The day before Xia Zimo’s father, the Shian Marquis, ascended the throne, Jin Anazi finally found the Crown Prince.
After avenging his great grievance, he came to the Duan Mansion to bid Lin Ting farewell.
He was leaving Jingcheng to return to Suzhou.
His mother was buried there, and Jin Anazi feared she would be lonely; from now on, he wanted to stay by her side.
To be honest, Lin Ting felt a bit disappointed upon hearing this news.
Jin Anazi leaving Jingcheng meant that the Study they had jointly run would from then on be just an ordinary Study.
However, Lin Ting still respected Jin Anazi’s decision.
“Very well, next time I visit Suzhou, I’ll eat and stay at your place.”
Jin Anazi snorted, fingers stroking the hilt of his sword, feeling an impulse to slash Lin Ting with one stroke.
She was truly incorrigible, still trying to take advantage of him at a time like this.
“Eating and staying at my place is fine, as long as you pay enough silver.”
“We’re friends. Talking about money only damages feelings. You’re too heartless. No, I’ll have to think about cutting ties with you.”
Lin Ting lifted her leg to kick Jin Anazi.
He dodged easily.
Leaning lazily against a leafless tree, Jin Anazi cast her a sideways glance, expression indifferent.
“Even siblings settle accounts clearly. Why shouldn’t friends?”
“That was your line before. Did you forget?”
She snorted.
Snow in the courtyard grew heavier, and Lin Ting shook her head and shoulders, sending snowflakes falling.
“Let’s go inside for some tea. Don’t stand here and catch a cold.”
Jin Anazi paid no attention to the snow falling on him.
“I’m not going inside. I’m taking the boat today to leave Jingcheng. No time for tea.”
Lin Ting was surprised, “Jin Anazi, are you in that much of a hurry to ‘reincarnate’? Why leave so suddenly? Can’t you stay one more day? My Mother wants to cook you a meal.”
She had thought he was leaving tomorrow at the earliest, not today, and not so soon.
Jin Anazi’s expression suddenly softened.
“I want to return early to see my mother. Also to tell her that I’ve avenged you.”
Hearing him mention his mother, Lin Ting instantly understood his longing to return home.
“Alright then, I wish you a safe journey.”
She suddenly thought of something and asked about the new emperor.
She knew Xie Qinghe had no ambitions, but the general named Uncle Gui nearby was very ambitious.
They had rebelled first, yet the Shian Marquis ended up on the throne.
Would Uncle Gui agree to that?
Definitely not, Lin Ting thought.
Jin Anazi pondered.
“This was already arranged between Xie Wu Gongzi and the Shian Marquis. Even if others object, they can’t stir up trouble.”
Xie Qinghe’s decisiveness in this matter made Lin Ting see him in a new light.
She had expected Xie Qinghe to reluctantly follow the path planned by Uncle Gui, who was like a father figure, but she hadn’t expected him to resist in this way.
Lin Ting took an apple from her sleeve and bit into it.
“Didn’t Lord Ying want you to be emperor?”
Jin Anazi lowered his eyes and said, “I want to live for myself, not be trapped in Jingcheng, where everything is full of intrigue and scheming.”
“You won’t come back to Jingcheng anymore?”
Jin Anazi twisted his wrist.
The heavy iron sword felt as light as a feather in his hand.
“We’ll see about the future. I don’t even know if I’ll come back to Jingcheng.”
Lin Ting was silent for a moment.
“If you do come back, you have to find me. If I find out you’ve kept it from me, you’ll regret it.”
“With your lousy skills? You’ll see?” he sneered mercilessly.
She made a motion to hit him.
Jin Anazi glanced toward Duan Ling, who was waiting nearby for their conversation to end, then looked up at the sky.
“The boat leaves in an hour. I have to go back to the Study to get my bag and head to the dock outside the city. I have to go… Farewell.”
“Nonsense. Whether there’s fate or not, I’m going to see you off.”
Jin Anazi immediately refused, “Don’t. I don’t like being seen off.”
He had hated farewells his entire life.
So she had no choice but to see him off from the Duan Mansion.
After Jin Anazi’s figure disappeared from sight, Lin Ting withdrew her gaze and looked at Duan Ling.
Under the eaves, Duan Ling wore a crimson robe, tall and upright.
