Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 698 - 651 Entering Baili Mansion (1)

"Baili Xuanwei Envoy Baili Huang, who is not yet thirty years old, suddenly fell ill, which is indeed strange." Xiao Shan shook his head with regret.

Upon hearing that his father was ill, Baili Rui became anxious.

Li Yuzhu was worried he might speak recklessly and expose his identity, which could lead to trouble, so she quickly took his hand and led him and Guoguo outside to play with the leopard.

"Don’t worry, Xiao Rui, your father will be fine." Li Yuzhu touched his face.

"But they say he is very seriously ill." Baili Rui pouted, his eyes red.

Li Yuzhu hugged him, "Xiao Rui, your aunt can cure illnesses, even the hardest ones. Once Uncle Yuanxiu finishes his work, we will go see your father, okay?"

Guoguo also comforted him, "Brother Rui’s father will get better."

Baili Rui looked at them both and lightly nodded, "Hmm."

Inside the house, Mu Yuanxiu asked Xiao Shan some more things about Liangzhou City.

He didn’t mention anything about Beiyang, gradually dispelling Xiao Shan’s doubts about him.

As Mu Yuanxiu needed to hurry to Liangzhou City, he didn’t stay long at Sky Wolf Village. By late morning, he had arranged the vehicles, ready to set off.

To resolve disputes rather than create them, Li Yuzhu handed out some injury medicine to the villagers.

They were all people who relied on their martial skills, respecting strength and admiring those more skilled than themselves.

Even the thin-faced man, who had been bitten by the leopard on the thigh, humbled himself and came to see Mu Yuanxiu off.

Today’s wind was lighter, and the snowflakes weren’t falling as densely as yesterday.

Mu Yuanxiu and his companions set off again through the windy snow.

The big flower leopard followed behind to protect the journey.

Its ears were notably sharp.

When some whispered about wanting to steal the leopard, it immediately turned its head and growled at them.

Frightening them into quickly hiding behind others.

The leopard glared menacingly at everyone.

Xiao Shan only wanted to quickly send Mu Yuanxiu and the leopard away, telling his subordinates, "Don’t cause any trouble!" Fighting them, neither Mu Yuanxiu nor the leopard was a wise choice; it would be asking for trouble.

No one dared provoke the leopard anymore, allowing Mu Yuanxiu and his companions to take their leave.

Sky Wolf Village was located on the outskirts of Liangzhou City, only a dozen or so miles away from the city.

Though the route wasn’t far, because the wind and snow were relentless and the roads were uneven, Mu Yuanxiu’s caravan reached the city gates by late afternoon.

The city gates in border regions were guarded more strictly than those in inland areas.

At the gates of inland cities, guards would only symbolically check the belongings of those entering.

Anyone without weapons was let through without issue.

At the gates of Liangzhou City stood several soldiers.

Due to inspections, the cold and freezing weather surprisingly formed a small queue at the city gates.

About a dozen carriages awaited entry.

After waiting for half an hour, Mu Yuanxiu’s vehicle finally reached the inspection point.

Four large men surrounded them.

Seeing the leopard crouched inside the carriage, they hesitated, "What is this? Leopards are not allowed into the city!"

In a flash, the four men simultaneously drew their blades towards the leopard.

Baili Rui feared they might harm the leopard, and shouted, "Big cat doesn’t bite!"

Guoguo also said, "Yes, Brother Rui is right."

Mu Yuanxiu disembarked from the mule cart, handing a pouch of coins to the leader of the men, "Dear brothers, if you don’t believe me, you can touch it; it was raised domestically and is as gentle as a house cat."

The leader, a man with a goatee, glanced at Mu Yuanxiu hesitantly, then approached the leopard. The leopard lay in the carriage half-asleep, uninterested in the surrounding noises.

The man reached out to touch the leopard’s head.

The leopard opened its eyes, seeing a stranger, and retreated backward, showing a frightened demeanor.

The man laughed heartily, "It looks fierce, but turns out to be a coward!"

He laughed loudly, making the leopard appear even more scared, hiding entirely behind Guoguo.

The man inspecting the luggage carriage came over and said, "Boss, nothing out of the ordinary; the rear carriage is all luggage and clothes."

"Move along, move along." The goatee man waved toward Mu Yuanxiu.

"Thank you, soldier brother." Mu Yuanxiu climbed back to the driver’s seat and continued their journey.

Zhou Zhaodi dared not speak much, urged the horse cart to follow along.

The roads within the city were far more level; the districts paved with stone slabs, whereas outside the districts, they were gravel paths.

Much easier to walk than the dirt roads outside the city.

