Marry First, Love Later With The White Cat Princess - Chapter 51

Lian Yi, in the end, did not expose Qi Ran. Although the suggestion was made casually by Qi Ran, the decision had been hers to make.

Thus, she shook her head and said, “No villain coerced me, it was my own choice to use this method to test you.”

Having said this, Lian Yi gently embraced Liu Fenyun, intending to bury herself in her arms and explain everything properly. However, she discovered that the entire section of clothing over Liu Fenyun’s heart was drenched with tears. Hurriedly, she pulled her behind the screen and brought clean clothes for her to change into first.

Watching her bustle about without yet explaining why she felt the need to test her, Liu Fenyun was in no rush. She slowly removed her intricately styled upper garment.

Staring for a moment at the layers of binding cloth on Liu Fenyun’s body, Lian Yi couldn’t help but ask, “When A-Yun was in the Kingdom of Liuzhi, did you wrap yourself this tightly even in the summer?”

“There was no other way. If I didn’t, my silhouette would look too much like a woman’s,” Liu Fenyun explained with a smile. “Anyway… ever since I entered the Imperial Academy of Medicine, I never thought about marriage. If I were injured or ill, my master would look after me, there was no need for contact with others.”

In truth, this wasn’t really up to her. The original owner of this body had been sent to the Imperial Academy as a child and had cross-dressed as a man since then. Fortunately, this body was a late bloomer and had not yet fully developed, if she could ever reveal her identity as a woman in the future, there might still be a chance to reclaim her life.

No matter how much Liu Fenyun had ignored everything outside of her studies before transmigrating, she had, after all, lived a lifetime honestly as a girl.

Draping the discarded top over the screen, Liu Fenyun did not immediately put on the new clothes. Instead, she beckoned to Lian Yi, “Yiyi, come here.”

Lian Yi hesitated for a second but still obediently walked over to her.

Liu Fenyun took her by the wrist and placed her hand over her own heart.

Feeling the thump-thump of the heartbeat, Lian Yi’s palm quickly broke into a sweat.

Liu Fenyun’s fingers, holding her wrist, pressed lightly against Lian Yi’s pulse. She could feel Lian Yi’s heart rate gradually quickening, whether from nervousness or some other thought, she wasn’t sure.

“Is something… wrong here?” After a long while, Lian Yi asked.

“Do you know what place this is?” Liu Fenyun looked down at her chest.

Confusion flickered in Lian Yi’s eyes, but she answered nonetheless: “It is your heart.”

Liu Fenyun shook her head and smiled, “Wrong. This is the place where you live.”

Ever since realizing her own feelings, she had kept her “kitty” safely tucked away in her heart.

Lian Yi’s expression changed instantly, and a blush soon crept across her face.

“You’re using those sweet words to flirt with me again…” She turned her face away shyly and whispered, “Hurry… hurry up and put your clothes on…”

A-Yun’s current attitude toward her was already clear, there was no need for further testing.

If at the very beginning A-Yun had been kind to her merely to survive, now that kindness came from the bottom of her heart. Regardless of whether A-Yun was truly a god or not, they had already placed each other in the most important positions in their lives. She really ought to trust A-Yun.

Liu Fenyun still didn’t reach for the clothes. Instead, she leaned down and scooped her up. Her movements were so swift that by the time Lian Yi reacted, she was already being carried in a horizontal embrace away from the screen.

“What….what are you doing!?” Lian Yi looked at her blankly. In her panic, she couldn’t help but say, “Aren’t….aren’t you supposed to go find the Envoy of Witch Doctors? It would be a breach of etiquette if you don’t go soon!”

Liu Fenyun simply kept walking until she placed her on the couch. Only then did she speak: “There is still a sulky little jealous cat here. I have to soothe her before I go.”

“Who is sulking with you!” Lian Yi’s heart stung, and after her weak rebuttal, she pulled Liu Fenyun onto the couch, pinning her down and lying atop her. Her voice dropped even lower, “I am just… I care about you too much.”

