Chapter 34
Editor: SimoB
Shi Qing waved a hand in front of his nose to dispel the cloying fragrances wafting through the lavishly decorated room, but to no avail. The overwhelming smell still assaulted his senses. He could only cough twice and cover his nose with his sleeve while he browsed through the memories the System sent him.
This was a fantasy world set in imperial China.
The male lead was the Ninth Prince Yu Chennian. He started as the most pitiful member of the imperial family and rose to become the ultimate winner of the battle for the throne.
The Emperor had nine sons, of whom the most unpopular was Yu Chennian. The reason being, as per the novel, because his birth mother was just an ugly palace maid. The Emperor once forced himself on her when he was drunk and Yu Chennian was born a few months later.
To ask the Emperor, with a harem filled with three thousand beauties, to accept that fact that he went after this ugly palace maid was equivalent to asking him to accept his desire for a pig. He flew into a rage as soon as he woke up. He wanted to have the maid executed, but the kind-hearted Empress persuaded His Majesty to spare the maid’s life.
As a result, the palace maid gave birth to the ninth prince. It was said that all of the lotus flowers in the palace ponds wilted the night he was born, and so the Emperor decided that Yu Chennian was a symbol of misfortune, a bad omen.
According to tradition, the mother gained honour based on the circumstances of her son. Since the palace maid gave birth to a prince, it was customary to grant her a title. However, the Emperor flat out refused to do so.
He didn’t want to take a pig as his concubine.
He executed the maid who had just given birth and so the newborn Yu Chennian very quickly became motherless. Moreover, the Emperor made it clear that he did not want to see this son of his. As such no one in the palace volunteered to raise the ninth prince.
In the end, it was the Empress who had no son of her own who came forward to take this hot potato called Yu Chennian.
She was not favoured to begin with, and as Yu Chennian was believed to be unlucky, the two of them became more and more distant from the Emperor.
Then, the Empress lost her backing due to the deaths of her father and brothers in battle. She was schemed against and banished to the cold palace. Yu Chennian followed as well. The mother and son pair were given the cold shoulder by all others. While Yu Chennian was able to study in the Imperial Study, it was in no way a blessing because his five brothers would humiliate him any chance they got. Although he was the Emperor’s son, even the most humble of palace servants were better off than him.
When he was a teenager, the princes entered the palace. Even here, people were happy to bully Yu Chennian. The one who targeted him the most was the Prime Minister’s son.
In this dynasty, the Prime Minister was the leader of all officials. Besides, this Prime Minister also came from a traditionally aristocratic family. The Emperor treated him with more respect than his own sons. It could be said that, as long as the Prime Minister offered his support to a prince, he would be halfway to the throne.
Therefore, the Prime Minister’s legitimate son naturally became someone that the princes tried to gain favor with.
The arrogant Prime Minister’s son was even more addicted to mistreating Yu Chennian than the five princes. Verbal humiliation was the least he would do. He also planned out various kinds of seemingly harmless pranks that could quickly become lethal. For example, he once put a snake in Yu Chennian’s table.
Another time he deliberately overturned the prince’s lunch and stomped it into the ground while knowing that the ninth prince lacked both food and clothing but intended to save a portion of his lunch to give to the deposed Empress later.
The most heinous incident of all was when, due to Yu Chennian’s beautiful and delicate appearance, the son of the Prime Minister, who frequents all kinds of brothels, once had people hold him down while an eunuch mimed indecent actions from behind him.
This was an outrageous disgrace to him as a man.
This event finally angered Yu Chennian, who had been enduring in silence for a long time. He sought out his mother’s family, that of the deposed Empress, while keeping a low profile. When the foreign invaders came, several generals of the court were defeated in succession and Yu Chennian, who was of age by then, asked to head out to the frontier. Almost everyone thought that he was heading to his death, but he became famous after just his first battle. Not only did he come back alive, he also brought back the head of the invading prince.
In the beginning, the Emperor was worried that this son of his had nefarious intentions, but Yu Chennian always behaved as though he was gentle and harmless. He handed back control of the army without making a fuss. Later, as their foreign enemies continued to invade, the Emperor had no choice but to let him fight again. Yu Chennian returned triumphant every time.
The Emperor gradually accepted that his least favourite son was now the sharpest knife he wielded.
And a few years later, the knife no longer needed its owner.
Yu Chennian fought his way to the capital city with the army he had control of. He killed his five elder brothers and two sisters before ascending to the throne.
Of course, he didn’t forget the Prime Minister’s son.
He castrated the man first, then left him on the street for more than half a month during the cold winter to beg. After that, his frostbitten body was executed by dismemberment, pulled apart by five horses. Yu Chennian even fed his remains to his dog. His bone-deep hatred was very apparent.
