Chapter 4 — Hearing the Voices of Animals, I Became the Director of the Tyrant's Zoo

Vuong Tu Yen next to him took a breath, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, but even if he tried to suppress it, he couldn't. She took a step forward to support the Queen Mother's arm, her voice soft and sweet:

"Queen Mother, you see how much Your Majesty trusts Khuc Thuong. As soon as she was promoted to position, she was entrusted with important responsibilities. This is Khuc Thuong's blessing."

Blessed? The knife-like curvature at the corner of her mouth was clearly saying——you're done. I stubbornly bowed my head:

"My concubine... receives the order."

Trieu Ky turned around and walked forward. I got up and followed. The tiger brother in the cage shouted towards me:

"Skinny girl, be careful! What that two-legged, yellow-clad beast raises is more difficult to deal with than the last!"

The corner of my mouth twitched, I didn't turn my head. Round over a piece of faux paint. The next second, my legs froze in place, I couldn't hide the fear in my eyes. Damn it, why does the emperor's zoo even have this! I was so surprised that I was speechless by the white elephant in front of me. It is larger than any elephant we have ever seen in the zoo, its whole body is as white as snow, only the tip of the ivory is pale yellow. At this time, it was half kneeling on the specially made stone floor, its four legs were shaking slightly, its breathing was as heavy as pulling a bellows. What was even more strange were its eyes—— Cloudy, yellow, the pupils were full of blood, as if it had not slept for three days and three nights. Trieu Ky stood next to me, his voice calm:

"This is the Tuyet Son White Elephant donated by Tay Vuc. There is only one in the world. I named it 'Thuy Tuyet', but since entering the palace three months ago, it has become increasingly weaker and its clothes are tight."

Vuong Tu Yen's cold voice rang out behind him:

"Khuc truc, this time you have to show your bravery well."

I didn't pay attention to her, all my attention was focused on my ears. But the white elephant didn't say a word. Not even a hum. Too quiet. Unusually quiet. Tiger brother halfway across the garden is also cursing loudly at me. This white elephant is less than three steps away from me, why doesn't it even utter a sound? Imperial physician Tu again pushed his way to the front of the line, clasped his hands and said:

“Your Majesty, yesterday I checked Thuy Tuyet's pulse and discovered that her body was unusually dry and hot, with thick yellow moss on her tongue, probably because the tide's climate was not compatible with the water and soil of the West Region, leading to hypothermia.”

Another physician also chimed in:

"I also think so. I have prescribed a prescription to clear heat and eliminate rheumatism, but Thuy Tuyet refuses to eat, and the medicine cannot be poured in at all."

Vuong Tu Yen waved his circular fan and smiled gently:

"Khuc chau, you should also say something. Weren't you very talkative just now? It's love sickness, it's peacock, you can't say anything. Why are you mute now?"

The concubines began to cover their mouths and sneered again.

“I'm afraid a blind cat just found fried fish.”

“I told you, how could such a myth about hearing animal sounds be true?”

"Your Majesty, as far as I can see, Khuc Thuong was just having bad luck here. Just when General Ho Uy was tired and calmed down, she immediately climbed up..."

Trieu Ky said nothing. He sat on the round chair brought by the guard, his long legs crossed, his index finger tapping on the armrest little by little, those eyes were fixed on my face from beginning to end. The main institute saw me Slowly, without opening his mouth, he took a step forward and said:

"Quoc co, if you don't understand medical techniques, don't miss Thuy Tuyet's treatment. Although I can't completely cure it, I can at least let it last a few more days..."

“You shut up for me.”

I didn't turn around and answered directly. Doctor Tu's face turned red:

“You——!”

Vuong Tu Yen interrupted him:

"There's no need to worry about a servant. If Khuc Thuong says she can speak animal languages, then let her speak. This palace also wants to see what kind of flowers she can speak."

I squatted down and looked sideways into the white elephant's cloudy eyes. It sprayed a stream of hot air from its nozzle, blowing wetly onto my face. I softly opened my mouth:

“Thuy Tuyet, why didn't you say anything?”

Thuy Tuyet didn't even lift her eyelids. The laughter behind him became clearer and clearer.

“Pretending to be a god and pretending to be a ghost.”

“Talking to an animal, like an idiot.”

“Your Majesty, look, she keeps squatting like that, what can she do…”

I turned a blind eye and continued to stare into the white elephant's eyes:

“Do you not want to talk? Or are you unable to talk?”

This time, the white elephant's eyelids trembled a bit. It finally opened its mouth. The voice was hoarse, old, like crushed rock from the ground:

“…Little girl, you…did you really hear that?”

My heart was shocked, but my face didn't show it at all:

"I heard it. Tell me, what's wrong with you?"

The white elephant was silent for a long time. It took so long that Vuong Tu Yen behind him lost patience and opened his mouth:

"Your Majesty, I see that this servant is clearly stalling for time. How about directly punishing her for treason——"

“Pain.”

The white elephant suddenly spoke. I raised my head:

“Where does it hurt?”

“Everywhere hurts.”

The white elephant's voice carried a deep fatigue.

“Pain in the bones, pain under the skin, like a fire in my stomach, I couldn't sleep all night.”

It stopped, the voice became lower:

“But the leg hurts the most.”

Legs? I instinctively lowered my head to look. The white elephant's four feet are stepping on the stone floor, and it doesn't look like anything unusual. But when I got closer and looked carefully, I discovered that the edge of its foot had a faint red ring, as if it had been torn by something. My heart sank.

“When you stand, do your feet hurt?”

The white elephant's trunk shook slightly:

“Standing like needles, kneeling like burning fire.”