Translated by Eve
Edited by Wuxian
Although the protagonist shou, Lin Xiao, had nearly been turned into a passerby in the protagonist gong Situ Yu’s eyes because of Sui Yuan, as the fated character that was the pillar of this world, even if he skipped over a huge portion of the plot regarding the household harem politics, the young Lin Xiao was still able to show that he had the potential to become one of the most influential Officials of his generation. Except that for now, he could only be considered an outstanding, resourceful, and wise strategist.
After Situ Yu generously pardoned Lin Xiao’s deceit of having ‘pretended to be a woman’ and agreed to help him feign his death, Lin Xiao became unswervingly dedicated to Situ Yu and would bend to any task, sparing no effort for him. Furthermore, the attractive force between the protagonist shou and gong exhibited its effectiveness. Even though the two people did not develop romantic feelings in accordance to the plot, the always cautious Situ Yu still felt his guard abnormally lowered when around Lin Xiao. After just one interaction, he discovered that he and Lin Xiao were kindred spirits and he thus told him the truth about his aspiration to seize the throne.
In order to repay Situ Yu, Lin Xiao, after muttering to himself for a bit, immediately came up with a clever way to feign his death. It was a way to make ‘the Fourth Prince’s Cefei, Lin Xiao’ die in a logical way but also place the blame onto Situ Yu’s enemies. As for why these enemies would dispose of this lowly ranking ‘Cefei of the Fourth Prince’…once one saw how withered and depressed Situ Yu was after receiving the news of his ‘Cefei’s death, one would know!
Kill one woman, and you will be able to ruin a man. It was simply an extremely profitable transaction!
The untimely death of his beloved caused the always ‘noble’ Fourth Prince to go mad. He placed all of his energy into catching the culprit, swearing to never rest until he attained his goal. Ultimately, after getting the confession of the assassin that had killed ‘the Fourth Prince’s Cefei’, he presented it to the Emperor, alongside the proof of his enemies having ganged up against him.
No matter how the people implicated by the Fourth Prince insisted on their innocence and tried to deny things, after having been splashed with the dirty water that was ‘having assassinated the Fourth Prince’s Cefei’ the accusation that they had ganged up for personal interest was already proven true and thus, there was no way for them to detach themselves from this.
This was an overt plot. Even if His Majesty the Emperor did not believe that these people had assassinated ‘the Fourth Prince’s Cefei’, at this time, he could not let go of these ‘murderers’ as he had to placate properly the Fourth Prince who was bereaved over the loss of his loved one.
His Majesty the Emperor looked down at Situ Yu who was kneeling at the foot of the steps, staring at the ‘murderers’ with an ice-cold hatred as they were led away by the Imperial bodyguards in fits of sobs and shouts. He was both annoyed and amused. Situ Yu had given him a ‘huge, pleasant surprise’. The Emperor had truly never expected that this Fourth Prince who had always concealed his strength and bided his time in the original plot, waiting until the very last moment to bare his fangs, would unexpectedly make such a daring move.
Thus, of course, after morning court ended, the Fourth Prince was made to stay behind alone to be ‘comforted’ by the ‘endlessly worried’ Emperor.
Even though he had gotten what he wanted—removing the most irksome saboteurs from the court—and even though he believed that he had been careful not to let people grab hold of his pigtail, meeting with his Emperor Father face to face still made Situ Yu’s heart palpitate in fear. He dared not meet those dragon eyes directly and could only lower his head, appearing downcast and grieved.
The Emperor looked at him indifferently for a long period of time. In the end, he could not help but sneer, “Enough. The things you’ve done, Zhen sees through it. You need not put on an act before Zhen any longer!”
Situ Yu froze and felt helpless. Only his firm mind kept him from losing his composure and was not drawn out by the Emperor’s words, “Emperor Father? Erchen…does not understand what you mean….”
“You do not understand?” His Majesty the Emperor raised his hand and slammed it against the Imperial desk, tone full of interest, “Then perhaps that strategist by your side named ‘Lin Xiao’ would understand? Heh, Zhen truly did not know that the Cefei Zhen bestowed to you was so capable. A man pretending to be a woman. One who is willing to achieve his aims by such underhanded tactics is unexpectedly so daring!”
A pause. When he recalled the affairs between Lin Xiao and Xu Tu the protagonist gong had imagined, Zhao Xihe rather maliciously added, “Contrary to what Zhen expected, your third brother had reason to be so hung over that Cefei of yours. He is indeed a bit interesting.”