Over the last few days, whenever her emotions fluctuated wildly, she would unconsciously revert to her human form. Liu Fenyun slowly combed through her snow white hair and leaned into her ear: “I care about you very much too, Yiyi. If no villain coerced you, what were you trying to test?”

Before Lian Yi could speak, she stroked the cat’s tail. “Were you trying to see if I truly held you in my heart?”

A wave of tingling warmth rushed through Lian Yi. She rolled off her and onto the couch, staring at the ceiling for a moment before turning back to hug Liu Fenyun’s arm. With a sigh, she said, “Stop guessing blindly. I’ll tell you everything, start to finish.”

Liu Fenyun immediately assumed an expression of one listening intently.

“I have been having frequent nightmares lately, and because of them, I’ve recovered some memories,” Lian Yi said. “You and I… we should both be inhabitants of the Upper Realm. When Qi Ran took you to the Lotus Palace earlier, he said you were a god, didn’t he?”

Liu Fenyun nodded, her expression very calm.

“My recovered memories are not many, and I don’t know how much you have remembered, so… lately I have been testing our past identities.” Lian Yi paused here before continuing, “I wanted to know if we were in a cultivation partner relationship before we descended, or… a master servant relationship.”

The bond between the Yao (demon) race and the Human race is usually a blood contract. A Yao forced into a contract becomes a spiritual pet or a demon guard, occupying the “servant” position in a master-servant dynamic.

However, there is another type of blood contract that allows both parties to be equal, the Dao Companion (Partner) Covenant.

“If we are partners, no matter how much I make things difficult for you, you would still be willing to treat me well,” Lian Yi said. “When I decided to test you… I was acting on a whim, and that’s what I thought.”

It was indeed a decision made while her head was clouded. Now that she had calmed down and thought about it, the more she reflected, the more she felt she had behaved poorly.

“If we are merely master and servant, then on the day you return to the heavens, I fear nothing from this mortal realm can be recreated. After all… there is no such thing as a master marrying a servant.” Lian Yi curled her lips into a bitter smile. “In that case, we might as well start becoming more distant now.”

She knew that the “distance” she spoke of was a lie. She had already fallen completely in love with this god, and unless those memories were erased.

After listening, Liu Fenyun thought seriously for a moment and suddenly asked, “And what was the result of Her Highness’s test?”

Lian Yi’s smile froze.

“To be honest, that method wasn’t reliable at all, so there was no result.” After a long silence, she shook her head. “But I won’t test you like that anymore. The future is unpredictable and no one can say for sure what will happen, it’s better to cherish the present.”

She leaned into Liu Fenyun’s embrace as usual, but this time she took the initiative to lightly pat her back, apologizing: “A-Yun, I’m sorry for making you suffer these past days. I… I allow you to sentence me to a punishment. Anything is fine, and you can choose the location.”

Liu Fenyun was all too familiar with the “punishment” Lian Yi spoke of; she had been punished many times whenever she made a mistake during dance practice, with four mirrors reflecting her disheveled state.

She didn’t decline. She simply said, “Take me to your Sea of Consciousness.”

For the “kitty,” only by accepting and delivering a punishment would Liu Fenyun truly show her forgiveness.

Seeing her agree, a flash of joy appeared in Lian Yi’s eyes.

She immediately brought Liu Fenyun into her Sea of Consciousness. Once they arrived inside that dim dungeon cell, Lian Yi proactively bound herself with iron chains, raised both hands, and presented a soft whip.

Glancing at the whip, Liu Fenyun frowned. With a flick of her mind, the iron chains binding Lian Yi shattered simultaneously, and the soft whip transformed into a supple vine that gently coiled around Lian Yi’s wrists.

“This is enough.” Facing Lian Yi’s confused gaze, Liu Fenyun smiled faintly. “It’s just a ‘punishment’ between partners.”

She pulled Lian Yi into her arms, and with another thought, the surroundings changed abruptly in the next instant.

The two were sitting on a soft couch, with gauze curtains hanging on all four sides. From the pillows to the bedding, everything was a refreshing light cyan. At the head of the bed sat a man-sized, long plush cat pillow with a smile that was both obedient and silly.

Soft white light cast down from the ceiling, the entire room was clean and tidy, giving off a sense of security.

