How To Survive as a Villain

In the dead of the night, the lights were cut from the candles, and the rain was desolate.

Xiao Fengyue, who wasn’t able to close his eyes for a long time, sat at the table. The candle light stretched his figure making it look extremely long. He carefully stroked the porcelain bottle in his hand, his eyes were full of sorrow.

Xiao Fengyue knew in his whole lifetime, that the world was cold and ruthless.

When Xiao Fengyue was eight years old, his parents died for some unknown reason, and his family fell into despair. He was sold to the Royal Family by his relatives and became a little slave. From then on, he suffered a lot from being owned by others.

When he was sixteen years old, His Royal Highness the Prince brought a Qin player of sixty years of age to the Palace. When the old master was playing the Guqin, Xiao Fengyue was fortunate enough to be able to enjoy it on the side while he was serving Wangye¹. His appreciation deeply trapped him into the 1st, 2nd and 5th pentatonic scale² that sounded everywhere inside the palace, unable to extricate himself.

It was a pity that Wangye was disconcerted and didn’t understand the beauty of the melody at all. It was only because the Qin player was old and boring that he didn’t have any interest in him. The next day, he was sent away.

On the day when the old Qin player left, it rained heavily. Xiao Fengyue ran out of the palace despite the fact that he could be punished for it. Standing in front of the old Qin player, he begged: “Can I touch your Guqin? Just for a little bit, I’ve washed my hands.”

The old Qin player untied the Guqin on his back and handed it to Xiao Fengyue. Xiao Fengyue held the ancient Guqin as if he was holding a treasure, then, he gently hooked the strings excitedly and even a piece of music lighted out!

It was the piece that the old Qin player interpreted the day before at Wangye’s Palace.

The old Qin player was taken aback and quickly taught Xiao Fengyue several melodies on the spot. Xiao Fengyue played one by one without any mistakes. The old Qin player laughed up to the sky, and then spent all his belongings to redeem Xiao Fengyue from the Palace.

From then on, there was one less slave in the world, and one more Guqin player that followed his master to travel around the mountains and rivers.

Five years later, the old Qin player passed away. Xiao Fengyue buried him and traveled alone. His life was hard, but he was also very happy. Due to his extraordinary appearance and because he was very good at playing the Guqin, he soon became a legend among the people.

When the Emperor of the Southern Yan Kingdom heard about him, he asked Xiao Fengyue to join the Imperial Palace to become the Imperial Qin player. In the end, half a year later, the Southern Yan Kingdom was destroyed by the cavalry of the Northern Kingdom.

Xiao Fengyue failed to escape and was captured by the Northern Kingdom. Later, because of his appearance, he was chosen by Hong Xiu and he was sent from the prison cell to Jing Yang Palace.

On the last day of his imprisonment, an Imperial Guard untied the chains on his ankles.

At that time, Xiao Fengyue’s ankles were worn by the iron chains, and it was extremely difficult to move.

The Imperial Guard apologized and said: “Let me carry you on my back.”

That day, Xiao Fengyue fell on the Guard’s steady back, he heard the Guard whispering an apology to him.

Xiao Fengyue asked him why he should apologize to him?

The Imperial Guard replied to him that it was because he was suffering.

Xiao Fengyue suffered a lot in this lifetime, but no one had ever apologized to him.

The next day, the Imperial Guard blushed, took a medicine bottle from his clothes, and carefully handed it to him: “I was sent to give this to you, the healing effect it’s very good, take it.”

Afterwards, the Imperial Guard said: “The weather in the Northern Kingdom is really cold, will you be able to bear it?”

The Imperial Guard continued: “I’ve heard that you had traveled to a lot of places. I haven’t been out of the palace since I was a child, is the outside world interesting?”

The Imperial Guard talked to him again: “There’s no one on night guard duty today. Would you talk with me? Just an hour, no, half an hour will be enough.”

The Imperial Guard tried again: “I went to the Imperial Kitchen today and saw the sweet osmanthus cake. I begged for one and brought it to you for you to taste it.”

The Imperial Guard spoke again: “My name is Yang LiuAn.”

Xiao Fengyue talked to him: “The world is much more exciting than this grand Palace. One day, would you like to go out and travel with me?”

Xiao Fengyue asked him: “I’d like to play the Guqin for you, is that okay?”

Xiao Fengyue asked again: “Did you like it?”

That evening, Yang LiuAn looked at him with affectionate eyes. It sounded to some degree like the bright moving water and the music of an ancient instrument, at the half setting of the sun: “It’s beautiful, it was really nice to hear.”

Gradually, the two of them fell in love with each other, but because of their own identities, they never did anything beyond the rules.

But in this Palace that was like a cage; this innocent relationship, was just like a capital crime.

Xiao Fengyue squeezed the porcelain bottle tightly, and when he closed his eyes, all he could see was Yang LiuAn’s smile. After a long time, he opened his eyes again, and they were determined and sorrowful.

But lacked fear.

Footnotes:

[Title meaning]: 今宵酒醒何处 jīn xiāo jiǔ xǐng hé chù; This sentence comes from the poem 《雨霖铃·寒蝉凄切》(yǔ lín líng·hánchán qīqiè), “A Small Bell is Under the Rain-The Cicada is Mourning”, written by (柳永 liǔ yǒng) Liu Yong [987-1053] a poet from the Song Dynasty [960-1279]. The poem describes the scene of lovers parting ways and expressing their feelings after the separation. It expresses the true feelings of lovers when they have to say goodbye to each other.

Footnotes

1. 王爷 wáng ye; A Wangye is a man who was honored with a royal title in feudal times, he doesn’t necessarily have to be from the Royal family, but this title was usually given to the son of the Emperor. However, men with the title of “Wang” also included commoners who had contributed to the state and nation, so they were given the title. A Wangye was the equivalent of a large landowner who could collect rent from his own fief and lived in good conditions, however, he didn’t have the power to leave his own fiefdom or to move freely, unless the Emperor summoned him to the Capital. As for official positions, the Wangye is a title that represents status, and in terms of status, the “Wang” was second only to the Emperor. It can be translated as: Prince / Marquis / Nobleman.
2. A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave.