klisemfg Chapter 106 Years in the Palace 14
Chapter 106 Years in the Palace 14
The thin woman, dressed in coarse linen clothes and with a floral headscarf wrapped around her head, immediately stood up and walked to the door, looking at Liu Xingxing with concern. The uncle also stood up.
"Oh, you're finally awake! I can tell you're starving just by looking at you. Did you eat those two pancakes?"
Liu Xingxing smiled sweetly and said, "Thank you for saving me, Auntie. The pancake was delicious. You are such a kind person."
"Oh, it's alright, it's alright. I knew you were a good girl. We don't have much food here, and there's not much to eat. I'm so sorry to have to make do with this."
"I'm not upset at all. It's already very kind of my aunt to give me some bread. She also saved me. I'm really grateful."
"Hey, let's not talk about that. Where are you from? You don't look like you're from our village. Did you get separated from your family or something happened?"
“I… I used to live in the Xiling area. Not long ago, my home was destroyed by a flood, and my parents… my parents are gone, and my home is gone too.”
"I originally planned to go to Huxian County to visit relatives, but I was robbed by bandits on the way. I got scared and got lost. I was trapped in the mountains for several days. I never expected to run into my aunt as soon as I got out..."
The woman led Liu Xingxing over and found her a stool to sit down. After hearing her words, she felt a pang of heartache: "Oh, Xiling is a very far place. You've had a hard life, Ni'er. The bandits have been very fierce these past few years. I told you Ni'er is a good person, but you didn't believe me."
The thin, scholarly-looking man next to him chimed in, "Hey, it's never a bad thing to be cautious. You know what the outside world is like now."
The woman rolled her eyes at him and then spoke to Liu Xingxing: "Hey, didn't you just say you were going to Huxian to find your relatives? Well, what a coincidence! Our village is also under the jurisdiction of Huxian. Tell me where your relative lives. We'll take you there to meet them another day!"
The woman spoke very enthusiastically, which startled Liu Xingxing.
This is actually Huxian County?
How come she remembers that when she was still sick, the cruise ship was quite a distance from Huxian County? How did she walk this far?!
I have to admire myself for being a tough person!
However, it came without any effort. Since she was already in Huxian County, she didn't need to make up any excuses to go out. She was now working independently.
It seems the task of delivering the message will have to be postponed.
"The person I'm looking for is just a distant relative of my father's. It's been a long time, and I don't remember him very clearly. I only vaguely remember that his family lived in the south of the county town, and his surname was... Lu."
The woman was immediately stumped: "Oh dear, that's not easy to find. There are so many people with the surname Lu in Huxian County. Just look at our village, there are several families with the surname Lu. Even your uncle has the surname Lu. It's even harder to say about the people in the county town."
Liu Xingxing's face also turned pale: "This... what should we do? My parents suddenly met with disaster, and this is the only family I recognize..."
“Ni’er, don’t be too sad. At worst, you can stay at your aunt’s place for now. This county is big, but if you go a few more times, you’ll definitely find your relative.”
"Little sister..."
"Don't interrupt. We already have another big idiot in the house, so one more person won't make a difference. Besides, I don't feel comfortable letting Ni'er go out on her own. After all, I took her in, so I have to take responsibility for her."
The youngest daughter's attitude hardened.
Liu Xingxing stood up somewhat awkwardly, bowed deeply, and said, "Uncle and Aunt, don't worry, I won't stay here. As soon as I find my family, I will leave immediately, and I will definitely give you a reward!"
Seeing this, the young lady immediately helped her up: "Oh dear, girl, what are you doing? Your aunt doesn't want any reward from you. Old Lu, you're really something."
Lu San looked completely innocent: "I didn't say anything."
Just then, a short knock sounded at the door, followed by a slightly coquettish voice: "Third brother, Mother asked me to call you for dinner."
The owner of the voice sounded very reluctant.
The room immediately fell silent.
A short while later, Lu San called out in response, "Okay, coming right now."
Having received a response, the person outside seemed to leave quickly. Yao Niang and Lu San exchanged a glance, then looked at Liu Xingxing together.
The young woman hesitated and said, "Ni'er, you..."
Liu Xingxing smiled sweetly: "Uncle and Aunt, go ahead, I won't go out. I'll just wait for you to come back here."
"...Sigh, Ni'er is smart. I'll tell you about our family when your aunt and uncle come back."
"Ah."
After the couple left the house and closed the door, Liu Xingxing's eyes slowly darkened, and her obedient appearance turned into a playful one.
It seems I've unexpectedly won a big prize.
Jiu'er, Da Han, Yao Niang, Uncle Lu... They've been living in the wilderness for too long, and their brains have almost gone mad from hunger. These are clearly Lu Xihan's family members in the illusion!
And the person who just knocked on the door to call for dinner should be Lu Xihan's aunt. Since she was born late in life, she is about the same age as Lu Xihan now.
The portrayal of Lu Xihan's family is also very typical, just like the rural families in those old time-travel novels. They are a perfect family, and even their relatives and neighbors are all "distinctive".
Of course, only the female lead's parents are somewhat normal, but they are not well-liked by the old woman. This is because of the old woman's three sons, only the youngest son is useless and still lives at home. From the old woman's perspective, he is married but still eats her food and uses her money without helping his family.
In fact, people often gave the old woman money, but the old woman gave it all to her two eldest sons, and then continued to complain about being poor and dislike their branch of the family. To put it bluntly, she was biased.
They just do whatever's outrageous, and the third wife really knows how to tolerate it.
Then Lu Xihan "time-traveled" to deal with the awful old woman, and the results were pretty good. Even now that she's not home, the old woman won't secretly eat the good stuff by herself like before, and she can even get her precious little daughter to call people to eat.
Lu Xihan is probably hunting in the mountains with the amnesiac general she found, and she doesn't know when she'll be back.
Liu Xingxing needed to think of a way to stay and how to speed up the progress of the illusion. She really didn't want to wait for several years.
The furnishings inside were quite simple. The room she had just come out of was actually partitioned with boards, a large room divided into two smaller rooms. She wondered which side Lu Xihan lived in, and the amnesiac general probably didn't live in this room, since there was no room for him even if he wanted to.
Before she could think about it, some noise came from outside for some reason, as if someone had returned.
But Liu Xingxing also heard that a lot of people seemed to have gathered around.
The light from the fire outside shone through the semi-transparent window. Liu Xingxing walked to the window and quietly opened it a crack to observe the situation outside.
Liu Xingxing's angle doesn't offer much of a view, but the area near the entrance is quite clear.
A group of people were gathered around the entrance, looking at something rare and exciting, occasionally letting out a gasp of amazement.
The fenced yard wasn't very big, but the gate was a bit far away, so Liu Xingxing couldn't hear what they were saying very clearly.
But in the center of the crowd, he immediately spotted a familiar face.
"Lu Xihan, it really is you..."
Liu Xingxing raised an eyebrow, watching Lu Xihan remain calm and composed despite being surrounded by a group of people, and even looking triumphant.
Beside her, also surrounded, was a tall, handsome man with a rugged appearance, who gave off a sense of security and reliability at first glance.
He wasn't particularly striking in appearance; rather, he possessed an unparalleled aura cultivated from years of battles on the battlefield.
Even though he had lost his memory, his imposing presence remained, inspiring awe and submission in everyone. Even his otherwise ordinary handsome face looked much better, especially compared to the farmers who toiled around him year-round. Perhaps this was due to some kind of buff.
However, he doesn't look as devastatingly handsome as described in the book. At most, he's the kind of man who looks charming but isn't particularly handsome.