At this point, Situ Yu could no longer pretend that his family’s Emperor Father was just guessing. From his tone, he was obviously aware of all their movements, ah! Situ Yu’s legs turned soft and he immediately knelt, slightly trembling as he was clueless on how to respond.
Only now did Situ Yu understand that they had underestimated this Emperor Father of his. He sat on the clouds, high above the ground and was clear on all of the tricks and actions of his sons below. However, he only watched them indifferently without making a sound, as if so long as the brothers did not end one another’s lives, he would permit them to fight, vie, and steal—or rather, even if they were to kill off their brother, perhaps their Emperor Father would not even bat an eye.
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.
This callousness of his tightened one’s heart from fear.
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Situ Yu felt that he and his brothers were like poisonous insects trapped in an earthen jar by their Emperor Father. There was nothing to eat, nothing to drink, nor was there a way out. They had no choice but to nibble on the others’ bodies as a way to leave. In the end, the one who manages to see the light again would be the King of all poisonous insects.
——Then, why did Emperor Father expose his ruthless side before him now? Why didn’t he let him be like his brothers, pleased with their own scheming, not in the least aware that they were actually being played with in the palms of his hand?
Was it because this time, his dirty scheme had truly angered Emperor Father? Or was it because he had Xu Tu in his heart and his Emperor Father found that unbearable? Or, possibly…he had truly entered his Emperor Father’s eye and Emperor Father planned on cultivating him?
Regardless of how wild Situ Yu’s imagination went while he knelt on the ground, the grand Emperor’s thoughts were actually very simple. He found the protagonist gong to be very displeasing to the eye and didn’t want him to be happy at all, so he conveniently tossed him around a bit.
Zhao Xihe, who was once a male lead, had played an Emperor who knows how many times. He’s acted as both a lord who raised a country from the ground up, and a rebel leader who seized the crown to become king. His means and resolution as a monarch was incomparable to that of this world’s original cannon fodder monarch. In the hands of the original body, the secret agents were useless. While the princes scrambled for power in the dark, the original body was completely ignorant. In the very beginning, perhaps he thought himself still young and vigorous and did not believe that his sons could set off huge waves. However, after falling sick with a lingering illness, even if he wanted to deal with these things, he had no more energy to do so.
However, Zhao Xihe was not the same.
Relying on his previous experiences and his golden finger that was the plot, Zhao Xihe developed the secret agency to an unprecedented extent. Not only did he place them on the protagonist gong, Situ Yu, but also on every prince—every character mentioned in the plot. Each and every one of their movements, Zhao Xihe knew it all. Naturally, Zhao Xihe watched Lin Xiao’s and Situ Yu’s scheme develop from beginning to end.
Zhao Xihe had not stopped them only because there was no need.
After all, the protagonist gong was this world’s fated pillar. He was the future Emperor. If he was permitted to get away with this plan, then Zhao Xihe would be able to abdicate more comfortably in the future. Right now, Sui Yuan had already tried to gradually transfer his attention away from the plot. Zhao Xihe naturally would not pay attention to the plot now. So long as the protagonist gong and shou did not take things too far, then he’d let them play.
——Of course, allowing them to play was one matter. As for letting them play happily or not, that was another matter.
Thus, Zhao Xihe watched coldly as they achieved their wishes. Afterwards, he attacked them right at the very end. Seeing how unhappy they were, he was very satisfied.
0007：“…This is bad taste. How big of a grudge do you have against them?!”
Zhao Xihe：”As long as they stop looking at my family’s Sui Yuan with that kind of nauseating expression, then there will no longer be a grudge between us.”
0007：“………………→_→”
——It really wanted to say that if this kind of expression could be described as nauseating, then, host, the expression you use to look at 5237’s host was even more disgusting….
Seeing that the protagonist gong’s face was ashen-faced from being scared by his own imagination, Zhao Xihe finally spoke with great mercy, “This time, Zhen only wants to give you a lesson. Don’t think that you can use such a childish method to baffle Zhen. You, and that Lin Cefei of yours, need not believe that you are the only two intelligent people that exist below the Heavens!”
“Erchen has learned his lesson. Erchen…Erchen knows his wrongs…” Situ Yu could only lower his head further, “Erchen…will not dare to do so again.”
“Don’t dare to do it again?” The Emperor snorted, “That will not do, ah? Zhen is still waiting to see what kind of interesting new schemes you can come up with, ne!”
