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

Sui Yuan, who didn’t know that the protagonist gong had already stuck a ’bane of my existence’ tag onto him, happily finished his work at the Flower Appreciation Banquet. After taking advantage of His Majesty the Emperor’s cooperation to show off how ’favoured’ he was in front of the Capital’s children of nobility, he peacefully waited for Situ Yu to come ask the Emperor to grant him a marriage.

Of course, to say ’peacefully’ was not very appropriate. Although Sui Yuan already restrained himself and did not visit the red-light district Xu Tu often strolled in, his daily task of parading about as an increasingly arrogant hedonistic son still needed to be done at the appropriate times and places.

Those that scolded him indirectly in a mystifying way, beat them up! Those that relied on money to act unrestrained and dare compete with him for the things he likes, beat them up! Those that are even more arrogant and despotic than he is, beat them up! Basically, Sui Yuan’s everyday life followed a very consistent schedule of going out each day, getting fawned on, having people come find faults with him, bullying that person, entering the palace, seeing the Emperor, and getting bullied in turn (Yi?). However, one day became two, two became one week, one week became two weeks—a whole month passed but Situ Yu did not show any sign of movement. This made Sui Yuan rather anxious!

Where was the ’fell in love at first sight and being in a hurry to get her’ I was promised, ne? The protagonist shou is waiting for you there, ah! Protagonist gong, is there really no problem with how calm you’re being?!

Sui Yuan couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong. Was it because he left out those two lines that were supposed to be used to mock the protagonist gong and shou? But you didn’t even give me the chance to mock you, ah. QAQ

Sui Yuan simply wanted to kneel to the protagonist gongs that did not act according to the arrangements! As long as the protagonist gong was unwilling to act, he could only worry helplessly on the side, completely unable to do anything about it.

The protagonist shou was in the inner residence and would not easily leave, afraid he might let the cat out of the bag regarding his identity. Meanwhile, the protagonist gong was part of the enemy faction. No need to even ask if taking the initiative to have a leisurely chat with him was considered OOCing or not. Sui Yuan completely did not see Situ Yu’s face during this period of time at all!

——Evidently, the protagonist gong’s people-avoiding skill has already reached perfection.

Sui Yuan was so troubled that his portrayal of Xu Tu became even more convincing. Each and every one of his movements carried an anger that could not be extinguished, becoming all the more dazzling and intense.

One day, Sui Yuan once again met with a fellow who was unpleasant to the eye. He, who had perfected how to do his mission a long time ago, was too lazy to even speak. He directly snatched his whip and snapped him with a particular sharpness and decisiveness.

Although Xu Tu was not fond of literature, his martial arts was not bad. With a whip, he appeared even more formidable—as imposing as a tiger’s roar. In an instant, he whipped the troublemaker until chaos ensued in the streets, not forgetting to also overturn a few vendors’ carts while he was at it.

Although Sui Yuan stirred up trouble, he always had a sense of propriety. The people who were violently beaten up by him always appeared to end up in difficult situations but in reality, they never sustained any serious injuries. All of their injuries were superficial wounds that healed after two days of rest at home. Therefore, the number of people who came to provoke him increased drastically, their goals for doing so greatly varying. Furthermore, when people saw him bravely and ruthlessly fight in the middle of the streets, they stopped coming over to meddle. First of all, this adopted prince was someone an ordinary person dared not provoke. Secondly, they were afraid that if they tried to intervene, they would end up evoking this little ancestor’s fury and cause things to blow up. Thirdly, who knew whether this was a situation in which both parties consented?

It was rumoured that this little ancestor was gorgeous and when angered, he became more brilliant, drawing people in. His appearance enchanted people. Once, there was a wastrel who confessed after drinking wine at a brothel that he liked to provoke Xu Tu and watch him angrily whip him. If he didn’t come bother him every now and then, his heart would itch with impatience and he would feel upset no matter what he did.

When he said this, there were unexpectedly quite a few people who agreed in secret. This dumbfounded people who didn’t have masochistic tendencies and felt like their three views had been toppled over. Of course, no one dared let Xu Tu hear this kind of opinion. However, Zhao Xihe, who had caught wind of this piece of information from his secret agent who roamed the streets of the Capital, ended up smashing a whole set of teacups. He then went to settle the accounts on Sui Yuan’s behalf. He fired all the people related to the person who had said that about Sui Yuan from their Official positions, and he transferred the entire family to a post outside of the capital, forbidding them to return to the Capital for no reason whatsoever.

