Ch36.1 - A Cat’s New Utility (Part One)

XiaoBai’s wide eyes reflected a range of contrasting emotions. The feelings eventually centered on resentment. The cat bolted from the castle, not looking back.

The cook: “Ah…”

She contemplated for a while before she asked, “Lord, do you want your cat caught back here?”

In principle, no one would be concerned about this wicked creature as if it was a pet. This cat, however, was not an ordinary cat. During the winter, the Lord needed it to have fun by tormenting it. 

So, the cook hesitated for a moment, then asked dryly.

“Never mind that silly cat.” Cui QiChao put the pig’s head back on the chopping board. That’s right. He did it on purpose. He couldn’t put down the matter of XiaoBai being slammed by the pig.

And this incident had indeed became a black history that XiaoBai couldn’t wash away.

Cui QiChao peered at the cook in the kitchen, who was preparing pickled pork. Cui QiChao didn’t return to his room till the sun went down. He remained in the room until late at night, when he heard scratching on the door.

Cui QiChao opened the door and saw XiaoBai sitting at the door with its head down.

“You’re back?” Cui QiChao let it in through a crack.

XiaoBai remained seated in the same place. Unexpectedly, Cui QiChao didn’t go out to look for him. He wandered in the castle for a long time and scared several slaves. He was so hungry that he came back to scratch the door.

“You have a big temper.” Cui QiChao squatted down and held XiaoBai’s face up. “Why? You can bully DaBai and DaJu, but I’m not allowed to bully you?” 

Was the problem DaBai and DaJu? The problem was with the pig’s head! XiaoBai stared at Cui QiChao, thinking.

Cui QiChao seemed to know what it was thinking. He laughed hard. “If you didn’t make a mistake first, you wouldn’t have given me a chance to humiliate you with a pig’s head.”

XiaoBai: “……”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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Cui QiChao held XiaoBai in his arms until it fell asleep.

“Mi…” XiaoBai’s throat emitted a rumble, clasping onto Cui QiChao’s hand and refusing to let go. 

Cui QiChao made an exception for XiaoBai on the previous plane, but he never slept with it again. He pressed down on XiaoBai and touched his head. “Alright, go to sleep.”

In a daze, XiaoBai was laid down on the plain linen. DaBai and DaJu, who were already asleep, automatically leaned over and crowded together with it. The last thing it saw was Cui QiChao’s hateful face. He thought, one day, I will, I will, I will surely…

.

To be prepared for the coming winter, the farmers busily collected ample wood and straw to resist the cold wind. 

There wasn’t much farm work to do in the winter, but the farmers were busy repairing their farming tools, and their houses full of holes had to be patched up to avoid freezing to death on winter nights. Most of the housework was basically completed at this time.

They would usually divide the quantity of firewood they could burn at night, but they couldn’t burn more than the amount allotted. The family, animals, and straw would then cling together and pile up around the heater. In the serfs’ houses with slightly better circumstances, there may be tattered quilts or a few pieces of sheepskin.

To remain warm, sheepskin could be wrapped around the body, but inside, one had to wear summer linen clothing or one would itch to death.

During the day, they went about their normal business of cooking soup. Normally, they would cook with their pre-portioned firewood, with various types of food prepared ahead of time. They could not eat much if they didn’t do much labor. 

The poorest serfs might disappear every year. They had no warm clothes, and if there was not enough food or firewood, they would freeze to death.

They were fortunate this year. This year, thankfully, the Lord was very benevolent and gave out some items.

The Lord’s winter was spent much better than everyone else’s. He had fur clothes made from a prey’s fur, all kinds of wool fabrics, and plenty of food. This year, in particular, he had a good harvest of grain and vegetables. He wouldn’t have to keep so many seeds for planting, and was considered well off.

Cui QiChao liked the days when he didn’t have to go out and think about things, but he would still worry about his people. So, during the period where animals were slaughtered, he let the slaves weave knee-length coats, and lent them to serfs on loan. 

They would only have to pay back the cost of the rental during the harvesting period next year. Cui QiChao was sure that they could pay it back.

Even the serfs, who had wool at home, were excited. The woollen coats made by the Lord were different from their leaky coats. They were warm, thick, and long. They even had a hood at the back. With a mere touch, one would know it was a well-made item.