But after that, the novel gained a life of its own...
Without the protagonist’s halo, Yu Chennian died soon after, having been bitten by the poisonous snake the Prime Minister’s son had once hidden in his desk.
After going through his memory, Shi Qing was not at all surprised by his current identity.
He was that same son of the Prime Minister.
Because the Prime Minister’s authority was too absolute, he was allowed to be willful from a young age. He could be considered the biggest second generation in the entire capital.
Besides that, the Emperor had held him and fed him when he was young. Even the princes weren’t treated as well as him.
A dandy was a very apt word to describe him.
During the original plotline, the original owner has done every bad thing you could think of.
While he was only 14 right now and so he hadn’t gone too far yet, he had already strolled around brothels, bullied the Ninth Prince for a bit, and teased women in the streets.
To be fair, since he was born prematurely, he was relatively weak and could not get it up even though he was 14 already. So he really did just stroll around the brothels and he really only flirted with civilian girls.
It was not until he was sixteen that he became an irredeemable villain.
He rode his horse through the crowded downtown area and trampled a toddler to death. If civilian girls were not willing to follow him, he forcefully kidnapped them and tormented them with his scumbag friends until they died of exhaustion. He would deliberately lure scholars to gamble with him and cheated to make them lose all their money. He then cut their hands off as repayment for their debts, destroying their dreams for a better future.
He did such unforgivable things just for his own entertainment.
He was infamous, but managed to keep his actions a secret from his family. The Emperor knew what he was up to of course, but instead of punishing him, he sent people to egg him on. After all, the more depraved the original owner became, the more control the Emperor had over him. He could manipulate the Prime Minister by using his beloved son as a puppet.
But before the Emperor ever even got to use this knowledge to his advantage, Yu Chennian swept into the capital, took the throne and granted his father a quick death.
And now, Shi Qing has become him.
The youth who was already infamous at the age of 14. The little tyrant that no one dared to approach.
He’d already become used to being given the villain card every time, so he skipped the topic and directly asked the System: [What is Yu Chennian’s animosity value?]
When the System jumped to this world, it had learned that the Host got a SSS difficulty task again, so it didn’t dare to show its face. Now that it saw Shi Qing wasn’t angry, it answered carefully: [Yu Chennian’s animosity value: 150/100]
Shi Qing: [?]
Shi Qing: [It can go above 100?]
The System felt a bit guilty: [Um, in this world he’s kind of narrow-minded and vindictive.]
Shi Qing: [Got it.]
As soon as he put the sleeve covering his nose down so that he could get off the couch, the door opened from the outside. A gorgeously dressed middle-aged woman, who was most likely a beauty in her youth, greeted him with a smile. Very naturally, she started helping Shi Qing get dressed.
“It’s already light outside, Little Master Shi. You seem to have had a good time, but do you want me to send some more girls to accompany you?”
“No.”
Shi Qing yawned as he stood there with outstretched arms, being waited on by others. He said lazily, “I have to go to the Imperial Study today. I’ll come by to play again in the evening.”
“I’ll tell Cuicui and the others to wait for you then.”
The Madame responded happily. Her smile was genuine.
These childish young masters were their favourite customers. They were too young for anything other than hugging and listening to some music, but were also very generous at the same time.
When she finished dressing him, she went to open the window.
As soon as the window opened, a cold wind rushed in. Shi Qing was shivering: “Why is it so cold outside?”
“Right? It’s snowing.”
Snowing?
Shi Qing remembered something.
Wasn’t it on the first day it snowed that year that the original owner put the poisonous snake into Yu Chennian’s table?
He yawned and left without saying anything to the Madame.
As soon as he came downstairs, the young man who was watching a performance came to greet him: “Little Master, do you want to ride to the palace now?”
Shi Qing approached the copper mirror on the wall and examined himself carefully.
He had a good face. Although he was young, his features were very sharp. With the slight tilt of his chin, a spoiled and arrogant air surrounded him.
The bronze mirror didn’t offer the clearest of reflections, but his skin was obviously very pale.
“You go and get the horse first. Then go to the mansion and fetch my cloak, the red one.”
This servant had followed him since childhood. Shi Qing was more lenient towards him than others. He couldn’t help but ask, “Little Master, I thought you didn’t like that colour?”
Then he saw his Little Master kick at him like before: “Do as I say. Stop talking nonsense.”
“Yes yes. This one will go right away.”
The young man quickly dodged and ran off.
After half an hour, Shi Qing was wearing a red cloak as he entered the palace in a carriage.
