Song Yu remembered very clearly—Fu Yuqian had once said that Yiyi liked eating fried eggs. Back when he was bored, he even thought, maybe the reason he ended up in Yiyi’s body instead of some other cat was because their tastes happened to match?
But now Yiyi was awake—and there’s no way a little kitten would lie.
So then… was Fu Yuqian the one lying?
He doted on Yiyi so much. How could he not even remember what his own pet liked or disliked?
A possibility surfaced in Song Yu’s mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
He bolted, running straight into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.
Fu Yuqian sensed something was wrong with “Yiyi’s” mood and naturally followed, but Song Yu meowed loudly from inside—a clear warning that if Fu Yuqian dared open the door, their relationship would be over.
“Yiyi, what’s wrong?” Fu Yuqian frowned, trying to figure out why Yiyi was acting so strangely.
But no matter how he guessed, he couldn’t possibly imagine that Song Yu’s soul and Yiyi’s were both coexisting inside the same cat.
Inside the bathroom, Song Yu took deep breaths, trying to calm down.
Then he asked in his mind:
“Yiyi, tell me—do you like taking baths?”
Translation – Chapter 37: A Delightful Downfall (2)
“I don’t like it meoww! Water is so scary! Every time my servant takes me to the pet shop for a bath, four or five people have to hold me down, and I’m not even allowed to scratch them,” Yiyi responded very strongly to the question. “If the cat food he buys didn’t taste so good, I’d have run away from home already. I’m very angry, meow!”
Song Yu closed his eyes, then continued asking, “Does he kiss you or carry you around all day? Does he sleep with you at night?”
Yiyi answered honestly, “He never lets me into the bedroom, meow. He does play with me, but he never kisses me. Being kissed by the servant is scary.”
“I see. Thank you, Yiyi.”
Song Yu knew he wasn’t the sharpest person. So during this time, even when he occasionally felt something was off, he didn’t think too deeply. He couldn’t see through Fu Yuqian’s act—his acting skills were just too good.
But now, with Yiyi’s reactions, even someone as slow as him had to realize: Fu Yuqian must have figured out a long time ago that Yiyi’s soul had been replaced by his—by Song Yu’s.
What was his motive?
Song Yu kept thinking. Fu Yuqian liked him, that was clear. But with Song Yu’s personality, he would never accept Fu Yuqian’s advances. So instead… he turned into his cat and slowly “romanced” him step by step.
In just two months, Fu Yuqian had broken down Song Yu’s prejudices, made him fall for him. Even his fans were practically switching sides, having developed a great impression of Fu Yuqian.
What deep manipulation. What a terrifying man.
Song Yu felt a stabbing pain in his chest—it hurt to even breathe.
So, in these two months, while his mother suffered, while he himself was anxious and desperate, Fu Yuqian never breathed a word. All because he wanted to “pursue” him and achieve his goal?
He didn’t doubt Fu Yuqian’s feelings for him—they were genuine, sincere. He’d seen it clearly over these past two months. He knew all about Fu Yuqian’s care and efforts.
But his rational mind couldn’t let it go. He couldn’t help but think the worst of Fu Yuqian.
His emotions were so overwhelming that even Yiyi noticed and tried to comfort him in her simple animal way:
“Meow, human, what’s wrong? Why are you suddenly so sad, meow? Don’t be sad. If you really want to eat the fried egg, go ahead. You’re the one using my body anyway. I can pretend I don’t know, meow.”
Because of Yiyi’s words, Song Yu couldn’t hold back the sting in his eyes. Tears fell.
He was just too sad. This was the first time in his life he had truly fallen for someone—and it ended like this.
Fu Yuqian was still outside the door, his voice full of concern, but it no longer moved Song Yu.
He stepped back, jumped up to the door handle, used his paw to open the door—and revealed himself.
“Yiyi, what happened? I was really worried just now.” Fu Yuqian squatted down, trying to pet Song Yu’s head. But Song Yu turned away, avoiding his hand, and trotted straight to Fu Yuqian’s tablet. He pressed the power button, used his paw to input the password, unlocked the device, and expertly opened the Notes app to type.
Fu Yuqian instantly understood—and for once, he was flustered.
“Xiao Yu…”
Song Yu paused, said nothing, and started typing with difficulty:
“Once today’s scenes are done filming, please return me to my mother.”