Although the houses in the city were covered with thick snow, Baili Rui was still very excited to see such a street scene.

"Almost home, almost home!" He leaned out of the car window, pointed at the street, and shouted excitedly, "Ah, they speak the same as me!"

The "speech" Baili Rui referred to was the accent.

He is a Northern person, and the accents of the North and South are vastly different.

If spoken quickly, neither side can understand what the other is saying at all.

When Li Yuzhu arrived in Zhen An Prefecture, she had a strong Northern accent. People in Taohua River Village struggled to understand her, and she struggled to understand them as well.

Later, she figured out that by slowing down her speech, communication became easier.

Baili Rui volunteered to lead the way for everyone.

He told Mu Yuanxiu the path to take to quickly reach Baili Mansion.

Li Yuzhu secretly thought that this child had a great memory; he remembered all the routes in such a large Prefecture.

Following Baili Rui’s directions, they walked for two quarters of an hour and arrived at Baili Mansion.

The mansion gate was tightly closed, with two human-height stone lions on each side glaring forward menacingly.

Mu Yuanxiu had just parked the mule cart when Baili Rui jumped out impatiently, ran up, and started pounding on the mansion gate, "Open the door, open the door, I’m back!"

Guoguo also ran up with him.

The steps were covered with snow and ice, and Li Yuzhu was worried they would fall, so she quickly went up to support them.

Mu Yuanxiu also walked up.

After Baili Rui shouted several times, the door finally opened.

An old man, guarding the door, first saw Li Yuzhu and Mu Yuanxiu, was momentarily startled, "Who are you? What do you need?"

"Qing Gong, it’s me, Xiao Rui is back!" Baili Rui, being small, stood on tiptoe and shouted loudly.

Qing Gong looked down and was greatly shocked.

His gaze fixed on Baili Rui’s face, speechless for a long moment.

"You... you you..." He gasped in amazement, quickly waved at the young servant who followed behind him, "Yuan Xu, go quickly and invite Old Master Baili! There’s a child who looks like the Young Master!"

The young servant also looked at Baili Rui in astonishment.

He turned and ran into the mansion, "Old Master, Old Master!"

"Qing Gong, I’m Xiao Rui, not any other child." Baili Rui blinked his eyes, staring blankly at Qing Gong.

"Let me catch my breath, this is too sudden, what is going on? Didn’t they say you..." Qing Gong looked up, glanced at Mu Yuanxiu, then at Li Yuzhu, "You two have southern accents, came from the south?"

Mu Yuanxiu nodded, "We are from Zhen An Prefecture, accidentally found the Young Master Rui in Qingyang County."

"Qingyang County? This... this this... are you really the Young Master?" Qing Gong half surprised, half incredulous, bent down to inspect Baili Rui’s face.

He flipped Baili Rui’s ears, pinched his chin, asked him to open his mouth to check his teeth, raised Baili Rui’s clothes to examine his back.

Finally, he saw a pink birthmark on Baili Rui’s back, even scrubbed it with his hand.

"They match, they match." Qing Gong suddenly burst into tears, "It really is the Young Master."

He cried as he embraced Baili Rui.

"Xiao Rui, Xiao Rui?" A hoarse voice came from ahead.

Li Yuzhu looked up, only to see several servants supporting two elderly people stumbling their way.

These two had graying hair, looked to be over sixty years old.

"Grandpa, Grandma!" Baili Rui shouted in surprise and ran towards them.

The two elderly people both embraced Baili Rui and began to cry loudly, "Xiao Rui, you’re still alive?"

"I am alive, I’m doing well, I think about Grandpa and Grandma every day." Baili Rui hugged Old Master Baili’s neck and kissed Old Madam Baili’s face.

"This... this... someone, summon Wu Fan here!" Old Master Baili loudly ordered people beside him, "How did he identify? Xiao Rui is alive and well, why did he say Xiao Rui was gone?"

"Find him immediately!" Old Madam Baili also demanded sternly.

"Yes." A servant replied, turned, and quickly ran into the mansion.

"Xiao Rui, what’s going on? Where have you been since you got separated from your mother?" Old Master Baili touched Baili Rui’s head and asked gently.

"They saved me." Baili Rui turned, pointing to Mu Yuanxiu, Li Yuzhu, and Guoguo behind him, "I’ve been living at their home."

"Greetings to Old Master Baili and Old Madam Baili." Mu Yuanxiu and Li Yuzhu bowed to the elderly folks together.

Zhou Zhaodi also followed suit.

"Hello, Grandpa and Grandma." Guoguo held Li Yuzhu’s dress and called out cheerfully.