Hu Xiaotian arrived at the Chengen Residence and found Quan Dean standing in the courtyard in a gray cloak that was neither new nor particularly old. A black falcon perched on his left arm, and he was feeding it fresh meat with his right hand. Qiqi, who had arrived ahead of him, was nowhere to be seen.
Hu Xiaotian beamed. "Little Hu is here to pay his New Year's respects, Eunuch Quan! May your year begin with good fortune, may you rise higher at every step, and may you enjoy good health and live to a hundred!"
Quan Dean's two white brows drew together in an inverted V. Even when his face showed a smile, it looked exceedingly strange. He stuffed another strip of fresh meat into the falcon's beak, then shook his left arm. The falcon took flight with a flurry of wings. Hu Xiaotian looked up and watched it circle once above the Chengen Residence before suddenly soaring southward into the sky, vanishing beyond the horizon like a bolt of black lightning.
"What a magnificent hawk!" Hu Xiaotian praised.
Quan Dean gave a dry chuckle, his slightly stooped back bending still further. "Rise."
Hu Xiaotian straightened, and Quan Dean handed him the Fortune Pouch he had prepared. Hu Xiaotian tried to strike up a friendly conversation. "When did you start keeping a pet, Eunuch Quan?"
Quan Dean smiled and spoke with a double meaning. "These days, keeping a pet is more reliable than keeping a person. Feed these beasts meat, and at least they know to be grateful. There's no danger of being betrayed."
How could Hu Xiaotian fail to hear the mockery in his words? He chuckled along, inwardly cursing him. *You're the old beast! You wronged me first. That business at the Bright Moon Palace nearly