The Self-Discipline of a Pet Tiger
When the adults are busy, good children should play quietly on the side
Hu’er is a tiger.
At least, that’s what everyone says.
But Hu’er herself isn’t quite sure.
Because in her memory, she has never seen another tiger.
In fact, if you were to ask her, she would probably rather be a horse, or a bird that can fly in the sky.
There’s no helping it; who said tigers can’t just casually stroll around the city streets?
Although she doesn’t like to eat people, aside from a few people close to her master, everyone else who sees her always screams in fright, which makes her sensitive ears itch, and she feels quite unhappy.
Some people even faint upon seeing her? Is it really that exaggerated?
Clearly, she is so graceful in posture, her fur so beautiful, there’s really no need to be so afraid of her.
Hu’er doesn’t understand; Hu’er doesn’t get humans.
So every two days, Ming Qin would take the confined tiger out late at night, allowing her to run and roll in the wide forest outside.
Sitting on a rock and waiting, Ming Qin would always rest her chin in her hand, pondering.
“Hey Hu’er ,” she would begin, seriously asking, “do you want to go back to the forest where you used to live?”
Hu’er , who was chasing butterflies, would freeze and look at her master. She didn’t fully understand what this beloved human was saying, but her tiger sixth sense kept sending out danger signals.
Ignoring the fluttering blue butterfly, the dirty Hu’er lowered her tail and nuzzled Ming Qin’s hand with her head, then rolled over like a big cat, exposing her soft belly as if she were being coy.
Master’s expression was very strange!
Even though she couldn’t fully understand what was being said, she decided to play it safe and act submissive!
“Mmm…” Ming Qin patted the tiger’s soft belly, sighed, and looked troubled. “However, now that you’ve been fed so well with meat and fish, if you went back to the forest, you’d probably be picky, and might not even catch a rabbit.”
Hu’er still didn’t understand.
Hu’er felt that what the master was saying wasn’t good.
But she didn’t dare be angry, nor did she dare to speak.
In the distance, the sun was slowly rising. Ming Qin stood up, brushed the dust off her knees, and signaled Hu’er to prepare to leave. The two, a person and a beast, walked toward the first light of dawn.
The tiger, having returned from the outing, lazily lay in the shadow of the long corridor, enjoying the early summer breeze.
She watched her master swinging a curved knife in the yard, with each swing slicing through the air, producing a swishing sound.
Many people praised Hu’er as a fierce tiger.
But Hu’er herself didn’t think so.
Twitching her ears, Hu’er tilted her big head, pondering.
The woman in front, lips pressed tight and eyes focused as she wielded the weapon, was someone who could easily make the beastly instincts within Hu’er quiver and submit.
Though usually smiling and unbothered by being held back by the tiger’s claws during play, as soon as Hu’er made a fundamental mistake, she would suddenly become stern, exuding an unparalleled powerful aura.
Fortunately, the five-year-old Hu’er had completely figured out her master’s limits through constant trial and error, and her master’s bottom line was that white-haired woman.
Murong Yan, holding a staff, walked out of the house. She waved to the shadow guard practicing with the blade in the yard, who immediately put away the blade and joyfully ran to the beloved woman.
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“Yanyan, you’re awake. Did you sleep well? Are you hungry? I just bought some buns, want to eat?” Ming Qin asked, intending to hug Murong Yan, but remembering the thin layer of sweat on herself, she stopped.
“I slept well.” Murong Yan, not minding at all, walked forward, took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, and wiped the sweat off the bent Ming Qin. “Not very hungry, I’ll eat with you later.”
She discarded the staff and embraced the person in front of her.
Their foreheads touched, then they kissed.
Hu’er, watching the two in the yard, was long used to it, and silently let out a big yawn on the side.
Whenever she saw her beloved injured, the once calm atmosphere around her master would instantly be shredded by a murderous aura, stirring up a storm, even if the thing that harmed the woman wasn’t human.
Once, the big tiger saw through the window that the white-haired woman, who had never cooked, accidentally cut her hand with a kitchen knife while trying to make dinner. The next day, that not-so-sharp knife was melted down by her master into a horseshoe and never appeared in the house again.
Even when Hu’er accidentally knocked the white-haired woman’s bamboo staff out of her hand in a moment of playful excitement, the usually smiling master grabbed her by the scruff and sternly scolded her to calm down.
But even when Ming Qin wasn’t around, Hu’er never dared to misbehave in front of Murong Yan.
Why?
Besides Ming Qin’s solemn instructions, the main reason was that Murong Yan controlled Hu’er’s most vital lifeline.
And that lifeline was food.
Mmm… in some ways, Hu’er might be even more afraid of this woman who didn’t know martial arts.
The beast, lying on the ground, got up and slowly walked toward the two. Hu’er affectionately nuzzled Murong Yan’s palm with her nose, purring in a fawning manner.
“Hungry?” Murong Yan looked down at her beloved pet, took the staff Ming Qin picked up, and went to the kitchen in the inner courtyard.
Although this courtyard couldn’t compare to any place the princess lived in the capital, it was still exquisite.
Because Murong Yan disliked strangers approaching her, and the grown tiger easily intimidated people, only two maids and a cook were hired for the outer courtyard. Besides regular cleaning and meal deliveries, they never entered the inner courtyard casually.
In the kitchen, under a bamboo cover, were porridge cooked with fine rice until soft, various side dishes, and the buns Ming Qin had just bought. In the corner hung a whole chicken prepared for Hu’er .
