Lose My Heart to the Lovely Kitten Princess - Chapter 18
Chapter 18 Changshao County office
Chu Yunshen, Mu Bai, and Xiaowu prepared to make their way to Changshao County. The village chief and the villagers knelt behind Chu Yunshen and said in unison, “Farewell, Your Highness!”
The villagers started talking after Chu Yunshen, and the others when they could no longer be seen.
“Although His Highness looks cold, he’s not as abusive in nature as they say!”
“Yes, exactly!” chimed the villagers nonstop.
When Chu Yunshen and everyone arrived at Changshao County, there was only a single armed soldier standing outside the Changshao County office doors.
Chu Yunshen, “Who dares barge into the county office? Don’t you know that the county magistrate doesn’t work on cases today? Come another day!”
“How dare you! Do you know who you are pointing your sword at,” asked Xiaowu after he knocked the sword from the soldier’s hands, “This is Prince Jing!”
“Prince Jing?”
The soldier shivered before he instantly knelt in front of Chu Yunshen and said, “Your Highness, we weren’t expecting me, so please forgive me for my rudeness.”
Xiaowu glared at him and said, “Hurry up and tell the county magistrate to come out and welcome His Highness!”
“Yes, Sir! I’ll go tell the country magistrate now!”
Then the soldier immediately ran into the county office anxiously.
“Oh no, Sir! Prince Jing is here!”
The county magistrate was lying happily in his concubine’s arms and listening to her sing. He sat up the moment he heard the soldier and asked, “Who did you was here?”
“Prince Jing.”
The county magistrate instantly put on his clothes. Then he came out and shouted, “Where is the county magistrate assistant? Come with me to welcome His Highness!”
The county magistrate assistant was working on some cases when he raised his head and replied, “Yes, Sir!”
“I, the county magistrate of Changshao County, Cai Mingkun, welcomes Your Highness!”
“I, the county magistrate assistant of Changshao County, Li Shutong, welcomes Your Highness!”
The moment the county magistrate and his assistant walked down the steps of the county office, they paid their respects to Chu Yunshen one after another.
After paying his respects, the fat county magistrate, Cai Mingkun, gestured to welcome Chu Yunshen into the county office as he said, “This way please, Your Highness. We had no idea that Your Highness was coming and was unprepared. Please forgive us!”
“You sure have some airs as the county magistrate,” said Xiaowu sarcastically.
Chu Yunshen glanced at Cai Mingkun before walking into the county office with a cat in his arms.
Xiaowu and Mu Bai followed closely behind Chu Yunshen.
Cai Mingkun wiped the sweat from his forehead as he chased closely behind Chu Yunshen and said, “My… my apologies!”
Chu Yunshen entered the county office and headed towards the county magistrate’s seat. He turned to glance at Cai Mingkun and Li Shutong who were standing beneath him after taking a seat.
Xiaowu stood on Chu Yunshen’s right while Mu Bai stood on his left.
The atmosphere left Cai Mingkun terrified.
A cold stare came from the main seat and landed on top of his head.
Last night when the post officer told him that Prince Jing had entered Huangquan Forest, he hoped that he would perish in there.
Prince Jing unexpectedly survived the forest.
He wondered what became of those things inside the forest.
Cai Mingkun continued to act clueless as he probed, “May I know what I did to make Your Highness so upset? I have been governing Changshao County diligently for decades. I have never done anything that would harm its citizens! Our people can live and work in peace without having to bolt their doors at night.”
“Master has just returned from Huangquan Forest!” said Xiaowu as he laughed coldly.
“Erm… erm… erm!”
Cai Mingkun’s eyes constricted. He calmed himself down and pretended like he only suddenly realized that Prince Jing went to the forest personally. Then he turned to explain to Chu Yunshen, “Your Highness, it’s not that I don’t care about the Huangquan Forest case, but I don’t dare to do anything about it! That forest is so strange. 20 years ago when I sent five county officers in there, I told the public no one returned, but in fact, one of them did. He was covered in blood and had wounds all over his body when he returned. He said swarms of zombies attacked him in the forest.”
