Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 690 - 643 A Dilemma Decision (1)

Ling Yuezi looked at him with a deep gaze, "Actually, I came to say goodbye to you."

Li Xingsheng was about to release her arm, but hearing her words, he tightened his grip.

He stared at her intently, sneering, "Haven’t we already said our goodbyes? What more is there to say? You and I, it’s best if we don’t meet again in the future."

Ling Yuezi smiled wryly, "We won’t meet, never again."

Li Xingsheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, "All the better!"

He hardened his heart, suddenly let go of her hand, and strode out of the room.

Bang—

The door was slammed shut.

Ling Yuezi exhaled, stood dazed for a moment, then began to take in the room of Li Xingsheng.

The room was simply and neatly arranged, with only a small bed, a table with four chairs, a small cabinet, and a basin stand, nothing more.

There were a few books on the table, along with a stack of papers with writing on them.

The handwriting was Li Xingsheng’s; these were documents about military affairs rectification.

Her gaze swept over to the bed, where the quilt was neatly folded.

However, the pillow wasn’t laid flat, as if something was underneath.

Ling Yuezi walked over and picked up the pillow.

Seeing what was under the pillow, she was taken aback.

It was a pair of puppets, to be precise, ones she had given to Li Yuzhu.

They were carved in the likeness of her and Li Xingsheng.

Seeing the puppets, Ling Yuezi’s heart was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. She gently put the pillow back down, avoiding looking at the puppets.

.

Li Xingsheng left the small building with a cold face, and when he reached the house opposite, he was stopped by the Liu Brothers.

Liu Jinbao glanced in the direction of the small building, "Second Brother, where’s that thieving woman?"

Liu Yinbao also asked, "Did she confess to any wrongdoing?"

Li Xingsheng’s chilly gaze swept over Liu Jinbao and Liu Yinbao sharply.

The brothers blinked, "Second Brother, what’s wrong?"

"When she comes down, just chase her away, there’s no need to bother with her anymore." After saying this, Li Xingsheng left the mansion.

Liu Yinbao looked puzzled at his brother, "Brother, what’s going on? What does Second Brother mean?"

"You’re asking me? How would I know?" Liu Jinbao shrugged.

Soon, Ling Yuezi, having cleaned off the mud and water stains on her clothes, descended from the small building.

She smiled and nodded politely at the brothers standing at the door of the mansion, "I’m someone your Second Brother knows, sorry for the misunderstanding."

The brothers returned her smile awkwardly, "Ah, so it was a misunderstanding."

Ling Yuezi opened her mouth to say something but chose not to; she pushed open the mansion door and left as well.

The Liu Brothers stood at the door, watching Ling Yuezi as she walked away.

Until Ling Yuezi’s figure disappeared around a corner, the brothers looked at each other in surprise.

"Someone he knows? A woman?" The brothers exclaimed in unison, their faces alight with discovery.

"Brother, could she be Second Brother’s sweetheart?" Liu Yinbao rubbed his hands in excitement.

Liu Jinbao rubbed his chin, "Seems like, must be, hehe, we forgot to say hello, perhaps she’s the future Second Sister-in-law."

.

After arriving at the Military Affairs Department in the government office, Li Xingsheng was unable to settle down, having sat for half a day without processing a single document.

The two official assistants asked him curiously, "Li Er, is there something difficult?"

Asked three times, Li Xingsheng finally turned around, "No problem."

The two officials exchanged puzzled glances and walked away confused.

Mu Yuanxiu and Lou Chengye, who were assisting, came in together.

Seeing the dazed Mu Yuanxiu, they were equally perplexed, "Second Brother, what’s happened?" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Lou Chengye asked first.

Li Xingsheng grabbed a booklet with an indifferent voice, "It’s not clearly written here. Tell me, should I teach those kids a lesson or let it go?"

Recently, he’s been sorting out the numbers for military defense equipment from previous years, comprising intact, minimally repaired usable, and completely damaged pieces for scrap recovery.

But the combined data of the three categories doesn’t match the total count.

Lou Chengye took the booklet to have a look, his mental arithmetic was exceptional, and he quickly figured it out, "Second Brother, there’s no mistake!"

Li Xingsheng, "..."

With a cold face, he said, "How could that be? There’s definitely a mistake!"

"There’s really no mistake; I can see it clearly." Lou Chengye said, picking up an abacus to calculate.

In no time, Lou Chengye had completed his calculations.

Mu Yuanxiu looked at the abacus and said, "Second Brother, there really isn’t a mistake; did you see it wrong?"

Li Xingsheng looked embarrassed, retrieving the booklet, "In any case, there’s definitely an error, all of you look carefully! I’m going to report it to Lord Prefect."

His voice was stern.

Lou Chengye stuck his tongue out at Mu Yuanxiu and then pulled him along to continue working aside.

The two officials dared not utter another word of gossip, dutifully keeping busy.

After driving away the noisy people, Li Xingsheng started to sit in a daze once again.