The secret agent that had reported this matter："........................"

——WTF, did I make a mistake? Although these remarks were coarse and unrefined, was this matter so important? Even if you want to be so fiercely protective of your children, you shouldn’t be so unreasonable, ah! Could you blame them for liking to get beaten up? Life is already miserable enough as an M, you don’t need to abuse them any more!

In the end, Sui Yuan, who had always whipped people and had never been thwarted, was unexpectedly stopped for the first time! Sui Yuan raised his eyebrows and looked at the man who held his whip, tone vile, "Hey~ Could it be that this brother cannot bear to see injustice and plan on defending the weak against the strong?"

Naturally, Sui Yuan knew who this was. Sui Yuan had secretly noted that this person was standing beside the protagonist gong during the flower appreciation banquet.

This person was the son of General Zhen Bei, who had grown up on the frontier and had just returned to the Capital, only to be coaxed into Situ Yu’s faction. With the son of General Zhen Bei’s help, it was like acquiring a sizeable military power. This made Situ Yu particularly confident. Furthermore, after Situ Yu ascended the throne, he wielded one half of the tiger tally and would make several decisive wars, ending up as the most famous general of the new age.

In the plot, this General Zhen Bei’s son did not come into contact with Xu Tu much. However, this person was usually honest and loyal. He could not stand by idly and watch injustices occur and would also be considered a reasonable one.

While Sui Yuan was pondering about what would happen if Xu Tu went up against the person with his original strength— whether or not he would be beaten up very miserably—the other suddenly let go and revealed a smile, "Young Master Xu, I am called Zhang Zhenye and am General Zhen Bei’s son. I have only recently returned to the Capital. It is said that my father and your esteemed father were comrades-in-arms."

Sui Yuan："........................"

——What about the ’being unable to bear seeing injustices’ he was promised, ne? What was this kind of atmosphere, as if they were relatives chatting about domestic affairs, all about? It couldn’t be that this was him being diplomatic first before using force?

Sui Yuan blanked out, dazed by the other’s action. From his original vigilant, rejecting aura unexpectedly came an expression of foolish surprise.

Although Zhang Zhenye indeed did not like how Xu Tu was beating people up in the middle of the streets, he recognized the person who was being beaten up, and he held no good will towards that person. Thus, even though Zhang Zhenye liked to meddle, he would not meddle for the sake of this person. Besides, Zhang Zhenye was a martial artist and could naturally see that Xu Tu was lenient and merciful in every respect and as such, he didn’t feel the need to criticize him.

Zhang Zhenye grasped firmly onto Xu Tu’s whip. He only wished for him to stop his destruction of the little peddlers’ vendor booths nearby. Fortunately, Xu Tu also seemed to have propriety. Although he has always upended the vendor booths in the area, he has never hurt a single person. Furthermore, the servant by his side would toss silver taels to the affected civilians. He was already much better than the other hedonistic sons coming from rich families.

In short, after observing for a period of time, Zhang Zhenye could feel that although Xu Tu was bossy, he was not a truly malicious person and was worth making friends with.

Faced with Zhang Zhenye’s smiling eyes, Sui Yuan attempted to make a comeback. He rolled his whip along his own wrist and lazily smiled, "What, did you think that Ben Gongzi would let off this fellow if you brought up the relationship between our fathers?"

"Of course not," Zhang Zhenye shook his head, "It is just that ever since the Flower Appreciation Banquet, I had wanted to make your acquaintance. I did not think that I would have such a chance today. I had originally planned on coming to invite Young Master Xu to drink."

Sui Yuan："........................"

Sui Yuan felt stupefied. A person from the enemy faction suddenly ran over to invite him to have a drink. What did this mean? Did he plan on bribing him because he knew how spoiled he was by the Emperor, was he planning on scheming against him because he was unhappy with him? In short, no matter the reason, Sui Yuan did not have any plans on making friends with this zealot from the Fourth Prince’s camp.

"I would prefer not to! Oldest Young Master Zhang, Ben Gongzi dare not drink your cup of wine!" Sui Yuan snorted, not giving any face, "Don’t think that I don’t know that Zhang Gongzi is close to that Fourth Brother of mine. People who walk different paths cannot make plans together. It would be best for us to bid farewell, ba!"

Without waiting for Sui Yuan to cup his hand and leave, a gentle voice interrupted before he could slip away, "It is only that we appreciate Young Master Xu’s outstanding character. We hold no malice and ask that Young Master Xu does not refuse us."

