The Tangs, along with Feng Tianyi and Song Fengyan, had already started their lunch when Li Yuanyi arrived at Peach Blossom Garden. The man had a deep scowl on his face as he angrily took a seat across Feng Tianyi, who was blatantly ignoring him, in favor of the empress seating next to him.

  How irritating! Imagine his surprise when he received a bill this morning under his name, being charged with a hefty amount of money, from Royal Crown Hotel. It was only then that he realized that the devil had instead brought Meng Yanran back from wherever her hiding hole was!

  This wasn't part of their deal, right? He remembered that he had only sought the devil's service to locate Meng Yanran, not to bring her back to Shenzhen!

  "Young Master Li, aren't you going to eat? Is the food not into your liking?" The devil finally regarded him with a smile.

  Looking at Feng Tianyi, then at the empress, Li Yuanyi had no choice but to pick up a pair of chopsticks and start to eat. He didn't think that the devil would want to discuss his issues with Meng Yanran in front of the empress's children.

  Li Yuanyi felt a bit awkward seeing the devil being affectionate with Tang Moyu. He didn't think that the devil would have a romantic streak in him. Turns out, he was totally whipped by the empress.

  Thinking about it, Li Yuanyi thought that it was only appropriate for Feng Tianyi to be with a woman who could put him in place. Considering how overbearing and domineering the empress was, there was no doubt that Tang Moyu wouldn't easily succ.u.mb to every whim of the devil.

  Once they were done with lunch, the four a.d.u.l.ts moved to the gazebo to talk about Meng Yanran while the little buns busied themselves playing in the garden with Hunter.

  "Explain this to me, Feng Tianyi!" Li Yuanyi slapped the bill he received that morning on top of the table while the devil was busy brewing tea for them.

  "Explain what?" Feng Tianyi raised a brow before eyeing the hotel bill that Li Yuanyi showed them. "Oh, that. Of course I would need to earn something from this deal, right? Young Master Li, in case you are forgetting, I'm running a business here, not a charity."

  Li Yuanyi narrowed his eyes on the devil. Indeed, he was running a business. A very shady business on top of that!

  "Really? You are charging me 1.2 million for Meng Yanran's stay at your hotel? Feng Tianyi, I underestimated you!"

  "Pfft." Song Fengyan tried to contain his laughter, but it was hard not to laugh at Li Yuanyi's sour expression. The Young Master of the Li family should have known how the devil ran his business. It never comes with a cheap price. Most importantly, Feng Tianyi would try to squeeze the maximum profit he could get from every deal.

  Tang Moyu gave Feng Tianyi a questioning look, but he only shrugged it off. Ah, so this was why he told her not to worry about Meng Yanran's living expenses for the next two weeks. It's because he had been planning to charge it on Li Yuanyi's tab.

  Sneaky bastard. No wonder Li Meili's older brother was fuming mad right now.

  "Now, now. You don't have to be mad about it. Listen to what I have to say first. Moyu and I brought her here back to Shenzhen for a reason." Feng Tianyi defended himself. He then continued to explain Meng Yanran's situation when he and Tang Moyu met her during their short trip, which was originally meant to observe her.

  Li Yuanyi fell silent as he thought about it. He didn't expect that Meng Yanran would allow herself to swallow her pride and run away determinedly. It was only natural for the empress to do such a thing to help Meng Yanran in her dire state.

  If he could, he would go wherever she was and would save her himself. Alas, Meng Yanran possibly wasn't aware of his existence.

  "You get my point, right?" Feng Tianyi questioned him. "If Moyu and I haven't found her in time, could you imagine what could happen to her in a foreign place, where no one knew her?"

  Young Master Li couldn't refute any of it. Since he was the one who asked the devil to locate Meng Yanran, he was the one who should shoulder the expenses of her return.

  "She's only staying here for two weeks. She will be flying to Mengyin to start working in our company." Feng Tianyi informed him.

  Li Yuanyi couldn't believe his ears. What? Meng Yanran was going to work to support herself? A former heiress of a jewelry company like her had accepted the job offered to her by the empress?

  "But why?" He asked before realizing that he had no right to question Meng Yanran's decision. Maybe this was for the better.

  Meng Yanran should learn how to stand up on her feet and support herself. No one would be able to hurt her if she learned how to fend for herself. Li Yuanyi glanced at the empress, who was now busy sipping her warm tea.

  If Meng Yanran could learn how to take care of herself like the empress, even if just a little, that would be enough for Li Yuanyi. It didn't matter if Meng Yanran didn't know about him, so long as she would be fine on her own.

  "Fine." Li Yuanyi had no other choice but to suck it all up and deal with it. Since he was the stupid one who approached the devil, he could only blame himself for his foolishness.