“Is he dead yet? His Majesty will still need him later.”
“It is fine. I just fed him the antidote to flush out the poison he ingested; he will not die.”
Someone was speaking beside his ear.
His abdomen was gripped by sharp cramps, and his mouth was filled with a metallic, bloody taste. Before he could even process what was happening, his hair was grabbed and yanked upward mercilessly.
“Speak! Who gave you the audacity to assassinate His Majesty? Huh?!”
What is he saying?
Hiss.
It felt as though a layer of his scalp was about to be ripped off.
Jiang Wangnan tried to move, but his hands and feet were bound with thick hemp rope, leaving him able only to twist his features in pain.
The person in front of him was dressed in ancient imperial guard attire, his waist bound with a phoenix belt, and his chest embroidered with a silver flying-fish pattern.
Who is this person?
Unable to move, Jiang Wangnan rolled his eyes and surveyed his surroundings.
Before him stood a magnificent, awe-inspiring golden palace, with a plaque that unmistakably read: The Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxin Palace).
He was kneeling on the wide courtyard before the doors, tightly encircled by burning torches. The bright flames flickered and swayed in the dark night, and the surrounding guards were similarly dressed in flying-fish uniforms with stern expressions.
The bloody taste in his mouth was intense. Puzzled, Jiang Wangnan coughed, “Cough, cough. Where is this?”
The guard barked harshly, “What are you playing dumb for? Time and again, under the guise of attending the bedchamber, you have attempted to assassinate His Majesty. His Majesty has been magnanimous and has not held it against you, but look at you, pushing your luck, actually hiding a dagger this time and wounding the dragon’s body!”
Assassination?
Suddenly, Jiang Wangnan’s head burst with a splitting pain as frame after frame of memories slowly unfolded before him.
There was a man who looked seven or eight parts similar to him, lying on a bed wearing only white undergarments, his raven hair scattered, glaring like a cold arrow at the black-robed man looming over him.
“You dog of an emperor! Return the lives of fifty thousand of my countrymen!” The man abruptly pulled a sharp dagger from his waist, and a blinding flash sliced through the air.
The man reacted with extreme speed, tilting slightly to the side. However, the attack was lightning-fast, and the dagger sank without a doubt straight into the other’s left chest!
Rip!
The sharp object instantly pierced through skin and flesh, and blood dripped one drop at a time, dampening the bright yellow bedding.
His expression was one of endurance and pain. Seemingly realizing he had not struck a vital organ, he simply clenched his teeth, pressed his wrist downward, and with another rip, blood gushed out like broken agate beads, staining a large puddle.
The man’s slender fingers wrapped around his forearm, his movements as gentle and toxic as a viper. It seemed he gripped a certain acupoint, causing his entire arm and body to tremble violently.
With unyielding and fatal determination, his gaze was resolute, “A gentleman takes his revenge ten years later; this prince is the dignified Crown Prince of the Yue State. I would rather die alongside my fallen people than ever become your tyrant’s toy boy! Finding pleasure under your knees is the ultimate humiliation!”
That man did not even furrow a brow; instead, he smiled ever more brilliantly, treating the stab wound as if it were just a playful whip.
It was impossible to clearly see how the man seized back the initiative, but in the blink of an eye, he leaned right over him.
The dagger was still firmly pinned in his chest, and droplets of blood slid down the glittering blade. The man’s brow relaxed as if finding the sensation refreshing, the corners of his lips maintaining a hint of a bewitching curve.
A large hand encircled his slender wrist, fingers playfully stroking his cheek as he breathed out hauntingly, “The person I have set my eyes on is so pretty, even when angry.”
Holy crap, what a total psycho.
Wait, hold on a second.
A moment later, Jiang Wangnan widened his eyes in shock.
This, this, this. Is this not that political intrigue web novel called Flattering Favor?
OMG!
He, he, he. Transmigrated into a book?!
Jiang Wangnan: qaq
The original host shares the same name as him and is the beloved Crown Prince of the Yue State. One day, the protagonist gong and Emperor of the Zhao State, Xiao Quanchuan, led ten thousand armored cavalry to trample the imperial city of Yue, brutally slaughtering fifty thousand people and achieving the unification of the southern territories.
