For preview purposes only; final product may differ

Author: Yi Yi Yi Yi

Translators: Jiuxiao, Mimi

Editor: M. M.

 

Chapter 1

Xiao Yu’an was a CEO.

His grandfather and father were domineering CEOs; likely because of that, his family was determined to raise him as one, too.

A domineering CEO was to be dashing and wealthy, wickedly charming and radical while prudent at the same time, and was to love deeply and tyrannically. He also had to memorise the three hundred classic quotes that every CEO used.

A pity that Xiao Yu’an could only accomplish the first.

However, that did not matter. The Xiao family firmly believed that Xiao Yu’an could be moulded into…

A domineering CEO!

…who would tempt and move the hearts of all women, draw the jealousy of all men and exude dangerous hormones wherever he went.

 

The Xiao family lived by several family rules.

First, there was nothing that money could not solve, and if there was, then double the amount offered!

Second, money talks!

Reading these two motivational, impassioned, and tear-inducing rules the family lived by, everyone could understand why the Xiao family wanted to mould Xiao Yu’an into a domineering CEO.

But Xiao Yu’an struggled to understand it. He thought being a warm, tender man, loyal as a dog, was rather nice, too.

His family insisted that this must be because he had yet to meet his true love.

 

His true love could not be a beautiful, fair-skinned and affluent woman, but had to be an ordinary citizen. It would be best if she were an employee working in the lower echelons of a company that was owned by the Xiao family. She was expected to possess subtle, understated beauty, but had to be “kind”—an overly virtuous saint who, when facing love rivals, would move them with her heart and establish a common understanding through reasoning. Deception and manipulation were not in her nature. When dealing with other men, she had to struggle to turn them down, as if she could not bear to do so. And with her enemies, she would have! No! Desire! To! Get! Revenge! At all! Even better if she occasionally picked up the stray dog or cat from the streets—absolutely perfect!

When Xiao Yu’an left work that day, he actually bumped into one.

Actually. Bumped. Into. One.

 

The young lady was sprinting across the company building’s lobby and crashed right into him; she fell to the ground with a thud, her eyes filling with tears and the flower pot in her hands shattering to pieces.

Xiao Yu’an helped her up at once. “My apologies. How much is the flower pot? I’ll compensate you for it.”

Unexpectedly, the young lady tossed his hand aside and angrily retorted, “Who wants your money? Do all rich people think money can buy everything? Apologise to me!”

But I’ve already apologised to you, Xiao Yu’an thought, and you were the one who ran into me.

“I’m sorry.” Xiao Yu’an figured she might be hard of hearing and repeated himself. To express his regret, he retrieved his wallet and continued, “How much was it? I’ll compensate you.”

“Who wants your money?!” The young lady smacked his wallet aside.

…Huh?

Wow, she was so different from all the alluring, stunning girls out there and wasn’t pretentious at all~

As a domineering CEO, Xiao Yu’an ought to have thought so.

Yet the only conclusion he came to was that this young lady was not right in the head. He picked up his wallet and left swiftly, wondering if her foolishness would perhaps be contagious.

 

When the Xiao family caught wind of this, they realised that this type of woman might not be suitable for Xiao Yu’an, so they arranged a party for him instead.

Xiao Yu’an met the prized daughter of a wealthy family. This lady’s name was Lin enchanting-butterfly-ice-crystal-violet-soul-leaving-the-night-phoenix Ling.

Xiao Yu’an was not very keen on attending the party, because he thought no normal Chinese citizen would call themselves such a baffling name. But alas, under intense pressure from his family, Xiao Yu’an had no choice but to go.

When Xiao Yu’an saw Miss Lin enchanting-butterfly-ice-crystal-violet-soul-leaving-the-night-phoenix Ling, his first thought was, Fuck, a person who dares dye their hair seven colourful shades truly exists.

In this era, where people in their twenties had started balding already, how heartrending this young lady’s decision was—absolutely shocking and infuriating!

Miss Lin enchanting-butterfly-ice-crystal-violet-soul-leaving-the-night-phoenix Ling was virtuous and dignified, and thought herself to be above the rest—she received her PhD at the age of fourteen, excelled in the mastery of the four arts, had the mark of a spider lily on her forehead and when she smiled…

Oh, thank goodness petals did not fall when she smiled; otherwise, those firm believers of materialism might cry themselves into a stupor right in the bathroom.

Faced with such an energetic, beautiful and intelligent young lady, all Xiao Yu’an uttered were two syllables.

