The New Year's Day passed suddenly, and spring came in the blink of an eye. Half a month later, it was Zhou Huaiyan's birthday.

The mother who died young survived the most painful winter and gave birth to him on the eve of early spring when everything was revived.

Zhou Huaiyan still remembered everything about the day he came into this world, even as clearly as if it were yesterday. Unfortunately, as a newborn baby, he could not see the outside world clearly, so he could not see Jiang Min's face, and naturally could not remember it.

But when he was young, the boy always noticed that his uncle was staring at his face in a daze, probably very similar to Jiang Min.

Zhou Huaiyan looked at the face reflected in the mirror. Although his current appearance still vaguely resembled that of his previous life, it was more and more similar to his appearance in his previous life.

When he discovered this, he couldn't help but wonder whether there was some mysterious connection between this world and his original world.

But it was just a fleeting thought.

Compared to his insignificant birthday, Zhou Huaiyan was more concerned about the upcoming emperor's sacrifice to heaven.

That had been the custom since the founding of the Zhou Dynasty. Every year on the Spring Equinox, the emperor had to ascend the altar to pray for good weather and good harvests in the coming year.

Zhou Huaiyan had read the classics and found that the rules for praying for blessings did exist. It was just that ever since the previous emperor elevated the White Horse Temple to the status of a national temple, the monks had moved into the altar and built a huge temple around it.

From then on, the emperor would go to the White Horse Temple to pray every year.

When the Wang family of Yanzhou fell into decline, the monks of the White Horse Temple immediately started teaching Buddhism. And now, the empress is having an affair with the monks of the White Horse Temple.

【The water here is really deep. 】

Zhou Huaiyan lowered his eyes, his dark pupils were like a deep abyss, unpredictable and bottomless.

He played with the cool and delicate forbidden dagger in his hand. The sharp cold blade caressed the mouth of the scabbard, but it did not enter.

Zhou Huaiyan narrowed his eyes, thinking.

Maybe this time, if he could go to the White Horse Temple with Emperor Zhou, he would be able to do everything...

——The most critical link.

Buzz!

The cold blade is sheathed.

As for the excuses...

【Maybe I can only borrow your name. 】

The young man raised his head, stroked his eyebrows and eyes in the mirror, which were similar to Jiang Min's, and smiled silently.

【Mother.】

Meanwhile, Ah Fei had been standing outside the door for more than half an hour. Today, he discovered that his master had gotten up earlier than him. Such an abnormal reaction made him particularly concerned, so he sent a young eunuch to ask for leave from Master Wei.

The kitten couldn't help but secretly glance inside again, and seeing the boy still standing straight in front of the mirror, he finally couldn't help but run to ask the head maid.

"Sister Hongdou, why did the master get up so early today? He has been looking in the mirror for almost half an hour."

The maid was startled by the question, her brows slightly wrinkled, and she answered subconsciously,

"Don't you know that in half a month, it will be His Highness' birthday?"

"birthday?!"

Ah Fei was surprised, and then delighted.

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

However, the chief palace maid suddenly grabbed his arm forcefully and signaled him to be quiet. She had forgotten that Ah Fei had only arrived in Beijing four months ago, so naturally she didn't know.

As a result, the head maid's tone and expression suddenly became more stern.

"Your Highness never celebrates his birthday, so don't mention it again!"

The kitten was stunned, and suddenly realized that he might have said something wrong.

"Why...why?"

Hongdou pulled him to a corner.

"A Fei, remember this carefully. His Highness' birthday is also the Princess's death anniversary. It is a taboo between the Duke and His Highness, so you'd better behave yourself these days. If you annoy His Highness, no one can save you."

【Death Anniversary...】

Perhaps because he had also lost his mother, Ah Fei immediately understood the boy's abnormality. He nodded repeatedly and said nothing.

Then... can't I be with my master...

Thinking of this, the kitten immediately felt lost.

He originally thought that although his body was humble, but... but he could still please his master. However, since the first time until now, Zhou Huaiyan did not indulge in it, but became more and more inseparable from his master. Ah Fei's. In his impression, the boy would only show a bit of confusion and intoxication when he was most excited. The rest of the time, he looked careless, but always maintained the most sober reason.

