Chapter 163: Uproar in Central Heaven

Are you all deaf, you bastards?

Commander Zheng saw his subordinates hesitating and shouted angrily.

Behind him, several Dutous likely recalled the name ‘Ding Suian’, which had been discussed frequently in Central Heaven recently. After exchanging glances, one of them finally stepped forward and whispered in Commander Zheng’s ear, “Sir, he is Ding Suian.”

So what if he is Ding Suian!

Commander Zheng turned back, glared at the man, and said, “Breaking through the gate in the middle of the night and injuring a Dutou of the Imperial Guard, by law he can be executed! Capture him, and if he resists, kill him without mercy!”

Only then did everyone realize that Commander Zheng was not unaware of who Ding Suian was; he simply did not fear him.

They had underestimated Commander Zheng; he had guts and mettle!

Subsequently, several Dutous looked at each other, their expressions turning fierce. Commander Zheng was right; just based on the charge of breaking through the gate at midnight, they were in the right!

More importantly, the man behind Zheng Jinsan, who had just taken office as the Commander of the Winged Tiger Army’s C Battalion, was… the eldest of the Emperor’s grandsons, the one with the highest succession rank, Prince Anping.

To the side, Commander Hou, who had his finger snapped off, was sweating profusely from the pain. Hearing his superior speak, he could no longer hold back, rushed forward, and swung his blade.

The strike, which appeared fierce and powerful to others, was easily dodged by Ding Suian with a casual twist.

Slap! Slap!

Two slaps landed on Commander Hou’s Face, sending him spinning away.

The scene went silent.

Cough! Cough!

Commander Hou seemed to have been stunned by the two slaps. He lay on the ground, slowly propped himself up, and felt a foreign object in his mouth. He opened his mouth and spat. Seven or eight teeth mixed with blood sprayed out.

Zheng Jinsan was both shocked and furious, “Attack! Kill him together! Casualties do not matter, I will take responsibility for whatever happens!”

The five Dutous, along with the personal guards brought by Zheng Jinsan, shouted in unison and surrounded him from all directions.

On the perimeter.

The Soldiers blocking the gate were hesitant. Some wanted to step forward to assist in the fight to gain favor with Commander Zheng, while others quietly retreated to the back of the crowd. Most chose to shout loudly but refused to move a single step forward.

Finally, a young Soldier, eager for merit, pushed past his comrades to join the fray.

He was dragged back into the crowd by an old Soldier who slapped him twice, “Have a conscience! Young Master Ding just brought back the remains of our comrades from Southern Zhao and saved the captured brothers. If you want to use Young Master Ding to gain merit, don’t even think about standing in the army in the future!”

The night wind howled as Lin Hansu galloped on her horse, gradually leaving the sudden uproar at the East Gate of Central Heaven behind her.

Her two pressure-relief balls heaved violently, bouncing up and down.

It made her chest ache from the shaking.

She now completely understood Ding Suian’s intention: only if she escaped first and was not caught in the act, would their relationship remain innocent.

Only then could he act without restraint and without any worries.

Lin Hansu’s top priority now was to seek help as quickly as possible.

Should she notify Li Baicheng to mediate? Or should she ask the West Yamen for help directly?

This thought flashed through her mind but was immediately suppressed. In any case, she could not go to Li Baicheng herself, especially in the middle of the night; that would be equivalent to telling him directly that she had just been with Ding Suian.

The fastest way was to return to the residence immediately and have Lin Dafu step in to mediate on her behalf.

While thinking, she suddenly saw a squad of Soldiers rushing toward her in the empty long street.

The distance of over a hundred paces between the two sides was covered in an instant.

It was too late to turn around.

This is bad!

A bold thought crossed Lin Hansu’s mind: ‘just charge through’.

Halt!

Ready bows, nock arrows!

Only when she saw them quickly form a battle formation in the long street and draw their bows did Lin Hansu hurriedly pull the reins.

Mythical Beast reared up with a neigh.

Clang!

A tall man stepped forward with a blade, walked to the front of the horse in a few steps, and shouted sharply, “Dismount!”

Lin Hansu, whose heart was pounding with mixed feelings of nervousness and anxiety, suddenly felt the voice was somewhat familiar. The night was dark, and she was separated by a veil, so she could not see clearly.

She hurriedly lifted a corner of her veil to look closely.

