On the Ark.

I had only slept for a few hours when I was woken up by a knock on the door.

He ran to open the door in a daze, and when he saw the girl standing outside, he was slightly stunned.

Then he muttered to himself, "Strange, how come I'm seeing my stepsister here... Am I dreaming?"

Then he slammed the door shut, rubbed his eyes, and went back to bed to continue sleeping.

Ying Li took a step back, touched her nose where she had almost been hit by the door, and then slowly gritted her teeth and clenched her fist.

……

A few minutes later, Lin Ye sat obediently on the bed, like a primary school student who had done something wrong.

Ying Li was still furious: "I called you, but you hung up before you even finished speaking, and then I couldn't get through. I thought something had happened to you, so I came all the way here to find you. When I finally found you, you just locked me out. And you even said, and said, 'cheap little sister'! I ask you, what does 'cheap little sister' mean?!"

Lin Ye dared not speak.

"I am the Fourth Princess of the Great Yan!" Ying Li had no intention of letting Lin Ye off the hook. She stared directly at Lin Ye and questioned, "No, I am no longer a princess. I am a princess of the Great Yan... How did I get involved with those two cheapskates?! In all my life, no one has ever dared to use that word to describe me!"

Lin Ye had no choice but to obediently apologize: "It's my fault."

"What did you do wrong?" Ying Li pressed, demanding an answer.

"The mistake was..." Lin Ye's mind was still a little unclear. After thinking for a moment, he tentatively said, "The mistake was saying you were too cheap?"

"You!" Ying Li was so angry that her chest tightened, but when she saw the undisguised exhaustion in Lin Ye's eyes, her anger instantly dissipated. "What have you been doing these past few days? Why have you been sleeping in the middle of the day?"

Something happened.

"Do you want to continue sleeping?"

"Of course not," Lin Ye said, somewhat more awake. "You're already here, why should I sleep? By the way, why did you come here?"

Ying Li snorted coldly, "Only now you remember to ask me? Aren't you going to talk about your cheap little sister anymore?"

Lin Ye shook his head repeatedly: "Not cheap, not cheap."

Ying Li rolled her eyes and then said, "You should know that your elder brother has already succeeded to the throne, right?"

“How could I not know?” Lin Ye said. “I was worried something might happen to you.”

Ying Li had already heard about it from Jingzhe, so her resentment towards Lin Ye lessened a bit: "You're just worrying unnecessarily. I pose no threat to my elder brother's throne, so why would he take action against me?"

“I figured it out later,” Lin Ye said. “Then why did you come here again?”

“Because I’ve come to Rhodes Island,” Ying Li said. “Of course, I’m not here to see you, I’m here to discuss work.”

"Talk about work?" Lin Ye was a little confused. "What kind of work can you talk about?"

Ying Li snorted coldly, "Don't forget who I am, and this is my elder brother's doing, because my elder brother... already knows who you are."

Lin Ye was stunned.

……

……

Author's BB: Some people have asked why this book is updating so slowly... Actually, there's only one reason: I genuinely don't know what to write anymore. =-=

Chapter 642 My elder brother asked me to pass on a message to you

Ying Li's words completely jolted Lin Ye awake.

Lin Ye had initially thought that his adopted sister... no, his unfortunate sister, had only left Yan Kingdom and come here to have some fun, and that nothing serious had happened. But now it seemed that this was clearly just wishful thinking on Lin Ye's part. The current emperor of Yan Kingdom, Lin Ye's nominal brother in this world, already knew his identity and had sent Ying Li, his sister, to his side.

Lin Ye couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine, and his mind involuntarily conjured up a mini-drama.

To maintain his rule, the emperor went so far as to send assassins overseas to hunt down his own brothers, led by their sister. While this plot may seem melodramatic, it doesn't seem entirely impossible in an imperial family.

Thinking of this, Lin Ye subconsciously sat back a little, staring intently at Ying Li, as if Ying Li would pull out a knife from behind her back at any moment, and then say with tears in her eyes, "Although you are my most beloved brother, all of this is for the people of Da Yan!"

Then he stabbed him in the abdomen.

And he, facing his beloved younger sister... well, maybe not quite, but it doesn't matter anymore.

Faced with the betrayal of his sister, who wasn't even his favorite, he simply couldn't bring himself to retaliate. He could only gently embrace his sister, who was crying incessantly from tension and pain, and softly comfort her, "It's okay, I'm not in any pain, because I know Lili is a gentle person..."

Hmm... this kind of plot seems a little disgusting.

Snapped.

Ying Li rolled up the report beside her and threw it at Lin Ye's head, saying irritably, "I'm talking to you, what are you spacing out for? Are you stupid?"

Well, there is indeed a big difference between the ideal younger sister and the real younger sister.

Lin Ye rubbed his head. Although he knew that such a melodramatic plot was unlikely to happen to him, and Ying Li didn't seem like the kind of person who would "travel a long way to take your life," Lin Ye still remained somewhat wary. After all, Ying Li couldn't have come alone, so he asked, "Your older brother..."

Ying Li said irritably, "What do you mean by 'my brother'? Your imperial brother is also your brother."

That's exactly what I meant.

Lin Ye still finds it difficult to call someone he has never met his brother or elder brother. Just like he didn't consider Ying Jie his brother before, Ying Li was an exception. Although Lin Ye had no memory of her, he still regarded her as his younger sister.

After all, she's quite pretty...

No, it should be said that the strong blood ties between Lin Ye and Ying Li are enough to overcome the barrier of memory!

That's what Lin Ye thinks, anyway.

"What exactly happened?" Lin Ye asked.

