Three days later, in the Su Residence.
On top of Langya Palace's towers and pavilions.
"Meow Ha ~~"
Du ke yawned widely as he lazily sprawled on the railing, his long tail dangling down.
"This place is really big!"
Overlooking the entire Su Residence from his high vantage point, Du ke was deeply shocked by its sheer size, far exceeding his imagination. Even when he first gazed out from this height, he was plunged into deep astonishment.
Standing high up, overlapping courtyards could be seen stretching ahead, conforming to the hills and waters, rising and falling irregularly, with no visible boundary at a glance.
At the center of the residence sat a large lake, called Yingyue Lake, occupying over a hundred hectares. Dotted with islands, it was like a chessboard.
Moreover, Langya Palace where Du ke was currently located, sat on an island at the center of Yingyue Lake.
In Du ke's eyes, the entire Su Residence was probably about the size of the county town he knew in his previous life.
Yet over generations, the Su Residence's true, direct bloodline descendants added together probably didn't even reach a hundred people.
Even fewer!
Within the Su Residence, pavilions and towers, overlapping halls and palaces, lake views and mountain scenery, silk screens and flower walls, trees adorned with gold and jade were everywhere.
Glazed tiles, white jade lights, exotic beasts, spiritual plants and rare birds, everything imaginable could be found here.
And this pinnacle of magnificence in the Su Residence was far from all!
Even the servants and maids here wore gold and silver, dressed like the children of rich households.
The little maid who had adopted Du ke was the most important direct descendant among the Su Residence’s core bloodline – Su Qiluo.
This maid was doted on by her clan, with thousands of servants and guards attending and protecting her.
It could be said that not just within Langya Palace, but the entire Su Residence, Su Qiluo was the center of attention.
And as Su Qiluo's beloved pet, Du ke also held an extremely high position in Langya Palace.
It could be said that aside from Su Qiluo herself, he was the greatest presence in Langya Palace.
Looking at the entire Su Residence, other than some prohibited areas, he could go wherever he wished, and no one dared to stop him.
"The evils of feudal society!"
Du ke sighed inwardly, his ears flicking as he heard a series of rapid footsteps.
"General, General, General!!"
Su Qiluo rushed up to the top floor, calling out to Du ke as she ran. Over the past three days, Du ke had also acquiesced to being addressed as "General".
After all, he couldn’t speak to correct the maid, nor could he write to explain his actual name.
Su Qiluo, still excited as she rushed onto the rooftop terrace, was stopped at the railing by Du ke raising his cat paw to press her forehead.
"Meow!!"
Du ke meowed, then yawned again.
Foolish girl, didn't she know the dangers of heights?
Eyeing Su Qiluo, Du ke jumped down from the railing. Su Qiluo touched her forehead where Du ke had pressed, giggling silly for a while before following behind Du ke, chattering on her own: "I just went to see Father. Father scolded me because of what happened yesterday."
"But I don't care at all. With General here, I'm not afraid of anything!"
"It's just that I have to go to lessons again. I’ve skipped so many classes recently because of the nightmares and thinking about General, now I have to make up all that schoolwork."
"Sigh, I don't really like those tutors. They're so pretentious every day, it gives me a headache to listen."
Su Qiluo followed behind Du ke, babbling nonstop with her little mouth. Du ke's ears flicked, but he didn't make a sound.
From their interactions these past three days, aside from realizing this girl's superhuman physique, Du ke also found she was a complete motormouth.
But this motormouth only applied to Du ke. Whenever she was free, her little mouth would pour out words to Du ke like it was smeared with honey.
Most of what she said was trifles, but she seemed tireless.
After all, six or seven-year-old children were at the clingiest age, yet her parents had little time to indulge her.
Su Qiluo could only vent these feelings through words to Du ke.
After descending from the rooftop, as they arrived at the mid-level, Su Qiluo’s personal guard Yun Shan was standing in the room. He bowed slightly to Su Qiluo and said, "Miss, the tutor has arrived."
Yun Shan bowed his head slightly towards Su Qiluo. "It's time for your lesson."
"But I haven't played with General yet!"
Su Qiluo picked up Du ke. Being held in a little girl's arms, Du ke helplessly rolled his eyes but allowed her to do as she pleased.
"This is the Master's order."
