How To Survive as a Villain

The sky was cold and grey. It was early winter, and the weather was becoming colder day by day.

In the early morning light, the sound of a rooster screaming three times could be heard, most of the servants and maids in the palace haven’t yet woken up. Meanwhile, Yan HeQing had picked up the broom and was ready to start his work of sweeping the snow at the courtyard.

In the yard, the thick snow covered the tree branches and railings. At a first glance, there was a vast expanse of white mixing up with the sky; except for a red plum in the corner of the courtyard, which was very bright and eye-catching.

Seeing no one around, Yan HeQing took the broom as a sword and danced a beautiful sword formation technique.

Yan HeQing calmed his emotions and swept the floor diligently. After half an hour, the snow in the courtyard had been swept away. Just when he was about to return to his room, a snowfall suddenly hit him on the head.

Inside the snowfall was a hidden stone. The pain exploded on Yan HeQing’s forehead, and when he reached out to touch it, sure enough, he saw blood on his fingers.

“Hahaha.” Two lowly slaves pointed at Yan HeQing and started laughing.

“Hello, surnamed Yan, I heard that His Majesty saved you not long ago, so why don’t you go to Jing Yang Palace?” The little fatty said while laughing, with extreme mockery.

“You see how he looks with a charcoal face all day long, can His Majesty even look at him?” Another sneered.

Yan HeQing’s face was extremely cold, he didn’t say a word and turned away, intending to enter inside his room.

“Hey, don’t go..” The fatty slave quickly stopped him. “We just want to talk to you..”

Yan HeQing bowed his head and wanted to bypass him. Another slave reached out and grabbed Yan HeQing’s back collar pulling him back: “Oh, embarrassed, right? Have you seen His Majesty’s temper? You can’t even talk about it?”

“That’s right.” The fat servant wasn’t happy with this and brutally pushed Yan HeQing.

However, even if he was insulted like this, Yan HeQing wasn’t angry at all and endured everything silently.

In a darker hidden place, Eunuch Zhao, who was seeing everything, frowned.

“Eunuch Zhao, I think this man is such a coward, he won’t even avoid suffering.” Steward¹ Feng, the one that made Yan HeQing kneel on that snowy night, whispered to Eunuch Zhao.

“Humph, fool.” Eunuch Zhao glanced coldly at him.

Steward Feng was being a flatterer. Trying to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it², he didn’t want to become like that. He immediately blushed and tightened his neck.

Eunuch Zhao held his hands behind his back: “The ones that can tolerate pain are the most terrifying. Take a good look at his eyes.”

Steward Feng quickly extended his neck and looked over.

Because Yan HeQing kept his head down, it was difficult to see his eyes; but occasionally when he did looked up, his eyes were full of perseverance and fearlessness: like the sharp blade of a sword, like the burning fire, like the running rivers and the sea, more like the peak of the mountains that hadn’t break for hundreds of millions of years.

At one glance, though, one couldn’t help but shiver with fear.

“This…” Steward Feng was stunned.

“You understand now? This man is a caged beast. If one day he’s able to escape from this prison, he will tear and crush anyone that had hurted him into pieces. He will swallow it down, no residue will be left!” Eunuch Zhao’s eyes narrowed slightly, his tone dangerous, “This person…must never stay.”

“Eunuch Zhao, what’re you suggesting?” Steward Feng made a decapitating gesture.

Eunuch Zhao shook his head: “Although the Inner Court doesn’t lack servants, His Majesty won’t pursue anything, and after all, he’s the prince of the Southern Yan Kingdom. Nonetheless, he was saved by His Majesty several days ago, so we can’t touch him. The best way to deal with a beast is not to kill them..”

Steward Feng bowed respectfully: “Eunuch Zhao, please enlighten me.”

Eunuch Zhao said slowly: “For such a wolf-like man, only by grinding off his claws, pulling out his fangs, breaking off his spine, make him become a servile servant bit by bit, make him kneel on the ground for his entire life, so that he could no longer stand, only like this we will be able to rest assured. Steward Feng, do you understand?”

“This servant understands.” Steward Feng leaned down again.

“Go ahead if you understand.” Eunuch Zhao waved his sleeve and turned away.

Footnotes:

Footnotes

1. 管事 guǎn shì; Steward: One of the crew’s titles. It’s in charge of managing affairs, conducting and preside over them / A person employed to manage housework or chores. Higher status than ordinary servants.
2. 偷鸡不成蚀把米 tōu jī bù chéng shí bǎ mǐ; It’s a Chinese idiom, it means that by trying to gain an advantage you will only ending up worse. From 《说岳全传》第25回 (“shuō yuè quán chuán” dì 25 huí), “The Story of Yue Fei”, chapter 25. Written by (钱彩 qián cǎi) Qian Cai, a novelist with an unknown birth and death date from the Qing Dynasty [1644-1911].