Chapter 293 The Time-Space Tunnel is Sealed Off on Both Sides
"Sigh... Sister Qinglan, we've all been through this before, we know she's just bottling up her pain. The more she does this, the more we worry. There's nothing we can do... let's both keep an eye on her."
"Yes, try to spend as much time with her as possible during this period."
...
In the study of the Great Xuan King's Palace.
"Your Majesty, it's time for your meal," a serving eunuch said softly as he brought in some food.
Xiao Qidi didn't even look up. "I'm not hungry."
The attending eunuch said, "You came back this morning and haven't eaten anything since... Even if you're young and strong, you should still take care of your health... Please have some dinner."
"Dinner?" Xiao Qidi was taken aback. "Is it already evening?"
The attending eunuch replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."
Xiao Qidi put down the memorial in his hand and looked up out the window.
Sure enough, it was already dark.
His face tightened, and he asked in a deep voice, "Has that warehouse I mentioned been sealed off?"
The attending eunuch replied, "Your Majesty, it has been sealed off according to your orders."
"Hmm..." Xiao Qidi withdrew his gaze and said quietly, "Put the food here, you may leave."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The old eunuch respectfully put down the plate, backed out of the study, and glanced at Xiao Qidi with concern as he closed the door.
This morning, His Majesty suddenly ordered that all the doors and windows of a certain storeroom in the palace be sealed off, and no one was allowed to approach or open them.
This action is truly incomprehensible.
Furthermore, although the emperor appeared to show no change in emotion, he had not eaten anything since morning, and the memorial he was reading had been the same one he had been holding the whole time.
This is enough to prove that something has disturbed the monarch's mind.
However, as an old eunuch serving the emperor, I dared not presume to speculate.
"Sigh..." The serving eunuch sighed softly and silently stood guard outside the study.
In the study, Xiao Qidi picked up the meal that the palace chef had carefully prepared, took a small bite, and couldn't help but frown.
The meals in the palace now use ingredients, seasonings, and cooking tools sent from the modern era, and even the chefs have learned to cook many dishes.
It was made almost exactly like modern food, but when he ate it, it tasted like cardboard.
Xiao Qidi got up somewhat irritably, rubbing his temples hard, trying to drive away the figure that had been lingering in his mind all day.
"Xiao Qidi, oh Xiao Qidi..." he muttered through gritted teeth, "Everyone says they never want to see you again, and you... why are you still thinking about people! How could the dignified King of Daxuan become so spineless!"
Suddenly, it felt as if his heart had been struck by a heavy hammer, and the pain made it hard to breathe.
He clutched his chest and tried to take a few deep breaths, but it didn't help.
In a state of agitation, he climbed out of the window, leaped onto the roof, and began to run aimlessly.
A moment later, Xiao Qidi stopped and realized that he had unknowingly arrived in front of the warehouse that he had ordered to be sealed off.
He hesitated for a moment, but still jumped off the roof and stood in front of the warehouse door, lost in thought.
The warehouse doors and windows were indeed sealed tightly with thick wooden planks and copper nails.
Inside is a portal to another dimension that Ning Jinli opened back then.
This morning, after he broke up with Ning Jinli, he stormed back here from the factory's small warehouse and then ordered the warehouse here to be sealed off.
at the same time--
Ning Jinli returned to the factory.
She went on a shopping spree with Ye Zhi Qiu and Su Qing Lan all day, buying an unknown amount of things, which she then stored in Su Qing Lan's villa.
Ye Zhi Qiu and Su Qing Lan even cooked a big meal for her.
Before dinner was ready, she went to the factory alone.
Although there was nothing special going on at the factory, she still came. She told Ye Zhi Qiu and Su Qing Lan that she had come to inspect the place.
Without realizing it, she walked into the small warehouse.
The factory has long since expanded and many parts have been renovated, but this area has been left as she intended.
As soon as she arrived at the small warehouse, she saw the cell phone on the ground.
Yes, that was for Xiao Qidi.
"Fine... you've left your phone here, so you really don't want to have any contact with me anymore, you bastard!" Ning Jinli rushed over, intending to stomp the phone to pieces.
However, after lifting his foot, he hesitated to put it down.
She hesitated for a while, then picked up her phone, unlocked the keypad, and a photo of her and Xiao Qidi appeared on the screen.
When I opened my phone's contacts again, there was only her number in them, including on other messaging apps, and she was the only one listed.
She unconsciously opened the messaging app and scrolled through the chat history.
As I watched, my heart ached with sharp pains, so much so that I couldn't breathe. Memories of the past flooded my mind, and tears gradually blurred my vision.
