When Shen Xuan and Lu Yu returned to the mansion, Afu was sleeping in the room, while Ada was in the adjoining room playing with the two kittens.
“Master, Husband,” Ada rose and bowed upon seeing Lu Yu and Shen Xuan enter.
“Where is Afu?” Shen Xuan asked, a little surprised not to see Afu. “Is he feeling unwell again?”
“No, Afu’s illness hasn’t fully recovered yet, he is resting now,” Ada replied respectfully to Shen Xuan.
He was grateful to Shen Xuan. Otherwise, given his appearance, height, and the price he was bought at, he wouldn’t have been promoted to serve in the inner court.
“Meow meow—” The two kittens, one on each side, hugged Ada’s ankles and rubbed against them incessantly.
“This… Husband! This servant did not do it intentionally, please do not send me away, Husband.”
Shen Xuan had been curious, wondering why these two kittens were so clingy. He thought they were just fond of Ada because he played with them so well. But Ada’s sudden apology confused Shen Xuan.
Ada instinctively wanted to kneel down, but the two kittens at his feet froze him mid-motion, afraid of hurting them.
Sensing Ada’s fear, Shen Xuan reached out and helped the half-crouching Ada up. “What’s wrong? Tell me slowly.”
Ada’s fearful expression was genuine, and his instinctive reaction to kneel was purely habitual. What had he experienced before being bought?
“This… this servant…” Ada didn’t know how to explain. But the cats’ closeness to him was a fact, and it was so obvious.
“Don’t rush. Come, sit here.” Shen Xuan pulled Ada to sit on a stool. Lu Yu had gone to the study on the other side, so only Shen Xuan and Ada were in the cat room’s adjoining area.
“You are doing so well, why would I send you away? Don’t worry, I transferred you to the inner court hoping you could handle matters in the inner court with Afu. You will naturally be in the inner court from now on, and I won’t send you away.”
Shen Xuan thought Ada meant being sent away from the inner court, so he tried to appease him. He didn't know what Ada had experienced before, so it was best to reassure him first to stabilize his emotions.
“Don’t overthink it. Tell me, what were you afraid of just now?”
“I was afraid you would think I was trying to, to seduce, seduce the Master using the cats,” Ada said in a very low voice, then lowered his head, as if awaiting punishment.
“Ah? Seduce? How were you seducing him?” Shen Xuan was baffled by this statement. He truly couldn’t see Ada seducing his wife just now.
“This servant did not!” Upon hearing this, Ada immediately jumped up from the stool and was about to kneel, but Shen Xuan caught him and pushed him back onto the stool.
“I have never thought you were seducing our wife, and I know you wouldn’t. Why do you think that?”
“This servant, this servant, at my previous household, the Master was very fond of puppies. Since this servant’s family raised animals when I was young, I was specifically assigned to care for the puppies there. However, the Husband was afraid of dogs, which reduced his time spent with the Master.”
“So you were very popular with the puppies, and that Husband used the excuse of you seducing the Master to sell you?”
Shen Xuan had read all the romance novels written by Lu Yu. After hearing Ada’s account of his past, he could guess what happened next.
“That’s right,” Ada nodded, looking very wronged.
“Don’t worry, that won’t happen in this mansion. I chose you for the inner court because of your character, so I trust you. Don’t overthink things anymore.”
“Do you know how long until this male cat gives birth?” Shen Xuan turned and saw a male cat lying by the door, basking in the sun. He suddenly realized Ada would surely know.
“This servant has observed it. It’s about less than half a month away. The gestation period for cats is about sixty days. Looking at its belly, it’s about forty-five days pregnant.”
“Will you be able to help it give birth then?” Shen Xuan asked this question innocently. He had always seen male midwives assisting male births, so he assumed male cats would also need assistance.
Ada chuckled at this question, then felt it was inappropriate to laugh at the Master. He suppressed his laughter. “Master, cats don’t need help when they give birth. They can complete it independently. People just need to provide them with food to replenish their energy.”
“So that’s how it is,” Shen Xuan nodded. “You stay here and play with them. I’m going to check on Afu.”
This adjoining room was specifically made for the kittens. As winter had arrived, it was too cold outside, so they played in this room. Shen Xuan had initially intended to make clothes for them, but Lu Yu always interfered, saying he was jealous and needed to be appeased, resulting in the clothes never being made.
Shen Xuan had been angry about this. Lu Yu also felt somewhat guilty towards the kittens and personally bought a few warm outfits for them as an apology to Shen Xuan.
Ada squatted on the ground, watching the two kittens play, and became lost in thought.
At that time, he was sold by his mother to a wealthy family in the neighboring town. The Master was very promiscuous, keeping several mistresses, and also had many wives and consorts in the household. However, she had one characteristic: she was very fond of puppies. It was said that she fell into a river as a child and was rescued by people alerted by a dog on the bank.
From then on, she always claimed to be a dog deity, believing dogs could protect her. She also vowed to protect her dog subjects and brought many unwanted dogs from the town back to her home.
However, there were too many dogs in the house, and the servants were not very good at taking care of them. Coincidentally, at the age of thirteen, he was sold here by his mother. To ensure he could stay, his mother claimed he was very knowledgeable about raising puppies, when in reality, he just liked small animals.
The Master was delighted to hear this, kept him, and gave his mother a large sum of money. From then on, he stayed there to care for the Master’s puppies.
A year later, he became more skilled at caring for the puppies, and the Master often visited to see them.
The Master was nearly forty, older than his mother. He only saw her as a Master, or rather, a formidable elder.
Later, during a festival, the household’s Husband and consorts all came with the Master to see the dogs in the courtyard. That day, due to the hot weather, he was wearing light clothing. The Master’s eyes lit up as she looked at him, her attention entirely focused on him, which was noticed by the Husband and consorts beside her.
Those consorts merely gathered in small groups, laughing. The Husband’s expression grew increasingly displeased. He dared not linger, making an excuse to withdraw.
At the time, he kept telling himself that the Master was fond of beauty, and he was tall and lacked any of the delicate demeanor of a man, so she shouldn’t be interested in him.
From then on, he never dared to wear revealing clothes. No matter how hot the weather was, he would cover himself up thickly every day.
As he wished, the Master indeed paid less attention to him.
But unexpectedly, the Husband later claimed that his good rapport with the puppies was because he was using the household’s dogs to seduce the Master. After beating him, he intended to sell him to a brothel. It was only later, due to the Master’s order, that he escaped that fate and was sold to this town.
That incident left a deep shadow on Ada. He thought he would live peacefully in his new household, but to his surprise, the house soon welcomed two kittens. The sense of panic immediately returned.
He became cautious and never revealed to the couple that he was playing well with these two kittens. But what happened today caught him off guard.
Fortunately, the Master and Husband were different from those he had served before; they were good people. Now he could finally relax.
“Now I can play with you two little ones,” Ada casually picked up Axuan, the male cat basking in the sun, and stroked him in his arms.
Axuan stirred his fluffy little head, found a comfortable spot, and fell asleep in Ada’s arms. Kittens in pregnancy were also prone to sleepiness.