Cooperation Test (4)
Yan Qing couldn't hear their conversation, but she saw Rong Xuan frown and wave his hand, his face as cold as ice, as he left the torture chamber unhappily.
The next moment, the jailer walked towards Yan Congjin, swiftly snapped her neck, wrapped her in a tattered straw mat, and carried her out.
Yan Qing chased after it, but the path beneath her feet slowly disappeared. She suddenly opened her eyes, and large beads of sweat formed a small river on her face, flowing down to her neck.
Yan Qing couldn't tell whether the dream was caused by Cong Qiao's death yesterday or a replay of Yan Congjin's memories; in any case, she was still shaken.
If it's Yan Congjin's memory, why is there a scene of her being taken away after her death? But if it's not, this dream is far too real.
However, this dream still served as a wake-up call for Yan Qing. She was already dealing with a tiger, and she must not let her guard down, especially with Rong Xuan.
Dangerous person.
We still need to leave first.
She wants to understand the world more deeply, to find the root causes of the extremely low level of happiness in the world, and to solve those root causes.
Before this, Yan Qing had never witnessed the death of another person.
To frame Cheng Changfeng, a restaurant worker perished in a fire. When Yan Qing heard this, she was shocked, but after witnessing the loss of life firsthand, she suddenly realized the gravity of the matter.
The shock that Qiao's blood brought her far exceeded the existence of Cat No. 1.
Tragically, this incident was commonplace here. At the banquet, people either ignored the blood on the ground or turned their heads away. No one lowered their eyes or felt grief at Cong Qiao's departure.
Perhaps it was her inner heroism at work; now that she was here, she wanted to do everything in her power to change everything.
When Yan Qing returned to Rong Xuan's study, his certainty had lessened, but his resolve had become even stronger.
He was somewhat surprised, as if he hadn't expected Yan Qing to come at this time.
"What, aren't you going to mourn for your deceased friend for a few days?"
“Silence is no substitute for action, is it?” Yan Qing gestured for the servants to leave. “Important business, shall we hear it?”
"certainly."
Rong Xuan moved his finger, and all the servants in the room withdrew.
Yan Qing, a professional eavesdropper, still felt uneasy, so she stepped forward, bent down, and whispered in his ear, "The Crown Prince is raising a private army."
Then she straightened up deftly, extended a hand to him, and said in response to his questioning gaze, "Pleasure doing business with you?"
Is this really true?
The question concerned the matter of the Crown Prince stationing troops.
"Absolutely true."
Yan Qing's hand was still suspended in the air when she prompted, "Shake hands."
Although Rong Xuan didn't understand, he still raised his hand and shook hands with her for a moment, saying, "It's a pleasure working with you."
[Warning! Warning! The public's happiness level has dropped to 14%. Host, please take immediate action.]
"what would you like?"
Cat Number One's voice overlapped with Rong Xuan's.
"You'll find out later. For now, saving my life is enough." Yan Qing waved to him and left.
[What's going on? Why did it suddenly drop by one point!]
[Actually, it has been decreasing at a very slow rate, but the host hasn't noticed... Friendly reminder: the rate of descent is now increasing.]
Do you know what caused this?
[War was detected as a primary factor.]
Yan Qing quickened her pace; she needed to get started immediately.
-
"Little Leopard, don't bully Snowball!"
Deng Chan put down the hemp rope in her hand and ran towards the two kittens wrestling together. She picked up the leopard cat that had the upper hand and gently patted its head to discipline it.
After being rescued, Snowball darted up the pear tree and found a sturdy pear branch near the princess who was taking a nap, where it lay down to watch the fun.
“Kittens should be polite and not bully their friends…” Deng Chan was about to say more when she saw the little leopard in her arms climb onto her shoulder and rub against her face. This made her lose her temper and she could only turn her anger towards Cheng Changfeng, “You should be responsible for the little leopard, Cheng Changfeng! You brought it here, so you should take responsibility for the mistakes the little leopard made.”
“They’re just playing around. Xue Tuan hit the little leopard a lot. You can’t interfere with the normal communication between the kittens.” Cheng Changfeng continued working, tightly wrapping the hemp rope around the pear tree trunk, while refuting Deng Chan.
Deng Chan was very dissatisfied with his answer. She placed the little leopard on the cat tree that had already been installed nearby, crossed her arms over her chest, and walked aggressively toward Cheng Changfeng: "I don't care!"
Seeing the two arguing again, Yan Qing shook his head helplessly and continued arranging the furnishings of the private room.
A month ago, Yan Qing began preparing to move out of the Ning Prince's Mansion. She planned to return to her old business and open a cat-themed tea house.
It wasn't that she had a particular hobby; it was just that only by doing things related to kittens could she maximize the effectiveness of this somewhat unreliable system.
Just as they were about to leave the manor to find a place to stay, they bumped into these two. At that time, Cheng Changfeng was holding a leopard cat, which he had specially found to give to Yan Qing. Deng Chan had heard that she had six kittens and insisted on coming with Cheng Changfeng to find the kittens, or rather, to find Yan Qing.
Upon hearing that Yan Qing was planning to leave the Ning Prince's Mansion, Cheng Changfeng immediately offered to arrange accommodation for her, and Deng Chan also enthusiastically offered to find her a good place.
However, Yan Qing rejected them all. It was best for Cat Cat Tea House not to get involved with anyone, and she didn't mention it to Rong Xuan either.
