Chapter 3: The villain’s business is not easy
A dark cloud swept past and the light of the moon disappeared. In the faint dim chamber, Rong Feng’s eyes were as sharp as a hunting eagle.
Mu Jin scolded herself in her heart. Why couldn’t she control her movements better? Why did she care whether the second male lead was the heroine’s man or not?
But it had already been done and Mu Jin couldn’t act as if nothing had happened and let the man continue. If she did something like this, the second male lead would definitely become suspicious and the system would kill her.
Mu Jin’s expression was frozen in time and she squeezed out: “You cannot touch her.”
“Why?” Rong Feng’s voice was calm and steady, as if his previous thoughts were thousands of years away.
He saw the person in front of him lower her eyes and pick up the medicine bottle he had put aside with slender fingers. In the darkness of the room, the two of them were so close they could smell each other’s fragrance.
Mu Jinwen had a cleanliness fetish and in order to maintain her persona, Mu Jin needed to change into a new set of clothes every half a day, all specially washed with medicinal herbs that emitted a strange fragrance. As for Rong Feng, his fresh soap smell was so different from men who practiced martial arts and danced with spears and swords all day long.
In front of the curtain, there was the surprising atmosphere of a midnight rendezvous between a talented man and a beautiful lady. But when Rong Feng remembered this man was the malicious eunuch Mu Jinwen, any somewhat affective feelings that had arisen instantly disappeared, even though those should not have been born in the first place. Feeling disgusted both with himself and the man in front of him, Rong Feng’s eyes became colder.
Mu Jin’s heart was not so conflicted. Seeing that Rong Feng was still standing upright, still as a statue, she said indifferently: “This servant is a daughter and Guard Rong is a grown man. You are not suitable for this job.”
She raised her head to look at the man, unaware Rong Feng was overthinking every single one of her actions as he stared into her sorrowful eyes.
Rong Feng remembered Mu Jinwen had always been arrogant. He had climbed to the head eunuch position at the age of 19 and had resented the humiliation of others of his own “incompleteness”.
Seeing him care for an insignificant court lady and even considering her reputation so thoroughly, complicated emotions flashed through Rong Feng’s eyes and he didn’t refute her.
Mu Jin glanced at him strangely and directly used her body to push him away from the curtain. She didn’t know her villain persona had already started to collapse in the second male lead’s heart and as to prevent him from peeking, she put down the fabric of the curtain and carefully peeled Duan Rongrong’s clothes off to apply medicine.
The incense she had prepared in advance was still in her sleeve and she prayed the heroine would not wake up too soon. Otherwise, if she saw the person tending to her wounds was the person she had cursed at as she was being whipped, Mu Jin might not be able to go back to the plot. Fortunately, although Duan Rongrong made a few pained noises, there were no signs of her waking up.
Mu Jin smeared the ointment with confidence and suddenly felt someone was staring at her. She turned her head to look at the heroine’s face in horror, relieved when she saw her eyes were still closed. She quickly tidied up her clothes like a thief and when she walked out, she could no longer see Rong Feng’s figure.
It was for the best. Every time she would meet a character not mentioned in the novel, she would instinctively feel guilty and not know what to say.
She stood in the courtyard, looked up at the moon that was gradually emerging from the dark clouds, and sighed. The plot had only begun and none of those characters were following the script… Could she live it down?
The anxious Mu Jin returned to her room to rest and when she realized tomorrow’s clothes had not been perfumed, she suddenly felt that the road ahead was getting bleak.
***
In the next few days, Mu Jin no longer dared to go check on Duan Rongrong’s situation personally. And on the third day, when she saw the pale heroine on duty, the worries in her heart finally dimmed.
But seeing her work as she was so badly injured, anxiety about something that might happen rose again. She pretended to be disgusted, called the heroine an eyesore, and sent her to a place where there was no heavy work. Yet, she still felt uneasy and often wandered to the place Duan Rongrong was assigned to, preserving as she did so her cold persona. All the eunuchs working in this remote area couldn’t help but shiver, worried they would be punished with dozens of whips if they dared make her unhappy.
Seeing the heroine’s face get more color each day, Mu Jin was finally relieved. Except for her daily reports to the emperor, she spent the rest of her time analyzing the plot and finding various ways to work on it behind the scenes.
