On the eve of the storm (1)
A group of people emerged from the bright firelight.
Backlit, Yan Qing couldn't see the leader clearly, so she shrank back to hide herself.
"search!"
At the leader's command, footsteps scattered. Yan Qing swallowed, a strange sense of familiarity mixed with her nervousness; she felt she had heard that voice before.
Yan Qingwei peeked out and squinted at the person who had spoken.
Rong Xuan!
He shed his usual elegant attire and donned a sharp black robe. At this moment, he had a squeaking mouse under his foot, and his expression was so gloomy it was hard to tell whether he was angry at the mouse or something else.
Upon seeing it was him, Yan Qing's heart, which had been pounding in her throat, returned to her chest, and she breathed a long sigh of relief.
It saved them from a fierce battle, but it also aroused a lot of suspicion.
She brushed the dust off her clothes, stepped out from behind the cat cage, and spoke first to stop Rong Xuan and his group.
What are you doing here?
No sooner had these words been spoken than Yan Qing was seized by the nearest guard and brought before Rong Xuan. Other guards quickly moved forward and surrounded Yan Qing, awaiting his signal.
Yan Qing remained calm and casually joked, "I am Yan Qing. You wouldn't recognize me after a few days, would you?"
Rong Xuan waved for the guards to retreat behind him, his eyes dark and unfathomable, and coldly tossed the question back to Yan Qing.
Why are you here?
"Fangbi was keeping watch upstairs while rescuing the trapped kitten. I just came down and ran into you guys. I thought you were from the exotic cat aquarium, you gave me quite a fright!" Yan Qing deliberately mentioned Fangbi, patting his chest as if he was genuinely startled, then asked with feigned curiosity, "But you, how did you get out of here? Where does this lead?"
Upon hearing that Fangbi was upstairs, Rong Xuan's suspicions visibly diminished, but he ignored Yan Qing's question.
Yan Qing wasn't annoyed. Seeing that Rong Xuan's eyes were no longer wary, he crossed his arms and leaned against the stone wall, watching them thoroughly search this small place.
He would occasionally remind his reckless guards not to startle the cat.
There are only stone walls and cat cages here; they probably came all for nothing...
"Your Highness, this has been found."
Yan Qing was immediately proven wrong, and out of curiosity, she moved closer to Rong Xuan.
Seeing Rong Xuan examining the cat treat package she took out of the cat cage, Yan Qing momentarily lost her balance.
Oops!
Forgot that Cat Number One only follows instructions; it only took back the cat food and water!
Seeing Rong Xuan's furrowed brows as he examined the cleanly eaten cat treats, Yan Qing feigned ignorance and asked, "What is this?"
"You just came down, didn't you do anything else?" Rong Xuan glanced at her, and only answered after receiving confirmation, "You don't need to know."
Since Rong Xuan had already said that, Yan Qing was too lazy to talk to him anymore, since he couldn't come up with the right answer no matter how hard he tried.
There was no point in staying any longer, so Yan Qing decided to leave. Just as she grabbed the ladder leading upwards, a loud shout stopped her in her tracks.
Yan Qing slapped her forehead in frustration. Da Da's teeth and claws had been repaired, but the people at the Exotic Cat House would definitely be suspicious, and Da Da might be abused again or suffer even worse consequences.
But just now, she was so overwhelmed by anger and confused that she only thought about curing Daddy and had no time to consider anything else.
Undoubtedly, she did something foolish without thinking, and now she can only ask others for help.
The only person present who could help her was Rong Xuan.
Yan Qing clenched her fist, then slowly relaxed it, turned around and walked back to his side, asking, "Can you help me move these cats out?"
The sarcastic tone was expected.
"What? You only brought Fangbi with you to rescue the cat? Boss Yan, you trust my people far too much." Rong Xuan's words were laced with sarcasm, then turned to scrutiny. "Or did you already know I would be here?"
Yan Qing sensed that he didn't want to help, and retorted with a pursed lip, "I'm not that free to keep an eye on your every move."
Yan Qing had examined all the cats; only DaDa had obvious injuries, so the other cats looked fine. She couldn't possibly move all the cats out by herself today. The best option right now was to take DaDa with her first.
Its unusual behavior was enough to attract the attention of the exotic cat aquarium, not to mention its personality; it would only suffer more in the hands of those people than before.
As for the other cats, the people at Exotic Cat House won't easily get rid of them; at least for now, they are truly lucky cats.
She still has a chance to save them.
After thinking it over, Yan Qing walked to the large cat cage and tried to pry open the iron bars. They were somewhat deformed, but her strength was still not enough to tear open the gap that Da Da could squeeze through.
She rushed to the bottom of the ladder, hoping Fangbi would come to help, but before she even reached the ladder, Fangbi jumped down as if they were telepathically connected.
But it brought bad news.
"They say there's some commotion upstairs, it's best to leave now."
Upon hearing this, Rong Xuan gave his men a look, and they, in their well-trained manner, prepared to evacuate.
Seeing them all heading towards the stone gate, Yan Qing disregarded everything else. She quickly ran back to the large cat cage, unleashed tremendous energy, and picked up the cat cage in one swift motion.
Then, she rushed straight towards Rong Xuan, shouting, "Rong Xuan!"
The guards who were pushed aside by Yan Qing did not make any attempt to stop Rong Xuan due to her ambiguous attitude.
The moment Rong Xuan turned her head, her furrowed brows lifted, and her eyes turned to surprise.
Yan Qing used all her strength to slam the cat cage into his arms, then before he could react, she turned him around and pushed him away forcefully.
