When The War Is Over, Will You Plant A Blossom Tree For Me?Ch52 - Who is running this anyway?

Lu Qinyi sat across from Fei Li with Yang Xun beside him. Zhao Mei was leaning back on a wall nearby as she idly flicked through a bound collection of records.

Lu Qinyi was quietly contemplating. He then cast a glance at Yang Xun. “What do you think?” 3o2jIu

Yang Xun shook his head. “I won’t be accepting General Fei’s proposal. Those soldiers trusted me with everything. I can’t bring myself to work against them, even given the circumstances.”

Lu Qinyi wasn’t surprised by this answer. Yang Xun’s greatest limiter was that he was too emotional. His emotions easily clouded his reason. Now was no different. Even when provided the opportunity to lessen the lives that would be lost snuffing out these rebellion groups, he couldn’t bring himself to do it for the sake of loyalty. Lu Qinyi simply hummed and turned to Zhao Mei.

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“Mei Mei?”

Zhao Mei scanned over another line as she replied. “I’ll accept it so long as General Fei pays well.” 1GZcN0

That didn’t surprise Lu Qinyi either. Zhao Mei didn’t feel as strongly about these things and what Fei Li proposed would mean something close to a respectable job and good income, something very difficult for Zhao Mei to have now.

That left his decision as the last to be made.

He leaned back, lost in thought.

Eventually his gaze fell to Fei Li. “I want their sentences lessened.”

Fei Li nodded. He’d expected as much. “Done.”

“We do this with as few lives lost as possible.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“Gbcf.”

“Tbe obiibk ws ifjv veglcu atlr.” ARJqZw

Ktlr alwf atfgf kjrc’a jc lwwfvljaf gfqis ogbw Mfl Ol. Ktf batfg’r ilqr aklrafv rilutais. “…Rb.”

“Ciatbeut sbe’gf j yfaafg ragjafulra, atlr lrc’a jybea ragjafus. P’w yfaafg ja delmx pevufwfcar.Pa’r yfaafg lo sbe obiibk ws bgvfgr.” Oe Hlcsl gfqilfv klat j mtjiifculcu gjlrf bo tlr mtlc.

Fei Li’s lips twitched. Fei Li really didn’t like that what Lu Qinyi had said was actually reasonable. “…I’ll think about it.”

Lu Qinyi narrowed his eyes. “Think all you want, it won’t change anything. If you want my help, I lead. Otherwise just forget about it.” a8XcDY

Lu Qinyi really was a ruthless negotiator and he knew he held all of the power here. Fei Li wouldn’t threaten or force Lu Qinyi. This had been a request and a proposal from the start, so Lu Qinyi used that against him.

Fei Li sighed deeply.

“You obey my orders when you’re in my camp with my men, the same as anyone else. But we’ll follow your lead and direction for confronting and dealing with the rebels. Is that a suitable arrangement?”

Lu Qinyi silently assessed him, staring for a long while. Fei Li met his stares even though it lasted for an uncomfortable amount of time. Finally, Lu Qinyi simply shrugged. “Fine.” y8rV0n

Fei Li already got a bad feeling about this but really, it was a miracle already that Lu Qinyi of all people had just agreed to work with him. He watched as the trio conversed back and forth and thought to himself what a strange circumstance this was. It had somehow come to this after all that had happened.

How strange.

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Following that conversation, Zhao Mei and Lu Qinyi began working with Fei Li. Fei Li started catching them up on the current situation. The rebellion forces consisted of different smaller groups that were working in agreement with one another. They were spread about, hidden amongst both the North and South side of the newly formed united country. Fei Li was still in the process of locating just how deeply the roots spread. Although it was easier to find those who hadn’t hidden themselves well, it was difficult to find information about the groups who were more clever about it, so his information was incomplete.

Regardless, Zhao Mei wanted all of Fei Li’s documents and records that were relevant. She wanted to be able to look over everything herself. She had completely taken over Fei Li’s office, but apparently even his desk wasn’t enough. She had covered the floor with maps and papers as she sat in the middle of it all, writing notes and pondering. Yang Xun stuck around simply for the company despite the fact he refused to be a part of it. He explained to Fei Li that this is how Zhao Mei worked. Once she dedicated herself to something, she was meticulous. Lu Qinyi had only made a light scoffing sound. He certainly had many tales of being pulled about by Zhao Mei’s tendencies, but he didn’t seem in the mood to share them. uCgaPJ

Finally, Zhao Mei exhausted the documents Fei Li kept in his estate. So the general decided to move the ones he kept stored at the military grounds to the office for her. The main army was now under someone else’s command. Fei Li now had separate grounds for the soldiers that served in his new task force. He had permissions to enlist assistance from the main army if needed, but the smaller group of around fifty of his highly trained men was much more convenient. It was easier to command, easier to move around with, and should be enough to quell the rebel forces so long as they dealt with them in smaller groups. The plan was to defuse each group and break apart the rebellion piece by piece before it could build up any further.

