Everyone was puzzled by Prince Liang’s change in attitude, all looking at Duan Ling.
He remained calm, “Of course.”
They were going to move elsewhere to talk, so the dancers were no longer needed.
The steward of Prince Liang’s residence, understanding his master’s thoughts, waved his hand, signaling them to stop dancing and leave.
Lin Ting, as if granted amnesty, immediately returned to the line of dancers, following them back.
Jin Anzai gradually slowed his pace, walking side by side with her, not speaking.
Lin Ting signaled him to look, making a gesture to prepare for action.
They were at the back of the dancer line, so no dancer could see her gesture.
He also responded with a gesture: hands apart, each pointing to a side, left pointing to the west wing, representing himself; right pointing to the east wing, representing her.
Dividing the work would be more efficient, as they didn’t have much time.
She understood and gave a thumbs up.
Jin Anzai had seen Lin Ting make this gesture before, understanding it meant “okay,” a sort of code between them.
Duan Ling, who hadn’t left with Prince Liang yet, caught Lin Ting and Jin Anzai’s interaction, then lowered his eyelashes, as if he hadn’t seen anything.
Lin Ting had almost searched the entire east wing without finding any trace of the woman abducted by Prince Liang.
Now there was only one room left to search, she quickly went over, climbed in through the window, agile as a fish slipping into water.
This room was near Prince Liang’s bedroom, simply furnished, not large, and easy to take in at a glance.
Though small, it was fully equipped, with a bed, a couch, a tea table and chairs, a bronze mirror, and so on.
Lin Ting felt around for any possible hidden mechanisms in the decorations, finding nothing.
It was probably just an ordinary room, without any secret compartments to hide people, she thought, pushing open the window to leave, but then heard footsteps outside in the corridor, her hand on the windowsill pausing.
The window faced the corridor side, if someone really was walking outside, Lin Ting jumping out would undoubtedly be suicide, as she would definitely be seen.
She paid close attention to the sounds outside, hoping they would leave quickly.
But the footsteps didn’t recede, instead getting closer, the thin window paper casting shadows of two figures, one tall and straight, the other hunched over, bowing respectfully.
They stopped outside the door.
Seeing they were about to enter, Lin Ting ran to the couch, quickly lifting the curtains, wanting to hide under the bed, but found the bed was solid, without any gaps to hide in.
She hurriedly changed her mind, running to the wardrobe, opening the door, suddenly recalling some unpleasant memories, changed her mind again, ran back to the bed, climbed onto it with her shoes on.
The layers of apricot-colored curtains around the bed covered Lin Ting as she rolled inside.
Just as she hid, someone entered, she lay still, hearing an eunuch walk with small steps to the middle of the room, asking in a high-pitched voice,
“Commander Duan, would you like this servant to help you change?”
Commander Duan?
Change… coming here to change out of the wine-stained clothes?
Prince Liang suddenly changing his attitude, being so considerate towards Duan Ling, had they struck a deal in private?
Lin Ting remembered his acute hearing, holding her breath, her face turning red.
The eunuch, not receiving a response, looked at the ground, patiently repeating,
“Commander Duan, would you like this servant to help you change?”
Duan Ling said without pretense,
“No need, just leave the clothes.”
“Yes. This servant will wait outside, Commander Duan, call if you need anything.”
The eunuch carefully placed the new clothes down, then walked out with small steps, closing the door, standing guard outside.
After the eunuch left, the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, Lin Ting could hear the click of the buckle on Duan Ling’s belt being undone, and the rustle of clothes.
She lay hidden under a pile of bedding, sweating profusely, extremely uncomfortable.
Sweat easily caused itching, Lin Ting felt like places where sweat had trickled were bitten by mosquitoes, wanting to scratch, but reason told her not to, to distract herself, her eyes wandered.
Her eyes wandered until they landed on the curtains, where she could vaguely see Duan Ling.
He stood in front of the couch, half-undressed, the contours of his shoulders, neck, and waist beautiful, with thin, even muscles, smooth lines, and a color like fine jade.
Because Lin Ting had pressed on Duan Ling’s neck while feeding him wine, her fingers accidentally got into his hair, messing up his hairpin, which needed to be redone, so he took off his black official hat, and untied his hair.
Now his long black hair fell to his waist, swaying, very mesmerizing.
Lin Ting, suddenly seeing this scene, quickly closed her eyes, God as her witness, she hadn’t intentionally hidden to watch Duan Ling change clothes.
She silently turned her neck, facing upwards, looking at the top of the bed.
This room probably hadn’t been entered for a long time, there was actually a large black spider on the bed’s canopy, as big as her palm, Lin Ting’s scalp immediately tingled, but she couldn’t move.
What was even more terrifying was that the big spider moved, its eight hairy legs climbing on the curtains, slowly crawling, its body occasionally swaying, as if the legs couldn’t support it, in danger of falling.
She felt like her life was over.
The big spider persisted in climbing, who knows where it was going, Lin Ting didn’t want to watch it, but had to keep an eye on it, to prevent the spider from suddenly falling or crawling onto her.
Soon, Lin Ting’s suspenseful heart died, the big spider finally lost its strength, fell straight down, right onto her face, its legs still wriggling, Lin Ting shivered, instinctively grabbing it and throwing it away.
At the same time, the rustling of clothes stopped, the room was eerily quiet.
