Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 19

Ming Ying was truly terrified.

If not for the familiar scent of pinewood constantly drifting into her nose and the lingering presence of Fu Anyu’s aura all around her, she would have thought she had been captured by a malevolent demon.

Still shaken and dazed, Ming Ying was carried out from under the quilt by Fu Anyu and had her spiritual restraints removed before she suddenly remembered a question.

Fu Anyu had promised last night not to punish her, so why had she used spiritual energy to bind her hands and feet?

“You went back on your word!” she immediately shouted, arching her back into an attacking stance.

“When did I go back on my word?” Fu Anyu frowned in response.

“If you want to punish me, do it openly! Taking advantage of someone in a vulnerable state, no, taking advantage of me while I was asleep, what kind of behavior is that?!” Ming Ying angrily questioned her.

“You think I was punishing you?” Fu Anyu’s frown deepened. “If I wanted to punish you, would you have been able to sleep peacefully in my bed all night?”

Ming Ying was left speechless. She stared at Fu Anyu for a few seconds, still arched defensively, and asked, “Then why did you tie me up?”

Fu Anyu turned on the bedside lamp, glanced down at her pajamas, and plucked a few strands of fox fur from the front, placing them in front of Ming Ying.

“Your masterpiece,” she explained, crossing her arms and speaking in a low tone. “If I hadn’t tied you up, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep peacefully at all.”

Ming Ying naturally noticed where the fur had been plucked from and froze instantly. As soon as she regained her senses, she could imagine how, during the night, the fur had traveled from the corner of the quilt and ended up clinging to Fu Anyu.

Fu Anyu was definitely not the type to be frivolous or petty, so the only explanation was that she herself had a terrible sleeping posture. Uncontrollably, she must have burrowed into Fu Anyu’s embrace while asleep and rubbed against her.

How utterly embarrassing for a fox!! She had always been a restless sleeper. Lately, she had been sleeping soundly in her little nest without moving around much, which was why she dared to share a bed with Fu Anyu for the night. But she never expected to cause such awkwardness on the very first night.

Meeting Fu Anyu’s gaze, Ming Ying folded her ears back and curled into a ball, wishing she could find a hole to hide in.

“I’m sorry.” Realizing she had misunderstood Fu Anyu, Ming Ying hung her head and apologized softly.

Fu Anyu had anticipated this reaction and showed no particular emotion, merely stating calmly, “I’ll have the housekeeper tidy up the guest room. Once you can take human form, you can sleep in the bed there.”

“Really?!” Ming Ying was utterly astonished. Seeing Fu Anyu nod, she instinctively asked, “What does the guest room look like? Is it spacious?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she covered her muzzle and quickly buried her face in the quilt.

She really had some nerve! As a fox who had already made two mistakes, how dare she act so presumptuous?

Having a bed to sleep in was already a luxury, how could she have the audacity to ask if it was spacious?!

Fu Anyu, however, gave a slight smile and reached out to pat her head.

“It’s spacious,” she said. “I’ll have Xiao Du take you to see it later.”

“Okay,” Ming Ying’s voice came muffled from under the quilt, sounding listless and devoid of energy.

“Don’t lift your head,” Fu Anyu said, rubbing her fox ears before getting out of bed to change her clothes.

Ming Ying knew what she would see if she looked up, so she obediently kept her face buried in the quilt. But after a while, she couldn’t resist asking, “Why don’t you have a maid help you change your clothes?”

Ever since arriving here, she had never seen anyone assist Fu Anyu while she changed. Whether it was selecting clothes, dressing, applying makeup, or styling her hair, Fu Anyu did everything herself.

“The customs in the human realm are different from those in the demon realm,” Fu Anyu explained. “Humans generally don’t need maids.”

“Wouldn’t that be so troublesome when combing.” Ming Ying murmured, thinking of her human form’s raven-black hair that reached her ankles, her mood immediately soured.

“People in this era don’t hold the belief that ‘our bodies, hair, and skin are all received from our parents’,” Fu Anyu explained. “If you find it troublesome, you can cut your hair to a more manageable length.”

The demon clan didn’t hold such beliefs either. Upon hearing this, Ming Ying immediately thought of the driver Xiao Chen’s short hair and felt that didn’t seem too bad either. But she was reluctant to part with her long hair, instantly falling into indecision about whether or not to cut it.

Fu Anyu had no idea what the little fox was thinking about. After finishing her makeup and putting on her watch, she glanced at the time, tossed out a “I’m leaving,” grabbed her laptop bag, and went out.

This time, however, she didn’t close the bedroom door but left it wide open.

Hearing her footsteps, Ming Ying quickly crawled to the foot of the bed, watching as Fu Anyu descended the staircase with its white jade handrails. After a moment’s thought, she simply jumped off the bed and followed.

Both inside and outside the bedroom were wooden floors, and the staircase was also made of wood. Ming Ying had been too rushed during her escape last night, but now she could observe everything as she walked.

The wood was of excellent quality, emitting a faint fragrance she found familiar. When she looked closer, she realized the stair railings weren’t actually white jade, but a type of stone that closely resembled jade at first glance. She figured the walls and floors in the dining room were probably made of the same stone.

Hearing faint movements, Fu Anyu turned around and was somewhat surprised to see a white ball of fur running down the stairs.

The housekeeper hadn’t arrived yet, so she asked the fox, “Hungry?”