Against the snow-covered courtyard, he stood out like a drop of red ink on white paper.
Lin Ting walked toward him.
Duan Ling raised his hand and brushed away the remaining snowflakes from her hair.
“Young master Jin is leaving Jingcheng?”
He wasn’t far from them and could hear their conversation.
She knew Duan Ling could hear but still answered, “Yes. He’s returning to Suzhou.”
“You don’t want Jin Anazi to leave?”
Lin Ting held his hand and walked inside.
“I do, but it’s his choice, so I respect it. Besides, it’s not like we can’t meet again in the future. Enough about that. I remember you said you had to go out to handle something. When will you go?”
“Now.”
She stopped.
“What are you going out to do? Can I help? If I can, take me with you. I have nothing to do today, and it’s boring to stay in the Manor.”
He smiled gently and replied, “No need. I can handle it myself and will be back before sunset.”
With that, Duan Ling let go of Lin Ting’s hand and walked out of the courtyard.
Outside, Duan Ling headed to Linglong Pavilion, where Uncle Gui was.
Uncle Gui’s whereabouts were easy to find.
As a founding general, he acted arrogantly and had done many bullying deeds in just a few days, making his reputation well-known in Jingcheng.
The Shian Marquis was displeased with Uncle Gui but dared not punish him at such a time.
If he did, he would be accused of betrayal after ascending the throne and would dampen the morale of other generals who had contributed to founding the new dynasty.
So he temporarily set aside his dissatisfaction, planning to deal with Uncle Gui once the new regime was stable.
Duan Ling could guess the Shian Marquis’s thoughts, but he didn’t care about their opinions.
Arriving at Linglong Pavilion, Duan Ling went straight to the fourth floor, to the last elegant room at the end of the corridor.
He did not barge in but knocked on the door.
“Who is it? Get lost!” an impatient voice called out.
Duan Ling replied, “I am the owner of Linglong Pavilion. I heard General Gui is here and wanted to see you. May I come in?”
Uncle Gui, drinking alone inside, raised his eyebrows.
Thinking it was someone trying to curry favor, he said, “The owner of Linglong Pavilion? Come in then.”
Duan Ling pushed the door open.
Uncle Gui squinted at him and recognized him as the Second Young Master of the Duan family, former Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard, Duan Ling.
“Second Young Master Duan? You’re the owner of Linglong Pavilion?”
Before the rebellion, Uncle Gui and Duan Ling had served at court together and naturally had met before.
Duan Ling calmly closed the door, smiling faintly.
“What, can’t I?”
“Of course you can.”
Uncle Gui grabbed his wine jug and took a few big gulps, then wiped the wine from his lips with his sleeve.
“What business do you have with me, Second Young Master?”
Duan Ling walked over and looked down at the seated Uncle Gui.
“There is something I need to discuss.”
“Just say it.”
He spoke gently and politely.
“General Gui, do you remember that you once abducted someone?”
“Second Young Master, are you here to settle accounts with me? Back then, I had no choice but to abduct Lady Lin. I hope you can forgive me.”
Uncle Gui didn’t think he had done wrong, but he apologized out of respect for Duan Ling’s status.
The Shian Marquis had become the new emperor, and his son Xia Zimo was the Crown Prince.
It was well known that Xia Zimo frequently proposed marriage to the Duan family after returning to Jingcheng but was repeatedly rejected by their Third Young Lady, Duan Xinning.
Uncle Gui did not want to offend the Duan family.
Seeing Duan Ling remain silent, Uncle Gui stood and poured him a glass of wine, speaking kindly, “I’ll personally go to apologize to Lady Lin another day.”
Duan Ling took the wine cup, but the next moment, as if he hadn’t held it steady, it slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor.
Uncle Gui frowned, “Second Young Master Duan, what do you mean by this? I…”
“I mean to kill you.”
Duan Ling’s palm suddenly revealed a dagger, which he plunged decisively into Uncle Gui’s heart.
Uncle Gui never thought Duan Ling would come to kill him.
He had only abducted Lin Ting back then and had not harmed her.
Besides, as a founding general, how could Duan Ling dare to kill him?
Because of this, Uncle Gui was unprepared.
“You…”
Duan Ling twisted the dagger, gouging through Uncle Gui’s heart as blood spilled out.