“Farewell.”

Members of the Xiao family felt their hearts wrench, a dull pain throbbing in their chests.

Xiao Yu’an, if you won’t even pay attention to a woman like this, then what exactly is your type?!

But suddenly! They realised!

Fuck, Xiao Yu’an might…

He! Might! Be! Gay!

 

At first, Xiao Yu’an wanted to say that he preferred women who were less eccentric, but since his family came to such a decisive conclusion, he could not be bothered to correct them.

Truthfully, he had not yet found a romantic interest in a woman or a man.

Perhaps he really was gay.

And unsurprisingly, he met a bottom.

A domineering CEO was expected to meet an adorable, docile bottom. His beauty would make women jealous; he had to have glistening eyes and scarlet red lips. He also had to be simple and straightforward, gentle and kind—and of course, a malevolent female rival by his side had to exist.

He liked to cry, especially when the CEO overpowered him in bed against his wishes—he would cry out and refuse him in words on one hand, but would do nothing to push him away on the other. And afterwards, he would break down sobbing because he lost his virginity, but not to worry! Because he would always forgive the domineering CEO for no good reason after the deed was done!

Ah, this must be love.

Love, my ass! Xiao Yu’an hollered internally.

If I randomly picked a young lady off the streets, she would be a hundred times stronger than you. And she would neither be a troublemaker nor whine all the time!

In the presence of such a bottom, Xiao Yu’an thought that even if he was gay, this was enough to shock him into being straight.

The Xiao family had another look.

Oh, no. This wasn’t right. How could you not fall for such a standard bottom in a CEO novel?

Unless?

Holy shit!

Was Xiao Yu’an himself a bottom?

They gasped.

His family members were upset—oh, how he had fallen! What a tragedy this was! What an absolute catastrophe! But it was fine; if it was no longer possible to go down the path of a domineering CEO, then he could try being a CEO who was also an alluring bottom instead. For example, he could encounter an underworld gang leader. A domineering, two-faced and deceptive gang leader who exuded sadism from head to toe.

 

When he got off work that day, Xiao Yu’an realised that someone had scratched his car. A note was folded on his car door, which said to meet up to discuss compensation. Xiao Yu’an dialled the culprit’s number, saying it was fine and that he did not need the money.

The person laughed coldly and said, “Do you know who I am?”

Xiao Yu’an was speechless.

Who the fuck cares?

Why was he so arrogant after scratching someone’s car? Would apologising threaten his manhood or something?!

Wait. This seemed to be a line from the collection of classic CEO quotes!

 

During Xiao Yu’an’s silence, the man over the phone snorted and revealed his name. The man was indeed a gang leader; his name resonated with notoriety and influence across law enforcement and the underworld. He even coolly asked Xiao Yu’an to come over and meet him, insisting that he would be able to pay him back no matter how much the damages cost.

Since Xiao Yu’an did not have the potential to become a domineering CEO, he thought he might as well have a look at what a domineering boss would be like.

So Xiao Yu’an went to meet him.

And then Xiao Yu’an thought that this man was insane—they were barely two sentences into discussing compensation before this man wanted to lock him up.

Xiao Yu’an expressed that he was not a masochist and had zero interest in either BD or SM.

The domineering boss responded, “It’s alright. I will change your body with bondage, confinement play and more; you’ll sink deep into desire every day as my plaything, and in the end we’ll be in a love-hate relationship, getting together while entangled in intricate complexities, dilemmas and heartbreak!”

Hmm…

It sounded inspiring, but Xiao Yu’an remained steadfast in his judgement—this man was not right in the head. It was not as if Xiao Yu’an was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.

The domineering boss wanted to demonstrate his dominance by kidnapping him. He held Xiao Yu’an by the waist and lifted his chin, intending to coerce and imprison him. And then Xiao Yu’an beat him up.

After all, Xiao Yu’an had been trained in self-defence since he was a child.

When he was finished, Xiao Yu’an was struck with melancholy. He felt that his journey to becoming a domineering CEO was filled with uncertainty and the road to becoming an alluring bottom with despair.

Forget it—for how unsuccessful he was with his love life, he was equally successful with his career, so it was best to focus on the latter.

Thus, Xiao Yu’an diligently threw himself into work, meaning to become a positive influence on society, an upstanding youth of the Four Great Virtues¹ and an exceptional member of the ruling political party—fighting till the end of his days to serve the common people.