The main mission of the system was very simple: complete the villain’s role. Yet, this was not as easy to implement.
The original novel mainly described the relationship between the two protagonists. All supporting characters had been created to add obstacles to their love and the author had not spent much time detailing everyone’s activities outside of the main plot, even when it came to the most important villain of the story, the evil eunuch Mu Jinwen.
The novel had been written from the perspective of the heroine and every scene Mu Jinwen had been involved with had been either related to her evil doings, her rise in power, or what achievement she had achieved. And because she had been going against the male lead and had taken control of his administration, she had at least two sets of forces in her grasp; one to work for the hero and one for herself, each arranged perfectly.
But how had she done it? Those were all things Mu Jin needed to figure out fast.
Mu Jin felt she was about to turn bald as she looked through all the details the system had worked out for her.
“Can’t you just do it for me? I really don’t want to be the bad guy.” Mu Jin stared at her to-do list and at the lines “collect evidence of the corruption of the Minister of War” and “assassinate the young son of the inspector-general who opposed Mu Jinwen”, the first task being on the Emperor’s order and the second for her own villain business.
[I have listed everything you need to do, you just need to complete them one by one according to the above content.]
The system’s voice kept jumping from left to right ear, making Mu Jin think it was running around. She pinched her brows as a headache gradually spread; although this world was a novel, everything felt terribly real and she couldn’t treat it like a game.
As she tried to deal with her growing migraine, there was a knock at the door and a low voice asked from outside: “Jinwen, are you there?”
Plot character! Mu Jin lifted her spirits, sat up straight, and ordered solemnly: “Come in.”
Zhang Mingxu pushed the door open and entered. As Mu Jinwen’s trusted confidant from start to finish, he knew her character well. Every time he came to see her, he would put on eunuch clothes, even smoking them with incense similar to her, making Mu Jin’s eyebrows twitch as soon as he came in and instinctively wanting to back away. At least she was trying to hide the fact she was a woman, what did a man need such a strong scent for?
Zhang Mingxu bowed his head. He had a slim figure and Mu Jin could not see the previous torture and evil deeds he had done on his handsome face. In her heart, she felt that this man was even more terrifying than the original Mu Jinwen.
“What is it?”
“Guanglu Temple has agreed to our terms. As long as we do not sell them out in case of an incident and destroy everything we have in our hands, they have agreed to regularly serve His Majesty with tofu and honey soup.”
Zhang Mingxu didn’t look at her. His voice did not have the sharp timbre of ordinary eunuchs after excessive secretion of estrogen, but was on the contrary clear and pleasant to the ear.
Mu Jin took a few seconds to recall the story and remembered this plot had not been small.
Honey and tofu were both foods that were good for the body but long-term consumption could cause blindness. Mu Jinwen had sent someone to find evidence incriminating the son of Guanglu Temple’s official, in order to have them provide Yu Wenrui with these two items on a regular basis.
Although the official had been unwilling at first, his son had been a rising star and he had been afraid it would affect his career. Besides, tofu and honey soup were relatively ordinary foods and he didn’t have to worry even if they were to be found.
In the latter part of the novel, the heroine Duan Rongrong had fled from the palace in secret after a quarrel with Yu Wenrui, and had been kidnapped as soon as she had stepped outside by one of Mu Jinwen’s minions. When Yu Wenrui had heard the news, his anger had stimulated the accumulated toxin and he had fallen into short-term blindness.
This had been one of the most tragic scenes between the two protagonists in the whole book and it had all started from here.
Zhang Mingxu quietly raised his head and looked at the person who had been subjected to all kinds of malicious speculations. He was sitting at the table in his overly enchanting appearance and held a cup of hot tea in hands as white as jade. The heat filled his somber dark eyes with a thin layer of white smoke, softening the sharp beauty and making people want to reach and caress his magnificent face.
Even after such big progress, no joy could be seen; Mu Jinwen’s sophisticated ambition was beyond ordinary people’s understanding.
After recalling the plot, Mu Jin came back to her senses and glanced at Zhang Mingxu who was still standing respectfully before slowly saying: “You have done well.”
