How To Survive as a Villain - Chapter 199

Chapter 199: If It’s Impossible To Make Trouble, Then Don’t Make Trouble.

Xiao YuAn asked: “Is His Majesty not in his bedchamber?”

The two Imperial Bodyguards replied: “No! So please go back Xiao Jun Wang.”

Tian Xiang tugged at Xiao YuAn’s sleeve, and said: “Xiao Jun Wang, let’s go back.”

Xiao YuAn patted her reassuringly: “It’s alright, we’ll wait. It may be that His Majesty forgot to pay attention to this.”

Tian Xiang said anxiously: “Why are you waiting on such a cold day? It might even snow in a while!”

Xiao YuAn didn’t care about his image, so he simply pulled Tian Xiang to sit on the steps with him and smiled: “I have to wait. If Yan-ge doesn’t see me when he comes back, I’m sure he’ll be worried, and I can’t make him feel anxious anymore.

Tian Xiang was so anxious that she stamped her foot in a hurry, almost blurting out the phrase ‘Xiao Jun Wang, don’t flatter yourself’. But in the end, she couldn’t persuade Xiao YuAn, so she had to wait with him.

The Imperial Bodyguards on the side wanted to say something, but stopped mid-way. Since Xiao YuAn didn’t try to rush in, they were too embarrassed to say anything else. They could only feel that this Xiao Jun Wang looked really miserable and desperate as he sat on the steps

After a while, as Tian Xiang said, the temperature dropped drastically and it began to snow. As the snowflakes fell, the surrounding sky was covered with clouds. Tian Xiang then couldn’t help but advise: “Xiao Jun Wang, you’d better go back. It’s windy and cold here.”

Xiao YuAn rubbed his hands and breathed out a white fog as he smiled: “It’s indeed a bit cold. Why is it still so cold in the North when it’s already Spring?”

Tian Xiang thought that her persuasion may be useful, but then she saw that Xiao YuAn took off his robe and put it on herself. Xiao YuAn then laughed and said: “You’ve been wronged into having to wait with me, so you shouldn’t freeze.”

Tian Xiang’s face turned red as she waved her hands repeatedly, but Xiao YuAn’s attitude was tough, saying that girls can’t stand the cold, so they shouldn’t freeze. While, on the other hand, it was alright for him to be exposed to the cold since his body was very healthy. Because of this, since Tian Xiang couldn’t stand the cold, he should give her his robe.

Tian Xiang sighed and said aggrieved: “Xiao Jun Wang, what makes you think that you should suffer?”

Xiao YuAn laughed: “What suffering?”

“Why do you have to suffer these kinds of hardships?!”

Xiao YuAn’s smile didn’t diminish: “I’m not suffering. Not only is there no suffering, but also my heart is quite happy.”

In the middle of the conversation, a pair of black boots with cloud patterns suddenly appeared in front of Xiao YuAn’s eyes. As soon as he was about to raise his head, he was grabbed by a person’s hand, who helped him to stand up. Tian Xiang panicked and hastily followed to get up as she saluted, completely terrified: “Your Majesty!”

Yan HeQing covered Xiao YuAn’s frozen and red hands with his own. His eyes were full of uncontrollable heartache: “Why are you sitting here instead of going in?”

Xiao YuAn smiled and said: “I was stopped and wasn’t allowed to get in.”

Yan HeQing suddenly understood what had happened and looked coldly at the Imperial Bodyguards guarding the entrance of his bedchamber. At that single glance, the Imperial Bodyguards abruptly felt a cold chill running down their backs, as if they had been nailed to the wall by ten thousand arrows.

Xiao YuAn stood in the way of Yan HeQing’s gaze and said with a smile: “Yan-ge, you can’t blame everything on them.”

Yan HeQing withdrew his gaze, lightly hummed, and lowered his eyes. Looking at Xiao YuAn’s frozen fingertips he then lightly kissed them: “It’s my fault.”

At that moment, a loud ‘thud’ was heard as the young Imperial Bodyguard’s sword fell on the ground.

The other Imperial Bodyguard, who was more experienced, was still calm as he looked at the younger one reproachfully. However, his own sword fell to the ground right after, when he saw that Yan HeQing had grabbed Xiao YuAn by the waist, only to pick him up.

Under the eyes of everyone present, Yan HeQing went towards his bedchamber with Xiao YuAn in his arms.

