No one knew what Shen Gongbao had said to Bi'an. Felines had a language system all their own, after all.
In any case, Bi'an withdrew.
If Bi'an had been a little smaller, Zi Shou would not have minded keeping him in the palace as a cat to pet. No one would know, anyway, and he could even take advantage of a feline's instinct to knead and have him knead his back. He was bound to pack plenty of force into those paws.
But Bi'an was not only huge; he was also a divine beast and an auspicious one at that. He had to be chased off at once!
The tiger-head decorations on prison gates in later ages were images of Bi'an, but he wanted to hang on the doors of Zi Shou's Ministry of Punishments hall? Sorry, there was literally no door open to that.
This was the happiest moment of Zi Shou's entire day. He felt he had finally resolved a crisis.
Still, Xuandu had taken the alias Ghost Valley Master, Gao Lanying went by the nickname Gao San, and Ao Bing and Ao Lie had both changed their surname to Li to hide their identities. Putting on disguises and opening alternate accounts was nothing new in Great Shang.
A few days later, a young man named Bi An appeared at old Bi Gan's estate outside the city. He was reportedly a distant nephew who had come specifically to seek refuge with him.
In fact, Bi Gan's surname was not Bi. Like Zi Shou, his surname was Zi, and his name was Zi Gan. He was only called Bi Gan because his fief was in Bi.
But that was no issue. The Bi clan of later ages all revered Bi Gan as the founding ancestor from whom they took