As long as they were sure that they could survive this year, no one cared whether they would not be able to repay the money they owed the Lord next year. That was the problem they would have to face at a later time anyway.

When borrowing the coats, there was somebody carefully measuring and registering the size and length of each part of the coat, so as to ensure that the serfs would not take away part of it. 

The serfs took back the woollen coats, put them on, and let their children worm their way into their coats. Their legs curled up in the clothes, and they put their hoods up. They were so warm that they felt like they were lying on the mattresses of the nobles, although they didn’t know what the mattresses of the nobles were like.

But wearing the coat had its cons too. If they wore it for a long time, the coat would be soaked in sweat, and it wouldn’t be warm. So they had to take it off to air it.

This winter, the most common scene in the homes of those serfs who borrowed coats was people taking off their coats to air them, while wearing short-sleeved clothing, and burrowing themselves beneath the bellies of the livestock, shivering as they tried to keep warm.

Besides this——what they meant was, there’s really not much suffering they experienced in the winter except the constant hunger and fatigue of doing housework. 

As for the stewards, they were already numb to the Lord’s actions. They were especially numb when they saw the Lord guiding the maids and slaves to weave wool. They wondered, what did the Lord learn when he was studying in the east? Didn’t ordinary nobles come back to learn martial arts?!

Moreover, the Lord had also made some special fabrics for them and the knights. They were also woollen clothes, which were very thick. However, there were several square patterns on their chest, which made their identities different.

According to the Lord, those square patterns were heavily fashioned with an exotic style. The Oriental characters were stitched onto them, and the characters mean “Northumberland Lord Baron’s intelligent / brave subordinates”. This caused everyone to crazily snatch for them. Additionally, they were very warm, so they wore them all winter long to enjoy the envious eyes of others.

In fact, Cui QiChao didn’t know how to weave. He inherited the Divine Farmer’s bloodline, not the LeiZu’s bloodline. But when he was in the 21st century, he watched the canteen aunt knit in her spare time every day, and since he had seen her do her needlework so many times, he remembered it. Those maids and slaves learned very seriously. It was also an important handicraft skill to them. 

As Cui QiChao taught them, he thought that in addition to renting the clothes, when his subordinates were feeling bored, he would let them weave “Cui Family’s Subordinates” on the clothes of his subordinates.

The stewards wore woollen clothes to show off in front of the priest William. However, William appreciated the sight. He was not as ignorant as the serfs. The priests were one of the most knowledgeable and wealthy people in this era. He had never seen this kind of knitting technique in other places, and the pattern was very special. It seemed that it was really the skill that the Lord had brought back from the East. Alas, if it was him, he would weave “God’s Shepherd” on his clothes.

William had made it so obvious that the stewards thought that the church would not miss any chance to haul wool off the sheep. They went back to report to the Lord.

“The priest likes it?” Cui QiChao said, “I’ve asked the maid to make one up for him recently.” 

As soon as Cui QiChao turned his head, he wrote down the words “Religious Scammer” and asked the maid to weave it.

He was also too free in the winter. When the woollen coat was completed, Cui QiChao went out of the castle and headed to find William to deliver clothes. The serfs still had to do housework. As a Lord, he had nothing to do, so he instructed everyone to cook and craft farming tools every day. It was precisely because of this that Cui QiChao had come across an incident.

Before going out, XiaoBai jumped up onto Cui QiChao’s body.

“You’re coming with me? Alright then.” Cui QiChao grabbed XiaoBai, and placed it near his bosom. 

The church.

The serfs wrapped themselves in fluffy wool and cried out:

“She should be burned, her soul should be burned with holy fire.”

“This wicked witch, I saw her talking to the cat with my own eyes!” 

“She’s not worth wasting firewood. She should be hanged…”

All kinds of voices made William experience a headache. “Silence!”

The scene immediately quieted down. Lily, the girl sitting on the stone slab under William’s feet, also raised her head and showed a look of fear. She shook her head, eyes brimming with tears, “Lord Priest, I’m really not a witch.”

Lily was just wearing a linen skirt, and her wool skin had been taken by someone who forced her to the church. She was the freeman’s farmer’s daughter. When she was taken here, she caught a glimpse of her parents among the crowd, but they did not dare to speak up and say anything due to the agitation of the audience. Lily couldn’t see where they were hiding in the crowd even now. 

