How To Survive as a Villain

The rebellion launched by Wuning Wangye shocked all the civilians and Military Officials at Court. Although Li Wuding had heard some rumors regarding this rebellion a long time ago, and he was on constant alert, he was still too late for the rescue.

Fortunately, the Emperor didn’t fault him.

As soon as this happened, the situation suddenly changed. The former followers of Wuning Wangye’s political party, and even his close friends, were thrown into prison waiting for the investigation to be carried out. That night, Yan HeQing pushed open the door of Xiao YuAn’s Imperial bedchamber and saw him standing by the window; holding a red flower hairpin in his hand and looking at the blooming pear blossom tree at the corner of the courtyard.

The red flower hairpin was still stained with blood, which by now looked almost black.

Xiao YuAn turned around and when he saw Yan HeQing standing in front of him, he asked him: “Why are you here? Is your injury better?”

Yan HeQing looked at him and answered with a very light tone of voice: “I know you can’t sleep alone, I came to keep you company.”

Xiao YuAn suddenly realized that yes, he had indeed said to Yan HeQing before that without Hong Xiu’s company at the side of his bed, he wasn’t able to fall asleep.

“Are you… alright?” Yan HeQing asked him carefully.

Xiao YuAn looked down at the hairpin in his hand, and in a whisper he said: “Tell me, if she knew that I’m not the Monarch of the Northern Kingdom, would she still have died for me? She… Below Jiuquan¹, will she regret it? And me, why did I let her die for me, why did I…”

Yan HeQing stepped forward, held Xiao YuAn’s hand, and covered the hairpin: “You’re overthinking.”

Xiao YuAn raised his head and looked at Yan HeQing. His eyes looked tired and heartbroken, his clear little sorrowful tears hit right to Yan HeQing’s heart: “Yan HeQing, I killed her.”

Yan HeQing pitifully reached out for Xiao YuAn’s body and embraced him in his arms, gently patting his back trying to comfort him: “It wasn’t you, that wasn’t your fault.”

Xiao YuAn lowered his head, hiding his expression, he clutched Yan HeQing’s clothes with force until his fingers became white: “Yan HeQing, will you accompany me tonight?”

“Yes, I’ll stay with you.”

At night, the wind was cold, and it seemed to cry with resentment.

After Xiao YuAn listened to Yan HeQing’s breathing at the edge of the bed for a while, he silently sat up and looked at his sleeping face. Xiao YuAn thought for a long time, and then, reached out and took a key from Yan HeQing’s robe.

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He carefully got up, dressed himself in a thick cloak, and moving as silently as he could, he slowly walked out of the Imperial bedchamber. The Imperial bodyguards outside the bedchamber were shocked, but after seeing Xiao YuAn making a silencing gesture, they quickly shut their mouths.

Xiao YuAn walked under the desolate moonlight and quietly went to the secondary room beside the Imperial bedchamber. That was where Yan HeQing, his personal bodyguard, lived. He took the key hidden in his clothes and opened the door, walking inside carefully.

With the help of the moonlight, Xiao YuAn looked at the layout of the room for a while. Then he walked towards the bed, bent down, and touched the wood under the bed inch by inch. In vain, Xiao YuAn tried again until finally, he reached the innermost place, and found a small gap. It was a false panel made with extremely rough workmanship, just like it was described in the original book.

Xiao YuAn pulled out a tiny scroll from the secret compartment, opened it and glanced at it. Then he stood up and hid it inside his sleeve. Quietly, he left the room and locked the door.

The next day, when Yan HeQing opened his eyes, he found that Xiao YuAn had already gotten up.

Xiao YuAn was standing by the window, clutching the red hairpin that he gave Hong Xiu as a gift before she died. When Xiao YuAn heard a sound behind him, he looked back at Yan HeQing and said: “Are you awake? Thank you for staying with me, I should go to the morning Court.”

“Yes.” Yan HeQing looked at his eyes, and saw that they were still warm, but he wasn’t able to see the smile in them like before. Suddenly, he realized that something was quietly changing between them.

The thing that should have been so easily noticed by the two of them, suddenly got its cover lifted, standing completely naked in front of them.

It was something extremely serious and cruel.

All of them should have run in opposite directions² from the start, why are you feeling so concerned now.

Welcome back to the angsty drama!! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖° How have y’all been these couple of days? I was working hard alongside mochiusagi (our proofreader) to move the s and have them re-edited ! So let’s give a huge thank you to mochiusagi! ٩̋(๑˃́ꇴ˂̀๑) !

✧⁺⸜(●′▾‵●)⸝⁺✧

Footnotes:

Footnotes

1. 九泉之下 jiǔ quán zhī xià; It’s a Chinese idiom, also translated as “Under the Nine Springs” or “The Netherworld”. It refers to the place where the dead are buried, that is, the Underworld / A term used to describe people underground after death. From《七哀》(qī āi), “Seven Sorrows”, a poem written by (曹植 cáo zhí) Cao Zhi [192-232], a poet and a calligrapher from the Three Kingdoms period [220-280].
2. 背道而驰 bèi dào ér chí; It’s a Chinese idiom, it means to draw further apart / Be opposed to / Going against / The more you run, the farther you will be from achieving your goal / The road and the purpose are completely opposite. From 《〈杨评事文集〉后序》(〈yáng píng shì wénjí〉 hòu xù) “(Collection of Yang Pingshi) Preface”, by (柳宗元 liǔ zōng yuán) Liu Zongyuan [773-819], a poet from the Tang Dynasty [618-907].