After Hearing the Male Lead's Inner Thoughts

(Please add my upcoming novel, Who Would Keep Their Nemesis as a Caged Bird?, to your reading list!)

[An exceptionally calculating, rational, unhinged, and gentle villain gong vs. a talkative, stubborn, timid shou who thinks he's the hero of a web novel and values staying alive above all]

The current emperor is violent by nature and ruthless in his methods. In the two years since he took the throne, he has ruled in defiance of convention and appointed people indiscriminately, leaving all his ministers disheartened.

The Empress Dowager wants to seize power, the maternal relatives interfere in politics, and even Prince Huai is raising a private army with the intention of rebelling. Enraged, the emperor personally leads a hundred thousand troops to put down the rebellion and marches straight to Prince Huai's fiefdom.

As the mighty army advances, Prince Huai hears the news and flees his residence early. His son, the heir to the title, is too late to escape and runs straight into the emperor.

The young man has red lips, white teeth, and an exquisite, otherworldly beauty. Seeing the emperor, he pauses in surprise, then smiles warmly at him.

Qi Zhe's expression turns cold. He draws his sword and lunges straight for the heir's face.

Just as he raises his hand, a timid yet defiant voice rings in his ears.

[My face is about to crack from smiling, and he still wants to kill me!]

[Is he trying to make me beg for mercy? Tsk... That must be it. Smiling at him was a bad move.]

[Should I beg and cry at the same time? He probably likes seeing people miserable, right? Ew, what a freak. But I guess I can understand a villain having unusual tastes.]

Qi Zhe pauses, looking impassively at the person opposite him.

The young man's eyes brim with tears. They roll down like pearls from a broken string, leaving him looking heartbreakingly pure and pitiful.

[I've used every bit of my acting skill from skipping class and faking illness just to stay alive. This must be the pathetic early phase of a web-novel protagonist.]

The young man sneaks a glance at the man holding a sword. Blood drips from its tip, his expression is stern, and blood marks his profile. He looks like a demon from the underworld.

[Hey, are you that tough? You can't even react to this? Damn it, I'm about to run out of tears. Forget it, I'll pinch myself again.]

Qi Zhe shifts his gaze to the young man's hand and sees him pinch his thigh again. At once, the voice in his mind becomes fired up and full of passion.

[I can't take it anymore! You lousy villain, just you wait. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Don't look down on a poor young man! The day I rise to power will be the day I put you under me!]

A glint of interest passes through the eyes of the expressionless villainous emperor. He sheaths his sword, turns around, and orders, "Take him back to the palace."

He wants to see how this young heir plans to put him under.

[When Yun Muqiu looked back on his life, he summed it up in three simple phrases: Don't look down on me when I'm poor as a young man. Don't look down on me when I'm poor in middle age. Don't look down on me when I'm poor in old age.]

Reader's Guide:

1. The shou is a male college student who transmigrates and believes he's transmigrated into a book. The logic is internally consistent.

2. Political intrigue isn't a major focus. The author isn't very skilled and is an illiterate writer, so if it's not for you, please stop reading in time. Let's all get along, okay? Mwah.

3. At heart, this is a sweet little story about two darlings falling in love.

4. Qi Zhe has the final say on any setting in this novel that doesn't make sense.

5. Because of the shared world, this story has a connection to its neighbor, Embracing the Long Wind. The animals are all sentient and wise, but if you think the silver wolf is intimate with the gong or looks like a couple with him, I honestly don't know what to say. It's just a wolf! Don't break up my canon couple!!!

Remember to read the author's profile notice.

Upcoming novel in the same series: The Tyrant Woke Up with Amnesia and Mistook Me for His Husband

[A silver-tongued, shameless, sharp-tongued, beauty-loving gong with a strong offense and weak defense vs. a cold, stuttering, naturally scheming, hands-on tyrant shou]

Wan Changfeng brings the unconscious Wen Zhaoying home.

After seven days without waking, he would have thought he'd rescued a corpse if not for the man's breathing.

On the eighth day, Wen Zhaoying finally wakes up.

He opens his eyes and sees Wan Changfeng. His gaze turns confused, and after thinking it over, he clenches his fist and says to him in a trembling but resolute voice, "H-Husband."

Wan Changfeng: "Huh?"

(See the author's profile for the full blurb.)

Theme: Don't look down on a poor young man.