The Beautiful Top Being Pursued Relentlessly [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 49

The air in the private room grew thick with the scent of alcohol. The windows were half-open, allowing a gentle breeze carrying the scent of rain and greenery to drift in, quietly dispelling the dry heat brought on by the potent wine.

Clink.

With a crisp sound, Jiang Yi’s wine cup slipped from his fingers and hit the floor. He slumped onto the table, his cheeks flushed deep crimson and his eyes glazed as he stared at Xie Cheng, who was sitting perfectly upright beside him.

“Your Highness.” Jiang Yi murmured.

The voice was soft and syrupy. Xie Cheng swallowed the last of the burning liquid and slowly, deliberately turned his head.

He wasn’t drunk. At least, he kept his back straight as a ruler.

His silver hair spilled over his brocade robes like moonlight. His hand, still holding his cup, paused mid-air. His silver-grey eyes remained fixed in a blank stare on the ornate silver vessel.

He. Was. Not. Drunk. Definitely not…

But this wine. tasted terrible.

Xie Cheng’s body swayed slightly. He forced himself to stand, abandoning the half-finished cup on the table.

Thump, thump, thump.

What was that noise? Annoying.

Xie Cheng squinted his blurry eyes, thought for a moment, and began making his way toward the door. He walked with a halting rhythm one step, then a pause desperately trying to make his gait appear steady.

After a fair amount of effort, he reached the door and let out a soft sigh of relief before pushing the wooden panels open. Shui Shi was standing outside. Seeing the clearly intoxicated Prince, the guard looked stunned. “Your Highness?”

“Mmh?” Xie Cheng rubbed his eyes, finally recognizing his subordinate. “What is it?”

“The man you asked me to investigate is about to leave,” Shui Shi reported.

The man he asked to investigate.

Xie Cheng used his buzzing brain to process this. He remembered telling Shui Shi to watch the room next door and report any suspicious activity immediately.

“Then go follow him. Why are you telling me?” Xie Cheng frowned.

“He is accompanied by someone else.”

Who?

“Prince Xian, Xie Yuan,” Shui Shi replied in a low voice.

“Why would those two be together?” Xie Cheng muttered to himself, his head swimming. He abruptly shut the door on Shui Shi, leaving a final command: Follow them. Keep watch for now.

“Your Highness, I’ve already dispatched hidden guards. However…” Shui Shi knocked tentatively on the door, worried about his master’s state. “Should I prepare some sobering tea?”

There was no response.

Inside the room, Xie Cheng wasn’t ignoring him on purpose; he simply had no mental capacity to spare.

A soft, striped tiger tail had emerged from somewhere behind him. It was currently wrapped around Xie Cheng’s leg in an unconscious, affectionate embrace. The tip of the tail flicked restlessly, winding its way up his calf.

Xie Cheng was only standing by sheer force of will. When the tail gave a sudden, clumsy tug, he lost his balance and fell backward into a mass of soft, thick fur.

It didn’t hurt. He sank into the tiger’s embrace, his cheek pressed against the warm fluff. It felt like being buried in a pile of cotton that had been baked in the sun warm, plush, and utterly comforting. He didn’t want to move.

But it was a bit itchy.

“Your Highness. Your Highness.”

That was Jiang Yi’s voice. Do tigers speak human languages? Xie Cheng racked his brain trying to solve this riddle.

Within seconds, the soft fur against his back shifted into a warm, human chest. As he turned his head with a confused groan, a tufted tiger ear popped into his line of sight, twitching slightly.

A tiger ear.

The owner of said ear seemed nervous. Though his arms were locked tightly around Xie Cheng’s waist, the ears kept fluttering against Xie Cheng’s cheek.

“Your Highness, I’ll tell you a big secret.”

Jiang Yi leaned in, his lips brushing the tip of Xie Cheng’s ear as he whispered, “I’m a tiger. A very fierce, very strong tiger.”

Xie Cheng: Blank stare.