William looked at the girl carefully. “But you are accused of talking to the cat.”

The girl recalled that in the morning, she saw a hungry cat. The two big round eyes on its furry face were gleaming at her. She was moved by the cat’s look and with a heart of compassion, she threw some beans to the cat, and told it to leave the village quickly. It must be too hungry for it to run to such a place crowded with people.

She didn’t dare to say that she had fed the cat, so she could only shake her head, “I’m not a witch, I come to church every week…”

“People who associate with the devil are good at camouflaging themselves and have a tongue that is good at lying…” William looked at the girl with severe eyes, trying to distinguish the look on her face. 

The farmers also watched the scene nervously, waiting for the priest’s verdict.

If the priests decided that she was a witch, they thought that the better punishment should be hanging. Then they would wait until spring to burn her corpse with firewood, so as to prevent her from dying and becoming a vampire.

At this time, the door of the church was pushed open, and the cold wind poured in. At the same time, a strange and familiar voice travelled to everyone’s ears. They had only heard it a few times, but everyone had a deep impression of this voice.

“What’s with the commotion?” 

Ch36.2 - A Cat’s New Utility (Part Two)

The Lord Baron of Northumberland appeared at the door wrapped in thick fur with a woolen coat in his hand. There was no attendant with him, only a horse and a black cat on its back.

William came forward and asked in surprise, “Lord Baron, why are you here? The villagers found a girl talking to a cat and I am interrogating her for witchcraft.”

As he was speaking, William straightened up. This was the Lord Baron’s territory, and he may have potentially helped him catch a witch.

Everyone saw a smile cross the Baron’s face. He handed William the coat in his hand and said, “I’ve come to give you this. The words stitched on it means ‘God’s Shepherd’.” 

William was overjoyed, but didn’t have the time to spare to even properly feel the coat when he heard the Baron continue: “Witches are good at telling lies. Let’s use facts to verify whether she’s a witch. There is a black cat here, let us observe if it will cosy up to her.”

Eh? Was such a method of testing feasible? Everyone looked at each other in uncertainty. This method was unheard of, as witches were known to be very cunning, so the usual way was to punish her directly. She would only be proven innocent if she didn’t die.

Theoretically speaking, what the Baron said seems reasonable. Although the black cat seemed to have been abused by the Lord for a long time, it should still be evil, right?

William’s face was stiff. This was different from his usual way of dealing with witches, but it was put forward by the Lord Baron, who had an unusually high status. Moreover, he had just accepted the Lord Baron’s woollen coat. It would be rude to refuse him.

William pondered carefully: “What you said is reasonable. In that case, we need to cover her mouth to prevent her from communicating with the black cat.”

“Of course.” Cui QiChao felt that he might have to prepare another garb with the words “Religious Scammer” stitched for himself. He was forced to borrow the name of god to make his point.

He looked at the girl again. Her bare hands and feet were red and swollen because of the cold. She was likely to get frostbite if this continued on.

Since even the priest agreed to the Lord’s idea, the other people had no opposing opinions. They even praised the Lord’s idea, saying it was brilliant and that his words were filled with wisdom. It was also a hassle-free and accurate way to test whether she was a witch. 

Lily’s mouth was covered by the priest’s hands, which were garbed with a pair of gloves. Her hands were tied up, and she was forced to move towards the door.

Cui QiChao had previously trained XiaoBai to understand the commands “call” and “attack” in the previous plane. The training to understand commands was conducted together with training the cat to understand his gestures. Generally, shepherd cats can remember gestures very well. Although XiaoBai is not a real cat, it didn’t forget the commands so quickly. Anyway, Cui QiChao didn’t utter any commands this time. He merely gestured.

The villagers hiding behind the priest and Lord saw that the evil black cat jumped down from the horse as soon as it saw someone approaching, with its body bowed down to make a threatening sound and its claws exposed.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Lily saw the fierce appearance of the black cat, which was a stark contrast from the poor cat she had fed in the morning. There was no warmth reflected in the cat’s eyes, akin to an emotionless killer. Lily stepped back, slightly fearful, but was immediately pushed forward by the priest. She staggered forward a few steps. 

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Jel HlJtjb sjcxfv atf ilaaif ulgi jkjs ab jnblv WljbDjl’r jaajmx.

