Xue Pingyuan sighed, glanced at the little kitten gazing pitifully up at him, and looked away as if to say there was nothing he could do.
"Your Highness, if you need my help with anything on your trip to Lingnan, please say the word. As long as it is within my power, I will lend you my assistance."
The Crown Prince looked directly at him, seemingly sizing him up, though there was little scrutiny in his eyes. His languid, aristocratic air made it seem as though Xue Pingyuan's words had passed him by entirely.
In one ear and out the other.
"Thank you for your kindness, General Xue."
"Your Highness, did Yangyang scratch you?"
Xue Pingyuan noticed several faint scratches on the Crown Prince's arm and asked with some trepidation. This little terror was far too bold.
No sooner had he asked than Xue Pingyuan felt he might have overstepped. He hastily corrected himself. "Oh, Your Highness, his name is Yangyang, isn't it?"
The Crown Prince nodded slightly, his elegant hand stroking the soft, snowy fur. Anyone watching closely would have noticed that, whether deliberately or not, he avoided the area around the wounds.
Having asked what he needed to, Xue Pingyuan could only let the Crown Prince leave. He watched the little kitten being carried farther and farther away.
A nearby official leaned over curiously and asked, "General Xue, you seem to know the kitten His Highness is holding?"
Xue Pingyuan snorted. "His Highness's cat? How would I know him?"
The official immediately looked as though he had swallowed a fly.
Damn you, Xue Pingyuan! Don't think you can order everyone around just because you're someone important!
Sooner or later, you'll be the ruin of the Xue family!
After cursing him inwardly, the official flicked his sleeves and left, his face livid.
Back at the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince ordered the maids to bring out a cat wand and a toy ball. Reclining on a chaise longue, he tethered the kitten, picked up the "toys," and began teasing him.
At first, Shen Yangge refused to indulge him. Then he noticed that the cat wand was made of pure gold, and even the feathers attached to it had been plucked from a phoenix.
Suddenly, he felt that playing a little might not be so bad. Most importantly, he was a cat now, and playing was a cat's nature. Besides, as far as the feline world was concerned, that wand already belonged to him.
Once he became human again, he would swipe it.
Shen Yangge kicked his little legs as he played. The Crown Prince held the wand languidly, his eyes half-closed. From a distance, he looked asleep.
"Meow, meow, meow."
[-I'm done. I'm exhausted.]
Shen Yangge lay on the floor, unmoved no matter how the wand swung back and forth.
"Get up."
[-No.]
"No?"
The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes and withdrew the wand, his voice thick with menace. "Then you shall sleep outside my bedchamber tonight."
[-Couldn't ask for anything better!]
[-I was just wondering when I could leave this place.]
Yet the Crown Prince's next words instantly crushed Shen Yangge's newfound delight.
The Crown Prince said, "You are my cat. To keep you from running about, I ought to tether you by the door."
[-Tether my ass! I'm not a fucking dog.]
[-You damned * Crown Prince! May your children be born without assholes!]
For all his cursing, Shen Yangge slowly got up off the floor. He meowed twice, found a corner, and lay down. He couldn't guarantee that one or two more provocations wouldn't make him snap and fight the Crown Prince to the bitter end.
Fortunately, the Crown Prince did nothing else utterly inhumane, and Shen Yangge spent a thoroughly "pleasant" afternoon. When dinner came and he saw none of those leafy green dishes, his feline eyes lit up.
This bastard had finally gotten over his heartbreak!
A real man should have ambitions beyond romance. How could he let love hold him back?
[-Besides, you'll have so many wives in the future. One fewer hardly makes a difference.]
[-Honestly, you're pretty damn lucky with women.]
Having finished his inward commentary, Shen Yangge was waiting for a feast of fish and meat when he discovered that the maids were removing the dishes placed before him.
"Meow, meow?"
What the hell? Where's the food?
Shen Yangge paced back and forth, repeatedly "passing by" the Crown Prince's dining table, trying to ask through his actions, "Why don't I have any dinner?"
The Crown Prince drank a bowl of fish soup, cast him an unruffled glance, then stopped looking at him.
[-What the fuck?]
[-You're not even going to feed me tonight?]
Shen Yangge's fur bristled. He arched his back and let out a disgruntled rumble, his tail striking the tabletop again and again. The Crown Prince's figure was reflected in his blue eyes.
"Meow, meow."
[-Fine! Then you don't get to eat either!]
Shen Yangge lunged, trying to knock over the bowl of fish-head soup in his hands.
He moved too quickly, and the Crown Prince reacted too swiftly. The soup spilled, a little of the scalding liquid landing on the kitten's back while most splashed onto the Crown Prince's hand.
The kitten screamed, rolling across the table with frantic meows. He accidentally pressed against the wounds on his back that had yet to heal fully and screamed again.
The Crown Prince frowned and set the soup down.
Ignoring the red scald marks on the back of his own hand, he picked up the kitten and took out a handkerchief to wipe his fur.
When he saw the reddened patches, he dampened the cloth with cool water and gently dabbed them.
"Meow, meow."
The kitten trembled. The Crown Prince gently squeezed his front paw. "It doesn't hurt anymore."
With that, he ordered the fish soup taken away.
The maid looked at the red scald marks on the back of the Crown Prince's hand, her heart pounding with fear. She thought to herself that this cat truly was blessed. He had been so rude to His Highness and yet hadn't been killed.
He still enjoyed His Highness's favor, just like the missing Lord Shen...
But why had His Highness turned everything upside down searching for news of Lord Shen a few days ago, only to stop searching after this cat appeared?
His Highness had also shed his former vicious, despondent demeanor and regained his usual aristocratic poise.
Was there something going on that she didn't know about?
The maid dared not dwell on it and hurriedly carried the fish soup away.
Shen Yangge's face twisted with pain, his blue feline eyes brimming with tears. Although he seethed at the Crown Prince, his little tail disobeyed him and curled around the prince's arm.
"Still going to make trouble?"
[-Crown Prince, you and I are sworn enemies!]
"Meow, meow."
System 615 watched the scene and sighed quietly.
[Host, for the sake of your life, please stop pushing your luck in front of the male lead. Otherwise, your feline life may be forfeit...]
Shen Yangge quietly retracted his outstretched claws. Torn between wanting to scratch someone and being unable to actually do it, he simply closed his eyes and played dead.
What he didn't know was that the moment he closed his eyes, a ripple disturbed the Crown Prince's unruffled expression.
"Yangyang?"
When his call drew no response, the Crown Prince's slightly furrowed brows knitted tightly together.
"Someone, summon the physician."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Shen Yangge was still wondering why a physician needed to be summoned. When Physician Liu arrived carrying his case and once again prepared to have the Crown Prince shave his fur, Shen Yangge finally understood what it meant to say: retribution wasn't absent-it simply hadn't arrived yet!
Before you continue