Xie Qinghe didn’t stay dazed for long.
He reached behind his head and retied the loose strap.
With Lin Ting helping to hold the mask in place, he quickly secured the strap, this time tying a firm knot.
When he first put on the mask, Xie Qinghe had also tied it tightly.
Before coming out to meet Duan Ling, he had even tugged on it forcefully to ensure it wouldn’t fall off.
As for why it suddenly came loose now, Xie Qinghe was puzzled.
Lin Ting, unaware of Xie Qinghe’s thoughts, stood face to face with him.
She hadn’t turned back to look at Duan Ling yet, still unsure how to explain why she had rushed over to hold his mask in place.
This move was indeed a bit out of character.
But she was too worried that Duan Ling might see his face.
If that happened, none of the three of them would be able to escape.
They would either have to flee for their lives or be captured by the Imperial Guards and executed on a chosen day.
Lin Ting didn’t believe that Duan Ling would choose to protect her if he saw Xie Qinghe’s face.
Their relationship was far from that close.
She couldn’t take that risk; caution was paramount.
Duan Ling walked over, bent down to pick up the golden hairpin, and gently brushed off nonexistent dust from it.
With a half-smile, he said,
“Miss Lin Qi, were you trying to prevent me from seeing Mr. Shen’s face?”
Jin Anazi, who was standing not far away, remained calm.
He sat still, estimating the distance to the door, then glanced at the embroidered spring sword at Duan Ling’s waist before gripping his own sword.
Lin Ting turned to face Duan Ling.
“Lord Duan, don’t misunderstand. It’s not about preventing you from seeing him. It’s just that he has too many enemies and has grown accustomed to wearing a mask over the years. Gradually, he’s become afraid of people’s gazes.”
At this point, she had no choice but to brazenly fabricate a story.
“But that’s Mr. Shen’s business. Why are you, Miss Lin Qi, more concerned about it than he is?”
Duan Ling slowly swayed the golden hairpin.
The tassels that had just tapped against Lin Ting’s hair now clinked together, the ends brushing against his hand, with some beads pressing into his palm.
Lin Ting pretended to remain calm.
“Mr. Shen is a friend of Jin Anazi’s and also my friend. Naturally, I care about his matters. Since I saw it happening, I had to step in to help.”
He lightly pinched the beads on the hairpin.
“What if I said I wanted to see his face?”
She gradually calmed down.
“In what capacity do you want to see his face? As the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards, or as the elder brother of my… friend?”
Duan Ling’s hand, which had been pinching the beads, paused as he looked at her.
“Is there a difference?”
Lin Ting was quick with her words.
“Of course there is. If it’s as the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards, then we are mere commoners and must obediently remove the mask for you, Lord Duan.”
After a moment’s thought, she added with less confidence,
“But if it’s as the elder brother of my friend, then by extension, we are half-friends. I hope you can respect my friend.”
Lin Ting seemed to have forgotten that Duan Ling had explicitly stated in Nanshan Pavilion that he didn’t want to be her friend.
Even though she knew there was no real camaraderie between them, she still appealed to his emotions.
“The reason I brought you here to visit the study today isn’t because you’re an Imperial Guard, but because you’re Duan Ling, the second brother of my friend Duan Lingyun.”
She had initially wanted to mention their childhood friendship but decided against it, fearing it might remind him of past unpleasantness and only deepen his resentment.
After speaking, she waited for his response.
Duan Ling walked up to Lin Ting.
“You treat your friends exceptionally well, always protecting them. First, there was Mr. Jin, then the girl kidnapped by the Prince of Liang, and now Mr. Shen.”
Lin Ting looked up at him, who was quite a bit taller than her.
“That’s how friends should be.”
Duan Ling involuntarily lowered his head, capturing her gaze.
“What a fine ‘that’s how friends should be. If your friend committed a crime, would you still protect them?”
She glanced at Jin Anazi and Xie Qinghe.
“I trust my friends. They wouldn’t harm the innocent; how could they commit crimes? Even if they were convicted, they must have done nothing wrong.”
Duan Ling stroked the golden hairpin again.
“Do you trust your friends that much?”
“Yes, that much. Friends should trust each other.”
Lin Ting changed the subject.
“Why are we talking about crimes all of a sudden?”
He began to sway the hairpin again, listening to the sound it made.
“I was just curious how much you value these friends. It was just a random example.”
Lin Ting’s gaze was drawn to the golden hairpin in Duan Ling’s hand.
Why had it fallen again?
Xie Qinghe couldn’t speak, so he could only listen nervously, frequently glancing at Jin Anazi.
But Jin Anazi remained silent, relaxed, showing no sign of panic.
Old General Xie had served the previous dynasty.
When Xie Qinghe was young, he heard his grandfather talk about Jin Anazi, saying he wasn’t as indecisive as his father nor as gentle as his mother.
Even at a young age, he acted prudently and would surely grow into a capable man.
Now, it seemed his grandfather was right.
Jin Anazi was indeed a capable man.
Just his composure in the face of danger surpassed many others.
Unfortunately, fate was cruel.
The earlier dynasty had fallen, and he had become a man who couldn’t see the light of day.
If the emperor discovered him, he would surely die.
Thinking of this, Xie Qinghe smiled self-deprecatingly.
