"No matter what happens, we should be prepared for anything, shouldn’t we, unless Master you order us to take action against him."
"Take action against him?" Tian Jizi’s eyebrows twitched as he said, "Do you mean you want to kill him? That would be breaking the rules. Besides, he’s not a fool; do you think he’s that easy to kill?"
"Rules are inflexible, but people are adaptable."
"But..." Tian Jizi pondered for a moment, stroking his long beard, and said, "The situation is of great importance; I need to give this some thought. Ajing, you have made considerable progress this time, speaking with much more steadiness. You’ve truly grown up; your master is very comforted. Hmph, on the contrary, your senior brother is becoming more and more improper."
Jin Zijin: "..." Why is it back to this again?
"You are right in your instruction, Master. I will speak to him later," Jin Zijin replied, looking agreeable.
"Yes, he does need a talking to," Tian Jizi yawned and said, "I’m old and have been traveling all night. I’m going to take a nap first; you all go on out."
Jin Zijin breathed a sigh of relief, watched Tian Jizi enter the inner chamber, and then withdrew.
"Master praised me!" Yue Rujing said gleefully.
Jin Zijin glanced at him sideways and said in a deep voice, "He was praising me."
"Let’s go; Abao has arrived, send it to Youyou."
The grown-up Abao was as big as a small calf; it’s hard to imagine what they fed it in Lingnan to make it so robust.
When Gu Youyou saw it, she truly started to worry.
"Wait a moment, I’ll ask my aunt if we can keep it."
Yue Rujing sat in the flower hall with Abao crawling at his feet; when he saw Gu Youyou getting up, its eyes looked at her pitifully.
"Sigh..." Gu Youyou let out a sigh, beckoned Abao over to her, and while stroking its head, said, "How did you get so big ? If you were a cute little thing, it would be better, but being so large... I’m afraid they might reject you."
On hearing this, the look in Abao’s eyes became even more pitiable.
Yue Rujing said irritably, "Do you live with such little dignity in the Lin Family? You have to ask your aunt before keeping a dog?"
Gu Youyou lamented, "Under someone else’s roof, one has to bow their head. Besides, this is called respecting roommates. I’m not the only one living in this courtyard; naturally, I have to consult the other occupants. After all, Abao is so big, can you imagine if it frightens the delicate young ladies into losing their looks? Will you be responsible for comforting them then?"
Yue Rujing: "..." Why should I be the one to comfort them? It’s ridiculous to not take care of your own pet and still be justified.
"You stay here with Abao for a moment; I’ll be right back," Gu Youyou said.
Without another word to him, Gu Youyou stood up and made her way to Madam Lin’s courtyard.
Madam Lin had already received a report from the gatekeeper that the Princely Heir had come with a dog to see the young miss and was now in the courtyard.
Having heard about the relationship between Gu Youyou and Yue Rujing from Lin Qianqing, she didn’t pay much attention to it.
On seeing Gu Youyou, she was surprised, "Does the Princely Heir have something he needs?"
Since no one had reported Yue Rujing’s departure to her and Gu Youyou had appeared in her courtyard, she naturally assumed Yue Rujing had a matter to discuss.
Gu Youyou said, "Aunt, here’s the thing. I used to keep a dog back when I was in Lingnan, and because I arrived in haste, I’ve been keeping it there without bringing it along. Now Yue Rujing has brought it for me, so... I wanted to ask if we can keep a dog in this courtyard?"
Madam Lin thought keeping a dog was no big deal; it could just be considered a guard pet, so what was there to ask about?