Chapter 36: Wen Zhibai – She is very ‘manly’ and doesn’t want to be a female-dominant woman, instead…

In the next half month, Meng Huan really couldn’t move at all while lying in bed. As long as he moved slightly, he could feel a dull pain in his lower abdomen, and his whole body would start feeling unwell.

Actually, although he had become very fragile due to the previous incident, he wasn’t so fragile that he would miscarry from a pat.

It could only be said that he was unlucky, and the angle of the pat was too precise, resulting in the current situation.

Half a month later, he could finally get out of bed and walk around to get some fresh air.

The weather had already turned hot, but Wen Xi was afraid he would catch a cold. Coupled with the physician’s instructions, he had to wear a headband and a cloak when going out.

To be honest, the body Meng Huan’s soul had transmigrated into had a good appearance. With a gem-inlaid headband, a cloak with flowing cloud patterns, and a brown exquisite hand warmer in his arms, he stunned a crowd of people when he walked out the door.

Now Wen Xi felt that a word was very suitable for his young master – noble.

He didn’t resemble those men from merchant families, each adorned with gold and silver, looking so vulgar. His young master’s nobility was absolutely genuine.

Just looking at him made people feel a commanding presence, especially when standing together with the family head, they were a perfect match.

Wen Zhaoyin couldn’t help but take a few more glances at the refreshed Meng Huan. His attire today was glamorous but not vulgar, beautiful and flamboyant, completely different from his usual casual outfits.

She leaned closer to him and could even smell the fragrance he had been scented with.

“Actually, the residence not only has cranes and fish but also a special creature.”

As they walked slowly, she continued, “The year the Wen family moved into the residence, they found animal carcasses everywhere. They had the guards collect them, but one could hold its breath underwater. When someone approached, it suddenly sprang up and bit them.”

“That beast killed two guards of the residence. Originally, they wanted to slaughter it, but someone said it was the only one of its kind. Wouldn’t killing it cause its lineage to end? Father decided to keep it and has raised it in a cage ever since.”

Meng Huan didn’t know the Wen family had such a fierce beast. After hearing this, he felt somewhat familiar but couldn’t recall what it was, so he could only continue walking with her.

The physician suggested he go out for a walk. It just so happened that Wen Zhaoyin was free at home, so she said she would take him to see things he normally couldn’t see.

She accommodated his pace, always moving slowly, and would appropriately stop to rest for a while, dedicated to not tiring him out.

Meng Huan didn’t notice her care and only felt that the path was particularly long today, seemingly endless no matter how far they walked.

After walking for a while, the two of them, along with a group of servants, finally arrived at that secluded garden. The huge iron cage became the most eye-catching existence, visible with just a glance.

Half of the iron cage was submerged in water, and half was on shore, encircling a sizable area tightly.

The iron cage also looked quite old, with yellow rust stains all over it, giving it a sense of dilapidation.

“Where is that killer?” Meng Huan craned his neck to look ahead, but the water surface was exceptionally calm, and he couldn’t see anything.

Could it be that this fellow knew he was coming to see it, so it died in advance?

Not knowing what he was thinking, Wen Zhaoyin waved her hand to summon Pei Lan and instructed, “Take the prepared meat to feed it.”

Pei Lan responded and brought two large bamboo baskets from the back, placing them in front of the two and displaying them. Inside were some cleaned chickens and chopped chunks of raw meat.

Based on Meng Huan’s observation, the chunks should be pork.

Wen Zhaoyin said to Pei Lan, “You go feed it, be careful.”

“Let me feed it! Cousin, let me feed it!” Suddenly, a female voice came from the distance. Everyone subconsciously turned to look and saw a pale and sickly woman being supported as she walked towards them.

She walked quite fast and quickly arrived in front of everyone. She first paid her respects to Wen Zhaoyin. “Cousin, I was just thinking about Du Miao and didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Wen Zhaoyin quickly raised her hand to have someone bring chairs from the distant pavilion and said, “Just out for a walk. I didn’t expect that after so many years, you still think about it. You and that beast can be considered to have a bond.”

That’s right, the one who had persuaded her back then, saying that slaughtering it would cause its species to go extinct, was none other than the sickly woman in front of her, her cousin from her aunt’s family, Wen Zhibai.

Her aunt was the legitimate youngest daughter of another branch of the Wen family. However, like her, she wanted to pursue a literary path and was not on good terms with others in the family. She found a man she liked and got married, living separately.

But her aunt wasn’t as lucky as her. Her official career was extremely unfavorable. Coupled with the fact that the current empress valued martial arts over literature, and her own lack of ability and mistakes, she was either being demoted or on the way to being demoted, causing even her only daughter to be in poor health due to the hardships.

Finally, this spring, her aunt passed away on the way to being demoted, and her uncle followed. Only this sickly cousin was left in the world.

When Wen Zhaoyin heard about this, she brought Wen Zhibai to stay at the residence for a while, encouraging her to take the imperial examinations this year. If she passed, it would at least give her a way out in the future.

“Cough, cough, cough. Back then, I just felt sorry for that beast. If it hadn’t been kept by a corrupt official for its skin, it wouldn’t have lashed out and hurt people. I’m sure hurting people wasn’t its intention.”

“Moreover, that beast is like me. I don’t know how much longer I can survive. Seeing it reminds me of my own sick body, and I can’t help but empathize with it.”

Wen Zhibai’s gaze seemed to sweep over Meng Huan unintentionally, hiding the fleeting amazement in her eyes, and then asked, “Cousin, who is this…?”