“Your Highness, can you feel that I’ve grown much bigger?” Jiang Yi asked, his voice thick with pride. He grinned, using his long, thick tiger tail to squeeze Xie Cheng’s legs, as if proving his strength.

Xie Cheng blinked his hazy eyes, staring at the tiger ear right in front of him. Finally, as if confirming a suspicion or perhaps because the alcohol had finally conquered his last shred of logic, he gave up thinking. With a touch of indulgence, he leaned his burning forehead against the twitching ear.

“Found it.”

Jiang Yi leaned closer. “Found what?”

“Found my…” he slurred, his voice saturated with wine. “My pretty ears…”

The tiger ear stiffened instantly. A deep crimson flush spread from the base of the ear through the fur until it looked ready to explode.

“The ears are hot,” Xie Cheng whispered.

“Does. Your Highness not like them?”

Xie Cheng thought about it for a long time before shaking his head.

“You like them, don’t you?”

Jiang Yi tightened his grip on Xie Cheng’s waist and maneuvered him until they were face-to-face. He wouldn’t stop talking. “Turn around. Look at me, okay?”

“Why?” Xie Cheng grumbled. He didn’t like being moved; lying down was much more comfortable.

His lips, stained a deep rose by the wine, parted slightly as his breath quickened. Jiang Yi’s throat tightened at the sight. He tentatively whispered “Your Highness” before leaning in, touching his nose to Xie Cheng’s.

Xie Cheng didn’t pull away. He simply blinked a silent form of permission.

Jiang Yi pulled him closer and kissed him deeply. It wasn’t even much of a kiss at the end; it was more like he was pressing into Xie Cheng, forcing the Prince to retreat into the cushions as the scent of wine mingled between them.

Xie Cheng heard Jiang Yi mumble something.

Kiss me.

“No. Go away.” Being drunk made Xie Cheng sleepy; he didn’t want to move.

“Your Highness, please.” Jiang Yi pressed his hot cheek against the back of Xie Cheng’s hand. The tufted tips of his tiger ears brushed against the Prince’s chin. “Are you cold?”

“Not cold,” Xie Cheng frowned. “A bit hot.”

“If you’re hot, we should let some air in… just to cool off…”

Cool off?

Xie Cheng gave a weak nod. “Just for a moment.”

****

This was the first time Xie Cheng realized he was a lightweight. He usually avoided alcohol because it interfered with his judgment, but watching Jiang Yi knock back cup after cup had piqued his curiosity.

When he finally came to, the windows were still open. Outside, the world was bathed in night, with stars twinkling in the dark sky.

He stared blankly for a while, trying to untangle his messy thoughts. Vague, warm, furry memories flashed through his mind accompanied by Jiang Yi’s increasingly excited cries. He remembered responding at first, but later, he had been too tired to care.

Jiang Yi was still draped over him. It was ridiculous.

Xie Cheng tried to sit up, but he was pinned down by two heavy, striped tiger legs—one across his thighs, the other across his waist. He felt like he had been stuffed into the belly of a giant cat, sinking into the soft, exposed white fur of a tiger’s stomach.

The private room had a bed, and an oversized one at that, yet half of the massive tiger’s body was still hanging off the edge.

“Jiang Yi. Get up.”

He had accounts to settle. Many accounts.

The sleeping tiger didn’t wake. He just huffed a breath of hot air onto Xie Cheng and instinctively began to lick the Prince’s nape with his rough, sandpaper-like tongue.

“Jiang Yi!” Xie Cheng’s voice sharpened. The sensation was itchy and sent a tingle down his spine that reminded him of things he’d rather not think about.

“Awoo… huuu…”

“Jiang Yi!”

Xie Cheng used his elbow to shove the heavy tiger head aside and reached up to grab one of the ears.

“Mmh?”

The tiger’s round, golden eyes snapped open. Seeing Xie Cheng’s icy expression, Jiang Yi immediately retracted his paws and started let out a series of “awoos,” trying to act cute to avoid trouble.

