254: Chapter 34 Plans for Starting a Family

Having given A Bi a "reassurance," Meng Li was in no hurry to "consume" her, as the timing wasn't quite right yet.

After the two of them tidied themselves up, they headed to the main hall together. On the way, they ran into A Zhu, who had finished settling in Mei Jian and Zhu Jian, but A Zi was nowhere to be seen.

A Bi and A Zhu had stayed by Meng Li's side since they were young and had an excellent relationship, knowing each other's positions well. Now that she had taken a step further with Meng Li and made substantial progress, she felt inexplicably guilty facing A Zhu, fearing that what had just happened would be noticed by the other woman.

Thus, after exchanging greetings, she took the initiative to start a conversation: "Sister A Zhu, why didn't A Zi come along?"

A Zhu replied, "She went to Manda Mountain Villa to find the Cousin Miss."

"I see." A Bi realized, but then seemed to remember something and asked in confusion, "Speaking of which, A Zi seems to go find the Cousin Miss quite often."

"Yeah," A Zhu echoed with a slightly depressed expression, then added with a hint of jealousy, "If I didn't know better, I'd think the Cousin Miss was her real sister."

These words made A Bi cover her mouth and chuckle softly.

Meng Li also smiled faintly, thinking to himself: You're right, Yu Yan really is her sister! It's just that your relationship with her isn't as close as yours is to her.

At the same time, he had a vague guess about why A Zi was getting close to Wang Yuyan: it was likely because she saw that Wang Yuyan had a high status and was learning Martial Arts well, so she wanted to curry favor. This girl had been out in the world before and had even been Ding Chunqiu's disciple; assessing the situation and clinging to powerful people were basic maneuvers for her.

Even after he had given her a beating before, she still called him "Young Master Master" with every breath.

With that topic finished, the group arrived at the main hall.

Meng Li began to inquire about the situation at Canhe Village during this period, and A Zhu and A Bi answered one by one.

After finishing many affairs, A Bi suddenly said, "By the way, Young Master, Fourth Brother Feng's marriage has been settled."

Meng Li was stunned for a moment, and it took a bit of thinking before he remembered.

When he first had his Awakening of memories and gave up the idea of restoring the kingdom, it was naturally impossible for him to take Bao Butong and Feng Boe to stir up trouble like in the original story. But both of them were restless souls; to keep them settled, he decided to give them more responsibilities.

Since the great cause of restoration was canceled, and the small business of wealth only needed normal management to be maintained, there weren't many burdens to add in terms of career building.

Therefore, Meng Li chose to start with the matter of "starting a family."

In fact, Murong Bo had also put in some effort on this matter before.

After all, once a man starts a family, he has a weakness and is easier to control.

The plan to start a family went very smoothly for Bao Butong; not only had he already married a wife, but he also had a daughter named 'Bao Buling.'

The name was given by Bao Butong.

The reason he gave his daughter such a name was that he had confidence in his own genes and felt his daughter would surely look like him when she grew up. Since he was aware of his own appearance, he knew that in this case, his daughter would definitely not be pretty.

When Meng Li heard this explanation at the time, he felt it was full of points to criticize but didn't know how to voice them.

However, looking at the current situation, Bao Butong was indeed right.

His daughter, Bao Buling, was over five years old this year and looked very much like Bao Butong; she could not be called pretty.

Furthermore, the little girl's personality was also like Bao Butong's; she loved to argue, and at such a young age, she often argued back and forth with her own father.

Bao Butong, however, cherished her dearly; it was a mix of happiness and frustration, and the burden of family was well and truly established on him.

But there were some problems on Feng Boe's side.

Feng Boe was a fighting enthusiast, and when looking for a wife, he also wanted to find someone who liked to fight.

The problem was that while there were many heroines in the Jianghu nowadays, there were very few who liked to fight for no reason.

This matter of marriage couldn't be forced.

So, Meng Li had to temporarily set it aside and let A Bi and A Zhu help keep an eye out.