Xiao Quanchuan single-handedly ushered in a new era, pulling back the curtain on a balanced standoff with the northern An State.
From then on, the world was divided into two: Southern Zhao and Northern An.
The political scheming in the first half of Flattering Favor was written so miraculously well that Jiang Wangnan had been utterly hooked.
However, who knows what snapped in the author’s brain, but the second half twisted sideways and morphed straight into a Danmei romance!
With his country destroyed and family lost, the original host swore that he would be no gentleman if he did not exact this revenge. Yet Xiao Quanchuan happened to have a fetish for his fierce and unyielding personality; not only did he spare his life, but he brought him back to the inner palace, keeping him as a toy boy in Xiying Palace and bestowing upon him the rank of Attendant (Changzai).
The only thing that sustained Jiang Wangnan through the later chapters was the passionate, mutual-kill-and-love dynamic between the main characters.
Bent on revenge, the original host had not stopped trying to assassinate Xiao Quanchuan since moving into the palace. Yet the emperor possessed formidable martial arts and an unfathomable mind, seeing through his moves every single time.
Whenever a plot was exposed, they would first battle fiercely for three hundred rounds, and as they fought, they would inevitably tumble onto the bed together!
Constantly finding new ways to bully and humiliate him, Xiao Quanchuan never grew tired of it.
If he passed out, he would be forced to drink ginseng soup; If his voice went hoarse, he would be fed throat-soothing tea; If he swelled up, he would be patched up with some burn ointment.
Night after night, repeating in an endless cycle from the first appearance of the stars until deep into the third watch of the night.
The following is an excerpt from the original text:
[Amidst the struggle, Jiang Wangnan slapped him across the face, furiously cursing, “You are worse than a beast! Despicable and shameless!”]
[Instead of getting angry, Xiao Quanchuan laughed, his eyes brilliantly bright and stimulated to the absolute limit, “Has anyone ever told you that your red-rimmed eyes right now are truly adorable to the extreme? I said it before: every time you hit me, I will mount you ten times, and every time you curse me, I will make your tears flow like a river.”]
Reading that back then, Jiang Wangnan had alternately thought yikes, oh wow, oh-oh-oh give it to me daddy, and wuwuwu how pitiful.
Now, having transmigrated into the protagonist shou, Jiang Wangnan thought: hehehehohohahaha.
A group of imperial physicians hurried into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, their faces filled with anxiety.
In his memory, this should be their very first night together.
Why did he remember this so clearly?
Because this was the original host’s first successful assassination attempt.
Before this, they had already run through thrilling plots like poisoning via herbal medicine, archery in the horse pasture, sword fighting in the peach orchard, and an explosion on the dragon throne, all of which were thoroughly crushed by the gong.
And this was also a crucial turning point, because if Xiao Quanchuan tasted the sweetness of bullying him during this bedchamber attendance, he would end up overturning the imperial couch day and night from then on!
The guard sternly demanded, “Speak! What other accomplices do you have?”
Help! Back then, he was only focused on reading about the main characters doing the deed until they practically died, skimming right past the political parts almost instantly. How was he supposed to know about any accomplices?!
However, Jiang Wangnan knew one thing very well: the heavier Xiao Quanchuan’s injury, the more excited he became, and the more he would want to do that with the original host.
Just the thought of ending up on the bottom getting ruthlessly hammered made him shudder all over.
Forget it! Even if he could not escape this deep palace, he had to get away from the Hall of Mental Cultivation first!
With the poison and the antidote battling in his stomach, Jiang Wangnan endured the pain and spoke in a weak, breathless voice, “Brother, how about you take me down for interrogation first? Can we chat about this later?”
The guard’s brow twitched slightly, and he was just about to open his mouth to issue an order.
“Lord, hold on.”
A eunuch dressed in camel-colored robes stepped forward on dainty steps, flicking a horsetail whisk. His lips were painted with rouge, and he looked to be around forty years old.
The guard treated him with utmost respect, asking with concern, “Grand Eunuch Sun, how is His Majesty’s injury?”
Grand Eunuch Sun? Sun Nianhai?
Is that not Xiao Quanchuan’s personal attendant?
Oh mother dear! I really did transmigrate into the book!
