14: Chapter 14 Tie Xinlan

Half an hour later, Meng Li's group continued their journey.

Zhang Shan was injured and found it inconvenient to ride a horse, so he swapped with Wang Wu and took over driving the carriage.

Inside the carriage, Jiang Yuyan looked at the storybooks in her hands but couldn't focus; instead, she stole glances at Meng Li, who was also reading storybooks.

Noticing this, Meng Li put down his book and asked, "Do you think I was too ruthless?"

Jiang Yuyan was startled, then quickly shook her head. "No."

"Those people were highwaymen to begin with, and who knows how many innocent lives they had taken in the past; they deserved to die. If not for Young Master's high martial arts skills, our lives would have been at risk, and my mother and I might have suffered a fate worse than death."

"Young Master giving them a chance to live was already a great mercy; it was they who didn't know how to cherish it."

"Then why have you been staring at me?" Meng Li asked, puzzled.

Because I like looking at you...

Jiang Yuyan responded silently to herself, but did not speak the words aloud.

In fact, she was like this precisely because Meng Li had acted decisively just now, killing all those bandits.

To some righteous people, this behavior might seem ruthless. But Jiang Yuyan was different; she had experienced hardships and witnessed darkness since childhood. While not naturally evil, she was no saint either, more of a gray character.

After falling for Meng Li, she felt inferior because of her background and because Meng Li was so gentle and kind to her.

In her eyes, Meng Li was something of a White Moonlight.

If Meng Li were purely benevolent and kind, his White Moonlight status would only intensify, making her feel even more inferior.

But Meng Li had shown a ruthless side.

This allowed Jiang Yuyan to see his "wicked" side, making her feel they had something in common and closing the distance between them. Thus, the inferiority complex brought by her own gray nature lessened, leading her to fantasize more about their relationship.

These thoughts, like her earlier romantic ones, were not easy to voice.

So, with a slight flicker in her eyes, Jiang Yuyan casually found a topic. "Yu Yan was just curious, why did Young Master want to burn the bodies?"

Meng Li replied, "Because there are no wild animals around, if the bodies aren't burned and are left to rot, it's easy for an epidemic to break out."

"So that's why." Jiang Yuyan realized, wearing a look of having learned something new, and then said no more, continuing to read her storybooks.

Meng Li didn't say anything else either.

...

A few days later, the group arrived safely at Meng Family Village.

On the way, Meng Li inspected the condition of the village in passing, returning to the manor only after confirming everything was fine.

Just as the carriage reached the manor gates, Butler Uncle Fu, having received the news, led some people out to greet them.

After a brief greeting, Meng Li explained the identity of Jiang Yuyan and her mother and asked Uncle Fu to arrange accommodations for them, while he went to bathe and change to wash away the dust of the journey.

Once changed, Meng Li asked Uncle Fu about the affairs of the manor in the study.

As an elder, Uncle Fu answered each question one by one without any errors or omissions.

Once everything was discussed, Uncle Fu mentioned Tie Ruyun's election as the Wulin Alliance Leader.

"Young Master, Manor Lord Tie was recently elected as the Wulin Alliance Leader. Given the relationship between our two families, we should send a congratulatory gift. But since you weren't here, I couldn't decide. Now that you're back, what do you think would be an appropriate gift?"

Meng Li stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and smiled. "Sending something expensive isn't as good as sending something he likes."

"Esteemed Uncle loves wine and is a martial artist..."

"Take ten jars of 'Raging Fire' from the cellar, then get a Century-old Wild Ginseng from the storehouse, along with some other fifty-year-old medicinal herbs."

Speaking of which, he paused and asked, "Has Esteemed Uncle returned yet?"

Uncle Fu shook his head. "Not yet. Mount Huang is quite far away. After becoming the Alliance Leader, Manor Lord Tie will surely be bogged down with affairs. He'll likely only be back in a while."

Meng Li nodded. "Then when Esteemed Uncle returns, I will personally deliver them to Tie Manor."

Just as he finished speaking, a servant knocked on the door to report, "Young Master, Young Miss Tie has arrived and is waiting in the front hall."

Meng Li said, "Understood, I'll be there right away."

A moment later, Meng Li arrived at the front hall and immediately saw the "Young Miss Tie" the servant mentioned, who was Tie Xinlan.

The young girl had a graceful figure, wearing a purple floral dress with a light blue sash around her waist and white cloth boots.

Her features on her oval face had not yet fully matured, but they already possessed a budding, radiant beauty.

Her two dark eyebrows were like slender willows, and the eyes beneath them were clear and bright, also sparkling. Unlike Jiang Yuyan's mix of innocence and craftiness, these eyes gave Meng Li a feeling of being both pure and seductive; she looked pure now, but once fully matured, her features would naturally be charming.

How she would look when fully grown wasn't just Meng Li's speculation; he had seen it in his previous life.

To be precise, he had seen the corresponding actress in her full glory.

Her appearance was the type that was stunning at first glance and grew more beautiful the more one looked. She was objectively breathtaking, earning her many titles: the pinnacle of strong-featured actresses in the industry, the original template for plastic surgery, outshining all others...

Later, something happened to her, and she disappeared from the public eye.

Many people tried to find a substitute, but until Meng Li's Transmigration, no one in the industry could fill her shoes.

Just then, Tie Xinlan also saw Meng Li.

She was first delighted, then seemed to remember something, huffed coldly, crossed her arms, turned her head away, and pouted, looking very much like she was "very Life Qi."

Seeing her like this, Meng Li walked over and teased, "Who has upset our beautiful, intelligent, and gentle Xinlan's Life Qi?"

Hearing him praise her, a smile couldn't help but bloom on Tie Xinlan's face, but it vanished in an instant. She then glanced at him and hummed, "What do you think?"

Meng Li seemed to realize something and pointed at himself. "Me?"

Tie Xinlan nodded.

Meng Li was stunned. "I just got back, how did I make you Life Qi?"

Tie Xinlan turned to look at him. "Before you left, how many days did you say you'd be gone?"

Meng Li: "..."

So she's blaming me for coming back late.

Meng Li chuckled, then explained, "You can't blame me for that. I ran into highwaymen on my way back."

Hearing this, Tie Xinlan's expression immediately changed. "Are you hurt?" she asked nervously.

After asking, she leaned in closer to inspect him.

Meng Li shook his head. "No."

As he spoke, he spun around in place.

Seeing that he was truly fine, Tie Xinlan relaxed and stopped being temperamental. Instead, she asked curiously, "You've been to Jinchai Town several times, and I've never heard of bandits there. Why did you suddenly run into highwaymen this time?"

Meng Li said helplessly, "Bad luck. Some thugs had just turned to banditry, and I happened to be targeted."

Then, he briefly explained what happened.

Tie Xinlan didn't react much when she heard he had bought a maidservant.

Because it was very common for wealthy families to buy servants in this day and age; Meng Li had done it often before, and her personal maid, Xiao Xiao, was also bought when she was a child.

After finishing the story, Meng Li asked about Tie Ruyun's situation.

"I heard that Esteemed Uncle dominated the competition at the Heroes Convention and was elected as the Wulin Alliance Leader. That's a joyous occasion."

"I was planning to find a time to congratulate him. Did he say when he'd be back?"

..."}],