How To Survive as a Villain

While Xiao YuAn was feeling horrified, the Wangye had already left. Xiao YuAn stumbled forward two steps, then stumbled back half a meter, and finally, he simply held his head while squatting down.

Someone came up to him and asked him what had happened to him, but Xiao YuAn, as if he had not heard them, kept thinking about the plot of Xiao PingYang in the original book over and over again. However, quite a long time had already passed since he read the book, so how could he remember every single detail? He couldn’t remember anything about Xiao PingYang’s brother, Xiao Wangye.

Xiao YuAn suddenly stood up and grabbed the slave beside him and asked: “Where’s Princess PingYang?”

The young slave was frightened by him, and after stuttering for a while, he finally replied: “In-in-in the toast.”

Xiao PingYang was talking to her other royal Brothers.

Originally, the whole Imperial Court thought that Xiao PingYang would become the Emperor of the Western Shu Kingdom. Unexpectedly, she suddenly said that she wanted to get married, and that she wouldn’t meddle with the Imperial Court affairs anymore.

Xiao PingYang had Military power in her hands, and when she speaks, her words have weight. Her several royal elder brothers, who coveted the throne, were trying to get close to her at this point. However, Xiao PingYang was really bored of this flattery, so after saying a few polite words, she went to the main hall. While she was on her way she suddenly saw someone rushing over in a hurry: “Huh? Ning’er’s brother?”

Xiao YuAn stopped, and after gasping for air, he asked: “Ah, the name of the Wangye, the silver, silver, silver-clothed one… kjhgf, what is his name???!!!”

Xiao PingYang looked confused as she tried to calm down the anxious Xiao YuAn, and then said: “Are you asking about the one that has already left the feast?”

Xiao YuAn nodded vigorously.

“Ah, that’s my Imperial brother, the one that I wanted to introduce to you before. Why? Do you want to meet him?” Xiao PingYang raised her eyebrows.

“What’s his name?!”

“He, ah, has the same surname as me, Xiao, and his name is YuAn.”

…

Xiao PingYang slowly took a sip of tea, then closed the porcelain lid and placed it on the table as she raised an eyebrow at Xiao YuAn: “So, you even asked about my Imperial brother’s birthdate and eight characters of horoscope¹, you also asked about anecdotes of his childhood over and over again, and yet, you don’t want to meet him. What is this about?”

Xiao YuAn’s elbows were against the table, his palms pressed against his temples. He raised his eyes and supported his head, looking as if he couldn’t see through the dullness of the world.

Xiao YuAn thought ‘I also want to know what the fuck is this all about’. After all, what could he do now even if he went to see that Xiao Wangye?

‘Hello, my friend, I see you’ve got good bones. Are you perhaps interested in learning about the Tyrannical President road?’

Or maybe: ‘Hey friend, I looked exactly like you in my past life!!!! With the same name!! And the same voice!! What a coincidence huh?’

‘I’m sure I’ll be treated like a neurotic psychopath!!!’

“Then, has this royal brother of yours had a sudden change of temperament for a while?” Xiao YuAn raised his head and asked.

Even though she didn’t quite understand what he was saying, Xiao PingYang still thought about it carefully and then replied: “No, I’m relatively close to my Imperial brother, and I have contact with him at ordinary times as well. I never noticed anything wrong with him.”

Xiao YuAn continued to hold his head, looking crushed and confused.

However, Xiao PingYang couldn’t see this: “I can take you to see him. He’s easy-going and easy to get along with, so don’t worry about offending him.”

Xiao YuAn thought about it for a moment, but still shook his head regardless.

After all, it was so weird to talk to his own face, and Xiao YuAn felt that he simply couldn’t talk to that ‘Xiao Wangye’ as if nothing had happened.

Just thinking about the fact that he met someone who’s voice and face were similar to his, he felt that this world was really full of surprises.

In the middle of the conversation, Princess Yongning came over: “Gege, your carriage is ready. Are you sure that you don’t want to stay two more days?”

“No, I won’t stay any longer.” Xiao YuAn stood up and lovingly rubbed Yongning’s hair.

At this time, Princess Yogning was dressed in plain white, the look of a young girl fading away and adding a bit of maturity. However, every time she looked into the eyes of Xiao PingYang, she still looked like the naive girl she’s always been.

Xiao YuAn looked at the two girls and asked: “Do you both really decide to live in seclusion?”

The two girls looked at each other’s eyes, and while smiling, they nodded their heads.

Xiao YuAn also smiled. Everything will be alright, they will keep away from the pleasantries, and without the quarreling around them. Xiao PingYang won’t ascend to the throne, and even though the future of the Western Shu Kingdom is hard to see, in the end, all these disturbances were no longer related to the three of them.

After the three of them had said their goodbyes, Xiao YuAn got into the carriage and left, leaving dust from the ground behind.

Ooohhhhhhh what’s going on with that Xiao Wangye! (Totally jk, I know, but I’m not gonna give any spoilers so don’t ask hohoho).

I was totally laughing while translating XPY and XYA conversation xDDD I bet she was trying her best to act as a matchmaker for her bro and her wife’s elder bro, but XYA was actually panicking inside lmao!

Footnotes

1. 生辰八字 shēng chén bā zì; The eight characters of horoscope refer to the dates of a person’s birth in the solar calendar. There are four pillars of the year, month, day and time, with two characters per pillar, making a total of eight characters. To get the right time of birth, the ancients believed that a sundial was the most accurate measurement during the day. This is used for fortune-telling, so it is commonly also known as eight-character fortune-telling.