Chapter 49: Bewildered (1/2)

Duan Ling’s fingers slowly traced over the paper where the name of Lin Ting, the seventh daughter of the Lin family, was written.

Lin Ting protected Xie Qinghe because they were… acquaintances? 

But back then on West Street, when he had injured Xie Qinghe, why hadn’t she reacted like this?

Ah, right. 

They were in public at that time, and no matter how well she knew Xie Qinghe, she couldn’t have stepped forward to help him openly. 

But now, Xie Qinghe was in the shadows, with no one watching, and she had come to his aid.

But didn’t Lin Ting fear being implicated if this matter came to light? 

If she wasn’t afraid of being implicated, then how deep must their bond be? 

Duan Ling had become a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in his teens, and over the years, he had encountered countless people—some loyal and righteous, others ungrateful and treacherous. 

The former were rare and hard to come by; the latter were everywhere, common as dirt. 

But he had always observed them with a cold detachment.

For some reason, after seeing how Lin Ting treated others, he felt a sense of curiosity, a desire to understand her.

Duan Ling put the case files and investigation materials back in their place and turned to face the window overlooking the courtyard. 

A gust of wind had risen at night, and rain began to fall, pattering outside, wetting the flowers and plants in the courtyard, making their leaves tremble and petals fall.

As he watched the rain, his thoughts inexplicably drifted to Lin Ting. 

The events that had taken place earlier that day at the Moonlight Pavilion were still vivid in his mind. 

Under her soothing presence, the addictive desire that had gripped him had surged from excitement to a peak of pleasure before gradually subsiding.

This time, the addictive desire had been born because of Lin Ting, and it had also faded because of her. 

From start to finish, she had controlled it, dominated it. 

In that moment, his body no longer felt like his own-it belonged to Lin Ting.

Duan Ling loosened his wrist guard, revealing the crisscrossing scars on his wrist.

His skin was prone to marking and scarring. 

With enough silver, it wasn’t impossible to use medicine to remove these ugly scars. 

But Duan Ling hadn’t used any medicine. 

Instead, he kept the scars as reminders of the torment the addictive desire had brought him.

As he watched the addictive desire rise, only to be dispelled by the pain of his wounds, he would feel a strange sense of pleasure.

But after meeting Lin Ting, things had gradually changed. 

He found that she could not only soothe his addictive desire in other ways but also bring him a more intense pleasure, one that tugged at his heart.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t control the addictive desire himself. 

It rose and fell at her command. 

He was controlled by the addictive desire, and the addictive desire was controlled by Lin Ting.

In other words, she was the one controlling him.

Initially, Duan Ling had sensed something unusual when he smelled Lin Ting’s handkerchief in the post station room and felt his addictive desire ease she was affecting him. 

Later, after their kiss by the pond, he became certain that she could control his addictive desire.

It wasn’t just an influence; she could control it.

Duan Ling didn’t like this feeling of losing control. 

He thought he had to find a way to deal with Lin Ting, to sever her connection to the addictive desire at any cost, to regain control of his body.

But he failed.

Today, he had failed.

All it took was a few glances from Lin Ting at his ugly scars, and the addictive desire, which usually only appeared at night or in the morning, suddenly surged.

When Lin Ting had frantically gone to the Moonlight Pavilion’s madam to fetch the antidote, Duan Ling had tried to temporarily suppress the desire by tearing open his wounds, but it hadn’t worked.

He tried to resolve it himself, but he couldn’t.

In the end, it was Lin Ting who resolved it, and she did so with ease.

Her hands were warm, and he found himself sinking into them, his body growing fond of her touch. 

In that moment, he forgot everything, and his world was filled with only her.

Duan Ling ultimately couldn’t find a way to eliminate Lin Ting, nor could he sever her connection to the addictive desire.

***

After Lin Ting and Duan Ling left, Jin Anazi locked the door and swiftly cut the knotted mask strap for Xie Qinghe, helping him remove the ugly mask and tossing it aside.

Xie Qinghe hadn’t yet recovered from Duan Ling’s probing and was still shaken, his face filled with apology. 

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault for not tying the mask strap properly. I almost… caused trouble for you.”

Jin Anazi didn’t respond.

He walked over to where Xie Qinghe had been standing earlier and examined the area several times. 

Behind the pillar, he found a thin silver needle deeply embedded in the wood. 

He wrapped it in a handkerchief and pulled it out.

The silver needle emitted a chilling coldness under the dim candlelight, and Xie Qinghe’s heart skipped a beat. 

“Why is there a needle here?”

The needle was so thin that it was almost imperceptible. 

Jin Anazi examined it for a moment. 

“Your mask didn’t fall off by accident. It was because of this needle. It passed through the knot you had tied, loosened the strap, and then pierced into the pillar behind you.”

Xie Qinghe suddenly understood. 

“It was Duan Ling, wasn’t it? He wanted to see my face.”

Jin Anazi placed the poisoned needle into a box. 

“Yes, it was his doing. I saw it too, but it was too fast and too accurate. I was too far from you to stop it in time.”

So that was why his mask strap had suddenly come loose. 

Xie Qinghe was stunned. 

“You did your best. It’s just that Duan Ling is too sharp.”

Jin Anazi didn’t argue. 

“He is indeed sharp, and his martial arts are not inferior to mine.”

Today had been quite dangerous.

If they had truly come to blows, Jin Anazi wasn’t sure he could have escaped unscathed. 

He knew Duan Ling was skilled, but he had never fought him before, so he didn’t know the full extent of his abilities.

Jin Anazi glanced at the poisoned needle in the box again. 

