126 Lin Feng is strange (Part 1)

"Xiaofang, aren't you going back today?"

Riding a pig halfway up the mountain, Shen Tang was uncomfortably exposed to the sun. She turned around steadily on the pig's back, switching from riding forward to riding backward. Spotting Zhai Le, she suddenly found a topic to chat about and teasingly crossed her legs.

"I thought your cousin would set a curfew for you."

Zhai Le was both amused and confused.

"Curfew? Why would there be a curfew?"

Qi Shan, hearing the noise, turned his head to look and indeed saw Shen Tang sitting strangely—riding backward on the pig with her legs crossed, not afraid of the pig suddenly jolting. He quietly reminded her, "What kind of sitting posture is that? Youli, sit properly!"

Shen Tang looked up at him, smiling and fishing for praise.

"I've been sitting just fine. Hehe, impressive, right?"

Even she was amazed at her own balance.

Qi Shan: "..."

Shen Tang's few words rendered Qi Shan speechless. Feeling victorious, she continued chatting with Zhai Le: "Of course, it's because you're so young."

What brother would feel at ease letting such a young sibling spend the night outside, especially in a bandit-infested mountain where birds don't lay eggs and chickens don't lay nests, with packs of wild wolves serenading them to sleep? If it were Shen Tang, she certainly wouldn't be at ease.

Zhai Le was speechless, while Qi Shan burst out laughing.

An eleven or twelve-year-old, using a mature tone to tell an already grown-up boy "you're still young," was indeed amusing.

Zhai Le pouted, "Brother Shen, I'm not young anymore."

"You say you're not young?"

But no matter how you looked at him, he still seemed like a high school student.

Zhai Le patted his chest, "Of course not, my classmates around my age already have one or two kids."

In Zhai Le's mind, he was already a man.

A man doesn't need a curfew.

He's already grown, even if thrown onto a battlefield, he wouldn't die. Xiaocheng really didn't have anything that could threaten his life, so his cousin naturally wouldn't worry.

Worrying about him was less important than worrying about his enemies having no one to collect their bodies.

Shen Tang: "..."

A sophomore or junior in high school...

A father of one or two kids???

She couldn't reconcile these two identities.

In fact, most warriors mature faster than their peers. Zhai Le looking his actual age was thanks to his youthful face. If his family weren't so picky about his marriage, he probably would already be married.

Talking about this topic piqued Zhai Le's curiosity.

"Brother Shen, what kind of wife do you like?"

Shen Tang: "…Why do I have to like a wife???"

Can't she like a man instead?

Zhai Le laughed heartily, "Of course, to have someone to play with you! That would be great! My dad and mom say the same thing. It's just a pity that the girls they pick are too gentle and quiet. I feel like I can't have fun with them. Sigh, I wanted to ask them to find someone who can fight, but I was too embarrassed to say it…"

Qi Shan: "…"

Li Li: "…"

Shen Tang: "…Find someone who can fight to play with you?"

Wow, would it be a daily martial arts performance?

"Yeah, yeah, but it's really hard to find such noble girls. I like archery, hunting, and martial arts, but my future wife likes poetry, painting, and embroidery. We just can't get along." Zhai Le put on an experienced look and said, "Getting along is very important."

"…Although I sympathize with you, even if a girl has great martial skills, she can't withstand a single move from you without a literary heart and martial courage, right?"

One careless move, and it would make headlines.

Upon hearing this, the smile on Zhai Le's face gradually faded, and he said regretfully, "True, why can't girls have a literary heart and martial courage?"

It was like he was asking himself and Shen Tang.

Li Li's eyelids twitched, and finally, there was a ripple in his previously calm eyes. This question puzzled not only Zhai Le but also many women around the world who, in their dreams, would question indignantly—why can't women have a literary heart and martial courage?

If only they could—

Maybe things wouldn't have been so helpless back then.

The poison spider, seen as arrogant and promiscuous by outsiders, had a completely different face in his memory.

The most vivid memory he had was of her holding him, angrily and unwillingly questioning why women couldn't do it.

If she had a literary heart, who could manipulate her?

"Brother, I just want to keep a favorite male lover."

"Your favorite? A slave? Shameful!"

"He's not a husband, what's shameful about it?"

"Being involved with him is shameful! He's not even as good as the servants who clean the toilets in the back yard, what do you see in him? His tall stature, good looks, skills in bed? If that's all, I'll introduce you to some officers from the Four Treasures County…"

"Brother!"

"You used to cry and make a fuss, and brother always gave in, but this person really won't do. You can keep him for fun, but don't take it seriously! Think about your other suitors out there. If they find out they're being compared to this, it won't work! No means no!"

As the person involved, Li Li had no right to intervene, but he knew very well the outcome of this sibling struggle—

Unsurprisingly, the widow living in her brother's mansion had no right to say "no" to the brother who granted her privileges.

Especially when her brother issued the final ultimatum—

With Li Li, he was no longer her brother.

All Li Li could do was voluntarily leave.

Just like the painting—he was depicted caring for a rare, exceptional double peony. Though he seemed to take good care of the flower in the painting, everyone knew that once removed from that soil and that pot, it would wither under the wind and rain outside.

Li Li was lost in his own world when he vaguely heard Shen Tang's voice nearby. She said, "I think… it's possible that women can't have a literary heart and martial courage not because of their bodies, but because of who holds the national seal. How did the first batch of literary and martial hearts come about? The monarch held the national seal, and ministers were awarded literary and martial fortune based on their merits, forcibly condensing them…"

Zhai Le found this idea novel, but quickly identified a flaw. He said, "Women can't sense the energy of heaven and earth. Actually, they can feel it, but they can't retain it in their bodies, nor can they develop their inner palace…"

This is the real reason why they can't condense a literary or martial heart.

If they could retain it, they could condense it.

So, it is generally believed to be a problem with the female body.

Shen Tang: "…"

She had something to say but wasn't sure if she should.

She herself was a woman!

Too bad she couldn't say it.

Shen Tang was also curious about why she had a literary heart.

Could it really be that the god of transmigration saw her hellish start and decided to give her a cheat? She felt it couldn't be that simple, there must be something she didn't know.

At this moment, Qi Shan joined the conversation: "Young Master Shen's guess isn't without reason. During my travels, I've heard similar theories. They said to verify this, a country would need a female ruler, with female officials in the court, and finally, if they are bestowed with literary and martial fortune, see if they can condense a literary heart… However, that's clearly impossible."