Lin Hansu was overjoyed, like a dying person grabbing a life-saving straw, “Uncle, please go to Wanan Gate quickly, Young Master is surrounded by the Imperial Guard!”

Ding Lie looked puzzled. What ‘Uncle’, what ‘Young Master’?

Who is this woman?

Lin Hansu then realized that she had only met Ding Lie once, and since she was wearing a veil now, he definitely would not recognize her.

“Uncle, I am Young Master Ding’s neighbor.”

As she spoke, she lifted the veil to let Old Ding see her.

At this moment, he should have many questions. Why is his son not at home sleeping in the middle of the night and wandering outside? Why did he go to Wanan Gate? Why was he surrounded by the Imperial Guard? Why is this neighbor of his son riding a horse in the middle of the night? Why does she know his son is surrounded?

But Old Ding did not ask a single question. He turned back and said, “Ready, withdraw the formation, follow me to Wanan Gate! Dahai, take two brothers to send…” Old Ding didn’t know how to address Lin Hansu, or even her last name, “send this lady home!”

Yes!

Yes!

Two crisp responses followed from behind.

The horizontal line formed to stop Lin Hansu was quickly retracted and reorganized into a column suitable for running.

Another burly man stepped forward; it seemed he was ‘Dahai’, the one who was to send Lin Hansu home.

This arrangement was very necessary!

Having Soldiers escort her would avoid the trouble of being questioned by other Soldiers on the road.

After all, the rapid sound of gongs at Wanan Gate just now had alarmed the entire Central Heaven, and countless street-patrolling Soldiers and yamen runners were rushing there.

Ding Lie and his men were just one of them.

In just ten breaths, the formation was complete. Ding Lie stepped forward and clasped his hands at Lin Hansu, “Thank you for passing the message, my lady.”

This caught Lin Hansu off guard.

In her heart, this was her future father-in-law; how could she sit steadily on her horse and accept his salute with peace of mind?

She hurriedly dismounted in a flurry and returned a standard Wanfu salute very respectfully.

Our Consort Su is a filial child.

But the look in Ding Lie’s eyes became even stranger.

The second quarter of the Chou hour.

The inner courtyard of the Lin residence was quiet.

Lin Dafu was hugging a concubine in each arm, sleeping soundly.

Bang, bang, bang!

The sudden, forceful knocking on the door not only woke the three meat worms but also gave them a fright.

Bang, bang, bang!

The impolite knocking sounded again.

The concubine on the left rubbed her sleepy eyes, the anger of having her dream disturbed rising up. She cursed at the door, “You little hussy! Are you crazy? The master is still sleeping. See if I don’t tear your Face off tomorrow!”

She assumed it was some jealous concubine coming to cause trouble in the middle of the night.

Outside the door, it was indeed silent for a moment.

Seeing this, the concubine was slightly smug and couldn’t help but take the opportunity to say, “Master, ever since the Madam passed away, no one has managed our inner courtyard for many years. In my opinion, it is time to find a new head of the household.”

The one on the right was instantly wide awake. That wanton hussy beside her wanted to become the mistress of the Lin residence!

Thud!

Clang!

Just as she was about to speak, she heard a loud noise. The two door panels were violently pushed open to the sides and slammed against the wall.

In the light of the lantern under the corridor, Lin Hansu looked cold and walked straight in.

Ah!

Spare us, hero!

At first, the two concubines did not see who had come in. They were so scared that they grabbed the quilt to cover their chests and shrank behind Lin Dafu, who had just sat up.

“Please, Father, get dressed immediately. We will give you one hundred breaths!”

After saying that, she turned and walked outside the door, waiting with her back turned.

By now, they knew that the one kicking open the old man’s bedroom door in the middle of the night was the Lin family’s third daughter, the Princess Consort of Lanyang.

Our Consort Su is a filial child.

“Quick, quick, help me get dressed!”

Lin Dafu was dragged up in the middle of the night, but he didn’t even dare to ask why.

This attitude ended the idea that the two concubines had just ignited about trying to become the mistress of the Lin residence.

As long as the Lin family’s third daughter was here, there would be no new mistress in the Lin residence.

A short while later, Lin Hansu told Lin Dafu the whole story. The latter was very cooperative and went out of the residence overnight to the Vermilion Bird Army camp.

Lin Hansu, who remained at home, still felt uneasy. After thinking for a moment, she changed her clothes, took the ivory token for entering and leaving the Princess Xingguos Residence, and went out.

