ASFTB 40: You Want a Divorce? 2

Jian Chengxi smiled. “Why are you now calling it just kids fooling around with each other?”

Lita, angry and embarrassed, said, “You… you… what are you so proud of? Aren’t you just relying on how powerful your husband is? Just wait, your good days won’t last long. Once your Marshal takes a concubine, I’ll see how long a country bumpkin from the Underground City like you can keep being happy!”

Jian Chengxi just looked at her calmly. “So what if I’m from the Underground City, and you, on the other hand, are of such noble birth .”

Lita was just about to act proud.

Jian Chengxi raised his eyebrows and let out a light laugh. “How come your husband doesn’t exclusively favor you and only marry you alone?”

Lita, suddenly stabbed in the heart: “…”

Ahhhhh!

So angry!!!

The next day—

The Imperial Palace.

The Emperor kept Li Lingfeng behind after the council with the others ended.

Li Lingfeng stood in the central courtyard and looked toward the Emperor. “Your Majesty, do you require something?”

The Emperor walked over, carrying a bit of unease. “General Li, I have heard something recently. It seems there was some trouble in Fuchs’s household, and the cause was that his child at school had a conflict with your child?”

Li Lingfeng, expressionless, said, “Your Majesty is very concerned about matters involving the children?”

The Emperor gave an awkward laugh. “Not exactly.”

Li Lingfeng looked at him.

The Emperor hesitated for a moment and finally spoke. He was dressed in pure white robes and, standing by the garden in the central courtyard, said, “General Li, to be honest, I just think that for someone like you, such a heroic figure, your heirs are still a bit on the thin side. I’ve seen the two children in your household—they really are good-looking but in the end they’re only half-elves with certain disabilities, so you really ought to add a few more…”

Li Lingfeng said, “This is this subject’s family matter.”

The Emperor choked up.

He met Li Lingfeng’s somewhat icy gaze. Although he was the Emperor, there were times when, upon seeing this god of slaughter, he still felt deeply intimidated.

All major military authority rested in his hands, and with Ike dead, the Emperor had no one else he could use.

The officers and soldiers who returned from the Zerg main base were all the more utterly devoted to Li Lingfeng.

Let alone the fact that the command token is in his hand. Even if he didn’t have it now, Li Lingfeng would still have everyone answering his call.

The Emperor weighed his thoughts and cautiously said, “I just think that the children’s upbringing is very important. Before, in the Underground City, you didn’t have those conditions, but now things are better so they should be given only the best. How about bringing the two children to the Princess to be raised by her? She’s been well-read since childhood and is also skilled in magic, so in the future…”

Li Lingfeng interrupted him. “Thank you for Your Majesty’s kindness. My children have their birth father. They don’t need anyone else to raise them.”

The Emperor refused to let it go. “But your wife—I heard that his temperament is rather cold, and back when you were in the Underground City, he didn’t particularly dote on the two children, isn’t that so?”

Li Lingfeng was silent for a moment.

In his previous life, it had indeed been like that. Back then, he misjudged people and had not yet seen through the Emperor’s schemes.

Back then, the two children had no one to care for them, and the Princess would often come to visit, which gave them an opening to persecute him. In this lifetime, everything is different, and he will absolutely not allow that tragedy to happen again.

Li Lingfeng said, “The conditions in the Underground City were harsh. For him to raise both children to adulthood was already no easy task. There’s no truth to the claim that he mistreated them. Besides…”

The Emperor looked at him in confusion.

Li Lingfeng’s voice was low and powerful. “He’s doing very well now.”

A light breeze drifted over, carrying a faint scent of flowers and grass, and it lifted the cloak of the battle-hardened Marshal. For that moment, the man’s usually severe face looked a little gentle.

The Emperor said helplessly, “Then that’s good.”

Li Lingfeng nodded. “If there’s nothing else, this subject will take his leave.”

The Emperor couldn’t really stop him anymore.

Li Lingfeng had only just walked out when the Princess came out from the rear hall.

The Princess, dressed in luxurious clothing, looked at her imperial elder brother with some annoyance. “Gege, the General still won’t agree?”

The Emperor shook his head. “I had originally planned to marry you to him. Li Lingfeng is a man of very deep calculation, and only with you by his side would we have a way to get a hold on him. Yet now, there’s simply no chance.”

The Princess said irritably, “Why won’t he agree? Does he like that penniless wife of his that much?”

The Emperor looked at his cherished royal sister and said, “Do you know why a beastman as strong as Li Lingfeng was exiled by his own clan to the Underground City when he was still a child?”

