Before long, the guards brought up the wet ball of fur.
"Your Majesty, the people of Dongshan call this little beast a 'sea otter'. It is extremely cruel and bloodthirsty, a ferocious animal. Please, Your Majesty, stay away from it!"
Eager to impress the emperor, the prefect of Dongshan recognized the little beast at a glance. He quickly stepped forward and blocked the emperor.
Li Ying looked at the so - called "sea otter" being dragged along unsteadily by the guards. Its small black paws were like puppy paws. Its little brown head seemed rather dull, and there was still a half - eaten fish tightly held in its whitish mouth. She couldn't help but find it amusing.
This was no "sea otter"!
Sea otters spent their entire lives in the cold sea. They had thick fur and preferred a cool climate. Dongshan was close to the southern border, where the sea was warm. How could sea otters live there?
Moreover, sea otters liked to eat sea shells. They usually lay on the sea surface, holding a boulder on their chests and knocking open the shells with a "ding - ding - dang - dang" sound. They had little interest in fish.
In her opinion, this was clearly a clawless otter that lived near the estuary and occasionally went into the sea to catch some fish for food. But it had wrongly been given the name of "sea otter".
The emperor glanced at the wet clawless otter. He thought the little beast's eyes were bright and cunning, and it was quite cute.
Princess Yongning was a young girl. Seeing the small and furry otter, she immediately took a fancy to it.
The emperor originally wanted to bestow the little beast on Princess Yongning, but upon hearing that it was "extremely bloodthirsty", he gave up the idea. He said indifferently, "Since it is a ferocious animal, drag it away and kill it."
The clawless otter was quite intelligent. Whether it understood the emperor's words or was in pain from the guards' restraint, it let out a "squeaky" sound. Its pitiful appearance was very endearing.
Mao Mao, who had been obediently hiding in the corner since boarding the ship and rarely showed itself, never causing any trouble, also jumped out at this rare moment. It rubbed against Li Ying's ankles and meowed anxiously.
Since the cat didn't want the clawless otter to be killed, Li Ying naturally couldn't bear it either.
She cleared her throat and finally couldn't help but speak up, "Your Majesty, please allow this commoner woman to say a few words."
"If I'm not mistaken, this so - called 'sea otter' is actually a clawless otter. It lives at the estuary of rivers and lakes and is a very intelligent and lively creature. As for the so - called 'ferocious animal' claim, it's completely unfounded."
"Clawless otters like to eat fresh fish. Catching fish for food is their nature. If they are labeled as 'bloodthirsty' just for this reason, then should every household's cat that catches mice also be considered a ferocious animal?"
A few words left the prefect of Dongshan speechless.
He didn't want to keep losing face in front of Li Ying.
He was a man of seven feet and well - read, but his knowledge and vision were always inferior to this woman Li Ying's. What "clawless otter", what "bamboo oyster", what "light - caught squid" were all things he had never heard of. If this got out, wouldn't the people of Dongshan laugh at him?
He said with a cold face, "Cats catch mice to rid the people of harm, but this otter harms fish and shrimp. It is clearly doing evil! Moreover, this otter is cruel by nature. It often bites many fish to death and abandons them on the beach before swaggering away. It is so greedy. How can we tolerate it!"
Li Ying just smiled.
While they were arguing, Mao Mao had quietly run to the clawless otter's side and meowed a few times in a low voice.
The little otter's black eyes lit up. Then, it stood up on its hind legs, with its two flexible front paws clasped in front of its chest in a praying posture.
"Eh?"
This time, it was the empress dowager who showed a look of surprise.
She had always been devoted to Buddhism, but she had never seen an animal imitate a Buddhist posture.
Moreover, although the clawless otter's eyes were bright, it also had an endearing clumsiness, which didn't give people a sense of pretentiousness.
Such intelligence made it hard to associate it with "cruelty" and "bloodthirstiness".
Li Ying noticed the empress dowager's moved expression and quickly said, "Your Honor the prefect, you are being too harsh."
"As far as this commoner woman knows, otters like to catch fish more than to eat them. They even take pleasure in it."
"The fish they catch are often neatly arranged on the beach. This is called 'the otter sacrificing fish'."
The empress dowager thought of the clawless otter standing there blankly looking up to the sky in a sacrificial posture. She found it extremely cute and immediately felt pity for it.
Seeing that the prefect of Dongshan still looked unrelenting, Li Ying was not in a hurry. She had already thought of a countermeasure.
"Your Majesty, in fact, the goodness or evil of all things depends on people's judgment."
"A rooster crowing at dawn is considered diligent by farmers, but if it wakes up someone who is catching up on sleep after a night - long journey, it will inevitably be annoying."
"This otter catching fish seems to be harming the fish population, but if we make good use of this characteristic, it can also become an advantage."
Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Li Ying smiled and said, "May I ask Your Honor the prefect, have you ever heard of a bird called 'cormorant'?"
The prefect of Dongshan had heard a little about cormorants hunting.
Just release the cormorants, and they will catch big fish. They will hold the fish in their mouths. After taking out the fish and cleaning it, it can be sold by fishermen or eaten by their families.
But those were tame birds. To prevent the cormorants from swallowing the fish, just tie a cotton rope around their necks. When it was difficult for them to swallow, they would naturally obediently spit out the delicious food in their mouths.
This clawless otter had flexible paws. How could it be easily controlled?
Moreover, this beast was wild and difficult to tame. It was very different from raising cats and dogs. How could it be as easy as Li Ying made it sound?
Seeing that he didn't believe her, Li Ying simply pleaded, "Your Majesty, this commoner woman grew up by the sea and has a little understanding of the habits of the clawless otter. I don't think this otter is a ferocious beast. How about letting me try to tame it?"
She spoke confidently and actively. The emperor was a bit curious, so he immediately agreed.
Li Ying stepped forward a few steps. Holding a piece of clean and tender fish in her hand, she greeted the clawless otter with a smile.
With Mao Mao's secret help, she was sure that the otter had understood the current situation. It wouldn't be difficult for it to cooperate with her to save its own life.
Sure enough, after being released from the guards' restraint, the otter crawled forward tentatively a few steps. Seeing Li Ying smiling sweetly and the fish in her hand looking very tempting, it opened its mouth and took the meat, leaving a trail of messy puppy - like paw prints behind.