Situ Yu：“……………………”
——What does this mean? Is he purely ridiculing me and speaking ironically or does he truly wish for us to play around some more? Emperor Father, please state things explicitly. QAQ
“Enough. Zhen is tired. Scram, ba,” Zhao Xihe ordered, aware that the protagonist gong was using up too much of his time, and that his family’s sweetheart would soon be around. Thinking about the possibility that his sweetheart would be kept from his side and made to stay outside really hurt his heart so His Majesty the Emperor raised his hand and rushed Situ Yu out without the slightest bit of courtesy.
Even if Situ Yu was perplexed, he dared not utter a sound at this moment. He immediately climbed up to his feet and silently scrambled out of there.
Once the palace hall’s doors closed behind him, Situ Yu felt like he returned to the world of the living. The warm rays of the sun shone down on him, slowly dispersing the darkness that Emperor Father had cast upon his body prior. Before his complexion improved, however, Situ Yu’s attention was seized by a voice greeting him, sounding like it was trying to suppress its schadenfreude, “Fourth Brother, have you restrained your grief and accepted your fate?”
Situ Yu turned towards the direction of the voice, his face immediately turning dark. He discovered that the Second Prince, Situ Gui, and Xu Tu were heading towards him. His pupils immediately shrunk and he almost failed to maintain his ‘withered’ expression.
——As soon as he saw Xu Tu, he subconsciously recalled his Emperor Father’s warning. Situ Yu felt very conflicted between two extremely different impulses. He wanted to get closer yet also itched to get far, far away, afraid that his profoundly jealous Emperor Father would kill him if he found him displeasing to the eye.
After being tossed around so many times, Situ Yu’s fear of his Emperor Father had already penetrated his bones. Not just in reality, but whenever he dreamt of Xu Tu, he would subconsciously be afraid his Emperor Father would come order his beheading by the guillotine.
Xu Tu and Emperor Father—these two people brought much anxiety to Situ Yu.
Once he discovered that Lin Xiao was a man, Situ Yu’s superficial goodwill towards him immediately cooled off. Right now, he did hold favourable feelings towards Lin Xiao, but these feelings were of the friendly kind stemming from the compatibility of their temperaments. Situ Yu scouted Lin Xiao for his talent and Lin Xiao was the fine steed that was excavated by Situ Yu personally. This kind of tie strengthened the trust between them.
Meanwhile, Situ Yu still cast his love towards the first person he became infatuated with: Xu Tu. This was the case even if he completely dared not hold any more delusions about the other.
…Tsk. Now that he thought of this, he recalled that he had just confirmed from Emperor Father that Xu Tu did regard Lin Xiao in a special light, ne! It seems that the ‘new flame’ label had been fully plucked off and that the tag of ‘rival-in-love’ was now firmly glued onto Lin Xiao. This made Situ Yu feel quite unhappy.
——Just where was he not as good as Lin Xiao? How come Xu Tu didn’t see him in a special light, ne?! Could it be because Lin Xiao had always dressed up as a woman?! Indeed, looking at Xu Tu’s love life in the past, he was a pure heterosexual. Unfortunately, he encountered the Emperor and was ‘unfortunately bent’.
“Fourth Brother? Fourth Brother?!” Situ Gui’s folding fan waved before Situ Yu’s face. Within his originally schadenfreudic expression was now a layer of genuine concern, “Your complexion is not very good. Your lover has passed away. You need to take care of yourself, ah.”
Situ Yu came back to himself. For a moment, he was annoyed at himself for being affected by Xu Tu to the point of being unable to discern time and place, ending up becoming absent-minded (lost in his imagination). He promptly tidied up his expression and saluted, “Second Brother, Third Brother. Recently, my mental state has not been good…I was discourteous towards you.”
“No harm. You should properly rest for a while, wait until your mental state improves. We, your elder brothers, will then come invite you to drink,” Situ Gui magnanimously brandished his hands. Meanwhile, Sui Yuan at his side looked at the protagonist gong with an especially conflicted gaze.
Naturally, Situ Yu could perceive that unmasked gaze. At that moment, he was both excited and worried. He was excited because this was the first time Xu Tu had paid such special attention towards him and worried because…there was really a lot to be worried about….
The Emperor was in the palace hall behind him and his eyes were everywhere. Situ Yu did not dare expose in the slightest the fact that he still held feelings towards Xu Tu. He promptly said that he was not feeling well and bid farewell, disappearing with haste down the corridor.
“My Fourth Brother has become famous overnight,” Situ Gui lamented. He was evidently deceived by Situ Yu’s acting.
