After Transmigrating as the White Lotus Crown Princess - Chapter 5

Ning Huan brought the kitten to his quarters. He sat on the couch by the window in the main hall. The kitten climbed onto his sleeve, extending its soft, tiny pink claws, attempting to grab at his clothes.

He reached out to tap the kitten’s pink nose; the little fellow tumbled backward, then came back again, climbing up Ning Huan’s robes.

Ning Huan simply couldn’t refuse these little things. He had always loved playing with kittens and puppies. His family knew his preference; one year for his birthday, the imperial palace even sent him a small snow leopard.

When the bird’s nest was delivered, Ning Huan gave it a taste. He was exceptionally picky—demanding the best in food, clothing, and shelter. The princes he played with often said he was spoiled rotten by his grandmother; even the princesses in the palace weren’t as picky as Ning Huan.

The bird’s nest wasn’t cooked to his liking, so he took only one bite and set it aside.

Then he suddenly remembered that he would be marrying Mu Jinyu in a few days. He wondered if the dowry from the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion would be generous—judging by the looks of it, it likely wouldn’t be. After entering the Crown Prince’s mansion, Mu Jinyu loathed him so much that he would surely suffer. At that time, forget bird’s nest; even ordinary chicken soup might be hard to come by. If the chefs in the Prince’s estate made things difficult and served him nonsense, Ning Huan would likely have to cook for himself.

Thinking this, he took another bite, then put it down again. He had to comfort himself: Not having food tomorrow is tomorrow’s problem; let’s just get through today first. He definitely had no appetite for this today.

At this moment, Dieqing suddenly came in. She said to Ning Huan: “Third Miss, the Second Miss has arrived.”

There was no deep affection between the sisters; the Second Miss, Ning Yue, had frequently been bullied by the original owner. Her coming to the door proactively was a rare occurrence.

Ning Huan pressed his finger against the kitten’s scruff and spoke indifferently: “Let her in.”

Dieqing replied: “Yes.”

Ning Yue looked somewhat anxious. She walked in quickly and, upon seeing Ning Huan, hurriedly called out, “Sister.” Ning Yue was a concubine’s daughter; even though she was older, she didn’t dare to act out of turn in front of Ning Huan.

Ning Huan didn’t rise. He glanced at the other side: “Second Sister, please sit.”

Ning Yue’s gaze fell on the white kitten. Only then did she sigh in relief and sit opposite Ning Huan, speaking timidly: “Sister, this kitten’s name is Xueman (Snow-Fill). I was the one feeding it…”

Ning Huan originally thought Ning Yue had come because of Tian He; he didn’t expect her to come for the cat.

Ning Yue had been raising the kitten for some time, usually letting it run wild. When she heard Ning Huan had taken it, she grew anxious. If it were a proper raising, she would be happy. But Ning Huan was absolutely not the type to raise such a thing; Ning Yue feared he might kill the kitten if he became unhappy.

Ning Huan released his grip: “You can take it away.”

However, Xueman didn’t move. It rubbed its head against Ning Huan’s hand and let out a long “meow.”

“I—” Ning Yue didn’t necessarily have to take it. She was just a feeder. “I found many kittens in the garden and can’t feed them all. Since Sister likes it, please keep it by your side.”

Ning Huan raised his eyes: “Is there anything else?”

“There is one other thing, concerning Tian He,” Ning Yue said. “He fell into the water today and told me it was Sister who pushed him. His one-sided story is untrustworthy, so I wanted to ask Sister.”

Ning Yue placed great importance on her fiancé. As a concubine’s daughter, it was hard to find a suitable marriage; she worried day and night that Ning Huan would steal him away. Because of her timid nature, she had never said this before; today was the first time she spoke so directly.

“If he were a gentleman and didn’t walk by the river, he wouldn’t fall in even in a lifetime,” Ning Huan said slowly. “One must be careful in choosing a husband.”

Ning Yue gave a bitter smile: “How could I have any say in the matter?”

When she smiled like that, it inexplicably reminded Ning Huan of his own legitimate sister. His sister was virtuous and also liked making cat food to feed the wild cats on the back mountain. After marrying, she served her in-laws meticulously. Unfortunately, her first husband was ungrateful, bringing a woman back from a brothel and even hitting his sister for her sake. The two eventually divorced. His sister’s husband’s family soon fell into ruin, and he died abruptly one night. These were, of course, the Ning family’s doing. Although Ning Huan was small then, he remembered it vividly.

Ning Huan said nonchalantly: “Perhaps after he dies abruptly, you will have a new one.”

Ning Yue’s eyes widened, and she stammered: “This… how is that possible?”

But the girl before her had a cold, dignified smile on her lips: “Everyone dies.”

At this moment, the system, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly popped up: “After marriage, you must never think of killing the male lead. If Mu Jinyu dies, you won’t survive either.”

The system only knew Ning Huan was beautiful and calm; it had forgotten he came from a family of “villains.” The Ning family had dominated the military and government for years, doing as they pleased. How could a Ning Huan raised in such an environment be any better?

Ning Huan fell silent for a moment: “I absolutely have no such intention.”

He already knew he was just a tool to stimulate the other’s ambition for the throne.

Beside them, Ning Yue had no intention of blaming Ning Huan. Firstly, she didn’t dare. Secondly, though a fiancé was hard to find, he was ultimately an outsider; Ning Huan was family. She reached out to touch the kitten in Ning Huan’s arms, her face full of sorrow, then took her leave.

