Chapter 40.2 - Green Light
Ji Ling looked on curiously. So this girl is Earl Gerard’s daughter… But what’s going on here? He’d attended too many boring banquets these days, and this was the first time something like this had happened, so he immediately perked up.
When facing his daughter and her civilian partner, Earl Gerard was not respectful and pleasant like with Ji Ling. He said coldly: "Sally, do you know what you’re doing? You’ve disappointed me. "
Sally turned pale. She cried as she said: "I'm sorry, I know I was wrong. Please, I’m begging you to let him go. I promise I won't associate with him ever again!"
When this was said, anger lit in the young soldier’s eyes and he grabbed Sally, saying sternly: "Don't beg him. Even if he kills me today, I will not leave you!"
Sally’s face paled with fear. Her eyes reddened as she said: "Jonah, be quiet!”
Jonah flushed and said: "I won't leave you. We’re mutually in love. What right does he have to stop us? Is it just because I'm a civilian?!”
Ji Ling saw this, and had a sudden epiphany.
Actually, he’d heard of these things happening before, but never seen it with his own eyes. Apparently, the conservatives refused to let their noble children marry civilians in order to keep the bloodline pure. If found out, they would separate the pair of lovers, and punish them severely, even to the point of directly killing them!
As weird as it sounded, these things actually did happen.
Ji Ling couldn't help but be reminded of the world he was from. It was already the 21st century, but there were still people ruthlessly killing their own flesh and blood to save their reputation just because their daughter married a man of lower class and status. Then comparatively, it was quite normal for the aristocrats of this world to kill the lowly civilians who “cheated” their daughters into marriage in order to maintain their pure bloodline.
Most of the time, even if a civilian were killed, nothing would come out of it, because dead men tell no tales. In the face of the nobles on high, most civilians didn’t even have the rights they ought to have.
Reality was just that cruel.
Sally continued to beg Earl Gerard: "Father, just let him go. I swear I’ll never see him again."
However, Earl Gerard was unfazed. When he watched his daughter plead for the civilian man like that, his eyes grew even colder with fury. He replied icily: "Really? How can I trust your word?"
Sally trembled saying: “I-I..."
Earl Gerard said lightly: “Once he dies, you’ll never associate with him again. Only this way, can I trust your word. My good child, you’ve been deceived by this despicable liar, and he must pay the price for what he has done. "
Sally heard this and turned as pale as a sheet. She looked at Earl Gerald in despair.
Jonah's expression changed too, but he was already mentally prepared the moment he fell in love with Sally. That’s why he faced death without fear and did not back down… Unfortunately, he could no longer be with his beloved. He didn't want her to be saddened by his death.
Jonah looked at Sally painfully: "I'm sorry ..."
Sally cried so hard she was out of breath.
The other onlooking aristocrats watched with ridicule. Their eyes shone with cruelty and bloodthirst, as they waited for the innocent youth to be shredded into a thousand pieces and meet his miserable death.
Ji Ling suddenly shuddered violently.
No, he couldn’t watch this go on!
It was one thing to hear about it, but another thing to see it in person. He couldn’t stand by and watch an innocent person like this be brutally slaughtered by a group of nobles just like that!
The guard kicked Jonah's leg and made him kneel down. Right when he was about to get to it, Ji Ling came forward and shouted angrily: "Stop!"
As soon as his voice rang out, everyone immediately turned to look over.
When Earl Gerard saw that the one who spoke was Ji Ling himself, the anger boiling on his face suddenly froze. He then put on a stiff smile and asked doubtfully: “Young Master Ji, is there a problem?"
Ji Ling looked at him coldly with eyes full of discontent: "I said ‘stop.’ Didn't you hear me?”
Earl Gerard paused in shock, then recovered and smiled: “My apologies. I’ve let my household matters disturb your peace. I'll take this lower link down and dispose of it immediately, so it won't dirty your eyes! "
Anger rushed to Ji Ling’s head. Who the heck said it with that meaning? He gritted his teeth and spoke again. This time, he expressed it clearly without room for ambiguity. With a straight face, he enunciated each word: "I want you to let him go."
When they heard this statement, everyone looked at JiLing in surprise.
Earl Gerard was even more puzzled.
Doesn't Young Master Ji hate civilians the most? He’s always been a domineering rich kid, and has done many a thing to oppress them in the past… He’s clearly very right-winged, since he’s gone after Ning Yu time and time again because of His Majesty.
If someone were to say Young Master Ji beat civilians to death, that would still be believable, but what does he mean by saying something to protect them???
