Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 593 - 553 Li Yuwen Couldn’t Sit Still (1)

Li Yuwen entered the house, finding it quieter than usual.

By Pei Shenyan’s side, besides the servant Pei Fusheng, there was also an old servant Pei Ji.

After Li Yuwen married into the household, Pei Shenyan found two maids nearby to serve her—a solitary girl named Cui Xi and a forty-year-old widow called Aunt Zhou.

Now, with Pei Shenyan and his two attendants absent, the house feels particularly quiet.

Apart from a few small birds chirping under the eaves, there were no other sounds to be heard.

Cui Xi walked around the house. "There’s absolutely no sound, even Grandpa Ji is not home."

Li Yuwen also found it odd but she was always strong-willed and prideful, dismissing it, she said, "Not home then not home, let’s just prepare dinner for the three of us."

Cui Xi glanced at Aunt Zhou, and both replied, "Understood, young mistress."

When Pei Shenyan and his two attendants were home, there would be two dinner tables: Li Yuwen and Pei Shenyan would eat in the main hall, and Pei Ji, Pei Fusheng, along with Cui Xi and Aunt Zhou, would eat in the kitchen.

The small house inside had only eight rooms.

Loud voices could be heard from several rooms away, making the house lively in the past, but today with fewer people, it felt particularly desolate.

Li Yuwen ate silently, as if nothing had happened.

Cui Xi and Aunt Zhou exchanged glances and then looked at Li Yuwen, unsure of what to say.

After dinner, the three finished and Li Yuwen returned to her bedroom, browsing through books, playing the zither for a while, then calling Aunt Zhou to heat the bathing water.

By now, it was already past one hour, and the small alley outside the house was pitch dark, but Pei Shenyan still hadn’t returned.

Aunt Zhou came over to ask Li Yuwen, "Young mistress, the young master hasn’t returned, should we wait for him before sleeping?"

Li Yuwen glanced out the window, thinking at this hour, he’s likely at Wei San’s place for the night.

Li Yuwen walked to the dressing table to undo her hair bun, "No need to wait, let’s sleep."

Aunt Zhou had no choice but to reply, "Alright, young mistress."

With no man in the house, Aunt Zhou bolted the main door and placed an empty water jar against it.

Also, because Pei Shenyan wasn’t home, Aunt Zhou moved her bed to the rear room to watch the door, and arranged for the young maid Cui Xi to sleep in Li Yuwen’s room for the night watch.

Li Yuwen awoke in the middle of the night, feeling her throat dry, she murmured, "Pei Shenyan, water."

Calling out, no one responded.

Li Yuwen rubbed her neck, turned over, and patted the bedside, "Pei Shenyan..."

No answer from Pei Shenyan, only the young maid Cui Xi groggily replied, "Young mistress, what’s wrong?"

Moonlight shone through the window into the room, Li Yuwen could vaguely see a little figure sitting on the footrest, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

Li Yuwen was startled, Cui Xi?

"Young mistress?" Cui Xi yawned again and asked.

Li Yuwen came back to her senses, yes, Pei Shenyan wasn’t home, Aunt Zhou arranged for Cui Xi to sleep here for the night to accompany her.

"I want some water, pour some for me." Li Yuwen was fully awake now.

"Young mistress, please wait." Cui Xi climbed out of bed, lit a candle, poured water, and brought it to the bedside.

Li Yuwen drank the water, glanced at the hourglass on the table, realizing it was already five hours past 3 AM.

In another hour, dawn would break.

Pei Shenyan hadn’t returned all night?

Cui Xi put the bowl back on the table, "Young mistress, the young master hasn’t returned all night."

Li Yuwen shook her quilt, laid down again, "If he doesn’t return, he doesn’t return, we’ll sleep, turn off the lights."

"Yes, young mistress." Cui Xi blew out the lights and went back to sleep. She thought to herself, young mistress has quite a heart, not worried even when the young master doesn’t return all night?

Cui Xi, being a child, yawned several times and quickly fell asleep again.

Li Yuwen, however, couldn’t fall asleep.

She rolled over, eyes fixed on the window.

The mid-February moon was bright, its snowy light illuminating the courtyard, making the branches outside the window visible.

Li Yuwen rolled over again, turning her head inside the bed, closing her eyes trying hard to sleep, but to no avail, she remained awake.

She rolled over again, looking out the window.

The distant crow of roosters growing more persistent, making it even harder to sleep.

Li Yuwen threw off the quilt, got out of bed, lit the lamp to read.

She couldn’t concentrate.

Pei Shenyan, such a thing, not even leaving a message when not returning home? 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Had to be informed by an outsider who told Cui Xi, and Cui Xi then told her.

If Cui Xi hadn’t encountered that talkative passerby, would she have needed to report to the government to find him?

Li Yuwen huffed, blew out the lamp again, buried herself under the covers to sleep.

Tossing and turning, not sure how many times she rolled over, Li Yuwen finally grew sleepy and fell into a deep slumber.

Aunt Zhou, who woke early, came to knock on the window, Cui Xi rubbing her eyes went to open the main door.

"Did the young mistress sleep well?" Aunt Zhou came into the room to ask.

Cui Xi yawned, "Young mistress drank some water last night and went back to sleep, huh, it’s already broad daylight, the sun’s up high, and the young master isn’t back yet?"