Since the cat was given to Ning Huan, it was his. Dieqing had seen dowries with gold and jewelry, but never with a cat. The cat wasn’t dirty—a snow-white kitten without fleas—but Dieqing still gave it a good wash in the warm pavilion and dried it with a flannel cloth.

The wedding date arrived quickly. While it was still dark, Ning Huan was called out of bed to be dressed. He lazily closed his eyes, allowing the house nannies to prepare his skin and apply makeup before putting on the heavy wedding robes.

His thick, dark hair was all coiled up, revealing his earlobes. The nanny, seeing Ning Huan had no ear piercings, hesitated: “Young Miss, why are there no ear piercings? How are we to wear the jewelry?”

Ning Huan didn’t open his eyes: “I’m afraid of pain, so I won’t wear them.”

The phoenix crown and gold hairpins were placed on his head, heavy and pressing. The robes were also thick, the gold and silver threads making his body a bit uncomfortable. The nanny who came for the makeup wasn’t very familiar with Ning Huan; she only knew the mansion’s Third Miss was spoiled and pampered like the moon among stars. She found it funny—scared of ear piercings, yet how was she to get through tonight? Rumor had it the Crown Prince was a violent man.

The nanny also whispered a few things into Ning Huan’s ear about the wedding night, then gave Ning Huan a snow-white silk handkerchief to carry.

Ning Huan took the plain white silk. He knew Mu Jinyu would absolutely not come to the bridal chamber tonight. Mu Jinyu loathed this marriage deliberately arranged by the Emperor; he would go to the back courtyard to find other women and use that to humiliate Ning Huan. Tonight was also the beginning of Mu Jinyu “widely opening his harem.” After tonight, he would completely let himself go, eventually meeting all sorts of beauties—winning over beauties while ascending the throne.

Before getting into the sedan, Ning Huan beckoned to Xueman, who was hiding to the side. Xueman jumped onto his wedding robes. Seizing a moment when no one was looking, Ning Huan stuffed Xueman into his wide sleeve. Then a red veil was placed over his head, turning his world into red. Ning Huan lazily reached into his sleeve to squeeze a cat paw.

During the wedding procession, Mu Jinyu rode a tall horse and saw Ning Huan being supported by maids into the sedan. He snorted coldly, gave the horse a whip, and turned around. The horse let out a neigh; Ning Huan seemed curious and looked back through the veil, but it was too thick to see anything.

Thus he entered the sedan. A sixteen-bearer sedan wasn’t that rare. It swayed and carried Ning Huan into the Crown Prince’s mansion. During the ceremony, each held an end of a red silk ribbon. Mu Jinyu’s face held no smile; he performed the ceremony with Ning Huan with a dark, heavy expression.

Ning Huan was sent to the bridal chamber. As the bride, she could only sit obediently on the bed, sitting for several hours waiting for the groom to return from drinking. Xueman was very good, lying motionless on Ning Huan’s lap to sleep. Ning Huan squeezed Xueman’s scruff again.

After an unknown amount of time, Ning Huan knew the other wouldn’t come, yet he had to keep up appearances in front of the nannies and maids—because there were not only those brought from the Ning family but also those from the Prince’s mansion. He tried to lift the veil, but before he could reach out, a nanny nearby spoke coldly: “Crown Princess, His Highness has not yet returned. Please wait patiently.”

Ning Huan was certain the other wouldn’t come; the story said the original owner sat like this for the entire night. He was about to lift it directly when footsteps suddenly came from outside. A maid vaguely called out “Crown Prince.” Ning Huan’s hand froze, utterly perplexed.

Mu Jinyu carried a faint scent of alcohol. He said to the nannies and maids in the room: “All of you, leave.”

Dieqing, seeing Mu Jinyu’s unfriendly expression, was slightly worried for her mistress.

The veil was lifted, and Ning Huan saw the light again. The room was, of course, filled with festive red—even the quilts and pillows were red. The youth in wedding robes had a handsome yet gloomy face.

Mu Jinyu narrowed his eyes. Ning Huan was dazzling; his hair was black as ink, coiled in layers. A pair of pale eyes locked with his. His indifferent look ignited a fire in Mu Jinyu’s heart.

Ning Huan gave a half-smile: “Is the Crown Prince going to have the wedding night with me?”

Mu Jinyu spoke coldly: “Even if I were to die, I wouldn’t touch a hypocritical woman like you once.”

Ning Huan was curious—then what did he suddenly come over for? He asked the system, but it couldn’t answer and just played dead.

Mu Jinyu said: “For the sake of your father’s face, I will stay here tonight.”

Ning Huan calmly called for hot water. He wiped his face clean, let down his hair, and removed the heavy wedding robes. Since Mu Jinyu swore not to touch him, what was there to worry about? Having read the whole story, he knew this man kept his word.

There were two quilts on the bed. Ning Huan used one, and placed the other horizontally between them: “Your Highness is a man, robust and strong; you shouldn’t need a quilt tonight, right? This quilt will lie between us to prevent you from overstepping into my side while sleeping.”

Suddenly, a cat jumped out. Mu Jinyu was stunned. Ning Huan placed the cat on the quilt in the center of the bed: “Mine.”

Mu Jinyu said: “Cats cannot sleep on the bed.”

Ning Huan placed the cat next to his pillow: “It sleeps with me.”