Ji Ling saw all the puzzled glances given to him, and his expression stiffened a bit. Although he wasn’t afraid of what these people would do to him, it wasn’t appropriate for him to suddenly go OOC. It would be dangerous if he he exposed his secret. He swiftly flipped his expression, and swept his gaze contemptuously over Jonah who was on the ground, as if he was just looking at some insignificant speck of dust or garbage. He said coldly, "If His Majesty was present, he would not allow this kind of behavior.”
Everyone: "..."
Moments later, everyone suddenly looked enlightened! They were just wondering how Young Master Ji could possibly defend a civilian! He wasn’t one to care about the life and death of a lower link. What he cared about was His Majesty's stance! Even when faced with something like this, his first thought was, what would His Majesty do...
With Young Master Ji's domineering manner, the fact that he was willing to defend one of those lower links he hated most meant that he clearly had His Majesty in his heart!
They originally thought Carlos was the one who dug a hole to destroy the emperor’s foundations by forcefully stealing away his lover, thereby leading to His Majesty openly exchanging a few big blows with Carlos. Looking at it now, however…Ji Ling clearly had feeling for His Majesty. Rumor had it that he’d always loved Emperor Sui before. Perhaps Ji Ling had His Majesty in his heart, but agreed to marry Carlos. Why would he do this though? Which man was the one who got cheated on?!
This was too exciting!
They carefully looked at Ji Ling, too nervous to even exhale.
Ji Ling knew what they were thinking as soon as he retracted his gaze. However, he didn’t care at all, so he said again in a cold tone: “Earl Gerard, I told you to let him go. Are you unwilling to do so?"
Earl Gerard had also been shocked thinking about which man had been cuckolded. He immediately returned to himself, and hurriedly smiled: "How could that be? I’ll be letting him go. Let him go now. "
Then he turned his head and commanded: "What are you still standing still for? Didn't you hear Young Master Ji's orders? Hurry up and let him go. Don’t dirty his eyes."
The servant was scared dumb. He got out of his daze absent-mindedly, and lowered his head as he said: “Y-Yes, my lord.”
Sally stared at Ji Ling in a daze, her eyes filled with a complex mix of disbelief and gratitude. She thought she had been cornered to a dead end. Who could’ve guessed the one who’d save the man she loved would be Ji Ling of all people?
She saw that Jonah had been pushed outside. Although she really wanted to follow them out there, she didn't dare anger her father at this moment. That’s why she just watched on with a worried gaze as her lover left. At least…
He survived with his life, if anything.
Ji Ling only retracted his gaze once he saw the man had been released. He suddenly felt that the changes in his identity weren’t all bad. If he was still in his previous position, there’s no way he would’ve been qualified to intervene in Earl Gerald’s domestic affairs. Even if he’d said something, nobody would’ve listened.
As Jonah left, the peaceful facade from before returned. Hypocritical laughter rang out from all around him.
To Ji Ling, this was just an insignificant incident. As for that poor unlucky fella, he hoped the guy would be more careful next time. After all, he wouldn’t be so lucky every time, to have someone come save him.
………………
The guard crudely drove Jonah out of the earl’s estate. With a wave of his hand, he said gruffly: "Get lost. You were lucky today."
It took Jonah a long time to come back to his senses and realize that he’d narrowly escaped death.
On top of that, the one who had saved him was actually that infamous rich kid, Ji Ling. This was so incredulous that Jonah was in a complete daze.
Ji Ling obviously didn't recognize him, but Jonah actually knew Ji Ling. He’d seen the boy once at the military headquarters.
It was when Ji Ling came to their headquarters to humiliate Ning Yu. As one of Ning Yu’s comrade-in-arms, he had been watching from the side at the time, and couldn’t wait to go beat that stupid rich kid a new one.
Today, however, he was saved by that damn rich kid.
Jonah blankly returned to the military headquarters. In the dormitory hallway, he coincidentally ran into Ning Yu who was coming from the opposite direction.
The young man with dark hair and green eyes was dressed in a well-pressed military uniform. The contours of his dashing face were deep and well-defined in the dimly light hallway. With a gentle and cool gaze, he looked at Jonah who appeared to be troubled. His eyebrows wrinkled ever so slightly as he asked: "What happened?"
Jonah said, depressed: “Sally and I were discovered by Earl Gerard."
Ning Yu's frown deepened. Earl Gerard had always despised and looked down on civilians. He was a typical right-winged noble. That’s why Jonah and Sally had never made their love public. If their relationship was discovered by Earl Gerard, Jonah would have a hard time getting away. What exactly happened tonight then?
