Why am I, a cook, always involved in cases?

Normally at this time, she would have come back to look for food...

"Why are you so late today?"

The catering officer and Lin Xiang looked at each other in shock.

"Remember? When the young lady left, the little guy Rongrong followed closely and was reluctant to leave." The chef said, stroking his beard.

This is unprecedented, but it's not a big deal.

Quan Wushuang thought that cats love to play, and it is common for them to cling to people, but Lin Xiang seemed to have a different opinion.

"Is that true?"

"Indeed, it was particularly clingy when playing. Brother Lin Xiang might have gone to the bathroom at the time. I even heard it mention that the concubines had trouble sleeping at night."

"..."

Lin Xiang was silent for a moment, then walked into the next room, which was filled with cabinets and drawers full of food.

He opened one, took out some round dried fruits and placed them on the paper wrapping the ingredients.

"Did he leave with these?"

"Uh—I can't remember that."

After saying that, the catering officer began to check the items in the drawer.

"I remember there used to be more stuff in here than now. Maybe she took it."

Lin Xiang nodded, responded to the catering officer's words, and looked at Quan Wushuang again.

"I'm so brave, sir, I beg you to allow me to go look for Rongrong."

Then he added:

"Maybe we can find Lin Zhiruo along the way."

Lin Xiang spoke with a firm look, his eyes revealing a hint of strategy.

Judging from his appearance, he seemed to have something in mind.

Quan Wushuang thought that Lin Zhiruo and her adoptive father were here, and their styles of doing things were really similar.

"How can I help you find a cat?"

"Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't."

After saying this, Lin Xiang limped forward.

I heard that this eunuch was expelled from the harem for a crime and one of his knee bones was dug out.

The charge was actually because the son of the Eastern Palace, the eldest son of the current emperor, died young, and he was innocently implicated.

Infant death is a common occurrence, but being punished and expelled for it is truly a tragic fate.

Lin Xiang was holding some strange dried fruits in his hand, which he had taken from the food cabinet.

“It’s really good stuff, fresh and fragrant.”

After saying that, he looked around.

Gao Zhongcheng followed Quan Wushuang with Xiaoyu. Occasionally he heard a low "meow" sound, but he ignored it.

If Wu Muqi were here, he would definitely be shocked.

In front of his son Gao Zhongcheng, he always plays the role of a strict father.

The other eunuchs also went to look for the cat.

"A cat's range of activity is actually not very large."

Although the place is spacious, it is only half a mile away.

However, every cat is different and one cannot generalize.

"When it's in heat, it might run farther. It's still young, so it might be too early to say that, but..."

Lin Xiang was about to continue speaking when he suddenly heard someone calling him from behind.

"Manager Quan, I found it."

An eunuch who was looking for the cat separately said that he found the cat.

Upon hearing this, everyone followed.

Coming to the north side of the harem, there is only a wall separating it from the south side. There is a small hole in the wall that seems to allow a cat to pass through.

This place is not far from where the kittens were originally obtained, except for the wall that separates them.

Rongrong was lying on the ground, lazily lying under the tree, looking sloppy.

There were claw marks on the trunk, and a few small dried fruits had fallen next to the cat.

Quan Wushuang squatted down and stroked Rongrong's chin.

Rongrong still squinted his eyes and just turned over.

"Rather than falling asleep..."

More like intoxicated by it.

"This is……"

Quan Wushuang picked up the dried fruits on the ground and found that they were the same ingredients as the ones Lin Xiang was holding.

Lin Xiang stared at the tree, especially the claw marks.

He saw a dried fruit in the tree hole, and dug out a crumpled ball of paper from behind the dried fruit.

"I'm afraid this was done by Lin Zhiruo."

Lin Xiang opened the paper ball, but found it was empty.

"What did she want to say?"

"We'll have to go back to the food warehouse to find out."

After Lin Xiang finished speaking, he picked up the weak-backed Rongrong and went back.

The common point between Lin Zhiruo and Lin Xiang is that no one can guess what they will do next.

Perhaps, rather than predicting their actions, it is easier to understand them by directly observing their behavior.

When a wise man explains something to a less intelligent person, this method makes it easier to understand than words.

"This ingredient is called catnip. Cats love it. It makes them feel like they're drunk. You can make tea with it to dispel cold and help you sleep."

Lin Zhiruo might have wanted to present this to Concubine Yuyao.

When encountering an unexpected situation, Lin Zhiruo used this strategy.

The chances of her being found are slim, and perhaps she will never be found.

But at this moment, the things left by Lin Zhiruo suddenly appeared before his eyes.

She must have thought that Lin Xiang might find out, so she did this.

Quan Wushuang could understand why Lin Zhiruo respected Lin Xiang so much.

Lin Xiang took out another piece of paper. There was not a single word on the paper, but there must be a deep meaning in it.

"That kid used to love playing like this."

After saying that, Lin Xiang lit the candle.

He took out a tinder wrapped in asbestos and lit it, filling the room with a sweet aroma.

He used the candle flame to lightly heat the paper, and the words on the paper gradually appeared.

The paper burned quickly, so Lin Xiang quickly removed it from the fire.

"If you write on paper with juice or tea and then heat it like this, the area where you wrote will easily catch fire. This time, it seems she used wine."

"Yes, she left with the wine."

The catering officer added.

It would have been better if this had been said earlier.

In other words, only the place where the words were written was burned, and the words emerged clearly.