It's Actually Not Easy Wanting to be a Supporting Male Lead

Translated by Eve

Edited by Wuxian

Chapters in this arc: 15

WARNING: Because this takes place in ancient China, where age of consent/age of maturity is different, SY’s character is underage by our standards. The author is also aware of this and...does make some comments that may be uncomfortable to some. It does not get explicit though. Click for another warning that is slightly spoilery.

If this bothers you, you may skip the arc and I’ll summarize any overarching plot related things (if any) in the beginning of the next arc.

Sui Yuan escaped—except that, even if he escaped, he could only escape to the next world. This meant that there was no way at all for him to throw off Zhao Xihe. Of course, Sui Yuan did not plan on truly throwing him off either.

Preventing his imagination from running wild, Sui Yuan immediately opened up the plot and character settings without even opening his eyes as soon as he reached the new world.

The softness beneath his body told Sui Yuan that he ought to be lying on a bed right now. This kind of run-of-the-mill transmigration made him relax a lot. He was quite glad that he was no longer part of a strange race.

Yes, Sui Yuan had finally returned to a human world. He could sleep on a soft bed and eat tasty, richly colourful delicacies. It was truly worthy of a celebration, truly worthy!

...Sui Yuan then discovered with distress that he was not at all happy. This was due to his sudden discovery of his lover’s weird identity! It made him so scared that he felt ill at ease all up until present....

Sui Yuan painstakingly tossed Zhao Xihe to one side and focused on the story of this world.

It had to be said, 5237 really put in effort this time. Sui Yuan’s role was the Emperor’s adopted son—although he was bitterly made into cannon fodder in the end.

To Sui Yuan, this was a story regarding the princes fighting over one another for the throne. To the protagonist shou, this was a mish-mash tale of the harem politics, the power struggles within the palace, and also the struggles within the government. It was simply extremely complicated!

The protagonist shou, Lin Xiao, was the son of the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. His mother’s status was low and Di Mother was not kind to her. Di Mother had not given birth to a son. Thus, she would ruthlessly murder the Shu sons so as to guard against their obstruction of the glory and splendor of her and her yet-to-be born child. Under this sort of dangerous environment, Lin Xiao’s birth mother knew that she was powerless to protect her young son and could only bribe the midwife and wet nurse, and pretend that her son was a girl. This way, he would be able to evade Di Mother’s malice.

Fortunately, Di Mother’s treatment of Shu daughters was passable. After all, after these girls were married off, they could become helping hands to her future son. Therefore, the protagonist shou dressed as a woman as he grew up. By good fortune, he inherited his mother’s gentle and beautiful face. In addition, before puberty, the difference between the stature of girls and boys was not too different. As long as one proceeded with caution, things were unlikely to go wrong.

Towards this kind of story line, Sui Yuan did not ridicule it in the least. In short, whatever the plot said was what it was. Everything was for the sake of the protagonist. The rest of the characters within the story could become blind and deaf to specifics when necessary and ignore all unreasonable elements.

Of course, would it be a story of many ups and downs if nothing wrong happened? Thus, someone fell in love at first sight with Lin Xiao, who dressed up like a girl and the one who fell in love at first sight was the prince of the Imperial household.

The protagonist gong, Situ Yu, was the Fourth Prince. His mother’s family was not prominent and did not command much of the emperor’s attention. He had a deep and shrewd mind and was a person who concealed his strength and bide his time. He was also someone who carefully considered his words and acted with caution. The only time he threw caution to the wind was during that time he had caught a glimpse of the graceful Lin Xiao at a Flower Appreciation Banquet who would later be constantly on his mind.

After tossing and turning in his bed and finding himself unable to forget this beautiful woman, the protagonist gong decided to give his all. He directly went to ask the Emperor to bestow upon him this marriage. The Emperor was magnanimous. Seeing that his child was asking something of him for once, he brandished his brush and granted it. Therefore, out of the blue, this meat pie dropped from the sky and landed on the protagonist shou’s head, nearly breaking his head and causing blood to flow out.