She knew very well that tonight’s matter could be big or small.

If one insisted on making a big deal out of it, the charge of breaking through the gate in the middle of the night was not a small crime.

The Winged Tiger Army might not necessarily give Li Baicheng Face.

She still had to find Her Highness!

Wanan Gate, East Gate, Wengcheng gate tunnel.

When Ding Lie, the Dutou of the A Battalion of the Winged Tiger Army, arrived with his men, half of his hanging heart was put down. His son was standing proudly here, looking around with the sharp eyes of an eagle.

Even his clothes were not dirty.

It was good that his son was not injured.

But the other half of his heart was still hanging because… of the six Dutous of the Winged Tiger Army’s C Battalion present, one had a broken finger, one had a collapsed bridge of his nose, two had fallen to the ground unable to get up, and two were bruised and swollen.

His son had taken out all the officers of the C Battalion in one go!

This was going to cause trouble.

Zheng Jinsan, who had already retreated to the wall, reacted when he first saw Ding Lie, “Head Ding! Kill this thief, and I will request a reward for you!”

The nobles above naturally knew the relationship between Old Ding and Young Ding.

But Zheng Jinsan, a middle-level officer, did not usually pay much attention to the low-key Old Ding. However, after he shouted it out, he felt something was wrong. Old Ding’s surname was Ding, and Young Ding’s surname was also Ding.

Ding was not a common surname.

His guess was correct. He saw Old Ding walking sheepishly in front of Ding Suian, turning to Face Zheng Jinsan, and whispering apologetically, “My son is reckless, I hope you can forgive him, Sir.”

Zheng Jinsan, who had already developed some fear of Ding Suian, suddenly regained his confidence upon seeing this and immediately scolded, “Ding Lie! You have failed to discipline your son and have caused a great disaster! You must tie him up immediately, deliver him to the authorities, and atone for your crimes!”

Ding Lie was not stupid; he knew that Zheng Jinsan could not handle his son, so he wanted to use his hands to subdue him through filial piety, and then slowly torture his son.

After a few moments of silence, Ding Lie’s tone became more humble, “Commander Zheng, for the sake of our colleagues…”

Before he could finish, Zheng Jinsan stepped forward, pointed at Commander Hou, who had a broken finger and a mouth full of blood, and said, “Colleagues? Why didn’t he think of colleagues when he injured Commander Hou? If you care about the feelings of colleagues, kneel down and kowtow to Commander Hou first!”

Ding Lie was choked up and looked back at Ding Suian.

Father and son had a tacit understanding for many years; Ding Suian naturally understood the meaning of his eyes: ‘If you can’t do it, just run.’

Ding Suian really did not believe that he, who had always been set up by the imperial court as a model to boost the morale of the army, would be punished because of tonight’s events.

Even if he were punished, at worst he could flee to Southern Zhao and find a way to pick up Lin Hansu later.

On the other side, Zheng Jinsan thought that Ding Suian was being held in check, so he pressed harder, “Ding Lie, are you going to kowtow or not?”

But this time, just as his voice fell, there was a blur before his eyes. Ding Suian, who had been two zhang away, moved to his side like a ghost.

Immediately after, there was severe pain in his left ear.

Ding Suian pressed his hand down, and Zheng Jinsan, in pain, could only follow his hand and squat down.

“I didn’t tell you to squat, I told you to kneel.”

Ding Suian reminded him.

Zheng Jinsan was extremely concerned about his Face and naturally did not want to kneel in front of many subordinates. He gritted his teeth and said stubbornly, “Ding, you have caused a great disaster! You will also implicate your father! Ah~”

Ding Suian twisted his hand, and the cartilage on the upper edge of the ear immediately tore away from the skin, bleeding profusely.

Zheng Jinsan knelt down with a thud. Probably knowing that begging Ding Suian was useless, he hurriedly turned his head slightly and said to Ding Lie, “Old Ding, Brother Ding, for the sake of us being comrades… quickly tell your son to let go. Tonight’s matter, let bygones be bygones, let bygones be bygones!”

Ding Lie naturally did not believe Zheng Jinsan’s words about ‘letting bygones be bygones’.

He turned his head and looked at the thick, ink-like night outside the city with a complex expression. The twenty years of peaceful life in Central Heaven, I am afraid, were about to end.