A scholar dressed in green emerged from the crowd, a gentle and refined smile on his face. He seemed quite approachable and the gaze he used to look at Sui Yuan was especially sincere. Sui Yuan felt that it was truly a mistake to go out today. Who knew what demon he offended to unexpectedly end up being stopped by the protagonist gong’s left and right hand subordinates!

Xie Ling came from an influential family of great literary reputation but was the black sheep of the Xie family. The members of the Xie Family were all scholars but did not seek reputation nor profit. They very rarely took official posts and much preferred to work at the Academy of Classical Learning. They believed in education for everyone, irrespective of background. Their reputation and voice amongst the literati was magnificent and were highly revered by all scholars. Meanwhile, Xie Ling was an unorthodox genius amongst these people. His appearance was elegant like a distinguished scholar of no post, but inside he was full of rotten ideas. He thought that Xie Family’s simple way of life was beneath his dignity. On the contrary, he believed that while one was alive, they ought to struggle, reach for the highest position possible, and leave their names in the annals of history. Furthermore, the helper for this that he settled on was precisely Situ Yu. In the end, he accomplished what he wished for.

"Although our paths are different, we shall only make small talk this time. We shall not discuss matters of governmental affairs. If we are able to get along and become good friends, even if we each serve different masters, it should not affect our friendship," Xie Ling looked at Sui Yuan, smiling, his tone carrying an implicit suggestion, "To have another friend is to have another road. Surely, Young Master Xu understands."

Sui Yuan："........................"

——Understands? Understand what? If we become friends and you lose, then I’ll give you a hand but if I lose, will you give me a hand? You haven’t even formally entered the battle for succession, yet here you are already starting to look for an escape route. Is there really nothing wrong with this?!

Sui Yuan slightly narrowed his eyes, sizing Xie Ling up in a close examination, tone irreverent, "Who are you?"

Xie Ling was not displeased. He only smiled gently, saluting Sui Yuan, "I haven’t yet introduced myself. Indeed, this lowly one is lacking manners. This lowly one is of the Huainan Xie Family, Xie Ling."

Sui Yuan could feel that this Xie Ling was obviously very determined to win him over. Although this did not happen in the original plot, it was probably because Zhao Xihe had been extremely blatant about how overbearingly he loved him at the Flower Appreciation Banquet and thus ended up attracting Xie Ling’s concern.

Zhang Zhenye was upright and stubborn. Meanwhile, although Xie Ling was tactful, he was a firm believer of never giving up until one’s goals have been attained. Even if Sui Yuan is able to escape once or twice, he will not be able to escape a third or fourth time. Moreover, Xu Tu’s settings made it so that he could not escape at all. Even if he knew it was a trap, he will still face the disaster head on. To put it frankly, Xu Tu was someone with a big ego and was unwilling to ever accept any kind of loss.

Sui Yuan was very conflicted. However, in the blink of an eye, a miraculous column of light shone in his mind. Wasn’t he just fretting over how to find out what’s happening with the protagonist gong? Zhang Zhenye and Xie Ling were extremely close with Situ Yu. Situ Yu would most likely not conceal from them matters he encountered. Even if he hid them, Xie Ling, this keen-minded sophisticate, would be able to guess it. Since the two people were just itching to send themselves to his door and Sui Yuan had no way to refuse, why not just take advantage of the situation?

Sui Yuan, who thought up a mental outline of a plan, shot a glance at the two people and snorted once. He threw his whip to a servant by his side, "Fine. Ben Gongzi shall do you the honour of accompanying you this once. Ben Gongzi shall see just what kind of scheme you’re brewing!"

Xie Ling smiled and made a ’please, follow me’ gesture. He took the initiative to move forward. Meanwhile, Zhang Zhenye faced Sui Yuan with a candid smile, walking alongside him.

It had to be said, although he had a knot in his heart, Sui Yuan got along very happily with the two people. Zhang Zhenye was candid by nature and he and Xu Tu shared many hobbies. They chatted about life at the frontier and their talk about marching into war made an extraordinary light spark in Sui Yuan’s eyes.

Xu Tu, the character, originally had great interest in this. He also had muddled memories about his life at the frontier from when he was a child. Thus, he was very nostalgic and hated the enemy for having invaded and destroyed his homeland. He especially wanted to don a suit of armour and ride into battle one day and expel the invaders in order to avenge his family. Unfortunately, the Emperor didn’t trust him before and basically never considered allowing him to go to war. Xu Tu had no choice but to suck in his hatred and abandon his dream. For now, he’ll let it stay dormant and hope that the new Emperor that ascends the throne will allow him to taste his long-cherished wish.