——He was a man, ah! Could a man be married off?! Even if he could be married off, once he entered the bridal room, wouldn’t he be exposed?! This would be a grave crime of deceiving the monarch, ah!

The protagonist shou was struck dumb, as was the protagonist shou’s pitiful birth mother. The protagonist shou wanted to flee from his marriage but everyone in his family wanted this link between them and the Imperial family! He could not escape nor could he go through with the wedding. He thought it through from many different angles and finally, the protagonist shou decided to slander himself. Without a pure reputation, the Imperial family would naturally not want him. Even if he had to shave his head and become a nun later and be an oil lamp before Buddha, it wasn’t anything much. Once the matter quieted down, he could dress in male clothing and become a true man once again!

Sui Yuan gave the protagonist shou’s quick-wittedness 233 likes and felt very regretful that Lord Plot would not let Lin Xiao get what he wished for.

Lin Xiao decided to slander himself, but Situ Yu was unwilling, ah! After he had asked for his hand in marriage, he had always paid attention to Lin Xiao, afraid that if anything happened, his beloved who he had just attained would fly off on him.

Heaven will not forsake those that persevere. Because of Situ Yu’s attention on Lin Xiao, he was able to succeed in saving him. Situ Yu also thought that this was the doing of Lin Xiao’s Di Mother and thus, he ruthlessly oppressed the innocent Di Mother who had been unjustly attacked for her mere presence. Lin Xiao could see that Situ Yu was strongly attached to him and held deep emotions for him. So, he helplessly told him everything in all honesty, hoping that Situ Yu would understand and agree to throw the matter of marriage aside.

The sweetheart of his dreams had become a man in the next second. Situ Yu felt unwell all over! However, what made him even more conflicted however was that although Lin Xiao was a man, he still liked him!

Sui Yuan really didn’t know if Situ Yu was gay from the start or if he was bent later. Anyway, seeing how Situ Yu always had a cold attitude towards the girls in his own rear court, the possibility of the former was extremely high. If he had not encountered Lin Xiao, perhaps Situ Yu would remain ’straight’ for the rest of his life. Only, he’d seem asexual, that’s all. However, he had met Lin Xiao dressed as a woman and was then firmly bent. He didn’t even have time to have an internal struggle.

In short, Situ Yu exerted much mental and physical effort to talk the protagonist shou into marrying him. In the end, he was able to persuade Lin Xiao to marry him with his female identity. Afterwards, the venue of the protagonist shou’s harem politics within the household were moved from the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet’s residence, to the Fourth Prince’s rear court.

The Fourth Prince was an expert in spoiling him, so everything was smooth sailing for the protagonist shou. Aside from the Fourth Prince’s Di wife, no one else opposed him. Of course, Lin Xiao became a thorn in the side of the women in the Fourth Prince’s rear court and thus couldn’t avoid encountering all sorts of crafty plots and machinations. However, he was a stately man and it was beneath him to bicker with girls. Thus, it was quite the headache.

As the protagonist shou, Lin Xiao’s battlefield could not be limited to just the rear court. He also helped the Fourth Prince, who wanted to seize the throne. The two people fought side by side, feelings for each other growing deeper as they supported one another. And naturally, the one who climbed onto the Emperor’s throne was the Fourth Prince who was adept at sitting on the mountain while watching the tigers fight only to swoop in and snatch the prize after they’ve exhausted themselves.

The Fourth Prince ascended to the throne and Lin Xiao’s household harem politics escalated to harem politics within the palace. The protagonist shou could not endure having to participate in the rivalry for affection between the girls and asked to be given back his identity as a man and establish himself within the Imperial court. Naturally, Situ Yu was unwilling and thus a fight broke out between them. Lin Xiao guarded against the women of the harem while braving a battle of wits against Situ Yu. He also had to work hard to find an escape route. He planned out an identity to assume for after he left the palace. He was extremely busy and too overworked.

In short, after fighting and reconciling so many times, Situ Yu could no longer bear to see his sweetheart so depressed and had no choice but to compromise. Lin Xiao left the harem and rose within the Imperial court. From then on, the monarch and his minister got along well, climbing aboard the same car, sleeping on the same bed. The protagonist shou was promoted up, up, and up, becoming the chancellor whose authority was only second to the Emperor. His achievements were then spread far and wide throughout all the ages.