Xiao YuAn was so surprised by this that he instinctively hugged Yan HeQing’s neck. After hugging Yan HeQing’s neck, he couldn’t help but sigh: “Indeed, my Yan-ge has won the essence of the Tyrannical President. Hey! Young comrades, pick up your swords, you’ve dropped them. Hm? Don’t open your mouth so wide, the snow will blow inside.”

After Yan HeQing carried Xiao YuAn into the bedchamber, he dismissed all of the maids, and gently placed Xiao YuAn on the bed. Then he stripped Xiao YuAn of his snow drenched clothes.

Xiao YuAn was just about to ask for a kiss when Yan HeQing suddenly stuffed him into the bedding and wrapped him into a tight silk ball.

Xiao YuAn: “…..-ove, I can’t move.”

Yan HeQing hugged the tightly wrapped wall, leaned over in front of Xiao YuAn’s eyes to kiss his lips, and asked: “Are you feeling warmer?”

Xiao YuAn replied: “I, I feel a b-bit wa-wa-warmer.”

Hearing Xiao YuAn stammering, Yan HeQing couldn’t help but slightly raise the corners of his mouth. As he rubbed his forehead, he said: “Then warm up a little more. I’ll go change my Court clothes.”

Xiao YuAn nodded, covered half of his face with the quilt, and said in a jarring voice: “I, I’ll wa-wait for you.”

In the end, when Yan HeQing came back from changing into more comfortable clothes, Xiao YuAn had already fallen asleep. Yan HeQing blew out the candle and slowly laid down beside him. Xiao YuAn rolled sideways into Yan HeQing’s arms, and when he finally found a comfortable position, he fell asleep completely.

Yan HeQing kissed him lightly on the forehead, and closed his eyes after he hugged Xiao YuAn tightly in his arms.

…

The next day, after Yan HeQing went to the morning Court, Chen Ge’s subordinate soon found Xiao YuAn: “Xiao Jun Wang, General Chen went to the morning Court, so he asked me to come pick you up.”

“Let’s go.” Xiao YuAn didn’t dawdle, and after confirming his identity, he followed him.

The road on the carriage surprisingly wandered out of the Imperial Palace.

When Chen Ge’s subordinate saw Xiao YuAn lifting the curtain suspiciously, he hastily explained: “Old Xue now lives in the outskirts of the Imperial City, he’s not in the Imperial Palace.”

Xiao YuAn nodded but didn’t reply. Chen Ge’s subordinate, afraid of his suspicion, continued to explain: “When the assassination attempt occured in the Imperial Palace in the past, Old Xue led his troops into the Imperial Palace and commited the taboo of moving the troops without His Majesty’s permission. Afterwards, Old Xue took the initiative to ask for retirement, and His Majesty didn’t ask him to stay. We thought that Old Xue would return to his hometown, but we didn’t expect that he would live in the outskirts of the Imperial City.”

Xiao YuAn said with a warm smile: “Old Xue must be worried that His Majesty won’t be able to hold back since he’s still young. If something goes wrong, he can assist him in time. After all, he was once powerful and mighty in Court, he’s still an old Minister of two generations.”

Seeing that Xiao YuAn had a thorough understanding of everything, the subordinate was stunned. The carriage slowly drove all the way to the outskirts of the Imperial City, until finally, it stopped in front of a fenced courtyard.

After Xiao YuAn jumped out of the carriage, he caressed the fence with his hand. His mind was filled with different emotions as he raised his eyes to push open the fence. In the small courtyard, a man with gray temples was sitting at a stone table, holding a worn-out book, and squinting at it with his back against the sun.

It was the first time that Xiao YuAn saw Xue Yan without an armour. Xue Yan was dressed in clean and plain grey linen cloth. Although his eyebrows and eyes were still stern, he also had a kindness that Xiao YuAn had never thought he would see on him.

After hearing footsteps approaching, Xue Yan raised his head. When he saw that it was Xiao YuAn, he pointed to the stone bench opposite to him and said: “Xiao Jun Wang, please sit down.”

Xiao YuAn saluted and sat down opposite to Xue Yan. Then Xue Yan asked someone to make tea and asked Xiao YuAn: “Xiao Jun Wang, I know that it’s not easy for you to go out of the Imperial Palace, so I’ll make it short. Has Huang Yue looked for you recently?”

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Xiao YuAn held up the tea brought by a servant and smiled: “Is General Xue worried that I will join hands with Huang Yue to plot against the Emperor?”