Because she had not spoken in a long time, her already small voice sounded languid and slightly hoarse. Strictly speaking, Zhang Mingxu was not Mu Jinwen’s subordinate but she had used him to achieve her own goals. Zhang Mingxu had also hated the imperial family since he had been sold to the palace as a child. They had started working together because of their similar interests but because My Jinwen was the better schemer and Zhang Mingxu was better at acting, it seemed like he was obeying her.
For someone like Zhang Mingxu who had grown up and survived on the tip of a sword, he could feel the danger Mu Jinwen represented and had never tried to overpower her.
Zhang Mingxu’s arrival seemed to brighten Mu Jin’s way. She gave him an account of the next few things to do, explaining to him in detail which of them should be disclosed to Yu Wenrui and which should be done covertly. She told him what to do first and who to contact in advance and did not realize that the more the man listened, the more frightened he became.
Although Mu Jinwen would give him tasks in the past, she had never explained each step carefully. As she planned how to overturn the Great Yan from beginning to end, she was holding her cup of tea and her dark eyes didn’t fluctuate once. How could someone see so far ahead?
“Do you understand?”
When Mu Jin finally realized she had said too much, she couldn’t help but raise her eyes to look at Zhang Mingxu who had been listening quietly all along. These were not things that could be accomplished overnight, but she was in a hurry to get the villain’s business off her hands and forgot herself.
As soon as she met Zhang Mingxu’s eyes, she met his burning gaze. In front of her, the young eunuch who had always been respectful had approached her a few steps, almost stretching out his hand to touch her. Mu Jin leaned back uncomfortably and watched his somewhat devouring expression.
Zhang Mingxu seemed to return to his senses and went back to his gentle and handsome demeanor, the slight blush on his cheeks the only hint of his previous action.
“Understood.”
Mu Jin breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Mingxu was a capable man and nothing would go wrong with him; she was only responsible for giving orders and waiting for the plot to unfold.
Her mood lightened up once more and her voice was laced with conspicuous joy: “I am confident with your work. Let’s go, our well-deserved gains are still ahead of us.”
Hearing her subtle changes, Zhang Mingxu took a step back. He bowed his head and cupped hands in obeisance, his lowered eyelashes barely concealing the fanaticism and obsession at the bottom of his gaze: “Yes, sir.”
Chapter 3: The villain’s business is not easy
A dark cloud swept past and the light of the moon disappeared. In the faint dim chamber, Rong Feng’s eyes were as sharp as a hunting eagle.
Mu Jin scolded herself in her heart. Why couldn’t she control her movements better? Why did she care whether the second male lead was the heroine’s man or not?
But it had already been done and Mu Jin couldn’t act as if nothing had happened and let the man continue. If she did something like this, the second male lead would definitely become suspicious and the system would kill her.
Mu Jin’s expression was frozen in time and she squeezed out: “You cannot touch her.”
“Why?” Rong Feng’s voice was calm and steady, as if his previous thoughts were thousands of years away.
He saw the person in front of him lower her eyes and pick up the medicine bottle he had put aside with slender fingers. In the darkness of the room, the two of them were so close they could smell each other’s fragrance.
Mu Jinwen had a cleanliness fetish and in order to maintain her persona, Mu Jin needed to change into a new set of clothes every half a day, all specially washed with medicinal herbs that emitted a strange fragrance. As for Rong Feng, his fresh soap smell was so different from men who practiced martial arts and danced with spears and swords all day long.
In front of the curtain, there was the surprising atmosphere of a midnight rendezvous between a talented man and a beautiful lady. But when Rong Feng remembered this man was the malicious eunuch Mu Jinwen, any somewhat affective feelings that had arisen instantly disappeared, even though those should not have been born in the first place. Feeling disgusted both with himself and the man in front of him, Rong Feng’s eyes became colder.
Mu Jin’s heart was not so conflicted. Seeing that Rong Feng was still standing upright, still as a statue, she said indifferently: “This servant is a daughter and Guard Rong is a grown man. You are not suitable for this job.”
She raised her head to look at the man, unaware Rong Feng was overthinking every single one of her actions as he stared into her sorrowful eyes.
Rong Feng remembered Mu Jinwen had always been arrogant. He had climbed to the head eunuch position at the age of 19 and had resented the humiliation of others of his own “incompleteness”.
Seeing him care for an insignificant court lady and even considering her reputation so thoroughly, complicated emotions flashed through Rong Feng’s eyes and he didn’t refute her.