Ning Yu looked at him with concern: "Are you all right?"
Jonah seemed absent-minded. He didn't answer Ning Yu's question, and after quite a while, he finally murmured: "I met Ji Ling."
Ning Yu's pupils contracted slightly. He said in a low voice: "Oh?"
Jonah scratched his head, looking puzzled and confused as he said: “Earl Gerard was very angry. He wanted to kill me in front of everyone. Ji Ling was the one who stopped him and told him to let me go. If it wasn’t for him, I might not have been able to come back today."
Jonah didn't notice the subtle change in Ning Yu’s expression as he spoke. He continued to voice his doubts: "I don't understand why he saved me. Didn’t he look down on us civilians the most?"
Jonah had always trusted Ning Yu, and believed that he was a particularly insightful person. He asked: “Do you think it’s because of His Majesty? Rumor has it that he’s always loved the emperor deeply. Could it be he only opened his mouth because His Majesty advocates for the people? I’m pretty sure he disdains me too, so I can’t think of any other reason than that…”
Who could’ve guessed that Ning Yu actually wouldn’t agree with what he said? Instead, he looked him seriously in the eye, and said slowly: "No matter what the reason, the fact is, he saved you”
Jonah was shocked and suddenly flushed, ashamed of what he had just said.
It was because of his own prejudice and existing impression of Ji Ling that he felt the youth couldn’t possibly have saved him sincerely, and only did it because of Emperor Sui. That’s why he had discredited Ji Ling. He was really being too ungrateful and unreasonable with these presumptions! Fortunately, Ning Yu had reminded him. No matter what Ji Ling’s goal was, it was a fact that the boy had saved him. What right did he have to doubt Ji Ling’s motives, and think him insincere? How could he discount his savior for saving his life?
Jonah proclaimed: "He saved my life today. I should at least thank him in person, but…but he probably won’t allow me an audience…”
The gap between their statuses was too large. Plus, Ji Ling probably didn’t even remember his face. What would he care about his gratitude?
Ji Ling had saved his life, but he wouldn't even be able to say one word of thanks to him in person. He was a manly soldier, but his inability made him flush in shame.
Ning Yu stood there, and something peculiar seemed to flash in his jade green eyes in the night.
He stayed silent for a moment. Then, as if he had finally made his decision, he said lightly: "I'll go for you."
Chapter 40.2 - Green Light
Ji Ling looked on curiously. So this girl is Earl Gerard’s daughter… But what’s going on here? He’d attended too many boring banquets these days, and this was the first time something like this had happened, so he immediately perked up.
When facing his daughter and her civilian partner, Earl Gerard was not respectful and pleasant like with Ji Ling. He said coldly: "Sally, do you know what you’re doing? You’ve disappointed me. "
Sally turned pale. She cried as she said: "I'm sorry, I know I was wrong. Please, I’m begging you to let him go. I promise I won't associate with him ever again!"
When this was said, anger lit in the young soldier’s eyes and he grabbed Sally, saying sternly: "Don't beg him. Even if he kills me today, I will not leave you!"
Sally’s face paled with fear. Her eyes reddened as she said: "Jonah, be quiet!”
Jonah flushed and said: "I won't leave you. We’re mutually in love. What right does he have to stop us? Is it just because I'm a civilian?!”
Ji Ling saw this, and had a sudden epiphany.
Actually, he’d heard of these things happening before, but never seen it with his own eyes. Apparently, the conservatives refused to let their noble children marry civilians in order to keep the bloodline pure. If found out, they would separate the pair of lovers, and punish them severely, even to the point of directly killing them!
As weird as it sounded, these things actually did happen.
Ji Ling couldn't help but be reminded of the world he was from. It was already the 21st century, but there were still people ruthlessly killing their own flesh and blood to save their reputation just because their daughter married a man of lower class and status. Then comparatively, it was quite normal for the aristocrats of this world to kill the lowly civilians who “cheated” their daughters into marriage in order to maintain their pure bloodline.
Most of the time, even if a civilian were killed, nothing would come out of it, because dead men tell no tales. In the face of the nobles on high, most civilians didn’t even have the rights they ought to have.
Reality was just that cruel.
Sally continued to beg Earl Gerard: "Father, just let him go. I swear I’ll never see him again."
However, Earl Gerard was unfazed. When he watched his daughter plead for the civilian man like that, his eyes grew even colder with fury. He replied icily: "Really? How can I trust your word?"
Sally trembled saying: “I-I..."
