Li Xuan tilted his head and began searching through the Internal Affairs Bureau.
It was broad daylight, but the Internal Affairs Bureau was quite quiet.
A few Flower-Clothed Eunuchs on the path noticed Li Xuan's presence, but they silently averted their gazes, pretending not to see him.
"Hehe, it seems this bunch has also been warned."
Li Xuan still remembered when he first came to the Internal Affairs Bureau; he had been sneaky, terrified of being discovered by these Flower-Clothed Eunuchs.
Because he had been driven away by them before, and at that time his strength was even more insignificant, he naturally dared not confront these Flower-Clothed Eunuchs.
Li Xuan wandered around the Internal Affairs Bureau but couldn't find any trace of Chief Steward Shang, so he just started strolling around the palace.
Chief Steward Shang and Zhao Feng were both important figures, and they were exceptionally conspicuous when walking in the palace.
Moreover, Li Xuan also recognized the scent on these two men; if he was close enough, he would be able to detect them.
As he walked, before he could find any trace of Chief Steward Shang and Zhao Feng, he accidentally found himself at Yan Qu Hall.
There was no helping it; although he was a cat now, he still retained human aesthetics.
A new batch of Talent had arrived at Yan Qu Hall, and that aura of youthful, vibrant young girls naturally attracted him.
Especially since they were currently rehearsing songs and dances, dancing away their youth.
After summer arrived, the weather grew hotter by the day, so these Royal Concubines wore only thin veils, leaving their graceful curves fully exposed.
Li Xuan lay on the courtyard wall, scrutinizing the quality of this batch of talented women, his expression serious and earnest.
After an unknown amount of time, these talented women finished their singing and dancing practice for the day and dispersed in twos and threes.
"Dull, truly incredibly dull."
Li Xuan shook his head, watching the group of Royal Concubines dispersing below, and gulped audibly.
After dancing for so long, they were all drenched in fragrant sweat, and the thin veils clung tightly to their bodies, making Li Xuan feel parched.
He managed to tear his eyes away with great difficulty, only to see the sun setting in the distance, and he couldn't help but stare, startled.
"Eh!?" "Why has the sun gone down?"
Li Xuan blinked his big eyes, looking completely innocent.
He clearly remembered that it was still quite early when he arrived at Yan Qu Hall.
"It seems my injuries haven't fully healed, making my consciousness still blurry."
Li Xuan gave himself a reasonable explanation and then couldn't help but let out a big yawn.
Seeing that there were no more beautiful girls dancing for him, Li Xuan walked uninterestingly to another corner of Yan Qu Hall.
"I wonder how Deng Weixian is doing?"
Thinking about it, he hadn't seen Deng Weixian in a long time.
Various things had happened in between, and with Zhao Bugao carefully guiding Deng Weixian, Li Xuan hadn't paid much attention later on.
Fat Orange often went to check on things there, but since there was nothing unusual, it hadn't reported anything to Li Xuan.
He had been holed up in Jingyang Palace recuperating these past few days, and the three of them—Cat Overlord and the others—had come to visit him once.
Li Xuan also took that opportunity to check on the progress of Cat Overlord and the others.
He didn't know until he looked, and he was shocked when he did.
The Qi and Blood Power in Cat Overlord was already quite significant.
Now, even if it faced an opponent of the same level as Da Hei Gou before, it could easily win.
The previous battle seemed to have had a quite good effect on it.
And what surprised Li Xuan even more was Fat Orange; for some reason, its Qi and Blood Power was on par with Cat Overlord's.
One had to know that Cat Overlord had a very persistent pursuit of strength and was very desperate when it came to Cultivate.
Fat Orange had always been very laid-back; although it didn't slack off, it never did extra training.
But who would have thought that even like this, it possessed Qi and Blood Power not inferior to Cat Overlord.
Of course, if they really fought, Fat Orange's combat power would likely not be as good as Cat Overlord's.
After all, its personality determined that Cat Overlord was a natural warrior.
As for Niu Niu...
Forget it, better not mention it.
Thinking about these things, Li Xuan soon arrived at Wang Suyue's courtyard.
It was just time for dinner.
Wang Suyue was eating, with Deng Weixian and Liang Chuchu serving her.
The other Palace maids had gone to eat first and would come to take over the shift after they finished.
Li Xuan watched from the wall for a while and found that Deng Weixian seemed to be doing quite well recently.
"His complexion is good, and his strength has improved even more."
Just looking from afar, Li Xuan could also detect that Deng Weixian's Qi and Blood Power had increased significantly.
It looked like it wouldn't be a problem for him to Breakthrough to the Qiangshen Realm in a while.
"I wonder which of the sister or the younger brother will be the first to Breakthrough."
Although Yu'er started Cultivate two or three months later than Deng Weixian, she was very compatible with the Fish Dragon Three Transformations passed down by Zhao Feng, and her progress in Cultivate was fast.
Plus, there weren't as many miscellaneous tasks in Jingyang Palace now, so Yu'er had plenty of time to practice.
Basically, apart from attending to Ankang's daily life, Yu'er was almost always practicing, training every day until the Qi and Blood Power in her body was exhausted.
Furthermore, their meals were now of imperial kitchen standard, so she had no worries at all.
Yu'er was now training to death every day, as long as it didn't kill her.
Because Zhao Feng came to guide her every day, there was no fear of her messing around on her own.
If there was any problem, Zhao Feng would point it out, so Yu'er was relieved and trained herself ruthlessly.
She hadn't forgotten the incident earlier where people came to cause trouble and she almost dragged Li Xuan down.
