Lovey-Dovey

"Sir," the personal guard captain, Cobra, handed Di Lin a letter, "the mail just arrived."

Di Lin opened the letter. It contained only one sentence: "The Imperial Capital's Ming Garden is holding a grand celebration for the Emperor's birthday." He frowned, then nodded. Cobra, understanding the cue, discreetly withdrew.

"What's in the letter that they're chasing you so closely? You just got back to the Imperial Capital and already received it," Lin Xiujia, his beautiful and virtuous wife, approached him. Di Lin had intended to hide the letter, but it was too late.

"A love letter?" Lin Xiujia teased playfully.

A rare smile appeared on Di Lin's handsome face, which was usually as cold as ice: "I only love you." He handed the letter over.

"Just kidding! You're so serious, you have no sense of humor!" Lin Xiujia chided him verbally, but her heart felt as sweet as honey. "Is it a work-related letter? Then I shouldn't look."

"It's fine. I have no secrets from you."

Hearing this, Lin Xiujia felt so happy she could melt. She deeply felt that agreeing to Di Lin's proposal was the wisest choice of her life. "Thank goodness I chose him..."

Di Lin was young, handsome, talented, and held a high position. Countless beautiful women were attracted to this "indescribably cold and sexy" Red Guard Captain (now Deputy Commander), trying to get close to him. But they all hit an ice mountain – an ice mountain built by Di Lin's indifference and composure. A saying once circulated among the unmarried women of the Imperial Capital: "Di Lin is an insurmountable ice mountain!"

"It's a shame they don't see him at home," Lin Xiujia smiled sweetly. What husband, after two years of marriage, still held such deep affection and tenderness for his wife? Others said marriage was the tomb of love, but Lin Xiujia felt: this tomb was paradise, because she had married an almost perfect husband...

Almost. His only flaw was his identity, an extremely dangerous double identity – Lin Xiujia worried about it day and night...

***

"What does 'The Imperial Capital's Ming Garden is holding a grand celebration for the Emperor's birthday' mean?"

Di Lin explained, "It's a skip-cipher. Try reading every other word."

"'Imperial Ming Central Emperor Light Great Sky Bright...' I still don't get it!"

Di Lin winked mischievously, "Try reading it backward."

"Tomorrow night's meeting at Central Park... Oh, I get it! Someone wants you to meet them at Central Park after tomorrow's meeting!" Seeing the smile on Di Lin's lips, she threw herself into his arms, patting his broad chest. "I'm not coming! You must be laughing at me for being stupid again!"

Di Lin pretended to stand up, menacingly rolling up his sleeves and looking around. "Who! Who dares call my wife Lin Xiujia stupid! Step forward, and I'll fight them!"

Lin Xiujia burst into laughter at his antics.

Di Lin sat down again and gently held Lin Xiujia in his arms. "How could that be? How could my wife not be the smartest?"

Lin Xiujia felt a wave of happiness... but then a question came to mind. "Who sent the letter?"

"Oh, a fool who thinks he's very clever!" Di Lin smiled warmly again, which made his usually cold face look exceptionally captivating.

"Zichuan Xiu!" Lin Xiujia guessed immediately.

Di Lin smiled again. "I'm so glad you agree with my assessment of him!"

***

In reality, Zichuan Xiu's theatrics were useless. If the letter fell into the hands of Yang Minghua's faction, their cryptography experts could decipher such a basic "cipher" in less than a minute. It was just that Zichuan Xiu, by nature, liked to create more trouble. In his own words: "This is what secret work should look like!" He insisted on using "ciphers" for all correspondence between himself, Di Lin, and Sterling, with the method changing each time. Sometimes it was skipping one word, sometimes two, sometimes an arithmetic progression, sometimes a geometric progression, even backward skips, middle skips...

The real victims were Di Lin and Sterling, who would receive letters that read like heavenly scriptures, making no sense. Sometimes, after expending great effort to decipher the "cipher," the content would be:

"The weather is great today – I ate too much watermelon and almost got diarrhea."

"A very attractive girl came to Tianmeng Restaurant, just a bit too reserved."

"Sterling, about the money you owe me, can you let me pay you back in three months?"

***

Lin Xiujia showed her displeasure. "It's him again, always asking you to do dangerous things. I don't understand, when you three divided your roles, why was it you who became the spy? You always say they are your friends, yet you always take on the most dangerous tasks..." Seeing Di Lin's face turn completely cold, she wisely stopped speaking.

Di Lin slowly gazed at the white clouds drifting across the blue sky outside the window, his demeanor as calm as water.

Lin Xiujia didn't dare to breathe. She understood that her husband, despite his usual obedience and deep affection towards her, still held a sanctuary in his heart that could not be touched.

After a long while, Di Lin sighed. "Zichuan Xiu and Sterling are not my friends – they are my brothers. I didn't hear what you just said."

Lin Xiujia nodded obediently. "It was my fault for being too talkative."

"It's nothing, it's just..."

Di Lin couldn't finish his sentence. He gently kissed Lin Xiujia. "It's time to rest."

After Lin Xiujia left the study, Di Lin muttered to himself, completing his earlier thought: "It's just that you don't understand the bond between us three... but it's hard to explain to a woman what sworn brotherhood means!"