Returning from He Lianfang’s study, Zhao Yao didn’t rush back to his room to sleep but went to the study instead. He hadn’t been back these past few days and had a pile of things to handle.
As he reached the front yard, several cats and dogs ca running towards him, wagging their tails. He squatted down, stretched out his hand to pet them, and even kissed them.
These dogs and cats are natives of the Swamp Prefecture, adopted by Zhao Yao last year. He took in the stray cats and dogs from the Swamp Prefecture.
So of these stray cats and dogs stayed in Prince Han’s mansion, so at the farm on Nanshan, while others were kept at Zhao Yao’s Personal Guard’s camp.
Back then, the cats and dogs Zhao Yao adopted in the capital all left before he ca to Lingnan. So died of illness, so of old age, and others due to accidents.
These cats and dogs helped him gather information and assisted him a lot. When they left, he was heartbroken for a long ti. To him, these cats and dogs were important friends.
Cats, dogs, and even birds acted as Zhao Yao’s eyes and ears. With them around, he knew many things. Over the years, whether it was matters in the palace or affairs of the ministers, he was aware. This helped him avoid many troubles and dangers.
After coming to Lingnan, he continued to adopt cats and dogs, letting them continue to be his eyes, his soldiers.
During the trade conference, the guards from Prince Han’s mansion would patrol with the dogs. Zhao Yao called them "police dogs."
They were trained by Tong Le. In training police dogs and military dogs, Tong Le is now an expert. Back in the capital, Zhao Yao had Tong Le train the cats and dogs.
After giving attention equally to the cats and dogs, Zhao Yao led them to the study.
They were very well-behaved. Once inside, they obediently lay by Zhao Yao’s feet.
Usually, with General Hu and Xiao Jin around, the cats and dogs dared not get close to Zhao Yao.
General Hu and Xiao Jin were very possessive. As long as they were present, they’d monopolize Zhao Yao, allowing no other animals near him.
These last two days, with General Hu and Xiao Jin absent, naturally, the cats and dogs took the opportunity to snuggle up to Zhao Yao.
Not long after Zhao Yao sat down, Tong Xi ca in with a bowl of soup.
"Your Highness, this is freshly made soup from the kitchen. Please have a bowl to fill your stomach."
"It slls so good." Zhao Yao wasn’t hungry initially, but slling the aroma of the soup suddenly made him feel very hungry. Just as he was about to take the soup from Tong Xi’s hand, Wang Cai and Wang Jin at his feet suddenly started barking.
The cat laying on Zhao Yao’s lap and the cat on the table both stood up, hissing fiercely at Tong Xi.
Wang Cai: [Yao Yao, there’s poison, there’s poison in the soup. Don’t drink it!]
Tong Xi was startled by Wang Cai and the others’ sudden aggression, "Your Highness, what’s happening?"
Zhao Yao took the soup from Tong Xi’s hand and bent down to sniff it closely, detecting no strange odor. He pulled out a silver needle from the drawer of the desk and placed it in the soup. Monts later, the needle turned black.
Tong Xi, seeing this, turned pale with fright, eyes filled with terror and unease.
"Your Highness, it wasn’t , I didn’t poison it..."
Zhao Yao interrupted Tong Xi, soothing him in a gentle voice, "I believe it wasn’t you."
Hearing Zhao Yao say this, the heart that was about to leap from Tong Xi’s throat returned to its place. However, his face still bore an expression of fear.
"Your Highness, soone wants to poison you, who could it be?" He quickly added, recalling the soup ca from the kitchen, "Your Highness, it must be soone from the kitchen, I will go and catch them right now."
"Wait." Zhao Yao stopped Tong Xi, "Going now will alert the snake in the grass."
"Then what do you plan to do, Your Highness?" Tong Xi, troubled by the thought of soone in the mansion intending to harm Zhao Yao, was restless. "Your Highness, we must quickly find the poisoner."
Zhao Yao looked at Wang Cai and the others: "Wang Cai, help find the one who poisoned the soup."
Wang Cai and the others wagged their tails, barking: [Yao Yao, rest assured, leave it to us, we will find out right away.]
Zhao Yao further instructed, "When you find the poisoner, don’t bite him just yet. Keep an eye on him, see whom he associates with."
Wang Cai: [Understood, we will certainly find the mastermind.] Wang Cai is a unique breed of hunting dog from Lingnan, very smart and agile. Most importantly, they are extrely sensitive to slls, so as soon as Tong Xi brought the soup in, they detected the oddity in it.
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