How To Survive as a Villain

The man should have been waiting for him for a long time, his clothes were wet from the falling snow, and his shoulders were covered with a layer of frost. The man hunched his back, covered his mouth and began to cough incessantly, as if he was a withered branch that could break at any moment, so fragile looking.

Xiao YuAn took a few steps forward, and his voice stuttered from surprise: “Eunuch Zhao, why didn’t you…. why…. haven’t you left yet?”

“Your Majesty.” Eunuch Zhao’s voice was very hoarse: “If His Majesty hasn’t left, how could this old slave dare to leave?”

Xiao YuAn was momentarily moved, he even told Eunuch Zhao to hurry and enter the Imperial bedchamber.

Eunuch Zhao saw that Xiao YuAn’s clothes were messy and quickly helped him to fix them. The Emperor’s clothes were complicated to wear after all. Eunuch Zhao lowered his head and devoted himself as usual, as if today was just an ordinary day.

“Eunuch Zhao… Do you blame me? Do you blame me for not listening to your advice in the first place?” Xiao YuAn took a deep breath and finally asked:

“Your Majesty, this slave is too old to remember what he said to His Majesty to make him feel so concerned.” Eunuch Zhao said.

Xiao YuAn felt like he had a fish bone stuck in his throat¹ and stuttered for a long time. In the end, he was unable to utter a single word.

“Your Majesty, wait, you really want to….” Before Eunuch Zhao was able to finish his sentence, he suddenly started to cough violently, his voice sounding as dull as if it came from his chest.

Xiao YuAn quickly reached out and patted him on the back, this made Eunuch Zhao so terrified that he tried to stop him.

Xiao YuAn helplessly withdrew his hand as he said in a low voice: “Yes, my only wish is for the enemy soldiers of the Southern Yan Kingdom to not harm the common people of the Imperial City. Eunuch Zhao, you better go, there’s really no need to stay here.”

Eunuch Zhao’s back suddenly became even more hunched over, he was like a fire that had burned out, with only a few irreversible ashes left behind. With a trembling voice, he finally said: “Your Majesty, let this old slave bundle His Majesty’s hair one last time, just like when His Majesty was still a child.”

Xiao YuAn nodded and casually pulled out a wooden chair to sit down. Inside this messy bedchamber, it wasn’t easy for Eunuch Zhao to find a gray hair band, and when he found one, he carefully tied Xiao YuAn’s hair. As if he had accomplished something important, he breathed a sigh of relief. Eunuch Zhao then bowed down to his knees and turned around to walk out of the bedchamber.

He dragged his body and walked against the wind and snow, his body looking so small and thin between heaven and earth. As he walked out of the Imperial bedchamber, he kept on walking until he reached the altar of the Temple of Heaven. While walking up those ninety-nine steps, the intense coughing almost made him lose his step, which almost resulted in him falling down to a certain death.

Eunuch Zhao stood on top of the altar of the Temple of Heaven, and then prostrated in admiration². After that, he said: “I, surnamed Zhao, have been living inside this Palace for more than 40 years and served three generations of Emperors. I’m grateful for the Emperor’s kindness, and I hope that under the Yellow Springs I can serve the late Emperor once again. Today, knowing that the Heavenly ritual requires a living sacrifice, I pray to the Heavens that they will listen to this old slave’s words. I’m not asking for the young Emperor to bath in glory and be wealthy, I just wish for him to live a healthy life without great sorrows or serious diseases. This old slave would like to sacrifice his body to the Heavens for this wish.”

After finishing his prayer, Eunuch Zhao stood up slowly, his kneecaps bones trembling due to the cold. He stood on the altar of sacrifice, facing the wind and snow, and then he jumped down from the altar without hesitation.

As soon as the blood was spilled on the weeds, the hair band on Xiao YuAn’s head suddenly snapped.

Xiao YuAn, who was stunned for a moment, leaned over to pick up the gray hair band and used the red and white hair pins to hold it together. After securing them together, he put them inside his inner clothes. Then, with both hands holding the State Seal³ and the map of the Northern Kingdom, he walked out of the Imperial Palace.

The snowstorm in the Northern Kingdom howled bitterly, painting everything with the white snow. The Imperial City that had more than a thousand homes, was completely desolate, not a single human figure could be seen. There were white banners hanging on each door, giving the atmosphere of a city that had been dead and in silence for thousands of years.

Xiao YuAn stepped in the snow and slowly walked towards the gate of the Imperial City. He was only wearing a thin white coat, and the cold wind was piercing into his bones, mercilessly taking the warm temperature out of his body. Xiao YuAn took a deep breath, his throat was dry and painful, and his limbs were gradually feeling numb.

But he cannot stop.

Because he could hear the faint sound of weeping and sobbing, but he didn’t know where it was coming from. This miserable and mournful cry, accompanied Xiao YuAn all the way to the gate of the Imperial City.

Xiao YuAn stood beneath the dark grey gate of the Imperial City, and tried to look far into the distance.

In the distance, he can already see the general appearance of the Southern Yan Kingdom’s troops. The vast army that was partly hidden under the snowstorm, this looming outline, was the nightmare of the Northern Kingdom. Xiao YuAn exhaled a white fog, lowered his head, and slowly wiped the snow off the State Seal in his hand. After doing that, he slowly started to walk towards the Southern Yan Kingdom’s army.

Over the past 40 years, the country has been home to three thousand li⁴ of mountains and rivers. Every step Xiao YuAn took, the snow under his feet made a slight creaking sound. This was the anguish cry and howl of the soldiers who had killed the enemies and died in the battlefield for the Northern Kingdom, as if they were announcing their reluctance and sorrow with bloody tears.

Xiao YuAn walked up to the Southern Yan Kingdom’s army, holding the State Seal and the map of the Country in his hands, he raised them high in the air, and then knelt on the ground.