The Princess hesitated. “I don’t know. What was the reason?”

The Emperor replied, “Because he is a special-class S-rank high-spiritual-power beastman, extremely prone to going berserk. Logically speaking, someone like him shouldn’t even still be alive now.”

The Princess asked, “Then why is he…”

The Emperor said in a low voice, “Because his ability to feel emotion is naturally very weak. He barely has the normal emotions and desires of a person, so his spiritual power never went berserk.”

The Princess was stunned.

So there really are people who can completely sever all human emotions and desires?

The Emperor said, “A man like him is never truly sincere toward anyone. It’s even more impossible for him to feel love for his wife. At most, it’s just responsibility.”

The Princess sighed and said, “Imperial Brother, it’s easy for you to say, but you know what kind of person Li Lingfeng is. Nothing gets through to him—he doesn’t even see me at all!”

The Emperor gave his younger sister a deep look.

For some reason, under his gaze, the Princess felt a little unsettled.

The Emperor raised his eyebrows slightly. “If he’s not interested in you and won’t give you a chance, can’t you create the opportunity yourself?”

The Princess was stunned. She looked at her imperial elder brother’s face, stayed dazed for a moment before reacting, and said, “Imperial Brother, are you saying…?”

The Emperor walked over, took his younger sister’s hand, and seemed to slip something into her palm. In a low voice he said, “To be honest, I could tell long ago—you like him, don’t you? In a few days it’s Inspection Day. When the time comes, you’ll go to the military headquarters in my place to visit the soldiers. Remember to dress beautifully.”

…

The Princess’s hand trembled slightly, but she still accepted the item and put it away in the end.

That night—

After putting the two children to sleep, Jian Chengxi called Li Lingfeng.

Li Lingfeng said, “There are some things here at the military headquarters that I can’t get away from. I won’t be coming back tonight.”

Jian Chengxi walked to the door, closed it, and asked softly, “Then when are you coming back?”

Li Lingfeng replied, “I’m not sure.”

He thought for a moment.

He added, “No need to wait for me. You go ahead and sleep first.”

Jian Chengxi gave a soft reply and pressed his lips together. Ever since what happened the other night a couple of days ago, he had wanted to have a proper talk with Li Lingfeng, but the man seemed to be busy nonstop, and he simply hadn’t had the chance.

Li Lingfeng said, “Is there anything else?”

Jian Chengxi started to say, “You…”

While reviewing the combat training documents submitted by the various units, Li Lingfeng asked, “What?”

Jian Chengxi thought for a moment and decided not to interrupt his work. In the end he said, “It’s nothing. General, just focus on your work first. You don’t need to worry about things at home.”

Li Lingfeng slightly furrowed his brows, but the call had already ended.

A deputy general came in carrying a box and said, “General, these are the most recent batches of mecha operation reports. Please look them over and let us know if there’s anything that needs to be corrected.”

Li Lingfeng nodded.

When they were at the Zerg main base, many of the mecha had been modified by Li Lingfeng.

He gave them a quick review and then passed them to the deputy general.

The deputy general smiled and said, “You’re incredible. Those people over there tried everything and still couldn’t improve this part, but you spotted the problem instantly. I’m starting to think there’s nothing in this world that can stump you!”

Li Lingfeng put down his pen and said nothing.

The deputy general said, “Then I’ll take my leave for now.”

Li Lingfeng’s voice was especially clear in the room. “Wait.”

The deputy general turned back to him in confusion. “My lord, is there something else?”

A look of complete seriousness settled on Li Lingfeng’s usually severe face—an expression that normally only appeared when he was thinking about something important.

The deputy general felt a bit uneasy. Could it be that some serious problem had come up in the army?

Li Lingfeng’s brow furrowed slightly. After thinking for a moment, he finally said, “Lately, Jian Chengxi keeps talking like he’s holding something back, like something’s on his mind. But when I ask him, he just says it’s nothing.”

The deputy general asked cautiously, “Is he sulking?”

Li Lingfeng asked, “Does your wife ever act like this?”

This was truly a first.

On the battlefield, Li Lingfeng is an invincible general, but when it comes to matters of emotion he’s honestly at a loss. Lately, he can tell that Jian Chengxi keeps hesitating to speak, like he has something to say, but whenever he asks, Jian Chengxi just brushes it off.

Could it be…

That he got scared by me the other day?

So now he’s missing that lover he had in the Underground City and wants to run off?

