The hot wind brushed past Duan Ling’s hand, which hung by his side.
“Cold?”
Lin Ting nodded vigorously, then realizing he couldn’t see her, she said, “A little, but not too much. Once I’m under the blanket, I don’t feel it anymore.”
Duan Ling watched her in the dim light but asked, “Is it that you don’t want to see me?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Ting threw off the blanket.
Her face, glistening with sweat, shone faintly in the darkness.
She wiped the sweat away and denied, “No, that’s not it.”
He curved his lips into a smile. “Right, you’re in love with me. How could you not want to see me?”
Lin Ting: “…………”
Her face flushed with heat, and she wished she could bury herself back under the blanket.
Why did he bring this up again?
Before, he had used her comment about him not being worthy of licking her feet, and now he was using “her love for him” against her.
The worst part was that she couldn’t even refute it.
She took a deep breath and changed the subject.
“Are you going back to the Northern Imperial Guard Bureau tomorrow to handle official duties, or are you taking the Imperial Guards out for patrol?”
“I’ll go back to the Northern Imperial Guard Bureau first to handle some other matters, then take the Imperial Guards out for patrol.”
“Which street will you patrol?”
The sealed streets included East Street and North Long Street, where she was currently staying.
These two streets were large and far apart, one in the east and the other in the north.
It would be impossible for Duan Ling to manage both alone.
The Northern Imperial Guard Bureau would likely assign him to one street and another high-ranking Imperial Guard to the other, rotating shifts.
Lin Ting had to admit that she hoped Duan Ling would always be in charge of North Long Street.
After being quarantined, there were no entertainment activities, no one to talk to.
The Imperial Guards only exchanged a few words when delivering meals, and it was truly suffocating.
Occasionally seeing someone she knew would make things a bit better, even if that person was Duan Ling.
Lin Ting wanted that.
Duan Ling said, “Today I patrolled North Long Street. Tomorrow I’ll patrol East Street.”
“Oh.”
She felt a bit disappointed.
Lin Ting turned over, trying to fall asleep quickly.
Time passed fastest when she was asleep.
Before Duan Ling arrived tonight, she had even considered drugging herself to sleep and waking up three days later.
But upon further thought, that plan wouldn’t work.
For one, the sedative’s effect only lasted an hour.
More importantly, while unconscious, she would have no control over herself and would be at the mercy of others.
If someone infected with the disease managed to sneak in, she wouldn’t know, and that would be the end of her.
For some reason, Lin Ting fell asleep quickly this time, drifting off in no time.
The next day, she woke up late in the morning.
When Lin Ting woke up, Duan Ling was no longer in the room.
His visit last night felt like a dream.
The lantern left on the ground told her that everything was real-Duan Ling had indeed been there.
Lin Ting collected her thoughts, stretched lazily, and got out of bed.
She put on the face covering given to her by the Imperial Guards and opened the door to check if breakfast had been delivered.
Yesterday, the Imperial Guard had intended to leave the meal at the door and leave, but she had heard the commotion and opened the door to ask for an extra portion of food, as well as some questions about the plague.
Sure enough, there was a meal outside, along with a basin of water covered with something.
Lin Ting brought everything inside, carefully locked the door, washed up, and began eating.
She ate very slowly, afraid that once she finished, she would have nothing else to do.
But no matter how slowly she ate, the meal eventually came to an end.
Lin Ting fell into a daze again.
After half an hour, she grew so bored that she started playing with the lantern Duan Ling had forgotten to take, examining how it was made.
Another half hour passed, and the lantern was nearly ruined by her fiddling before she finally stopped.
She wondered if Duan Ling would be willing to bring her some storybooks from outside.
But even if he were willing, it wouldn’t matter today he was patrolling East Street and wouldn’t come by.
If she wanted to ask for his help, she’d have to wait until tomorrow.
By then, just one more day would pass before she could leave.
Lin Ting sighed deeply.
At least in modern times, people in quarantine had their phones to keep them entertained.
In ancient times, there wasn’t even that it was truly unbearable.
Just as Lin Ting was feeling down, the noise from the street and the inn downstairs grew louder.
Suppressing her frustration, she didn’t go downstairs but instead went to the window to look out at the street.
The street, which had previously only been patrolled by Imperial Guards, was now filled with a crowd of people trying to leave.
As the saying goes, the law cannot punish the masses.
A few people trying to leave could be suppressed by force, but not a large group.
The man who had tried to leave yesterday but was stopped by Duan Ling’s arrow was now inciting the crowd:
“We’re not sick! Why are the Imperial Guards detaining us? North Long Street has had cases of the plague-staying here is dangerous!”
The crowd echoed his words.
“He’s right! We’re not sick-why are they treating us like this?”
The man shouted at the top of his lungs, “They said they’d keep us here for three days, and if nothing happened, we could leave. But who knows if they’re lying? What if they still don’t let us go after three days?”
“I’ve heard that everyone who gets sick dies, and they haven’t found a cure yet. They’re just keeping us here to die with them!”
Faced with the threat of death, the crowd grew bolder, even daring to push the Imperial Guards who were trying to stop them: “Let us out!”
Lin Ting watched, her heart sinking.
The ordinary Imperial Guards couldn’t handle the situation and called out toward the end of the street, “Commander Feng, there’s trouble!”
Commander Feng, the Garrison Commander, walked over with his embroidered spring sword in hand and warned, “Do you know the penalty for obstructing the Imperial Guards’ duties and attacking them?”
The crowd, seeing the sharp, unsheathed sword, hesitated.
