Liu Yingying and Zhang Hui, mother and son, were arranged to rest in the same room.
After Zhang Hui put her son to sleep, she looked at her in the dim candlelight and said, "To be honest, I really admire you. In this world, men are respected, but even the government troops couldn't do anything to those bandits. Yet you, a woman, were able to wipe out their entire stronghold in one fell swoop!" Her words were full of admiration.
Liu Yingying, however, remained quite calm.
In this situation, if she doesn't find a way to save herself, then everyone will probably be doomed.
Fortunately, despite the danger, she succeeded!
"So what are your plans next?" Liu Yingying asked.
Zhang Hui's husband was killed by Huang Sanba. She was left alone with her young child, and in this year of famine, her future was uncertain...
Zhang Hui glanced at her son and gave a wry smile. "I don't know either... but my husband's family still has members, and Gou'er is a boy, so they won't abandon him."
Upon hearing this, Liu Yingying fell silent.
She's struggling to make ends meet herself right now, and she has three children to support, so how can she possibly protect others?
"If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can come to Taoyuan Village in Ma'ao Township to find me!" she said again at the end.
Zhang Hui simply nodded; naturally, she wouldn't cause Liu Yingying any trouble!
As soon as Liu Yingying blew out the candle and lay down, the mechanical voice of the system suddenly rang in her mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, for completing the mission of punishing evil and promoting good. You have received a reward of 3000 points!]
I can finally redeem the water source detector!
She breathed a sigh of relief.
But the system continued to broadcast.
[According to the system notification, the host is currently undertaking the first phase of the mission to punish evil and promote good. The mission progress has reached 30%. The host is encouraged to continue their efforts!]
Huh... what is this now?
Why is this stupid system suddenly doing this again?
Liu Yingying was immediately filled with doubts.
"What do you mean by this? Do you mean my task is going to be divided into different levels?" she asked herself silently.
Surprisingly, the system actually provided an answer.
[That's right, the "Punishing Evil and Cultivating Goodness" system you're bound to has ten task levels. The system will give different rewards based on your progress in completing the tasks!]
[Additionally, a friendly reminder from this system: if you complete all levels of tasks, this system will grant you one wish!]
Liu Yingying was slightly shocked, "What...can I make any wish?"
System: "That's right!"
"What if I wanted to travel back in time, back to the time and space that belonged to me?"
System: "Of course!"
Liu Yingying's breath hitched, and her hands clenched unconsciously.
In other words, she still has a chance to return to the modern world and see her family again?
Very good!
Regardless of whether the system was lying to her or not, Liu Yingying decided to give it a try.
She absolutely must go home!
The next morning, Shen Shangxu summoned Liu Yingying to his study.
He even specially ordered someone to prepare a breakfast.
Upon seeing her arrive, Shen Shangxu stood up to greet her, "Madam Liu, we meet again!"
"This humble woman, Liu, greets Lord Shen!" Liu Yingying bowed respectfully.
Shen Shangxu quickly offered a helping hand, "Madam Liu saved my life before, and has done a great service this time. There's no need for such formalities!"
"Madam Liu has not yet eaten. This is breakfast that I, Shen, have prepared for you. Please sit down!"
Shen Shangxu was genuinely grateful to the woman before him.
After all, if it weren't for Liu Yingying, he would probably have been left to rot in the wilderness long ago.
He still had many questions about the bandit suppression operation and wanted to take advantage of this breakfast to ask them about it...
"Thank you very much, Lord Shen!"
Liu Yingying didn't refuse. She knew that Shen Shangxu would definitely come to ask her about it, and she had already prepared her explanation.
"Hehe, what a coincidence! I said back then that I would definitely repay Madam Liu for saving my life, and I didn't expect to meet again so soon..."
"Lord Shen is too kind. It was nothing more than a small favor that day. How could I possibly expect to repay such a debt?"
That's how politicians are; they always beat around the bush before revealing their true intentions.
But Shen Shangxu firmly stated that he would definitely repay this life-saving grace. After a pause, he finally asked, "I have something I would like to ask Madam Liu."
"Please speak, Lord Shen!"
"The bandits on West Vulture Mountain are extremely vicious. How did Madam Liu manage to do all this?"
Liu Yingying smiled and said seriously, "Because I want to live. To be honest, Lord Shen, my husband is dead, leaving behind three children. If I die too, they are too young to survive this famine!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Shangxu began to feel sympathy for her plight.
"Women are inherently weak, but become strong when they become mothers... but what you did was far too risky!"
"Then please tell me, sir, what else can this humble woman do besides fight to the death? Are we just supposed to wait for your government to come and rescue us?"
Liu Yingying met his probing gaze with neither humility nor arrogance, her tone carrying a hint of mockery.
These words truly made Shen Shangxu feel ashamed. If it weren't for Liu Shi, the government would never have been able to wipe out the bandits so quickly!
"As the magistrate of Furong County, I have failed to protect my people; this is my fault! I hope Madam Liu will forgive me!"
Liu Yingying was slightly surprised, not expecting this person to be so humble!
She lowered her head and ate without saying anything more. She still had a long way to go home, so she needed to eat more...
Shen Shangxu seemed lost in thought and fell silent for a moment.
The time for breakfast passed just like that.
Shen Shangxu ordered someone to bring ten taels of gold and give it to Liu Yingying.
"This is just a small gift to thank Madam Liu for saving my life that day. Please accept it!"
"This...this is too much!" Liu Yingying stared in shock at the golden contents on the tray in front of her.
Shen Shangxu smiled very elegantly, "I came here from the capital, but I encountered thugs on the way. This is all I have left. Please don't find it offensive, Madam!"
Liu Yingying's lips twitched.
This is telling her, "That's all I have. If you think it's not enough, I really don't have any more."
However, ten taels of gold is indeed a huge sum of money.
She needed money, so after exchanging a few polite words, she put away the ten taels of gold and took her leave of Shen Shangxu.
"Thank you for your help last night, sir. If there's nothing else, I'll head home now."
"Wait!" Shen Shangxu suddenly called out to her again, "Actually, I have a question in my mind that I'd like to ask you."
A glint flashed in Liu Yingying's eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. "May I ask, sir?"
Shen Shangxu: "Last night, when I led my men up the mountain, we found that almost all of the twenty guards on all four sides of Xijiu Mountain were killed in one blow. Does Madam Liu know the inside story?"
"My lord, you don't actually believe that I have that ability, do you?" Liu Yingying looked at him with disbelief.
"Ahem!" Shen Shangxu was a little embarrassed. In fact, he didn't believe that a woman could have such martial arts skills.
But at that time, she was the only person on the mountain who had the opportunity to make a move!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
