Chapter 45 The Evil Cat Princess Who Bewitched the Kingdom 6

[The host has caused the protagonist to harbor resentment and disrupted the protagonist's secret plans, increasing the protagonist's pain level by 5.]

For the next two weeks, Lu Wenjing seemed much busier than before.

Not only did they have to review memorials until late at night, but they also had to meet with officials at night from time to time to open secret letters.

After all, at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, the emperor's cat scratched out one eye of the great hero who had just pacified the northern frontier. Anyone who heard this would inevitably suspect that it was at the emperor's behest.

The Gu family's supporters were particularly indignant and frequently spoke out in court on behalf of General Gu.

For the past two weeks, General Gu has been claiming illness and has not attended court. Some have even suggested that the emperor should personally visit the general's residence, send the cat there as an apology, and thus appease the meritorious official and calm the hearts of the court officials.

Lu Wenjing shifted his gaze from the memorial in his hand and glanced sideways at the cat stretching lazily on the imperial desk.

The court was in an uproar, but the one who started it all was not only eating and sleeping well, but his belly was also getting rounder and rounder.

Xie Rong leaned over the table, yawned, and watched as Lu Wenjing picked up a secret letter with his fingertips and lit it with a candle.

The candlelight burned all night, keeping Mi awake all night.

Anything that makes Mimi uncomfortable, I'll destroy it all!

Having committed a heinous crime half a month ago without being punished, Xie Rong became increasingly arrogant and reckless, and suddenly evil thoughts arose from his heart.

He tiptoed gracefully, his cat-like steps sweeping around the table before his gaze settled on the square stone.

Xie Rong had already noticed that the hairless cat treasured this stone the most.

He stretched out his paws, the pink paw pads pressed against the side of the square stone, and gently, little by little, pushed it toward the edge of the table.

With each shift, he would turn his head to glance at the man who was busy with his head down.

At the third quarter of midnight, a clear, loud bang resounded throughout the silent Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Lu Wenjing rubbed his tired brows, stood up with a blank expression, and looked over.

The imperial seal, passed down through generations of the Dafeng royal family, was pushed to the ground by a cat's paw and shattered into pieces.

The court is already in turmoil, and the Gu family is stirring up rumors everywhere. If the news of the broken imperial seal gets out, who knows what kind of mess it will cause.

The mischievous kitten, oblivious to the danger, swaggered out the window after smashing the jade seal, as if spilling a cup of tea or knocking over an orange—to the cat, there was no difference.

Lu Wenjing's forehead veins bulged, his already bloodshot eyes were tightly closed, his hands were clenched into fists at his sides, and he took a deep breath.

[Protagonist's Pain Value +10!] The white slime followed the cat that had come to the Imperial Garden in the middle of the night to chase butterflies.

Xie Rong stared at the butterfly that passed by the window of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and hopped and skipped all the way to the Imperial Garden, where it excitedly meowed.

The palace closest to the Imperial Garden is Fengxian Hall.

Every year before winter, the emperor would lead his civil and military officials to worship in front of the Fengxian Hall and inquire about the ancestral sacrifices to Heaven at Mount Tai in the spring of the following year. Only if a favorable divination slip was obtained would it mean that the ancestral emperors had agreed to the trip to Mount Tai and would protect the emperor when the mountain road was difficult to traverse.

It was already late at night, but the palace servants in Fengxian Hall were still busy preparing all the items needed for the worship ceremony.

No one saw a tiny cat chasing a butterfly all the way to the center of the memorial tablets in the Fengxian Hall.

Xie Rong used a memorial tablet to sharpen his claws, jumped onto the offering table, took a bite of the offered apple, found it unpalatable, and turned to take a bite of a pear instead.

That damn hairless cat even hid food in other nests!

Xie Rong crawled under the altar and rummaged around for a while, scratching and biting here and there. Finally, exhausted, he lay down on the prayer mat and fell asleep.

...

On the day he led all the civil and military officials to worship their ancestors, Lu Wenjing woke up very early as always.

He walked alone at the front, followed by civil and military officials with solemn expressions.

The palace maid handed him three lit incense sticks, but just as she was about to insert them into the incense burner, the incense broke.

Lu Wenjing's face was sullen, and his brows furrowed slightly with annoyance.

[Main character's pain level +1]

Eunuch Liu quickly fetched three new incense sticks.

After the incense is lit, it's time to draw lots.

Lu Wenjing hated this kind of pretentious nonsense the most.

He casually picked up a cigarette and tossed it to the master invited by Fengxian Hall.

To everyone's surprise, the master shook his head and sighed after reading the fortune slip.

All the civil and military officials craned their necks to look, and saw that it was clearly a divination slip with a hole in it.

With both the incense burning out and the divination slips damaged, it's hard not to wonder if the spirits of the ancestral emperors are manifesting their dissatisfaction with the current emperor.

Behind Lu Wenjing, some of the officials whispered among themselves.

"When the late emperor was alive, General Gu was the most trusted minister. Are you suggesting that what he did today is an attempt to criticize His Majesty?"

"Keep your voice down!" The group quickly glanced at the tall figure in front of them.

Lu Wenjing turned his head and glanced at the crowd behind him.

All the officials bowed their heads.

He scoffed, drew his Emperor's Sword from his waist, cut off the half-rotten fortune slip, and then placed the sword against the master's neck.

"I ask you, did I draw a favorable or unfavorable lot today?"

The Emperor's Sword was far sharper than an ordinary blade, easily slicing through the master's neck.

The master could no longer maintain his aloof demeanor. His face turned pale as he knelt down, about to speak, when a cat's meow came from under the red cloth hanging from the offering table.

Lu Wenjing drew his sword and lifted the red cloth.

A cat's head peeked out from inside.

"Meow?" Xie Rong bared his teeth fiercely, looking angry as if his lazy sleep had been disturbed.

Lu Wenjing glanced at the wood shavings on his chin, raised an eyebrow, and squatted down to pick him up.

"You like to chew on things?" The man paused, then said, "Then I'll give you all the wood in this palace to chew on."

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!" Several senior ministers were shocked and knelt down, shouting, "With the ancestral tablets above, Your Majesty's actions are extremely disrespectful!"

“Oh,” Lu Wenjing scratched Xie Rong’s chin, and Xie Rong squinted and snored, “I only know that there is only one monarch in the Great Feng Empire. Apart from the monarch, all others bow down and submit. A subject cannot serve two masters. What do you mean by the great disrespect that you gentlemen speak of?”

"Meow?" Xie Rong also meowed fiercely.

Borrowing the tiger's might, and considering that the ugly hairless cat offered him its prey and begged for his protection, Xie Rong, the little cat, decided to meow to cheer it on, lest the hairless cat, who didn't even dare to fight back when its face was scratched, show its cowardice and lose face for him.

Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher—the Ruler comes first. Even if an emperor emeritus interferes in politics, it is still considered treason.

Lu Wenjing may be arrogant and unfilial, but he is nonetheless the emperor.

No matter how bad his reputation is, it can't overshadow his status.

The officials were speechless for a moment, and dared not speak even if they were right.

"In my opinion, there's no need to worship at the Fengxian Hall anymore. If you can't even protect your own memorial tablet, my cat is more useful." Lu Wenjing left the Fengxian Hall with his cat in his arms.

Xie Rong turned around and scratched at the man's robe embroidered with golden dragon patterns.

"Meow!" Thanks to Mimi for scaring them away, you should thank Mimi!

This hairless cat is so ignorant of the rules of the game, only Mimi is willing to protect him!

Xie Rong lowered her head slightly and glared at Lu Wenjing.