Translated by Eve
Edited by Wuxian
After Zhao Xihe had personally come to show off his loving affection while also giving Situ Yu a clear warning, Situ Yu temporarily became quiet. He no longer moved over to Sui Yuan’s side without reason and instead, focused his attention onto Lin Xiao.
Upon shifting his attention, Situ Yu immediately perceived that someone plotted against him and wanted to destroy the marriage between himself and Lin Xiao. Xu Tu was in sight but unattainable, and Lin Xiao also had people scheming against her. This made Situ Yu, who was greatly offended, immediately burst into a sudden rage. He stopped Lin Xiao’s self-defamation and taught a certain Di mother, who ‘had been unjustly implicated and was innocent’ a lesson, naturally performing on schedule.
Situ Yu’s and Lin Xiao’s every move was known by Zhao Xihe. At this moment, Zhan Xihe sat on the Dragon Throne and held onto his secret agent’s report, expression unfathomable.
“What’s wrong?” Sui Yuan, who was licking the small crumbs of cake stuck to his fingers, narrowed his eyes after eating his fill. His fingers were then cleaned by the palace’s attendants. Only then did he turn to look with a questioning gaze at His Majesty the Emperor’s expression which was clearly not right.
In order to make it up to his lover that had been a vampire in the last world and thus could not eat as he desired, in this world, Zhao Xihe scoured the entire country just to feed Sui Yuan. All his meals were prepared with the greatest attention, and all of the ingredients were carefully selected for quality which inevitably caused the replacement of the Head Chef of the Imperial Kitchen several times. It was rather like how Emperor Ming of Tang stopped at no expense to please his Guifei for just one smile, as if he didn’t fear the death of numerous horses from exhaustion as long as some lychee fruit were delivered to one’s lover.
Fortunately, Zhao Xihe had a firm control over the palace. The women in the palace were like startled rabbits as they dared not say too much. Otherwise, His Majesty the Emperor’s Imperial desk would long have been packed with a mountain of notebooks full of rebukes. Or, the palace would have even welcomed a heap of officials that dared speak frankly before the Emperor as they came to pay their respects, quoting chapter and verse to try and persuade their Emperor from being too muddle-headed and tyrannical.
The people outside of the palace did not yet know that their wise and awe-inspiring Emperor had already lost all reason because of the ostentatiously domineering little Young Master Xu. However, the Imperial bodyguards and palace maids knew every little detail. The Emperor had always been magnanimous. If one happened to provoke His Majesty and evoke his displeasure, nothing much would happen. However, if a slave with no eyes even so much as made little Young Master Xu furrow his brows, then what awaited them was a Heaven-collapsing disaster!
——So long as little Young Master Xu was waited on properly, even if they gave the Emperor the cold shoulder and didn’t show him even the least bit of concern, it was fine. Right now, all the palace hands had this kind of eccentric mental state of mind.
When His Majesty the Emperor saw Sui Yuan look like a lazy cat, nestling on the couch after eating and drinking his full, he smiled and waved at him.
Sui Yuan hesitated but still obediently stood up and walked to the Imperial throne. He was then placed on the other’s knee.
The current Sui Yuan was already very familiar with this action. It had to be said that Zhao Xihe’s method of slowly making progress was quite good. Sui Yuan didn’t pay heed to Zhao Xihe’s action and accepted the secret agent’s report, casually skimming over it. The drowsiness that shrouded him vanished into smoke and his expression immediately turned extremely colourful.
He suddenly twisted his head and stared at Zhao Xihe with an incredulous expression, hoping to see a hint that the other must be joking with him.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Zhao Xihe stroked Sui Yuan’s cowlick and showed him a pitying expression, “This news can’t be faked. Restrain your grief and accept your fate.”
Vel Tejc：“………………HCH”
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Just as it happened in the plot, the Fourth Prince Situ Yu had ‘saved the damsel in distress’ and promptly prevented Lin Xiao from throwing away his reputation. He had also seized the opportunity to transfer the dirty water that was supposed to have splashed onto Lin Xiao onto his Di mother instead, thereby ruthlessly teaching that ignorant and ferocious madam a lesson.
Lin Xiao both hated and appreciated Situ Yu for destroying his plans. He was dissatisfied that he had obstructed him once more but was moved that he treated him with sincere feelings.
Lin Xiao’s birth mother was weak. The remaining courage within this lifetime had all been spent on claiming that Lin Xiao was a girl at birth. Since young, Lin Xiao had always had to protect himself. This was the first time someone had cared for him like this and it was the first time he tasted the warmth that came from being sheltered by another’s strong wings.
If it wasn’t for the fact that he was a man, Lin Xiao would very likely be moved by how hell-bent Situ Yu was towards him. Unfortunately, the better Situ Yu treated him, the more unwilling he became as he didn’t want to deceive him.
Like this, after thoroughly thinking it over, Lin Xiao finally revealed his secret of being a man dressed as a woman to Situ Yu. Furthermore, he expressed his hope that Situ Yu would help him with the matter of cancelling their marriage.
