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While speaking, one hand held onto the unfinished Crystal pig hocks, the other one swept across the table, scooping everything into his sleeve, and then he spun in circles, urgently seeking a hiding spot while muttering under his breath, "Where to hide, where to hide? Where do I hide?"

As the sound of voices grew nearer, Lao Fan’s forehead began dripping with sweat from urgency.

Xiao Linshuang burst into giggles, ran to the bed, lifted the bedsheet that draped onto the floor, and shouted at Lao Fan, "Master, quick, over here! You’ll be perfectly safe if you hide here!"

"This, this." Lao Fan grimaced, wondering how long it had been since anyone had cleaned under the bed. If he hid there with his food, would he encounter cockroaches or rats?

Seeing Lao Fan hesitate, Xiao Linshuang arched an eyebrow and "kindly" reminded him, "You know, Master, that person is already at the door. You either go in or you don’t, so what will it be?"

Just a moment before Eunuch Chang and Zhao Hongyan pushed the door open, Lao Fan steeled his heart, stamped his foot, and slipped under the bed slick as an eel, not forgetting to have Xiao Linshuang drop the bedsheet.

"Don’t worry, Master, your disciple will surely cover for you!" Xiao Linshuang snickered and let the bedsheet down.

"Little girl, are you in there?"

To avoid arousing Zhao Hongyan’s suspicions, Xiao Linshuang hadn’t told him her real name, only that her nickname was Little Maid.

"I’m here, I’m here." After glancing at the still-moving bedsheet, Xiao Linshuang warned in a low voice. Once Lao Fan settled down, she bounced over to open the door.

"Why are you still awake at this hour? Didn’t you say you live in the back courtyard? Why have you come here so late at night?"

Zhao Hongyan gave Xiao Linshuang a warm glance, his curiosity piqued about who else might be in the room, yet his good upbringing reminded him that it was impolite to pry: "I thought I heard you talking to someone just now. Is there someone else in the room?"

Xiao Linshuang cocked an eyebrow, leaned against the door without any intent to invite Zhao Hongyan inside, "Why, do I need to report to you whom I talk to? Oh right, I heard from my grandfather that you’re a Prince.

Does that mean people must answer all your questions, and moreover, they can’t lie? "

Zhao Hongyan was taken aback, scratching his head sheepishly, "Of course not, even though I am a Prince, I don’t like oppressing or threatening others. So, if you wish to tell, then tell. If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t. Hehe, don’t be scared."

So that means I can say anything, huh!

Xiao Linshuang gave a sly smile, "Scared? Why would I be? We’re friends, aren’t we? Of course, I’ll answer any questions you ask."

Whether that answer would be true or not was another matter.

Adding that thought internally, Xiao Linshuang stepped aside to let Zhao Hongyan and Eunuch Chang into the room, "Actually, I wasn’t talking to someone; I was talking to my greedy little cat."

A greedy little cat?

Zhao Hongyan was completely befuddled, scanning the room. There was no one to be seen except for the messy spread of food on the table.

"Who’s the greedy little cat? There’s no one else in the room, is there?"

Xiao Linshuang shrugged, "There’s no one."

"Then who were you talking to?" Zhao Hongyan was even more confused now, blinking his innocent eyes adorably, which nearly tempted Xiao Linshuang to tease him again.

"It’s the greedy little cat, of course!"

Zhao Hongyan was speechless, now thoroughly disoriented by Xiao Linshuang’s antics.

Seeing Zhao Hongyan look like this, the usually silent Eunuch Chang couldn’t help but laugh, "Your Highness, the lady is just joking with you. From what I see, there’s indeed only the lady herself in this room, no one else."

Was it Xiao Linshuang being paranoid or was there something in the way Eunuch Chang said "no one else," stressing the word "person" particularly hard?

Could it be that the old eunuch was in on the joke?

"Eunuch, what’s going on?"

It had to be said, Zhao Hongyan was rather slow on the uptake; Xiao Linshuang didn’t even feel like ribbing him anymore. She sat down at the table with a laugh and said, "Alright, the truth is, there’s no one else. The greedy little cat is just a cat I keep."

So it was a cat she was referring to!

Zhao Hongyan chuckled as he took a seat, but looking at the table with its scant remains, he was truly puzzled, "Little Maid, that cat of yours must be especially big to eat so much!"

Xiao Linshuang glanced at the table and nodded, "Yes, yes, my cat is really fat, fat and greedy. It won’t eat anything else, just meat and fish. Look, it didn’t even touch the vegetables!"