After Becoming the Tyrant's Beloved

[Charming, timid little consort vs. obsessive, violent emperor]

Yan Yuan of the Yan family is set up by her stepmother and sent to the imperial palace in her younger sister's place. Everyone knows the current emperor is a tyrant who kills without batting an eye.

On the day she enters the palace, she is poisoned, coughs up blood, and falls unconscious. When she wakes, she has become the little cat presented as tribute from the Northern Regions.

Yan Yuan lives in fear, spending her days as a cat and her nights as a human. Then she happens upon the tyrant after he has been drugged, on the brink of death.

The next day, as the tyrant flies into a rage and orders the palace searched for the woman he encountered in the bamboo grove the previous night, Yan Yuan lies on the desk in the imperial study, licking her fur. Remembering what happened last night, she can't help shivering.

*

The tyrant has two recent worries.

One is the cat in the imperial study that seems to have gained human intelligence. The other is the woman in the bamboo grove who left him craving more.

Later, just as he finally discovers an outrageous and absurd truth, he catches that woman preparing to flee with the cat in her arms.

*

The whole empire knows that the tyrant has grown increasingly foolish of late. He shows no interest in women, summons no consorts, and spends all day holding a snow-white little cat.

He takes it to court, has the servants who bother it whipped to death and their bodies discarded, and even brings out rare treasures from the imperial treasury, including the empress's investiture seal, for it to play with.

No one knows that, deep in the night, passion fills the Luhua Palace.

The tyrant's gaze is dark as he presses a large palm against her slender neck and chuckles. "Still thinking of running away?"

Yan Yuan shakes her head, tears in her eyes. "I won't dare again."

Also known as:

#A Cat's Award-Winning Performance

#How I Went from Beloved Pet to Beloved Consort

#For osmanthus cakes, chicken legs, and dried fish... I work hard every day to act like I love him

Reading guide:

1. At first, the heroine's soul inhabits a cat. She is a cat by day and returns to her human body at night. She has no special abilities, and her soul will fully return to her body later.

2. One-on-one romance, both leads are virgins, the tyrant is genuinely unhinged, and the harem is empty.

3. A sweet romance with a whole basket of melodramatic tropes. If that's not your thing, don't read.

Important: The descriptions of cats in this story are only for the plot. Please don't take them as real. In real life, be kind to adorable cats and dogs.

Theme: Even if the road ahead is treacherous, keep moving forward