Ming Qin deftly removed the cover, set the table, while Hu’er anxiously paced outside, constantly licking her lips and nose.
Murong Yan, carrying a meat hook, came to Hu’er’s side.
“Sit.”
A brief command.
The beast obediently sat down.
“Good.” She handed the food to her snout. After Hu’er took it away in her mouth, she returned to the kitchen to have breakfast with Ming Qin.
Although she preferred lamb legs, Hu’er still happily finished off the entire fat chicken.
She went to the fish pond and lowered her head to drink water. The warm sunlight and gentle breeze made her irresistibly sleepy.
When she lazily opened her eyes, she had no idea how much time had passed; the sun had already set.
Hu’er rolled around in the yard, then shook the dust off her body, looking for her master.
Had those two humans sneaked out to play without her again?
Hu’er lifted her head, her wet nose sniffing the air, and walked around the fish pond to the corridor.
She twitched her ears and heard a woman’s exclamation from the room. “Ah Qin, don’t.”
“Can’t I? But, the book says it will make you happy?” Ming Qin responded, her voice muffled. “Am I not doing it right?”
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“No…” suppressing her voice, Murong Yan seemed to be gritting her teeth, “Ah Qin, you’re doing fine, but it’s too dirty.”
“It’s not dirty.” Ming Qin’s voice was again covered by something, “We’ve done it before.”
“When?” Surprised, the woman raised her voice.
“In the carriage. It wasn’t dirty, and it wasn’t hard to eat.” Ming Qin’s voice trailed off into a muffled groan.
Are these two humans secretly eating something delicious without me?
Could they be eating lamb legs?
Hu’er paced back and forth in the corridor, then anxiously pawed at the door, wanting to get inside.
Not daring to use her claws, she pushed the sliding door with her thick paw. When a narrow gap finally appeared, Hu’er squeezed her nose through it.
But when she finally got her big head through the door crack, she didn’t see any gourmet food; there was only an inexplicable sweet scent in the air, with not a trace of lamb.
All Hu’er saw was the white-haired woman sitting on a high chair, with her master kneeling and bowing in front of her.
“Ah Qin… take it easy.” Murong Yan, grabbing the person beneath her, weakly pushed, “Hu’er, Hu’er is outside.”
Ming Qin, her head bowed, looked up with a displeased expression. She turned to the clueless beast at the door and hoarsely said, “Hu’er.”
Her territory invaded, the shadow guard’s usually cool eyes were uncharacteristically cold, her chin reflecting a watery light.
“Leave here.”
Grabbing Murong Yan’s discarded belt from the floor, Ming Qin flicked the end, striking the inquisitive Hu’er on the face.
The startled Hu’er backed up a few steps. It didn’t hurt at all, but she felt incredibly wronged.
How awful!
Master is excluding me again! They always do this!
Her nose, having been struck, itched, making Hu’er sneeze repeatedly as she sat in the corridor.
Feeling excluded, the big tiger went to the trellis at the courtyard entrance, covered with vines, and started to scratch her claws.
A faint sound.
The previously lazy tiger’s eyes suddenly sharpened, and she looked towards the courtyard wall.
Hu’er crouched, alert, ready to pounce and teach the intruder a lesson.
“No, no, no!” With a shadow falling on the wall, Song Shuqing hurriedly waved to the tense beast. “It’s me, it’s me, it’s me.”
“Discovered before even getting over the wall. Seems my Qinggong still need improvement.” She landed, patting the wary Hu’er’s head. “This place is still as impenetrable as ever.”
Murong Yan’s residence didn’t have any guards, yet it was the safest place in all of Shu.
Besides the local government’s regular patrols, the inner courtyard was guarded by a fierce beast at all times.
Most importantly, it was protected by the 『former』 strongest shadow guard of the capital, offering constant, year-round protection.
In Song Shuqing’s eyes, even if the world were to be infected by a zombie virus and all counties fell one by one, this small courtyard would be the last bastion for humanity, able to withstand the siege of thousands of crooked-neck, legless zombies.
Hmm, if that day ever comes, she must bring her dear wife here first.
“Hu’er, where’s your master?” Forcing herself to stop her wandering thoughts, Song Shuqing asked, looking down at the beast.
With an aggrieved swish of her tail, Hu’er nudged the woman’s leg, pushing her towards the corridor.
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But before they got halfway, Song Shuqing’s keen ears made her stop.
“Ah, we can’t go any further.”
Song Shuqing, holding her forehead, looked at the beast circling her legs. “You look so upset; did you get kicked out just now?”
Hu’er’s purring seemed to confirm it, and the shadow guard said to the beast, “We shouldn’t peek, little Hu’er. When adults are busy, good children should play quietly on the side.” She patted the furry head and sighed, “Never mind, do you want to go find Zi Yan?”
Zi Yan?
Hu’er recognized that name, it was the woman who, when she first saw Hu’er, bit her lip to keep from screaming. After getting familiar, although still stiff when Hu’er approached, she would tremble while feeding Hu’er scraps in the kitchen.
She liked Zi Yan!
Opening the courtyard gate, Song Shuqing led the big tiger out quietly, whispering, “You have to be good at the teahouse, so Zi Yan will let you play next time.” Then, to herself, she muttered, “How strange… Why does this feel like I’m babysitting for honeymooning neighbors?”
Seeing the eager beast ahead, the woman quickened her pace to follow.
“Darn it, for such sacrifice, the Princess should really give me a big red envelope.”
LP: Re-translated on June 08, 2024
Also, I made a mistake, Hu’er is a girl!