Moonlit Reunion

Wu Zhen was quite accustomed to sneaky business in her cat form. After stealthily following them, the group led by Wu Huanghou remained completely unaware, allowing her to trail them all the way to Penglai Hall, where Consort Mei resided. At first, Wu Zhen thought the empress was visiting the consort and felt somewhat surprised. After all, Consort Mei had always been attentive and gentle toward her elder sister Wu Huanghou, often taking the initiative to visit Qingning Palace to keep her company. If nothing urgent came up, she would stay there for an entire day, which meant Wu Huanghou rarely visited Penglai Hall on her own.

Wu Zhen’s instincts told her something was amiss. The empress’s expression seemed different from usual—strange, even. What felt even more off was the cat Wu Huanghou was holding in her arms. From a distance, Wu Zhen couldn’t make out the details, but she had a vague sense that the cat seemed somewhat peculiar. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get closer for a better look.

Wu Huanghou instructed the palace maids to wait outside and entered the hall alone. Wu Zhen quietly slipped in after her, only to find that Consort Mei was nowhere in sight. Instead, the empress placed the cat she had been holding onto Consort Mei’s bed and sat beside it, gazing at the creature intently.

Her elder sister was many years her senior, always the epitome of steadiness and maturity. She loved to play the role of the responsible older sister in front of Wu Zhen, sternly lecturing her while also caring for and protecting her. After becoming empress, her dignity had only grown, and she handled court affairs with impeccable order. Though she had only borne a daughter, she enjoyed the emperor’s deep respect—it seemed there was no crisis she couldn’t resolve. Yet now, she was looking at a delicate white cat with an expression of utter despair, as if the sky had fallen.

Wu Zhen found her sister’s expression oddly fascinating and crouched on the beam, watching for a long while.

"How could such an earth-shattering thing happen? Though it’s been temporarily concealed, we can’t keep it hidden forever." Wu Huanghou rubbed her temples. "For now, the only solution is to summon two eminent monks to see if they can help you return to your original form."

The white cat meowed and nuzzled Wu Huanghou’s hand.

Wu Zhen sensed something off in those words, and a thought suddenly struck her. She leaped down from the beam, silently moving closer. Meanwhile, Wu Huanghou continued, "Suhan, how are you feeling now? Are you alright?"

Suhan? Consort Mei, Mei Suhan? Wu Zhen’s paws stilled—it seemed her guess was correct. Consort Mei had somehow turned into a cat. With one strange incident after another, all involving people close to her, if Wu Zhen still couldn’t detect someone pulling strings behind the scenes, she might as well resign from her post as Cat Official.

After a moment’s thought, Wu Zhen suddenly jumped out into the open, landing right in front of Wu Huanghou and the white cat.

Wu Huanghou was startled and immediately scooped up the white cat, eyeing the sudden appearance of the tabby cat with wariness. Yet she neither cried out nor lost her composure—far calmer than most would be.

"I can help you," Wu Zhen’s cat mouth spoke human words, but the voice was deep and unfamiliar, nothing like her usual tone.

"I can help Consort Mei regain her human form," she said. "However, if I restore her, Empress Wu must give me something in return."

Upon hearing her offer of help, Wu Huanghou’s eyes filled with doubt and contemplation. But when Wu Zhen mentioned her condition, the empress relaxed slightly—having a demand was, after all, more reassuring."What do you want?" She cautiously avoided asking other questions, knowing that probing into identities and such matters wouldn't help solve the problem at hand. Her current goal was clear—to first restore Consort Mei from this feline form. To be honest, she couldn't stand it much longer. Having hated cats for so many years, suddenly having to accept one was truly agonizing.

Wu Zhen bared her teeth in a grin that looked rather sinister. "I want the Scripture Treasure Seal."

The Scripture Treasure Seal was a priceless treasure—a palm-sized jade seal engraved with an entire sutra in characters so fine they were nearly invisible to the naked eye. The craftsmanship was so exquisite it seemed beyond human capability. It was said the seal also had the power to ward off evil and was a treasure kept deep within the inner palace.

Though the item was precious, Wu Huanghou agreed without hesitation—in fact, precisely because it was so valuable, she felt even more at ease. Unaware that the terrifyingly grinning cat before her was her mischievous, unlucky younger sister, Wu Huanghou nervously continued the negotiation.

Wu Zhen, with her wicked sense of humor, deliberately toyed with her sister for a while before finally getting serious about solving the problem. She first carefully examined the white cat that was Consort Mei, then waved a paw, causing the cat to float midair, its paws leaving the ground. The startled feline puffed up its fur. Suppressing a laugh, Wu Zhen opened her maw wide and sucked in—

Amidst a ripple of distortion, the white cat faintly took on a human shape. But before Wu Huanghou could even show relief, the figure abruptly vanished, and the cat tumbled back into the bedding, landing on its back.

Something wasn’t right. Wu Zhen propped a paw under her chin, adopting a human-like pose as she pondered. She had initially assumed it was some kind of demonic or magical transformation, but now it seemed this wasn’t caused by ordinary sorcery.

Once Consort Mei had smoothed her disheveled white fur, Wu Zhen tried again. This time, she observed more carefully and clearly saw a shadowy mass wrapped around Consort Mei—like a human skin tightly binding her into the shape of a cat.

Naturally, she failed again, but Wu Zhen now understood what this thing was. Not particularly powerful, but troublesome. It was an "Earth Skin," made from the hide of a spiritually attuned animal. To undo it, ordinary spells wouldn’t work—there was only one method: the tears of at least four close relatives.