Then, Xiao Yu’an was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

 

When he received his medical report, he was stunned for a long while. Afterwards, he headed back to extensively go through all two hundred and thirty-three domineering CEO novels he had. But he still was not able to identify what the game plan was for a terminally-ill CEO in his prime.

Despite zero intention, Xiao Yu’an found an interest in a new hobby as a result, and that was—

To read novels! Reading! Web! Novels!

Since he could not find his way as a domineering CEO or a cure for his terminal illness, he decided it was still best to soothe the soul with novels in this tragic life.

But when Xiao Yu’an wanted to do just that, he was slapped mercilessly in the face by a turn of events. He read a novel that persistently ranked at the top of the charts on a particular web novel platform.

In a world filled with a myriad of wondrous pieces of written creations, Xiao Yu’an just had to click into this one novel. A novel that made him want to bury the author alive after he finished it.

This novel was toxic; hidden within the toxicity was crap, and within that crap laid knives—it left readers wanting for more while feeding them flies, and not just any flies! The big, Spanish flies!

After he finished, Xiao Yu’an looked through the comments, and unsurprisingly, the amiable and approachable readers had more than adequately displayed the depth of their swearing prowess at the author.

“How the fuck did you turn a fictional historical novel into a fantasy stallion novel? How the fuck?”

“Author, show yourself! I promise I won’t hit you! I’ll just cut you up with a blade!”

“The first half of the book brought it to apotheosis, but the latter half is lethal! What a fucking brainless read!”

Aside from those scolding the author in the reviews, there were also those who were having a row with each other. The more they fought, the more spectacular and delightful the arguments got. There were arguments over the characters, the plot and the structure of the novel—true fans mixed among the anti-fans, leaving no stone unturned, so much so that the incendiaries could probably no longer keep track of what they were quarrelling about.

 

Xiao Yu’an came across an interesting, long review and it basically said:

“As an avid historical hobbyist, and as someone who once extolled this novel but currently scorns it, I have something to say.

I have a lot to say!

First, let’s look at the title of this novel: The History of the Four Kingdoms.

Listen to this! All of you, listen to how orthodox this is, and how refined! How conscientious! How it commands respect! And the beginning of this novel is also serious!

I will briefly detail the plot for friends who have not read this novel before.

It tells the story of a prince from Southern Yan who was imprisoned and taken hostage by the Northern Empire, and how this protagonist, a noble prince, suffered through torture, humiliation and abuse, but endured the hardship before he finally managed to escape.

However, the kingdom he once belonged to was ravaged by the flames of war spread far and wide, his people suffering and their land divided by the enemy state. From then on, the protagonist worked hard and persevered. Fuelled by hatred and his outstanding intelligence, wit and strategy, he gathered the men who were once his subordinates to build his own military. He broke through the defences of the Northern Empire in one fell swoop and personally slaughtered its young emperor, then advanced further on his journey of unifying all countries under one rule.

Friends, look at this! Look at the rise and fall of the kingdom, how only nature remains after a kingdom’s collapse—what a novel this is, and how it makes one’s blood race!

And yet!

Since the author finished writing about how the protagonist breached the defences of the Northern Empire, it’s almost as if the author was high on drugs! They began to let the plot go! It was as if the protagonist was a walking aphrodisiac, collecting a harem of women as he took to the battlefields of war—a female general from Western Shu, a gorgeous prostitute from Southern Yan, and the twelve songstresses from Eastern Wu.

He! Collected! A! Harem! Of Women! As! He! Battled!

Why had his subordinates not yet murdered him?

No matter where he went, women threw themselves at him endlessly. The protagonist simply unified all countries under his rule out of nowhere, as if there was a bug in the system!

A stallion novel, fine. Rolling in bed with ten women in the night, fine. Turning a historical novel into an erotic one, fine!

But what the hell is a Resurrection Pill? Why is there a fantasy element now? Huh?

The princess of the Northern Empire is the protagonist’s unforgettable first love and an unrivalled goddess in readers’ hearts. It is undisputed that she is, by consensus, the female protagonist.

But she’s dead! You, the author, killed her off! And she’s been dead for so many years!

Her corpse is no longer just cold! She’s rotting!

But a fucking Resurrection Pill?

Resurrection my ass! Author, does this not hurt your conscience?

Does! It! Not! Hurt!

Moreover! Since the male protagonist is already dissolute to this extent, why do you need to depict how devoted he is? I really don’t understand!”

After Xiao Yu’an came across this review, he fell into deep thought and replied with his own perspective.