The Imperial Palace’s guards recognized who the carriage belonged to and they let it through.
As the most powerful second generation in the capital, Shi Qing had such a right.
He only got off the carriage when he was at the steps. He raised his chin slightly and refused to step on the snow-covered stairs like he usually did. He called a eunuch over to carry him to the front door of the Imperial Study.
There were already a few people waiting there that morning; five in total. Shi Qing glanced past four of them to look at the young man in the back.
He was wearing clothes that were out of style compared to those of his older brothers’. It was snowing, but his clothes were still very thin. His long white hands were curled up slightly, and his head was down, obscuring his face. Regardless, anyone could see that he was the prince with the least support behind him.
“Shi Qing came. You’re not late today.”
The first prince took the lead in greeting him. He watched as Shi Qing was carefully lowered onto the cleared ground by the eunuch. He approached with a jovial look on his face: “What happened? Was Ruyi Tower not fun?”
“It was all rouge and other common wares. Of course it wasn’t much fun.”
The little master, who was clearly raised by a rich family, landed on the ground. He opened his arms to let the eunuch brush off any remaining snow on his body. He raised his chin slightly with a spoiled expression on his delicate face: “The girl from yesterday was supposedly their best, but her hands aren’t even as soft as mine. I should ask His Majesty to give me a good-looking one sometime.”
He seemed to be feeling generous towards the first prince: “Why not come with me, I’ll ask His Majesty to give you one as well.”
The first prince refused in a hurry. He wanted to improve his father’s opinion of him, so how could he dare to ask him for a woman at this time? He would gain a reputation for being a playboy!
Only someone as sheltered as Shi Qing would dare to make such a request of the Emperor.
While they were talking, the third prince ran over in a hurry. There was a lunchbox in his hand. He immediately headed towards Shi Qing.
“Shi Qing.”
He didn’t notice how ugly the eldest prince’s face turned after he arrived. He took the boy aside and whispered, “I’ve found what you wanted.”
“You did?!”
Shi Qing seemed to shout out of excitement. The other princes glared at the third prince, who had pleased Shi Qing.
Only Yu Chennian met the gaze of the little boy who looked over.
Against a background of heavy snowfall, the little boy wrapped in a red cape looked unabashedly at Yu Chennian with bright eyes. Then he looked down at the lunchbox in his hand. His dark eyes were filled with anticipation.
Yu Chennian’s heart sank.
Shi Qing’s undisguised elation made it clear that there was something in the lunchbox meant to torment him later.
The third prince was still talking to Shi Qing quietly: “I’ll hold him back for a while. Just put it in when you’re inside.”
“Okay!”
The little boy nodded excitedly and said sweetly: “Third brother is the best after all.”
Because the Emperor gave him special permission, the son of the Prime Minister could refer to the other princes as his older brothers.
“And don’t you forget it.”
Before the third prince could improve his relationship with Shi Qing some more, Shi Qing had snatched the lunchbox from him and was pulling him towards Yu Chennian.
He was still in a daze when the little master pushed him in front of Yu Chennian. He energetically put the lunchbox on the ground before raising his chin arrogantly at Yu Chennian: “Third brother wants to talk to you. You’re not allowed to go in until you guys finish talking.”
Third Prince: “......”
At this point why don’t they just say outright ‘we’re not letting you go in because we’re going to prank you’?
Yu Chennian silently looked at the stiff third prince, and then at the mischievous Shi Qing.
He silently lowered his head, “Okay.”
“Third brother, he said it’s okay. Quickly talk to him.”
The expression on the little boy’s face became even more excited. He turned around and ran to the house. Halfway there, he paused and ran back to pick up the lunchbox on the ground.
After he picked it up, he shot a vigilant look at Yu Chennian: “You can’t come in until I tell you to.”
Third Prince: “......”
It wasn’t much of a surprise now, was it.
Yu Chennian raised his eyes to look up at the little boy who was acting as proud as a peacock. He pursed his lips: “Okay.”
Shi Qing was happy to hear that. He zoomed back inside again with the lunchbox.
The eunuch who was in charge of serving him hurried to chase after him: “Little Master, please don’t run so fast ah......”
The other princes looked at each other and followed them in.
For a while, only the third prince and Yu Chennian were left outside.
Under the heavy snow, they stared at each other in silence.
Yu Chennian knew that these two were planning to play tricks on him again.
The third prince knew Yu Chennian knew that they were planning to play tricks on him again.
How did a simple prank turn out like this.
They didn’t speak a word. They just stood here and waited for Shi Qing to call them in.
A cold wind blew by.
There was an unspeakable awkwardness in the air.
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