"No, I thought about asking the young mistress if we should look for him." Aunt Zhou entered the bedroom and saw Li Yuwen still asleep, so she didn’t dare to disturb her, "Forget it, I’ll ask later."

The two quietly closed the bedroom door and each went to freshen up.

It wasn’t until late morning that Li Yuwen finally woke up.

She didn’t sleep well the night before, there were dark circles under her eyes, and they were swollen and lifeless.

Cui Xi came into the room and was shocked to see her face, "Young mistress, your face..."

Li Yuwen was startled, "What’s wrong with my face?"

Cui Xi handed her a small bronze mirror to look at.

Li Yuwen was secretly alarmed, how did she end up looking like this?

Aunt Zhou, hearing the noise from the bedroom, came in with hot water and, seeing Li Yuwen’s face, shook her head, "The young master is unbelievable, not coming home all night and causing the young mistress to worry and not sleep well."

Li Yuwen, wanting to save face, awkwardly replied, "It’s not that, I just drank too much water last night and didn’t sleep well."

Aunt Zhou and Cui Xi exchanged a glance, is that so?

.

The sun climbed high on the rooftop, and Pei Shenyan and his entourage of three still had not returned home.

Li Yuwen’s expression was not pleasant.

After breakfast, she took Aunt Zhou and Cui Xi to the shop.

Because Li Yuwen wore a sulking face and didn’t speak, and since there weren’t many customers today, Aunt Zhou and Cui Xi did not dare say much to her.

Time dragged on, and they all hoped Pei Shenyan would come back soon.

It wasn’t until late afternoon, when Li Yuwen grew impatient guarding the shop and was about to instruct Aunt Zhou and Cui Xi to close early, that Pei Fusheng, Pei Shenyan’s servant, came running in.

Only then did Li Yuwen’s expression somewhat soften.

Aunt Zhou immediately grabbed Pei Fusheng and asked, "Fusheng, where’s the young master? How come all three of you didn’t return last night? Where did you spend the night?"

After asking, she glanced at Li Yuwen.

Li Yuwen was looking at Pei Fusheng with a calm face, her eyes hopeful, waiting for Pei Fusheng to answer.

Pei Fusheng said, "The young master is still at a tenant’s home in the village. We all spent the night there last night."

Li Yuwen’s face turned unpleasant again, "It seems the young master is very satisfied with his stay there."

Cui Xi gave Li Yuwen a glance and glared at Pei Fusheng, "If you can’t speak properly, then say less." She whispered to Pei Fusheng.

Aunt Zhou also glared at Pei Fusheng with a cold face.

Pei Fusheng blinked, what expressions were these people wearing?

In a daze, he said, "The young master’s foot is sprained, it’s not that he doesn’t want to come back, it’s just that his foot hurts badly, and besides, there’s still some unfinished business, so he didn’t return. Today he asked me to come back to fetch some clothes for a change, young mistress, please pack some clothes, I’ll take them to the village."

Cui Xi and Aunt Zhou exclaimed, "The young master’s foot is sprained? Is it serious? Has he seen a doctor?"

Li Yuwen said nothing but kept looking at Pei Fusheng.

Pei Fusheng quickly replied, "Oh, the young master’s foot is not serious, he has seen a doctor, but the doctor said it’s best to walk less, rest for ten days or half a month and it should be fine."

"Which village and house is the young master staying at now? Can the rural home be warm enough?" Aunt Zhou asked again.

Even though it was mid-February, the countryside outside the mountain village was still quite cold. During the day, a slightly thick jacket was enough, but going out at night still required a thick cape and cloak.

The elderly and frail, even during the day, still wore cotton clothes and shoes.

"The young master is staying at the Wei family’s big tenant house, the Wei family’s house has seven or eight rooms, the young master is living well, Aunt Zhou need not worry," Pei Fusheng laughed.

Mentioning the Wei family, Aunt Zhou and Cui Xi both secretly glanced at Li Yuwen.

Li Yuwen’s face was as unpleasant as ever.

She stood up, nodded toward Pei Fusheng, "You come back with me to pack the young master’s clothes."

"Sure, young mistress." Pei Fusheng responded quickly.

As the afternoon advanced, Li Yuwen lost interest in tending the shop, ordered Aunt Zhou and Cui Xi to close up, and they all returned to the small house.

Li Yuwen entered the bedroom to find Pei Shenyan’s clothes.

Usually, his clothes were managed by himself, so Li Yuwen had no idea where any of them were.

Li Yuwen searched for clothes with cold sweat on her forehead; she rummaged in the bedroom for a while without finding a suitable set.

Pei Fusheng, standing at the bedroom door, said, "Young mistress, just pick a couple of sets, at the Wei family, I will ask Wei San to help organize them."

Not mentioning Wei San would have been better, but at the mention of Wei San, Li Yuwen’s strong personality reignited.

"It’s done, don’t rush me!" Li Yuwen replied coldly.

Wei San, Wei San!

What kind of seductress was that? Daring to snatch someone from her hands? Did she think she was dead?

Back in the Capital, there had been no one who dared to take from her what she didn’t want.

Thinking about someone having an eye on Pei Shenyan, anger surged to Li Yuwen’s head.

She decided to go to the village herself to see that Wei seductress.