CH 28

At first, Su Zhan felt a little at loss. Like a child doing something bad that was caught red-handed by an adult. Although he was embarrassed from the bottom of his heart for showing such a cowardly look, he still had to act. It was natural for him to try and perform well. Fortunately for him, the Male Lead will turn over sooner or later, so Su Zhan’s heart was more balanced. Just thinking about the few glances he stole from the person in front of him, the corners of Su Zhan’s eyes involuntarily twitched.

The appearance and figure of the person was so handsome that it made Su Zhan ashamed to find out that it was exactly the type of dish he preferred. Especially the aura around him. For a 27-year-old pure zero who can only imagine about such things for a long time. In other words, the other person is simply a fatal temptation for him. This is the so-called imperial-domineering-attitude. Wait…

Emperor? Golden eyes= Xuanyuan Canye. Su Zhan was smart enough to pretend to take a casual glance at the person sitting down in the room as soon as he entered the door. He was lucky to notice that person’s special features because those golden eyes were very iconic, just like his own blue eyes and white hair.

The sudden realization was like a blow to his head. Su Zhan immediately woke up. How could he forget that this person was the emperor with three thousand beauties in the harem? Isn’t this the legendary stallion? Unlike the Male Lead Leng Qianshang’s harem which was only used for disguising himself, this one was a real thing… a real stallion.

This was the type of male that Su Zhan couldn’t accept no matter what. While it doesn’t help that the other person is full of aggressiveness and is incredibly handsome, he himself is a person obsessed with cleanliness, both mentally and physically.

So…

[The favorability of the Male Lead towards the Second Male -1]

[The favorability of the Male Lead towards the Second Male -1]

[The favorability of the Male Lead towards the Second Male -2]

……

The confused Fu Yichen raised his eyebrows secretly, taking another sip of tea, letting out a long sigh of relief. That’s right, that’s right. This is the reaction that the Male Lead should have when he sees the Second Male.

Don’t look at that timid and obedient appearance of this evildoer. Right now he might be thinking of how to kill him. Xuanyuan Canye can be said to have indirectly killed Leng Qianshang’s family. Hasn’t he been trying for many years to remove the Second Male from the throne and become the master of the dynasty? Therefore, it’s normal for the Male Lead’s favorability to drop below -30.

Fu Yichen calmly glanced at Leng Qianshang who was standing beside him and wasn’t daring to lift up his head. A stream of silver hair was neatly draped behind his head, hanging down like a silver waterfall. It looked unexpectedly soft and those blue eyes, with the help of Su Zhan’s face, looked unexpectedly suitable. From Fu Yichen’s point of view, it was a little good-looking. Like Su Zhan doing cosplay.

Especially with Leng Qianshang’s gorgeous outfit that made him seem a bit… coquettish? Fu Yichen couldn’t find a suitable adjective to describe him for a while, but he really looked a bit evil.

Su Zhan was definitely not such a person. That guy normally has a cold-looking face on. Although Fu Yichen had never worked together with him, as far as he could remember, that person always had a cold attitude and didn’t like to communicate with others. Even Shen Tianyu’s arrogant young master persona didn’t have such a coquettish temperament. So Fu Yichen was confused once more. For a while, he had some suspicions. But after this event passed, he could find a suitable method to try out and see if his conjectures were right.

“Your Majesty, you… what brings you here?” Su Zhan rubbed his hands in embarrassment. The other person’s eyes stayed on him for a bit too long, so he couldn’t help but speak up first. What he was more worried about was the development of the situation that didn’t match the plot. In the original text, Xuanyuan Canye didn’t appear in the brothel, let alone meet him there. So why was he here now?

Just like the time-travelling novel he had read before, the only way to leave this place was to correctly follow the plot to the end. No wonder he had such a strong will to finish his role as Leng Qianshang. Maybe this was something like a guide in the dark. The plot of the original novel had changed and he needed to correct it. This was probably the reason why he transmigrated.

Obviously, he was a life-threatening enemy and they even met at an embarrassing place like a brothel. It was really strange for the other person to inexplicably call him over. Truthfully, Fu Yichen was also very embarrassed and wasn’t doing much better than Leng Qianshang. But he was the most powerful man in the world right now, he had to keep his aura of the emperor and display it firmly.

So Fu Yichen expressionlessly took another sip of his tea. He then turned his head and said indifferently, “Qian Wang looks very familiar with this kind of place.” It was a sentence that was neither serious nor joking. But no matter how anyone heard it, it sounded sarcastic.

