Chapter 6 When will this suffering end?

“What was the commotion?”

“I don’t know! There’s a huge pit here!”

“Hurry up and check if it’s on the tree!”

As the people kept running back and forth in front of her, she wondered what she should do resentfully.

The little bird kept chirping. So she hurriedly held its beak and said, “God, can you stop for a while? Just a while? I will send you back in a minute.”

But the little bird was genuinely hysterical and kept saying it was hungry hungry hungry.

“Okay okay okay. I will take you out to find some food, okay? Stop chirping!” Cheng Xiaoxiao was a little annoyed.

It seemed to understand her words, and obediently stopped yapping. Then it looked at her piteously instead.

The little bird stood up shakily and jumped as it trailed behind her. Cheng Xiaoxiao looked around to check that no one was around, then she meowed at it, “Follow me closely!”

Then the cat darted out soundlessly and hid behind the curtain and looked at it.

The little bird jumped and jumped nonstop noisily.

Cheng Xiaoxiao, “…”

Okay! It won. She gave up and decided to take the bird with her!

She had a tough time finding a good spot to place her mouth behind its neck. Although she had seen cats carrying their kittens around, she honestly didn’t know where to start…

In the end, she found a spot with relatively more feathers and looked at it for a while.

She needed to hold it by biting its feathers!

She could envision a heap of germs dancing in front of her face.

After Cheng Xiaoxiao finally convinced herself, she bent over to bite that tuft of feathers. Then she cried in her heart.

“Have you found her?” asked Chu Yunshen anxiously as he frowned hard.

“Your Highness, no, we haven’t found her…”

“I think that it probably ran up the mountains. If it went that far, it would be a wasted effort no matter how many men we bring,” said Mo Chen as he placed a flag on the map.

Chu Yunshen, “…”

“Your Highness, where are you going?” asked Mo Chen, “Don’t forget the reason you’re here today. Wu is advancing on Bailing, and they are getting close.”

Chu Yunshen paused, then he finally halted in his steps.

“Xiaowu!” he shouted loudly. Xiaowu’s reply came from afar and came running over immediately. Chu Yunshen instructed him in a hushed tone. And Mo Chen’s eyes narrowed.

When Wu sent rare treasures as a tribute, a dancing girl among them was an assassin. But the prince killed her and threw everything away. He only kept this cat and loved it a lot. But Mo Chen couldn’t believe his ears when he learned about it. Yet now that he had seen it with his own eyes, he had to.

“This cat came from Wu. Aren't you worried there's something wrong with her?” asked Mo Chen.

“…” Chu Yunshen ignored him.

Mo Chen was dejected. The prince didn’t favor him anymore because of a cat!

In reality, it was easy for Cheng Xiaoxiao to find her way into the kitchen.

After all, she had a cat's sense of smell. Also, she was outrageously sensitive to food when she was human previously. So she made a beeline for the kitchen and snuck in.

There were a lot of army provisions stored in the kitchen. The smell of food wafted in the kitchen as she entered. From the looks of it, they were about to eat soon. So it was a good opportunity for her to have a feast.

She snuck in successfully and accurately located the meat.

From its intense scent and brightness, she could tell it was the spiced beef she had been dreaming of!

She let go of the little bird and instructed, “Stay here and stand guard. I will go in and get your meat!”

The little bird obediently stood there.

She leaped up the table and bit the spiced meat. With a single bite, it felt so blissful that she was on the brink of tears. It smelled tasty; the meat was fresh and tender. The moment she ate it, it melted in her mouth. This was a world-class cuisine that all humans hanker after.

She suddenly felt energetic, so she tore a piece of meat and wanted to swallow it. But she spotted the little birdie staring eagerly from the corners of her eyes. So she couldn't help but put the meat next to its mouth. Then the little bird flapped its wings and ate happily.

When Cheng Xiaoxiao saw how delighted it was, she couldn’t help laughing. She was stunned for a while.

Did she awaken something incredible?

“No no no. I merely found it pitiful. After I feed it, I’ll send it back!” Cheng Xiaoxiao hurriedly yanked herself out from the murky depths of her maternal instincts.

She howled and bit the spiced beef. Just as she was about to have her fill, the door curtain lifted suddenly.

Cheng Xiaoxiao was dumbfounded.

Xiaowu went stiff too.

“It…it really is here!” When he got a clear look at the thief as she stole meat, he was dumbstruck.

The master asked him over to begin with and said, “You have to check the kitchen carefully. She hasn't eaten anything this morning and can't catch anything on her own. So she will probably steal from the kitchen.”

He is truly the master. Nothing escapes him!

Xiaowu hurried over and said, “Little fellow! Come back quickly! His Highness has been searching high and low for you!”

Just as he was about to step forward and lunge towards her, the little fellow darted out. He wasn't in time to catch her and fell headlong into the bowl of spiced meat instead.

“Tsk! You little arse. When I bloody get my hands on you, you’re going to get it from me!”

Xiaowu was furious. When he turned his head, he caught sight of something moving on this side. Then he saw it was a half big little bird that was doing its best to jump down. But it didn't dare and ended up standing where it was as it chirped anxiously nonstop.