“Xiao Yu, I didn’t mean to deceive you,” Fu Yuqian rushed to explain. “It was selfish of me. Once I suspected, I saw it as a rare chance to reconcile and pursue you. I was wrong. I was despicable. I’m sorry. But Xiao Yu, please don’t leave me. I really love you.”
Song Yu wiped his eyes with his paw and continued typing:
“Please tell my mother I’m in Yiyi’s body. Thank you.”
That final “thank you” hit Fu Yuqian like a blow. His eyes turned red.
It felt like being cast down from heaven to hell in an instant. Usually poised and composed, now he couldn’t say a word in defense. Because he had, in fact, done something wrong—he had manipulated Song Yu.
Song Yu’s love was just like his character—pure and kind. He couldn’t accept being manipulated like this. Fu Yuqian felt a rush of regret.
He could have told the truth.
He knew Song Yu would be hurt and disappointed once he found out. But he’d convinced himself that Song Yu would never learn. That he’d fall for him, and when he woke up and saw how much Fu Yuqian had done for him, he’d be moved and accept his love.
But why had Song Yu suddenly found out?
Now wasn’t the time to ask. Fu Yuqian couldn’t think of a better solution at the moment, so he could only agree:
“Okay.”
Song Yu then deleted the words he had typed, exited the app, and curled up in a corner, waiting for Fu Yuqian to take him to the set after breakfast.
But after what had just happened, Fu Yuqian had no appetite either. His heart was in chaos. He wanted to get close to Song Yu, but didn’t dare.
He kept staring at him, deep brown eyes filled with suppressed emotion and guilt.
Trying to salvage the situation, he said:
“Xiao Yu, ever since I fell in love with you at first sight, I’ve been trying to get close to you for three years. But you never gave me a chance. Then fate made you become my cat. When I realized it, I was overjoyed. I thought it was the perfect moment to express my feelings. I admit I had selfish intentions, but I swear, my love for you is completely genuine.”
But Song Yu kept his ears flat against his head—he didn’t want to hear it.
In his mind, Yiyi spoke up again:
“Your name is Xiao Yu, meow?”
“Yes, I’m Song Yu.”
“Then I know you! You’re the human my servant likes and wants to mate with. He always calls your name when he’s in heat.”
Song Yu had been so upset before. Now, after hearing that blunt remark, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“I know.”
Yiyi didn’t understand. “Then why won’t you mate with him?”
“This is complicated—you probably wouldn’t understand,” Song Yu tried to explain. “To put it simply, he lied to me. He tricked me. He’s a big bad guy.”
“Yeah, my servant is really bad too. He keeps trying to find me girl cats, but I don’t like girl cats—I like boy cats! But he’s so dumb, he doesn’t even know. I want to mate too! So bad, meow!”
“…”
Song Yu was speechless.
Wait—did the pet really take after its owner? Was Yiyi gay too? That must be super rare in the feline world.
No wonder she had… humped Fu Yuqian’s ankle…
No—wait, even that was probably a lie Fu Yuqian made up to trick him.
Well, once he told Fu Yuqian about Yiyi’s orientation…
No. He’d just find a beautiful, strong tomcat and give Yiyi a proper match himself.
“I’ll get you a male cat,” Song Yu promised.
Yi Yi was indeed very happy. “You’re too nice, meow. Can I go with you? I really like you.”
Song Yu liked Yi Yi too, but after all, Yi Yi was Fu Yuqian’s cat. Now that they’d had a falling out, it wasn’t appropriate for him to ask to take the cat.
So he said, “Then once I return to my own body, sneak out, and I’ll take you home with me.”
“Okay, meow!” Yi Yi was thrilled. “I like big black cats. They look so strong.”
Song Yu was amused. “Alright, I promise you.”
Song Yu felt a bit better. Seeing that Fu Yuqian didn’t seem to have any appetite for breakfast, he stood up, meowed at him, and walked toward the door. Fu Yuqian understood at once, composed himself, changed clothes, and followed Song Yu out.
When they arrived at the set, everyone was surprised—Song Yu had actually walked there on his own. Since when did Fu Yuqian, the infamous cat slave, allow Yi Yi to walk by herself?
Just as someone was about to crack a joke, they noticed Fu Yuqian’s off expression and thought better of it.
