Nianci didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said, and immediately blinked at Jiang Ling, repeating, "Mother... don't cry, I'll wipe it for you!"
Hearing Nianci call her "Mother," Jiang Ling trembled all over, and her emotions, which had just calmed down, were stirred up again.
Nianci looked at Jiang Ling in front of him, not quite understanding why his mother's emotions changed so quickly.
But he still waved the handkerchief in his hand, twisted himself out of Jiang Ling's arms, and gently wiped away Jiang Ling's tears with the handkerchief.
After a long while, Jiang Ling's emotions finally calmed down. She lovingly stroked Nianci beside her. During the time she had handed Nianci over to Magistrate Duan, Nianci seemed to have gained a lot of weight. Her pink and white face looked as cute as a New Year's picture doll.
"Nianci, why don't you go ride the big horse with your sixth uncle first? Mother and Magistrate Duan have something to say to each other," Jiang Ling said to Nianci, glancing at the curtain of the carriage.
Nianci nodded obediently, carefully lifted the curtain and went out. A short while later, the magistrate returned to the carriage.
The two looked at each other, and the atmosphere in the carriage gradually became somewhat awkward.
Magistrate Duan opened his mouth, his throat moved, but no sound came out.
This time, it was Jiang Ling who started it again. She glanced at the slightly nervous Magistrate Duan and asked, "What exactly is going on?"
"Why, why weren't you told about this child's background?"
Magistrate Duan did not answer Jiang Ling's question, but looked at her with a slightly puzzled expression and asked her in return.
Jiang Ling gritted her teeth, thought for a moment, and said to Magistrate Duan, "Back then, the Third Prince Su Shunhe pressured me too much. I didn't want others to be implicated innocently, so I chose to keep quiet about some things! I hope you don't mind!"
"Of course I mind!"
Magistrate Duan looked at Jiang Ling with a worried expression and hurriedly retorted.
Jiang Ling frowned, and her heart sank. But then Magistrate Duan's next sentence caused her mood to completely reverse.
"Of course I mind! Am I some kind of nobody? You're being ridiculous...really..."
Magistrate Duan was, after all, a scholar, and the rigid etiquette that bound him completely swallowed up what he wanted to say next.
He opened his mouth and scratched his head, as if trying to find something else to say.
“Although we can’t be considered life-and-death buddies, we’ve still been through a lot together. If you don’t tell me anything, do you even still consider me your older brother?” County Magistrate Duan racked his brains for a long time before finally managing to cobble together a sentence that sounded somewhat coherent.
After hearing this, Jiang Ling smiled wryly. She thought about it and ultimately changed what she wanted to say.
"After all, he is the Third Prince. We are just minor officials who can't possibly defeat him!" Jiang Ling comforted her.
Magistrate Duan scratched his head and muttered somewhat displeasedly, "Yes... but it's unacceptable for him to bully you!"
Jiang Ling felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing this. She smiled and looked at Magistrate Duan, saying, "Then I've returned safely, haven't I? Besides, that imperial edict was fake!"
"What do you mean, fake?" Magistrate Duan suddenly looked up at Jiang Ling, his eyes gradually changing from surprise to joy. He suppressed his excitement and tried hard to control his facial expression as he asked, "Is it real?"
"Of course, His Majesty said it himself! I was there at the time, but things happened so suddenly..." As she spoke, Jiang Ling told Magistrate Duan everything about how she sneaked into the capital and how she met the Empress Dowager and the Emperor.
Upon hearing that Su Shunhe had stabbed him, Magistrate Duan's gaze involuntarily drifted towards Jiang Ling's chest.
But the next second, Magistrate Duan quickly looked away, secretly pinching his thigh and cursing inwardly, "You lecherous old man, Duan Kang'an, what are you looking at! Is that place your place to look?"
Perhaps he had gone a little too far, for Magistrate Duan's eyebrows furrowed unconsciously. Such a small, inconspicuous movement should have gone unnoticed, but Jiang Ling happened to be talking about the attire and immediately noticed it.
Her expression immediately calmed as she looked at Magistrate Duan and asked, "Brother Duan, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Magistrate Duan, thinking that Jiang Ling had discovered his thoughts, waved his hands and shook his head somewhat embarrassedly, "No, no, please continue!"
Jiang Ling glanced at Magistrate Duan curiously, and after confirming that he was not acting strangely, she continued to tell her story in the capital.
After saying everything, Jiang Ling breathed a sigh of relief and murmured, "This imperial city is really not a place for humans to stay. If you're not careful, you'll be devoured alive!"
Magistrate Duan nodded in agreement. Jiang Ling glanced at him and, realizing the topic had veered off course, quickly asked again, "What happened after I left?"
Magistrate Duan glanced at Jiang Ling, then at Nianci outside the curtain, sighed helplessly, and fell into his memories.
That night, after Jiang Ling handed the child over to Magistrate Duan, he sensed that something was amiss. Although he wanted to ask, Jiang Ling's serious expression told him that asking would be futile, so he simply put the matter aside for the time being.
After Nianci was placed with Magistrate Duan, he always remembered Jiang Ling's instructions and would personally take care of the child Nianci every day if he had nothing else to do.
Even with such meticulous care, Nianci fell ill on the third day after Jiang Ling left. At that time, Nianci inexplicably developed a high fever and kept crying and fussing, constantly muttering that he wanted to find his mother.
At first, Magistrate Duan thought Nianci was missing Jiang Ling, and he comforted her repeatedly. However, Nianci shook her head and said that Jiang Ling was not her mother at all.
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