Sui Yuan closed the plot and smacked his lips. He felt that overall the story was not bad. Soon after, he quickly found the plotline relevant to himself.

The role Sui Yuan played was named Xu Tu and it was a very fitting name. As the Emperor’s adopted son, an overwhelming majority of his scenes took place during the initial struggle over the throne.

Although he did not particularly wish to succeed the throne, Xu Tu was already made part of it and could not withdraw. Meanwhile, the person he supported was the Fourth Prince’s greatest rival, the strongest contender for the position of crown prince—the Second Prince.

When Xu Tu was born, he was recorded under the name of the weak, son-less Imperial Consort Huang, who had been doted on by the late Emperor. As for Xu Tu’s father, he was this Lin Daiyu, Imperial Consort Huang’s brother who had died young. Although there was no direct blood relationship to the Imperial Family, he had Imperial Consort Huang’s name, so the Xu Family’s future counted on this little prince who had no blood relationship to them.

The current Emperor’s birth mother’s identity was humble. In ancient times, there was no such thing as brotherhood within the Imperial family. The current Emperor had experienced a bitter struggle before finally ascending the throne. Furthermore, the one who supported him the most, the minister who had given the most outstanding service and merit, was Xu Tu’s birth father.

The current Emperor ascended the throne and naturally put the minister, who had performed excellent service, into a position of great importance. Moreover, Xu Tu’s father did not fail to live up to expectations. He was always loyal and devoted, made many heroic contributions in efforts of war, and even saved the Emperor’s life. Most remarkable was his understanding of what it meant to draw back wisely in the face of overwhelming odds. When the Imperial court was stabilized, he then brought his family to the edges of the country to help the Emperor guard the borders.

If things were as simple as this, then there wouldn’t be any story to tell. This family stayed at the borderland for not even two years before they bitterly came into contact with the Xiongnu’s large scale invasion. Xu Tu’s father died in battle, and Xu Tu’s entire family was exterminated under the flames of war. In the end, the five-year-old Xu Tu was the only one to be found by the reinforcements. He was then escorted back to the capital.

The Emperor recalled how Xu Tu’s father strived to do his utmost in all cases and brought the young boy, who had lost his father and had no mother to rely on, into the palace, fostering him. He accepted him as his adopted son and treated him even better than he did his own sons. Probably because he had no way to ascend the throne and they had no conflicts of interest—plus their personalities went well together—but he and the Second Prince Situ Gui grew up with each other, and he became closest to the Second Prince among the brothers, far much more when compared to his other siblings.

The Second Prince’s mother was the previous Empress. She died after suffering complications from giving birth to him. He had a noble identity, was clever since childhood, and he received the Emperor’s favour. Meanwhile, the biggest competitor in the eyes of the Second Prince was the succeeding Empress’ son, the Fifth Prince Situ Zhang.

Situ Gui and Situ Zhang kept fighting, neither side winning. For now, let’s not mention the matter of how Situ Yu succeeds in the end. First, let us look at the grievances and disputes between Sui Yuan and the protagonist shou.

As a supporting male lead, Xu Tu liked Lin Xiao without a doubt. These feelings were not deep. However, since he wanted him but couldn’t have him, this made his heart itch so much it was difficult to bear. Xu Tu was brazen and domineering. His talent was not bad and he relied on the Emperor’s doting to take liberties with Lin Xiao time and time again. Furthermore, Lin Xiao was always feeble, and thus had a hard time resisting him. Xu Tu nearly succeeded in laying his hands on him several times. Situ Yu, whose beloved was being coveted, was naturally extremely angry. He beat Xu Tu at his own game by making him fall for his trap, and caused him to completely lose his reputation and standing. He made it so that the future scholars would hold him in contempt and disdain even when merely mentioning his name.