Lou Chengye glanced at Li Xingsheng and whispered to Mu Yuanxiu, "Yuanxiu, Second Brother is acting strange today."

Mu Yuanxiu nodded in agreement, "Yes, indeed something’s off."

"Strange, what happened?" Lou Chengye scratched the back of his head.

"Since you’re here to help, stop mumbling and focus!" Li Xingsheng noticed them whispering and said coldly.

The few people stopped talking and concentrated on their work.

Mu Yuanxiu smiled slightly and said nothing.

.

During lunch, Liu Jinbao and Liu Yinbao, the two chatterboxes, told Mu Yuanxiu and Li Yuzhu about what happened today.

Li Xingsheng was invited by some government officials to dine at the restaurant and wasn’t at the Li Mansion, so the brothers spoke about Li Xingsheng without concern.

Li Yuzhu was surprised, "A woman in red? Came here two days in a row?"

Liu Jinbao nodded, "She looks quite pretty, but Li Er was quite fierce to her. At first, we thought she was a thief, but later found out she wasn’t."

Liu Yinbao said in surprise, "Er is usually quite cordial to women, why would he be fierce to her? Who is she?"

Li Yuzhu and Mu Yuanxiu exchanged a glance, a woman in red? Li Xingsheng was fierce to her?

Could it be Ling Yuezi?

Did Ling Yuezi come?

Li Yuzhu asked the brothers about the appearance of the woman in red.

"She wore a bamboo hat and looked quite pretty. Oh, right, she had a small black mole here." Liu Yinbao pointed below his own left ear.

That indeed was Ling Yuezi.

Li Yuzhu couldn’t understand why Ling Yuezi, if unwilling to go back with Li Xingsheng, would still secretly visit him?

No wonder Li Xingsheng was angry.

.

Ling Yuezi left the Li Mansion and went to a land temple in the city.

Ah Qing, who was guarding the horses, saw her coming and immediately said, "Miss, can we leave now?"

Ling Yuezi turned around, glanced at the road behind, and nodded gently, "Let’s go."

They mounted their horses, whipped them, and left the Prefecture of Zhen’an.

Last time she said goodbye to Li Xingsheng, it was just a verbal farewell, maybe they’d meet again, she thought at the time.

Not as a couple, perhaps as friends.

Her status was unmatched.

But this time, she truly had to part with Li Xingsheng permanently.

The day before yesterday, the people from Nanyue Country still found her.

Ordered her to return to Nanyue Country immediately.

Otherwise, her brother’s life would be in danger.

Seven years ago, a coup occurred in the Nanyue Palace, her father the Nanyue Emperor died suddenly.

At ten, she and her five-year-old brother, accompanied by their mother and several guards, escaped from Nanyue Country and hid in the borderlands of Zhao Country.

But not long after, due to a traitor’s betrayal, the people from Nanyue Palace still found them.

Mother died protecting her under the rebel’s knife, the five-year-old brother’s whereabouts were unknown.

She fled to the dense woods with the guard.

One of the guards was the Big Master.

The Big Master told her returning to Nanyue meant death, going to Zhao Country would make her a spy, better to live freely in the mountain forests.

With father dead, mother dead, her maternal family eradicated, ten-year-old her faced an uncertain future.

She accepted the Big Master’s advice, they called each other father and daughter, gathered some people, and started a life of Green Forest living.

She loved martial arts since young, learned from the palace guards, practiced sticks, later was taught double swords by Big Master.

At Feihu Village, she spent a few relatively peaceful years.

Until the Second Master began allying with the people of Nanyue.

She knew her good days were over.

Sure enough, the people from Nanyue found her.

The Prince Ping who initiated the coup now became Regent King, the Emperor was her own brother, not someone who got lost but was taken by the Prince Ping’s people.

The Prince Ping drove them away, hoping to ascend the throne himself, but Nanyue Country recognized bloodlines, those not direct cannot be Emperor, no one in the Royal Family acknowledged Prince Ping.

The Prince Ping had no choice but to present her brother.

The brother, only twelve this year, how could he stand against the powerful Prince Ping? He was just a puppet.

Concerned for her brother’s safety, she reluctantly agreed to go.

While Nanyue Country and Zhao Country have been in constant conflict over border issues.

Though the two countries haven’t waged war, the people of Zhen’an Prefecture’s border have been harassed by the people of Nanyue for years, the Prefect of Zhen’an sees the people of Nanyue as a thorn.

How dare she meet Li Xingsheng again?

Li Xingsheng is the second brother of the Prefect’s daughter-in-law, she is of Nanyue people, they become opposing sides.

Galloping swiftly, by evening, Ling Yuezi and Ah Qing returned to Feihu Village.

The village now lacked its past liveliness, turned deadly silent.

The people of Nanyue came, Big Master feared for the harm to the villagers, ordered them all to hide in the dense forest.

Now in the village, there were only Ling Yuezi’s dozen or so subordinates, and two people who cooked, along with two guards from Big Master.

The gatekeepers were no longer the brothers of the village but four Southern Yue Soldiers.