And now, even for such a thing, Zhou Huaiyan still gave a strict rule, doing it once every two days, about one or two hours each time. If Ah Fei wanted to cling to him again, the master would stuff him with all kinds of strange things, and then take out a piece of drawing paper and casually draw him crying and begging for mercy. Such drawings have accumulated into a thick stack in Zhou Huaiyan's study.

Ah Fei didn't know whether he should be happy or sad. Although he felt comfortable at the time, he thought about it later. The master and he did this kind of thing, just like a new pastime found by a young man, no different from carving objects with a forbidden dagger, appreciating jade, or reading some miscellaneous books.

Ah Fei once again reached a new low in her understanding of her own charm. But in reality, the days she was living now were a thousand times better than what she had ever hoped for.

No one here knows his past, and no one will insult him anymore. Now, Ah Fei practices martial arts and medicine during the day, and stays with her master at night. Her food, clothing, housing and transportation are much better than those of the wealthy families in the capital.

Such a comfortable and affluent life is actually given to him by his master. It is actually very good.

Even if it was just for entertainment, he was needed by his master. Even his martial arts and medical skills were recognized by the young man. Even if the master got tired of his body in the future, he would keep him for his own use.

But--

Ah Fei squatted down, hugged her knees, and curled up in the corner out of habit.

【But why......】

He unconsciously clutched the collar of his shirt tightly around his chest.

[Why do I feel so unwilling now? ]

"Um?"

Seeing the little cat in the corner, Zhou Huaiyan was a little surprised.

"Why didn't you go to see Master Wei today?"

Ah Fei has always been so diligent in her studies that she even goes to the point of self-abuse. Except for New Year's Eve, today is the second time that the kitten is late.

"Go back, back to master, slave..."

Ah Fei didn't expect to be discovered by her master, and she couldn't mention her birthday. Her mind was blank for a moment, and she couldn't think of a suitable excuse.

However, Zhou Huaiyan took a look at his hesitant, embarrassed and anxious expression and quickly guessed the truth.

"Anko told you that my birthday is the anniversary of my mother's death?"

Ah Fei subconsciously clenched her fingers and became tense.

"......yes."

Zhou Huaiyan was silent for a moment, then waved to the nervous little cat, who immediately knelt down beside his lap.

"Actually, though, birthdays are all about more than just... my mother."

Zhou Huaiyan himself didn't like celebrating his birthday, but because of his relationship with Duke Wei, he would celebrate his birthday in a big way.

The boy hesitated for a moment, as if he was recalling the past long ago.

"When I was five years old, my father gave me a grand birthday party. But during that extravagant party, I lost something very important."

"It was a cat. I still remember it. It had long black curly hair and beautiful cyan eyes. It was very cute."

Long curly hair and blue eyes, these two iconic descriptions immediately reminded Ah Fei of himself. He raised his head suddenly, but got a positive answer from the boy.

"Yeah, you look alike."

Perhaps for cat lovers, comparing people to cats is probably a way to praise their cosmic cuteness and express their special love for them.

But to Ah Fei's ears, it was the master telling him,

——There is no difference between myself and my owner’s cat.

His existence is nothing more than a pet for the teenager to play with.

No wonder.

Ah Fei suddenly recalled the first time they met, the boy's special attention to him, and that sentence...

[It really looks like my little cat. ]

He originally thought that the little cat Zhou Huaiyan mentioned was equivalent to a servant in a foreign culture, or a similar existence.

But little did he know that what the boy said was literal.

From the very beginning, he was regarded as a pet in his owner's mind.

Ah Fei lowered her head so that the boy wouldn't see her expression as if she was about to cry.

Zhou Huaiyan failed to notice the ideological gap between the two eras, and naturally did not notice the kitten's expression of sadness that made it want to cry.

"Tomorrow I will ask my father for permission to participate in this year's Heavenly Sacrifice, and I will also go to the White Horse Temple to burn incense for my mother."

He ruffled the kitten's soft curly hair.

"When the time comes, Ah Fei, come with me."

"......yes."

Ah Fei agreed in a low voice.

However, at this moment, Zhou Huaiyan suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, Ah Fei, do you still remember when your birthday is?"

