Ouchi Taming the Cat, starting with the Ten Tiger Forms!

Chapter 549 I Understand I Understand
On the way to find Concubine Xiao's portrait, Li Xuan couldn't help but recall many past events.

Ever since he was adopted into Jingyang Palace, Concubine Xiao has been in poor health. She always lies in bed and sleeps for a long time every day.

Whenever he woke up, he would stay with Princess Ankang, talking to her and telling her stories.

Li Xuan followed along and listened to a lot of stories.

Concubine Xiao was the most gentle woman Li Xuan had ever seen. At that time, he even wondered how the emperor could be willing to lock up such a woman in the cold palace.

Unfortunately, Li Xuan and Concubine Xiao had been together for less than half a year before she passed away.

Li Xuan was rescued by Princess Ankang during a summer rainstorm, while Concubine Xiao fell ill in the autumn and passed away in the winter of the same year.

Actually, these things only happened last year, but to Li Xuan they seem like distant memories.

"When Madam Concubine Xiao sees us now, her spirit in heaven should be relieved."

Arriving near Ganlu Temple, Li Xuan calmed himself down and went to climb through the window with a stern face.

Climbing through windows is Li Xuan's forte, especially now that his cultivation has reached a higher level, it is so smooth.

Li Xuan climbed into the Ganlu Palace silently, but ended up bumping his head against a solid wall.

Even though Li Xuan's iron head and arms had already been fully developed, he still rolled on the ground in pain with tears in his eyes.

Wang Xi, the eunuch in charge of lighting for Emperor Yongyuan, looked at Li Xuan rolling on the ground in confusion and asked, "Little guy, are you trying to scam me?"

When Li Xuan heard this, he felt his head hurt even more.

Wang Xi is short and stocky. Although he is not young, he looks like a strong old man.

But Li Xuan never expected that his body would be so ridiculously hard.

"What kind of weird martial arts are these old eunuchs practicing?!"

Li Xuan was secretly complaining in his heart, and kept using Yin and Yang Qi to ease the pain for himself.

Wang Xi felt sorry for Li Xuan and reached out to pick him up from the ground.

Seeing Li Xuan's big tears falling, Wang Xi comforted him immediately:

"Ouch, did it hurt you?"

"Come on, Huluhuhuhu, the fur won't scare you, all the annoying pain will fly away~"

Wang Xi sang a nursery rhyme and touched Li Xuan's head.

It’s true, Li Xuan immediately felt that his headache was not as painful as before.

However, he suddenly discovered that the yin and yang energy in his body seemed to have undergone subtle changes.

The change was so subtle that it disappeared before Li Xuan could even notice it.

Li Xuan wiped his tears and suddenly became curious.

"Strange, something seems wrong."

With Li Xuan's current physical strength, even if he hits an iron plate, the plate will only dent, so there is no reason for him to have a headache.

Even though Wang Xi's physical strength was extremely high, Li Xuan's speed when he climbed in through the window just now was not that fast.

Logically speaking, even if it hit Wang Xi, it shouldn't be so painful.

“Is it influenced by Tao?”

"Hiss, can't this old man's way make people feel pain more easily?"

The more Li Xuan thought about it, the more puzzled he became, and he couldn't figure it out.

Wang Xi saw that Li Xuan had stopped crying, so he smiled and said:

"Ah Xuan, why are you climbing through the window of Ganlu Temple?"

"Is this a playful act? Or do you want to see your majesty for something?"

After hitting his head, Li Xuan became obedient and immediately said that he came to ask for an audience with Emperor Yongyuan.

"Then remember to go through the main gate next time. Someone will pick you up when you get to the gate."

Li Xuan didn't dare to act rashly and nodded obediently.

Just a random hit on the head would cause him excruciating pain. Who could endure it?

Anyway, Li Xuan won’t be a naughty boy anymore.

"Then I will take you to see His Majesty."

Wang Xi did not pursue the matter any further and took Li Xuan directly into the Ganlu Palace.

As he went deeper, Wang Xi's silent footsteps slowly began to move, and his footsteps gradually became louder, making them easier to notice.

Li Xuan was carried obediently and soon met Emperor Yongyuan who was reviewing memorials.

Emperor Yongyuan heard footsteps, looked up, and saw Li Xuan being carried in by Wang Xi. He couldn't help but smile.

"Ah Xuan, today's entrance is quite unusual."

Emperor Yongyuan couldn't help but make a joke.

Wang Xi also gently put Li Xuan on the ground.

"Thanks, meow."

Li Xuanchong thanked Wang Xi.

Wang Xi just nodded slightly and then stepped aside.

"What did you come to see me for?"

Emperor Yongyuan asked curiously.

Li Xuan seldom came to Ganlu Palace by himself. Emperor Yongyuan felt that since Li Xuan came to the palace alone to ask for an audience, it must be something urgent, and his expression became much more serious.