By now, everyone on set privately referred to Fu Yuqian as the “Demon King.”
Guo Mao walked over with the script, immediately sensing something was wrong. “Mr. Fu, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Let’s go through the lines,” Fu Yuqian’s voice sounded as usual, but a discerning ear could pick up on the difference.
Guo Mao was very considerate. “Don’t force yourself, Mr. Fu. Why don’t we take a break for today? We’re ahead of schedule anyway. A day off won’t hurt.”
“Filming is fine, but once we’re done, I need to take Yi Yi back. I’m asking for a leave of absence.”
“No problem.” Guo Mao agreed readily.
After makeup and blocking, Fu Yuqian went to the shooting area and closed his eyes to get into character. In the drama, the rebel faction had kidnapped the orange cat—Fu Qingyu—as a means to threaten Leng Yunlin. But Fu Qingyu managed to escape using his wits, sustaining serious injuries in the process. Upon seeing Leng Yunlin cry, Fu Qingyu’s heart was moved. Though this emperor was still imperfect, he had a kind heart.
Fu Qingyu raised a paw and gently touched Leng Yunlin’s cheek, then closed his eyes.
When he woke up again, he was back in his own body.
The earlier scenes were filmed quickly. The makeup artist did a great job making Song Yu look injured. He instinctively used only three legs to walk, making it look like he was seriously hurt.
He limped to Fu Yuqian and, upon seeing the tears and pained expression on his face, Song Yu’s heart trembled. Blinking his eyes, he continued acting. He collapsed in front of Fu Yuqian, who cradled him with great care.
“Meow…” Song Yu let out a weak cry. A dubbed voiceover would be added later in post-production.
Fu Yuqian’s emotional performance was incredible. Tears streamed down as he screamed for the royal physician. He even fell, landing on his back to avoid jolting the cat in his arms.
But he had taken quite a hard fall—Song Yu heard the dull thud of his back hitting the ground and instinctively worried. Was he hurt?
After the diagnosis, the royal physician told Leng Yunlin there was nothing more they could do. Leng Yunlin dismissed everyone and knelt by Fu Qingyu, crying and begging him to open his eyes.
Fu Qingyu tried to slap him as he used to, but he no longer had the strength. All he could do was gently touch his face and meow repeatedly, urging Leng Yunlin to be a good emperor, to stop being so hot-tempered and violent, and to learn how to govern wisely and manage his people.
Then he closed his eyes.
In the original novel, the cat didn’t die here. After recovering from his injuries, he continued to accompany Leng Yunlin and Fu Qingyu for a long time. He even acted as a mediator whenever they fought. He was present throughout most of the story. But in the drama, that wouldn’t work—it was too difficult to film with a cat. So the plot was changed: the cat healed and quietly left one night.
That scene had already been filmed two nights ago.
This was one of the few tearjerker scenes in the whole series. After Fu Yuqian’s performance, everyone on set had red eyes. It was genuinely heartbreaking. They could truly feel Leng Yunlin’s despair over losing the orange cat.
They all wanted to hug Yi Yi. Boohoo. They wouldn’t see this cat anymore after today.
Fu Yuqian remained kneeling on the ground, unable to come out of character. He held Song Yu tightly, eyes closed, adjusting his emotions. Song Yu knew that Fu Yuqian’s deep immersion in the role was also partly due to what had happened that morning.
Fu Yuqian was incredibly professional and talented. Song Yu admired that, but still… they had to part ways now.
He wriggled a little and let out a soft meow.
Fu Yuqian, tear-streaked, looked at Song Yu and said hoarsely, “I’m sorry.”
Song Yu leapt from his arms without replying.
Author’s Note:
Ahhh, such angst QAQ
Thank you to the lovely angels who gave “霸王票” or watered with nutrient solution between 2020-03-06 15:03:57 and 2020-03-07 21:50:31~
Thank you to the angel who threw a grenade:
- 五行缺钱好多年: 1
Thank you to the angels who watered with nutrient solution:
- 五行缺钱好多年: 33 bottles
- 暖的鸠葵: 15 bottles
- 狐狸呀狐狸: 10 bottles
- 西楼谢俞: 2 bottles
- 一叶之秋: 1 bottle
Thank you so much for your support! I’ll keep working hard!