Yun Shan seemed rather experienced with Su Qiluo's attempts to skip lessons, and directly pulled out the girl's father - she had to obey even if she didn't want to.
"Oh, alright...." Su Qiluo pouted, but in a flash, she held Du ke high and said, "Then I want General to attend lessons with me!"
"This is..."
Yun Shan looked uncertainly at the white cat held high by Su Qiluo. Du ke and the beautiful woman in her thirties exchanged glances, and he meowed.
"As long as you attend lessons, anything else is up to you."
"Yay, great! General is going to accompany me to class!"
Holding Du ke, Su Qiluo cheered excitedly, even spinning circles in her delight.
Spun around by Su Qiluo, the world spun for Du ke and he nearly fainted.
This girl had to be taught how not to be so reckless.
Once Du ke caught his breath, he was eagerly dragged down by Su Qiluo to her own study hall.
Though called a study hall, it was actually a large room of about three hundred square meters.
The room was lined with shelves full of books and scrolls. At the center was a desk set with ink ground and paper and brushes prepared for lessons.
Dragging Du ke into the study hall, Su Qiluo’s earlier excitement vanished instantly. Pursing her lips, she set Du ke down.
Du ke also breathed a sigh of relief at this time. Luckily his current young and small cat body had soft bones, otherwise he would've been strangled by this little girl long ago.
Catching his breath, Du ke shook out his fur and also heard Su Qiluo politely call out.
"Teacher."
The scholarly-looking man in a robe and tall hat, holding a book, nodded slightly.
"Young miss, no need for such courtesy. Quickly take your seat.
Today, let us resume our previous discussion of the Book of Documents' ‘Arrogance breeds calamity, defying the Way leads to ruin.’"
"Yes, Teacher."
Su Qiluo pursed her lips and stepped lightly to her desk. Kneeling to sit at her desk, she also gave Du ke a look.
Du ke didn't want to bother with the girl, but seeing Su Qiluo purse her lips pitifully on the verge of tears, he could only obediently go over and settle down beside her.
Seeing the cat beside Su Qiluo, the tutor Luo Wenxiang's eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he said nothing, simply placing his hands behind his back and leisurely beginning the lesson.
As soon as Luo Wenxiang opened his mouth, Du ke couldn't help yawning. Lying beside Su Qiluo, his ears were filled with all the tutor's pretentious ramblings, and he soon felt sleepy.
Glancing at the girl, Du ke saw her face taut, occasionally nodding along to the tutor's words, but her gaze was drifting, attention clearly elsewhere.
Seeing Su Qiluo like this, Du ke sighed inwardly. No matter where, it was truly difficult for children, having to constantly study and read books.
Du ke shifted his gaze from Su Qiluo and looked around the study hall full of books and scrolls.
In fact, not all the books filling the shelves were made of paper. There were also turtle shell, metal, bamboo slips, stone tablets and more.
Seeing these books, Du ke couldn't help narrowing his eyes as the two-eared, three-legged black cauldron appeared before him.
Du ke's vision split into two halves, one staring at the cauldron, one at the room full of books. A thought arose.
Could this cauldron refine books into pills? If so, what would be the effect of such pills?
As this idea sprouted, Du ke felt his paws itch. But looking at Su Qiluo, he repressed the thought for now.
Better to experiment another time!
For now, let's just accompany this girl to her classes first and see, I wonder how many classes does this girl have in a day?
As these thoughts crossed Du ke's mind, he unconsciously fell asleep while listening to the teacher's reciting voice.
When he woke up again, it was already noon.
He was being held in Su Qiluo's embrace, and he opened his drowsy eyes with a thread of saliva still hanging at the corner of his mouth.
"Young miss, it's time to dine."
Yun Shan took over from the teacher and came before Su Qiluo, respectfully saying: "After lunch, it will be time for your martial arts lesson."
Hearing the two words "martial arts" come out of Yun Shan's mouth made Su Qiluo give a start, and her formerly listless eyes also lit up with some liveliness.
Clearly this girl still liked this "martial arts lesson" that Yun Shan spoke of, and it wasn't just Su Qiluo who perked up, but Du ke as well.
He certainly hadn't forgotten the previous scene of Su Qiluo casually pushing away a grown man and sending him flying seven to eight meters, and easily leaping across a distance of over ten meters.
"Martial arts lesson..."
Du ke narrowed his eyes, also wondering what would be taught.