“Xiao Qidi…you bastard…” Ning Jinli wiped away her tears, gripped her phone tightly, and strode into the time tunnel behind the small warehouse.
In the blink of an eye, she arrived at the storeroom of the Great Xuan King's Palace.
Because of the existence of the portal between time and space, this warehouse was emptied long ago and became the exclusive place for her and Xiao Qidi to travel between each other's worlds.
"You bastard, you son of a bitch...you really left me behind! I...I'll bite you to death!"
Ning Jinli, looking sullen, walked towards the warehouse door.
Just as she reached the door and was about to push it open, a shout suddenly rang out from outside: "Who goes there?!"
She quickly held her breath and withdrew her hand.
Outside the gate, several patrolling royal guards carrying lanterns quickly approached.
Xiao Qidi turned his head and glanced at it indifferently.
The imperial guards then realized that it was their own emperor and hurriedly bowed.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
"Please forgive us, Your Majesty, we did not know that Your Majesty was here..."
Inside the warehouse, Ning Jinli was taken aback when she heard these words.
Has Xiao Qidi arrived?
Could it be that... he actually did consider going to see her?
Otherwise, he would have no other reason to come to the warehouse in person, and of course, to this particular warehouse.
Thinking of this, Ning Jinli's anger subsided a little, and even the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up slightly.
Hmph, since that's the case, as long as he behaves well later, I'll just give him a way out...
Just as they were happily pondering this, Xiao Qidi coldly spoke from outside the door, "You all keep a good lookout. If even half a nail falls off any of the sealed doors or windows of this warehouse, I will hold you accountable!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" the Imperial Guards replied.
Ning Jinli was startled.
Doors and windows sealed off?
Xiao Qidi... he sealed this place off?!
What does he mean by that?
The anger that had subsided slightly a second ago surged back up in an instant, doubling in intensity and rushing straight to Ning Jinli's crown, making her feel numb all over, as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping her trachea.
In that moment of mental blankness, she almost wanted to kick the door to pieces!
But reason prevented her from putting this idea into action.
She immediately turned around and rushed into the portal without looking back, instantly returning to the small warehouse.
Snap!
Xiao Qidi's phone was crushed to pieces by her.
"Fine, fine! Xiao Qidi, you're going to do this, aren't you?!" Ning Jinli trembled with anger. "If you can seal off that side, so can I!"
Without thinking, she pulled down the roller shutter door at the back of the small warehouse.
But that wasn't enough to vent my anger.
He immediately went to the warehouse next door, moved a large pile of steel plates, grabbed high-strength screws for construction, picked up an electric drill, rolled up his sleeves, and started working!
Before long, the back door of the warehouse was completely sealed off by haphazardly laid steel plates.
The steel plates were stacked in several layers and all of them were reinforced with construction screws.
Even Ning Jinli herself wouldn't be able to break through that strength in a short time.
"Done, all done!" Ning Jinli clapped her hands, grinning at her "masterpiece," and said, "Anyone can do this! Xiao Qidi! You're not getting out of here!"
She then stormed off in a huff.
On the other side, after Xiao Qidi dismissed the patrolling imperial guards, he stood at the door of the warehouse, hesitating for a long time, but finally couldn't resist and broke a few pieces of the heavy wooden planks on the door.
Then he reached out and pushed open the inner door, looked around, and tiptoed inside like a thief.
"There's nothing I can do... Ning Jinli, I'll swallow my pride and give you another chance. If you still treat me like that, I'll... I'll really ignore you!" Xiao Qidi muttered to himself as he quickened his pace, walking towards the wall where the portal was located, and then he plunged inside.
Bang!
Xiao Qidi's face slammed solidly against the roller shutter door.
This familiar touch reminded him of the time he rammed the door.
"She...she closed the door?!"
"Outrageous! Outrageous!"
Xiao Qidi was furious and swung his palms out forcefully.
Bang!
The roller shutter door shattered instantly.
However, after he pulled open the roller shutter, he immediately discovered that there was another layer of exceptionally hard obstruction.
"They even sealed it with steel plates?!" Xiao Qidi felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, and the rage surging within him almost blew the top of his head off!
"Great! Ning Jinli! You're really something!"
Xiao Qidi clutched his chest and staggered out of the portal. His face was ashen as he left the warehouse and immediately restored all the wooden boards and nails he had just removed to their original state.
He secretly vowed to himself that if he ever set foot here again, he would be a dog!
In the days that followed.
With Su Qinglan and Ye Zhi Qiu by her side, Ning Jinli played freely everywhere, as if she had truly left all her unhappiness behind.
