Yun Manman was startled.
How could she be worthy of being greeted by such an important figure as the clan leader of the Yunzheng Clan!
The kitten suddenly became nervous, straightening her back even more, and stammered, "Hello, Clan Leader! My name is Yun Manman..."
Yun Rong waved his hand kindly, "Just call me uncle. Does your wound still hurt?"
No problem! Soon she'll be calling him uncle-in-law!
As expected of their family's cub, she's really adorable.
Much cuter than those stinky boys at home.
They had discussed it yesterday and decided that Yan Ye and Yun Rong would go to pick up Yun Manman and bring her to the mansion.
Yan Shuang would go talk to Yan Xi.
Then they would have a formal discussion at the mansion.
The important person in front of Yun Manman was much easier to get along with than she had imagined.
He spoke gently without putting on airs, was well-versed in citing classics and references, and also understood current popular catchphrases, never letting the conversation go cold.
He was also very concerned about Yun Manman's life, always asking if she had encountered any difficulties.
In short, he was a very caring elder.
Yun Manman became increasingly excited about her trip to the Yunzheng Mansion.
At the Yunzheng Mansion, Yan Shuang was instructing Yan Xi: "Sister, when they arrive, smile more, smile beautifully, and make a good impression on Manman, understand?"
Yan Xi nodded nervously, clutching the dress on her knees, "Mm, I understand."
A moment later, she stood up and looked outside, "Haven't they arrived yet?"
Last night, Yan Shuang suddenly told her that they had found her long-lost daughter, and today they would meet.
Yan Xi hadn't slept all night, pulling Yan Ye to tell her about Yun Manman all night long.
She had been thinking about what to say to Yun Manman today.
She was desperate to reclaim this daughter, yet terribly afraid that the cub would hate and despise her.
In countless nights, the cub's faint meows echoed in her dreams.
As if questioning why she hadn't found her yet, saying she had suffered so much outside.
Just then, Yan Shuang stood up from her chair and looked towards the door: "They're back."
As soon as they got out of the car, Yun Rong led them inside, mysteriously saying, "I'll introduce you to someone first."
Following them into the villa in confusion, Yun Manman looked up and met the gaze of a female feline beastman.
Her gaze towards herself was so intense that Yun Manman immediately noticed her.
She wore an elegant light-colored dress, and her pure golden cat eyes were staring at her unblinkingly.
Her light brown hair was tied in a high ponytail, her face beautiful and spirited, with a small pink scar under her left eye corner, adding a touch of seriousness and determination.
The fur on her cat ears was the same light orange as Yun Manman's.
Yun Manman couldn't help but tilt her head and look a few more times.
Hmm... why did she seem a bit nervous?
And there was an inexplicable sense of familiarity, wanting to curl up in her beast form and let her groom her fur.
Yun Manman shook her head, trying to get rid of the absurd thoughts in her mind.
At this moment, Yan Ye introduced from the side, "This is my aunt, Major General Yan Xi. This is my mother, Yan Shuang."
Yun Manman politely and obediently greeted them, "Hello, aunties. My name is Yun Manman."
Yan Xi stared blankly at the little cat in front of her, her mind going blank for a moment.
She looked so similar, really too similar.
Her beast form was exactly the same as hers when she was young.
Her eyes were also very similar to her late mate Qing Lie's, both the same emerald green.
Back then, she had fallen for him because of that pair of pure and flawless eyes.
Perhaps because Yan Xi had been staring at Yun Manman without speaking for too long, Yun Manman uneasily pawed at the mat under her feet.
Yan Shuang beside her was so anxious her eyes were bulging, her silver-gray tail behind her wagging so hard it was about to create patterns in the air.
She poked Yan Xi's arm, "Say something, say something!"
Such an adorable cub, how could Yan Xi resist acknowledging her!
Yan Xi came back to her senses, blinking hard to suppress the heat rapidly rising in her eyes, then forced what she thought was her brightest smile.
Then she crouched down, looking into the eyes of Yun Manman sitting on the cub's body, her voice cautious: "Manman, I'm Yan Xi."
"I'm also... your biological mother."
For a moment, the room was extremely quiet, everyone holding their breath watching the small cat in beast form, waiting for her reaction.
After a while, Yun Manman blinked, her voice sounding relatively calm: "Do you have a report? Can I see it?"
Yan Xi immediately nodded, pulling up the report from her communication device and presenting it to the little cat with both hands.
