Can a Background Guard Have a Love Rivalry Too?

Xiao Muchen transmigrated into a novel as a background-character guard. The pay was good, he got off work early, the job was easy, and he had weekends off. As long as he didn't make any major mistakes, he could keep the job for life.

However, this was a harem palace novel where everyone loved the protagonist shou. The original Xiao Muchen was a vicious cannon fodder character, infatuated with the first male lead and jealous of, and hostile toward, the protagonist shou. He repeatedly provoked and framed the protagonist shou, and in the end was gruesomely torn apart by the first male lead, the emperor.

Xiao Muchen didn't want to lose this high-paying job that let him slack off, and he didn't want to get dragged into the protagonists' love triangle. He just wanted to do his job properly and stay a good background character.

But for some reason, the first male lead, the emperor, suddenly transferred him to his personal service and specifically ordered him to guard the emperor during outings.

The second male lead, a decisive general, met Xiao Muchen for the first time and said he had a bright future. He wanted to poach him from the emperor and bring him into his army.

The third male lead, the chancellor, was notorious for his sharp tongue, and nobody could do anything about it. There wasn't a single person at court he hadn't insulted. Yet one day, he praised Xiao Muchen warmly for doing a good job and spoke highly of him.

And then there were all the other suitors of the protagonist shou...

Xiao Muchen, trying to keep a low profile and avoid getting involved with the protagonists: ?

Wait, what's wrong with you people? Can't you see that there's a perfectly good protagonist shou right there?

-

Xiao Muchen, who never bothered the protagonists but was constantly bothered by them, was at his wits' end. He secretly reassured himself: It isn't a big deal. As long as he doesn't offend the protagonist shou, whom all the big shots adore, he'll be fine.

The protagonist shou, admired by countless people in the book, was a learned top scholar, pure-hearted, gentle, and kind. His beauty could make all the flowers of spring pale in comparison.

Everyone was utterly infatuated with him. They would travel thousands of miles just to glimpse his face, or wait outside his door for three days and nights.

Xiao Muchen wanted nothing to do with him.

One day, someone with ulterior motives drugged Xiao Muchen. Through a series of strange coincidences... he ended up using the protagonist shou to relieve the effects of the drug.

When Xiao Muchen came to, he was so terrified he nearly died. He packed his things and fled that very night.

After all that effort, he was still going to die young.

But before the suitors of the protagonist shou he'd taken advantage of could tear him to pieces, the top scholar himself, gentle and elegant as an immortal, came alone to block his way.

The top scholar stood before him in flowing white robes, his face frail and sorrowful. "Qingqing, do you despise me? If not, why do you always avoid me?"

Xiao Muchen's heart turned to ash.

He really had only wanted to be a background character!

[Reader's Guide]

1. A clueless, universally adored shou who only wants to avoid the plot x a top scholar gong who acts one way in public but secretly competes with everyone for his beloved.

The protagonist shou in the original story is a gong.

2. The gong is no good person and is wildly ambitious. He's no frail scholar: he's skilled in both the arts and martial arts, and has a knack for all sorts of things. He just likes pretending to be weak.

3. The shou is beautiful too, and he's the real one everyone adores.

4. Both are sexually inexperienced.

Theme: Never bow to adversity