After that, Cheng Changfeng and Deng Chan often went together to visit the Prince of Ning's residence.
It wasn't aimed at Rong Xuan, but at Yan Qing and her kittens.
When Yan Qing was around, the three of them would chat and play with the cats together. Even when Yan Qing wasn't there, it didn't stop the other two from acting as babysitters for the kittens in her yard.
In short, the Prince Ning's residence became the two's new playground, and Rong Xuan did not react to it at all, letting them make a fuss.
After searching for days, Yan Qing finally found a satisfactory courtyard.
It is a three-courtyard house located next to Jingyuan Garden, far from the bustling streets of the capital but not in a remote place.
The front yard can be converted into a tea garden, while the back yard can be used for Yan Qing and the kitten to live in.
The kittens can have a quiet place to live, and it won't affect guests coming to visit—a win-win situation!
Immediately, Yan Qing signed a contract with the broker. From the broker, Yan Qing learned that the courtyard was originally a place where a scholar who was going to the capital to take the imperial examination stayed. He failed the examination many times and was so disheartened that he was eager to sell the place.
The courtyard was exceptionally elegant, which was one of the reasons Yan Qing chose it, as subsequent modifications wouldn't require much. Another, and perhaps biggest, reason was that the price was very reasonable.
The broker said that Yan Qing had gotten a great deal. The seller was eager to sell the place because a fortune teller had told him that the place was unfavorable to his academic pursuits, so he was selling it at a price much lower than the market price.
Although it was much cheaper, it still cost a hundred taels of gold, almost emptying Yan Qing's savings.
Only a few gold ingots remain of the ones Cheng Changfeng sent; they will probably be used up once the internal furnishings are complete.
However, with the Cat Tea House taking shape, Yan Qing was very happy, and the sadness of having her small fortune completely wiped out faded considerably.
Over the next two weeks, the craftsmen renovated the courtyard according to Yan Qing's design, giving it a completely new look. All the side rooms in the front yard were demolished, and several private rooms were scattered throughout the front yard. The rest of the yard was planted with flowers and plants, and large areas were provided for the cats to play.
The cat climbing frames designed and made by the carpenter that Yan Qing had commissioned were also completed in a rush and were gradually moved into the courtyard. A sign with gold lettering on a black background that read "Cat Tea Garden" was hung high above the courtyard gate.
Standing in front of the courtyard gate, Cheng Changfeng and Deng Chan realized that Yan Qing was going to start a business. The two of them offered to help, probably thinking it would be fun.
That's why the scene just now happened.
To Yan Qing's surprise, they did a surprisingly good job.
Especially Deng Chan.
At first, her image remained that of the little tyrant described by Cheng Changfeng. After a month of getting to know each other, Yan Qing discovered that the two were extremely similar. They couldn't contain their fiery tempers, but they were also very sincere. In fact, after spending more time with them, they were quite cute.
The day after Yan Qing invited them to visit her cat tea garden, Deng Chan brought over Princess, a pure white lion cat with heterochromatic yellow and blue eyes. She looked noble and elegant, just like the name Deng Chan had given her.
When the princess was placed in her arms, Yan Qing was still a little dazed and had no idea that Deng Chan would give her a kitten.
"This is a gift for you. Let's be friends from now on." The request for friendship was made in a cool tone, and Yan Qing didn't understand what she meant for a moment.
Seeing Cheng Changfeng suddenly reminded me of my previous conversation with him about becoming friends.
Although she had been tricked by Rong Xuan, she was too embarrassed to continue claiming to be Cheng Changfeng's savior, so she suggested that they address each other as friends from now on.
Unexpectedly, Deng Chan followed suit. Yan Qing had no objection; having more friends meant having more options, especially since her task was truly arduous.
Yan Qing accepted the princess's hand and even hugged Deng Chan. The girl was a little embarrassed, and her cheeks flushed. She said, "I only became your friend because you helped Cheng Changfeng and you like cats."
It felt like an immense blessing, and Yan Qing couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I know, Miss."
The young lady didn't act like one at all. Yan Qing told them to go to a private room to rest, and then went to wrap the trees and some cat trees in the yard with hemp rope to make scratching posts for the kittens.
Cheng Changfeng was the first to offer to help, and Deng Chan, not to be outdone, grabbed a rope and ran into the yard. Yan Qing shrugged helplessly, concluding that this was going to be another fun thing.
Yan Qing's Cat Tea House is ready. The next step is to move out of the Ning Prince's Mansion and promote the Cat Tea House!
The day before moving out of the Ning Prince's Mansion, Yan Qing once again stepped into the courtyard where Rong Xuan lived.
These days, Yan Qing hasn't made much of a fuss, but under the same roof, Rong Xuan is fully aware of her every move.
Before Yan Qing could speak, Rong Xuan asked, "Is there anything I can do?"
Yan Qing was very satisfied with Rong Xuan's cooperation. He put his hands on his hips and issued his task.
"The Cat Cat Tea House will officially open on the first day of next month, an auspicious day according to the Chinese calendar. Finding some people to come and support it shouldn't be difficult for His Highness Prince Ning, right?"
As expected, he was met with a sneer, "Trying to provoke you? There's no need to use such a petty trick. You'll be satisfied."
Unlike sincerity, the word "satisfied" would probably need to be put in heavy quotation marks.
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