse. You could have said you still wanted to read that book and asked him to bring it back from the Northern Imperial Prison. I believe he wouldn’t refuse.”

Duan Xinning pursed her lips: 

“There’s another identical book in my second brother’s study.”

Lin Ting thought for a few seconds: 

“Then say you made annotations on it and need the original one. With his personality, he wouldn’t refuse.”

“My second brother knows I don’t like reading this kind of book and that I took that book because I couldn’t sleep. Why would I make annotations on it?”

Duan Xinning hung her head in dejection: 

“He’s a member of the Imperial Guard, used to finding flaws in people’s words. He would definitely suspect. If I said I made annotations, he might even open it to look.”

“Alright.” Lin Ting had nothing more to say.

Duan Xinning observed Lin Ting’s expression and said softly: 

“My second brother said he would personally return it to you and asked you to rest assured.”

Lin Ting was somewhat afraid of her: 

“Don’t. I’ll go to the Northern Imperial Prison to get it from him. The longer it stays with him, the more it worries me. It’s a pity that I haven’t even seen that spring palace painting, yet I have to bear the reputation of secretly loving to look at spring palace paintings.”

“Don’t worry, my second brother doesn’t know there’s a spring palace painting in the book yet.”

Lin Ting got up from the Luohan bed, ready to go find Duan Ling: 

“No. What if he gets curious and opens it? It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“That shouldn’t happen, right?” 

Hearing her say this, Duan Xinning also became worried, 

“Are you going to the Northern Imperial Prison to find my second brother now?”

“Yes, I’m leaving.”

Duan Xinning saw Lin Ting off, feeling very guilty: 

“I’m sorry for implicating you.”

“Prepare some silver.” 

Lin Ting glanced at Duan Xinning, tickling her waist until she couldn’t help but laugh before withdrawing her hand, 

“I’m going to Nanshan Pavilion to treat myself at your expense someday.”

Duan Xinning quickly agreed: “Alright.”

Lin Ting didn’t delay any longer and took Tao Zhu by carriage to the Northern Imperial Prison.

Tao Zhu had never been to the Northern Imperial Prison before. 

The moment they landed, seeing the stern and cold building, her legs went weak,and she wanted to persuade Lin Ting to go back: 

“Seventh Miss, do you have urgent business with Lord Duan?”

“It’s about my reputation.”

“If it’s about your reputation, then it’s indeed urgent.”

Tao Zhu immediately took it seriously, 

“But you haven’t told me what it is yet.”

After getting off the carriage, Lin Ting strode towards the Northern Imperial Prison: 

“It’s confidential. This matter is also related to Lingjun, so it can’t be spread.”

Tao Zhu was confused.

Something about Seventh Miss’s reputation and also related to Third Miss Duan? 

What could that be?

While Tao Zhu was still puzzled, Lin Ting had already reached the main gate of the Northern Imperial Prison. 

The guarding Imperial Guards had changed shifts and stopped her: 

“This is the Northern Imperial Prison, no unauthorized personnel are allowed to enter.”

Lin Ting glanced at their embroidered spring knives and took a step back, leaving a safe distance: 

“I’m the Seventh Miss of the Lin family, here to see the Deputy Commander Duan. Please inform him.”

Imperial Guard: “Is the Deputy Commander someone you can just see whenever you want?”

“I know him.”

They were unmoved and questioned: 

“You say you know him, so you do?”

Lin Ting kept her smile, suppressing the urge to punch someone, knowing she couldn’t beat the well-trained Imperial Guards: 

“If you inform him, won’t you know if what I’m saying is true or not?”

“If you know the Deputy Commander, why don’t you wait until after his shift to go to his residence to find him?”

She patiently said: 

“Gentlemen, there are different levels of urgency. I’m here to see Lord Duan now because it’s urgent.”

The Imperial Guards hesitated.

Tao Zhu, worried about the reputation Lin Ting had mentioned, got anxious: 

“Do you know who our Seventh Miss is? She’s Lord Duan’s beloved.Hurry up and inform him!”

After all, with her Seventh Miss’s intelligence, she would surely succeed in her plan-to become Lord Duan’s beloved and then dump him. 

It was only a matter of time, so borrowing this title in advance shouldn’t be a problem.

Tao Zhu puffed out her chest, no longer so afraid of the Northern Imperial Prison and the Imperial Guards.

As soon as she said this, Lin Ting looked at her with an expression that said, 

“Tao Zhu, have you gone mad?” while the guarding Imperial Guards looked incredulous. 

They weighed it for a moment, then turned to inform him: “Wait a moment.”

Lin Ting reacted and wanted to call them back: 

“Gentlemen. Not the beloved, just tell him I’m the Seventh Miss of the Lin family, gentlemen!”

The Imperial Guard who went to inform had already run far away, and the remaining Imperial Guards no longer paid attention to Lin Ting. 

She turned to look at Tao Zhu, facepalming: 

“My dear Tao Zhu, who taught you to say that?”

Tao Zhu: “Seventh Miss doesn’t need to praise me. I became smart by following you. It’s all your credit.”

Lin Ting: “Thank you.”

They didn’t wait long before the Imperial Guard who went to inform came back, looking at Lin Ting with admiration: 

“Seventh Miss Lin, please follow me in.” 

His address had changed from ‘you’ to ‘your honor’.

The other guarding the Imperial Guard, although he didn’t speak, also looked at her with respect.

Lin Ting: “…”

She stepped forward to enter, but Tao Zhu, who wanted to follow, was stopped. 

The Imperial Guard said: 

“Lord Duan only said to let Seventh Miss Lin in.”