But the man refused to back down, fanning the flames: “Penalty? We’re about to lose our lives-what do we care about penalties? If we rush out, they can’t possibly kill all of us!”
His words stirred the crowd’s emotions again.
Not only did they push the Imperial Guards, but they also started picking up objects to throw at them: “Let’s rush out!”
While North Long Street was in chaos, the East Bureau remained quiet and peaceful.
Ta Xuening lay on a rocking chair, leisurely eating grapes.
After a while, he sat up slightly, wiped his fingers stained with grape juice one by one with a handkerchief, and asked the shadow guard beside him, “How are things on East Street and North Long Street?”
The shadow guard reported, “Sir, these two streets have been taken under control by the Imperial Guards. The plague won’t be able to spread throughout the capital for now.”
Ta Xuening clicked his tongue in annoyance and threw away the handkerchief.
“The Imperial Guards do have some skills.”
The young eunuch, accustomed to such behavior, picked up the handkerchief.
Ta Xuening sneered, “Since the plague can’t spread from East Street and North Long Street, let’s release some infected people to other areas. Once the plague fully spreads, I’d like to see if His Majesty can still sit still.”
The young eunuch listened in terror, breaking into a cold sweat, but he dared not betray Ta Xuening-his elderly mother was in his hands.
Thus, Ta Xuening had no fear of the young eunuch overhearing and continued to instruct the shadow guard, “Tonight, you’ll release a few infected people on West Street.”
West Street was bustling with merchants who traveled far and wide, making it easy to spread the plague.
The shadow guard acknowledged the order.
Ta Xuening enjoyed feeding fish, just as he had in the past.
He took a handful of fish food and hummed a tune, seemingly in a good mood.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he glanced sideways at the young eunuch and said:
“I told you to keep an eye on Miss Lin Qi and prevent her from approaching East Street and North Long Street. How’s that going?”
The young eunuch stammered, “Sir, Miss Lin Qi hasn’t left her house these past few days.”
Ta Xuening nodded.
The young eunuch, keeping his eyes downcast, dared not hide anything.
“But Miss Lin Qi did go out yesterday and noticed the people I sent to follow her.”
Ta Xuening frowned. “What?”
“The men I sent were afraid of arousing Miss Lin Qi’s suspicion, so they didn’t dare continue following her and returned. Thus, we don’t know where she went yesterday.”
The young eunuch, sensing Ta Xuening’s rising anger, trembled and immediately knelt down.
Ta Xuening kicked him over.
“You didn’t think to send someone else to follow her and find out where she went? Did she return to the Lin residence?”
“I… I’ll go right now.”
Ta Xuening considered drawing his sword and killing him on the spot but instead hurled the fish food at him.
“Hurry up!”
Meanwhile, the commotion on North Long Street continued, with the common people clashing with the Imperial Guards.
No one knew how long the standoff lasted, but eventually, the unrest was suppressed, and they failed to leave North Long Street.
No matter how chaotic things were outside, Lin Ting remained obediently in her room, not stepping out unless it was to fetch food or water, until nightfall.
She leaned over the table, painting with water.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
At first, Lin Ting thought she had misheard and ignored it.
When the knock came a second time, her water-dipped finger paused and she asked: “Lord Duan?”
“It’s me.” Duan Ling replied.
Lin Ting jumped off her chair and opened the door for Duan Ling.
“Weren’t you patrolling East Street today? Why are you here on North Long Street at night?”
Duan Ling entered the room, closed the door, and loosened his wrist guard but didn’t remove it completely, still covering his wrist and said.
“You don’t need me to stay with you tonight?”
Lin Ting hesitated for a few seconds and replied: “Won’t this affect you?”
“Is there a difference between one night and two?”
It seemed like there wasn’t much difference.
She touched her nose and watched as Duan Ling walked toward the daybed he had slept on the previous night.
After some consideration, she said, “You should sleep on the bed tonight. I’ll sleep on the outside, and you can sleep on the inside.”
Duan Ling paused while undoing his belt.
“Are you suggesting we share the same bed?”
“The bed is actually quite big. It can fit two people,” Lin Ting replied.
She didn’t particularly want to sleep on the daybed either.
She had tried taking a nap on it earlier that afternoon, and it had been unbearably uncomfortable so she said:
“If you’re uncomfortable with it…”
“It’s fine.”
And so, they ended up sharing the bed again.
Lin Ting lay with her back to Duan Ling, unable to fall asleep.
However, Duan Ling seemed to drift off quickly, as she soon heard his steady breathing.
Listening to it, Lin Ting’s eyelids gradually grew heavy, and she fell asleep.
By the time dawn broke, a light rain had started outside.
The rain dispelled the lingering heat, bringing a coolness to the air.
Lin Ting, who hadn’t covered herself with a blanket, began to feel cold.
Unconsciously, she moved closer to the warmth beside her, curling up into it.
After some time, Lin Ting, still restless in her sleep, shifted her waist and brushed against something through her skirt.
It felt slightly warm, and she instinctively pressed closer for a while.
Then, she noticed a dampness in her skirt that didn’t belong to her.
Lin Ting woke up instantly.
She realized she had crossed the invisible line on the bed and rolled into Duan Ling’s arms.
She was clinging to him like an octopus, her grip so tight that he couldn’t push her away.
And his… was near her skirt, making it impossible for him to disentangle himself.
Lin Ting wished she could disappear on the spot.
She swore to herself that she would definitely, without fail, fix this terrible habit of being restless in her sleep.
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