How to Scientifically Deal with an Abusive Novel's Male Lead

Li Zhiyi accidentally bound herself to System 001 and transmigrated into a book, an angsty historical romance. The System told her that her mission was to find the male lead and strip him of his power, preventing him from becoming emperor and stopping him from abusing the female lead at the source.

The bad news: the System had lost the original novel.

Worse still, the System was handling several angsty-novel reform missions at once. It hadn't even read the original novel Li Zhiyi had transmigrated into, so it didn't know who the male lead was.

Li Zhiyi: How does anyone make such a huge mess...

System 001: Sob, I'm sorry! I'll give you an extra twenty million after you complete the mission.

Li Zhiyi: ...It's fine. As long as the male lead is a person, I can find him.

Li Zhiyi: Common surnames for male leads: Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li... That's not very practical.

Li Zhiyi: Let's see if anyone in the capital has these surnames: Qin, Gu, Su, Ling, Song, Xiao, Wei, Rong, Xie, Lu, Pei, Bai, Long, Feng, Nangong, Shangguan... That's all I can think of for now.

Li Zhiyi: And let's not miss anyone handsome, powerful, high-ranking but disabled, or so fearsome that their reputation can stop a child crying at night.

System 001: Why?

Li Zhiyi: Years of reading novels have taught me this.

After narrowing down the candidates, Li Zhiyi stared pensively at the five men who fit the bill.

Rong Yiheng, a refined gentleman, gentle as jade, brilliant, and always polite.

Xie Qiyao, a dashing young man, dressed in fine clothes and riding a fine horse, unrestrained and bold, roaming the world with a sword and the spirit of a true knight.

Jiang Jisheng, a aloof Imperial Preceptor from the Jiang family, the foremost of the Four Great Houses. Even the emperor had to show him respect.

Nangong Zhuo, a general who defended the nation and was stationed at the border year-round. Rumor had it he was a murderous fiend whose fearsome reputation could stop children crying at night.

Xiao Ming, the Ninth Prince, whose legs were disabled and whose temperament was sinister. It was said he was disfigured, so he wore a silver mask all year round.

The first three were classic male-lead types, and the last two might have some kind of twist.

What should she do? All of them looked like the male lead.

Wait. This was an angsty novel, so their true nature would only show after spending some time together. Fine, she understood.

Step one: Pretend to be in danger and give them a chance to play the hero.

Step two: Pretend to be delicate and shower them with praise until their heads are spinning.

Step three: Send someone to tempt them and see who takes the bait.

Then carry out the final step-

Wait, why aren't any of the five taking the bait? Are they really that good at resisting?

-

Rong Yiheng had been beaming lately. Apparently, wedding bells were in the air.

Xie Qiyao had been beaming lately. Apparently, wedding bells were in the air.

Jiang Jisheng had been beaming lately. Apparently, wedding bells were in the air.

Nangong Zhuo had been beaming lately. Apparently, wedding bells were in the air.

Xiao Ming had been beaming lately. Apparently, wedding bells were in the air.

Wait, why were wedding bells in the air for all of them?

The five men realized something was wrong and sent people to investigate in the middle of the night. They discovered that a certain mischievous young woman had used the same trick on all of them and caught all five in her net?!

Capital Gazette:

Reports say the five power players of the capital gathered to discuss a vital secret, but disagreed halfway through and came to blows. Our reporter risked life and limb to uncover the reason for their fight: they were battling over a peerlessly beautiful woman... Wait, this beauty seems to be the beloved youngest daughter of the prime minister. What a terrifying power struggle.

P.S.

1. The romance develops in stages and is one-on-one at each stage. The female lead is naturally a heartbreaker, with a reverse-harem rivalry and a battle of suitors. The angsty male leads get kicked straight out of the group chat.

2. The female lead becomes emperor in the end. Don't ask how. She becomes emperor, that's all.

3. Although this is a transmigration-into-a-book and System story, the System lost the original and went off to look for it. It's barely present and almost never online.

Theme: Sharpening your deduction skills