How To Survive as a Villain

Xiao YuAn was confused by the question.

‘Where would I be, if I wasn’t here?’

“Huh? I…. I….” Xiao YuAn didn’t even know how to answer Yan HeQing.

Yan HeQing began to realize that there was something wrong with his body when a dry heat ran through his limbs and bones, making him feel thirsty and dizzy. At this, he immediately looked down.

Xiao YuAn followed Yan HeQing’s gaze towards his lower half, carefully swallowed, and then rubbed it over: “Let… let me help you….”

However, as soon as he said that, Xiao YuAn’s collar was suddenly grabbed by Yan HeQing, strangling him until he was almost out of breath. Yan HeQing’s voice was extremely cold. The anger in his eyes was like a burning fire, as if he would swallow Xiao YuAn at any given moment. He shouted: “You dared to drug me?!”

‘Drugs?!’

‘How could I drug Yan HeQing?’

‘I don’t want to die in the bed, alright?!’

In the original book, Yan HeQing gave a great performance when he spent the night with ten women. So why the hell would he need to be drugged for?

As his collar was clenched tightly, Xiao YuAn felt that he couldn’t breath. He was uncomfortable as hell. When he reached out to stop Yan HeQing’s actions, he argued: “I didn’t drugg-…”

However, before he could finish what he wanted to say, he was thrown off the bed by Yan HeQing.

Since Xiao YuAn’s clothes were still in a disheveled state, red marks and scratches appeared on his body when his bare skin rubbed against the ground. He rolled on the ground several times, without being able to stop himself, until his head knocked against the corner of the table. Immediately after, blood started to slide down from a wound on his head, dying his eyes red. Xiao YuAn’s black silky hair was scattered and wretched; as he covered his forehead, his eyes were dazed from the pain. He felt like he would faint at any moment.

But Yan HeQing didn’t even bother to look at him. He simply shouted with a cold tone of voice: “Get out!”

Xiao YuAn was completely dumbfounded, frozen in place. Even if he was slow, he knew that something was wrong, but Xiao YuAn didn’t know what was wrong. So, he cried out pleadingly: “Yan-ge?”

This pet name was the final straw that provoked Yan HeQing’s anger. Yan HeQing’s eyes were filled with bitterness and disgust as he got out of the bed to heavily press Xiao YuAn’s head against the ground. Yan HeQing’s voice was even more frightening because he was suppressing his anger: “Will you dare to call me like that again?”

Right after that, Xiao YuAn was thrown out of the bedchamber.

It was snowing outside, and Xiao YuAn, who was half naked, was thrown into the snow. It was cold, and there were maids and Imperial Bodyguards who passed by from time to time. They all looked at him with pity and ridicule in their eyes.

Xiao YuAn remained in the same position after being thrown out, blankly staring at the closed doors of the bedchamber that were so familiar to him. His body was covered with red marks and scratches, the bleeding coming from his head hadn’t stopped. Once he was covered by the cold snow, it was like he was in pain again. A maid who couldn’t bear seeing him like that anymore, walked forward to help Xiao YuAn get up and fix his clothes: “Xiao Jun Wang¹, let’s go back.”

Xiao YuAn suddenly looked up at her, and shouted: “Xiao what?”

The maidservant was so frightened that she said weakly: “Jun Wang.”

Xiao YuAn suddenly stood up, pulled up his clothes, and looked around. Because he wasn’t wearing boots, he had to walk barefooted in the snow, to the point where his feet became numb and red due to the cold. Finally, a shallow pool appeared in front of him, and Xiao YuAn rushed forward only to kneel at the edge of the pool.

The pool was covered with ice, and it was dazzling under the warm light of the early morning. When Xiao YuAn looked at his face reflected in the ice, he couldn’t say a word for a long time.

In the original book, Xiao PingYang lived in the Northern Kingdom for a period of time before agreeing to Yan HeQing’s marriage proposal, in order to protect the Western Shu Kingdom from the invasion of war. At that time, Xiao PingYang was called ‘Xiao Jun Gongzhu²’.

At this moment, the frozen lake wasn’t reflecting the delicate and beautiful face of the Emperor of the Northern Kingdom; but a clear and handsome face, smooth like porcelain, with pupils like the full moon, eyebrows full of tenderness. He showed a curved smile on his lips, but with a wanton behaviour, expressing a rare freedom in a world like this.

This face was exactly the same as the one Xiao YuAn had in his previous life.

To clarify some crazy theories I saw in the comments of the : XYA didn’t travel to the original book, nor did he travel back in time, he’s simply inside the body of XPY’s brother now(remember the one from her wedding? That was the exact copy of XYA in his past life? That one)~

But hey! Look at the bright side(? The idea of this XYA (that already knows he has feelings for YHQ) travelling to the original story (maybe in the body of Xiao Wangye instead of the Emperor like this timeline) where he’ll try to seduce a YHQ that will very likely summon a harem… Sounds like an interesting plot for a fanfic (someone pls write it!!)

Footnotes

1. 郡王 jùn wáng; It was a title bestowed by ancient Chinese Emperors on members of the Imperial Family, meritorious Officials, or Kings of foreign vassals. It was the second highest ranking title after the Crown Prince (heir to the throne). It can be translated as County King.
2. 郡公主 jùn gōng zhǔ; A title given to a female member of the Imperial Family in ancient Feudal China. Through the changing times, “County Princesses” had different identities such as: The Emperor’s daughter, the daughter of the Crown Prince, King’s daughter, the daughter of the Emperor with a concubine, and the Prince’s daughter.