Of Course She Has a Maiden Family!

The Ye family's side courtyard enjoyed an excellent location and spanned a vast expanse. Su Xi held Li Qingchan's hand, softly inquiring about various matters, her gaze overflowing with gentle warmth. Ye Qing'er brought over tea and placed it before Li Qingchan with a smile. "Sister Chan'er, please have some tea." Li Qingchan was somewhat flattered and flustered as she took the teacup, whispering, "Thank you, Sister Qing'er." "I've long heard Ye Feng say his sister is brilliant and fair of face, and seeing you today, he certainly wasn't lying." Ye Qing'er covered her mouth and giggled, shooting Ye Feng a glance without exposing his bluff. Bowing gracefully, she smiled. "Thank you for the compliment, Sister Chan'er. Even though those don't sound like words my brother could ever string together, it's still wonderful to hear." Ye Qing'er then walked over to Xiao Chen, pinched him hard, and asked menacingly, "Did you go around flirting while you were away?" Xiao Chen straightened with a solemn face and hurriedly answered, "No! Absolutely not! I cultivated day and night in the Seventh Domain—I hardly even had time to drink!" Ye Qing'er glanced at Xiao Chen, her lovely eyes narrowing into a dangerous arc. "So there weren't waves of butterflies swarming toward you?" Xiao Chen was on the verge of tears. "They were all burly men... hardly any female cultivators at all..." "Even among the few who were, their age... ahem, only Second Brother could possibly..." Suddenly, with his back to the room, Xiao Chen felt a chill shoot straight up his spine! Shrinking his neck, Xiao Chen swallowed hard, grabbed Ye Qing'er's hand, and whispered, "Do we have healing medicine at home?" "If we do, prepare some for me..." Ye Qing'er pursed her lips, holding back laughter, and pulled Xiao Chen toward the inner courtyard. "Come on, I'll take you on a tour inside." Indeed, had she not whisked Xiao Chen away, Ye Feng would likely have struck. Li Qingchan smiled as she sipped her tea; the atmosphere here put her completely at ease. Before arriving, she had been terribly anxious about many things. Would Ye Feng's parents like her? Would his sister be hostile toward her? Would they... care about her age? Now it seemed she had worried over nothing. Ye Feng gave her a profound sense of security, and his family treated her with immense regard. "Child, our Feng'er tends to keep to himself. He often keeps things bottled up inside," Su Xi said softly, taking Li Qingchan's hand. "Auntie Su, I know." "It's good that you know. Feng'er has carried heavy thoughts since he was small." "But... as long as the two of you are together, trusting each other and loving each other," "even the world's greatest hardships will be nothing to fear." "Perhaps there will be times when he does things in front of others that seem hurtful to you, or fails to notice your feelings." "But you must believe that whatever he does, it is surely for your own good... and that is enough." Li Qingchan recalled the moments they had shared, smiling as she said, "Nothing like that has ever happened. He... always protects me." Su Xi looked at Ye Feng with gratification, her expression seeming to say, *So my son has grown into this kind of man.* Ye Feng scratched his head, embarrassed under Su Xi's gaze. "Mother, looking at me like that is embarrassing." The others burst into laughter. Afterward, Li Qingchan hesitated for a moment before gently inquiring, "Auntie Su, why haven't you asked about my Dao age or things like that?" Su Xi was slightly surprised. Her eyes curved with a smile, showing faint wrinkles at the corners. The gentle woman reached out affectionately to smooth a stray lock of hair by Li Qingchan's temple, her voice calm and soothing. "So what if your Dao age spans a millennium?" "If Feng'er himself has no objections, what right do we elders have to say anything?" "Besides, in the presence of genuine affection and love, what does Dao age amount to?" "The true test is the thousands and tens of thousands of years you spend loving one another afterward." Li Qingchan felt a profound surge of emotion; she had unexpectedly gained enlightenment from an ordinary woman. Indeed... Did lovers truly need to dwell on such trivialities? Ye Feng was filled with emotion as well. Without realizing it, he had already become an adult. An adult capable of deciding so many things and shouldering so much. Ye Feng spoke in a gentle voice, "Mother, why didn't you tell me about what was happening at home?" Su Xi smiled faintly. "Tell you for what?" "So you could come back and annihilate their two branches?" Ye Feng curled his lip, but didn't talk back. A glimmer of composed wisdom flashed in the woman's eyes. "As for me... my status now rises with my son's prominence." "Your father favors the other two branches, yet he dares not neglect me." "The other two houses can do no more than pull long faces at me." "Lay a hand on me?" Ye Feng's mother looked toward him, brimming with pride. "As long as my son lives, whether within the Ye family or under heaven itself, no one dares touch me, Su Xi." Ye Feng's chest rose and fell. In this moment, he felt that the meaning of his arduous cultivation had finally materialized in concrete form. Let towering waves crash against the shore; his mother could still sit steady as a mountain, all because he, Ye Feng, was here! Ye Feng narrowed his eyes. His ascension would likely not be far off. If so, he needed to make more plans and preparations for his mother and sister! Thinking of ascension, Ye Feng felt an indescribable emotion stirring in his heart. Eldest Brother was solitary, unburdened and free of attachments. Yet whether it was himself or Xiao Chen, the others still had kin living in the mortal world to varying degrees. If after ascending they could never return to the Human Spirit Realm, wouldn't they be parted forever? To this day, he had never seen an ascended cultivator return to the lower realm! Judging by the immortals who had descended from the Immortal Realm, the price one had to pay was astronomical. Thinking of this, Ye Feng looked up at Li Qingchan, musing inwardly, *Should we leave behind an heir?* *No, no... wouldn't that mean our child wouldn't see their parents from birth?* *Or... should I ask Gu Li to teach me the soul-splitting method to leave behind a clone? Hmm... that might actually work.* While Ye Feng was lost in his wild thoughts, Su Xi hesitated before speaking up once more. "Girl Chan'er, there is something I don't know how to ask." Li Qingchan said at once, "Auntie Su, whatever questions you have, please feel free to ask." A cautious look flickered across the woman's face. "Now that Guanqi is about to hold his grand wedding, younger brothers like Ye Feng don't have to wait on ceremony anymore." "It's just that I wonder... does Girl Chan'er still have any family left?" Ye Feng's expression changed slightly, and he quickly called out, "Mother!" A shadow of sorrow flitted across the depths of Li Qingchan's eyes... She had been manipulated from the shadows by Gu Xici for so many years; where could she still have any family? Yet right at that moment, Ye Feng's voice sounded softly beside her ear in comfort: "Don't worry, Chan'er. You have maiden kin." The words had barely left his mouth when hearty laughter echoed from outside the door. "Indeed she does—six brothers and sisters in total!" Li Guanqi and Meng Wanshu walked in arm in arm through the entrance. Beaming brightly, Li Guanqi looked at Su Xi, then bowed respectfully alongside Meng Wanshu. "Junior Li Guanqi, accompanied by my Dao companion Meng Wanshu, pays respects to Auntie Su." A look of pleasant surprise lit up Su Xi's eyes. She rose quickly and hurried toward Li Guanqi. "Oh my, after not seeing you for so many years, look how tall you've grown!" "Haha, Auntie Su, after all these years, you're as lovely and youthful as ever."