“Cr sbe mjc mifjgis rff, rtf lr cba ojnbgfv ys atf yijmx mja, yea lr jaajmxfv lcrafjv.” Jel HlJtjb, jr lo ab qgbnf ktja tjv tjqqfcfv, kfca obgkjgv ab aeu WljbDjl’r gbqf jcv tlcafv ab la, “Ktlr mja lr nfgs olfgmf.”

When XiaoBai heard the word “fierce”, he immediately howled and struggled again. It didn’t dare to scratch Cui QiChao with its paws, but it left a deep scratch on the mud, looking like an animal that was hard to tame. 

“…Ah, yes, the black cat attacks as soon as it sees her. Maybe she’s not a witch?”

“What did I see in the morning? Why is she talking to the cat?”

William vaguely felt like there was something off about this situation, but no matter how many glances at Cui QiChao he took, he could not deduce what was wrong given his limited scope of knowledge. Additionally, Cui QiChao had his status backing him up, so his suspicion merely flashed by and he didn’t voice it out. Now the priest had a ready-made reason to whitewash her. He quickly stood on Cui QiChao’s side and explained: “I think the cat may have wanted to tempt the child – fortunately, someone saw it and stopped it in time.”

The villager who sheepishly spoke up was immediately relieved. So that’s the case! He saved the girl! 

Lily thought she was going to cry, but the truth was that she was dazed, and was unable to feel  the slightest bit of emotion. Actually, she had fed the cat but she’s not a witch.

At this time, Lily’s parents also came out of the crowd. Her mother covered Lily’s feet with her hands, “My child!”

Lily was at a loss, and didn’t know what kind of face she should make.

“Alright, you can go back. But remember, you must be careful in the future. The devil will only come to your side when he feels your faith faltering.” William unfathomably stated. 

At that moment, the villagers who had changed their opinions began to murmur again.

Cui QiChao frowned secretly. The priest, William, is really worthy of the word “Religious Scammer” stitched on the coat that he was given. He just had to add this sentence now to increase his prestige.

In fact, the persecution of the so-called witches was originally a tool for the church to get rid of the dissidents. And since then, it has led to a lot of people reporting and framing innocent people as “witches”. If a “witch” tried to explain herself, she must be lying. If she doesn’t explain, she is acquiescing that she’s a witch. And if she died, it proved that she is truly sinful.

Cui QiChao cleared his throat and said, “My castle is short of a maid who helps out in the kitchen, and I have a lot of garlic to deal with. In this case, you can work in the castle this winter. After coming into contact with much garlic, presumably, the devil shall  not dare come close to you.” Garlic here is endowed with the meaning of resisting evil creatures, just like wood made from peach trees in China. 

In that instant, the farmers’ eyes were filled with jealousy…

While it was still miserable to have to work in the winter, that was mainly referring to commoners who did not even own a pair of shoes and could only wrap their feet up with straws. The Lord Baron’s castle constantly had firewood burning and there were thick tapestries to block out any cold wind blowing in. The warmth Lily was sure to experience was very enviable!

Even if one felt like they would die from overworking, at least they would die comfortably. And when working in the kitchen, one might be able to earn a bargain there.

Even Lily’s parents were very surprised. They were overjoyed that they could save a person’s food portion! There is not much food left in the freemen farmers’ storage. Not to mention, Lily’s parents had given birth to another child this year. 

Lily looked at the Lord in shock. She only drily responded to give her thanks when her parents shoved her, “Thank you, Lord.”

William also praised Cui QiChao in a timely manner, “The Lord Baron could always think of a good solution. For the sake of the girl, it’s a really good idea for her to deal with garlic in the kitchen.”

But Lily was very worried. She didn’t know why the Lord saved her, and she started questioning the Lord’s intention from the moment he proposed to use the black cat to conduct a test. She doesn’t know why everyone seemed to want her to be grateful to the Lord – there was clearly something wrong with this entire fiasco.

Maybe it was because while everyone in the fief said that the Lord was generous and kind, Lily overheard the conversation between the village head and the steward. Word had it that the Lord’s room was often echoing with shrill screams and so on… 

The castle was located on the high grounds, and was too far away from the commoners. The appearance of the Lord who occasionally came down to take a stroll could only be left to the  imagination. She didn’t want to believe that the cool, dignified but generous Baron, who, like other Barons, liked to beat someone.