Li Xuan was not polite either. He climbed directly onto the dragon table of Emperor Yongyuan and started writing with his tail.

After reading what Li Xuan wrote for a while, Emperor Yongyuan's serious expression slowly melted, and his eyes were full of complexity.

"Has it been... a year?"

Emperor Yongyuan's eyes became empty and his thoughts drifted to who knows where.

"Ankang is thoughtful."

He said, and closed his eyes.

After a while, a scroll appeared in his hand.

Li Xuan knew that this was something that Emperor Yongyuan had taken out from his own Emperor Hong Bone Ring.

Emperor Yongyuan's Emperor Hong bone ring is a foot ring, and its performance is slightly stronger than the feather ring in Li Xuan's hand.

After taking out the scroll, Emperor Yongyuan slowly opened it, first looked at it carefully for a while, and then showed it to Li Xuan.

The painting shows a gentle and graceful woman with a soft smile on her face and her affectionate eyes looking towards the outside of the painting.

Li Xuan was able to recognize that the woman in the painting was Concubine Xiao, but she looked much younger than he remembered. It seemed that this portrait was taken before Concubine Xiao was banished to the cold palace.

"I'll lend you this painting."

"After you finish using Ankang, remember to return it to me."

Li Xuan cursed Emperor Yongyuan for being stingy, but then he turned his eyes and thought to himself, "If Ankang is not used up, then I don't have to pay it back, right?"

Thinking of this, Li Xuan looked at Emperor Yongyuan's expression again, and immediately showed a look of understanding.

"He must be embarrassed to give it directly to Ankang, so he beat around the bush. Fortunately, I was smart and understood what he meant."

"Hehe~"

Li Xuan chuckled, feeling that he had not been hanging out with the two stewards in vain, as they were becoming more and more perceptive.

Emperor Yongyuan was completely confused when he saw Li Xuan suddenly laugh.

But in the eyes of Emperor Yongyuan, Li Xuan was just a weird and occasionally neurotic cat, which was not difficult to understand.

"Forget it, after all, it's auspicious for my dynasty."

Emperor Yongyuan was too lazy to investigate further and just blinked his eyes, pretending not to notice Li Xuan's strange behavior.

Li Xuan saw Emperor Yongyuan winking at him, and this clear indication made him more certain of his thoughts. "Then let Ankang make good use of this painting."

Emperor Yongyuan had no idea that Li Xuan's little tricks would actually hit him.

"Nothing else, right?"

Emperor Yongyuan coughed dryly and then asked.

Li Xuan nodded with a look of "I understand all", which made Emperor Yongyuan confused.

"In that case, please do not hinder me from continuing to review the memorials."

Emperor Yongyuan waved his hand and ordered Li Xuan to leave with disdain.

Li Xuan jumped off the dragon table and was about to leave Ganlu Hall when he heard the voice of Emperor Yongyuan behind him:

"Looking at your appearance just now, were you captured by Wang Xi?"

"Remember to go through the main gate next time. Otherwise, if you get beaten up by someone you don't know, don't blame me for not reminding you."

Li Xuan rolled his eyes. There was no need for Emperor Yongyuan to remind him specifically.

He had just suffered a lot at the hands of Wang Xi, so naturally he would remember this lesson.

Li Xuan wagged his tail, said goodbye and left, and was escorted out of Ganlu Palace by Wang Xi.

When he returned to Jingyang Palace with the scroll, he found Yu'er was talking to Princess Ankang. The two maids were occasionally fiddling with the work, which Princess Ankang had only carved out in outline.

"Your Highness, Xuan is back."

Yu'er reminded Li Xuan as soon as he entered the room.

He quickly took out the painting given to them by Emperor Yongyuan from the Dihong bone ring.

After Princess Ankang took it, she asked in shock: "Ah Xuan, did you really find the portrait of my mother?"

The two girls couldn't wait to unfold the portrait completely. When they saw the complete portrait, they stared at it blankly, unable to take their eyes off it for a long time.

"Hehe, it's really my mother!"

Princess Ankang suddenly smiled.

"So young and beautiful."

Princess Ankang sighed and said that this was a look of her mother that she had never seen before.

Yu'er, who was standing by, looked at the portrait with the same expression as Princess Ankang.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Yu'er couldn't help but echoed.

The two girls looked at it for a long time but seemed like they couldn't get enough of it.

Yu'er found a shelf and hung Concubine Xiao's portrait on it so that Princess Ankang could see it conveniently.

Now that Princess Ankang had a portrait, she felt more confident in carving the wooden statue. She held Li Xuan in her arms and continued working.

Li Xuan stopped dozing off and looked at the portrait, secretly correcting Princess Ankang's mistakes.