Now hearing A Bi say that Feng Boe's marriage was settled, Meng Li couldn't help but be curious: "Which family's girl is it?"

A Bi replied, "The Young Miss of the Wang family from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency."

A Zhu was also aware of this and further explained, "To be precise, she is the Young Escort Chief. It's said she's loved brandishing swords and spears since childhood. After achieving some success in her practice, she followed Chief Wang on escort missions, traveling far and wide. She's a 'woman who doesn't yield to men,' having challenged many experts, and her martial skills are quite formidable."

"Not long ago, during an escort mission, she encountered mountain bandits and was being overpowered when she was rescued by Fourth Brother Feng, who was there to suppress the bandits."

"After meeting a few times later, they hit it off."

Meng Li was speechless.

This Zhenyuan Escort Agency was the largest escort agency in Suzhou, and the Wang family in charge was related to the Wang family where Wang Yuyan lived.

If Feng Boe married that Miss Wang, it would, to some extent, be keeping the 'fertile water within one's own fields.'

Meng Li was happy to see it happen and smiled, "Since the two are in love, has a matchmaker been sent to propose?"

A Bi replied with a smile, "Naturally. Originally, the wedding date was about to be set, but Fourth Brother Feng knew you weren't here and wanted to wait until you returned to discuss it."

Meng Li chuckled, "In that case, I've actually delayed things."

Just as he finished speaking, a servant suddenly came to report that Feng Boe and Bao Butong had arrived.

A Zhu's eyes darted around as she smiled and concluded, "They must be here for the wedding."

Meng Li and A Bi felt the same way.

Soon, Feng Boe and Bao Butong walked in.

The two first paid their respects to Meng Li and then began to report on the recent situations of Xuan Shuang Village and Jin Feng Village.

After the official business was finished, Feng Boe spoke about his marriage with a hint of bashfulness, saying the wedding date had just been set and inviting Meng Li, A Zhu, and A Bi to the wedding feast.

The three of them readily agreed.

Afterward, Feng Boe and Bao Butong chatted for a few more sentences before taking their leave.

Once the two had left, Meng Li, seeing he had nothing else to do, took A Bi and A Zhu to the garden to test their progress in Martial Arts.

Just as he finished the test, Wang Yuyan arrived.

Meng Li was a little surprised by her arrival, but not very.

Ever since Wang Yuyan became successful in her martial training, the servants and strongwomen of Manda Mountain Villa could no longer keep an eye on her.

As such, she often slipped out of Manda Mountain Villa alone to find him at Canhe Village.

Li Qingluo usually had to handle the Wang family's affairs, and since she didn't want to make Meng Li unhappy because of this, she simply turned a blind eye.

Slowly, Wang Yuyan changed from a good girl who stayed deep in her quarters to a "wild" girl who often wasn't at home.

However, at this moment, the "wild" girl's expression held a hint of bashfulness. After calling Meng Li "Cousin," she hesitated to speak.

Meng Li immediately knew she had something she wanted to say to him alone.

A Bi and A Zhu also noticed this and couldn't help but be curious, but they were discerning enough to find an excuse to leave.

A Zi wanted to stay, but she was forcibly taken away by A Zhu.

Before long, only Meng Li and Wang Yuyan remained in the garden.

"You can say it now, right?" Meng Li asked Wang Yuyan with a smile.

Wang Yuyan glanced at him, her cheeks turning slightly red as she lowered her gaze and whispered, "I heard Fourth Brother Feng is getting married..."

She stopped halfway, leaving Meng Li a bit confused for a moment.

Therefore, he could only follow her lead and say, "Yes, he just came to tell me about it and invited me to the wedding feast. Is there any problem with that?"

Seeing that Meng Li hadn't grasped her meaning, Wang Yuyan couldn't help but stomp her foot. Then, with shyness, she extended her pinky finger in a pinky-swear gesture.

Meng Li: "??"

Meng Li: "!!"

...