The Exiled Life of the Noble Girl

Chapter 187

In just over ten years, Liu Yizhu's fame had risen significantly. Just like Zhang Dezhi and Li Yi before him, they resigned from their official positions to make way for him, and then retired in peace.

It took him twenty-seven years to rise from editor to Shang Shu (Senior Civil Servant), while Liu Yizhu achieved the same in only twenty-three years. However, he only held the position for less than ten years before resigning due to illness and returning to his hometown.

Li Mingwei carried a chicken, pushed open the gate to the Liu family's courtyard, and searched around the yard, but could not find Liu Yizhu anywhere. She threw the chicken on the ground, dusted off her hands, and said unhappily, "Where is he? Where has he gone off to again?"

"I'm up here," Liu Yizhu chuckled lightly, gesturing for her to look up. "Up there!"

Li Mingwei looked up and saw him sitting on the roof. She glared at him and said, "Come down quickly, the tiles will get damaged and the young ones won't be able to fix it properly. Don't try to show off, you might fall and get hurt!"

"I'm not that old yet."

Liu Yizhu climbed down the ladder, and Li Mingwei hurried over to steady the ladder. Once he was on solid ground, she gave him a couple of slaps as a reprimand.

She turned and went to the kitchen, "I'll go boil some water, you slaughter the chicken."

"Where did this chicken come from?"

"Someone gave it to us," Li Mingwei smiled, "Master Liu has such prestige that people won't even accept our money."

She muttered, "I originally wanted to catch one from my sister's place, as she definitely wouldn't take our money, but ended up getting it from someone else who not only didn't want payment, but also gave us two more."

Liu Yizhu followed her, scooping a few ladles of water into the pot and putting the lid on. He took the firewood from her hand, "Let me do it, when will you start the fire?"

Li Mingwei pouted and pulled out a letter from her pocket, opening it for a quick glance. "Your son has written."

"Not our son?"

"Don't twist my words!"

"You used to twist my words too."

"You!" Li Mingwei couldn't win an argument with someone who had been an Imperial Censor for many years, so she just stepped on his foot, then let go when she saw the pained expression on his face.

"Ouch..."

Liu Yizhu moved his foot around a bit, looking at her with a reproachful gaze. "After all these decades, you're still using this trick."

"Who says I'm not improving? Now I've learned to twist, pinch, squeeze, pull, and hit too." Li Mingwei waved her hand grandly. "Next time, you can just pick whichever one you want."

Liu Yizhu didn't want any of those, and quietly added more firewood.

"Your son says the books you wanted are on their way and should arrive soon. The school renovations are almost done, so the books can be delivered straight there when they arrive," Li Mingwei calculated, then looked at Liu Yizhu. "He asked when we'll be going back, and is sending someone to pick us up."

"What do you think?"

Li Mingwei shook her head, "Don't want to go back." She'd had enough of staying in the capital.

Liu Yizhu nodded, "Since we don't want to go back, Little Lai has already set out to pick up your brother and sister-in-law. After they leave, and the books for the school arrive, we'll think about where to go next."

"Alright, the water is nearly ready. You go slaughter the chicken, and then we can buy some paper money to go offer at your parents' graves."

After Grandma Wang's passing, they had buried her according to her wishes, alongside Liu Yizhu's late father in Qingshi Town. They would be leaving in a few days, so they should go and tend to the graves.

Liu Yizhu put the whole chicken into the pot to simmer, then chopped off a large chicken leg to use as an offering. After the meal, he boiled some medicine for Li Mingwei to drink, then they went to buy the paper money and headed up the mountain.

Liu Yizhu pulled Li Mingwei's coat tighter around her, "Wear more, it's windy up the mountain, don't catch a chill again."

"I know, I know, you nagging old man!"

The path was fine at first, but got a bit rough and uneven as they climbed up the mountain. Liu Yizhu grew concerned, "Can you manage on your own?"

Li Mingwei steadily climbed step-by-step, smiling, "If I can't, can you still carry me?"

"I can certainly try."

"Forget it, I don't want to strain your old back."

Seeing her determination, Liu Yizhu didn't say more, just closely supported her. Li Mingwei rolled her eyes, "I'm only two years older than you, it's not that bad."

"Let's go, we don't want to be late."

They tidied the graves, burned the paper money, and said a few words to the departed elders. By the time they headed back down, the sun was almost setting.

Li Mingwei found a rock to sit on. Liu Yizhu frowned, "Tired?"

"No." Li Mingwei pointed to a mountain, "You used to take me up there to watch the sunset, but we went too late and missed it."

Liu Yizhu sat down next to her, recalling the memory. "Want to see the sunset? We can go to Shaohua Mountain in the county city next time."

"Okay." Li Mingwei leaned on his shoulder, gazing at the distant setting sun. "I wonder what the sunsets by the sea are like?"

"We'll go see for ourselves." After a moment of contemplation, Liu Yizhu suggested, "How about visiting Zhong Liangyu?"

He remembered that Zhong's post was by the seaside. The last time Yang Jingyuan visited him, he said they watched the sunset by the sea, felt the salty breeze, and collected many seashells, even sending some back.

Hearing about the seaside, Liu Yizhu could tell Li Mingwei was captivated by the idea.

Li Mingwei readily agreed, already imagining the briny sea breeze.

Seeing her cheerful expression, Liu Yizhu sighed, his gaze resting on the strands of white in her hair. He put his arm around her, "In these past few years, I've taken you to everywhere you wanted to go."

"Mm-hmm!"

"When there are no more places you want to go, let's return to the capital."

At least the doctors there were the best, and Liu Yizhu didn't want to risk her health.

Li Mingwei looked back at him with understanding, then turned to silently pray towards the Yuqing Temple, hoping she would always find another place to go.

(This book is about done. There was a time when I really wanted to give up, but back then the female lead hadn't returned to the capital yet, so an abrupt ending wouldn't have felt quite right, so I persisted until now.

Many dear readers supported my first book, which no one read at the time, and I wrote it happily. This one has more readers, but they also gave me a lot of negative feedback.

I previously heard a reader named Feng～ went back and revised it a few times, but the effect was so-so, and it was indeed an issue with my own writing. This time I'll take it as a lesson.

I mostly don't want to read the comments anymore, so I may not have responded to some of you, sorry about that. It's because I really don't want to be too influenced, as writing this book made me lose eight or nine pounds in a month. These past couple days I've been indulging in some BBQ to make up for it, but...

I think I'll be avoiding BBQ for the next few years, it's been a bit tough. Anyway, don't overeat or drink too much, my dear readers!

I've been criticized less than I expected, my tolerance is a bit low. I really need to adjust my mindset, so that's it. Thank you all for keeping me company this month, muah~)