Marry First, Love Later With The White Cat Princess - Chapter 8

Marrying the Sixth Prince of the Flowing Weave Kingdom had nothing to do with Lian Yi at first.
The person originally chosen by the Emperor was the Fourth Princess, Sha Xiuman.

If Luo Binglun hadn’t received a personal letter from an old friend learning that the visiting prince was that old friend’s first disciple and persuaded the Emperor to change the chosen bride, Liu Fenyun would never have become the Seventh Consort.

Watching the big white cat disappear through the pharmacy door, Luo Binglun tightened her wide sleeves and bent down to pick up the identity token.
Seeing the words “Mo Huai” engraved on it, her heart sank.

Although Lian Yi had been chronically ill, the destructive power she could unleash after transforming into a demon was far from small.
Luo Binglun had originally thought the Sixth Prince would die on their wedding night who would’ve guessed the boy survived intact, even gaining Lian Yi’s approval, allowed to hold her in her beast form?

Thinking of this, Luo Binglun sneered.

She had wanted to use Liu Fenyun’s death as an excuse to start a war with the Flowing Weave Kingdom so that she could enter their capital, capture Yu Qingyue, and keep her forever by her side.
Instead, Yu Qingyue had only sent a letter clearly addressed “To the High Priest” yet not a single word mentioned Luo Binglun herself.

Still, though she longed for it, she hadn’t sent Mo Huai to the princess’s manor.
That child might be clever, but he wasn’t suited to be a spy.

Hearing her disciples’ footsteps stop behind her, Luo Binglun brushed aside her thoughts.

“Go back and bring me all of Mo Huai’s remaining possessions,” she ordered coldly. “Check everything not a single piece is to be overlooked.”

She wanted to see just who had been misbehaving right under her nose.

Back at the pharmacy, Liu Fenyun was still worrying about what was happening outside even afraid that Lianyi might start a fight with the High Priest.

But worry didn’t slow her hands.
As she read the prescription, she worked quickly, selecting and weighing the herbs. Just as she finished the second prescription, she suddenly felt a warm weight against her leg.

Looking down, she saw a big white cat rubbing against her trouser hem.
She sighed in relief and crouched down.
“Thank you, Your Highness. Has the High Priest… already left?”

Lianyi nodded, tilting her head up to look at her.

The gesture made Liu Fenyun instinctively reach out, wanting to scratch that fluffy chin but Lianyi dodged away in disgust.

“Your hands smell like medicine. I hate it.”

Even as she complained, she still jumped onto Liu Fenyun’s lap, bumping her forehead lightly against hers.
“Keep working. I’ll go sit in the courtyard and bask in the sun.”

In Zhuohuang Kingdom, sunlight during the winter months was a rare luxury, and Lianyi loved nothing more than soaking it up whenever it appeared.

Watching the unchanged “favorability score” hovering at 60, Liu Fenyun longed to join her, but she quickened her work instead.

She had studied under Yu Qingyue, a Heavenly-rank physician of the Flowing Weave Kingdom’s Imperial Medical Bureau.
Because Yu Qingyue had started as an apothecary apprentice, Liu Fenyun had learned not only pulse diagnosis but also the art of preparing herbs.
If she ever felt ill, she would diagnose herself, write a prescription, and prepare her own medicine.

Although the other pharmacists around her were busy with their own work, Liu Fenyun’s astonishing speed and precision hitting the exact weight almost every time drew attention.
By noon, when the supervisor finally announced a break, many of the pharmacists were looking at her differently.

“Are these medicines really going to be sent into the inner palace?” one whispered as an attendant came to collect the bundles.

“Who cares? If something goes wrong, it’s none of our business,” his companion replied carelessly.

They didn’t bother to lower their voices, even with the supervisor nearby.

“The Seventh Consort is that great physician’s first disciple,” the supervisor said mildly, stroking his curled beard. “If she can’t even measure herbs properly, it would be a disgrace to her master. You’ll see.”

Liu Fenyun cared what her new colleagues thought.
As she washed her hands, she secretly activated her system’s listening function and overheard everything.
Her lips curved faintly.

The palace was a deep pool; even the Imperial Medical Bureau was no exception.
As a newcomer, she had to hide her sharpness but not be too mediocre either.
Starting off in the pharmacy to test the waters was the right choice.

When she stepped out of the Herb Hall, she immediately spotted a large white cat lounging on a tree branch in the courtyard, its fluffy tail hanging down lazily, tip twitching.

Unable to resist, Liu Fenyun reached out and brushed the tail.
Half-asleep, Lianyi jolted and swiped down with a paw.

Liu Fenyun dodged with a laugh.
When their eyes met, she spread her arms as if to catch her.

Lianyi leapt down, landing neatly in her arms and deliberately slapped her chest with a paw.

“Don’t you dare touch my tail again!”

“Alright, alright,” Liu Fenyun said, smiling as she carried her away.

The palace had a dining hall for officials, the Hundred Delicacies Pavilion, though most nobles had their meals delivered by servants.
There were attendants who could bring food to the Imperial Medical Bureau, but Liu Fenyun, thinking of the frail cat in her arms, decided to pick the dishes herself.

When Lianyi saw that she’d chosen an entire table of light vegetarian fare, her appetite vanished.
To make her human body more comfortable, she reluctantly shifted forms, rinsed her mouth, and accepted the chopsticks Liu Fenyun handed her.

