Dawn broke, and the sky outside the window gradually brightened.
In the quiet Dai Marquis Residence, the bed curtains hung low, with two people breathing softly within. In the outer room lay two Foxes, one large and one small, squeezed together and sleeping with long, even breaths.
Suddenly, a faint sound came from within. The Little Fox, lying in the corner of the outer room, twitched her ears and was about to rise, only to be pinned down by Big Fox's paw, half-crushed beneath him as he continued sleeping soundly.
"Squeak, squeak!" The Little Fox was pressed so flat she was nearly a spread-out meat pie, and she cried out angrily twice.
"Squeak, squeak." Big Fox was sleeping deeply. Hearing the annoying cries, he muttered twice and sank back into sleep. Yet he would occasionally be gripped by nightmares. Hearing Big Fox whimper mournfully again, the Little Fox finally softened her heart and let him cling tightly to her, sighing helplessly.
In the inner room, Su Ziji suddenly sat upright, startling both the Little Fox and Ye Buhui awake.
"Provincial Graduate?" Ye Buhui looked at him carefully and found his gaze vacant, his complexion poor, as though he had had a nightmare and had yet to recover his senses.
Ye Buhui was alarmed. "Why did you get up so suddenly? You must be hungry, right? Shall I have someone come in to help you wash up?"
Only then did Su Ziji answer vaguely. Ye Buhui called toward the outer room, and the servant girls and older maids keeping watch through the night immediately entered.
"Bring in hot towels and hot water. Also, have the kitchen bring over the porridge that has been kept warm. Once my lord has washed up, I will serve him his meal."
As the Marquis of