Lin Ting nervously swallowed, looking towards the curtains, then saw a hand with distinct knuckles and a delicate face.
In that instant, her heart stopped, her hands gripping the bedding beneath her, staring into Duan Ling’s eyes, the cold sweat flowing over her skin seeping into her bones.
“Commander… Commander Duan.”
Lin Ting quickly came to her senses, lifting the bedding and crawling out.
Lin Ting didn’t call him ‘Commander Duan’, following Prince Liang’s way of addressing Duan Ling, as her current identity was a dancer, not the
seventh young lady of the Lin family, Lin Ting, who was used to calling him ‘Commander Duan’.
She always remembered her identity today.
Duan Ling’s hand still held the curtains, watching Lin Ting, still wearing her veil, sit up from the bed, coming out through the gap in the curtains he had lifted.
He seemed able to face anything with a calm demeanor, looking directly into her eyes, his thin lips parting,
“It’s you?”
Lin Ting lied,
“This servant is new to Prince Liang’s residence, got lost, and accidentally entered here. I wanted to leave, but then you came, I was afraid of being punished, so I hid.”
Duan Ling, “Is that so.”
She lowered her head, afraid he would recognize her,
“I dare not lie to Commander Duan.”
Adding, “This servant saw nothing just now.”
Saw a little, but rounding down, it counts as nothing.
He had only put on his clothes, his hair still undone, his official hat still on the couch, a few strands of hair hanging in front of him, giving an illusion of frailty, his lips red, his face pale, his appearance very deceptive.
“If I remember correctly, your name is Xi Yin. Are you a dancer from Prince Liang’s residence, or from outside?”
Duan Ling asked absentmindedly.
“You remember correctly, I am Xi Yin. I am a dancer from outside the residence.”
Lin Ting was afraid Duan Ling would hold a grudge for her forced kiss, adding,
“Just now at the banquet, I offended Commander Duan, this servant
deeply apologizes.”
She wanted to squeeze out a few tears for the act, but couldn’t, so she made her voice sound more tragic,
“Prince Liang keeps his word, he said he
would kill me and he would kill me, if I failed to feed you wine, I would surely die.”
Duan Ling let go of the curtains, tidying his hair, saying leisurely,
“So.”
“So this servant gathered the courage to feed you wine, offending you.”
Lin Ting omitted the word ‘mouth’, saying sincerely,
“I hope Commander Duan will not hold it against this lowly servant.”
He tied his hair, but didn’t immediately put on his official hat, instead putting on his arm guards first, tying the straps with one hand, not looking at her, his voice soft,
“Do you think I would kill you for this?”
Lin Ting first placed him on a high pedestal,
“Commander Duan certainly isn’t that kind of person.”
Duan Ling seemed to hear something amusing, his eyebrows gradually showing pleasure,
“You know me well, how do you know I’m not that kind of person?”
She said, “Intuition.”
He leisurely gazed at her, saying softly,
“However, this matter is indeed not your fault, it was Prince Liang’s command, what could a small dancer like you do to resist?”
Lin Ting’s head hung lower and lower, not wanting to meet his eyes again, lest her emotions leak out,
“Commander Duan is merciful.”
Duan Ling picked up his official hat, changing the subject,
“Which establishment outside the residence are you from?”
Lin Ting, “Dark Fragrance Pavilion.”
“Where is the Dark Fragrance Pavilion in the capital?”
She answered without hesitation,
“On the right side of North Street, next to a tavern called ‘Bliss’.”
It was all made up by Lin Ting, anyway they were all in Prince Liang’s residence now, he would have to wait until he left to check.
Duan Ling’s gaze wandered over Lin Ting’s face, as if seeing through the thin veil to her true appearance,
“How long have you been a dancer?”
“Five years.”
“Five years is not a short time, yet why is your dancing skill…”
He abruptly stopped, thoughtfully sparing her from embarrassment.
When the Imperial Guards first entered the backyard of Prince Liang’s residence, the dancing girls were still performing, as they couldn’t stop without the prince’s command.
“Dancing has never been my strong suit.”
Was he really criticizing her dancing?
Although the skills she hastily learned overnight couldn’t compare to those of professionals, they were passable.
Thinking this way, her talent in dancing was actually quite impressive.
Yet, she was being criticized.
Lin Ting grumbled in her heart: If I dance poorly, why look at me?
Just watch someone else instead.
Duan Ling: “Miss, there’s no need to belittle yourself. Everyone has their own strengths.”
“Assistant Commander Duan is right,” Lin Ting agreed.
“If there’s nothing else, I shall take my leave now.”
Of all strategies, retreat is the best.
She walked past Duan Ling towards the window:
“I’ll just climb out the window. There are still people from Prince Liang’s residence outside. If they see me, they might report to the supervisor, and then I’ll be punished.”
Duan Ling watched her back and suddenly called out, “Miss Lin Qi.”
Lin Ting had just touched the window when she heard “Miss Lin Qi” and nearly stumbled.
Pretending not to hear, she continued to climb out the window.
“Miss Lin Qi.”
The voice came again from behind.
Lin Ting pushed the window open to leave, but a hand reached from behind, gripping the window ledge, preventing her from exiting.
“Miss Lin Qi.” This was the third time.
It meant Duan Ling was certain she was Lin Ting.
Lin Ting’s mind was in turmoil.