“Where is the man?” asked Chu Yunshen as he finally looked away from the cat and glanced at Cai Mingkun, who was standing beneath him.
“He…he’s dead,” said Cai Mingkun as he wiped the sweat from his brow, “I was worried that he would change into a zombie, so I burned him on the spot.”
“Burned?”
Chu Yunshen’s eyes darkened. Then he stared coldly at the fat Cai Mingkun and said, “Why wasn’t this reported?”
“I… I…..” stammered Cai Mingkun for a long time without being able to compose an answer. He felt as though his head weighed like a ton. Prince Jing’s sudden appearance caught him completely unaware, so he hadn’t notified that man in the capital yet. Cai Mingkun didn’t even dare to raise his head when Prince Jing kept pressing on the subject. Then he explained quickly, “Those monsters never left the forest to hurt anyone, so I thought it would be fine as long as the people don’t go near the forest.”
Chu Yunshen stopped stroking the cat. Then he looked up coldly at Cai Mingkun before saying deeply, “County Magistrate Cai, do you know there is a sacrificial altar set up in the style of Wu’s sacrifices in the forest? There is a Wu spy in your jurisdiction. I can even charge you with treason now!”
“Your Highness, spare me!” implored Cai Mingkun nonstop as he instantly knelt, “That’s not true! How could I have colluded with the enemy?”
“Heh!” sneered Chu Yunshen coldly. Then he glanced at Xiaowu, who instantly understood his intentions. Xiaowu went forward and told the county officers who were standing on both sides of the hall, “Pluck County Magistrate Cai’s official hat from his head!”
“Yes, Sir!” At Xiaowu’s order, the county officers beside them immediately plucked the official hat from Cai Mingkun’s head.
“Your Highness, spare me! I didn’t commit treason!” said Cai Mingkun as his mind went blank, and his official hat was taken away by the county officers.
The county officers stepped forward to hold him by his arms. Cai Mingkun wanted to raise his head and beg Chu Yunshen, but the county officers had grabbed both his arms and pinned him into a kneeling position, and he was completely immobile.
“Your Highness, spare me! I was really wronged!”
Xiaowu said coldly, “Throw him into prison to wait for his sentence!”
“Yes, Sir!” replied the county officers before they dragged Cai Mingkun away.
Xiaowu’s eyes landed on the county magistrate assistant, who had remained silent the moment he stepped into the county office. Then he said coldly, “County Magistrate Assistant Li Shutong!”
“Yes, Sir!” replied Li Shutong as he trembled.
“As the country magistrate assistant, you should have reminded the county magistrate when he did nothing, but you allowed him to shirk his duties. Since you didn’t commit too many mistakes, His Highness will not hold you accountable for the time being. You will take over all county office duties until a new county magistrate assumes the post,” said Xiaowu calmly.
“I will obey your orders! Thank you for sparing me, Your Highness!” said the county magistrate assistant as he kowtowed.
After throwing Cai Mingkun into jail, Chu Yunshen and the others returned to the post office. They wanted to rest for the day before going on their way.
“Meow.”
Cheng Xiaoxiao wriggled under the bed and looked at the baby bird as it shrank into the corner. The baby bird remained in the corner and refused to come out. Was it angry with her?
She thought Huangquan Forest was too dangerous, so she left the baby bird in the room.
Chu Yunshen looked away from his book and glanced at the kitten.
What was she doing?
He saw that the little fellow had wriggled under the bed with only its round butt sticking out.
After a while, the little fellow came out with the baby bird in her mouth. Then Chu Yunshen’s lips curved into a smile, and he continued reading his military book.
“Meow!”
Cheng Xiaoxiao took a long piece of dried meat and poked the baby bird’s head with it. The moment the baby bird spotted the dried meat, it took the meat from Cheng Xiaoxiao with its sharp and tiny beak right away.
Cheng Xiaoxiao and the baby bird’s friendship was saved because of this piece of meat.
“Master!”
Xiaowu’s voice suddenly came through the door as he knocked.
Chu Yunshen replied calmly without looking up from the military book, “Come in.”
“Master, I discovered these in Cai Mingkun’s home!”
