How To Survive as a Villain

He was very bold but not very astute¹.

This was the impression that Xiao YuAn had of the late Emperor of the Northern Kingdom in the original book.

In the original book, the accomplishments of the late Emperor of the Northern Kingdom were probably all due to good luck. At that time, the Northern Kingdom had a good harvest year after year, the Country was rich and the common people were prosperous. Therefore, the late Emperor of the Northern Kingdom had the ambition of conquering the Southern Yan Kingdom.

It also coincided with the fact that the Southern Yan Kingdom had suffered from successive years of famine, and also, the Monarch of the Southern Yan had just passed away. This was a terrible amount of bad luck for them.

Because of this, the late Emperor of the Northern Kingdom took advantage of this rare weakness and invaded the Southern Yan Kingdom in one single stroke, capturing the last Prince alive, seized its property, and divided the land.

However.

The late Emperor, who was good at fighting and very brave in the battlefield, was also quite negligent in government affairs. After the war ended, he just clapped his ass and went back home!

He! Went! Back! Home!

Dage², Armstrong traveled 380,000 kilometers to the moon and even he knew that he must leave behind a flag. So you just worked so hard fighting for this land, but you can’t even be bothered to leave your flag behind??

Do you only know about the essence of how to bend a bow that can shoot down a big eagle³?

Later, the Southern Yan Kingdom was partly seized by the Eastern Wu Kingdom by setting the house on fire⁴. The remaining land was barely managed by the Uncle of the Male Lead.

After winning the war, the late Emperor of the Northern Kingdom lived day and night in leasuresy, absurdity and in obscenity; squandering the treasury obtained from the Southern Yan Kingdom. In the end, it wasn’t a surprise for anybody when the Emperor drank himself to death.

The Crown Prince soon succeeded the throne, and this youthful Monarch who had grown up hearing about the late Emperor’s immoral and ruthless way of ruling the Country, also became inept, a truly hopeless case.

It could be said that when the Northern Kingdom was destroyed by the Male Lead later on, in such a short period of time, it wasn’t an event that occurred out of nothing. The root of this misfortune had already been deeply buried between the last two generations of Northern Kingdom’s rulers.

…

Xiao YuAn hurriedly went to the dungeon inside the Imperial Palace, and when he entered through the iron gate, a dense rotting smell slapped him in the face.

The Jailer obviously didn’t expect for the Emperor to come to such a place. Trembling with fear, he fell on his knees to kowtow, feeling how his heart was beating at a rapid speed.

“Your Majesty, you’re the Golden Dragon’s noble body, how can His Majesty enter such a filthy place? If there’s anything His Majesty needs, he can just command Weichen⁵ to do it!” Xiao YuAn’s Imperial Bodyguard shouted while kneeling on the ground.

“We’re all pieces of meat formed by cells with 23 pairs of chromosomes, there’s no need to differentiate yourself from me.” Xiao YuAn said with a serious tone of voice to the Imperial Bodyguard.

Imperial Bodyguards: “Ah?”

“Knowledge is a good thing.”

“What??”

“That’s why we should fight against blind fate in favor of science.”

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“Huh???”

“Never mind, I was just teasing you.” Xiao YuAn smiled at the bewildered-looking Jailer and stepped through the iron gate.

Three seconds later, Xiao YuAn covered his nose and jumped out.

It’s so… the smell is way too unpleasant, he needs to slow down a bit.

Under the torture of the unpleasant smell, and by following the theory of survival of the fittest, Xiao YuAn gradually got used to the fishy smell, and entered again.

Inside the dungeon, there weren’t many prisoners and the cells on both sides were empty. Xiao YuAn followed the Imperial Bodyguards through a dark tunnel, which led all the way to the deepest part of the dungeon, and then they stood in front of the door of an ordinary cell.

One of the Imperial Bodyguards took the key and opened the door. Immediately afterwards, he quickly laid a layer of clean straw on the ground, fearing that Xiao YuAn’s boots would get dirty.

It’s really good to have reliable people around him. Xiao YuAn couldn’t help but look at this Imperial Bodyguard a few more times.