Of course, because of this, Xu Tu hated the protagonist shou. Unfortunately, the fight between Situ Gui and Situ Zhang was getting fierce and Situ Gui had no way of coming over to lend a hand in dealing with Situ Yu. Furthermore, when Situ Gui was finally idle, Situ Yu was already sitting in the Emperor’s throne and it was already preordained that he, the winner, would take it all.

As the thorn in Situ Yu’s side in the past, naturally, Xu Tu would not be let off by the new Emperor. However, he was the previous Emperor’s adopted son, after all, so Situ Yu could not kill him for the time being. He could only imprison Xu Tu within his residence and quietly kill him several years later and claim that he had perished from depression.

Sui Yuan lit a candle for both Xu Tu and himself and subconsciously searched for who Zhao Xihe would choose as his identity. Afterwards, he discovered that the choices were a bit....

After all, in a story regarding the Imperial court and the battle of succession, without even mentioning Situ Gui and Situ Zhang’s majestic presence as if made by Heaven itself, just by the Fourth Prince and the protagonist shou’s side were countless handsome youths: wise, farsighted, and reasonable advisors, heroic and devoted generals, distinguished and talented scholars full of literary grace, wanton, and unrestrained wastrels of the Jianghu...all of them either played an important role in the plot, made immense contributions, or had an ambiguous longing and admiration for the protagonist shou. In short, no matter who it was, they could be chosen by Zhao Xihe.

Sui Yuan skimmed things over and felt a giant headache. He was depressed that Zhao Xihe was still constantly on his mind and decidedly threw this matter to the side. He opened his eyes and immediately sat up, quivering.

Sui Yuan：".........！！！！"

——Who could tell him! What the h*ll was with the naked girl laying beside him?! Save him!

"Calm down! Calm down now!" 5237 saw the fur of its family’s host’s about to puff out and immediately comforted him, "You’re currently a mature prince! You were extremely doted upon. As soon as you reached adulthood, you were granted a marriage. You have both wives and concubines! It is very normal for you to sleep with a woman at night!"

Sui Yuan："......QAQ"

"A-are you calm now?" 5237 carefully asked.

Sui Yuan simply wanted to cry: "5237, did you purposely dig a pit for me?! Do you want Zhao Xihe to kill me?!"

5237："...Relax. The one he wants to kill is me. →_→"

Sui Yuan suffered from fright and covered his heart that was slamming against his chest until now. He quietly got out of bed, eyes not daring to so much as catch a glimpse. Of course, it was not because he had any righteous notions that one must not gaze at anything improper. He was just afraid that his family’s sweetheart would get jealous.

Zhao Xihe was already jealous to the point of going berserk even though he didn’t even do anything vaguely ambiguous with other people. Right now, he was lying in bed with another person and also saw the person’s naked body...no matter how he looked at it, it was a major event that didn’t have a good outlook at all, OK?!

At this moment, Sui Yuan felt as if the Heavens were collapsing.

He deeply inhaled and pacified his heart. Sui Yuan then slowly walked towards the mirror. They used copper mirrors here which couldn’t compare to the clear mirrors of the modern era. However, Sui Yuan was able to clearly see his appearance with 5237’s help.

The ancient people got married and settled down very early. Sui Yuan’s current body only looked fourteen/fifteen years old—he looked very much young and inexperienced. His eyebrows were slanted upwards, his eyes clear and bright. There was a domineering air within his noble aura that was difficult to hide. His beauty exuded a degree of arrogance and recklessness.

Over all, Sui Yuan was very satisfied with his shell. Only, when he thought about how the protagonist shou was more or less his age, and how he had to pretend to act out such a disturbing, deeply affecting relationship of love and hate, Sui Yuan felt extremely uncomfortable. It was as if a group of children were playing house. It made people feel that it was too pitiful to behold.

Sui Yuan covered his face and smoothed his expression. He had never acted such a young character before so he wasn’t quite able to get into his role.

When it saw that Sui Yuan had adapted for the time being, 5237 sighed in relief. It stammered about, rubbing itself against Sui Yuan’s body, poking him while trying to sound him out, "Na, is Zhao Xihe really a part of our Boss?"

Sui Yuan turned his head to glare at it, deeply hating 5237, this system that had poked at his sore spot.