However, Xue Yan shook his head: “His Majesty has long been aware that Huang Yue is trying to usurp the throne, he’s simply waiting for unquestionable evidence. That’s why he hasn’t taken any action just yet. After all, Huang Yue is a powerful person with a strong party. If there weren’t enough evidence, His Majesty may be charged with killing a good Minister. I’m worried about His Majesty, but also, I’m worried about you.”

Xiao YuAn lifted the tea cup lid, and when he spoke, his tone of voice was slightly raised: “Me?!”

Xue Yan sighed: “At first, when you sent a letter from the Western Shu Kingdom asking me for help in persuading His Majesty into assisting you with resisting the foreign countries from the Western regions in the name of the old days, when the Western Shu Kingdom and the Southern Yan Kingdom had formed an alliance, I didn’t had the power at that time. So, I had no other choice than to give you the bad idea of coming to the Southern Yan Kingdom to present yourself as a Minister. Now, I regret it greatly.”

Xiao YuAn: “Don’t regret it! Never regret it! I’m grateful to heart! Thank you for your advice! The flowers bloomed and fell- cough, I almost started to sing.”

Xue Yan: “Xiao Jun Wang is really good-tempered. I’ve made you miserable, but you don’t blame me. On His Majesty’s side, I’ll ask Chen Ge to persuade him for you. Then, I will certainly escort you back to the Western Shu Kingdom safely. As for Huang Yue, please be careful. Huang Yue will certainly attack you again in order to gain the power of the Western Shu Kingdom.”

Xiao YuAn quickly said: “There’s no need for Chen Ge to waste his words persuading. As for Huang Yue, I’ll be careful, thanks General Xue for reminding me.”

Xue Yan nodded: “Then don’t delay your time, Xiao Jun Wang. If His Majesty finds that you came looking for me, he will certainly dislike you even more. So, Xiao Jun Wang, please go back as soon as possible.” Xiao YuAn didn’t bother to explain, and after bidding his farewell, he followed Chen Ge’s subordinate out of the small courtyard. After he took two steps, Xiao YuAn turned back to see Xue Yan pick up the military book again and squint at the words. His temples were as white as the snow of the North, his cough was similar to that of General Sun, and his posture was similar to Eunuch Zhao.

Xiao YuAn suddenly spoke: “General Xue, His Majesty understands your good intentions. It’s just that he doesn’t know how to face them.”

When Xue Yan heard this, he raised his head but then lowered his eyes again, as he faintly said: “I know. He’s the child I saw growing up, how could I not know?”

Xiao YuAn saluted again and went back to the Imperial Palace with Chen Ge’s subordinate.

Xiao YuAn wanted to go directly back to Yan HeQing’s bedchamber, but who would’ve known that Chen Ge’s subordinates would send him to the bedchamber on the West side of the Palace. Xiao YuAn didn’t say much, thinking that he should walk back by himself.

However, when they arrived at the bedchamber, they saw a group of people rummaging through the cabinets and digging three feet into the ground. Xiao YuAn’s bedding, clothes and objects were all thrown out of the bedchamber, leaving behind a mess on the ground.

Tian Xiang was struggling, trying to stop them: “What are you doing?!! This is Xiao Jun Wang’s bedchamber! What are you doing? Let go! Let go!”

A fierce guard, impatient with her tugging and pulling, pushed her away hard: “Get out of here!”

Tian Xian stumbled backwards, and when she was about to fall to the ground, someone grabbed her by the shoulders, stabilizing her. When Tian Xiang lifted her head, she shouted in surprise: “Xiao Jun Wang!”

Xiao YuAn patted Tian Xiang’s head and told her to go hide. Then he stepped forward to face the guard by grabbing his throat and then twisting his arm behind him as he pushed the guard to the ground. Xiao YuAn then smiled and said: “Dage, are you single? Don’t you know that you have to be gentle with women? You deserve to be single. Look at me, I’ll write a poem for you; There are two orioles singing on the willow, and you’re the only single dog1!”

The guard was in so much pain, that he was sweating coldly as he shouted for help: “General Huang!”

Xiao YuAn was stunned. Just when he was about to look up and around, he was suddenly surrounded by dozens of people. In an instant, the situation changed abruptly. This time, it was Xiao YuAn who got his arm forcibly twisted as his head was pressed down and he was forced to kneel on the ground.