Situ Yu’s low-profile bearing and his actions portraying his lack of deep contention for the throne deeply moved people’s hearts. In the original plot, right until the very end, the princes who were fighting for the throne did not view him as an enemy. Even if they were guarded against him, it was just the most basic vigilance one would hold against another prince. Although Situ Yu’s actions this time surprised people, and did not bring about any benefits, the majority of people attributed this to the abnormal state that comes with the pain from losing a loved one. No one criticized him for being wildly ambitious. On the contrary, he won praise for his ‘deep affection’.
Sui Yuan felt that this was probably attributed to fate. Fate would always cause the people around a protagonist to become selectively blind. No matter what the protagonist did, it was good, right, and worthy of sympathy.
——Just like how no matter what he did, other people would blindly like him, one after another. Even if he acted as a man who picked at his toes, he would probably appear domineering, laid-back, and unconventional. [Sad face]
“Even heroes have a weakness for the charms of a beautiful woman,” Situ Gui summarized things with this one phrase, shrugging his shoulders without care. Soon after, he turned to look at Sui Yuan, “…What’s with your expression?”
Sui Yuan: “…Nothing. I just feel that it’s regretful. I never expected that Situ Yu would be a person controlled by his emotions. I had thought that he was a hypocritical nobleman.”
——Whatever. Although he really sympathized with Situ Gui for not being able to see through the protagonist gong’s true colours, for now, he would still go with the tide and act like a hoodwinked idiot.
Situ Gui：“……………………”
——Can’t you be a bit more professional when trying to deceive someone! That pitying expression just now was clearly directed at me and not Situ Yu!
Situ Gui, who felt his teeth itch a bit, silently turned away, no longer paying attention to Sui Yuan who was lying to his face. He headed towards the Imperial bodyguards at the entrance of the palace hall and indicated that he wanted to request an audience with his Emperor Father, and hoped that they would notify him.
The Imperial bodyguards looked at him with an ambiguous expression. After saluting, they turned to leave. Situ Gui, who was abandoned and baffled, felt that today was a bit strange. Why was it that everywhere he went, people would look at him with such sympathy?!
However, Situ Gui hastily understood why the other was sympathizing with him. The Imperial bodyguard returned and silently blocked him, “His Majesty has permitted Young Master Xu to have an audience with him. As for Second Prince…cough…His Majesty has stated that he knows what you wish to ask and expressed that you should decide things for yourself. You need not ask him about every little thing….”
Situ Gui：“…………………………”
——Can’t we play together nicely?! Is Ye’s mission easy?! If you dare tell Ye to decide for himself, then you better not spray a torrent of abuse on Ye after Ye has finished his mission, ah! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Sui Yuan met with Situ Yu’s mournful gaze and passed him, feeling greatly pressured. Situ Gui walked in circles outside the palace hall, unresigned, feeling more bitter the more he thought about it.
It was not good at all for the fellow by his side to be favoured. It made him become less and less favoured, ah! Damn it!
“Cough. Your Highness,” Seeing that the Second Prince’s expression was getting more and more bitter, the Imperial bodyguard coughed once and whispered, “If His Highness had something he is uncertain about, why not ask Young Master Xu? If a problem occurs, and you are reprimanded by His Majesty, just say that this was a collaborative decision made between yourself and Young Master Xu….”
Situ Gui glared at the Imperial bodyguard in discontent. Xu Tu was his good brother! Was he a person that would sell out his good friend?! Only…when he thought about his Emperor Father’s face full of natural dignity and power…indeed, good brothers ought to ‘sacrifice themselves’ at a crucial point in time!
Situ Gui handed over to the Imperial bodyguard the thumb ring on his hand, praising him for his eyesight. Afterwards, he quickly walked away.
The Imperial bodyguard slipped the reward into his chest pocket and reinstated his ramrod posture.
——Young Master Xu was a big golden thigh. One must hold onto him steadily. The Second Prince who was close to little Young Master Xu was a little golden thigh. One also ought to grab hold of him without hesitation when the opportunity struck!
I feel sorry for Second Prince, doomed to be cannon fodder.
Thank you
For some reason I feel sorry for all the princes..
+_+
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Thank you for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^
Thanks for the hard work love the story ^_^
Poor protagonist gong.
Thanks for the great translation ♥️
Well, all the trials and tribulations will probably harden his spirit and strengthen his will – a good thing when you’re destined to be the next Emperor 🙃
Though it really looks like nobody’s happy in this arc
funniest arc so far
Lol at this arc! Thank you so much for your guys’ translations~ ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
At the end though, around the part where A’Yuan goes in and meets with Emperor Zhao Xihe, I think you switched Situ Yu and Situ Gui’s names haha~
Thanks! Updated it. I hate how similar the names were here hahaha.