“What is it?”
Jun Huailang heard Xue Yan’s voice from behind him. He raised his head and saw Xue Yan walking over, looking down at him.
Just by color alone, the two pairs of eyes did indeed have a similar quality.
“There’s a cat.” A smile appeared in Jun Huailang’s eyes as he looked up and said to Xue Yan.
Xue Yan met the soft smile in his eyes, and his heart softened involuntarily along with it.
Then he turned his head and looked at the little tabby cat in the corner.
Half of its soft, fluffy fur had been soaked by the rain, while the rest had puffed itself up defensively, as though trying to make itself look fiercer.
But it had the opposite effect. Its meowing voice was so soft and coquettish.
Xue Yan only glanced at it once before disdainfully turning his gaze away.
Jun Huailang, however, reached his hand toward the little cat.
“This rain won’t stop anytime soon. A little thing this small will probably freeze to death if it stays out in the rain.” As Jun Huailang spoke, he tentatively reached out and stroked it.
The little cat pretended to bite him, but when its tiny milk teeth landed on the back of his hand, there was hardly any strength behind them, so light that it was almost like acting spoiled.
Just then, Fuyi sneezed from nearby.
Only then did Jun Huailang suddenly remember. He turned back to Fuyi and asked, “Can’t you be around furry animals?”
He remembered that when they were young, Fuyi had once touched a little puppy. The dog’s fur had stuck to her, causing her to sneeze repeatedly and break out in a rash. It had taken two or three days before she recovered.
Fuyi said sheepishly, “Young Master, you don’t need to worry about me.”
How could a master stop keeping a cat simply because his servant could not touch animals?
Jun Huailang hesitated and withdrew his hand.
Raising a cat was a small matter, but Fuyi followed him every day and inevitably would have to come into contact with it.
Yet when he looked at the little cat’s eyes, their clear, translucent amber color made him inexplicably reluctant to give it up.
“Then, go tell the gatekeepers to bring the cat inside.” Jun Huailang spoke, but did not get up, his eyes fixed on the cat. “At the very least, let’s save it first. As for the rest…”
Just then, a faint yet lingering sandalwood fragrance drifted from behind him and wound around his side.
Xue Yan’s presence drew closer. Then he reached out and scooped the cat up from the ground.
He had no real sense of how to hold a cat. With one hand around the middle of its body, he could easily grasp it. The cat was suddenly lifted into the air and struggled with all four paws, but it was completely useless.
Jun Huailang looked up and saw Xue Yan standing behind him, bending down to pick up the cat.
“I’ll raise it for you,” he said calmly. “Whenever you want to see it, just come to my place.”
He did not say that he simply could not bear to see that reluctant expression on the other’s face. It was only a little animal. If he wanted to raise it, then he could raise it. What was there to be reluctant about? Why should he make things difficult for him over such a trivial matter?
He did not know, however, what kind of scene he presented before Jun Huailang.
One was a tall, cold and stern young man, straight and slender, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, standing in the rain like a green pine. His entire body exuded the cold severity and indifference of someone in a position of power.
The other was a tiger-like little cat, baring its tiny milk teeth fiercely, claws and teeth on full display.
Two pairs of amber-colored eyes were both looking at him.
——
His Highness the Prince of Guangling was one of the most distinguished and honored people under Heaven. Although he had said he would raise a cat, he naturally would not really handle it himself.
The cat was brought back to his room like a prisoner of war and then handed over to Jinbao. Jinbao hurriedly and carefully dried the cat, warmed it up, then fed it food and water, and instructed the maids to make it a nest inside the room.
The master could naturally throw it aside and leave it alone, but if this little cat died, Jinbao would probably have to pay with his life.
Fortunately, the little cat was clever. It had not gotten too wet, and it was still lively and energetic when it came back. Now that it had eaten and drunk its fill, it was full of energy. It even had enough spirit to arrogantly roll onto its back and condescend to let Jinbao pet it.
Jinbao could not help grumbling inwardly that even this cat was more likable than his master.
After Xue Yan returned to his room, he went to the study to organize the materials from today’s inspection of the waterworks. Besides that, quite a few official documents had also been delivered to his desk.
Before he arrived, the highest-ranking official in Jiangnan had been the Duke of Yongning. But now that he had come, these official documents naturally began being sent to him.
Xue Yan had long since grown accustomed to it. These trivial matters were also well within his abilities.
The rain outside continued pattering without showing any sign of letting up, and gradually, night fell.
Just then, a faint meow came from inside his study.
Xue Yan raised his head and saw that the cat had somehow slipped into his study.
Normally, when he was working, not a single person in the room dared make a sound. Yet this little animal that had just arrived dared to sit here and meow as though nothing were wrong.
Xue Yan raised his head and glanced at it.
