CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41: CATCHING THE THIEF

"Ha, haha, hahahaha..."

Long Yue looked at the handsome man in front of her and suddenly burst into laughter, but there was a hint of desolation and self-mockery in her laughter!

It turned out that from beginning to end, what he was really interested in was the Cao family behind her!

Her grandfather, General Xiping, Cao Yin!

What he wanted was the military power of twenty thousand troops controlled by the Cao family at the border!

Haha, how laughable that in her past life, all she yearned and hoped for was him, even wished to see him one last time before dying, but did he genuinely care for her?

No!

Thinking back to those years in Capital City, all the nice words he said were nothing more than sweet talk to deceive her. Otherwise, why would he tear up the engagement on the spot without giving her a single chance to explain during that incident?

In her past life, she was truly blind!

Thinking of this, Long Yue let out a cold laugh, her eyes filled with determination, and decisively turned around!

"Yue’er!"

The man stepped forward and grabbed Long Yue’s small hand once again, but she easily shook it off.

"Pei Jinheng, there is nothing left between us. Do not seek me out again. The imperial order granted our marriage, yet you entangle yourself with me. Do you wish to defy imperial grace?"

After Long Yue finished speaking, she did not give him any further opportunity to explain and left directly.

"Yue’er, Yue’er!"

Unfortunately, no matter how he called out, Long Yue never looked back.

Pei Jinheng’s complexion turned dark, his hand hidden in the large sleeves clenched tightly, trying hard to suppress his inner anger.

"Yue’er, you are mine, no one can take you away from me!"

"Sir, there is a letter from the Capital urging you to return quickly!"

A shadow suddenly appeared by Pei Jinheng’s side, holding a sealed letter.

Pei Jinheng frowned at the letter, took it, opened it, and glanced at it before sneering, "I haven’t been out for long, and you can’t wait already? Ha!"

"Sir, it’s best to return quickly, don’t keep the old master and madam waiting."

"Understood!" he responded impatiently, then looked again at the direction where Long Yue had disappeared and murmured, "Yue’er, wait for me, I will come for you again!"

Long Yue hurriedly ran out of Zuiyue Building, the sky was already quite dark, and the shops on both sides of the street were lit one by one. People were walking briskly on the street with lanterns.

Long Yue looked back, seeing no one following, and finally relaxed a little.

"Ah—"

A sudden scream came from beside her, Long Yue turned to look and saw a maid.

She did not recognize the maid, but judging by the style of dress, it was exactly like Zhou Zhiqin’s.

Her cousin had a peculiar habit, very narcissistic, liking to impose her preferences on others, and insisting they dress as she did.

So she recognized this maid as Zhou Zhiqin’s servant.

The maid showed a look of panic and confusion, how could Long Yue not see it? She was probably surprised that she was out and about so well, right?

A hint of slyness flashed in her eyes, and she pretended to be anxious as she said, "Your Miss drank too much and vomited endlessly, and finally passed out. I’m worried she’ll get into trouble, so I ran out to find a doctor. Hey, young man, quickly take someone to room fifteen to save her!"

The attendant knew there was a distinguished guest in room fifteen, and upon hearing of trouble, he immediately took two strong men and rushed upstairs without a word.

"Hey, hey, that..."

The maid felt something was off, but was too late to stop them, so she reluctantly followed along.

Long Yue wanted to call more people but doing so would seem deliberate; besides, three men were definitely enough.

She walked forward a few more steps before hearing a high-pitched and shrill scream from behind.

"Ah, get out, get out! All of you get out, ah ah ah—"

The taverns at night were more crowded than during the day, with idle young masters and jesting rascals who liked to be active at this hour. Hearing a sharp female voice from the third floor, they suddenly became very excited, and a group of people rushed upstairs.

"Haha!"

She had almost forgotten about this crowd.

Long Yue laughed dryly; they wanted to harm her? Then they’d better be ready to suffer miserably by her hands!

...

Long Yue caught a ride home to the village on a cow cart halfway, and the sky was already very dark. A typical woman might not dare to walk the night road alone, but Long Yue was skilled, thus unafraid.

She returned all the way to the Li family’s residence, intending to enter, but saw a shadow lurking around the gate, slightly chubby and somewhat familiar from a distance.

Who’s there?

Long Yue immediately became alert and cautiously approached to see who it was. Were they planning a burglary?

"Is it her?"

A gust of wind blew by, dispersing clouds from the sky, letting more moonlight in, revealing the shadow to be Aunt Liu!

What was she here for?

Long Yue sensed something amiss and decided to follow her.

"Pah, damn girl, you’ve caused me such grief, ouch, it hurts so much!"

Aunt Liu rubbed her swollen, beaten cheek, wincing. Her face was even more swollen than when Long Yue struck her before, almost like it was beaten to a pulp. A thick bandage was wrapped around her forehead, with traces of fresh blood seeping through.

Her head had been split open!

"You wicked brat, such malice! My man nearly beat me to death..."

Aunt Liu exclaimed while rubbing her forehead, limping toward the back of the Li family, moving in the direction of the medicine field.

"You deserve that!"

Long Yue grumbled inwardly, then hastily followed, worried the woman might harm the medicine field.

It seemed she needed to check the medicine field more frequently at night to prevent it from being destroyed.

"Pah! Li Pangshi, you wretched brat, you ruined me, and you won’t have it easy either! Is this medicine field your family’s pride? Haha, watch me set it ablaze, your whole family will surely cry till they die, haha!"

As she spoke, she took out a bucket of what seemed like oil and began spilling it onto the medicine field.

"This old hag! She’s got some nerve!"

Long Yue’s eyes flushed red, but she remained calm, seeing Aunt Liu messing around, she immediately returned to the Li family.

"Dad, mom, brother and sister-in-law, wake up! Come catch the thief with me!"

"Hey, what are you doing, third girl? You’re back? Why are you yelling in the middle of the night interrupting sleep?"

Li Qingyuan asked with a face full of bed-wrath, grumpily, while Mrs. Wang worried he might offend Long Yue, quickly nudged him.

"Stop talking, someone is trying to set fire to our medicine field. Let’s quietly head over now, catch her red-handed, and send her to the government for punishment!"

In a flash, Long Yue came up with a plan and then dragged her brother, sister-in-law, and second brother to the medicine field.

These two men certainly wouldn’t have trouble dealing with Aunt Liu.

Aunt Liu remained unaware that her actions had been exposed, feeling rather triumphant!