Ying Li sighed softly: "Your Majesty knew long ago, before you left Yan Kingdom."

Lin Ye was somewhat bewildered.

“Unlike my second brother, my eldest brother has real power in the Great Yan,” Ying Li said. “Don’t be fooled by the fact that my second brother can command the Emperor’s Imperial Guard and use the functions of the Dali Temple to some extent. Those are just things the Emperor ‘lends’ to him; he doesn’t have any official title. But my eldest brother is the nominal crown prince and can mobilize almost all forces except the army, including the Dali Temple.”

"...Is that really true?" Lin Ye was somewhat incredulous. "But didn't you tell me before that the emperor didn't favor Ying Jie and didn't like your older brother?"

“Father does not like my elder brother very much, but it has little to do with the power he holds,” Ying Li explained. “Father is getting old and handed over some of his duties to my elder brother, rather than my second brother, a long time ago.”

Lin Ye stroked his chin, lost in thought.

In other words, Ying Jie, whom he had previously treated with great apprehension, was actually just a self-important fool who had no real power.

That's a bit too naive.

But none of that matters. Lin Ye doesn't care which Tom, Dick, or Harry is in power in Yan Kingdom, as long as they don't have any designs on him.

“My second brother’s death was a great blow to Father, especially since his body was never found,” Ying Li said. “Although my second brother was very reckless, he was indeed Father’s favorite son, so Father wanted to investigate the cause of his death, but my eldest brother stopped him.”

"They stopped us?" Lin Ye was quite surprised. "Could it be..."

“I already told you, your eldest brother already knows your identity, so he naturally guessed what really happened to your second brother.” Ying Li sighed softly. “We underestimated your eldest brother.”

"No, you've underestimated me. I don't know him at all..."

Ying Li glared at Lin Ye: "Try talking nonsense again!"

Lin Ye obediently shut up.

"That's all there is to it," Ying Li said. "My eldest brother knows you're still alive, he knows it was you who attacked my second brother, and he even knows your identity here, which is why he sent me here."

"...Were you sent to kill me?"

Ying Li sneered: "What do you think?"

Lin Ye chuckled awkwardly, "Just kidding."

Ying Li said coldly, "I don't like this kind of joke."

"Okay, okay, then I apologize."

Ying Li was silent for a moment, then looked away: "Don't apologize to me either, I don't want your apology."

Lin Ye was even more confused, thinking that this wouldn't work and that wouldn't work either; women really were troublesome.

"Anyway, that's roughly what I said." Ying Li seemed unwilling to delve too deeply into the topic, so she said softly, "My eldest brother learned of your identity and stopped Father from investigating further. My second brother's death also made my eldest brother the nominal sole crown prince of the Great Yan. This is why Father abdicated; he no longer had the energy to raise another son. My second brother's death was also a great blow to him, so he simply abdicated. Therefore, this wasn't a power grab, and my eldest brother's succession didn't involve any bloodshed... except for the fact that you killed my second brother."

"I see..." Lin Ye asked, "So what does your older brother think of me?"

Ying Li rolled her eyes. After all, Lin Ye kept referring to himself as "your older brother," making himself sound like an outsider. But Ying Li also knew that if it weren't for her, Lin Ye wouldn't have gotten involved. Having lost his memory, Lin Ye had no interest in the throne of Yan Kingdom, so she stopped worrying about the form of address and simply said...

"My brother asked me to pass on a message to you."

Lin Ye nodded, then felt that the sentence sounded so familiar.

“My brother said that the Ying family still owes you something,” Ying Li said softly. “If one day you get tired of life in the West, you can return to the Great Yan. He is willing to grant you the title of king.”

Chapter 643 Reasons for Bargaining

Lin Ye felt it was somewhat surreal.

Putting aside the fact that the feeling of "if I don't manage Rhodes Island well, I can only return to Yan Kingdom to inherit the throne" is rather inexplicable, the main issue is why his elder brother, the current emperor of Yan Kingdom, would make such a promise to him? Doesn't the other party consider him a contender for the throne?

Or did they simply not take him seriously?

Or perhaps it was all a lie, and the real plan was to lure him back to Yan Kingdom and then kill him. After all, it was a power struggle within the imperial court, and Lin Ye didn't believe that the "elder brother" he had never met had any blood relation with him.

Ying Li seemed to sense Lin Ye's concerns and asked, "Are you worried that your brother will harm you?"

“I didn’t say that.”

"You've already written all your thoughts on your face."

"...Is it that obvious?"

“Of course.” Ying Li pursed her lips. “But that’s normal. Although I don’t think my brother is that kind of person, from your perspective, it’s impossible for you to trust him. There’s nothing to say about that, since you’re not going back to Yan Kingdom anyway, right? I don’t want you to go back either. Even if my brother really doesn’t have any other feelings for you, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have feelings for others. After all, my brother’s health isn’t good, and he has no children…”

Lin Ye felt increasingly threatened as he listened: "Is your health poor? And you don't have any children yet?!"

“Yes,” Ying Li said softly, “My elder brother has been frail and sickly since childhood, and he is not interested in women…”

Weak and sickly? Not interested in women?

Lin Ye suddenly felt that this imperial brother he had never met was quite similar to himself; they were indeed brothers.

After all, he wasn't interested in women.

Ying Li sighed: "If you, my brother, were half as good as me in your attitude towards women, the Great Yan would have no shortage of people to inherit the throne."

Lin Ye's lips twitched slightly: "...Why do I feel like you're insulting me?"

Ying Li straightened up and looked down at Lin Ye, who was sitting on the bed: "During my time on Rhodes Island, I heard countless rumors about you."