Mu Jin glanced at him strangely and directly used her body to push him away from the curtain. She didn’t know her villain persona had already started to collapse in the second male lead’s heart and as to prevent him from peeking, she put down the fabric of the curtain and carefully peeled Duan Rongrong’s clothes off to apply medicine.
The incense she had prepared in advance was still in her sleeve and she prayed the heroine would not wake up too soon. Otherwise, if she saw the person tending to her wounds was the person she had cursed at as she was being whipped, Mu Jin might not be able to go back to the plot. Fortunately, although Duan Rongrong made a few pained noises, there were no signs of her waking up.
Mu Jin smeared the ointment with confidence and suddenly felt someone was staring at her. She turned her head to look at the heroine’s face in horror, relieved when she saw her eyes were still closed. She quickly tidied up her clothes like a thief and when she walked out, she could no longer see Rong Feng’s figure.
It was for the best. Every time she would meet a character not mentioned in the novel, she would instinctively feel guilty and not know what to say.
She stood in the courtyard, looked up at the moon that was gradually emerging from the dark clouds, and sighed. The plot had only begun and none of those characters were following the script… Could she live it down?
The anxious Mu Jin returned to her room to rest and when she realized tomorrow’s clothes had not been perfumed, she suddenly felt that the road ahead was getting bleak.
***
In the next few days, Mu Jin no longer dared to go check on Duan Rongrong’s situation personally. And on the third day, when she saw the pale heroine on duty, the worries in her heart finally dimmed.
But seeing her work as she was so badly injured, anxiety about something that might happen rose again. She pretended to be disgusted, called the heroine an eyesore, and sent her to a place where there was no heavy work. Yet, she still felt uneasy and often wandered to the place Duan Rongrong was assigned to, preserving as she did so her cold persona. All the eunuchs working in this remote area couldn’t help but shiver, worried they would be punished with dozens of whips if they dared make her unhappy.
Seeing the heroine’s face get more color each day, Mu Jin was finally relieved. Except for her daily reports to the emperor, she spent the rest of her time analyzing the plot and finding various ways to work on it behind the scenes.
The main mission of the system was very simple: complete the villain’s role. Yet, this was not as easy to implement.
The original novel mainly described the relationship between the two protagonists. All supporting characters had been created to add obstacles to their love and the author had not spent much time detailing everyone’s activities outside of the main plot, even when it came to the most important villain of the story, the evil eunuch Mu Jinwen.
The novel had been written from the perspective of the heroine and every scene Mu Jinwen had been involved with had been either related to her evil doings, her rise in power, or what achievement she had achieved. And because she had been going against the male lead and had taken control of his administration, she had at least two sets of forces in her grasp; one to work for the hero and one for herself, each arranged perfectly.
But how had she done it? Those were all things Mu Jin needed to figure out fast.
Mu Jin felt she was about to turn bald as she looked through all the details the system had worked out for her.
“Can’t you just do it for me? I really don’t want to be the bad guy.” Mu Jin stared at her to-do list and at the lines “collect evidence of the corruption of the Minister of War” and “assassinate the young son of the inspector-general who opposed Mu Jinwen”, the first task being on the Emperor’s order and the second for her own villain business.
[I have listed everything you need to do, you just need to complete them one by one according to the above content.]
The system’s voice kept jumping from left to right ear, making Mu Jin think it was running around. She pinched her brows as a headache gradually spread; although this world was a novel, everything felt terribly real and she couldn’t treat it like a game.
As she tried to deal with her growing migraine, there was a knock at the door and a low voice asked from outside: “Jinwen, are you there?”
Plot character! Mu Jin lifted her spirits, sat up straight, and ordered solemnly: “Come in.”
Zhang Mingxu pushed the door open and entered. As Mu Jinwen’s trusted confidant from start to finish, he knew her character well. Every time he came to see her, he would put on eunuch clothes, even smoking them with incense similar to her, making Mu Jin’s eyebrows twitch as soon as he came in and instinctively wanting to back away. At least she was trying to hide the fact she was a woman, what did a man need such a strong scent for?
Zhang Mingxu bowed his head. He had a slim figure and Mu Jin could not see the previous torture and evil deeds he had done on his handsome face. In her heart, she felt that this man was even more terrifying than the original Mu Jinwen.