Although these men were soldiers under his command, he didn’t doubt there would be issues introducing Zhao Mei and Lu Qinyi. So while there was no need to do so yet, he didn’t. That left the task of moving the required documents to the estate. They were highly confidential and the only other person he trusted with them was Xi Ming, who he had granted leave from his duties to sort out his family issues. So Fei Li went himself, with Lu Qinyi and Yang Xun along to assist.

They were just passing through the stores on the way back to get an item Zhao Mei had requested; a particular kind of marker she used when mapping out locations. Fei Li had wondered if she was simply being nitpicky to inconvenience him, but judging by Yang Xun and Lu Qinyi’s reactions, Zhao Mei really did prefer certain tools over others. The familiarity would help her work better, so Fei Li acquiesced and had Yang Xun find one similar to what Zhao Mei was used to using. The store was filled with all kinds of hand carved wooden trinkets and tools so while Yang Xun inspected, Lu Qinyi wandered around looking at the different items on display. His steps eventually came to a pause as he examined a simple decorative little box. Fei Li glanced over and at first he wasn’t sure why it had caught his attention so he walked over.

“What were you looking at?” niENGZ

“Nothing.” The reply had come swiftly and Lu Qinyi moved his gaze before walking away to look at something else.

Fei Li picked up the box to look at it closer. It reminded him of something he had seen before… It then struck him what it was and why it had caught Lu Qinyi’s attention. It must have been some kind of carved puzzle box that could be solved if you figured out the mechanism. By the time they were leaving the store, Fei Li had the box in hand. While Lu Qinyi was turned away, he tossed it to Yang Xun who shot him a confused look.

“Give it to him.” Fei Li murmured quietly and nodded towards Lu Qinyi.

“Why don’t you give it to him yourself?” Yang Xun questioned only to receive a flat look from Fei Li. 16wxOE

Lu Qinyi would sooner toss something out then accept it from Fei Li. Fei Li knew this. Yang Xun almost certainly knew this too. So what was he asking that for? Perhaps the question he actually wanted to ask was why did Fei Li want to give this to Lu Qinyi in the first place. Yang Xun didn’t have a particularly provocative or cold attitude towards Fei Li as time had gone on and Fei Li had continued to treat them well. Yang Xun was friendly by nature anyway, and more open to being cooperative. So Fei Li found him the easiest to be around. Therefore, Fei Li wasn’t really offended by this. He only shrugged.

Yang Xun raised his brows but pocketed the box.

It was comfortably quiet in Fei Li’s office. Zhao Mei still had use of his desk, but Fei Li had work to do. So he sat at a low table placed in the room instead. Yang Xun sat at one end of the table, eating snacks casually. He and Lu Qinyi hung around the office mostly because the trio stuck close to one another.

Fei Li had his head bent, reading over the papers below him in peace until he felt a nudge at his arm. He looked up with a silently questioning gaze, only for Yang Xun to nod his head to draw his attention to Lu Qinyi. Lu Qinyi was sitting reclined across from them with his back against a shelving unit. His head was tilted down and eyes lowered as he concentrated on the puzzle box in his hand. He was poking and prodding at it, turning it this way and that as he tried to find its hidden mechanisms. But what had drawn the stares of the other three people, who didn’t utter a word as if they were afraid they would disturb him and ruin the moment, was the faint smile that curled at Lu Qinyi’s lips. 37Xzd4

It had been a long time since he had last seemed so at ease, and a long time since he had last smiled. And after the efforts the three had been putting towards stabilising Lu Qinyi’s frame of mind, they found themselves staring at that hard earned image of peacefulness.

At some point, Lu Qinyi seemed to have sensed that the room had stilled so his eyes lifted from the puzzle in his hand to meet the stares he was receiving. He raised an eyebrow.

“Is… something wrong?”

Zhao Mei simply returned to looking at her work. Yang Xun only smiled at him. So it was Fei Li that replied. “No, nothing is wrong.” wPuNmd

Lu Qinyi’s brow rose further. His gaze swept over his companions’ faces before he decided that whatever was up mustn’t have been anything important. He shrugged one shoulder and returned his attention back to the puzzle.

Author’s Note:
Who is ready for some wholesome content and some comedy? *raises hand* I am!

Chrysanthemum Garden.

It struck me while writing this that this chapter is the official beginning of the last plot arc of this novel. From here, the stage is set to develop Lu Qinyi’s and Fei Li’s relationship through some life and death situations and shenanigans, and there will finally be some romance in this romance novel soon! My initially prediction was this would be about an 80 chapter novel and I think that will be about right.

I’m really going to finish this novel this year. What a crazy thought! I hope you guys will be along for the ride and enjoy the conclusion of these two’s tale~ gLnJP4

Many thanks as always to editor and alpha reader Rae! This chapter was able to get out so fast thanks to her great work.