Su Zhan thought to himself that although this was a play without a director or script, it was still a matter of life and death. He was acting at his own expense, so he couldn’t really afford to mess up. Of course, his own acting skills were unquestionable. Even if he was performing on the spot without a script, he had many years of experience in acting and was not afraid of his own actions being seen through. He was a professional after all.

So, Su Zhan shamelessly laughed, “Your Majesty, it’s as if you don’t know about Chen. Chen isn’t interested in most things and doesn’t have the ability… This is just to play…” Su Zhan said with a twitch at the corner of his mouth, revealing a meaningful smile.

He looked completely unashamed and proud. He even pretended not to hear Fu Yichen’s ridicule. Sure enough, as expected of the black-bellied man who had been pretending for the past 20 years of his life. If Fu Yichen didn’t know any better, he would have really considered him as a rubbish man who had good skin yet didn’t know how to improve himself.

Truthfully, as Leng Qianshang’s father was a hero and one of the founders of the country along with his two brothers who were also generals of the country, it was impossible for the emperor to kill them in an upright manner. He could only use some shady means. Therefore, on the surface, Xuanyuan Canye had always treated their family kindly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have raised Leng Qianshang into such a lazy bastard and was always worried that the other person would bite back one day. The kindness the emperor showed to Leng Qianshang was naturally only superficial for the world to see.

So although both of them were lifelong enemies, the superficial relationship between the two of them was actually very good before they tore off their faces. So, Leng Qianshang always showed the attitude of a child who had done something bad and was now facing his parents. On the surface, the cruel emperor stated that he would follow the example of the previous emperors and treat him as a younger brother, saying that this is what the royal family owes them.

“You~” Fu Yichen let out a long sigh. Acting as if he ‘hated iron for not turning into steel1‘. But he had absolutely no intention of delving deeper into that subject. Anyways, for Xuanyuan Canye, Leng Qianshang’s death is what he looked forward to the most. It was logical for him to admonish him, “Coming into this kind of place will ruin your identity. Don’t come here again in the future.”

“Thanking the emperor for his teachings. Chen understands now.” Although he said that, it was completely perfunctory.

Fu Yichen frowned, “If you don’t have enough beauties in your palace, why don’t you tell me instead of coming to such a place?”

Su Zhan pretended to laugh and the corners of his mouth froze. The saying ‘changing women like changing clothes’ rings true here. He couldn’t take this person seriously.

[The favorability of the Male Lead towards the Second Male -1]

[The favorability of the Male Lead towards the Second Male -1]

[The total favorability of the Male Lead towards the Second Male is -20]

Fu Yichen’s face was unmoved. But he regretted his words after a while. He didn’t have a pot at first, why did he have to get himself one2 Xuanyuan Canye’s favorite thing to do is to put eyeliners3 around Leng Qianshang, especially using the pretense of sending beauties to him. The Yao Li, who was killed by Leng Qianshang for committing adultery on the first day he arrived, is a (non)living example. Obviously, Leng Qianshang couldn’t be more clear about this matter.

Sure enough, his favorability dropped again. But now that he opened his mouth, Fu Yichen could only continue. He deliberately put on the airs of ‘I can send you a group of beautiful women’.

“I’ll help you obtain any beauty you want.” Fu Yichen acted as if he was completely doting on the actions of the Male Lead.

“Your Majesty… Thank you very much, Your Majesty!” Su Zhan’s eyes lit up immediately, looking very much like a flirtatious person. But soon he looked very embarrassed, “However, the beauties in Chen’s mansion have their own merits.” Besides, if the other person was so disgusted with him being here, why was he even here in the first place? Su Zhan despised such a hypocritical person. Sure enough, his face is the only good thing about him.

[The favorability of the Male Lead towards the Second Male -1]

Fu Yichen speechlessly stared at Leng Qianshang. To be honest, it’s such a waste for such a good-looking person to act so shamelessly. If he didn’t know that this person was just acting and was actually in disguise, he would have looked down on such a person who used Su Zhan’s face in vain.

Fu Yichen’s face was dark. He only felt that this Leng Qianshang not only knew how to act but also knew how to hold grudges. His idea of gaining favorability seems a bit difficult now. The more he got along with him, the more he felt that this guy shouldn’t be Shen Tianyu. This was the difference between the sky and the ground. Shen Tianyu’s mind was very simple compared to his.