“No,” Ming Ying shook her head. “I just wanted to look around.”

Afraid that Fu Anyu might coldly warn her again, she quickly added, “I definitely won’t mess up your home! Don’t worry!”

Fu Anyu didn’t say anything more, just nodded and quickly went out. After changing into high heels, she passed through the small front yard and got into the car.

Ming Ying followed all the way to the entrance of the small yard, watching the car drive away through the screen door before turning back to look at the spacious, exquisitely decorated interior. A pang of sadness struck her heart.

No matter how busy or tired Fu Anyu was during the day, at least she had a home to return to, with delicious food and a soft bed waiting for her.

But as for herself, she probably wouldn’t be able to return home for quite some time.

Ming Ying shook her fur, dismissing the thought, and began running freely around the living room.

Having been confined to just the bedroom every day, she had grown terribly bored. Taking advantage of Fu Anyu’s absence, she decided to indulge herself properly.

Of course, this time she was extra careful during her indulgence, only running back and forth in open areas and carefully avoiding any furniture.

When she grew tired from running, she returned to the bedroom, curled up in her little nest and focused entirely on gathering spiritual energy until Du Yunxin arrived with breakfast.

“Wake up, your lazy little fox going through your rebellious phase,” Du Yunxin said with a laugh as she set down the meal tray, ruffling the fox’s head.

“I wasn’t being lazy today,” Ming Ying immediately opened her eyes to retort. “By human standards, I’m not that young anymore. You shouldn’t call me ‘little fox’.”

“Then how old are you?” Du Yunxin asked with interest.

This stumped Ming Ying. After thinking for a moment, she said uncertainly, “Around three hundred and nineteen years? But Mother said that at my age, I’m similar to a human girl of seventeen or eighteen.”

“Oh, then I’ll just consider you an eternally seventeen-year-old fox maiden.” Du Yunxin said, half-jokingly and half-seriously. “Then has your mom… your mother ever told you that human girls around this age all start having spring feelings?”

“What are ‘spring feelings’?” Ming Ying didn’t understand at first, but she quickly realized what it meant. Her cheeks immediately grew warm, and she stammered, “Mother never mentioned it. I don’t know.”

“Your eyes and little mannerisms don’t seem completely clueless.” Du Yunxin chuckled. “Is there a fox you like?”

Ming Ying took a sip of sweet soy milk and shook her head without hesitation.

The Nine-Tails clan placed great importance on bloodline inheritance. To ensure the continuation of superior bloodlines, marriages were typically arranged one-to-one and decided by the clan elders. Romantic relationships such as “a servant falling in love with their master” were absolutely forbidden.

Ever since Ming Ying heard about this rule from her older siblings, she had completely given up on the idea of finding a fox to love on her own. What if she accidentally fell for a fox with low spiritual power? When it came time to discuss marriage, both sides would suffer.

But Ming Ying disliked even more the idea of being forced into an arranged marriage by the elders when she came of age. The reason she had run away in a fit of anger was precisely because she disagreed with her mother’s views on marriage.

Her mother wanted her to become cultivation partners with the youngest son of the Grand Elder, who practiced healing arts. This way, they could ensure the continuation of the Nine-Tails bloodline, and if she fell ill after marriage, she could recover quickly.

However, she had seen that male fox more than once. Outwardly gentle and refined, he was secretly cruel, even going so far as to capture living slaves to test medicines and poisons. And, he had absolutely no respect for female foxes.

As for exactly how he showed disrespect, she didn’t want to think about it. Just recalling it slightly now made her feel sick.

Seeing Ming Ying spacing out, Du Yunxin waved a hand in front of her eyes. “Are you listening to me?”

“Ah? No.” Ming Ying snapped back to reality and admitted honestly.

“Alright then, I’ll say it again.” Du Yunxin patiently repeated what she had just said. “I said, if you really do like a certain fox, it’s best to first test how they treat you before considering whether to pursue them or not.”

Ming Ying chewed on her crispy rice with glutinous rice, looking at her with partial understanding. “What do you mean by that?”

“Because feelings should go both ways.” Du Yunxin said with a smile. “Think about it, if one side puts in effort for years but never gets any response, wouldn’t that feel awful?”

Ming Ying thought about it and felt she made sense, but she still didn’t understand what “feelings should go both ways” meant.

“But aren’t feelings decided by the elders?” she asked in surprise. “Why would I need to pursue anyone?”

“Hey, what era is this already? We’ve long achieved freedom in love…” Du Yunxin trailed off here, suddenly pausing. It was unclear what she remembered, but her expression turned serious as she warned Ming Ying, “Let’s just keep topics like this between us. You absolutely must not bring up romance with President Fu!”

Ming Ying was bewildered, wondering how their chat had suddenly brought up Fu Anyu, but she didn’t say anything out loud, just obediently nodded in agreement.

“Anyway, let me tell you,” Du Yunxin continued, “Here among humans, arranged marriages basically don’t exist anymore… Meaning, you can fall in love with whoever you like. When both sides are sure they can be together long-term and accompany each other for the rest of their lives, then they can get married and register.”

She paused, “And society is becoming more open now, same-sex couples can get married and register. So, if you really decide to stay and settle down in the human world, it’s perfectly fine to fall in love with a female spirit or a human woman.”

Ming Ying choked on her soy milk at her words, coughing as she shook her head, “No, I don’t like being romantically involved with the same gender!”