But I’ve already been trying my best not to go back, not to show up in front of him. So why is he still acting like this?

The deputy general perked up with interest, leaned in, and said, “Is it because the General’s been working overtime a lot lately and not really going home, so the madam is a little unhappy?”

Li Lingfeng’s voice was low and firm with absolute certainty. “No.”

The deputy general froze for a moment.

Li Lingfeng didn’t want to waste words and simply asked, “When you and your wife have conflicts, how do you usually handle it?”

The deputy general thought for a moment and said, “Well, honestly, when the two of us argue, it basically never becomes a real fight. I usually start by buying her gifts she likes to coax her. In the end, husbands and wives just fight at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of the bed. And if that still doesn’t work, I just kiss her while we’re arguing and shut her up—then there’s no real conflict.”

Li Lingfeng quietly listened to the end.

The deputy general said in a slightly suggestive tone, “If the General ever has a disagreement with the madam, you can always make up at the foot of the bed.”

Li Lingfeng’s face stayed expressionless, his dark eyes showing not the slightest ripple of emotion yet in his mind appeared the image of his delicate little wife lying on the bed with tears in his eyes.

That fragile body of his is even thinner than it used to be.

Could he even handle it?

That night—

The main door opened, and the courtyard was completely silent.

Li Lingfeng stepped off the warship. The entire residence was already completely silent.

He pushed the door open to come in, thinking the living room would already be empty, but to his surprise, there was still a small figure curled up on the sofa.

Li Lingfeng stopped in his tracks.

Curled up on the sofa, Jian Chengxi sleepily heard movement. He rubbed his eyes, sat up, and said, “General?”

Li Lingfeng walked over to him and asked, “Why are you still awake?”

Jian Chengxi replied, “I was thinking that if the General came back tonight, you’d probably not have eaten again. So I made some food and left it on the dining table so you could eat if you came back. After I finished I got a little sleepy and fell asleep here.”

The warm yellow light of the living room fell over him.

Li Lingfeng looked at the person in front of him as if he wanted to etch that image into his eyes. In the past, he and Jian Chengxi had their good times too.

Back then, they had just gotten married.

Sometimes, after he came back from a bounty mission with the smell of blood still on him and not yet washed off, he hadn’t planned on disturbing him but his little wife would always be curled up on the downstairs sofa waiting for him to return.

Until later—

He got pregnant and gave birth, and everything changed.

Li Lingfeng had thought he could never return to the past in this lifetime, but he hadn’t expected that after so many years, he would once again see that drowsy-eyed person waiting for him to come home.

Could it be…

Is this really Heaven showing mercy? Has Jian Chengxi truly changed?

Mumbling as he stood up, Jian Chengxi said, “Are you hungry? I’ll go heat up some cakes for you. Were you really busy today? I even made a few extra meat patties just for you…”

Li Lingfeng reached out and took his hand.

A little surprised, Jian Chengxi turned back to look at him.

In the nighttime-lit living room, the man’s dark, deep eyes looked especially intense, carrying an emotion he couldn’t quite read.

Jian Chengxi looked at him in confusion.

But Li Lingfeng took a small box out of his storage space and handed it to him.

Jian Chengxi asked, “What’s this?”

Li Lingfeng said in a low voice, “Open it and see.”

After opening it, Jian Chengxi, who had expected it to be something else, widened his eyes in surprise. “Flowers?”

He had never imagined there would be flowers in the house and that they would be given to him by the husband he both feared and held in awe the most!

Overjoyed, Jian Chengxi asked, “Where did these come from?”

Li Lingfeng answered, “From the palace.”

Jian Chengxi’s smile disappeared at once. Flowers this beautiful—where else on this planet could they have come from but the Princess’s private garden? He actually brought another woman’s things back and gave them to me.

Li Lingfeng looked at him and asked quietly, “Do you like them?”

Jian Chengxi set the box aside, gave a cool little nod, and said, “It’s fine.”

Li Lingfeng was a little puzzled. He had specifically had the deputy general seize a batch of supplies from a smuggling warship the military intercepted, and there just happened to be flowers in that batch. He had thought his little wife would like them, but he hadn’t expected this reaction.

He clearly remembered that he loved flowers the most.

Before, every time he saw flowers, his whole face would light up.

Is it that he doesn’t like flowers…

Or is it that he just doesn’t like the ones I gave him?

Li Lingfeng’s gaze darkened a little. He stood up and said, “If you don’t like them, then just throw them away.”

