How Did I, the Tyrant, Become Everyone's Favorite?

Xu Yingqing knew he was a tyrant.

When the Xiongnu invaded and the great general was gravely ill and near death, he stormed into the general’s residence with a sword and forcibly turned him into a corpse servant.

The great general survived, but from then on he was neither human nor ghost. It was only natural that he hated Xu Yingqing.

When a severe drought struck Guanzhong, the Imperial Preceptor said it was Heaven’s will and could not be defied. Xu Yingqing grabbed him by the throat and forced him to pray for rain, then cut through a candle on the altar with his sword. “I am Heaven’s will!”

The rain poured down over Guanzhong, but the Imperial Preceptor suffered a terrible backlash and was bedridden from then on.

The chancellor came from a noble family, but Xu Yingqing relentlessly suppressed the great clans, established the imperial examinations, and promoted men from humble backgrounds.

Prince Jin oppressed the common people. Xu Yingqing killed him with his own hands, yet overruled everyone’s objections and raised the prince’s newborn son at his own side.

Every one of these people was a capable minister who could bring peace and order to the realm.

Every one of them had every reason to hate him to the death.

And so Xu Yingqing really did die.

But not all the way. He crawled out of his grave.

Ten years had passed in the human world.

Xu Yingqing thought the court must have changed completely by now. Those who had hated him would all be in positions of power, saying the late emperor was foolish and cruel.

But when he reached the marketplace, he heard people saying the late emperor had been wise and mighty, that his eyes had seen through everything and shone across the land.

Those who had hated him offered wine and blood sacrifices at his grave every year, weeping tears of blood.

They said the late emperor’s kindness was beyond repayment. “We were fortunate to meet a wise ruler, and would gladly sing his praises throughout the land.”

“Why would you think I hated you? I could give up all this rank and wealth.

“I just wanted to know what I’d done wrong. Why was Your Majesty so heartless that when you passed from this world, you didn’t even summon me to join you in death?”

Theme: A lifetime of valiant deeds was all for the sake of a silhouette preserved deep in memory