Zhang Zhenye’s account created a vivid image of the life at the frontier in Sui Yuan’s mind. By lucky coincidence, his narration went along with Xu Tu’s own thoughts and hopes. The two people talked and talked to their heart’s content. The original distance between them closed in by quite a lot.

Since he had returned to the Capital, Zhang Zhenye felt particularly uneasy. There were too many rules and customs in the Capital, very different from how free life was at the frontier. Furthermore, the noble children here were all of soft skin and tender flesh, pampered and delicately pretty. Forget even mentioning whether they’d be interested in the frontier lifestyle like Xu Tu was, they even faintly looked down upon him as a ’boorish fellow’ who didn’t understand literature and grew up at the frontier.

Right now, when Zhang Zhenye looked at Xu Tu, who was leaning towards him and watching him attentively, face full of eagerness and eyes bright, his goodwill towards the youth skyrocketed like a rocket into the sky. The original goodwill from his first impression made contact with his current goodwill, becoming a deeply-rooted good opinion of Xu Tu.

Compared to how utterly sincere Zhang Zhenye was, Xie Ling was much more conservative. Most of the time, he listened attentively to the two people’s chatter with a smile on his face. Now and then, he would insert an incisive comment or two. He was not excessively enthusiastic nor was he indifferent. It made people feel soothed all around. Only, compared to the sincere Zhang Zhenye with a spotless record, Xie Ling who acted ’just right’ evidently appeared rather fake. He was easy to get along with, but one would not bare his heart to him.

No matter if it was from Xu Tu’s perspective or Sui Yuan’s own, their goodwill towards Zhang Zhenye was far greater than that towards Xie Ling’s. Sui Yuan had an innate vigilance against Xie Ling, this kind of sly and fox-like character. Zhao Xihe was also this kind of person, and thus he was already mentally exhausted from dealing with him. He did not want to have to deal with a second one at all!

The venue for their dinner and the type of wine served was likely arranged by Xie Ling. It was fine, sophisticated, and really suited Sui Yuan’s taste. It was evident that he had spent a lot of time pondering and inquiring about his tastes. If not Xie Ling, Zhang Zhenye, this uncouth fellow, would probably not think of this place.

Good wine, good dishes, and an animated conversation in addition— the three people turned a bit tipsy in no time. Zhang Zhenye, the least scheming of the three, drank the most. The alcohol instantly went to his head. Meanwhile, Xie Ling only had red cheeks. His eyes, however, remained calm like water, his bearing elegant and reserved. As for Sui Yuan, on the surface, he had drunk just about as much as Zhang Zhenye had and he was already starting to speak nonsense. However, his mind was sober, as calm as he had been before he started drinking. He could still clearly remember the reason he accepted this invitation.

While he appeared drunk, this was a good opportunity. Sui Yuan borrowed the pretext of ’rambling while drunk’ to finally spit out the words he ’couldn’t say while sober’.

"The Fourth Prince?" Zhang Zhenye casually wrapped an arm around Sui Yuan’s shoulder, tilted his head as he pondered with bewilderness, "The Fourth Prince seems about the same, ah?"

"No, the Fourth Prince is indeed acting rather peculiar as of late," Xie Ling shook his head and asked soon after in return, "Why does Young Master Xu ask?"

"Something’s fishy. Situ Yu, that youngster, is absolutely fishy as of late. Me and my second brother can both see this!" Sui Yuan shook his head, pleased with himself, taking joy in another’s misfortune, "The one who understands you the most, aside from your family members, is your enemy. Situ Yu having a bad mood as of late makes me extremely happy, ne! Quickly, tell me, why is Situ Yu unhappy lately? Tell me and let me be happy, ah!"

Xie Ling didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He had tried to use the excuse of being drunk to probe for information in vain. In the end, Xu Tu, this youngster, was still constantly thinking about mocking Situ Yu even when inebriated. This made Xie Ling disappointed, but he also found it funny. This was also a kind of...en, pure candidness, ba?

Xie Ling was extremely ambitious. He had never cared much about social rankings and never thought that it was inappropriate to make fun of his master in private. When he saw Xu Tu’s pressing, shiny eyes on him, Xie Ling subconsciously indulged him a bit. Moreover, Situ Yu’s behaviour has been really strange lately. He was unable to make any sense of the matter and was thus somewhat worried. Perhaps he could uncover something from Xu Tu? After all, ’the one who understands you the most aside from family is your enemy’!