Xiaowu walked in with an exquisitely carved redwood box. The lock on the box was already hacked open with a sword.
Chu Yunshen put down the military book and turned his eyes to the box in Xiaowu’s hands. Then he said, “Open it.”
“Yes, Master!” replied Xiaowu. Then he opened the box.
The box was filled to the brim with two stacks of letters.
Xiaowu took a letter from the left side and handed it to Chu Yunshen. Then he said, “Master, this letter was written by Wu Youbai, heir of the third prince of Wu!”
“And this letter!” said Xiaowu as he took a letter from the right and handed it to Chu Yunshen, “This letter was clearly written in code. We don’t know who wrote it, but this paper originates from the palace in the capital.”
“This is outrageous!” said Chu Yunshen after he finished reading the letter from the heir of the third prince of Wu. Fury rose in his eyes as he said, “How dare you pretend to be a fool while you scheme behind my back, Cai Mingkun!”
Then he read the second letter that Xiaowu handed him. It merely asked about the situation with Huangquan Forest and told Cai Mingkun to inform the heir of the third prince of Wu that things were set in the capital, and there was nothing for him to worry about.
Was it someone from the capital?
Chu Yunshen’s eyes darkened. Then he told Xiaowu, “Take him out of jail and keep close eyes on him! We will bring him back to the capital tomorrow!”
How dare someone commit treason right under the Emperor’s nose in the capital! He had to find him, no matter what.
“Yes, Master!” said Xiaowu. Then knowing the gravity of the matter, he immediately pulled Cai Mingkun out of prison.
When he got to prison, it was surprisingly brightly lit.
“What happened?” asked Xiaowu as he ran over quickly.
When the jailor saw that it was Prince Jing’s personal guard, he was so terrified that he immediately knelt and said in fear, “Sir, the county magistrate is dead!”
“What on earth have you doing here?” shouted Xiaowu as he shoved the jailor aside. Then he swiftly walked towards Cai Mingkun’s jail cell and said, “Why did he suddenly die?”
“Sir, someone poisoned the county magistrate’s food!”
“Who sent dinner tonight?” asked Xiaowu anxiously, “Where is he? Find him!”
“But Xiao Li disappeared after sending dinner!” stuttered the jailor.
Chu Yunshen was about to turn in with Cheng Xiaoxiao’s soft body nestled next to him. Then disorderly footsteps suddenly came from the door.
Chu Yunshen swiftly pulled out his sword from under the pillow. Then he sat up straight and asked, “Who goes there!”
“Master, Cai Mingkun is dead!”
When Chu Yunshen heard Xiaowu, his eyes turned dusky. He placed the sword back under the pillow. Then Chu Yunshen put on a jacket before walking to the outer room and said, “Come in.”
“Yes, Master!” said Xiaowu before he entered anxiously, “He was poisoned, but the person who sent dinner has gone missing!”
“Missing?” sneered Chu Yunshen coldly. It appeared that this little Changshao County kept many secrets. He had just thrown Cai Mingkun into jail, but someone assassinated him right away.
Cai Mingkun had a powerful backer who could even reach his hands into such a far-flung territory!
“Send Sir Liu a message by pigeon. Tell him something went wrong,” instructed Chu Yunshen coldly.
“Yes, Master! I will do it right away!” replied Xiaowu before he hurriedly left. Just as Xiaowu turned to close the bedroom door, his hand halted.
The lion cat who was lying in bed was surprisingly tottering over to Prince Jing. Chu Yunshen bent over and carried the kitten and headed back to bed.
“Did I wake you?”
“Meow.”
Xiaowu went stiff as he stood outside the door. He had never heard Prince Jing speaking so gently before. His voice was gentle that it made his knees weak.
“Meow.”
When Cheng Xiaoxiao opened her eyes, she realized Chu Yunshen had gone missing, so she got off the bed to track him by his scent and found her way to him.
After falling into Chu Yunshen’s embrace, the familiar scent and warmth made her instantly fall into a sweet slumber.
Chu Yunshen looked at Cheng Xiaoxiao, who was fast asleep in his arms. Then he raised his hand to stroke her head as he said, “You’re such a fast sleeper, little fellow.”
