Gu Yanfei put away his brush, placed it on the pen holder beside him, crumpled up the talisman paper into a ball, and threw it into the white porcelain wastebasket beside him without even looking at it...

The kitten's eyes lit up, it leaped up, bit the ball of paper, and intercepted the ball perfectly!

After it landed lightly on the ground, it used its little paws to fiddle with the paper ball on the floor, chasing, intercepting, pushing...it was having a lot of fun.

As for Gu Yanfei, after closing his eyes and meditating for a while, he picked up the pen, dipped it in cinnabar again, and started drawing the next talisman.

Unfortunately, the tip of the pen went crooked again on the last stroke, and Gu Yanfei failed for the hundred and first time.

The kitten came running over and squatted obediently beside her skirt.

When Gu Yanfei threw the next paper ball, he leaped up again...

The paper balls on the ground increased one after another. The satisfied kitten felt like he owned a fish pond and had a lot of fun.

After playing until midnight, it felt tired, yawned repeatedly with sleepy eyes.

Gu Yanfei ignored it and continued drawing the talisman.

There was still no wind that night, and it was as stuffy as a steamer.

The long night passed slowly, the sky turned pale, and the sun rose slowly.

The golden sunlight of the early morning poured into the house through the windows, and the lush flowers and trees in the courtyard filled the room with greenery.

There were a few chrysanthemums in the plum blossom vase on the desk, and a faint chrysanthemum fragrance filled the air.

The room was silent.

Gu Yanfei, who had not slept all night, was writing at his desk. His posture was straight and slender, as tall as a green bamboo, as elegant as a green willow, calm, yet tenacious.

Outside the window, the goldfish in the pond jumped out of the water and then fell back into the water with a "plop". At the same time, her pen tip finally completed the last stroke successfully.

A long sigh escaped from between her rosy pink lips.

Success! This was the first talisman she had completed in recent days, and the first talisman she had drawn with cinnabar.

Gu Yanfei admired the talisman he had drawn with satisfaction, narrowed his eyes and curled his lips.

That smile was like the warm sunshine in April, spreading from the corners of the lips to the corners of the eyes and eyebrows, just like clusters of delicate wisteria flowers blooming.

The little kitten next to him had already fallen into a deep sleep, lying on his back with his arms and legs spread out, with a furry little paw covering his eyes.

Gu Yanfei was in a good mood. He quietly approached with the wolf-hair brush dipped in cinnabar and drew a small red plum blossom between the little guy's eyebrows.

The sleeping kitten felt something strange, opened its green eyes, and yawned lazily.

"Young lady," Juanbi came into the inner room at this time, bowed, and said, "The eldest young lady is here."

Gu Yanfei picked up the cat and walked towards the main room outside.

Although she had not slept all night, she had meditated intermittently for an hour or two. At this moment, her face was rosy and she looked full of energy.

"Second sister," Gu Yunzhen, who was wearing a lilac skirt, walked towards Gu Yanfei and said with a smile, "I came to have breakfast with you. It will be inconvenient to travel later, so I can only make do with lunch. You must have a good breakfast."

The maid behind Gu Yunzhen was holding a red lacquered and gold-painted food box.

Gu Yunzhen's voice was gentle, and Gu Yanfei felt warm at heart, and he readily agreed: "Okay."

In her previous life, when Gu Yanfei first arrived at the Marquis' Mansion, she was unfamiliar with the place and felt very nervous. Gu Yunzhen took good care of her and gave her advice from time to time.

The two sisters sat down at the table. Gu Yunzhen took out a small red bib from her sleeve and said to the kitten in Gu Yanfei's arms, "Your raccoon cat is so cute. I sewed this bib for it last night."

Jade-faced civet cat is an elegant name for the calico cat.

"Meow!" The little kitten jumped from Gu Yanfei's arms onto the table, bent over and stretched, its long fur trembling.

Gu Yanfei said with a smile: "Big sister, please put it on."

“Is it okay?” Gu Yunzhen was a little flattered. He carefully put a small bib embroidered with a carp on the kitten, and moved very lightly for fear of scaring it.

The little kitten lay motionless and let Gu Yunzhen serve it.

"It's so well-behaved!" Gu Yunzhen stared at the furry ball with burning eyes, his heart almost melting.

The kitten wearing a bib jumped back into Gu Yanfei's arms and rubbed her clothes diligently, its round cat eyes narrowed into two crescents.

Seeing this scene, Gu Yunzhen's eyes were filled with envy, and she asked softly, "Little guy, have you eaten anything?"

Qingguang rubbed Gu Yanfei with her head coquettishly again, and meowed in a baby voice, as if to say, no.

Gu Yunzhen couldn't help but reach out and touch the kitten's back, and his voice became softer and gentler: "We still have half an hour to set off, and Qingguang needs to eat something, as it is in the growth stage."

Gu Yanfei just smiled and said nothing.

She knew that they couldn't leave today.

As they were talking, the maids opened the food boxes and took out the food one by one: two bowls of scallion, mushroom and lean meat porridge, a basket of crab roe dumplings and several plates of assorted pickles, all steaming hot, obviously just taken from the kitchen.

The two sisters enjoyed their breakfast happily, and the kitten was not hungry, or rather, there were so many people serving it. One of them asked about its well-being and added warm goat milk to its bowl, one fed it boiled chicken, and one combed its hair with a comb.

Wherever there are humans, it thrives like a fish in water.

The maids who surrounded it were all very sincere and served it like the emperor cat.

Even the maid who was sent by Madam Gu to deliver the message could not help but glance at the kitten, and said with wandering eyes: "Young lady, young lady, Madam Gu said that we can't leave for the time being, so let the two young ladies rest first."

"What's wrong?" Gu Yunzhen's maid asked.

The maid answered truthfully, "I don't know exactly what happened. The north gate was open early in the morning, but just now the government suddenly ordered the gate to be closed, saying that no one is allowed to enter or leave. The Madam has asked Madam Xu to take the token of the Marquis' Mansion to the Danyang Prefecture Office. Please help, Lord Prefect."

Gu Yanfei lowered his eyes and drank tea, the corners of his lips curled up behind the teacup.

Not only today, but I won’t be able to leave tomorrow or the day after tomorrow either.

Gu Yunzhen frowned, asked the maid to send the maid away, and gently comforted Gu Yanfei: "Second sister, it's okay. Even if you can't leave today, you can just stay in Danyang City for a few more days."

"I don't know what's going on these days. It's already October, but the weather is still so hot and humid, and there's no wind. Sitting in the carriage is like being in a steamer. It's better to leave a few days later."

A smile appeared on Gu Yanfei's lips.

Her elder sister is like this, soft-hearted and always thinks positively when meeting people and encountering things, but people are treacherous and sometimes the hearts of so-called relatives can be crueler and more ruthless than those of strangers.

(End of this chapter)