“What is it?”
“Guanglu Temple has agreed to our terms. As long as we do not sell them out in case of an incident and destroy everything we have in our hands, they have agreed to regularly serve His Majesty with tofu and honey soup.”
Zhang Mingxu didn’t look at her. His voice did not have the sharp timbre of ordinary eunuchs after excessive secretion of estrogen, but was on the contrary clear and pleasant to the ear.
Mu Jin took a few seconds to recall the story and remembered this plot had not been small.
Honey and tofu were both foods that were good for the body but long-term consumption could cause blindness. Mu Jinwen had sent someone to find evidence incriminating the son of Guanglu Temple’s official, in order to have them provide Yu Wenrui with these two items on a regular basis.
Although the official had been unwilling at first, his son had been a rising star and he had been afraid it would affect his career. Besides, tofu and honey soup were relatively ordinary foods and he didn’t have to worry even if they were to be found.
In the latter part of the novel, the heroine Duan Rongrong had fled from the palace in secret after a quarrel with Yu Wenrui, and had been kidnapped as soon as she had stepped outside by one of Mu Jinwen’s minions. When Yu Wenrui had heard the news, his anger had stimulated the accumulated toxin and he had fallen into short-term blindness.
This had been one of the most tragic scenes between the two protagonists in the whole book and it had all started from here.
Zhang Mingxu quietly raised his head and looked at the person who had been subjected to all kinds of malicious speculations. He was sitting at the table in his overly enchanting appearance and held a cup of hot tea in hands as white as jade. The heat filled his somber dark eyes with a thin layer of white smoke, softening the sharp beauty and making people want to reach and caress his magnificent face.
Even after such big progress, no joy could be seen; Mu Jinwen’s sophisticated ambition was beyond ordinary people’s understanding.
After recalling the plot, Mu Jin came back to her senses and glanced at Zhang Mingxu who was still standing respectfully before slowly saying: “You have done well.”
Because she had not spoken in a long time, her already small voice sounded languid and slightly hoarse. Strictly speaking, Zhang Mingxu was not Mu Jinwen’s subordinate but she had used him to achieve her own goals. Zhang Mingxu had also hated the imperial family since he had been sold to the palace as a child. They had started working together because of their similar interests but because My Jinwen was the better schemer and Zhang Mingxu was better at acting, it seemed like he was obeying her.
For someone like Zhang Mingxu who had grown up and survived on the tip of a sword, he could feel the danger Mu Jinwen represented and had never tried to overpower her.
Zhang Mingxu’s arrival seemed to brighten Mu Jin’s way. She gave him an account of the next few things to do, explaining to him in detail which of them should be disclosed to Yu Wenrui and which should be done covertly. She told him what to do first and who to contact in advance and did not realize that the more the man listened, the more frightened he became.
Although Mu Jinwen would give him tasks in the past, she had never explained each step carefully. As she planned how to overturn the Great Yan from beginning to end, she was holding her cup of tea and her dark eyes didn’t fluctuate once. How could someone see so far ahead?
“Do you understand?”
When Mu Jin finally realized she had said too much, she couldn’t help but raise her eyes to look at Zhang Mingxu who had been listening quietly all along. These were not things that could be accomplished overnight, but she was in a hurry to get the villain’s business off her hands and forgot herself.
As soon as she met Zhang Mingxu’s eyes, she met his burning gaze. In front of her, the young eunuch who had always been respectful had approached her a few steps, almost stretching out his hand to touch her. Mu Jin leaned back uncomfortably and watched his somewhat devouring expression.
Zhang Mingxu seemed to return to his senses and went back to his gentle and handsome demeanor, the slight blush on his cheeks the only hint of his previous action.
“Understood.”
Mu Jin breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Mingxu was a capable man and nothing would go wrong with him; she was only responsible for giving orders and waiting for the plot to unfold.
Her mood lightened up once more and her voice was laced with conspicuous joy: “I am confident with your work. Let’s go, our well-deserved gains are still ahead of us.”
Hearing her subtle changes, Zhang Mingxu took a step back. He bowed his head and cupped hands in obeisance, his lowered eyelashes barely concealing the fanaticism and obsession at the bottom of his gaze: “Yes, sir.”