Situ Yu, whose beloved was once again a man：“……………………”
Although the secret agent’s report was concise, Sui Yuan could still perceive the scene of carnage that was Situ Yu’s heart at the moment of discovering this fact. In all likelihood, the secret agent who discovered this huge secret also wanted to collapse and sympathize with Situ Yu greatly.
Only, in the end, after painstakingly forcing himself to accept this fact, Situ Yu made a decision opposite to the plot: he agreed to help Lin Xiao fake his death and arranged a new identity for him, a male one at that. He hadn’t even stopped Lin Xiao when the other expressed that he wanted to take the Imperial examination.
This kind of mysterious change of events left Sui Yuan stupefied! The protagonist shou directly skipped over two-thirds of the plot—the part that contained the harem politics within the household and palace— and directly entered the court. What the heck was going on with this?!
Sui Yuan threw the report onto the desk and bitterly held his head, “How did this happen?!”
Zhao Xihe tried his best to cover up his expression of rejoicing over Sui Yuan’s misfortune and hugged Sui Yuan, preventing him from falling onto the ground in his agitation. He also mercilessly pointed out the truth, “Did you forget about that not-so-trivial halo of yours?”
Sui Yuan froze in an instant, “What does that have to do with this? Didn’t it have no effect on the protagonist gong?”
Zhao Xihe gently teased him, “He is just good at acting, good at covering it up. Meanwhile, you preferred to believe in something that was good for you, so you deliberately attributed Situ Yu’s action of avoiding you like a plague to him being disgusted with you, no?” Zhao Xihe’s sincere and heartfelt words smacked Sui Yuan’s head and he smiled, “Think harder. Situ Yu is a ‘nobleman’ who is very adept at keeping up facades. If he loathed a person, he could still remain elegant, poised, and good-natured to boot. And yet, why was he so discourteous towards him?”
“You don’t need to say anymore. I understand…” Sui Yuan covered his face. He had also once wondered about the abnormal attitude the protagonist gong had towards him. However, his subconscious mind was not willing to accept the truth and directly convinced himself that he needn’t overthink matters. Unfortunately, what was true would always be true, and what was false would always be false.
If one added on the condition that ‘Situ Yu liked Xu Tu’, then everything would make sense, like how Situ Yu did not single-mindedly devote himself to Lin Xiao and do everything to have him. The reason he took him as his Cefei was not only due to some goodwill he held towards him, but also because of his plan to free himself from the influence of Xu Tu with Lin Xiao’s help, thereby forcing himself back on the path of heterosexuality.
It was just a pity that Lin Xiao’s crossdressing habit made Situ Yu, who was doubting his sexuality, unable to leave his side. Instead, he avoided him like the plague as he did Xu Tu.
Moreover, there was no deep friendship between them. Furthermore, to place a big man in one’s own rear court, no rational man would do such a brainless thing as to cuckold himself, ba?!
Of course, what urged Situ Yu to make this kind of decision was Lin Xiao’s excessively resolute attitude. Situ Yu had a great eye for talent and Lin Xiao was a pearl buried in the mud, yet to be discovered. As the protagonist shou of this world, Lin Xiao was intelligent, decisive, and could endure humiliation for the sake of an important mission. This kind of person was someone you’d want as a friend and not an enemy. Since Lin Xiao wanted to have his male identity back, then, if Situ Yu forcibly trapped him in his own rear court, maybe one day his rear court would catch on fire and disaster would fall upon his pond.
Since it was like this, then it would be better to accumulate good karma. Lin Xiao was talented and capable. If Situ Yu helped Lin Xiao, Lin Xiao would naturally be deeply grateful and willingly accept his orders. It was much better than angering the other by forcing him to marry into his rear court, where he would secretly drag him down.
Situ Yu did not know the plot as Sui Yuan did. He naturally did not know that even if Lin Xiao was forced to marry him, they would not be an unhappy couple. Lin Xiao would still help him and give him good advice. Thus, Situ Yu, who was not confused by love like the one in the original plot, could calmly think over the merits and drawbacks related to the different ways of handling Lin Xiao. After his contemplation, he arrived at the most appropriate response to the situation. As expected, the plot collapsed.
His mind was chaotic and the plethora of emotions in his heart converged into one sentence as Sui Yuan turned around and sat straight on Zhao Xihe’s lap, pulling at his sleeve with gritted teeth, “When will you help me get rid of this damned halo, ah!”
“It’s not that I’m not willing to help you, my dear,” Zhao Xihe immediately tried to smoothen out Sui Yuan’s fur, seeing that his lover was about to erupt. “Believe me, I hate that thing even more than you do. Do you think I like seeing that messy crowd of protagonists, supporting leads, cannon fodder and the like constantly swarm towards you while I can’t even drive them away even though I want to?”