Lian Yi lay against Liu Fenyun’s shoulder. Looking closely, she felt the room looked familiar, yet she couldn’t quite remember where she had seen it.

“This is the bedroom I lived in before I transmigrated,” Liu Fenyun said after surveying the surroundings. “It seems I really can control the illusions within your Sea of Consciousness.”

Lian Yi was slightly shocked, but Liu Fenyun didn’t give her a chance to ask questions. Instead, she pulled the clothing on Lian Yi’s back down slightly.

“Let me see your mark,” she said softly, holding Lian Yi close. “If there truly is a connection between us, I should be able to touch it.”

She was referring to the pink lotus mark on Lian Yi’s back. She had seen it once shortly after they started staying together back then, the cat not only refused to let her touch it but had even been fierce toward her.

Lian Yi, however, shrank back hesitantly, murmuring, “No, that mark hurts as soon as it’s touched.”

She hadn’t forgotten the last time when Liu Fenyun, driven by curiosity, touched the mark while she had fallen asleep during a medicinal bath. She had been jolted awake by the pain.

Liu Fenyun thought for a moment. “What if that mark is sealing our memories? I’ll just touch it once. If it still hurts, tell me, and I’ll stop immediately.”

As she spoke, she had already pulled the clothing down to a position where the entire mark was visible. The pink lotus was just as before, incredibly lifelike, as if it were a living thing blooming from within Lian Yi’s body.

The kitty in her arms remained silent for a moment before finally gathering her courage: “Then… you can try touching it, but only once.”

Liu Fenyun nodded slightly but did not touch it directly. Instead, she pricked her finger and, with a bead of blood on her fingertip, tapped the lotus mark.

When she touched it, Lian Yi’s body trembled slightly, but the expected pain did not arrive. She only felt the spot that was touched gradually grow warm, though the heat didn’t spread far.

Liu Fenyun was even more surprised. She watched with her own eyes as her blood was absorbed by the mark, quickly staining the nearby lotus patterns red.

Is this breaking some kind of seal?

With this thought, Liu Fenyun simply cut her palm and used her Yao energy to force the blood out of the wound, quickly covering her entire palm.

Lian Yi remained leaning against her shoulder. Her hands were bound by the vines, so she couldn’t perceive Liu Fenyun’s actions. She couldn’t help but ask, “Are you going to touch the mark again?”

“Yes.” Liu Fenyun took a deep breath, aligned her palm with the mark, and pressed down cautiously.

As she pressed her hand against it, Lian Yi suddenly felt the heat expand, yet it wasn’t uncomfortable. A faint scent of blood reached her nose, making her startle in surprise.

“Are you hurt?!” Lian Yi turned her head in shock, but she couldn’t see Liu Fenyun’s movements; she only knew that the hand was still pressed against her back.

Liu Fenyun rested her chin on top of Lian Yi’s head and whispered, “No, I’m just trying to use blood to break the seal.”

The lotus mark was absorbing her blood. Soon, half of the mark’s patterns were stained with her blood, and the blood continued to flow along the lines, any blood not on the patterns was gradually drawn toward them.

Marks that require blood to break are usually difficult to deal with. Lian Yi stopped moving restlessly and lay obediently against her shoulder.

“Does it hurt now, Yiyi?”

“No, it doesn’t hurt at all this time,” Lian Yi said truthfully. “I just feel very hot where you’re touching me.”

Liu Fenyun was stopping the bleeding. Hearing this, she asked again, “Does this heat make you feel comfortable?”

“Mm,” Lian Yi answered softly. After responding, she felt her eyelids grow heavy. “I’m a bit sleepy. Is this a side effect of the seal breaking?”

Liu Fenyun lowered her gaze. The silhouette of the lotus mark had been stained a vibrant crimson by the blood, rather than its original pink.

“If you’re sleepy, then sleep for a while.” She dissolved the vines binding Lian Yi’s hands and let her lie down on her side. “If it really does seal memories, I’ll find a way to take a look.”

Lian Yi didn’t respond again, closing her eyes and falling into a deep sleep.