5237："............QAQ"

Sui Yuan sighed and rubbed 5237’s plump body, lighting a candle for it.

5237 barely managed to pull itself together. After having just offended Zhao Xihe, he learned such a shocking piece of news. It was simply struck dumb! It had confusedly chosen a world when Sui Yuan said he wanted to enter the next one. As a result, once he opened his eyes, his family’s silly host saw that a woman laid next to him! There was also a heap of women in his rear court! 5237 could already imagine how Zhao Xihe was going to pull out its muscles and skin it.

For now, it could only hug its silly host’s thighs properly and do its usual utmost to help him get along with Zhao Xihe, atoning for its crimes by doing good deeds!

5237 silently clenched its fist, cheering for itself.

"What do you want to ask me?" Seeing 5237 look uncertain, Sui Yuan felt rather helpless.

"What are you distressed about?" 5237 turned into a considerate angel in a flash—a caring and gentle big brother, trying its best to undo the knot in its family’s host’s heart.

"...I’m doubting whether I truly like Zhao Xihe or not..." Sui Yuan’s expression was a bit evasive.

"Is that important?" 5237 blinked.

Sui Yuan: "...Is it not important?"

"If you really didn’t like him, would you leave him?" 5237 hit the nail on the head.

Sui Yuan paused, then slowly shook his head.

"Even if you wanted to leave, would Zhao Xihe let you go?" 5237 whirled around Sui Yuan.

Sui Yuan: "...No."

"Then why are you still thinking about this!" 5237 knocked against Sui Yuan, tone especially free and at ease, "In any case, the two of you want to be together in the end. It’s no use thinking about such messy things, ah!"

Sui Yuan：".................."

——It feels like something isn’t quite right but it also feels very reasonable. He’s completely at a loss on how to retort!

"What are you still conflicted over?" Seeing how its family’s silly host did not seem to get the point and seemed hesitant yet wanted to say something, 5237 also began to worry.

"...I don’t dare meeting with Zhao Xihe," Sui Yuan covered his face, "When I think about how my Creator sees me through his eyes, I feel uncomfortable all over!"

5237 paused, seeming to understand a bit.

——It was similar to a student taking an exam and suddenly discovered that his head teacher was watching him attentively. Thus, even though he wasn’t cheating, he would still feel uneasy from head to toe and even feel his mind go blank.

"...I think that you probably don’t need to worry," 5237 fell silent for a while before speaking quietly, "Zhao Xihe has seen all of you— the good and the bad, your cute side and silly side, your clothed body and naked body...."

Sui Yuan："........................"

5237："So, Boss must have already seen everything for a while now. You still care about this?"

Sui Yuan："..................QAQ"

After painstakingly comforting its family’s silly host, 5237 discovered that its host became increasingly more dejected and gloomy. A dusky aura of having nothing to live for emitted from his body.

5237："...It seems to have caused the opposite reaction? Sorry Zhao Xihe dada, I already tried my best. QAQ"

Zhao Xihe & 0007："...Hehe, you’re so stupid, does your boss know that?!"

The author has something to say:

The original idea was to make Sui Yuan the Second Prince, Situ Gui. However, I can’t write a romance between father and son so I could only resolutely add in Xu Tu, this adopted son. QAQ. Cough, aside from being a bit regretful that he can’t become the Emperor, this doesn’t change much. Little sisters, please forgive me.

Actually, this setting has been changed many times. Nothing seems right no matter how I change things. The Emperor cannot be so stupid as to not realize that he is raising someone else’s child, and the Imperial family cannot allow a child who dons the royal surname but has no blood relationship to them to succeed the throne when they have so many outstanding true princes. In the end, I had to make it like this, la! To raise the minister who had given outstanding service’s orphan in the palace...he raised him from small to big. An adopted son is also a son, ma! This also can be considered him being an ’Emperor Father’. It’s not bad, la!

Eve: Poor SY LOOL. When you realize the person you admire the most has seen you at your most shameful...it also really feels like the Creator is a peeping Tom in their relationship. Awks.

Wuxian: I wonder how ’old’ SY’s creator is *cackles*