“This needle is also poisoned. It would kill upon entering the body, but it seems Duan Ling only wanted to use it to remove your mask today. He didn’t intend to kill you, or the needle would have pierced your body.”

Xie Qinghe felt a chill run up his spine and murmured, 

“He still suspects my identity.”

Jin Anazi said calmly, 

“He’s only in his early twenties and has already risen to the position of Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Do you think it’s because of luck or skill?” 

“Without skill, it’s hard to gain a foothold in the Northern Bureau. It’s only natural that he would become suspicious of you.”

He placed the box aside.

Xie Qinghe was puzzled. 

“If Duan Ling suspects my identity, why didn’t he insist on seeing my face or just arrest me?”

Arresting people was something the Embroidered Uniform Guard often did. 

They could even act first and report later, fearing almost no one except the Emperor.

After a moment, he thought of Lin Ting. 

“Could it be because of Miss Lin?”

Jin Anazi pondered. 

“Maybe, maybe not. He might also want to use you to lure out the Xie family army that has 

been trying to contact you. Didn’t you say the Xie family army had attempted to reach out to you?”

He said expressionlessly, 

“Would it be better to kill just you today, or to use you to uproot the Xie family army, who are dissatisfied with the court?” Xie Qinghe looked sorrowful.

“I have no intention of rebelling, nor does the Xie family, nor does the Xie family army. They just… wanted to help me escape the city.”

Jin Anazi stroked his sword and asked emotionlessly, 

“If you were the current Emperor, would you tolerate an army loyal only to the Xie family?” 

Xie Qinghe couldn’t answer.

Jin Anazi asked again, 

“Young Master Xie, do you know why emperors throughout history have been ruthless?”

Xie Qinghe still couldn’t answer. 

He had been well-protected by the Xie family, and the scheming and intrigue of the world were far removed from him. 

From childhood to adulthood, he had been surrounded by goodwill.

Seeing that he couldn’t answer, Jin Anazi said, 

“Because an emperor with emotions cannot survive. If they have emotions, they will be indecisive when faced with challenges, and that’s not good for an emperor.”

Just like his father.

After a brief silence, Xie Qinghe suddenly asked, 

“You know how dangerous the capital is for you, so why have you stayed here until now?”

Jin Anazi’s eyes grew colder, and he gripped his sword tightly. 

“I need to kill someone.”

A year ago, he had tried to kill this person but failed and was severely injured. 

He had hidden in a mass grave, nearly dying, before Lin Ting saved him.

This was the first time Xie Qinghe had heard him mention this. 

“Who do you want to kill?” 

With Jin Anazi’s skills, as long as it wasn’t the current Emperor, killing anyone else would be more than enough. 

How could he not have succeeded yet?

Jin Anazi’s eyes were filled with coldness as he said indifferently, 

“The Crown Prince. I want him dead.”

Xie Qinghe looked up at him sharply. 

“The Crown Prince is accompanied by shadow guards, each of them highly skilled. How could you possibly kill him? Isn’t that suicidal?” 

He didn’t want to raise an army and rebel, but he wanted to kill the Crown Prince? 

How could he survive?

Jin Anazi remained unmoved. 

“Even if it means death, I will take him down with me.”

Xie Qinghe didn’t understand. 

“Are you seeking revenge for the fall of your country? But if you want revenge, shouldn’t you be targeting the current Emperor?”

“It’s not about revenge for the fall of the country. The Great Xia Dynasty was already at its end, on the brink of collapse. Even if it wasn’t the Emperor of Great Yan, someone else would have replaced Great Xia. The reason I want to kill the Crown Prince is because he owes me a life.”

After saying this, Jin Anazi walked upstairs.

A gust of wind blew in from the window, extinguishing the candles in the study and plunging the room into darkness.

***

Lin Ting had just returned to the Lin residence. 

After bathing, she sat on the daybed and watched Tao Zhu use a firestarter to relight the candles that had been blown out by the wind.

After lighting the candles, Tao Zhu went to close the window slightly. 

“Miss, why did you return so late?” 

If she had been any later, she would have been caught in the rain and likely drenched.

After closing the window, the sound of the rain grew softer. 

Lin Ting lazily lay down, her head turned outward, gazing at the ceiling. 

“I had some pressing matters to deal with.” 

Duan Ling was a pressing matter.

Her freshly washed hair hung over the edge of the daybed, occasionally dripping water.

Tao Zhu opened the cabinet, took out a cloth, and sat on the lower part of the daybed to dry Lin Ting’s hair. 

“Miss, did you handle everything properly?”

Lin Ting hesitated. “More or less.”

“That’s good. Before you returned, Madam sent someone to ask about you. I told her that after meeting the princess, you had to attend to some business at the cloth shop, so I came back first to report that you were safe.” 

Tao Zhu had “coordinated their stories” with her.

Lin Ting was momentarily distracted and didn’t respond to Tao Zhu.

Tao Zhu thought Lin Ting had fallen asleep, but when she looked over, she saw that Lin Ting’s eyes were still open, staring blankly at the ceiling. 

“Miss, why do you seem so absent-minded?”

Lin Ting snapped out of it. 

“I’m just very tired today and want to rest early.”

Tao Zhu quickened her pace in drying Lin Ting’s hair so she could get to bed sooner. 

“Wait a bit, it’ll be done soon. Sleeping with wet hair isn’t good for your health.”

Lin Ting reached out to stop her. 

“There’s no need to rush. Take your time. I’m quite comfortable lying like this.”

Tao Zhu glanced at Lin Ting’s hand, which had stopped her. 

Her fingers were a vivid red, and her soft palm was the same, an unusual shade of red. 

“Miss, what’s wrong with your hand?”