"Recently, the Fourth Prince is frequently lost in thought, as if..." Xie Ling pondered, looking for an appropriate metaphor, "As if he is longing for someone, tossing and turning restlessly in bed, thinking of them whether asleep or awake."

"Yi? This has been happening?!" Zhang Zhenye’s eyes widened, especially shocked.

Xie Ling gently smiled as he shot him a glance, "I said, ’as if’. The Fourth Prince is indeed always lost in thought. Aside from this, I cannot think of anything that could cause him to make such an expression."

While Zhang Zhenye was still letting the shocking news that ’the Fourth Prince is unexpectedly suffering from love sickness’ sink in, Xu Tu, who was by his side, suddenly slapped the table, scaring him.

"So it was like this! Indeed, it was like this!" Sui Yuan was so excited he nearly glowed, "Hahahaha! I knew it!"

Probably because he was more vulnerable after getting drunk but Zhang Zhenye and Xie Ling were dazzled by Sui Yuan. Only a long time later did their spirits come back.

"Knew what?" Xie Ling was astounded.

"I know who Situ Yu likes!" Sui Yuan lowered his voice, saying in a secretive manner.

"Who is it?!" Zhang Zhenye and Xie Ling asked in unison, both their interest immediately piqued.

The charm of gossip could not be resisted by anyone no matter who it was. Much more if it was gossip related to one’s boss’ love life. It was simply a special kind of high brought upon by taboo!

"Why should I tell you?" Sui Yuan leaned back against his chair, pleased with himself. Both his arms laid atop of the handrests, and the expression on his face made people want to give him a terrible spanking, "Ben Gongzi hasn’t seen enough of Situ Yu’s lovestricken appearance. Ne! How could I let him fulfill his wishes so easily? He desires this beauty but cannot get her...hehe, perhaps he will be unable to compete for the throne because of his thoughts of her, ne!"

Although Xie Ling did not believe that the master he chose would forsaken his ambition for love, it was really a pity that Situ Yu’s increasing frequency of absentmindedness was really causing Xie Ling to genuinely worry.

When he saw Xu Tu’s schadenfreudic appearance, Xie Ling’s teeth itched. He had a strong urge to press him down onto the table, to rub, and to pinch him over and over again, making him give in and beg for mercy with tears in his eyes.

Unfortunately, this kind of thought could only remain as a fantasy in his mind. In reality, Xie Ling had no choice but to promise Xu Tu many benefits before he was able to coax this little young master, who had become extremely willful and troublesome after getting drunk, to loosen his tongue.

The more difficult it is to obtain some information, the more credible it seems. In order to deal with intelligent people, one must use this method.

If this information were easily given out without being thought through, then Xie Ling would probably think that the chance it’s true would be only around 10-20%. However, if he’s forced to pay a great price to obtain the information, even if it’s not 80-90%, he’ll believe that it’s at least 60% credible.

After getting Xie Ling’s promise of a heap of benefits and seeing him so pained that he almost couldn’t maintain his smile, Sui Yuan couldn’t help but feel extremely satisfied.

——He was able to drive the plot forward, sell off the protagonist gong, and cheat Xie Ling of a pile of benefits. This kind of feeling was simply awesome!

The author has something to say:

Recently, I’ve been thinking when would be a good time to end the story. Aside from the plot line involving the Destroyers, which I haven’t yet envisioned thoroughly, all of the settings that I ought to write have already been written, la. Even if I ended things now, it wouldn’t be considered incomplete, ne? Afterwards, I decided to write until chapter 186. Why? You guys saw my messages! It’s almost at 18600! This means that the average chapter will have 100 comments, doesn’t it sound really awesome?! If I make it longer, the average number of comments will decrease. Then it won’t be as awesome. 40 chapters, it will probably finish within two of three more worlds. At that time, the storyline involving Destroyers should catch up, ba? Thus, we have so easily and happily come to this decision. =33333= I’ve been writing this novel for so long. Everyone ought to be tired of it ba, wwwwww.

Eve: ...Hehe. Jokes on author-dada. This novel ended up being 205 chapters (including extras). With that said, at this point in time, we are 64 chapters away from the end.....*to myself* jiayou......

Wuxian: jiayou, indeed *lights a candle for Eve*