The little kitten that had been wet and rather bedraggled earlier was now completely refreshed. It walked around the study with a cat’s graceful steps, inspecting the place, then suddenly leaped onto Xue Yan’s desk.
Xue Yan raised an eyebrow and looked at it.
Apparently, it was not only people who could become spoiled by favor. Even little animals could.
Relying on the fact that Jun Huailang had taken a liking to it, it actually dared to swagger around here as though the place had become its territory.
Xue Yan slowly put down the brush in his hand. He reached out and grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck, lifting it up in front of him.
With a meow, the little tabby once again ended up in Xue Yan’s hand.
The servants in Xue Yan’s room naturally all liked this fluffy little cat. Since it had been brought here today, which one of them had not carefully stroked it?
Only Xue Yan grabbed and tugged at it without the slightest bit of tenderness.
There was too much murderous aura around him, frightening the little cat into meowing again.
Xue Yan, however, held it up with one hand and coldly looked it over from head to toe.
There was nothing particularly remarkable about it.
Xue Yan’s expression remained cold as he thought silently.
He did not know what about it had earned Jun Huailang’s favor. Presumably, Jun Huailang was simply kindhearted and could not bear to see the little animal getting soaked in the rain.
At this thought, Xue Yan gave a soft laugh.
When Jinbao hurriedly pushed open the door and entered, this was the scene he saw.
His master was sitting at the desk. For the first time, he was not completely focused on his work. Instead, he was holding that cat up without a trace of tenderness, his expression contemptuous, yet there was a smile at the corner of his lips.
The cat had already sensed the danger and was meowing incessantly. But no matter how pitifully this little kitten cried, there were still two parts of coquettishness in its voice, making the scene before him indescribably strange.
Jinbao swallowed.
“What is it?” Xue Yan raised his head, the smile at the corner of his lips disappearing, and asked calmly.
Only then did Jinbao come back to himself. He hurriedly placed the letter in his hand on Xue Yan’s desk.
“Reporting to Your Highness, Duan Shisi has returned.”
Xue Yan casually placed the cat on the desktop.
The cat missed its footing and stepped directly into the inkstone on Xue Yan’s desk. Frightened, it jumped back out and ran two steps, leaving several plum-blossom-shaped paw prints across the brand-new secret letter on Xue Yan’s desk.
Xue Yan raised his head and looked at Jinbao.
Jinbao understood immediately and hurried forward to pick up the cat.
“Don’t let it into my study again next time.” Xue Yan lowered his eyes and opened the secret letter. “Go out.”
Jinbao hurriedly carried the cat out.
Xue Yan took the letter out of the envelope.
He had only arrived two days ago and had immediately sent Duan Shisi out to investigate the current situation in Jinling. This young man truly deserved to have come from the Eastern Depot. He was much easier to use than the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In less than two days, he had already sent the information back.
The letter was concise and to the point, containing no unnecessary information. It had already listed all the important local officials in Jinling.
Xue Yan read downward.
The information brought back from the investigation was roughly the same as what he had observed over the past two days. Although the Prefect of Jinling was somewhat slippery, there was nothing particularly wrong with him. Most of the people following the Duke of Yongning were scholars who had entered officialdom through the imperial examinations. Their family backgrounds were clean, and there was nothing worth investigating.
Then his gaze fell on a name.
Guo Rongwen.
This man had also entered officialdom through the imperial examinations. He had even been a successful candidate in the same examination as the Duke of Yongning back then, and was now serving in the Ministry of Revenue.
He and the Duke of Yongning had some history together. Back then, he had traveled alone from Lingnan to the capital to take the imperial examination. His family had been poor, and he had not had a penny to his name. After arriving in Chang’an, he relied on writing letters for others in exchange for money for paper, ink, and books.
It was the Duke of Yongning who had supported him afterward and even found him a place to stay in the Duke’s residence, all the way until he succeeded in the imperial examination and entered the court as an official.
Thus, Guo Rongwen and the Duke of Yongning had always had a good relationship.
Even though the Duke of Yongning’s career had remained mediocre over the years and no one had paid him much attention, Guo Rongwen had continued to maintain the same close friendship with him.
This man should have had no problems. In fact, he was someone who inspired quite a bit of trust.
During this trip south, the Duke of Yongning had also confidently entrusted him with supervising the various accounts of Jinling Prefecture.
And he indeed had not made a single mistake.
But Xue Yan’s gaze fell on one line.
On a certain day, just over a week before Xue Yan arrived in Jinling, Guo Rongwen had met someone at Wan’an Restaurant.
They had not discussed anything in particular, but he had paid the expensive bill for the other person. Afterward, he had spent a large sum of money to buy a songstress and sent her to a residence.
That residence happened to be where Young Master Xu was staying.
And that Young Master Xu was precisely the person who had gotten into an argument over Su Xiaoqian and Jun Huailang on East Lake that day and knocked Shen Liufeng into the lake.