Jian Chengxi looked up at him in surprise.

Li Lingfeng’s expression was cold and severe. From where he was, Jian Chengxi could only see the man’s icy jawline. His voice was completely even. “I’ll go wash up first.”

Jian Chengxi said, “You’re not eating?”

Li Lingfeng said in a low voice, “I already had nutrient solution.”

Watching his back as he walked away, Jian Chengxi felt uneasy.

At first, he really just felt afraid. But ever since his life was bound to Li Lingfeng’s, he had started thinking he just wanted to live well with the children—that settling down and living a good, steady life wouldn’t be so bad.

Later, after everything that happened, he felt that Li Lingfeng actually wasn’t that frightening.

He wasn’t that afraid of him anymore.

Just when he wanted to try getting along with him and accepting him, the man was already starting to grow distant from him.

Now he even brought back the Princess’s flowers. Does that mean he’s developed feelings for her and is getting ready to take her as a concubine? Is he testing how he’ll react…

That makes sense.

The Princess has better advantages than he does, and her family background is good. It’s only normal that he would be moved.

Then what about me and the children?

Are we getting divorced?

When that happens, will he be the one living with the children?

Then…

Will Li Lingfeng pay me child support?

Agitated and with his thoughts all over the place, Jian Chengxi opened his terminal and started looking up interstellar divorce law on the interstellar Baidu Encyclopedia.

He was in the middle of reading when he heard footsteps behind him.

Jian Chengxi immediately tried to close the terminal, but he was so flustered that the screen misregistered his touch, and he didn’t manage to close it in time.

When Li Lingfeng came in, he saw that on the web terminal there was a big, bold encyclopedia question on the screen: 【After divorcing my husband, who gets custody of the children?】

“…”

The room fell completely silent.

Li Lingfeng’s face was ice-cold, his dark eyes fixed on Jian Chengxi. “You want a divorce.”

Jian Chengxi hurriedly waved his hands. “No, no, I was just looking.”

Li Lingfeng was no fool. “Then why were you on the Baidu Encyclopedia?”

“I…” Jian Chengxi felt ridiculously unlucky and hurried to say, “I, I…”

Before he could react, he was scooped straight up into the air. By the time he realized it, he was already dropped onto the bed and bounced. He didn’t even have a chance to struggle before a pair of strong arms pinned him down.

He lifted his head and came face to face with a pair of eyes as dangerous as a wolf’s.

Li Lingfeng’s body was powerfully built, and with an intensely possessive stance he pinned the other man in front of him. He gripped Jian Chengxi’s slender arm, his voice low and dangerous. “Who is it this time?”

Jian Chengxi froze.

The pain from his arm being forcefully gripped made his eyes well up with tears. “Let go first…”

Li Lingfeng’s lips curled into a cold smile. His rough fingers lifted Jian Chengxi’s chin, forcing him to look at him. “Do you really hate me this much?”

The darkness in his heart surged like the tide.

He cherishes him so deeply, giving him everything that is best.

But what about Jian Chengxi?

Time and time again, wanting to leave his side.

How dare he…

How dare he…

The suppressed anger in his heart surged uncontrollably, until a voice came to his ear. “I don’t hate you! It’s just that you’re holding on too tightly, and it hurt me.”

Li Lingfeng was stunned.

Jian Chengxi struggled to break free, sat up, and said angrily, “Who said I wanted a divorce? Wasn’t it you who wanted to take a concubine?”

As he spoke, he felt deeply aggrieved.

He tried to hold it in, but in the end, tears rolled down his face. He glared at Li Lingfeng and said, “I never said no, but you’re just too strong. Can’t you be a little gentler?”

“…”

Rationality gradually returned.

Li Lingfeng was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, “Who told you I was taking a concubine?”

Jian Chengxi said, “Then why did you bring back the Princess’s flowers?”

Li Lingfeng replied, “Those were seized from a smuggling warship I intercepted.”

Jian Chengxi froze, never expecting this outcome. Thinking about his wild imagination, he hesitated and asked, “Then, will you take a concubine in the future?”

This was the question he wanted to ask the most.

This relates to the future, whether he would have to consider divorcing and taking the children with him.

Li Lingfeng lifted his eyelids and glanced at him. “Why would I take a concubine?”

In Jian Chengxi’s heart, a little bit of expectation and joy bubbled up, his eyes bright as he looked at him. Yet before he could even feel happy, he heard the man’s low voice say, “Isn’t it enough that I have to worry about you stepping out?”

“…”

How presumptuous.