“The male protagonist probably only ever loved the princess from the Northern Empire, but not only did she commit suicide because of him, she also didn’t accept him until the moment she died, which is probably why he changed. If she showed even the slightest bit of affection towards him, I think he would be devoted to her for the rest of his life.”

 

        Xiao Yu’an’s body began to deteriorate with every passing day. He did not intend to rely on exorbitant treatments to prolong his life, and instead made an anonymous donation to a hospital before transferring all of his remaining assets into a single account.

When that was finished, he quietly discharged himself from the hospital and checked into a hospice in the suburbs. This was a relatively high-class hospice, so much so that even middle-income families would struggle to afford it. Others could not help but lament—how evil capitalism was, tainted with the blood of the working class!

Xiao Yu’an easily found his way to a rather extravagant room within the hospice, familiar with the route. A young nurse exited from the room, and when she saw him, she was stunned for a moment. “Mr Xiao?”

“Is he in a good mood today?” Xiao Yu’an asked.

“He’s alright today.”

“Is that so? That’s good.”

“Mr. Xiao, are you going to have a look at him?”

“Could I trouble you to remind the others and ensure they won’t come up for the time being? Even if they hear any noise, they don’t need to mind it.”

“Alright.” The young nurse nodded and walked away, her steps light.

Xiao Yu’an inhaled deeply, taking his phone out and glancing at it.

He had taken care of his company’s future already, and there were no problems with his will. Right when Xiao Yu’an was about to put his phone away, a notification popped up from the web novel platform.

Xiao Yu’an thought that this might be someone looking to fight him because of the comment he posted, and usually, he would not have even spared it a glance.

But things were different today. Xiao Yu’an gave in to his curiosity and tapped the notification.

It was, surprisingly, not to argue with him. Not only was it not argumentative, but the person who sent the message and its contents confounded him to no end.

The message came from the author, and it only contained a short sentence.

You’re the only one who understands him.

I understand him?

Xiao Yu’an was confused. Who did he understand? The protagonist?

 

After the confusion passed, Xiao Yu’an put his phone back, pushed the door open and walked into the room.

The room was bright and spacious, the floor-to-ceiling curtains swaying lightly with the wind before the gleaming windows. In the centre of the room, a young man seated in a wheelchair was strangling a cat by the neck and forcing it into the goldfish tank.

Expressionless, he watched the cat struggle in agony while it drowned and did not even lift his head when he heard the sound indicating Xiao Yu’an’s entry.

“What are you doing?” Xiao Yu’an asked, walking to his side.

“The nurse said that it likes fish, but the fish are in the water, so I’m helping it.” The man spoke, his tone flat and even.

“Is that so…” Xiao Yu’an muttered, his voice soft. “By the way, I’m leaving.”

The man suddenly shuddered. He looked at Xiao Yu’an as his grip loosened, and the cat scurried away with all its might, leaving water all over the floorboards.

“How long are you leaving for?” the man asked.

“I won’t be coming back for the rest of my life,” Xiao Yu’an answered.

The man nodded, rolling his wheelchair over to the side of the coffee table. He reached out and picked up one of the cups on the table, then flung it viciously at Xiao Yu’an.

The cup struck Xiao Yu’an’s forehead with immaculate precision, and excruciating pain blossomed with the sound of the cup shattering. His head was skewed sideways due to the hit, and he covered his forehead out of reflex, blood seeping through his fingers and staining the sight before him scarlet red.

“Do you still remember what you said in front of mother’s grave?” The young man asked.

“Yes, I remember,” Xiao Yu’an inhaled, attempting to relieve the pain and dizziness.

The man roared, “And what did you say?!”

“I said I would care for you for the rest of your life in her stead.”

“And?!”

“If I couldn’t do it, then I’d go and die…”

“Then you should just die.”

“I… I’ve transferred all of my assets to your account, so…”

“Just die! Just die!”

“You must take care of yourself. I’m sorry.”

“Shut up! Now just die!”

“Okay.” Xiao Yu’an walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows, opened them, and threw himself off the fifth floor.

 

Xiao Yu’an watched the lightweight gossamer curtains and swirling smoke in a daze. He bent his head slightly, realising that the blankets covering his body carried a faint scent. A majestic golden dragon was embroidered on the blanket, the dragon’s breath emerging from its mouth with its teeth bared and claws out ferociously, as if a dragon had truly come to life.

Xiao Yu’an sat up. A head of black hair fully cascaded and fell over his shoulders.

Huh?

Xiao Yu’an pulled at his hair, ripping out a few strands.