Earl Gerard said lightly: “Once he dies, you’ll never associate with him again. Only this way, can I trust your word. My good child, you’ve been deceived by this despicable liar, and he must pay the price for what he has done. "
Sally heard this and turned as pale as a sheet. She looked at Earl Gerald in despair.
Jonah's expression changed too, but he was already mentally prepared the moment he fell in love with Sally. That’s why he faced death without fear and did not back down… Unfortunately, he could no longer be with his beloved. He didn't want her to be saddened by his death.
Jonah looked at Sally painfully: "I'm sorry ..."
Sally cried so hard she was out of breath.
The other onlooking aristocrats watched with ridicule. Their eyes shone with cruelty and bloodthirst, as they waited for the innocent youth to be shredded into a thousand pieces and meet his miserable death.
Ji Ling suddenly shuddered violently.
No, he couldn’t watch this go on!
It was one thing to hear about it, but another thing to see it in person. He couldn’t stand by and watch an innocent person like this be brutally slaughtered by a group of nobles just like that!
The guard kicked Jonah's leg and made him kneel down. Right when he was about to get to it, Ji Ling came forward and shouted angrily: "Stop!"
As soon as his voice rang out, everyone immediately turned to look over.
When Earl Gerard saw that the one who spoke was Ji Ling himself, the anger boiling on his face suddenly froze. He then put on a stiff smile and asked doubtfully: “Young Master Ji, is there a problem?"
Ji Ling looked at him coldly with eyes full of discontent: "I said ‘stop.’ Didn't you hear me?”
Earl Gerard paused in shock, then recovered and smiled: “My apologies. I’ve let my household matters disturb your peace. I'll take this lower link down and dispose of it immediately, so it won't dirty your eyes! "
Anger rushed to Ji Ling’s head. Who the heck said it with that meaning? He gritted his teeth and spoke again. This time, he expressed it clearly without room for ambiguity. With a straight face, he enunciated each word: "I want you to let him go."
When they heard this statement, everyone looked at JiLing in surprise.
Earl Gerard was even more puzzled.
Doesn't Young Master Ji hate civilians the most? He’s always been a domineering rich kid, and has done many a thing to oppress them in the past… He’s clearly very right-winged, since he’s gone after Ning Yu time and time again because of His Majesty.
If someone were to say Young Master Ji beat civilians to death, that would still be believable, but what does he mean by saying something to protect them???
Ji Ling saw all the puzzled glances given to him, and his expression stiffened a bit. Although he wasn’t afraid of what these people would do to him, it wasn’t appropriate for him to suddenly go OOC. It would be dangerous if he he exposed his secret. He swiftly flipped his expression, and swept his gaze contemptuously over Jonah who was on the ground, as if he was just looking at some insignificant speck of dust or garbage. He said coldly, "If His Majesty was present, he would not allow this kind of behavior.”
Everyone: "..."
Moments later, everyone suddenly looked enlightened! They were just wondering how Young Master Ji could possibly defend a civilian! He wasn’t one to care about the life and death of a lower link. What he cared about was His Majesty's stance! Even when faced with something like this, his first thought was, what would His Majesty do...
With Young Master Ji's domineering manner, the fact that he was willing to defend one of those lower links he hated most meant that he clearly had His Majesty in his heart!
They originally thought Carlos was the one who dug a hole to destroy the emperor’s foundations by forcefully stealing away his lover, thereby leading to His Majesty openly exchanging a few big blows with Carlos. Looking at it now, however…Ji Ling clearly had feeling for His Majesty. Rumor had it that he’d always loved Emperor Sui before. Perhaps Ji Ling had His Majesty in his heart, but agreed to marry Carlos. Why would he do this though? Which man was the one who got cheated on?!
This was too exciting!
They carefully looked at Ji Ling, too nervous to even exhale.
Ji Ling knew what they were thinking as soon as he retracted his gaze. However, he didn’t care at all, so he said again in a cold tone: “Earl Gerard, I told you to let him go. Are you unwilling to do so?"
Earl Gerard had also been shocked thinking about which man had been cuckolded. He immediately returned to himself, and hurriedly smiled: "How could that be? I’ll be letting him go. Let him go now. "
Then he turned his head and commanded: "What are you still standing still for? Didn't you hear Young Master Ji's orders? Hurry up and let him go. Don’t dirty his eyes."
The servant was scared dumb. He got out of his daze absent-mindedly, and lowered his head as he said: “Y-Yes, my lord.”
Sally stared at Ji Ling in a daze, her eyes filled with a complex mix of disbelief and gratitude. She thought she had been cornered to a dead end. Who could’ve guessed the one who’d save the man she loved would be Ji Ling of all people?