The nervous Lily was pushed to the Lord’s side by her parents and was asked to lead the horse for him. The Lord wanted to speak to her, but did not manage to. In the end, he didn’t say anything. It wasn’t until he left the villagers’ line of sight that he said to Lily, “Come up, too.”

Lily had no time to react before she was pulled on the horse. Her bare feet were hanging in the air. Somehow, she no longer came into contact with the cold ground and could retract into the linen cloak her parents had just given her. She lost her shoes on the way to the church and couldn’t find them anymore. There were no extra shoes at home. The freemen peasants only had a slightly better life as compared to the serfs.

She was taken directly into the room by the Lord. The Lord asked her to light the fireplace and went out. 

Only Lily and some cats were present in the room.

Lily looked at the presumably evil cat who saved her, and blankly said, “Do you think the Lord will want me to serve him…?”

The black cat: “Hiss.”

“??” Lily doubted her ears. Did she hear the black cat making a mocking sound at her? 

After a while, Cui QiChao took the cook back to the room with him, with a bowl of hot soup in her hand and cloth shoes hanging on her waist. In the middle-ages, the people were undernourished and very thin. He heard that this girl named Lily was 14 years old, yet she was as short as a matchstick.

The cook liked to dote on adorable girls, so as soon as she saw Lily, she rushed forward and rubbed her cold feet to warm them up. Then she wrapped her bare feet in the shoes and gave her the soup. “Poor child, drink it quickly. I heard you were given a fright by the devil. You don’t have to be afraid, now that you live in the castle, the devil doesn’t dare to come near the Lord.”

Cui QiChao: “……”

This was true, but for some reason, it sounded slightly strange to hear it. 

The cook pulled out a pair of shoes and said, “The Lord had bestowed some shoes to the slaves so that they wouldn’t have to tarry in doing their work. Your shoes were snatched away from a boy’s feet for the time being. Still, the size seems a little unfit.”

Lily was drinking hot soup and felt her body warm up. When she heard the cook, her eyes shot wide open. Slaves, shoes? The slaves in the castle have shoes?

She knew Mike’s daughter, who had become a slave due to the thievery incident. Ever since they were taken away, she had thought about what possible situations her friend would face and how she would survive the winter as a slave. But she never thought that they could wear shoes made of cloth and wool. It was amazing enough that the serfs could even borrow woollen sweaters.

The Lord said that slaves were his personal property. If he didn’t treat the slaves like tea sets which had woven covers put on, what could he do if it’s too cold for them to craft the farming tools that he really needs? 

The cook took a look at the fireplace and said naturally, “You just have to safeguard the fireplace. I’ll tell you where you’ll stay when I see you again.”

She saluted the Lord and withdrew.

The room fell into silence for a moment. Lily stiffly maintained the fire in the fireplace. Then, she saw the Lord sitting on the bed.

“Why did you talk to the cat? You’re not afraid of them?” Cui QiChao asked coldly. 

Lily looked over and stutteringly said, “No, no, I…”

Cui QiChao looked at her. She was still a child, so when he asked her that question, she was frightened out of her wits. If she was forcibly interrogated by the priest even for mere moments, he was afraid that the identity of a “witch” would never be taken away from her. Because of what happened previously, she looked very dazed, and was shivering and restless all this time.

Cui QiChao thought for a moment, and with a smile, under her frightened gaze, he picked up XiaoBai, and intimately rubbed against XiaoBai’s nose. He said, “Although people will not believe it, I also like cats. I don’t think they are evil creatures.”

Lily opened her mouth and for a long time, she remained speechless. Her impression of the Lord Baron was subverted. However, as she recalled what she had experienced previously, she found that what the Lord had said is reasonable. She seemed to be relieved. She collapsed on the ground, and she almost couldn’t control her expression. 

——She hardly thought about what it meant when the Lord had dared to reveal this in front of her, and whether he thought about her as a threat. Of course, he wouldn’t treat her as a threat. If she blurted the truth to the others, how would he deal with her?

The innocent girl said with tears in her eyes, “What your esteemed one said is right!”

Cui QiChao didn’t judge the child’s character inaccurately. He made a shushing gesture to Lily.

Only XiaoBai rolled its eyes at both of them: Why the hell is Cui QiChao right? Cui QiChao doesn’t love cats at all! He is merely bullshitting!!