Sometimes, when Princess Ankang was carving, she found that the cat's claws did not turn out to her liking, and the result was actually better. She could not help but blush and smiled embarrassedly at Li Xuan.

With the tacit cooperation of man and cat, the wooden statue of Concubine Xiao took shape more and more, and the image in memory became clearer and clearer.

Yu'er was serving on the side, and she would give Princess Ankang and Li Xuan whatever they needed immediately.

The three little ones worked together and talked about the past.

When they mentioned some memories of when Concubine Xiao was around, smiles appeared on their faces more and more, as if Concubine Xiao had never left them and was sitting not far away from them.

……

Before the anniversary of Concubine Xiao's death, the last Imperial Garden Competition of the year had arrived.

Compared to when the Imperial Garden competition first started at the beginning of the year, everyone's enthusiasm has long faded, and they are no longer interested in the grand prize that has already been decided.

In the annual standings, Princess Ankang was far ahead, not giving anyone else any chance at all.

Even in last month's competition, Princess Ankang won the official game, but only lost the last game of the supplementary game.

But this small failure caused others to pay a huge price.

Only the eldest prince and his two siblings could be considered winners, as they successfully exchanged their monthly allowance with Princess Ankang, the royal silver envoy.

Compared to other people whose monthly salary has been cut, people in Qingshu Palace should be having the best life right now.

Otherwise, the new monthly rules would not have been kept strictly confidential without leaking any information to the outside world.

Whenever someone asked them how much the new monthly allowance was, the three siblings would remain secretive and just smile mysteriously, leaving everyone to imagine.

But the more the eldest prince and his men acted like this, the more curious everyone became.

Some people even became more and more convinced that Princess Ankang had previously given herself a sky-high monthly salary, and there were constant criticisms behind her back, trying to get Princess Ankang to resign as the Royal Silver Envoy, but it never caused much trouble.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see clearly that it was impossible to get Princess Ankang to give up her role as the royal silver envoy in a short period of time, unless there was a major mistake.

But the problem is that many people have heard that Princess Ankang has made considerable contributions as the royal silver envoy.

Although the finances of these royal nobles became tighter, the royal private treasury increased several times after Princess Ankang took office.

In the court, some people carefully examined the expenses of the advance army, trying to make Emperor Yongyuan wake up and end the conflict with the desert as soon as possible.

As a result, Emperor Yongyuan waved his hand, casually revealed a little bit of the royal private treasury, and incidentally pushed all the credit onto Princess Ankang.

Princess Ankang was set up as a positive example of helping the emperor share his worries, in order to criticize the civil servants who had been dragging their feet since the beginning of the war.

Emperor Yongyuan and the nobles were in cahoots with each other and were embarrassed by the civil officials in the court. None of them were as capable as the twelve-year-old Princess Ankang.

With the help of the Ministry of Internal Affairs' instigation among the people, the prestige of the civil servants suffered a great loss, especially the faces of a few old men who claimed to be the leaders of the civil servants, who were beaten mercilessly and became stepping stones for Princess Ankang one by one.

Princess Ankang had previously been unknown and had a very weak presence. It was only in the past year that she gained some recognition in the palace.

Now, after this incident, the people in the capital also remember Princess Ankang's name.

Some people even use Princess Ankang as an example to criticize those who are just sitting there doing nothing.

Sanxiao only knew about this because of the report sent by Xiaocui.

Xiao Cui spontaneously spread the good deeds that Princess Ankang had done in the West Market.

As an eyewitness, she is the best narrator.

Xiao Cui started by saying that she and her grandfather were rescued by Princess Ankang, and went on to say that Princess Ankang punished the magistrate of Chang'an, dismissed him from office and exiled him.

As the pace of popular movement grew faster and faster, Princess Ankang established a good image among the people.

More and more stories about Princess Ankang were circulating in the streets.

Some people say that the Red Turban Team was founded by Princess Ankang.

Others say that Princess Ankang was the mastermind behind the Jinpeng Dynasty scam.

There are all kinds of things, some good and some bad, but they are all big things.

Gradually, the nobles in the palace also got a lot of news.

At least, they were certain that Princess Ankang had made a lot of money for the royal private treasury.

Because many of their families are victims of the incident.

When it comes to the antiques of the Jinpeng Dynasty, there are few who don't hate them.

There must be many people who have evil intentions in secret, after all, they are all used to being arrogant in the capital.

But as we investigated, they all quieted down.

By now, the nobles in the imperial garden no longer dared to ignore Princess Ankang's presence, and instead glared at her angrily.

Li Xuan couldn't help but feel secretly happy when he saw these people who dared to be angry but not to speak out.

"Oh, now you all know that my little girl is pretty?"

Looking at these people with their eyes almost popping out, Li Xuan said in his heart.

(End of this chapter)