“I’ll kill you first, then apologize. How’s that?”
Quickly, he pulled out the dagger.
Uncle Gui lost all support and collapsed to the ground, dying with eyes wide open.
Duan Ling gouged out Uncle Gui’s eyes, skillfully treated the corpse with corpse-dissolving liquid, then had the steward—the only person who knew he was the owner of Linglong Pavilion—come in to clean the blood from the floor.
After finishing these tasks, Duan Ling returned to the mansion.
Back inside, he first went to the Study and placed Uncle Gui’s eyeballs there before returning to his room.
Outside, cold winds blew and heavy snow fell, but the room was warm.
Lin Ting lay asleep on the bed.
Duan Ling bathed, then got into bed, wrapping his arms around Lin Ting’s waist and burying his face in her neck.
Lin Ting woke up.
She rubbed her eyes and peeked out from the bed, noticing the sky had darkened.
“What time is it?”
After Duan Ling left, she had taken a nap, planning to wake up after half an hour, but it seemed she had overslept.
Duan Ling pulled her back onto the bed.
“It’s still early. Go back to sleep.”
***
Time passed quickly, and Lin Ting felt that it was already the next spring.
Duan Xinning still had not agreed to marry Xia Zimo and gave birth to a baby girl near the end of spring.
The newborn was tiny, and Lin Ting didn’t even know how to hold her, always afraid of dropping her.
It was Li Jingqiu who took the baby and demonstrated several times before Lin Ting learned.
Since Duan Xinning gave birth, whenever she had time, Lin Ting would go to her courtyard to hold the baby.
After two months, Lin Ting was still not tired of holding her.
She didn’t know why, but the baby always carried a special fragrance, like a sweet yet not cloying pastry, an aura no adult could possess.
Lin Ting loved smelling it.
When the baby wasn’t crying, she was adorable and endearing.
When she cried, Lin Ting couldn’t handle it and immediately passed her into Duan Ling’s arms.
But even in Duan Ling’s arms, the baby didn’t stop crying, leaving Lin Ting helpless.
Lin Ting coaxed, “Don’t cry.”
As soon as she said that, the baby burst into louder tears, sounding pitiful.
Lin Ting thought to herself… ‘If Duan Xinning weren’t sleeping in the inner room, I would have handed the baby back and walked off.
She leaned close to the baby’s ear and whispered, “If you cry again, when you grow up, I’ll beat you up, and your mother won’t be able to help you.”
The baby kept sobbing, moving her little hands as if searching for her mother.
Lin Ting was at a loss.
The baby was too small to scold or hit.
She looked to Duan Ling and said, “You figure out how to soothe her.”
Duan Ling was unmoved by the crying, only his way of holding the baby was awkward.
He was used to killing with a sword or using instruments of torture, not holding a baby.
“Me?”
She smiled awkwardly.
“I tried. It didn’t work. She’s still crying. You try now.”
The nanny nearby couldn’t stand it anymore, feeling sorry for the baby’s continuous crying.
“Young Madam, Second Young Master, shall I try?”
Lin Ting nearly forgot the nanny was there and immediately handed the baby over, dragging Duan Ling away.
***
At the beginning of May, Lin Ting and Duan Ling departed Jingcheng by boat, heading to Jiangnan.
They tried every kind of boat along the way.
On their first day in Jiangnan, a fine rain drifted with the wind, and small boats gently rocked on the water.
Lin Ting was amidst it all but didn’t go inside the boat to avoid the rain.
Instead, she sat on the bamboo plank at the bow, letting the rain soak her.
She had always wanted to try letting herself get drenched without a care, and today she got to fulfill that wish.
Lin Ting took off her embroidered shoes and placed them aside, dangling her legs outside the boat, dipping them in the lake water, stirring it up intermittently.
Her hands supported her behind as she tilted her head up to watch the drizzling sky.
Duan Ling sat beside her.
Their clothes were wet through, their faces washed by the fine rain, stray hairs sticking to their skin.
Lin Ting closed her eyes and said, “So comfortable.”
Duan Ling softly murmured, then leaned over, one hand gripping the back of Lin Ting’s neck, and kissed her in the misty rain and gentle breeze.
From the day Lin Ting came back to life until now, he often felt like he was dreaming.
Thankfully, it was not a dream.
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