The sled slid on the ice. Zhu Youxiao wrapped himself tightly in his sable fur coat and looked casually at the open scenery around him.
Qiong Island stands tall in the north, Nantai (Yingtai) faces south, and a long bridge lies on the waves, resembling a hanging rainbow...
Zhu Youxiao suddenly saw a light red figure moving slowly on a tree on the shore not far ahead.
Palace maid Zhang Yuer entered the palace during the Wanli period when she was only six years old. Now she is seventeen years old and has grown into a beautiful young lady with a pretty face.
However, there were so many palace maids and the palace was so big that many of the palace maids and eunuchs had never seen the emperor in their entire lives.
Zhang Yu'er had no desire to curry favor with the rich and powerful, and she worked honestly as a palace maid, doing her own work. As long as she had enough food and clothes, even if she was living in a daze, she had no choice. Isn't this how all the palace maids lived?
Moreover, Zhang Yu'er was rather straightforward and not very good at flattery, so naturally she could not get any good jobs. She was assigned to the West Garden to do rough work such as sweeping and cleaning, which was basically a cleaning job.
The emperor suddenly came to the Western Garden today, which is a big deal.
Although the eunuchs and palace maids who did the rough work could not get close, they all followed the eunuchs' orders and hurriedly changed into bright clothes so that the emperor could enjoy the view from afar.
Over there, Zhu Youxiao was firing guns, and Zhang Yuer and other palace maids were waiting in the distance.
Huh?! Zhang Yuer was just bored when she suddenly saw a kitten coming out of nowhere and climbing up the tree next to her.
Zhang Yuer looked around and saw no one was paying attention to her, so she walked a few steps forward, with a happy smile, and stretched out her hand to greet, "Kitten!"
The cat looked at the approaching girl without flinching. Its two heterochromatic eyes stared at Zhang Yuer with sparkling light, as if examining her.
"Be good, let me hug you!" Zhang Yuer's heart was melted. The seventeen-year-old girl spoke softly like a little girl, stretching out her hands.
Xiaobai tilted his head, as if thinking, then meowed, and without running or jumping, Zhang Yuer picked him up in his hands and held him in his arms.
"You are so cute and beautiful!" Zhang Yuer was full of surprise. She hugged the cat and stroked it gently, and instantly became a cat slave.
Xiaobai snuggled in the girl's arms, following her caress, shaking his furry head, looking like he was enjoying it very much.
Zhang Yuer doted on her more and smiled even more happily, "Your fur is so white and soft, just like snow! Hey, one of your eyes is blue and the other is yellow..."
While Xiaobai couldn't let go of the cat, Zhang Yuer also guessed that the cat was so clean and must not be a stray cat. It might be raised by a noble in the palace. She couldn't help feeling lost and reluctant.
"I'm just a palace maid, I may not be able to raise you!" Zhang Yuer picked up the cat and said with a sigh facing the two bright heterochromatic eyes.
Xiaobai blinked and meowed.
Zhang Yuer held the cat in her arms again, touched its head, and wanted to enjoy more intimate time with the cat.
Suddenly, Xiaobai moved, jumped out of Zhang Yuer's arms, and climbed up a big tree in three jumps.
"Cat——" Zhang Yuer was stunned for a moment and hurried to chase it.
Just as Zhang Yuer stretched out her hand and tiptoed to reach the cat, Xiaobai took two steps back, turned around and climbed up another branch.
"Good kitty, come down quickly." Zhang Yuer opened her hands and coaxed softly, "Be good, I have something delicious here."
Xiaobai stared at Zhang Yuer and meowed, completely unmoved.
Zhang Yuer coaxed the cat a few more times, but seeing that the cat was not obedient and did not continue to climb up, she rolled up her skirt and used her hands and feet to climb up the tree trunk.
This section of the tree trunk is on the shore and has leaned to one side, so it is not difficult to climb.
But as if it was deliberately teasing her, just when it was about to reach Xiaobai, the cat moved and climbed higher nimbly.
"Oh, you are so naughty." Zhang Yuer said coquettishly, stretched out her hand to brush off the snowballs on her head, hesitated for a while, and under Xiaobai's tilted head gaze, she climbed up again.
Zhang Yuer had a hard time climbing this time, and Xiaobai didn't run away on the branch anymore, as if waiting for her to catch him.
"You lowly slave, how dare you be so rude in front of the emperor? Why don't you come down?" A sharp scolding came from under the tree, scaring Zhang Yuer who was reaching out to grab the cat.
Zhang Yuer looked under the tree and saw that several palace maids had rushed over. The eunuch in the lead was glaring and scolding with his head tilted up.
The emperor was wearing a sable fur coat and walked slowly towards her. His eyes were filled with curiosity and confusion, but not anger.
Zhang Yu'er was so frightened that she didn't realize that the emperor was not angry. She ignored the cat and hurriedly climbed down.
It is easy to go up but difficult to go down. Zhang Yuer was frightened again. Her feet slipped, and she fell down with a scream.
Zhu Youxiao was very curious when he saw the palace maid climbing a tree. When he got closer, he heard a crisp scream and a figure fell from above.
Almost subconsciously, Zhu Youxiao took two quick steps forward to reach out for it. A powerful force crashed into his arms, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground with Zhang Yuer in the snow.
The branches of the trees shook, and snow fell in clumps, covering the heads and bodies of the people under the trees.
Fortunately, Zhang Yu'er didn't climb very high, only about three meters. Although the impact was not small, it only knocked Zhu Youxiao to the ground, and he was not seriously injured.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." Wang Tigan was horrified and ran over to rescue the emperor.
Zhu Youxiao was helped up, brushed off the snow on his body, and turned to look at the palace maid who was climbing the tree.
Zhang Yuer knew she had caused a great disaster, so she knelt down in the snow and kowtowed repeatedly, "I deserve to die, please forgive me, Your Majesty. I deserve to die..."
"You slut, you offended the emperor, you really deserve to die." Seeing that the emperor was fine, Wang Ti Gan started scolding him again.
Zhu Youxiao raised his hand to stop Wang Tigan, with a strange expression on his face. It felt good to hug her just now. This girl is quite attractive!
"Meow!" Xiaobai jumped down from the tree, rushed in front of Zhang Yuer, turned his head to look at everyone, his eyes wide open, and meowed again, as if defending Zhang Yuer.
"Xiaobai—" Zhu Youxiao didn't expect the cat to suddenly appear. He hadn't brought Xiaobai to the West Garden. However, he immediately understood why the palace maid had climbed the tree.
"It turns out to be Lady Bai." Wang Tigan immediately smiled coquettishly and squatted down to hug Xiaobai.
Zhu Youxiao rolled his eyes. Wang Tigan was really a dog slave. The title he gave to Xiaobai was very impressive!
Xiaobai ignored him and rubbed Zhang Yuer's arm that was supporting himself on the snow. He tilted his head, looked at Zhang Yuer's face, and made an affectionate "meow" sound.
Zhang Yuer didn't dare to look up, looking at the cute cat on the ground, and didn't dare to laugh.
"Raise your head." Zhu Youxiao was moved and spoke.
Zhang Yuer hesitated for a moment, slowly raised her head, and finally saw the young emperor, but immediately lowered her eyes, not daring to look directly at him.
Well, she looks pretty!
Zhu Youxiao made a decision and said with a smile, "Since Xiaobai is willing to be close to you, I will appoint you as the poop scooper. From now on, you will take care of Xiaobai."
After saying this, Zhu Youxiao turned and left.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com