His sincere words and gaze made Sui Yuan slightly calm down. Zhao Xihe took the chance to explain the origin of that ‘halo’. Soon after, he spread out his hands helplessly, “If you want to blame something, you should blame your creator, ba. I am just the trigger but that’s the truth. If it wasn’t for the fact that the reasonable and law-abiding Creator developed feelings for you that it shouldn’t have, then how would these people be affected and become abnormal, ne?”
Sui Yuan：“……………………”
The Origin：“…………Hehe, you’re blaming me?”
Although Sui Yuan had thousands of complaints in his heart, he dared not vent it upon his Creator. He, who was swayed by Zhao Xihe, curled up his body in worry and leaned against the other’s chest, grieving for his future as a supporting lead Actor that seemed as if it will never see peace.
“Therefore, ah, I’ve already told you before that you don’t need to be so dedicated to the plot,” Zhao Xihe gently patted Sui Yuan’s back, as if comforting a frustrated child. He slightly swayed his body and found a good opportunity to impart his opinion, “See, this is your mistake but also the mistake of your Creator. Since it’s already like this, it can’t blame you. You should relax and enjoy our time together. It is enough to enjoy a great diversity of lifetimes.”
Sui Yuan did not respond, but his posture did loosen. With the halo on him, even if he was unwilling, so long as he came into contact with a character within the story, they would be affected by it. Perhaps he really should do as Zhao Xihe said and curb a bit his concern towards the plot.
He could do his best to put the plot back on track, but if the plot derailed, there wasn’t a need to feel too frustrated or worried. He could treat it as entertainment and not a responsibility or his only objective in life.
When he felt the person in his arms gradually relax and saw his eyes close halfway, carrying a misty tiredness, Zhao Xihe’s own pair of eyes emitted warmth as he stood up while holding Sui Yuan.
——Today’s atmosphere was not bad. Perhaps after entangling together in bed, he could achieve what he wished for? The Emperor who had gone vegetarian in this world for so long that his eyes had turned green was incessantly thinking about how he could eat meat again.
The palace hands situated not far from the palace’s steps immediately moved. They guided the Emperor to his rear palace and with great familiarity, quickly made preparations for him to go to bed.
The eunuch in charge of writing decrees gazed at the pile of memorials addressed to the Emperor on the Imperial desk that had yet to be handled and burst into tears inside as he stretched out an Er Kang hand. Wait a minute! Your Majesty! You haven’t finished dealing with these memorials, please do your work. QAQ
The palace attendant that guided Zhao Xihe from the front saw the eunuch’s face that looked like he wanted to cry without tears. He lightly coughed before prudently saying, “Your Majesty, those memorials….”
Zhao Xihe’s steps halted. Since his mood was not bad, his tone was evidently quite gentle and tolerant, “Wait until Zhen awakens and Zhen will continue handling those matters.”
All of the palace hands：“……………………”
——Awaken, your sister, ah! Who doesn’t know that His Majesty and little Young Master Xu can fool around in bed all day!
#His Majesty the Emperor deserves suffering from the little young master’s displeasure each morning! This shameless old man makes others lose all respect for him!#
The author has something to say:
Some little sisters were worried that the protagonist shou would become a replacement to the protagonist gong. Don’t fret, la! Although this silly author likes dogblood, what this silly author hates the most is when a scum gong uses someone else as a replacement of another! Even if they become a CP in the end, it will absolutely not be because he is a stand-in for Sui Yuan! The protagonist shou and Xu Tu’s settings are completely unalike. It is not possible to have him as a stand-in. wwww
Eve: ZXH, once again a master of avoiding blame.
First!!!!
*kowtows to ZXH’s dodging of self-blame 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I think Situ Yu did the right thing to free the shou and not make him Sui Yuan’s stand in. Wishing for their story to develop naturally~~~
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^
I will say that dear ZXH will get a little humbling handed to him. A bit in this arc, and then a bit in arc 15 (which is quite funny, at his expense).
Thank the lord. i can’t wait for it. Ah and tha k you for translating.
I’m curious why they don’t just go in as the protagonists one day. Although I suppose our SY is always a support.
Thanks for the great translation ♥️
Thanks for the hard work love the story ^_^
Sui a Yuan has given up. Time for the plot to really go ballistic.
this has to be my favorite ML. he’s a shameless and smooth silver-tongued beast.
inm glad Sui Yuan is not so guilt ridden anymore, he halo is beyond their power so miught as well not lose hair over the plot THAT much, as long as the leads are happy, it should count…
ahh that good ol story of “We, men can DEFINITELY do better than that upstart woman by the name of Wu ZeTian” and in comes Yang YuHuang and Cabbage Eating Old Pig by the name Emperor XuanZong, a dog shit couple so bad the Tang dynasty is on the verge of collaspe😕😏
Im kinda glad Situ Yu let Lin Xiao free and not keep him imprisoned.I highly expect author’s words to be true of lin xiao not being a replacement.They both seem good together now that situ yu actually made a ratioanl decision compared to the original plot