As soon as his knees hit the ground, Xiao YuAn heard the sound of the Northern Kingdom collapsing behind him; just like the falling snow, wordless and uncommunicative⁵.

Xiao YuAn, who was still kneeling on the ground, took a deep breath and shouted with all his strength: “On this day, this sinner who has lost his Country, will be removed from the throne and the crown will leave his head, will also wait for his punishment. He will hand over the State Seal and the map of the Country. He just has one wish, don’t harm the common people in the Imperial City.”

…

“Report! General Xue, Yan-huangzi, the Emperor of the Northern Kingdom has come alone to surrender!”

Inside one of the military tents, Yan HeQing and Xue Yan, who were discussing the final invasion of the Imperial City, suddenly heard the report from the deputy.

Yan HeQing’s pupils suddenly shrank, and not even bothering to put on his fur coat, he hurriedly got up, intending to walk outside the tent. However, a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder in tight grip.

“HeQing.” Xue Yan’s voice was calm and majestic.

Yan HeQing stopped, but he didn’t turn around.

Xue Yan’s heart was startled and his brows tightly frowned, he vaguely caught the hidden emotions of Yan HeQing. Then, he said to the deputy General: “Wait outside.”

The deputy General cupped his fists⁶ and left, leaving only Yan HeQing and Xue Yan inside the military tent.

“HeQing, let me ask you something. That jade flute that you’re extremely protective of, is it a gift from the Emperor of the Northern Kingdom?” Instead of loosening his grip on Yan HeQing’s shoulder, Xue Yan exerted even more force.

Yan HeQing, who stood silent for a long time, in the end replied: “Yes.”

Xue Yan bit down on his teeth and his eyes were extremely dark. Yan HeQing was the child he had raised himself, needless to say, he had already known it inside his heart.

The silence was like an invisible net, tightly entangling the two of them. After a long time, Xue Yan withdrew his hand and said: “Stay here and don’t move. I’ll go first to see if the Northern Kingdom is lying.”

“Uncle, I’ll go with you… ” Yan HeQing turned around. His eyes were firm and persistent, his tone of voice was calm and unhurried.

“HeQing.” Xue Yan suddenly interrupted Yan HeQing. He lifted the curtain of the military tent. The snow was being blown by the wind, whistling away the warmth of the tent. Xue Yan looked over his shoulder at Yan HeQing: “You’re the Prince of the Southern Yan Kingdom, not the male concubine of the Northern Kingdom.”

Yan HeQing’s eyes suddenly darkened, and his head dropped. His eyebrows were hidden in the dark, not a hint of brightness could be seen.

Xue Yan didn’t shut up just because of Yan HeQing’s change of attitude. He refined his words into a sharp blade, ruthlessly cutting Yan HeQing’s wounds deeper. He wanted Yan HeQing to remember that compared to the hatred in the name of his lost family and devastated Country, the love between youngsters wasn’t worth mentioning at all: “HeQing, you represent the soldiers of the Southern Yan Kingdom, the people who were once ruined by the Northern Kingdom. Under your feet, the corpses of your parents are buried, and over your head, there are the grieving souls of the common people. Have you already forgotten the tragic scenes the Southern Yan Kingdom’s destruction suffered back then?”

After finishing his speech, Xue Yan lifted the curtain and left. The northern wind was mournful and cruel.

Well, we did got played by the author with the cliffhanger of the (I did tought it was YHQ who stood in front of XYA’s bedchamber the first time I read the novel) In the end, it was Eunuch Zhao, who sacrificed himself for the sake of his Emperor. (´；д；`)

But they’re so closeeeeee… (screams)(;｀O´)o

Also, YHQ’s uncle sure loves to make long speeches huh?

Footnotes

1. 如鲠在喉 rú gěng zài hóu; It’s a Chinese idiom that means that it’s hard to say something, but also, when someone’s very upset and needs to express their displeasure. From 《说文解字》(shuō wén jiě zì), “Analytical Dictionary of Characters” written by (许慎 xǔ shèn) Xu Shen [58-148], he was a Chinese politician, philologist and writer, the compiler of the original Han Dynasty dictionary.
2. 五体投地 wǔ tǐ tóu dì; It’s a Chinese idiom, which means touching the ground with both hands, knees and head together. It is one of the most respectful rituals in ancient Indian Buddhism. A metaphor for admiration to the extreme. From《大唐西域记·三国》(dà táng xī yù jì·sān guó), “Great Tang Records on the Western Regions: Three Kingdoms period”, written by (玄奘 xuán zàng) Xuanzang [602-664], a Buddhist monk and translator from the Tang Dynasty [618-907], who traveled to India between 629-645.
3. 国玺 guó xǐ; The Seal of the State is a seal representing the symbol of the Country, used by the head of state, and is generally made of jade or gold and silver. Li Si, the Prime Minister of the Qin Dynasty, following the orders of the First Emperor, engraved with Bi jade (Bi is a jade artifact from ancient China, is a flat disc with a circular hole in the center) “The Seal of Heaven”, known in later generations as “The Seal of the State”. It’s the evidence of the legitimacy of the Imperial Court in ancient China.
4. 千里 qiān lǐ; A thousand li = 500 kilometers. So three thousand li equals to 1,500 kilometers.
5. 无声无息 wú shēng wú xī; It’s a Chinese idiom, it means that there’s no sound at all, no breath. It’s a metaphor for having no reputation and not being known by anyone. From《诗经·大雅·文王》(shī jīng·dà yǎ·wén wáng), “Book of Songs: Da Ya, Wen Wang”, the early collection of Chinese poems and one of the Five Classics of Confucianism.
6. 抱拳 bào quán; To cup one fist in the other hand, as a sign of respect.