Wen Zhaoyin smiled and embraced Meng Huan, not saying anything, but perceptive people all knew that everything was understood without words.

Wen Zhibai smiled, the redness rising on her pale little face as she smiled, no longer looking as sickly as before, but rather having a delicate beauty like a man.

“So it’s cousin’s husband. Zhibai greets Young Master!”

Meng Huan was a bit uncomfortable with how she addressed him. This was the first time he had seen such a ‘manly’ woman in this female-dominant world. At first glance and from their brief interaction, she gave him a feeling similar to modern women.

If he didn’t speak, no one would find it strange. After all, men were usually shy and timid, and the separation between men and women existed even among relatives. His silence was automatically classified as normal behavior.

Wen Zhibai smiled and nodded at him, then had the person beside her pick up the basket with the chickens and walk towards the iron cage.

It seemed that the beast could sense the arrival of a long-lost acquaintance. Ripples began to appear on the water surface. Meng Huan focused his gaze on the center of the ripples and subconsciously covered his mouth, exclaiming in surprise, “Oh my god!”

The creature swimming in the water, wasn’t it a crocodile?! Were the corrupt officials in ancient times this wild? Keeping crocodiles for their skin, that was truly ruthless.

Wen Zhaoyin quickly held him tighter and whispered in his ear to reassure him, “Don’t be afraid, the iron cage is very sturdy. That beast won’t come out and hurt anyone.”

“Moreover, it seems to have reached its twilight years recently and doesn’t like to move much. It only appears during feeding and quietly floats in the water after eating the meat.”

Indeed, just as she said, after Wen Zhibai and the servant walked in, they started throwing the chickens rapidly. The crocodile bit onto them and frantically spun in the water. After finishing, it indeed quieted down.

This scene left Meng Huan staring in amazement. He really didn’t expect that one day, without watching an animal documentary, he would be able to see a crocodile up close like this.

Wen Zhaoyin thought he was scared and slowly stepped back while holding him. “That beast is just a bit ferocious when eating. If you’re scared, let’s go back…”

Her suggestion had just been made when Meng Huan directly shook his head. “No, no, I’m not afraid. I want to stand here and watch for a while longer.”

If he was asked to approach the cage like Wen Zhibai, he really didn’t have the courage.

Because he knew best how ferocious crocodiles were. This one might just be too lazy, having been kept and not worrying about food or drink, so it didn’t hurt anyone. Normal wild crocodiles were quite formidable.

But although he didn’t dare to get close, he was very bold in watching from a distance.

The two people over there continued feeding. Meng Huan turned his face to ask Wen Zhaoyin, “You all call it ‘that beast’, ‘that beast’. That can’t be its name, right?”

Wen Zhaoyin blinked and looked at him, not expecting him to ask a question. After thinking for a moment, she replied, “That beast is called Tuo Long.”

“Back when the corrupt official was investigated, there was also a clause saying she privately raised a dragon, implying she was keeping a husband. But the empress didn’t care much about these things and let me handle it myself.”

Raising dragons in ancient times was not a good thing. Although the most revered belief in the female-dominant world was the phoenix, dragons were also only slightly inferior to phoenixes.

The phoenix represents the empress, while the dragon symbolizes the empress’s husband.

Meng Huan sighed, “She’s quite bold.”

Over there, Wen Zhibai and the servant had finished feeding the basket of chickens. The crocodile seemed to be full. Seeing people leave, it sank into the water, leaving only its nose motionless on the surface.

After all, this thing was just an animal. Watching it for a long time wasn’t very interesting. After consulting Meng Huan, Wen Zhaoyin called out to Wen Zhibai to go for a walk elsewhere together.

Wen Zhibai said that men and women should be separate and bid farewell after a short while to return to her residence, allowing the couple to continue strolling.

Meng Huan waited until she was far away before asking Wen Zhaoyin about Wen Zhibai’s situation.

He didn’t have any specific purpose; he was just a bit bored walking on the road, so he asked casually.

But after Wen Zhaoyin finished speaking, he felt some sympathy, sighing at how Wen Zhaoyin’s aunt had wasted her life and how lonely and helpless Wen Zhibai was.

He didn’t know why, perhaps because of his pregnancy, he was starting to become a bit emotional.

Wen Zhaoyin said with certainty, “My cousin has exceptional talent. Although her health is poor, she has a determined will. In the future, she will definitely have her own revenge.”

This was the real reason she brought her over.

If that person were useless, bringing her over would be pointless and might even have the opposite effect sometimes, so it would be better to provide regular assistance directly.

But Wen Zhibai was a very hardworking person, and from what Wen Zhaoyin had seen, Wen Zhibai was very intelligent and an excellent candidate for entering officialdom. It would be a pity not to bring her over and cultivate her for a while.

“My cousin will be staying at the residence for over two months. You may encounter her in daily life. You don’t need to feel awkward; just speak normally.”

Meng Huan thought to himself that he had never felt awkward in front of a girl before, let alone Wen Zhibai, who seemed to be soft-tempered and easy to talk to. Speaking normally was not a problem at all.

“Don’t worry, you know me well.”

Wen Zhaoyin nodded and smiled. Although Meng Huan came from a small household, he didn’t have the awkwardness of those men from small households. Actually, it was quite good. Not to mention how he was usually, at least he could be presentable when receiving guests.

The two walked for a while longer, and then she said she had to go back to handle official documents.

Meng Huan felt he hadn’t walked enough, but due to his physical condition, he couldn’t keep walking all the time. He had no choice but to follow her back to rest.