It hurts, he hissed.

Xiao Yu’an’s brain spun quickly as he processed this, then confusedly wondered...

Was I reborn?

This was enough to drive Karl Marx out of his grave, wasn’t it?

“Your Majesty, have you woken up? I will assist you in getting dressed.” A young woman entered, lightly pushing through the doors from outside the palace hall. She was clad in simple green robes with a bronze-coloured antique pin in her hair, coiled in cloud-like buns. In her hands, she carried objects meant for freshening up.

Your Majesty?

Xiao Yu’an could not help but feel that it was such a pity; after going through the trouble of transmigration, he remained rooted in a setting that echoed reality. He was unable to experience the joy of immortal cultivation where the laws of gravity no longer applied to him.

Marx was likely to cry until he passed out, but at least Isaac Newton could rest assured.

“Do demons, immortals and the like exist in this world?” Xiao Yu’an asked.

The woman paused. “Your Majesty? Do you want to perform ancestral rites?”

Oh, so this was not a fantasy setting either.

Disappointment clouded Xiao Yu’an’s face.

“Your Majesty, it’s been several days since the late emperor passed away. Please don’t be sad anymore. Your health comes first.” The perceptive maidservant comforted Xiao Yu’an in a gentle voice, attentive to his words and demeanour.

So he had transmigrated and was now a new emperor who had just recently inherited the throne?

“Is there a mirror?” Xiao Yu’an asked.

His servant immediately brought over a bronze mirror, kneeling before the bed with her head bowed as she handed it to him. Xiao Yu’an took the mirror and scrutinised his appearance.

Ah, how pretty. He was delicate and handsome, as beautiful as a painting; fair-skinned, with red lips and crystalline eyes—truly youthful, alluring and unparalleled.

Xiao Yu’an sighed, and quietly, in his heart, defined his role.

A young emperor.

For an emperor like this, either the control over the military was not in his hands, with his mother and uncle in power and him just a puppet emperor, or he was a spirited, impulsive emperor who lived his days indulging in the pleasures and riches of life, drunkenly immersed in decadent dreams with no understanding of how to rule his kingdom.

Either way, he was afraid that it would not be easy to walk either path in the beginning stage. However, since he had transmigrated, he should make the best of it. He had been given a one-in-a-million chance to transmigrate, so even if he was not the male protagonist, he was still unlikely to be an insignificant passer-by who would show up for only a single page, right?

Xiao Yu’an vibrated in anticipation.

“What’s your name?” Xiao Yu’an asked the maidservant.

She was visibly confused for a moment, but still respectfully responded, “My name is Hongxiu.”

“Hong…”

Huh?

Wait a minute. Why was this name so familiar?

A young emperor? A late emperor?

 

After a few moments of hesitation, Xiao Yu’an probed, “What has Princess Yongning been busy with?”

“Your Majesty.” Hongxiu knelt on the ground, her head lowered. “I heard that Her Highness has been learning how to play the qin recently.”

Xiao Yu’an, who had been immensely pleased and full of ambition earlier, simply laid down on the bed after hearing that, turning into an unmoving corpse that had no will left to live.

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty, what’s wrong? Are you feeling ill? Your Majesty?” Hongxiu asked in a panic, frightened.

“Life had me in a vise around the throat, then followed it with a resounding slap across the face.”

“Huh?”

“I know that true warriors must dare face their dismal lives head-on and look directly at the fresh, dripping blood.”

“Y-Your Majesty?”

“Yet these blankets have sealed me. In this world where human hearts are cunning, scheming and cold, where the pursuit for material goods is prevalent, the slightest bit of warmth remains only under these covers.”

“Your Majesty! What happened to you? I will summon an imperial physician!” Hongxiu was frightened, climbing to her feet unsteadily and intending to shout for help, but Xiao Yu’an hastily stopped her.

“It’s alright. I was just escaping reality.” Xiao Yu’an waved her off feebly.

It was absolutely clear to Xiao Yu’an now—this was no simple transmigration.

He had transmigrated into a novel. Into the stallion novel, the one he had just been reading right before he passed away, “The History of the Four Kingdoms”.

 

1 Four Great Virtues: The title of an upstanding youth was a title of honour conferred to students who possessed four known great virtues. A common understanding of what these “Four Great Virtues” comprise are (1) to passionately love their motherland and to be far-sighted in goals; (2) to work hard at their studies and strive for improvement; (3) to be morally good and a good, friendly team member and (4) to be physically strong, lively and positive.