Yun Manman carefully read the contents, her gaze falling on the final "Test results support that Yan Xi is Yun Manman's biological mother."
She really gained a mother out of nowhere.
The original owner probably didn't know she had so many relatives besides her grandmother.
Yun Manman's gaze fell on the nervous beastmen around her, her voice soft and tender: "Then why am I only being found now?"
No matter what, she had to understand clearly what had happened before deciding whether to accept this family or not.
Yan Xi's pure golden eyes were full of pain and guilt: "It's all my fault for arguing with your father back then."
Yan Xi's mate, Lin Qing, a beautiful but frail lion cat, had an argument with Yan Xi and left home when Yun Manman was three years old.
He had intended to take little Manman on a trip to clear his mind and return home after a while.
But he unexpectedly encountered a beast-hater on the way, and Lin Qing exhausted all his strength to kill the beast-hater.
By the time Yan Xi found Lin Qing, he was already barely breathing, with no sign of Yun Manman around.
No one knew if little Manman had been swallowed by the beast-hater or had escaped on her own.
Lin Qing, who was already frail, quickly returned to the embrace of the Beast God after this severe injury.
Yan Xi, with a grief-stricken heart, buried her mate and then tirelessly searched for traces of her daughter, never giving up all these years.
But she never found her.
Yan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "Yan Ye investigated and found out that the feline beastman who raised you picked you up while traveling."
"We are very grateful to her. If it wasn't for her, I can't imagine how you, at just three years old and unable to transform into human form, could have survived."
It's good that it wasn't some cliché plot like a baby swap or a true vs fake princess story.
Often in those plots, there are extremely irresponsible parents.
Yun Manman had just been imagining countless reasons in her mind, and now hearing Yan Xi's explanation, she felt slightly relieved.
It sounded like the original owner's father and mother both loved her very much.
Looking at Yan Xi in front of her, with red eyes and crow's feet at the corners, wanting to hug her but not daring to come forward, Yun Manman's heart suddenly softened.
The little cat reached out her paw and gently touched Yan Xi's cheek: "I might not be able to accept you so quickly. Can you give me some time?"
Yan Xi was overjoyed to hear that she didn't resent her: "Of course!"
She paused, then looked at Yun Manman expectantly: "Can I hug you?"
Seeing Yun Manman nod, Yan Xi finally picked her up with slightly trembling hands.
Feeling the soft fur of the little cat, the tears that Yan Xi had been holding back in her eyes finally fell.
This was her cub, her cub had already grown up, and she had missed so much of her growth.
Yan Xi got too excited and couldn't control herself, turning back into her beast form with a "poof".
Light orange long fur covered her entire body, even the five tails behind her were flowing and graceful long fur, her four paws were thick and powerful, and on her forehead was a long and elegant single horn, looking extremely sharp.
She indeed looked like a larger version of Yun Manman's beast form.
The big cat gently circled the little orange cat in her arms, extending her tongue to lightly groom her fur.
Yun Manman purred comfortably as she was groomed.
So this is how comfortable it feels to be groomed.
Seeing that Yun Manman didn't reject their closeness, Yan Shuang and Yan Ye were also overjoyed, turning back into two big cats on the spot, surrounding Yun Manman and meowing loudly.
Only Yun Rong stood dignifiedly to the side, looking at the scene in front of him with contentment: "How wonderful, the cub has been found..."
"It's time to let those stinky boys in the mansion come and meet their sister."
At the Kashida Military Office.
Lu Xi was reporting the latest progress of the investigation to Lu Qi: "...Qiao You confessed that there's a mineral vein behind the Yali'ou Mountain Range, with a passage that can cross through the Yali'ou Mountain Range directly to Kashida."
Lu Qi's fingers with distinct knuckles tapped rhythmically on the table: "Did he say why they can control the beast-haters?"
Blood clan curses are usually simple effects, such as preventing someone from speaking or seeing, and the effects don't last long.
The ability to control loathsome beasts is too powerful to be something those useless blood clan members could accomplish.
It's most likely they borrowed power from an external object.
Lu Xi shook his head: "No. Qiao You said he'd only consider confessing if he got a glass of beastman blood."
Tch.
Is this Qiao You stubborn or spineless?
Lu Qi's fingers paused: "Give him a glass of pig's blood. The brainless fool."
Lu Xi nodded in agreement: "Yes, sir."
The office fell silent. Lu Xi was about to turn and leave, thinking there was nothing else, when he suddenly heard Lu Qi say:
"Do you... know how to court a female beastman?"