On The Self-Cultivation Of A Favored Concubine - Chapter 41

The moonlight fell upon the flower grove like frost. Xie Xuanzhao brushed her fingers against the furry ears beneath her hand, leaning in to look closer. She confirmed she wasn’t seeing things, these weren’t fake cat ears.

Suppressing her internal shock, Xie Xuanzhao quickly checked the other side.

With a soft pop, another cat ear poked out from Liu Qinglan’s hair. They swayed softly in the night breeze, looking incredibly plush. Xie Xuanzhao gently pinched one and nudged the tipsy little beauty. “You are…”

Liu Qinglan, the “little spirit” who had no idea she was revealing her half-form due to the alcohol, had a flushed face and half-closed eyes. Her hands tightly hugged the Empress’s waist as she buried her head into Xie Xuanzhao’s chest, snoring away happily.

Xie Xuanzhao took a deep breath. Curiosity had overtaken her fear. She looked around to ensure they were alone, then pulled Liu Qinglan deeper into her embrace, terrified someone might see her in this state.

As she moved, her hand kept stroking those cat ears, confirming over and over that they were actually growing out of Liu Qinglan!

Connecting the dots. Liu’s ignorance of human customs, her lack of knowledge about wedding toasts, the way animals flocked to her during the day, and even the peach tree currently blooming out of season in autumn, everything finally made sense.

The little beauty in her arms wasn’t human, she was an animal transformed.

Filled with emotion, Xie Xuanzhao couldn’t stop herself from “ruthlessly” fiddling with the fluffy ears. She originally intended to wake her up to demand answers, but seeing the girl’s sweet, drunken sleep, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She stroked Liu’s face; whether she was human or spirit, as long as she was Liu Qinglan, it made no difference to her.

Liu Qinglan felt her ears itching and vaguely reached up to scratch them. Xie Xuanzhao froze, holding her breath. Liu scratched the fur and a sluggish thought crossed her mind: The texture feels wrong. But the wine had dulled her brain; she didn’t realize her true form was exposed. She looked up dizzily, saw the “Beautiful Empress” was still there, and gave a silly smile. “Going… going back now.”

Xie Xuanzhao leaned in until their noses touched. Her voice was a gentle coax. “Where is your tail?”

“Wha… what?” Liu Qinglan gripped the Empress’s sleeve, looking dazed.

“Show me your little tail~” Xie Xuanzhao whispered while playing with her ears.

“Oh.” At this moment, Liu Qinglan was like a compliant toddler, following every instruction.

A moment later, a long, snow white tail emerged from beneath her palace skirt. The tip even curled slightly. The fur was sleek and white as snow, landing with a thwack against Xie Xuanzhao’s bent knee, swaying back and forth.

Xie Xuanzhao caught the tip, a ball of fluff and gave it a squeeze. Liu Qinglan reached out blearily to hold her own tail with the Empress, grumbling in her drunken state, “It… it’s so useless!”

“No, it’s very cute.” Xie Xuanzhao’s fingers began to slide up from the tip, wanting to explore the whole tail.

Liu Qinglan suddenly giggled and slumped into the Empress’s arms. “It tickles too much~”

Xie Xuanzhao smiled, letting the girl lean against her as her fingers continued to wander, eventually reaching the edge of the palace skirt. Beneath that skirt lay a hidden scenery.

“No… you can’t.” Liu Qinglan pressed her hands down on her pomegranate red skirt, stuttering in panic. (Being a Feifei spirit, the tail only appears when moved by emotion, making it a very sensitive part of her.)

The little spirit vaguely sensed what the Empress wanted to do, but her brain was too slow to stop it effectively.

Xie Xuanzhao chuckled. How was she still so shy? “We are married now. We can do ’embarrassing’ things.”

Liu Qinglan looked up, her eyes full of drunken fog. She was on the verge of passing out, yet she still remembered to guard her skirt.

“What is this peach tree for?” Xie Xuanzhao coaxed again.

Liu Qinglan’s face turned even redder. She shook her head, her whole body swaying.

“If you don’t tell me, I’m going to reach in and touch your tail,” Xie Xuanzhao threatened lightly.

Gasp! How could she! Driven by a final spark of consciousness, Liu Qinglan ended up selling herself out completely. “The… the Peach Blossom Spirit is for binding love. A love bond! Do you understand?!”

Xie Xuanzhao let out a long “Oh.” So, it wasn’t about “worshiping a boss” after all. This little spirit had lied to her. She poked the long tail. “Have you been secretly in love with me for a long time?”

Liu Qinglan wagged her tail, it tickled too much, gave a wine induced hiccup, and slumped back into the Empress’s arms, rubbing against her.

Xie Xuanzhao laughed until her shoulders shook. This little drunken cat is too cute!

“Since we’ve bound our lives together, we belong to each other,” Xie Xuanzhao whispered, hooking Liu’s finger. “So, is it really too much to ask to touch your tail?”

“Meow~” Liu Qinglan let out a soft, whining sound in her sleep. Please don’t…

“Can I? Please?”

The little spirit grumbled and acted haughty for a while before finally, quietly, moving her small hands away. The skirt immediately fluttered in the night wind, revealing glimpses of snow-white skin and the base of her tail.

The atmosphere turned thick with intimacy. Xie Xuanzhao held the white tail, her blood beginning to race. As she looked closer under the moonlight, she noticed familiar ancient patterns on the tail, mysterious and noble.

She froze. The passion receded slightly as she realized: This was the same white cat that had appeared before her three times, the one she had bathed with and shared a bed with!

Xie Xuanzhao pinched the tail. So this “little perverted cat” had been eyeing her all along! And here she was, thinking she needed to be patient because the girl “didn’t understand” human romance. It turns out the spirit was an expert in her own way!

Deciding to make up for all the self-restraint she had practiced, Xie Xuanzhao began to lean in. Liu Qinglan whimpered in a mix of pleasure and shyness… until suddenly, poof.

She turned completely into a cat. Completely.

Xie Xuanzhao, who was right in the middle of a passionate moment, was suddenly holding a snow-white feline. The cat was fast asleep, curled innocently in her arms.

Xie Xuanzhao: “!” You did that on purpose!

The little spirit even rolled over to show her belly, drunk out of her mind. Xie Xuanzhao held her up to inspect her “wife’s” true form. It wasn’t quite a normal cat, it looked like a divine beast.

With the mood thoroughly killed by the sleeping animal, Xie Xuanzhao let the night breeze cool her down. She picked up the cat and lightly bit the tip of its furry ear. “You wicked little cat. Just wait until we get back to the palace; see how I punish you!”

Liu Qinglan slept through it all, unaware that on her wedding night, she had completely exposed her biggest secret.

Xie Xuanzhao carried her back, wrapping the cat in the discarded palace skirt so she wouldn’t catch a cold. The maid, Yan Mo, was surprised to see the Empress returning with a cat.

Xie Xuanzhao signaled for silence and entered the room. Yan Mo watched her go, thinking to herself: It looks like the other palace cat, “Snowball,” is about to lose its status as the favorite.