Ignoring the princess’s resentful glare, Liu Fenyun smiled and placed a fish ball in her bowl.
“This one’s mild. Please try it, Your Highness.”

“Feed me, husband,” Lianyi said, fluttering her lashes.

So Liu Fenyun obediently turned the chopsticks and fed her.

“Is it good?”

“It is,” Lianyi said sweetly then picked up a fish ball herself and fed it back to her.

Everyone in court knew that the kingdom’s Saintess had married, but no one expected that after only two or three days, the Saintess and her new husband would already be this close teasing and feeding each other in a public dining hall!

Some of the young, unmarried officials nearby suddenly found their food losing all flavor.

The meal ended in a strangely charged atmosphere.
Lianyi was perfectly content; Liu Fenyun, however, was anxious.

She’d discovered that while feeding Lianyi, the favorability score kept fluctuating dropping a point whenever Lianyi tasted something she disliked, rising slightly when she ate something acceptable.
Although it always returned to 60 in the end, that was enough for Liu Fenyun to start mapping out her preferences.

As dusk fell and they rode home, Lianyi yawned from her cushioned seat.
“Today was so boring. Tomorrow you can go by yourself.”

Liu Fenyun froze.

She thought she’d somehow offended her.
When she saw the favorability value still steady, she exhaled but still nervously asked the system,
“What should I say?”

The system paused for two seconds.
“.Host, this system only provides database support and non-emotional event guidance.”

Liu Fenyun twitched her lips. Useless system.

“Was Your Highness displeased with something today?” she asked carefully.

Lianyi was about to say, ‘Everything’, but when she saw how Liu Fenyun’s shoulders hunched like a startled quail, she couldn’t help laughing.
She shifted into human form, leaned in, and pinched Liu Fenyun’s chin.

“Why don’t you guess?”

Liu Fenyun: “…”

She couldn’t guess. Aside from that brief conflict with the High Priest in the morning, Lianyi had been cheerful all day! How could she suddenly say she was bored?

Watching Liu Fenyun’s flustered face with amusement, Lianyi suddenly bent down and pressed her lips against hers.

“Mm!?”
Caught off guard, Liu Fenyun couldn’t even breathe before she was pushed against the carriage wall and thoroughly kissed.

“For us demons,” Lianyi murmured afterward, sitting on her lap with a smile in her blue eyes, “the most interesting thing is always something like this.
You made me so bored all day shouldn’t you make it up to me tonight?”

Outwardly smiling, Liu Fenyun was screaming internally to her system.

“Why are demons all like this?! Don’t they find anything else entertaining?!”

The system hesitated, searched its database, and finally replied,
“Not necessarily. According to statistics, most demons’ preferences aren’t much different from humans’.”

“Then what’s wrong with Lianyi?”

“She’s an exception,” said the system. “It’s usually linked to their past experiences. In her case… likely because she’s never actually done that with anyone human or demon so she’s particularly curious and… motivated.”

Liu Fenyun: “???”

Her mind went blank.
When she looked back at Lianyi, her polite smile had gone stiff.

“Th-then Your Highness truly doesn’t wish to go tomorrow?” she stammered.

Lianyi blinked. “If my husband’s still shy, I suppose I can reluctantly accompany you again.”

“I’m shy!” Liu Fenyun nodded quickly, slipping right into performance mode.
“Those physicians and pharmacists are all so tall and imposing it’s scary!
C-could Your Highness please come with me again?”

Though she was dressed as a man, her eyes shimmered with a faint reddish hue, looking like those of a soft, tearful beauty who’d just been bullied.

It made Lianyi’s heart itch.
She reached up, pinched Liu Fenyun’s cheek a bit too hard making her yelp and smiled even more.

“Alright, my timid little dear.”

Then she turned and told the coachman,
“Go to the East Market first. I want to buy something before heading home.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”
The coachman turned the carriage toward the marketplace.

“What does Your Highness wish to buy?” Liu Fenyun asked, confused.

“Nothing in particular just browsing. Whatever catches my eye.”
Lianyi hooked her arm through hers.
“I’ve accompanied my husband all day. Now it’s his turn to accompany me.”

Although the inner city also had markets, Lianyi preferred the outer ones.

It was nearly closing time; as they walked, shopkeepers were calling out to servants to pack up goods.

Most residents here were commoners native Di people and they shouted to each other in their own tongue.
Liu Fenyun couldn’t understand, so she switched on her system’s translation function and soon found the chatter hilarious.

“May the Fire God forgive me how are we still not done packing!?”

“Hey, you with that tasteless tree fruit wine how many bottles did you even sell today?”

“Three! Terrible! I swear by the Fire God, I must brew a new batch after winter!”

“Huh.”

“Do the Di people really talk like this every day?” she asked Lianyi, bewildered.

Lianyi nodded. “The common tongue of the human realm is too difficult for them. Usually only merchants and officials who travel outside Zhuohuang bother learning it.”

Liu Fenyun understood then it was just like dialects and standard speech coexisting in her own world.
But this was still the Warring States era; once a single kingdom unified the land, perhaps the common language would finally spread to all the people.

The setting sun painted them in a warm glow, the winter light soft and fleeting.

Though Lianyi, as the Seventh Princess and Saintess of Zhuhuang, lacked nothing in wealth or luxury, she still bought a small bundle of raw minced beef and handed it to Liu Fenyun.

“Come I’ll show you a few little ones.”

Seeing her confused face, Lianyi only smiled and pulled her down a narrow alley.