Whether others could see it clearly or not, Shen Hua didn’t know, but she herself certainly could.
Shen Hua lingered in the Marquis Yangling Mansion for several days.
She stared at the plate of pastries on the table.
The pastries diminished one by one. Cui Yun held a book, his movents graceful, making eating a feast for the eyes.
"These pastries aren’t to my taste."
Ji Qing: "I will give the order imdiately to replace the pastry chef."
Cui Yun nodded: "Mhm."
Shen Hua eyed him sideways, her craving unbearable.
If they’re not to your taste, you’ve almost eaten half the plate!
Shen Hua walked around Cui Yun in a circle.
"The book is upside down! And you dare to say I don’t read enough?"
As she was speaking, Shen Hua’s gaze fell on the subtle pattern of Cui Yun’s robe.
It was a pattern of auspicious clouds.
It was done with the even stitch embroidery technique of Su Embroidery. The stitches rose and fell without overlaying or showing the bottom, and the edges on both sides were as neat as if cut with a knife.
It employed alternating thick and thin threads as well as differing colors, with an overlaying needle technique. The stitches were ticulously disordered, with a sense of depth that was quite ingenious.
Shen Hua looked very closely.
Not just the embroidery technique, but even the fabric itself was of fine silk.
Shen Hua had witnessed the silk reeling process before, where silk threads were drawn from cocoons boiled in water, even finer than hairs, selected one by one, then dyed and set.
Yet, that alone was not enough.
It still had to go through sizing and degumming by pounding.
Weaving the silk fabric was even more intricate.
If the silk was adorned with exquisite embroidery, its value was imnse.
She did not notice the tension in Cui Yun’s body.
Ji Qing: "My lord, a few days ago, the ng Family sent an invitation asking you to join them for a lake tour. I inquired about it; they have invited quite a few scholars to engage in poetry and conversation. Students eager to make a na for themselves are scrambling to attend."
Cui Yun, attempting to ignore a faint dicinal scent, said without hesitation: "Decline."
Not going to such an eventful gathering?
Shen Hua pursed her lips.
"If one truly desires to make a na for oneself, it would be better to secure a high rank in the Imperial Examination. The nobles of Shengjing, relying on their wealth, all think highly of themselves."
A bunch of people trying to gain favor by hiring others to write poems for them in advance and morizing them, hoping to shine on the day.
What’s the point.
Cui Yun did not enjoy playing such pretentious and supposedly highbrow gas with these people.
He looked down on it.
Ji Qing: "The Seventh Prince is likely to attend."
Cui Yun took another piece of pastry. He put down the book he already knew like the back of his hand.
"Him?"
He sneered: "Going there to embarrass himself?"
He stood up: "Go find a few dical books."
In the past few days, he had also attempted to seek dical advice from dical Staff. After taking his pulse, they all pronounced him free of ailnts.
Cui Yun didn’t believe it.
Ji Qing was quick to act. He brought over a large stack of dical texts.
After sending Ji Qing away, Cui Yun swiftly flipped through the books.
Soon, he stopped on a page. As before, calm and reticent.
He read very carefully, as if he might learn to heal others in an instant.
Shen Hua leaned in and read: "Early diagnostic signs of hysteria."
Shen Hua was not one to sit still.
She was not interested in hysteria.
"ow."
An unexpected cat’s ow ca from outside the room.
Shen Hua looked up to see a white cat with a kitten the size of a palm in its mouth.
"Where did this co from?"
No one in the Marquis Mansion kept cats.
Just as Ji Xin chased after it intending to drive it away, she saw the white cat’s back split open, as if slashed with a sharp knife. The flesh was turned out, and the fur matted with blood all over.
The white cat was very weak, clearly at its limit, and it was not going to survive.
Its damp eyes seed to be crying.
The white cat staggered towards Cui Yun. Reluctantly, it placed the kitten beside Cui Yun’s feet.
After licking the kitten’s fur, it wed pleasingly at Cui Yun twice.
Feeling pity for the pitiful sight, Shen Hua’s mood sank: "I heard that cats, before they die, make arrangents for their kittens. They find the most suitable person to entrust with their care. I used to think it was not true, but evidently, it is."
She looked again at the small kitten by Cui Yun’s feet, which was not even as big as her hand.
"Such a small kitten is unlikely to survive."
Wait!
Shen Hua shuddered.
"Xue Tuan!"
This is Xue Tuan.
Her eyes brightened as she looked at Cui Yun excitedly.
To soone like Cui Yun who adored Xue Tuan, this surely broke his heart.
But, in the next mont.
He heard the man’s emotionless command.
"Throw it out."
The kitten was limp and powerless, flopping down on the ground. It let out soft cries as it tried to approach Cui Yun.
Cui Yun was about to kick it away, but then as though hearing the words of the Sanqing Taoist: harbour kind thoughts, abstain from killing.
Cui Yun brushed it aside expressionlessly.
Still, he controlled his force. Yet the kitten was flipped over.
Shen Hua: ???
Cui Yun looked at the ground with disgust.
He disliked these fluffy creatures the most. Weak and pitiful.
The white cat was anxious, picking up the kitten and nudging it towards Cui Yun.
Seeing that Cui Yun was unmoved, the white cat gave a sorrowful ow and after giving the kitten one deep look, it steeled its heart and tottered away.
Blood dripped along the path.
Shen Hua knew it was going to die, so it had to hide. To find its final resting place.
"My Lord." Ji Xin called out softly.
Cui Yun said indifferently, "Do I need to do it myself?"
Shen Hua was stunned.
Ji Xin carefully cradled the kitten, acutely aware of its faint breathing.
She would never disobey Cui Yun’s orders.
Ji Xin carried the kitten out. She followed the trail of blood but eventually, the bloodstains disappeared. Unable to find the white cat, she helplessly stroked the kitten’s head: "I can’t keep you."
My Lord loathes these hairy animals the most.
Ji Xin left the courtyard, bringing it to the garden outside with reluctance: "But I can dig you a grave! Rember to seek out before you die."
After a mont of consideration, she couldn’t bear it and decided to make a trip to the kitchen to get so goat’s milk.
Eat your fill before you go!
Shen Hua: ???
Any sane person wouldn’t say such things!
The kitchen was in an uproar searching for the cat, the kitchen maid relaxed upon seeing what Ji Xin held in her arms.
"That white cat was one I picked up on the road while out buying groceries, I can’t believe soone would hurt it so badly."
"Oh dear, and it startled the Second Young Master? How terrible."
Ji Xin hurriedly handed over the cat: "If that’s the case, you take care of it."
The kitten was obviously frightened, curled up in a corner, shivering.
Shen Hua raised her hand, symbolically petting it: "I’ll co to see you tomorrow."
She thought she wouldn’t feel anything, but she actually felt the warmth of the kitten and its trembling.
Shen Hua: ???
And just then, the Vajra Bodhi Bracelet on Cui Yun’s wrist flashed with dazzling light.
A trendous suction engulfed Shen Hua.
When she opened her eyes again, Ji Xin across from her had beco a giant.
Ji Xin touched the fuzzy head: "I’ll co to see you tomorrow."
She couldn’t control her strength, and the kitten’s body was too fragile.
Shen Hua cried out in pain.
"ow."
This soft and adorable ow made Shen Hua feel terrible.
Heh heh.
Strange things happen every year, but this year it’s extraordinarily so.
Just a mont ago, the soft kitten suddenly puffed up its fur.
"Don’t go!"
"Cui Yun save !"
In Ji Xin’s ears, however, it was a delicate ow.
—— ow~
Ji Xin smiled contentedly: "You ow so nicely."
Shen Hua: Go die!
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