The scene became embarrassing for a while, but the time for the poem creation soon ended. The old madame stood on the stage again to preside over the whole situation, “Distinguished guests, the time is up. Ning Guniang has been kept waiting for a long time now.” With a wink, she let the staff go and collect, putting away the poems that the guests had just finished writing.

The old madame continued, “Please wait a moment dear guests. We will soon reveal who gets Ning Guniang for the night.”

Fu Yichen somewhat felt that the old madame’s hosting skills were much better than some modern vase4 host. Her voice was very stable. However, Fu Yichen suddenly turned his head to look at Leng Qianshang, “Isn’t Qian Wang here to find this Ning Guniang?”

Su Zhan frowned and suddenly understood the reason why the emperor appeared here. It really wasn’t to visit a brothel woman then? This person was very hypocritical. On one hand, describing this brothel as ‘this kind of place’ on the other hand coming here as well. However, Su Zhan showed a regretful look on his face, “This… Naturally is true. But Your Majesty also knows that Chen… is ignorant. So Chen might as well give up first because Chen will lose face later.” His face looked wronged and embarrassed, his performance was very good.

[The favorability of the Male Lead towards the Second Male -1]

Fu Yichen was immediately speechless, feeling that the other person wasn’t much worse than him in acting. But then he thought about it again, wasn’t that Ning woman Leng Qianshang’s eyeliner? Then if he had used force to bring that woman to the palace, wouldn’t he have broken one of Leng Qianshang’s arms5?

For a moment, Fu Yichen had this idea in his mind. Then he continued to drink tea and watch the play calmly. Sure enough, the old madame came out laughing, holding a piece of paper and twisting her waist as she walked. Her face, which was covered in powder, was smiling like a chrysanthemum.

“You’ve all been kept waiting,” The old madame shook the silk scarf in her hand, “All of our distinguished guests are full of knowledge and we have learned a lot from you.” Fu Yichen guessed that the author might have a limited vocabulary and sure enough, the old madame said it in the next sentence, “But Ning Guniang has chosen the most artistic one. Hahaha, in all my years, this is the first time I’ve seen such a wonderful poem.”

In fact, Fu Yichen didn’t read this passage carefully, but only got a general idea of it. So when he saw the old madame invite the Female Lead who was smugly shaking her paper fan to come on the stage, he steeled himself to prepare for what to come.

However, when the Female Lead shamelessly read out the poem. Fu Yichen was angered to the point of almost biting off his own tongue.

“By my bedside comes the bright moonlight,

It covers the floor like frost.

Looking up I see the clear moon,

Looking down I miss my dear hometown6“.

Fu Yichen: What a shameless thief. Why didn’t she just go and dig on Li Bai7’s grave? What she plagiarized was a poem from an elementary school textbook.

“Wonderful!”

“Absolutely good poetry, really good!”

“This humble one pays respects. This brother8 is a very literary person.”

“Yes, this person is really unprecedented. This humble student has never seen such a wonderful poem.”

……

Fu Yichen: …. He was so speechless he didn’t want to say anything.

At this time, Leng Qianshang, who was beside him, clapped his hands and couldn’t help but sigh, “What a wonderful poem, wonderful indeed.” But at the same time, the system prompt sounded in Fu Yichen’s mind.

[The favorability of the Male Lead towards the Female Lead -1]

[The favorability of the Male Lead towards the Female Lead -2]

……

[The total favorability of the Male Lead towards the Female Lead is -18]

There it goes. Fu Yichen suddenly felt that the favorability of this world was much worse than the previous Mary Sue campus romance. Especially the favorability of the Male Lead, which is particularly difficult to brush. Is it because he is a black-bellied character?

Translator’s corner

Today’s discussion is about…

Would you like to transmigrate? 

Xinghe says she would love to… I said I’m too scared… Transmigration is kinda dangerous… 

Which camp are you guys in? Transmigrate or the I’m too scared party?

feel resentful towards someone for failing to meet expectations

He means that at first he didn’t need to mention it, but he did and added the Male Lead’s displeasure towards himself

spies

people that only look good but have no skills

not literal here in case you didn’t know… more metaphorical

credits to Wen Xin Jiao on https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/ for translating this poem. Libai is the original creator of this poem

the original creator of the poem above called 静夜思 or Homesick in a quiet night

Xiǎo xiōngdì like the word bro. Like this bro is really good with poems