Therefore, Yu'er was exceptionally keen on strength.
Both siblings of the Deng family were very talented and had extremely strong motivation.
The younger brother was driven by hatred, while the older sister sought strength to protect Ankang and Li Xuan.
Although their starting points were different, in their daily Cultivate, they were equally diligent and hardworking.
Moreover, the Fish Dragon Three Transformations that Yu'er was currently practicing was a complete Cultivation Technique that could be practiced all the way to the Marrow Refining Realm, so she had an advantage in terms of Cultivation Technique, which was why she was gradually catching up in progress.
But the Qiangshen Realm was truly difficult, and Li Xuan couldn't say for sure that Yu'er would definitely be able to catch up.
Having understood the situation with Deng Weixian, Li Xuan left with peace of mind.
Besides, seeing Wang Suyue eating made Li Xuan a bit hungry too.
But he didn't intend to return to Jingyang Palace; instead, he planned to go to the Internal Affairs Bureau to mooch a meal.
"At this hour, they should be back, right?"
Li Xuan remembered that Chief Steward Shang's schedule was quite regular; he would definitely get off work on time when it was time to rest and take out his chess manual for entertainment.
Arriving at Chief Steward Shang's courtyard, Li Xuan indeed found the person there.
And not only Chief Steward Shang, but Zhao Feng was also there.
The father and son seemed to have been busy all day; they hadn't even had time to change their clothes and were sitting together at the stone table eating dinner.
As soon as Li Xuan jumped into the courtyard, he meowed to greet them.
"Meow. (You really made me search all day.)"
"Oh?" "Li Xuan is here." "Have you eaten?"
Chief Steward Shang put down his bowl and chopsticks and asked Li Xuan with a smile.
Li Xuan hurriedly shook his head.
Chief Steward Shang couldn't help but laugh out loud, not expecting that he would have a day where a cat would mooch a meal from him.
Zhao Feng immediately signaled with a knowing look, and a Flower-Clothed Eunuch immediately brought a bowl, chopsticks, and a spoon and placed them in front of Li Xuan.
The Flower-Clothed Eunuch saw a cat sitting at the table with the Two Chief Eunuchs, but he showed no surprise at all; he didn't even dare to raise his head to look more, and after finishing his task, he hurriedly retreated.
When he was at Jingyang Palace, when Li Xuan ate, he would just point with his tail at the dish he wanted, and then Ankang and Yu'er would put it into his bowl.
But Li Xuan was too embarrassed to order around the two elders.
He moved his tail, curled it around the spoon, and then began to use his tail himself.
Chief Steward Shang and Zhao Feng were also eating with Li Xuan for the first time, and seeing this interesting scene, they couldn't help but take a few extra looks.
"Li Xuan, you are quite dexterous with that tail of yours."
Chief Steward Shang sighed with admiration and then continued eating.
The Two Chief Eunuchs were clearly more old-fashioned at the dinner table; they spoke very little, earnestly chewing the food in their mouths, emphasizing chewing slowly and swallowing carefully.
Although Li Xuan was used to the relaxed dining atmosphere at Jingyang Palace with Ankang and Yu'er, he was, after all, a guest mooching a meal, so he had to respect the local customs and followed suit, eating silently without any intention of being mischievous.
After dinner, they ate fruits and snacks with tea, which was quite refined.
While drinking tea, Chief Steward Shang opened the conversation.
"Li Xuan, I presume you came today because Fenger told you I was looking for you earlier."
Li Xuan nodded, waiting for what would follow.
"I asked you here because there are some things I need to instruct you on."
Chief Steward Shang said, pointing at Li Xuan's tail.
Li Xuan knew this was referring to the di hong bone ring, so he flicked his tail to the front, displaying the di hong bone ring.
"Fenger has introduced this di hong bone ring to you, right?"
"But there are still some things that I need to tell you personally."
Saying this, Chief Steward Shang glanced at Zhao Feng.
After receiving the signal from Chief Steward Shang, Zhao Feng actually stood up and left the place.
"This..."
Li Xuan was shocked; what kind of matter required avoiding Zhao Feng?
He understood at this moment that what Chief Steward Shang was about to say was definitely not simple.
After Zhao Feng went out, Chief Steward Shang closed his eyes and, after a moment, opened them again.
His pupils were flashing with silvery-white thin lines, converging into a ball of light that made one dare not look directly at it.
A mysterious aura spread silently from him as the center, enveloping his and Li Xuan's figures.
"Li Xuan, what I am about to say next is very important; you must remember it well, and it must absolutely not be spread."
"Even to Ankang and Yu'er, it is the same."
"Are you willing to abide by this rule?"
Chief Steward Shang's voice was different at this moment, and his temperament was completely different from usual.
Li Xuan hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he simply shook his head.
Chief Steward Shang was stunned for a moment; the silver lines in his eyes immediately dispersed, and the light was gone.
"Hmm?"
Li Xuan's reaction seemed to be somewhat beyond Chief Steward Shang's expectations.
But then, Chief Steward Shang couldn't help but laugh, and his serious expression could no longer be maintained.
Li Xuan watched, bewildered, not knowing what was wrong with Chief Steward Shang.
Chief Steward Shang laughed for a long time, wiped away his tears, and looked at Li Xuan, full of helplessness.
"Li Xuan, you really are an unexpected cat."
For so many years, this was the first time Chief Steward Shang had been unable to keep his emotions in check like this.
He couldn't help but silently think in his heart:
"Your Majesty, dealing with a cat seems to be very different."