What was this?

He grabbed the little bird right away. Then he heard a long meow.

Xiaowu looked up to see that the kitty surprisingly came back.

She was standing not far from him and looked fixedly at the little bird in his hands. She was so angry that all her fur was standing while she growled menacingly. It appeared like she was threatening him to return the little bird to her.

Xiaowu was confused. “Is this little bird yours?”

The kitty seemed to understand. Then she shook her tail hard up and down.

Xiaowu, “…”

Heaven! This pet had its own pet!

While Chu Yunshen was contemplating how to organize combat maps, he suddenly heard Xiaowu shouting excitedly, “Master! Master! I found her!”

Chu Yunshen was startled. Then he looked up.

Xiaowu disregarded ceremony and charged right into the general’s tent with the little fellow in his arms. She was thoroughly dirty from all the fun she had.

But judging from all her other characteristics, it was undoubtedly his kitten.

Chu Yunshen felt the tightly wound thread at the bottom of his heart finally loosen. Then he turned and said to her, “What? Are you so cowardly that you can’t bear to threatened?”

Cheng Xiaoxiao hummed as she averted her eyes. She treasured her life too much!

“ Master, take a look at this. This is the most important part!”

Xiaowu then pointed excitedly at the ball that the little fellow kept protectively in her paws.

Chu Yunshen pried the ball from her. Then a furry little head emerged and chirped at him.

Chu Yunshen didn’t manage to come to a reaction in time, “…does she want to eat it?”

“No no no. Master, trust me. That little bird is the cat’s pet!” said Xiaowu solemnly.

Mo Chen accidentally spat his tea out.

“Your Highness, what happened to Xiaowu? Since when did he learn to joke even?”

“I’m not lying! It’s true! She was feeding it meat earlier!” When Xiaowu saw their disbelief, he was so anxious that he almost wanted to leap into the air.

Chu Yunshen turned his eyes to Cheng Xiaoxiao and thought, “In that case…”

He put Cheng Xiaoxiao down and placed the little bird on the side. The moment the bird stood on the ground and saw Cheng Xiaoxiao, it enthusiastically ran into her arms then chirped as it rubbed against her.

Everyone went, “…”

Mo Chen instantly broke the silence and said, “It’s no wonder you kept it. This cat is so different.”

Chu Yunshen, “…” who was he trying to diss?

Cheng Xiaoxiao was bleeding in her heart. If the little birdie didn’t end up in Xiaowu’s hands as leverage, she wouldn’t come back obediently. But she couldn’t bear to leave it in the lurch.

How was she to send the little bird back now?

For the past few days, as Chu Yunshen was aware of her loathing of Mo Chen, he thoughtfully made Mo Chen stay several feet away from them. So a strange sight ensued.

Cheng Xiaoxiao lay comfortably on Chu Yunshen’s shoulder while the little bird squatted on her head. Mo Chen had to stand several feet away to talk to him. Any documents they shared were sent by servants. Even when they walked, the two walked abreast with a wide berth between them that was big enough for a bullock cart.

Anyone who didn't know better would have thought that was a blood feud between them.

Mo Chen finally couldn’t stand this alienation. So he got the kitchen to prepare a huge bowl of meat and brought it before Cheng Xiaoxiao and apologized, “I’m sorry. Can you tell your master to stop treating me like this?”

Cheng Xiaoxiao looked at the meat with a glint in her eyes. She had exhausted all her proudness as a cat. So she succumbed to eating half a roast chicken before magnanimously forgiving Mo Chen.

The next day, Mo Chen discovered he was able to come close to Chu Yunshen again. The cat’s importance to Chu Yunshen became clear once again. After being friends with him for years, he was no better than a pet.

A man was no better than a cat! Heavens!

One more problem arose when Chu Yunshen slept at night.

This time, it was not only a cat sharing his bed but a wee little bird too.

He wanted to release the bird into the wild. But the little kitten kept bringing it back. She was probably worried that it might get devoured as a snack by wild beasts because it couldn’t fly yet.

Since it was his pet’s pet… it was considered his pet too.

Chu Yunshen was forced to accept an unknown bird for company.

So the bird and the cat made his bed even livelier.

A few days later, they got back to the prince’s residence

Xiaowu gazed at his master with complicated emotion in his heart. After he came back, there was not only a cat on his shoulder but a bird atop his head too… Although he was just as stunning, his power got so diluted by these two cute creatures that there wasn’t an ounce left.

Sigh…

Cheng Xiaoxiao realized that the little bird treated her like its mother. It was an animal instinct for it to think that the one who fed it was its mother. And without its family around, it could only run to her.

Cheng Xiaoxiao had already resigned herself to her fate.

As the little bird was still growing, it tended to eat a lot and get hungry easily. Every day she kept running back and forth feeding it. Chu Yunshen seemed to realize how difficult it was for her, so he especially got the kitchen to prepare pieces of meat for her.

Every now and then, when she heard the little bird chirping, she had to stuff a piece of meat into its mouth.

A few days later, she felt as though her neck was almost twisted.

When would these hard times be over?