The information that Duke Wei could find was limited. He could only find out that Ah Fei's mother was the legitimate daughter of the Yun family, and that Ah Fei entered the slave camp when she was five years old. But the slave camp was a territory governed by the alien race, and there were more than 100,000 slaves in it.

Due to their low status, many servants would be killed within a few days of entering the palace, so there was no record of them in the roster, let alone trivial details such as their birth dates.

Moreover, the Servant Slave Camp was not like the brothels of the Great Zhou Dynasty where one could redeem oneself. Once one entered, one could never leave unless one died. If it were not for a team of Zhou Dynasty cavalry that accidentally broke into a small branch of the Servant Slave Camp, Ah Fei might not have become a prisoner of war and been transported to the capital.

"My birthday..."

——In fact, it’s long past.

That was the day they first met.

When the boy asked him his age, Ah Fei hesitated for a moment and said he was sixteen, because most nobles like young people. Besides, he hadn't had his birthday that day, so it wasn't a lie.

Ah Fei bit the inside of her cheek and was unable to answer for a long time.

"—Don't you remember?"

Zhou Huaiyan thought it was normal. How could a little child who lost his mother at the age of five and entered a place like that remember his own birthday?

"remember!"

Ah Fei suddenly said, he looked at the young man's beautiful eyes and spoke as if possessed by a ghost.

"It was...just the day after the master's birthday."

Such a lie was meaningless, but Ah Fei still said it.

The reason was simple, he just wanted to establish a relationship with his master. At the same time, he didn't want his master to think of the slave locked in the iron cage every time he recalled his birthday.

But if his birthday is the day after his master's birthday, then when Zhou Huaiyan misses his deceased mother at this time every year, he will subconsciously think of himself.

"My next day?"

Zhou Huaiyan was a little surprised.

"What a coincidence! He is two years younger than me."

Ah Fei lied and just lowered her head, not daring to answer.

However, at this moment, the young man suddenly lifted his chin with the jade handle of the forbidden dagger, and a smile appeared in his gorgeous peach blossom eyes. He teased as if on a whim,

"Little Ah Fei, come and call me brother?"

"......"

【elder brother?】

Ah Fei was stunned.

In the Zhou Dynasty, people usually addressed each other as "brother" or "brother so-and-so". Those who could be addressed as "brother" were close brothers with a blood relationship.

The other type is a very obscene nickname between lovers.

Between lovers, not lovers.

Ah Fei's Adam's apple moved slightly.

"Brother...brother?"

Ah Fei developed late and her voice hasn't changed yet, so her voice always sounds thin and soft, and when she's nervous, there's a little tremor at the end of her voice, just like the coquettish sobbing of a kitten.

Zhou Huaiyan suddenly felt his ears burning. He recalled a joke he made at the beginning, but Ah Fei took it seriously. So much so that every time they did that, Ah Fei would deliberately cling to his ears, trembling and meowing like a cat to please him, and finally being smashed to pieces and unable to sing a tune.

Zhou Huaiyan lowered his eyes and looked at him, with no special expression on his face, but his Adam's apple rolled unconsciously.

At this time, Ah Fei climbed onto the boy's thigh, straightened her waist, and her soft chest pressed against his arm, forming a slightly concave arc.

He moved closer until they were almost breathing each other, and called softly again,

"Huai Yan...Brother Huai Yan."

"......"

At this moment, the Ninth Prince's overly beautiful face still had a carefree, cold and aloof look. No one could tell that he had an extremely strong desire in his heart.

I want to kiss him so hard that this little cat who always likes to tease him becomes speechless.

"Hmm..."

Then, Ah Fei's chin was pinched by his master, and he was forced to raise his head, revealing his thin and fragile throat, and his beautiful neckline showed a posture as if accepting a gift.

He heard the boy's slow voice,

"Even though he practices martial arts every day, his ability to seduce people has only improved."

"Well... just, just hook the master's..."

Ah Fei was so nervous that her knuckles turned white.

"Oh--"

He heard his master's chuckle.

The soft lips were rubbed with fingertips until they were turned crimson and bright red. In this way, the Ninth Prince condescended to...

——Kiss it.

The author has something to say:

If you can't see a chapter, don't panic or be anxious.

The dark house of depression will always pass, believe me, happy days will eventually come.

[ps: From now on, the daily updates will be at 9 am~]