When he advanced forward, a strong bloody smell slapped him right in the face. The flickering candles inside the cell trembled due to the faint breeze brought in by Xiao YuAn’s walking.

In a corner of the cell, sitting on the dirty ground, there was a man.

His white tunic had long been stained with blood and filth, resulting in the original color could no longer be seen. The thick iron chains were almost embedded in the wounds on his wrists and ankles, making it impossible for him to move a single bit. In the dark cell, Xiao YuAn could see that he was injured. There was blood and flesh out in the open and his long black hair was loose, covering his face, and hiding his facial features.

Even when the man heard some noise around him, he still didn’t move.

However, behind an opening in the thick curtain of black hair, a single eye could be seen.

Xiao YuAn looked at this eye; inside the pupil was a cold feeling, very indifferent, but absolutely determined.

There’s people who live in the land of wealth and glory, but their eyes can’t hide the fact that they’re dead inside. Meanwhile, there’s some people who, even in prison, the filth can’t cover up their eyes that shine like stars, and that are strong and sharp like swords.

With a simple glance, Xiao YuAn understood that if he didn’t kill him this day, the next day he would be the one being killed.

Without uttering a single word, Xiao YuAn suddenly pulled out a sword from the waist of an Imperial Bodyguard beside him, the sharp blade came out with a “clunk” sound; shocking everyone inside the cell. Because of this sudden action, the man sitting on the ground finally moved his body. However, because of the pain from his injuries, and with his eyebrows turning into a frown, he was only able to make very little movements.

He looked extremely miserable.

Xiao YuAn then thought to himself, the description of the Male Lead in the original book were just words after all. Right now, after seeing with his own eyes the tragic situation that the Male Lead was in, the only thing he wanted to say was…

‘Author! You! Are! A! Big! Evil! Parent!’

‘This is your own son! You’re way too heartless!’

Xiao YuAn clenched the hilt of the sword, his heart was inexplicably swelling with a dense, painful emotion.

This emotion was called heartache.

Saying that you wanted to kill someone was very easy, and Xiao YuAn didn’t even need to do it by himself. Right now he’s the Emperor of the Northern Kingdom, the person in front of him was as weak as an insect, and he was surrounded by loyal servants; he just needed to snap his fingers and then there would be no more Yan HeQing in this world. However, Xiao YuAn in the end couldn’t do it.

‘Never mind, I already know how the plot will develop anyways. If I don’t follow the path of the Young Emperor towards his death, then maybe the Country won’t be destroyed in the end.’

If he can’t kill Yan HeQing, then he will have to observe how things will develop from now on; and while the male lead is still a captive of the Northern Kingdom, Xiao YuAn will make the effort to be extra nice to him, spoil him to the skies, and maybe he’ll think of a good strategy. Finally, he will be able to make it to the end with a full body, right?

Xiao YuAn, who already died once, right now the only thing he wanted to do was to survive. With a sigh, he silently returned the sword to the Imperial Bodyguard.

However, Xiao YuAn didn’t have the intention of leaving with empty hands.

In the original book the Male Lead’s face was described as being stunningly beautiful, so blindingly handsome that it could be really hard to find another face like his in a lifetime. Xiao YuAn was curious enough to take a few steps ahead, kneel beside the man, and reach out to lift his disheveled hair.

As soon as Xiao YuAn extended his hand, Yan HeQing suddenly turned his head and bit Xiao YuAn’s hand fiercely.

After getting bitten for no reason whatsoever, Xiao YuAn became speechless out of astonishment.

The man in front of him had no strength at all, and although the bit brought a little pain to Xiao YuAn, it wasn’t strong enough to draw out blood.

Because of the position Xiao YuAn was in, the Jailer and the Imperial Bodyguards behind him could only see Xiao YuAn’s back, so they weren’t able to see him being bitten.

Xiao YuAn waited for a while, and when he found that Yan HeQing hadn’t let him go yet, he said in a helpless voice: “Has your anger not been relieved yet?”

Xiao YuAn guessed that Yan HeQing was irritated from the killing intent of the hand that held the sword he borrowed a few minutes ago, so that’s why he reacted the way he did.