Whether he likes it or not, she's determined to take him under her wing!
“If you dare leave it here, the Crown Prince will know you’re investigating him tomorrow.”
After saying this, Yan Qing turned around, grabbed Fang Bi's hand, who was following closely behind her, and ran out, past Rong Xuan who was still in disbelief.
There was only one road ahead, and the two of them ran at the front until the moonlight fell on them, at which point they stopped.
Yan Qing, panting, braced his hands on his thighs and burst into laughter in front of Fang Bi's shocked gaze.
"So, how about switching jobs and coming to work for me?"
"If you don't come and get your cat, it'll be smashed into a pulp." Before Fang Bi could reply, Rong Xuan's cold voice came over, trying to freeze Yan Qing's smile, but he failed.
Yan Qing took the cat cage from the guard and said to Fang Bi, "Could you pry open this cage to create a large enough gap for someone to squeeze through?"
Fang Bi nimbly grabbed the two pillars and gently pried them open—at least in Yan Qing's eyes it was a gentle pry—and the gap in the cage instantly widened enough for Da Da to waddle out like a cat.
Yan Qing caught the kitten that jumped out eagerly and rubbed her face against itss.
The two caught up with Rong Xuan's group.
During the silent evacuation, Yan Qing habitually surveyed her surroundings.
A giant swing, covered with grapevines.
etc.
There was a large, swaying wooden plank covered in grape leaves—green and beautiful! She also loved flying kites; she had many, many pretty kites, including one that looked exactly like me—a little leopard kite!
Yan Qing searched purposefully and found all kinds of kites, painted with various flowers and plants, scattered in the corridor. A kite shaped like a small leopard was hanging on the beam.
!
"Is this the Jiang residence?"
When Yan Qing saw Rong Xuan stop, and as the guards climbed over the courtyard wall one by one, he looked over with eyes that seemed to ask, "How did you know?"
She walked over to Rong Xuan and said calmly, "Looks like I do have some supernatural abilities, don't you think?"
Rong Xuan's gaze became somewhat enigmatic, and in the end, she simply climbed over the courtyard wall.
Back at the Cat Tea House, Yan Qing went straight to the little leopard, ignoring its drowsy state, and picked it up and showered it with kisses.
No wonder Xiao Bao is the most proactive employee at Cat Tea House; even things you casually share with her can be incredibly useful!
This month's Cat Tea House Star is definitely it, and it deserves a huge reward!
It was late at night when they finally settled Dada down. Although it had escaped from the demon's clutches, it was still a little scared and couldn't leave Yan Qing. It kept walking around and rubbing against her, occasionally hooking her with its tail and then barking a few times.
Yan Qing understood what it meant; it wanted to rescue its little friends, but there was no feasible way at the moment, so she could only appease Da Da for the time being.
Finally, Da Da couldn't hold on any longer and closed his eyes, his breathing becoming long and even.
Yan Qing returned to bed and began to seriously consider the matter.
Yan Qing did not doze off until the sky began to lighten.
When Yan Qing woke up again, she was surrounded by kittens. Snowball, Princess, and Little Leopard were all gathered on the bed, along with four other kittens. The one closest to Yan Qing was Big Big, which was occupying Yan Qing's face, while the other kittens were eyeing her covetously.
Yan Qing decisively swept them all into her arms and showered them with kisses until all the cats began to dodge and scramble to escape from her embrace.
Yay! The cat-themed chaos has been averted!
When they parted last night, Yan Qing told Rong Xuan that she now had the ability to gather information and that he could write to her if he needed any. She wouldn't be as petty as someone else, unwilling to help her comrades on the united front.
Sure enough, Yan Qing received a letter from Rong Xuan early this morning. After watching the employees leave Cat Tea House, she returned to her room and opened the letter.
[News regarding the Jiang family and the Crown Prince should be sent within five days.]
Yan Qing gave a soft hum, placed the letter on the candle flame and lit it. The flames devoured the paper, and when only a corner remained blank, she flicked her hand, and the ashes scattered in the morning sun. The thin piece of paper, like a butterfly fluttering its wings, finally slipped to the ground.
What do you mean by "news about the Jiang family and the Crown Prince"? He won't tell her the inside story, yet he expects her to guess what he wants. That's wishful thinking!
Given that the crown prince is a man, this news is quite relevant.
Despite her inner grumbling and complaints, Yan Qing still gave the order, and for the next few days, the little leopard was sent to the Jiang residence, and the other kittens were also given priority to be sent to the Jiang residence as well.
The effect was obvious; news about the Jiang family was being sent back by the kittens in a steady stream.
The little leopard was very enthusiastic, perhaps even a bit too enthusiastic. In the past few days, Yan Qing learned what flowers were planted in the Jiang residence, and even how many rooms the Jiang residence had.
The princess was very practical and figured out what delicious food the kitchen could make.
So far, this information hasn't been of much use, but it still holds great potential.
In comparison, Xue Tuan was much more professional, bringing back a lot of useful information for Yan Qing, who then selected and sent some of it to the Ning Prince's residence.
After tasting success, Rong Xuan sent several more letters, each containing only a single sentence and requesting vague information, as if she didn't care what information Yan Qing provided, as long as it was given to her.
Yan Qing could sense that Rong Xuan was intentionally confusing her; he didn't want her to truly know what he was doing.
She was cunning and scheming, which annoyed Yan Qing but she didn't take it to heart. Now was not the time for her to get involved in these matters.
A few days later, there was new activity at the Exotic Cat Pavilion.
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