The Destined Villain Refuses to Follow the Script

One-sentence summary: A villain who knows the plot in advance plays the pig to eat the tiger, defeats one transmigrator after another, and takes revenge as he rises to the throne.

Blurb:

Chen Xianyu, a country boy, has three secrets he’s never told anyone:

1. His mother is a transmigrator. She came here a long time ago, and he’s the child she had after transmigrating.

2. He knows this world is a book, and many people around him have transmigrated here.

3. He has another name: Chen Buliu, meaning "leave none behind." He’s also the original story’s biggest villain.

Being a villain is too hard, so Chen Xianyu decides to keep his head down. But life is simply too difficult, so he decides to go to the capital and mooch off his mother’s old lover.

Yes, he’ll start by pretending to be the man’s illegitimate son.

"Dad! Do you remember Shi Dahua, the girl who baked you pancakes at the village entrance before you left to take the imperial exam? I’m your son with her!"

The famed Chancellor Zhang, a man with a wife and children of his own, was dumbfounded. "Who did you say you are? What’s your mother’s name?"

"I’m Chen Xianyu, and my mother is Shi Dahua."

The name was so ugly that Chancellor Zhang’s face darkened. He immediately ordered his men to throw this good-for-nothing son out. Then he heard the boy clinging to his leg whisper, "My surname is Chen. Xianyu also means salted fish."

Chancellor Zhang: What kind of decent person names his son something like that?

"Dad, then can you guess why my surname is Chen?"

Chancellor Zhang: ...Huh?

"I’m twenty this year."

Chancellor Zhang looked down and met the gaze of Chen Xianyu, sitting on the floor and grinning brightly at him. In the end, he gritted his teeth and accepted this son who’d appeared out of nowhere.

"Good boy. You’ve suffered out there all these years."

Chancellor Zhang thought frantically: Empress, you only said that if the little prince survived, he’d return to the capital when he turned twenty. You never said he’d come back like this!!

Chancellor Zhang was frantic and flustered, his legs trembling.

In the end, the villain from the original story, who rebelled, took the throne, and was later defeated by the male and female leads, went from being called Chen Buliu to Chen Xianyu. This time, however, he sat firmly on the dragon throne.

Chen Xianyu: Just because someone has a villain’s script doesn’t mean they have to follow the villain’s path.

Chen Xianyu: Not everyone named Chen Buliu is a villain, and a villain’s life doesn’t have to stay the same. I am Chen Buliu, and I am also Chen Xianyu. My courtesy name is Wuyi.

Notes:

1. The author is terrible at writing blurbs. The protagonist has no romance, and the dynasty is fictional. Please take note. The update time has been changed to 8 p.m.

2. The author only wants to quietly write stories. I’ll be very happy if you like mine, but if you don’t, that’s fine too. Everyone has different tastes, and that’s perfectly normal.

If you find anything uncomfortable or unpleasant while reading, please just leave and go find a story you like.

3. Writing is hard, and the author respects every reader’s opinion. However, comments on the early chapters that go too far will be deleted from the free chapters. Please don’t make comments about the story personal to the author. Writing advice is not welcome, though I’ll listen to some suggestions and consider them as appropriate.

--------------------Ongoing Story--------------------

"After the Entire Court Dreamed of the Same Person" by Si Shi Yi Guo

Synopsis:

The new dynasty had just been established. It was autumn, and the imperial examinations had just concluded, when Emperor Taizu of the Feng Dynasty had a dream.

He dreamed that the new top scorer would be knocked unconscious by a flying pumpkin while riding through the streets in celebration the next day! He would be confined to bed for three whole days!

Emperor Taizu, who had spent half his life on the battlefield and weathered every kind of storm, found it unbelievable. It was just a dream, so surely it wouldn’t come true?

But... it actually did.

Later, he learned that he wasn’t the only one. More than half the officials at court had dreamed it too.

Then they dreamed that General Lu’s son put an arm around the top scorer’s waist in the middle of the street and said, "So slender."

When General Lu woke up, he was beside himself. Furious, he rushed out to disrupt his son’s plans for the day, determined to keep him from turning gay!

Everyone else at court ran off together to watch the spectacle and gossip.

But the scenes in their dreams grew increasingly fantastical. They dreamed that:

[As turmoil gripped the land, the useless top scorer Xie Yuanbai became prime minister and single-handedly held the Feng Dynasty together!]

[The silent, modest prince ascended the throne and became a tyrant, and Prime Minister Xie Yuanbai secretly murdered the emperor!]

[The son of General Lu, whom they had once mocked, shed his carefree facade, led troops to defend the border, and died at the hands of his own side!]

[Xie Yuanbai returned to court, but this time he became regent, single-handedly turning the entire court upside down. He became a fearsome demon, a scourge of the world whom everyone wanted dead...]

Everyone was shocked, moved to tears, and outraged. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Only later did they learn that the one who couldn’t be forgotten, the unattainable ideal, the loyal minister, and the treacherous chancellor were all him.

In their dreams, Xie Yuanbai had been a loyal servant of the nation, leading troops on the battlefield to defend the country and secure the land. He had also been sunny, genuine, adorable, and funny, doing his utmost to raise the young emperor.

And yet the regent who was enshrined and whose fragrant skull blossomed flowers for ten miles around was also him. So was the madman who poisoned the grasslands until not a soul remained for a thousand miles, did whatever he pleased, and committed countless shocking acts, his hands stained with blood as he ruined the Feng Dynasty and ushered in a new age.

Xie Yuanbai considered himself a newcomer, but the powerful figures at court kept looking at him differently every day. He couldn’t understand why.

Then the System came back to life, and he asked, "What’s wrong with them? Why does everyone act like they know me so well?"

System: "...I have some bad news. You might not remember, but fragments of your memories from your first two missions probably appeared in these people’s minds as dreams."

Xie Yuanbai: "So... my secret identity has been exposed?!"

No wonder everyone looked at him so strangely, sometimes sad, sometimes angry, sometimes afraid. Plenty of people even came to make friends with him. Of course, some tried to kill him with knives, too.

●Click here for a look at this fictional history:

[In frost and snow, Lan Yin thinks of you; blood knocks at the ancestral shrine, and the soul returns home]

[The Yan standard held south, but when will the old wish be fulfilled? Three drinks in a lifetime: one for birth, two for death]

[Twice I dreamed of you. How could you betray me? Only upon waking did I learn that your subject never betrayed you. Xie, what am I supposed to do with you?]

[Brothers at odds, their childhood lie sending them to opposite ends of the earth]

[He lied with every word, yet believed every lie. His true name never entered the heart. Ten golden treasures and ten jades help you rise to the clouds]

[The crane returns to the lonely sky, its shadow traveling alone. The immortal young man of years past is nowhere to be seen]

[Cool words and a cold face lead to misunderstanding; a friendship between gentlemen is as clear as water]

P.S.:

1. The author is terrible at writing blurbs. In short, the protagonist failed at his first two missions to save the dynasty, then started a mission again (middle plot omitted), but everyone else in the dynasty dreamed about his previous two missions, and so on (the ending and middle plot are omitted too. There are many questions that can only be answered by reading the story, so I can’t give them away).

2. The protagonist has no romance, so don’t worry.

Theme: Step outside the lines drawn for you and tear off the labels people have imposed. I choose my fate, not the other way around.