Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Ding Yanyu smiled. “It is no trouble at all. Once you write the letter, I will have someone rush it to the Qiao family in Jade City.”
Qiao Ying thanked him.
Ding Yanyu drank a cup of wine. Finally unable to restrain himself, he said, “You should understand by now that I mean no harm. I want to see Lingling. Could you help me?”
Qiao Ying was not particularly surprised to hear Ding Ling’s name from him.
Other than Ding Ling, Ding Yanyu had no reason to seek them out.
But Qiao Ying did not agree recklessly. Instead, she probed, “I’ve spent several days in Yunling Prefecture and heard a great deal about Eldest Miss Ding. Many say the Ding family dotes on Miss Ding. Whatever she wants, her father, brother, and fiancé will do everything in their power to give her. Such affection must run very deep.”
Ding Yanyu understood her implication. He lowered his head in shame. “I was blind. I assumed it was only natural for Lingling’s personality to change after her brush with death. Though I occasionally had doubts, I never tried to verify them.”
Master Ding wanted to conceal the truth about the Ding family’s real and fake daughters, and had forbidden anyone in the manor from breathing a word to Ding Yanyu.
But Shen Qingyu had caused an enormous disturbance when he stormed Ding Manor yesterday, and Master Ding now lay bedridden, clinging to life through the use of precious medicines. Besides, Master Ding was old. Ding Yanyu was the future head of the family.
It was not so easy for Master Ding to hide something from him.
Ding Yanyu rose, bowed deeply, and cupped his hands toward Qiao Ying and Shen Qingyu.
“Please help me see Lingling.”
Qiao Ying raised her face toward empty air. “Do you want to meet him?”
Ding Yanyu paused, then stared fixedly in the direction she faced. He still saw no one there.
After a moment, Qiao Ying tugged Shen Qingyu’s hand. “We did eat the meal he bought us. Why don’t we… help him?”
Shen Qingyu was in an excellent temper now. He smiled. “All right.”
He did not move, and no one knew what he had done, but the ghost hidden within the air slowly took visible form.
“Lingling!”
Ding Yanyu hurried forward and instinctively reached for her. When his hand passed through Ding Ling’s body, he stood dazed for a long time. Only then did he truly understand that his sister had spent ten years in a state neither human nor ghost. Deeper guilt and fury surged within him.
Ding Ling stood rigidly, her head lowered, too ill at ease to look at anyone.
She knew she was unlikable.
Her mother and brother had loved her once. But after ten years away, she returned to Yunling Prefecture to find everyone adoring Ding Fufu in her body. It seemed no one remembered what the old Ding Ling had been like. She was terrified that her brother had forgotten her too.
Yet when she secretly looked up at his expression, a small spark of joy rose in her heart.
Perhaps he did not love her as much as he had when they were children. That did not matter. He still remembered her, and that was enough.
“Brother…” Clutching her robe, Ding Ling struggled to whisper the word.
Emotion crossed Ding Yanyu’s face. He reached out and carefully traced the edge of her cheek, as though truly caressing her.
“Lingling, it’s me. Your brother.”
Seeing no rejection on his face, Ding Ling began to weep again. Choking on her tears, she called loudly, “Brother!”
Ding Yanyu hurried to wipe her tears away, but it was futile. He could not catch a single drop.
Ding Ling’s quiet sobs turned into wails as ten years of grievances burst free.
“Brother, I missed you so much! I was trapped in the temple with only Xiao Zuo and Xiao You to talk to. I kept waiting for you to find me. I waited so long, but you never came.”
“The Daoist Master and Fairy Sister helped me. When I returned to Yunling Prefecture, you were the first person I wanted to see. But… But there is no place for me at home anymore.”
“Someone stole my body, and I’ve lost my home. Everyone forgot me. No one… No one likes me!”
Ding Yanyu drew a deep breath and lifted his head, determination replacing the panic in his eyes. “I failed you. Don’t be afraid. I will put everything right.”