And this Xu Family was none other than the Xu Family with the powerful Prime Minister Xu in the capital.
He was the only legitimate son of Prime Minister Xu’s eldest legitimate son. He had been frail and sickly since birth, so he had been raised in the inner residence from a young age and had basically never left the house.
Later, a wandering Taoist came to Chang’an and gave him a prescription. He took it for seven or eight years before he finally recovered completely.
Coincidentally, only a few years after the wandering Taoist prescribed the medicine, he mysteriously died, leaving behind only a young disciple.
In order to repay the Taoist’s kindness, Prime Minister Xu sent this disciple into the palace, where he entered the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
He was precisely that Lingtai Lang who had an affair with Consort Yi.
After his illness was cured, the inner residence could no longer contain this young master who had been pampered from childhood.
Over the past two years, this young master had traveled everywhere, enjoying the mountains and rivers. And during this period, he happened to arrive in Jinling.
He had settled here.
Xue Yan stared at that line for a moment, then revealed a smile so faint that it was almost imperceptible.
“Duan Shisi,” he called.
A shadow in the darkness emerged.
“This subordinate is here.”
Xue Yan raised his eyes and asked, “That maid we brought back that day—where did she sing before?”
Duan Shisi cupped his fists and answered concisely, “Wan’an Restaurant. On the day Guo Rongwen went there, she had an argument with Xu Cong’an.”
Xue Yan’s smile deepened slightly.
If that was the case, then everything made sense.
Even if Guo Rongwen had not actually done anything yet, he was serving beside the Duke of Yongning while also going out of his way to curry favor with the young master of the Xu Family. There could only be one reason for it.
The Xu Family had bought him off, waiting to arrange for him to do something.
As for what that something was, Xue Yan did not particularly care.
He only needed to use this good-for-nothing young master to make him commit some mistake, allowing himself to seize a handle on him. That would be enough.
“Keep a close eye on him,” Xue Yan ordered. “Then go find some trouble for that Xu Cong’an. Find the kind of trouble that will make him short of money.”
As he spoke, he raised his head and looked at Duan Shisi.
“If he goes to find Guo Rongwen, don’t stop him. If Guo Rongwen embezzles money from the public accounts, let him move it as well.”
He withdrew his gaze and said calmly, “As long as he touches the money in the accounts, find a brothel and locate a courtesan who has not yet received a customer. Bribe her, then just keep throwing money at her and promote her until she becomes the most famous courtesan in Jinling. Make her the top courtesan in the city. Then monitor Xu Cong’an’s movements.”
Duan Shisi accepted the order and was about to withdraw.
Just then, Xue Yan raised his eyes and suddenly asked, “Do you hate Duan Chong?”
Duan Shisi paused.
For the first time, he raised his eyes and met Xue Yan’s gaze.
Those dark-brown eyes appeared calm and undisturbed, but beneath them lurked a sharp edge.
He did not speak.
Xue Yan was more familiar with this expression than anyone.
Duan Chong wanted to raise a dog, a weapon capable of killing with a single strike, and thus did not regard the other person as a human being.
He only regarded Duan Shisi as useful, yet he had already forgotten that this dog that did not wag its tail, no matter how obedient it was, was still a wild wolf that could never truly be tamed.
What’s more, Duan Chong thought Duan Shisi did not know that he was the enemy who had killed Duan Shisi’s father and mother.
Xue Yan met Duan Shisi’s gaze without the slightest hesitation and raised the corner of his lips.
“Handle my affairs well, and I will give you the opportunity to kill him and take his place,” he said slowly.
Duan Shisi said nothing.
After a moment, he cupped his fist toward him and withdrew back into the darkness.
Xue Yan withdrew his gaze. It was as though he had never said those words at all. He leisurely placed the secret letter over the lamp and burned it little by little until it turned to ashes.
He knew that Duan Shisi had agreed to his proposal.
There were clearly two people in the room, yet it was utterly silent.
In the open, there lay a male lion; in the darkness, a jackal that had turned against its master and pledged itself to him lay in wait.
The quiet air was almost stagnant.
Just then, the door was pushed open again.
Xue Yan knew it was Jinbao and frowned impatiently.
“What is it?” He tossed the remaining corner of the letter into the candle flame, and the fire suddenly flared brightly.
Jinbao hurriedly said, “Reporting to Your Highness, the roof tiles of His Highness the Heir’s room on the eastern side were damaged by the rain! It’s leaking inside the main room now. I’m afraid he can’t stay there!”
Xue Yan’s gaze immediately moved away from the candle flame, and he rose at once.
“I’ll go take a look.”
As he spoke, he had already walked past Jinbao and left the study.
The sinister, composed aura he had carried just moments ago had long since vanished without a trace.