“Jiang Yi, change back. Now.” Xie Cheng wasn’t falling for it.

“Awoo…”

Jiang Yi let out a weak whimper but didn’t dare push his luck. He curled his body, and in a blur of light, the tiger disappeared, replaced by the man.

Except… the ears wouldn’t go away. Jiang Yi flattened them against his head with his hands. And the tail… the tail was still wrapped firmly around Xie Cheng’s leg. Jiang Yi frantically tried to untangle it, his face turning bright red.

Xie Cheng sat up. “The Wi”

Before he could finish the word, Jiang Yi lunged forward and covered his mouth. The boy’s head drooped. “I’ll confess! I’ll tell you everything! Just let me speak first.”

Xie Cheng leaned back against the cushions. “Speak.”

Confess first, and maybe the punishment will be lighter.

“You’ve heard of the Wizu before, haven’t you?” Jiang Yi asked, peeking at Xie Cheng’s face.

“Continue.”

“The Wizu aren’t what you think! We don’t eat raw meat or drink human blood. Please… don’t think of me as one of those evil monsters.”

Jiang Yi lowered his head, offering his stubborn tiger ears to Xie Cheng to touch as an apology.

“I’m not touching them. Move back.”

Jiang Yi looked up, his face a mix of disbelief and accusation. He muttered just loud enough for Xie Cheng to hear, “You loved touching them earlier… You even bit them…”

The second half of the sentence was mumbled, but the implication was clear. Before Xie Cheng could react, Jiang Yi straightened his back and puffed out his chest. “The Pingyang royal line carries the Wizu bloodline. And I am the most fierce, most powerful tiger of them all.”

He emphasized the word “fierce” while his tail, which he still couldn’t retract, curled high into the air, wagging happily.

Xie Cheng wasn’t distracted. “Why did you sneak into the Mid-Autumn palace banquet?”

Thinking back, the boy had clearly been gunning for Ye Qing, going so far as to claw the man’s hand.

“Well.” Jiang Yi’s gaze flickered.

“Answer me.”

“I was getting revenge for a friend.”

“A friend?” Xie Cheng’s tone was unreadable.

“Yes. I met him on the way to the capital. He was all alone and just needed a place to stay, so I let him stay in the hostage quarters. Then some arrogant guy showed up and injured him for no reason.”

“Ye Qing,” Xie Cheng said. It wasn’t a question.

Jiang Yi nodded.

“And the rumors that the hostage quarters were haunted?”

Jiang Yi raised his arms sheepishly. “That was me. Back then, I couldn’t control my ears. I kept turning into a tiger cub every other day, so I pretended to be sick so no one would see me.”

“Later, when you sent people to the quarters, Ye Qing didn’t dare cause any more trouble,” Jiang Yi added, grinning as he shook Xie Cheng’s arm. “If I get the chance, I’ll make my friend thank you properly.”

“Why did Ye Qing attack him in the first place?” At that time, Ye Qing shouldn’t have been “reborn” yet.

“Who knows what goes on in that guy’s head?” Jiang Yi didn’t hide his loathing for Ye Qing. “He saw Qingzhu’s true face on the street and just went crazy.”

“Oh! Right. Qingzhu has a birthmark on his face, so he usually wears a veiled hat. He never shows his face.”

“Qingzhu,” Xie Cheng repeated.

“Yeah, that’s his name.”

Xie Cheng wasn’t particularly interested in strangers. He turned his attention back to Jiang Yi. “Is there anything else you’re hiding?”

“Jiang Yi, I’m only asking once.”

“Yes! Yes, there is!” Jiang Yi panicked, his words tumbling out. “Because I can’t control my transformations, the Great Priest of Pingyang came to the capital recently to help treat me.”

“Is that it?”

Jiang Yi let out a long breath. “That’s it.”

Xie Cheng let out a soft laugh and beckoned him closer. “Come here. Let me feel those ears.”

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