In other words, to remove this thing, they needed four of Consort Mei’s blood relatives to shed tears onto her.

Coincidentally, Consort Mei likely had only four living blood relatives left: the Crown Prince, her biological son; Mei Si’s father, her elder brother; Mei Si himself; and… Mei Zhuyu.

Wu Zhen’s current dilemma was figuring out how to make these four cry—though her main concern was how to make her little husband shed tears. The others wouldn’t be difficult, but as for him… honestly, she couldn’t bear to torment him.

"Well? Is there some complication?" Wu Huanghou couldn’t hold back her impatience.

Wu Zhen snapped out of her thoughts. "It’s a bit tricky. I’ll come back tomorrow once I’m prepared." With that, she leaped out the window, not bothering to check Wu Huanghou’s reaction.Wu Zhen wasn’t in a hurry to leave the palace just yet. First, she went to find the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was Consort Mei’s only child, but he was usually raised under Wu Huanghou’s care. Wu Huanghou treated him as her own, while Consort Mei remained somewhat distant from her son. In fact, apart from Wu Huanghou, Consort Mei maintained a reserved demeanor toward everyone—even preferring the princess born to Wu Huanghou over her own son.

The Crown Prince was only nine years old, a chubby little boy who cried easily. Getting tears from him was no challenge at all. Wu Zhen simply scratched his hand while he was alone in his chamber doing homework, and the little fatty immediately burst into tears, generously supplying her with what she needed. Watching the soft, doughy Crown Prince sniffle and clutch his reddened hand, looking utterly wronged, Wu Zhen decided she’d bring him some fun little trinkets next time as compensation.

Next, Wu Zhen left the palace to find Mei Si. He was at home, painting, with a red headband tied around his forehead, his hair slightly disheveled, his sleeves stained with ink—a complete mess. A plate of untouched, cold food sat beside his desk. So absorbed in his work, it took Mei Si a long while to notice Wu Zhen’s arrival. He scratched his head with the brush handle, further tangling his already messy hair, before finally exclaiming, “Zhen-jie! When did you get here?”

Then he hurriedly covered his painting. “It’s not done yet—you can’t look! No spoilers!”

Wu Zhen had already been watching for a while. Mei Si had clearly put a lot of thought into it. Unlike the popular Ghost and Evil-warding Paintings of the time, each Ghost Monster in his work was uniquely designed.

Only after safely storing the painting away did Mei Si think to ask why she had come. “Zhen-jie, did you need something from me?” Mei Si could be quite perceptive at times, and he studied her expression carefully as he tentatively posed the question.

Wu Zhen: “Yep. Come on, cry for Zhen-jie.”

Mei Si looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “Huh?”

Wu Zhen: “Cry. Now.”

Mei Si: “Wait, why are we starting already? I’m not ready!” He didn’t even think to ask why he had to cry—he just panicked at her command. It might have been a leftover reflex from their archery training days, when Wu Zhen had forced them to shoot a set number of arrows within a fixed time. Those who failed had to double their quota—a truly torturous experience. Hearing that familiar “Now,” Mei Si instinctively wanted to grab a bow and take aim, sweating nervously.

After collecting Mei Si’s tears, Wu Zhen went to find Mei Si’s father. As the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, Mei Si’s father was generally amiable toward everyone—except his own son. He desperately wanted Mei Si to study hard and eventually inherit his position, but Mei Si refused, leading to frequent scoldings.

Wu Zhen found Chancellor Mei at a tavern, drinking with colleagues and lamenting his son’s lack of progress. After listening to a middle-aged married man’s domestic woes for a while, she flicked her fingers, summoning a gust of wind and dust into the tavern. Seated by the window, Chancellor Mei was just bemoaning his unfilial son’s heartlessness when the sudden draft blew into his eyes. His eyes reddened instantly, and after a few rubs, tears streamed down his cheeks.After successfully obtaining the tears of the Sacrificial Wine Official Mei, only Mei Zhuyu's remained. Wu Zhen searched everywhere for him but couldn't find any trace, until she finally spotted him near her own residence. He stood beneath a tree holding his horse's reins, quietly gazing at the gates of Duke Yu's mansion.

Wu Zhen had once jokingly told him that if he wanted to see her, he could send her a letter—she would come to meet him upon receiving it. Yet Mei Zhuyu had never written one. He had always been like this, never taking the initiative to disturb her, only waiting for her to remember him and seek him out.

After standing near the mansion gates for a while, Mei Zhuyu prepared to leave.

"Looking for me?" Wu Zhen asked with a smile, standing behind him.

Mei Zhuyu hadn't seen her in days. He stared at her for a long moment before softly uttering an "Ah." Today, he had finished his official duties early and could return home sooner, but somehow, he had unconsciously wandered here. Standing foolishly and staring at the gates and walls, he hadn't actually expected to run into her. The moment she appeared unexpectedly, the melancholy of the past few days seemed to vanish in an instant.

As they walked together, Mei Zhuyu pondered what he could do to make Wu Zhen happy, while Wu Zhen herself was thinking about how to make him cry.

Perhaps she could try the same trick again? With a slight flick of her fingers, a gust of wind and sand swept through the street. The weather was already unpleasant—the sky gloomy, with occasional gusts of wind and dust swirling in the streets. Wu Zhen's little trick made the wind and sand blow even more fiercely.

"Be careful not to get dust in your eyes," Mei Zhuyu's voice sounded beside her. Then Wu Zhen felt darkness cover her vision as the young man gently cupped his hands over her eyes to shield her from the wind and sand.