Natural Idol Who Traveled Through Time × Bickering Poison Ivy from Another Time 21 Part 2

The housekeeper sighed, "Prince, if you do this, the Princess Consort will be sad."

Xi Zhuoyu ignored him and shook out the quilt, "You go and rest."

The housekeeper asked, "Master, are you dissatisfied with the Princess Consort in any way? Could it be that you mind her past?"

Xi Zhuoyu: "No, she's quite good. I quite... like her."

The housekeeper was puzzled. "Since you also like the Princess Consort, why do you keep such a distance from her? I see you going to talk to her during the day and often sending gifts, but why do you not go at night?"

Xi Zhuoyu sighed, "You don't understand." His Princess Consort was fully dedicated to her duties and completely treated herself as his fan. If he had any other thoughts, Lady Jiang would certainly feel uncomfortable, so it was better this way.

The housekeeper indeed did not understand, but seeing that his master had no intention of changing his mind, he could only leave.

Xi Zhuoyu lay on the bed, thinking about what the housekeeper had just said, and found it hard to fall asleep for a while. His feelings towards Jiang Yuchao were very complex.

His sense of loneliness in this world had never disappeared, always feeling like a lonely ghost. After discovering Jiang Yuchao, this loneliness was gradually taken away by her. If he had to say he liked her, he indeed did. If he did not like this "fan", he would definitely not care for and help her so much, even letting her become his Princess Consort.

But if he were to take a step further and engage in a romantic relationship with her, he was also very clear in his heart that it would not work. He himself did not know how to go about it, and she had no such thoughts about him either, having made it clear early on. This kind of thing was better left unpondered.

"Knock, knock, knock--"

"Master, have you gone to bed?"

Hearing the attendant's voice outside, Xi Zhuoyu replied, "What is it? Come in and speak."

The young attendant ran in. "Master, remember how Hongli gave birth to a litter of nine puppies yesterday? When we went to check just now, we found the den empty. A few of us searched everywhere and spotted the litter of puppies in a ditch by the reeds near the lake. If left unattended, once the rain falls through the night, the ditch will flood by tomorrow. We wanted to move the puppies to another place, but Hongli wouldn't let us near. We didn't know what to do."

Hongli was a fierce mother dog who usually guarded the main gate, so it was no wonder these attendants who specialized in raising dogs did not dare to act rashly.

Xi Zhuoyu got up and put on his clothes, instructing, "Light the lanterns and follow me to take a look."

With the commotion in his palace, Jiang Yuchao next door noticed. She had not yet gone to sleep and was drawing under the lamplight. Hearing the noise, she pushed open the window to look and saw several lanterns descending the steps in the night, heading towards the nearby lake. Even from a distance, she could tell that the figure in the middle of the lantern light was her idol.

"What happened?" Jiang Yuchao put down her pen, washed her hands, and also got up to go out.

Lan Qiao ran over. "Is that the Prince? What are they doing in the middle of the night? I'll go ask."

Jiang Yuchao: "No need, light a lantern and come with me."

She did not bring anyone else and caught up with Xi Zhuoyu with just Lan Qiao.

"Why are you here? You haven't rested yet?" Xi Zhuoyu noticed her coming and stopped to wait for her.

Jiang Yuchao: "Not yet. Brother, where are you going? Did something happen?"

"It's nothing. If you want to see, come along." As he walked, Xi Zhuoyu told her about the matter.

Jiang Yuchao asked in puzzlement, "Why would that dog move her pups to such a dangerous place? Does she feel her den is unsafe and wants to put the pups somewhere safe?"

Xi Zhuoyu shook his head. "No, she's very smart and knows that place will flood. She moved the pups there to drown them."

Jiang Yuchao: "...Why?"

Xi Zhuoyu: "Maybe there's something wrong with the pups, maybe she had too many in this litter, maybe for other reasons. I'm not too clear either, but this isn't the first time it's happened. Occasionally in the past, there have been mother dogs who did this, and some who bit their newborn pups to death."

The fine rain pattered as they walked under umbrellas, still getting covered in a misty layer of water droplets. The lanterns swayed incessantly in the wind, the candle flames inside flickering along. The lantern light was not bright, barely illuminating their path, while the reed clusters not far away were immersed in pitch darkness.

Jiang Yuchao heard two barks, the kind filled with warning. Beside her, Xi Zhuoyu called out, "Hongli? Hongli, come here!"

A dark figure ran out from the reeds, a large dog splashing through the muddy water. It barked at Xi Zhuoyu a couple of times, not with hostility, but as if in greeting.

"Why did you carry the pups here? Go, take me to find them."

The dog did not move, whimpering. Xi Zhuoyu squatted down and patted its head, as if comforting a child. "It's alright. Isn't this Hongli's first time being a mother? Don't be afraid, they will all grow up well."

The dog still whimpered. Xi Zhuoyu directly dragged it into the reeds. The attendants wanted to follow with umbrellas, but the dog started barking at them fiercely again. The attendants were startled. Xi Zhuoyu said, "You can just wait here."

"But Master, it's raining."

"The rain isn't heavy, it's fine."

Jiang Yuchao took an umbrella and followed to shelter Xi Zhuoyu from the rain.

The dog barked at her. Xi Zhuoyu rubbed its ears again. "Alright, alright, stop barking. She's my wife, let her come along too."

The dog: "Woof, woof, woof!"

Xi Zhuoyu manually closed the dog's mouth to stop its fierce barking. Hearing the dog's aggrieved grumbling, Jiang Yuchao even had the mistaken feeling that she had won in vying for favor.

Author's Note: The idol is the Dog King!