She saw that Jonah had been pushed outside. Although she really wanted to follow them out there, she didn't dare anger her father at this moment. That’s why she just watched on with a worried gaze as her lover left. At least…
He survived with his life, if anything.
Ji Ling only retracted his gaze once he saw the man had been released. He suddenly felt that the changes in his identity weren’t all bad. If he was still in his previous position, there’s no way he would’ve been qualified to intervene in Earl Gerald’s domestic affairs. Even if he’d said something, nobody would’ve listened.
As Jonah left, the peaceful facade from before returned. Hypocritical laughter rang out from all around him.
To Ji Ling, this was just an insignificant incident. As for that poor unlucky fella, he hoped the guy would be more careful next time. After all, he wouldn’t be so lucky every time, to have someone come save him.
………………
The guard crudely drove Jonah out of the earl’s estate. With a wave of his hand, he said gruffly: "Get lost. You were lucky today."
It took Jonah a long time to come back to his senses and realize that he’d narrowly escaped death.
On top of that, the one who had saved him was actually that infamous rich kid, Ji Ling. This was so incredulous that Jonah was in a complete daze.
Ji Ling obviously didn't recognize him, but Jonah actually knew Ji Ling. He’d seen the boy once at the military headquarters.
It was when Ji Ling came to their headquarters to humiliate Ning Yu. As one of Ning Yu’s comrade-in-arms, he had been watching from the side at the time, and couldn’t wait to go beat that stupid rich kid a new one.
Today, however, he was saved by that damn rich kid.
Jonah blankly returned to the military headquarters. In the dormitory hallway, he coincidentally ran into Ning Yu who was coming from the opposite direction.
The young man with dark hair and green eyes was dressed in a well-pressed military uniform. The contours of his dashing face were deep and well-defined in the dimly light hallway. With a gentle and cool gaze, he looked at Jonah who appeared to be troubled. His eyebrows wrinkled ever so slightly as he asked: "What happened?"
Jonah said, depressed: “Sally and I were discovered by Earl Gerard."
Ning Yu's frown deepened. Earl Gerard had always despised and looked down on civilians. He was a typical right-winged noble. That’s why Jonah and Sally had never made their love public. If their relationship was discovered by Earl Gerard, Jonah would have a hard time getting away. What exactly happened tonight then?
Ning Yu looked at him with concern: "Are you all right?"
Jonah seemed absent-minded. He didn't answer Ning Yu's question, and after quite a while, he finally murmured: "I met Ji Ling."
Ning Yu's pupils contracted slightly. He said in a low voice: "Oh?"
Jonah scratched his head, looking puzzled and confused as he said: “Earl Gerard was very angry. He wanted to kill me in front of everyone. Ji Ling was the one who stopped him and told him to let me go. If it wasn’t for him, I might not have been able to come back today."
Jonah didn't notice the subtle change in Ning Yu’s expression as he spoke. He continued to voice his doubts: "I don't understand why he saved me. Didn’t he look down on us civilians the most?"
Jonah had always trusted Ning Yu, and believed that he was a particularly insightful person. He asked: “Do you think it’s because of His Majesty? Rumor has it that he’s always loved the emperor deeply. Could it be he only opened his mouth because His Majesty advocates for the people? I’m pretty sure he disdains me too, so I can’t think of any other reason than that…”
Who could’ve guessed that Ning Yu actually wouldn’t agree with what he said? Instead, he looked him seriously in the eye, and said slowly: "No matter what the reason, the fact is, he saved you”
Jonah was shocked and suddenly flushed, ashamed of what he had just said.
It was because of his own prejudice and existing impression of Ji Ling that he felt the youth couldn’t possibly have saved him sincerely, and only did it because of Emperor Sui. That’s why he had discredited Ji Ling. He was really being too ungrateful and unreasonable with these presumptions! Fortunately, Ning Yu had reminded him. No matter what Ji Ling’s goal was, it was a fact that the boy had saved him. What right did he have to doubt Ji Ling’s motives, and think him insincere? How could he discount his savior for saving his life?
Jonah proclaimed: "He saved my life today. I should at least thank him in person, but…but he probably won’t allow me an audience…”
The gap between their statuses was too large. Plus, Ji Ling probably didn’t even remember his face. What would he care about his gratitude?
Ji Ling had saved his life, but he wouldn't even be able to say one word of thanks to him in person. He was a manly soldier, but his inability made him flush in shame.
Ning Yu stood there, and something peculiar seemed to flash in his jade green eyes in the night.
He stayed silent for a moment. Then, as if he had finally made his decision, he said lightly: "I'll go for you."