He was no different from Jin Anazi now, also a man who couldn’t see the light of day, constantly on guard to prevent others from discovering his true identity.
Would he have to live in hiding like this from now on?
Xie Qinghe lowered his eyes in deep thought.
Duan Ling glanced at Xie Qinghe.
“If I, as the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards, wanted to see his face, would you really make him remove the mask?”
Lin Ting also looked back at Xie Qinghe and nodded.
“I keep my word. If you, as the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards, want to see his face, I will personally remove his mask.”
Sometimes, one must face death to survive.
Duan Ling held the golden hairpin close to Lin Ting’s butterfly bun but hesitated to insert it again.
“Would you personally remove his mask?”
Lin Ting affirmed her determination.
“Yes, I would personally remove his mask.”
Jin Anazi gripped the hilt of his sword, silently examining the intricate carvings on the scabbard, as if tacitly agreeing with Lin Ting’s words.
After a long while, Duan Ling once again inserted the golden hairpin into Lin Ting’s butterfly bun, this time deeper and more securely, but without hurting her, as he controlled the force well.
“I didn’t come to the study today as the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards.”
Perhaps feeling that inserting it on the right side of the bun didn’t look good, Duan Ling pulled the hairpin out and inserted it from the left side, then pulled it out twice more before finally inserting it diagonally above the bun.
He inserted the hairpin into her bun in front of others, seemingly unfazed by the intimacy of the gesture.
Jin Anazi initially thought Duan Ling intended to use the hairpin as a weapon and stood up.
But upon seeing that he was merely inserting it into Lin Ting’s bun, his expression beneath the mask turned quite subtle, and he quietly sheathed the sword he had partially drawn.
Xie Qinghe stood behind Lin Ting, getting a clearer view of the scene than Jin Anazi.
She and Duan Ling were very close, almost cheek to cheek, appearing quite intimate.
What exactly was their relationship?
Meanwhile, Lin Ting was thinking that Duan Ling’s repeated insertion of the hairpin into her bun might be a warning.
If she made even the slightest misstep, he could easily kill her with a hairpin, just as he had done today.
Lin Ting nervously swallowed.
“You said you didn’t come to the study today as the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards, so…”
Xie Qinghe also grew tense.
Jin Anazi’s expression became increasingly subtle.
He released the grip on his sword hilt and leaned leisurely against the bookshelf, watching them.
Duan Ling knew what Lin Ting wanted to ask.
“Since I didn’t come to the study as the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards, I naturally must respect your friend. I won’t look at Mr. Shen’s face.”
He was actually giving her a face?
Lin Ting was shocked.
She had only intended to take a gamble.
Wait, this face wasn’t for her.
Duan Ling said he hadn’t come as the Deputy Commander, meaning he had come as Duan Lingyun’s second brother, giving Duan Lingyun face.
As Lin Ting pondered how to get Duan Ling to leave under these circumstances, he slowly adjusted the hairpin in her bun again.
The warm yet subtly aggressive scent of agarwood lingered around Lin Ting’s nose.
She suddenly remembered the scene in Moonlight Pavilion where Duan Ling, with a face like peach blossoms, gasped and released into her palm repeatedly.
She unconsciously took a step back.
Lin Ting had only retreated half a step when Duan Ling’s hand, which had moved from her bun to the back of her head, stopped her.
Duan Ling held her with one hand while slowly but firmly pushing the hairpin into her bun with the other, reminding her,
“Don’t step back any further. Mr. Shen is standing behind you. If you step back any more, you’ll bump into him.”
Lin Ting then realized she had almost collided with Xie Qinghe.
She quickly retracted her leg and said to Duan Ling, “Thank you.”
At the same time, Duan Ling released the hand that had been holding the back of her neck, maintaining a sense of propriety.
Xie Qinghe, who had been watching, subtly let out a sigh of relief.
Duan Ling’s action of holding Lin Ting had seemed as if he wanted to strangle her, but in reality, he had only stopped her from stepping back.
The golden hairpin in Lin Ting’s bun was still swaying, and the place where Duan Ling had touched her felt warm.
“It’s getting late, Lord Duan, you…”
Duan Ling:
“Are you trying to send me away?”
She wouldn’t admit it and mumbled,
“I’m not trying to send you away. I just noticed it’s getting late and wanted to ask when you plan to leave. If you think it’s still early, why not stay for dinner?”
The latter part was purely a sarcastic jab.
Unexpectedly, Duan Ling went along with it.
“Sure, I’m a bit hungry. Earlier, I saw a table of barely touched food in the backyard. Did you make that?”
Jin Anazi’s eyelid twitched violently when he heard Duan Ling mention the food in the backyard.
Lin Ting looked strange, hesitating to speak.
“It’s just some simple fare, made by Mr. Shen. You probably wouldn’t be used to it, Lord Duan.”
“No problem.”
Considering that Duan Ling didn’t insist on Xie Qinghe removing his mask, Lin Ting decided to give him another chance.
“Are you really going to eat?”
Duan Ling twirled the finger that had touched Lin Ting’s hair and smiled at her.
“Miss Lin Qi, are you reluctant to let me eat the food Mr. Shen made?”
Lin Ting glanced at Xie Qinghe.
Duan Ling noticed her glance at Xie Qinghe and also looked at him, though it was unclear what he was thinking.
She touched her nose and said,
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