“And it isn’t true that no one likes you.” The young master’s voice paused as he suppressed the tumult in his dark eyes. He lightly touched her nose through the air and said gently, “Your brother likes you. I always have.”
Qiao Ying sipped her soup while watching the touching reunion between brother and sister. At Ding Yanyu’s words, however, she could not help taking another look at him.
“Is he handsome?”
An eerie voice like a Ghost sounded beside her ear. Though the laughter was soft, it carried a sinister chill that seeped into her bones.
Qiao Ying looked up at the young man’s warm smile and shuddered.
Shen Qingyu moved still closer, his lips nearly brushing her ear. “More handsome than me?”
He smiled. “Shall I peel off his face and put it beside our bed for Yingying to admire day and night?”
Qiao Ying rubbed the goosebumps on her arms and forced herself to sit straight, her expression stern and solemn.
“I like furry things. Skin without fur feels terrible to the touch. I don’t like it at all.”
Shen Qingyu propped his chin on one hand and hooked a finger around the pink ribbon on her skirt with the other. The color made his skin look even paler.
He beamed. “I agree.”
Qiao Ying turned away and secretly exhaled in relief.
Before leaving, Ding Yanyu said, “I want to take Lingling home and make up for the past ten years.”
But Ding Ling replied, “I can’t leave. I have to stay with the Daoist Master.”
Ding Yanyu frowned slightly.
Qiao Ying glanced at the pitiful, tear-streaked Ding Ling, picked up the Demon-Subduing Sword, and moved closer to Shen Qingyu. “Young Master Ding, the situation is still uncertain. Ding Lingling remains a Living Soul and needs us to maintain her form. It would be better for her to stay with us.”
Ding Yanyu looked toward Shen Qingyu.
Shen Qingyu smiled with perfect friendliness.
Ding Yanyu withdrew his gaze. “Very well. I entrust Lingling to your care. I will search for Daoist Master Yan’s antidote and find the missing Ding Fufu and He Fei as quickly as possible.”
He looked back at Ding Ling with much gentler eyes. “Lingling, I’ll visit you again.”
Ding Ling smiled through her tears. “All right.”
Night fell, bringing a deep chill.
Ding Fufu was confined in a dim room without sunlight. She could only tell that night had come again from the falling temperature.
Once the pampered daughter of a wealthy family, she was now a prisoner and naturally seethed with anger.
Oddly, the room had been decorated for warmth and comfort. It looked nothing like a cell.
Ding Fufu did not know who had abducted her, but since they had not killed her, she must still be useful.
She refused to eat, even when they brought her favorite foods.
He Fei presented a plate of delicate pastries. “Miss, I advise you to eat something.”
Ding Fufu dashed the plate to the floor. “I won’t! You might as well starve me to death!”
He Fei remained unmoved.
Ding Fufu snapped, “You’re my guard, yet you abducted me and brought me to this wretched place. He Fei, who ordered you to do this?”
He Fei said nothing.
Ding Fufu lay back down. “Fine, don’t tell me. Just let me starve!”
He Fei cleaned up and left.
After refusing food for two days and nights, Ding Fufu was dizzy and faint. She had hoped to force the mastermind to appear, but succeeded only in driving herself to the verge of unconsciousness.
Through the haze, she felt a warm hand caress her cheek.
Ding Fufu forced her eyes open. Joy appeared when she saw a familiar face. “Brother, you’ve come to save me!”
She sat up excitedly and seized her brother’s hand.
Ding Yanyu smiled. “Why haven’t you eaten?”
Ding Fufu answered urgently, “Someone abducted me, and I don’t know what they’re plotting. I didn’t dare eat anything they brought.”
“Don’t worry. The food isn’t poisoned.”
Ding Fufu froze. “Brother… What are you saying?”
Ding Yanyu’s hand lingered over the girl’s face, which bore some resemblance to his own. Tenderness suffused his handsome features. The gentleman normally as mild and polished as jade shed all his proper restraint, his fingertips stroking her cheek with an almost reverent greed.
“Eat something,” he murmured. “Don’t damage your health.”