Tao Zhu worried: “Seventh Miss.”

Lin Ting thought that she always “annoyed” Duan Ling, and now that she was in his territory, she had to leave a way out and couldn’t be as unprepared as before.

“Forget it, wait outside for me. If I don’t come out after half an hour, go find Third Miss Duan and have her come find me.”

“I remember.”

As soon as Lin Ting stepped into the Northern Imperial Prison, the heavy gate closed behind her, and a cold and gloomy aura rushed at her.

She was led by the Imperial Guard into the same hall as last time, and the Imperial Guard respectfully said: 

“Lord is still interrogating prisoners in the imperial prison, please wait a moment.”

“Alright.”

The Imperial Guard left.

Lin Ting stood in the hall waiting for Duan Ling, very well-behaved, not touching anything.

She couldn’t rummage through the Northern Imperial Prison for that book, otherwise, she might stumble upon something she shouldn’t see.

Moreover, Duan Ling was already going to give her the book, so there was no need to go through the trouble.

In less than half a quarter of an hour, Duan Ling appeared before Lin Ting: 

“Lord Duan.”

Duan Ling took off his official hat as he entered, revealing his complete, beautiful face. 

There was no smell of blood on him, only a faint scent of agarwood: 

“The Imperial Guards told me my beloved came to find me.”

Lin Ting: “They misheard.”

He walked past her, heading inside: 

“They misheard? Being Imperial Guards, they can’t even hear a sentence clearly. It seems they need to be punished.”

Lin Ting couldn’t let innocent people be punished because of her: 

“They didn’t mishear. I wanted to see you, but they didn’t believe I knew you and

wouldn’t let me in, so I lied.”

She didn’t mention Tao Zhu.

Even if she said it was Tao Zhu, it wouldn’t help. 

In others’ eyes, Tao Zhu was her maid, her words and actions represented her.

Duan Ling looked up at Lin Ting: 

“Seventh Miss Lin, what brings you here today?”

She got straight to the point: 

“The book. I came to get the book. Lingjun has already told you, right? I have something inside it that I forgot to take out, and I only remembered recently.”

Duan Ling smiled slightly: 

“Didn’t Lingjun tell you that I would personally return it to you?”

Lin Ting looked at his eyes, which had an indescribable charm, and unconsciously swallowed: 

“She did, but I happened to pass by the Northern Imperial Prison today, so I came in to get it.”

Then she apologized: 

“Sorry for the trouble. Where is the book?”

Duan Ling loosened the wrist guard that was pressing against his wound, his raised hand somewhat pale, and then leisurely poured a cup of tea:

“You seem to be in a hurry. Is the thing inside the book very important?”

A spring palace painting. 

Lin Ting looked somewhat unnatural: 

“It’s not that important, but it’s still useful to me, so I need to get it back.”

He put down the teacup: 

“Alright, I understand. Wait a moment, I’ll go get it for you.”

There was a row of bookshelves on the west side of the hall, and Duan Ling walked over to find the book. 

As he raised his hand, his sleeve slightly moved up, pulling at his waist belt, outlining his waist that was just the right width.

Lin Ting stood behind Duan Ling, from this angle, she could see clearly, the curve of his back waist was beautiful, but she didn’t dare to look more:

“Lord Duan, have you seen the thing inside the book?”

Duan Ling slowly turned around: 

“No, it’s your thing. Does Seventh Miss Lin think I would casually look at other people’s things?”

“That’s not what I meant.” 

Lin Ting just wanted to confirm again.

He walked over to Lin Ting with the book in hand but didn’t immediately hand it to her.

 “It’s hot today. Would Miss Lin Qi like a cup of tea before you leave?”

Lin Ting’s gaze followed the book. 

“No need, I’m not thirsty. Thank you, Lord Duan.”

Duan Ling’s eyes caught the faint sweat on her cheeks and neck, and he spoke gently, 

“Are you feeling unwell? Why are you sweating so much?”

She was almost tempted to take action herself. 

“I’m fine. I heard from the Imperial Guards that you were interrogating prisoners in the prison just now. You must still have official duties to attend to, so I won’t disturb you any longer. Just give me the book, and I’ll leave right away.”

He handed it to her with both hands. 

“Returning it to its rightful owner. As for the book, you can return it to me another day.”

Lin Ting quickly accepted it.

“Alright, then I’ll take my leave.” 

She hurried off, not noticing that something had fallen out of the book as she rushed out of the hall and headed straight for the North Town Military Bureau’s gate.

Halfway there, Lin Ting opened the book, eager to see what the erotic illustrations Duan Xingning had hidden looked like. 

But no matter how thoroughly she flipped through the pages, she couldn’t find any trace of the illustrations. 

Had Duan Ling given her the wrong book?

Duan Xingning had mentioned that Duan Ling’s study had an identical book, but who’s to say there wasn’t another identical book in the North Town Military Bureau?

Lin Ting hastily turned back with the book in hand and returned to the hall. 

“Lord Duan, this book…”

As soon as she ran in, she saw Duan Ling picking up the erotic illustration from the floor. 

In holding it, his long, jade-like fingers inevitably pressed against one of the particularly explicit images.

Hearing Lin Ting’s voice, he lifted his eyes and glanced at her, then at the erotic illustration, his tone calm. 

“Miss Lin Qi, it seems you dropped something.”

Duan Ling walked over to Lin Ting and placed the erotic illustration into her seemingly petrified hand.

“Your erotic illustration,” he said.

Lin Ting’s scalp tingled.

“You didn’t have to say it out loud.”