How To Survive as a Villain

Xiao YuAn: “…. No, I didn’t know. Wait, I still can’t believe you’re already a General. So, were you in court toda-?”

Chen Ge poured himself a cup of cold water from the table, and drank it in one mouthful. As he wiped his mouth, and without letting Xiao YuAn finish his question, he exclaimed: “Yes! This time, the court was advising His Majesty, but one issue was more complicated than the other. One of them was that His Majesty has always respected old General Xue. But for some reason, after he came back, His Majesty was still the same, but the respect was gone. You could even feel a hint of animosity sparkling between the two of them!”

Xiao YuAn seemed calm on the surface, but his heart has long been shaken by a stormy wave. He slightly curled his fingers, forcing himself to calm down, and asked: “What’s the second issue?”

Chen Ge replied: “Secondly, today almost all of the civil and military officials in the court bowed down and advised His Majesty about the same thing; but His Majesty turned away coldly, leaving them kneeling in the same place. Physician Xiao, do you know what that thing was?”

Xiao YuAn smiled: “What else could it be, but me?”

“Physician Xiao.” Chen Ge restrained a smile, and said more seriously: “Today, I was among those people.”

Xiao YuAn expressed a light ‘Hmmm’.

Unexpectedly, Xiao YuAn didn’t care much. Chen Ge was stupefied at first, but then he touched his head, and smiled. After sighing, he said: “Physician Xiao, I sincerely hope that you can be with His Majesty, but I don’t want the former Emperor of the Northern Kingdom to be with my Emperor. Because of you, the whole court was shaken, and all of them are questioning His Majesty’s ability. The most fearsome thing when establishing a state, is that the heart of the people won’t be united. This way, it’ll be difficult for the Emperor to walk his own path in the future.”

Xiao YuAn didn’t have the intention to restrain his smile, as he said: “Chen Ge, you said those words so harshly, as if you were trying to force me into wanting to leave. Was it General Xue who taught you this trick?”

Chen Ge scratched his head, and whispered: “Yes, yes. Because of His Majesty’s instructions, General Xue can’t see you, so he asked me to give it a try. Physician Xiao, don’t blame me, General Xue is my life-saver. I admire him very much, and….” Chen Ge paused for a long time before continuing: “And, I think that every word General Xue said is very reasonable.”

Xiao YuAn expressed another ‘hmmm’, and didn’t say anything else.

Chen Ge knew that this was the end of their conversation, so he stood up, took out a letter from his sleeve, and put it on the table: “General Xue asked me to pass this letter to you. I don’t think there’s any good words written on it. So, Physician Xiao, you can read it if you want, or burn it if you don’t.”

After saying that, Chen Ge got up, clasped his fist, and started to walk away. After he took two steps, he heard the man behind him suddenly shout: “Chen Ge!”

Chen Ge’s footsteps stopped as he heard Xiao YuAn say: “Thank you for calling me ‘Physician Xiao’.”

Chen Ge hovered in place for a few seconds, and replied: “If only you weren’t the former Emperor of the Northern Kingdom.” After saying that, he left with big steps.

“If I hadn’t transmigrated in his body, and if I hadn’t pretended to be him, at that time, I wouldn’t have been able to protect Yan-ge….” Xiao YuAn murmured as he reached out for the letter on the table. After hesitating for a second, he opened it.

There was a short sentence written on the thin letter paper: ‘I wonder if the former Emperor of the Northern Kingdom is still able to remember the oath he made a few years ago?’

‘Hmm? What oath did I make?’

‘Was it….?’

‘Holy shit!!!’

Xiao YuAn suddenly put his hands on his head.

At that time, when he left the Northern Kingdom, he swore that if he stepped into the Imperial City ever again, he would die a horrible death!

Xiao YuAn now wanted to go back in time, to slap himself in the face.

‘At that time, when I left, I didn’t expect that I’d be coming back, aah! After all, at that time, I misunderstood and thought that Yan HeQing hated me, so I firmly didn’t believe that I would be running back to my death!

’

Life is really full of surprises and excitement, so much that he was even hit in the face with it.

Xiao YuAn silently burned Xue Yan’s letter, and then recited the principle of the dialectical relationship between matter and consciousness¹.

…

Once Chen Ge walked out of the gates of the Imperial Palace, he saw a man standing in front of him. He was wearing military robes and armor, with snow accumulated on his shoulders.

Chen Ge took a few steps forward, clasped his fist, and knelt down on one knee: “General Xue.”

Xue Yan helped him up with one hand, and asked: “How was it?”

Chen Ge replied: “I’ve told him everything that General Xue wanted me to say, but… it doesn’t seem to have any effect.”

Xue Yan frowned and exhaled a long breath of white mist, surrounded by the cold snowy night: “Thank you for your hard work. I absolutely don’t believe that the former Emperor of the Northern Kingdom would be willing to bear the humiliation of having lost his empire, and will simply stay here in peace. I’m sure he’s plotting something. His Majesty is blinded by love, and he’s not able to see the truth, even if it’s right in front of him. I must send someone to pay close attention to the former Emperor of the Northern Kingdom.”

While Xue Yan spoke, Chen Ge opened and closed his mouth several times, as if he wanted to justify those statements. But in the end, he never said it. Instead, he asked: “But, General Xue, he’s well protected by His Majesty, how are you…?”

Xue Yan interrupted him: “I won’t make a move on him. I’m not allowed to make a move, and I’m unable to do so. However, I can still send people to stay close to him, waiting for the right opportunity to observe his every move. By the way, Chen Ge, because of the recent issue regarding the former Emperor, and even if people aren’t talking about it, I fear that some people are doubting His Majesty’s authority in their hearts. I think that someone will take advantage of this to gather party members. We’ll have to help His Majesty on this matter by taking close attention to it.”

Chen Ge nodded: “General Xue’s painstaking efforts, I hope that His Majesty will understand.”

Xue Yan gazed at the red walls of the Southern Yan Imperial Palace not far away, and a cold snowflake fell on his cheek.

‘Painstaking efforts? Maybe so.’

He, Xue Yan, didn’t had any regrets for the former Emperor of the Southern Yan Kingdom, who commited suicide by cutting his own throat on top of the city walls. He didn’t regret the promise he made at that time, to protect the Southern Yan Kingdom at all cost, before the former Emperor jumped on the wall. He didn’t regret being from the Southern Yan Kingdom, nor did he regret having ruled it for a while. Because he knew that if Yan HeQing conquered the four kingdoms, then he would be able to bring a prosperous and flourishing united country, in exchange for all that was sacrificed.

Therefore, if there were any thorns ahead, as long as he hasn’t fallen, he will cut them down with his sword! Xue Yan was willing to do whatever it takes, to sweep away every obstacle in their way to become the strongest country the world has ever seen. Even if some of those things will make Yan HeQing, who has respected him since childhood, to hate him. He, Xue Yan, doesn’t have any regrets in his heart.

Ahhh even if it’s really unfair for xya, I still can’t hate Chen Ge nor Xue Yan (´⌒｀;) after all, they don’t know that xya isn’t really the scum emperor… And even then, what that body represents is dangerous to them, so they simply want to protect their land….

Tsk tsk so complicated (◞ ‸ ◟ㆀ)