Sometimes, whether Su Qinglan and Ye Zhi Qiu were intentionally testing or unintentionally mentioning Xiao Qi Di, she would nonchalantly say, "What Xiao Qi Di? I don't know such a person!"
Meanwhile, Xiao Qidi devoted himself entirely to state affairs, attending to every detail. He led the court officials to work overtime like crazy, continuously formulating new measures and sending them to various parts of the Great Xuan territory.
More than a month has passed in the blink of an eye.
During this period, Xiao Qidi never set foot in that warehouse again, and Ning Jinli never even went to the factory.
The hundreds of ministers in the Great Xuan King City were so busy they were almost fainting, and Su Qinglan and Ye Zhi Qiu were also about to give up, accompanying Ning Jinli on shopping sprees every day.
Once again, Ning Jinli almost bought out the entire store of a newly opened luxury goods store. After returning to Su Qinglan's villa, Ye Zhi Qiu pulled her into the garden.
“I said…daughter…” Ye Zhi Qiu’s expression was complicated. He held her hand and said earnestly, “How about we take a break for a while? I suddenly feel that it would be nice if we just stayed at your godmother’s house, watched TV, and tended to the flowers and plants…”
Ning Jinli said, "It's okay, Mom, we're not short of money."
Ye Zhi Qiu rubbed his forehead and said, "I know you're not short of money. The Ning family group's businesses are booming, and you can spend all the income you earn as you please. Not to mention that the profits of your own businesses are dozens of times that of the Ning family group... Even if you donate half of the profits to society as you requested, you still have more than you can spend. You really don't lack money, but... sigh, your health can't take it."
"Huh?" Ning Jinli looked nervous. "Mom, did you stop practicing martial arts after you came back here? Your body couldn't take it so quickly? Come here, let me transfer some internal energy to you."
Ye Zhi Qiu was both amused and exasperated. "It wasn't me! Although I only mastered the basics of the Heavenly Profound Heart Sutra and did slack off a bit after returning here, I'm still far better than the average person. I was talking about your godmother..."
“Then I’ll use my internal energy to replenish her strength,” Ning Jinli said. “And for now, let’s not let our godmother accompany us for a stroll.”
Ye Zhi Qiu said, "I just secretly transfer some internal energy to her occasionally. It's not a big deal that her body is a little tired. The main thing is that you're not in the right state, and she's worried."
Ning Jinli pouted, "Something's not right? What's wrong?"
Ye Zhi Qiu looked into her eyes and said, "Daughter, tell me honestly, what exactly happened between you and that boy?"
Ning Jinli looked away. "I don't want to mention it, and there's no need to. It's all in the past."
"Is it really all in the past?" Ye Zhi Qiu asked.
Ning Jinli said firmly, "Yes, it's all in the past, really."
A deep sense of helplessness flashed in Ye Zhi Qiu's eyes. After thinking for a moment, he didn't press the matter further.
"Mom, I won't go out anymore, I'll just stay here," Ning Jinli said softly. "When Dad is free, can we invite him over for a get-together?"
Ye Zhi Qiu breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay."
Ning Jinli suddenly blurted out, "Mom, do you think... there's any possibility that you and Dad might remarry in the future?"
Ye Zhi Qiu calmly asked, "Do you think that my divorce from him will affect our respective lives?"
Ning Jinli pondered, "It seems... there's no impact. Apart from the fact that you two are no longer husband and wife, everything else seems to be normal, but..."
"That settles it then," Ye Zhi Qiu said with a smile. "Everything's fine, so let's not cause any trouble with remarriage. Besides, I no longer have the same feelings for him as before..."
Ning Jinli said "Oh" and then slowly added, "I think I saw Dad holding hands with a woman at a restaurant a few days ago."
Ye Zhi Qiu's expression changed slightly. "When? What kind of woman? Which restaurant?!"
Ning Jinli didn't answer, she just looked into her eyes.
Three seconds later, Ning Jinli couldn't help but laugh.
Ye Zhi Qiu narrowed her eyes. "You brat, you're lying to me?"
Ning Jinli laughed and said, "Someone just said that he no longer has the same feelings for him as before. Tsk tsk, I wonder who lied to whom first..."
"You brat, I'll beat you up!" Ye Zhi Qiu raised her arm.
"Hehehe!" Ning Jinli made a face, turned around and ran away.
"Xiao Li!" Su Qinglan rushed to the back garden of the villa. "Xiao Li, someone is looking for you!"
The mother and daughter, who were chasing and playing, stopped in their tracks.
Ning Jinli asked, "Who... is looking for me?"
Ye Zhi Qiu chimed in from the side, "Could it be that kid Xiao Qi Di?"
Instantly, Ning Jinli's eyes lit up.
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