“It hurts, you know?” Xiao YuAn murmured in a low and gentle voice. “Loosen up, the Imperial Bodyguards will get suspicious if I stay like this after such a long time.”

Yan HeQing was very confused by Xiao YuAn’s good-natured attitude towards himself and froze in place, his mouth loosened open.

Xiao YuAn rubbed the tooth marks on the back of his hand and hid it on his sleeve. After standing up, he said to the Jailer and Imperial Bodyguards: “Release him from prison, and then send him to the Imperial Physician to get his wounds properly treated.”

After giving his orders, Xiao YuAn turned around and walked out of the cell.

And after tossing and turning inside the Imperial Palace for a while, the day became a starry night when Xiao YuAn finally returned to the Imperial bedchamber.

When Hong Xiu saw that Xiao YuAn’s body had stirred up a bloody smell from his trip to the Imperial dungeons, she quickly took him to take a bath.

Xiao YuAn used the bath as if it was a hot spring, soaking up with dizziness. After a while, Xiao YuAn vaguely heard that Hong Xiu asked him something, but because he was in a daze, he couldn’t understand her at all.

Xiao YuAn didn’t care about what she said to him, so he just casually “hmmmed” and soaked in the water for nearly an hour.

When Xiao YuAn finally finished his bath, Hong Xiu was carefully waiting for him to get dressed.

Xiao YuAn remembered that in the original book, Hong Xiu was very clever and smart, she knew how to read the Young Emperor’s mood with just a glance and help him fulfil his deepest desires.

However, at the same time, she could also be a very ruthless woman. She was responsible for the discipline of the Young Emperor’s male concubines. For these male lovers, Hong Xiu was never a merciless type of person. If she thought that someone didn’t serve the Young Emperor well, it was very likely that she would punish them by lacerating their flesh.

Xiao YuAn looked at the tranquil young woman, who was helping him get dressed with a serious and concentrated face, and he couldn’t help but feel like it was very difficult to place that description of her from the original book with her physical body.

‘What was the ending of Hong Xiu in the original book?’

Xiao YuAn bowed his head in contemplation, but before he could remember something about it, Hong Xiu called out to him: “Your Majesty, it’s time to go to bed.”

“Um, alright.” Xiao YuAn came back to his senses and put that question behind his head.

After walking back to the Imperial bedchamber, Hong Xiu didn’t follow him in. Instead, she gently closed the door.

There wasn’t a single candlelight inside the bedchamber, so Xiao YuAn waited for his eyes to get adapted to the darkness around him, and then groped for his bed with the help of the moonlight that fell in through the hollowed-out wooden window casket.

Inside the bedchamber it was very calm and quiet, the smoke from the burning incense curled up in the air, extremely silent.

However, what Xiao YuAn never expected, was that there was another person inside his bed.

Footnotes

1. 有勇无谋 yǒu yǒng wú móu; It’s a Chinese idiom, used to describe when someone does certain things or fights over something in a rush, with no strategy whatsoever, and just goes for it in reckless way.
2. 大哥 dà gē; Eldest Brother / Big Brother, as a polite address for a man of about the same age as oneself / Gang Leader / Boss.
3. 弯弓射大雕 wān gōng shè dà diāo; A line from the poem 《沁园春·雪》(qìn yuán chūn xuě) “Snowfall in a Garden of Flowers”. Describes someone that is only good for Martial Arts and nothing else. Written by (毛泽东 máo zé dōng) Mao Zedong [1893-1976].
4. 趁火打劫 chèn huǒ dǎ jié; It’s a Chinese idiom, it means to take advantage of a fire to rob someone. This is used as a metaphor to describe when someone takes advantage of someone’s danger to seek personal gain / To profit from somebody’s misfortune. From《西游记》(xī yóu jì) “Journey to the West”, written by (吴承恩 wú chéng ēn) Wu Cheng’en [1500-1582] from the Ming Dynasty [1368-1644].
5. 微臣 wēi chén; This Small Official / Humble Servant / Modest word commonly used by Officials and Ministers in ancient times.