Absurdity opened the door for absurdity, as it was absurd to the extreme.
Jiang Wangnan: QAQ
Sun Nianhai said, “Milord, disperse your men. Someone, untie him. Attendant Jiang, please come with this servant.”
A servant’s will meant Xiao Quanchuan’s will; Jiang Wangnan had a very strong premonition in his heart.
Following Sun Nianhai along, he unexpectedly headed in the exact opposite direction of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, which meant getting further and further away from that psycho!
Yes! I will not have to attend the bedchamber tonight!
Jiang Wangnan was overjoyed: “Grand Eunuch Sun, where are we going?”
Sun Nianhai blinked, “Attendant Jiang does not know?”
“?” Jiang Wangnan wore a look of utter confusion.
“To wash up and change clothes, to attend the bedchamber.”
Boom!
A thunderbolt split Jiang Wangnan in half: “Attend… attend the bedchamber?!”
Sun Nianhai sighed lightly, unfazed, and beckoned a young eunuch over: “Wash Attendant Jiang clean, and send him to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Oh, right, do not put any undergarments on him this time, lest he pull out some dangerous gadget again. Do you understand?”
“!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Wuwuwu, in the end, I still could not protect my butt?!
Thinking of the plot he was about to walk into, Jiang Wangnan wore a stiff, bizarre smile on his lips, his brain fried into a complete mess, save for a frantic inner screaming of: Save me, save me, save me, save me, save me, save me, save me.
The young eunuch prepared hot water, stripped off his blood-stained, dirty clothes, and had him step into the water when told, raising his arms when prompted, acting like he was tending to an obedient zombie.
The young eunuch glanced at him strangely, not uttering a half-word out loud, while inwardly muttering: Why is this master not making a fuss at all? He has never been this quiet before. Usually, without ten or twenty people holding him down and tossing about for an hour or two, you could not even dream of finishing his bath.
“Master, you can get up and dry off now,” the young eunuch said a moment later, lowering his head as he brought over a thick towel.
After the bath, Jiang Wangnan felt even more dizzy. With a splash, water rippled in the wooden tub as his slender, pale bare feet stepped out. Before he had taken two steps, the soles of his feet slipped, the world spun, and his entire body tilted backward!
Thud!
His butt slammed heavily onto the floor, stars spinning wildly in his vision. Luckily, it cushioned his head from the impact, keeping him from passing out on the spot.
The young eunuch was scared out of his wits, eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. He scrambled to help him up, crying out as if his own parents had died: “Oh my, this servant deserves death! If Your Grace suffers even the slightest mishap, how are you supposed to attend the bedchamber?!”
“I am still…” Jiang Wangnan originally wanted to shake his head clearly to reassure the other person, but the moment he heard the words “attend the bedchamber,” he instantly changed his mind!
Seeing the bright clarity in his eyes, before the young eunuch could even feel a moment of joy, Jiang Wangnan closed his eyes, tilted his head, went limp, stretched out his legs, and instantly passed out cold, completely unresponsive to any shaking.
Hehehe, Xiao Quanchuan surely is not so perverted that he would mount an unconscious person, right?!
Hearing the young eunuch hysterically calling for the imperial physicians, Jiang Wangnan shifted into a comfortable position and lay flat. While faking it, he accidentally dozed off for real.
I do not know how much time passed when he was woken up by a wave of noise. He slowly opened his eyes, stretched a huge lazy stretch, feeling wonderfully refreshed.
Scanning his surroundings, he recognized the familiar furnishings and placement. Sure enough, he had still been sent to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, but Xiao Quanchuan was nowhere in sight.
Oh ho, did I dodge a bullet?!
Outside, the dull sound of beating wood grew heavier, mixed with the piercing screams of the young eunuch: “Have mercy, Your Majesty! This servant knows his wrong, Your Majesty! Your Grace, Your Grace, save this servant…”
The moment Jiang Wangnan lay back down, he sat right back up like a corpse springing from a coffin.
He is dead!
He had forgotten that he transmigrated into an ancient society, living in an imperial palace with an exceptionally strict hierarchical system.
Even if his fainting in the bathhouse was unintentional, it was still considered poor service on the part of the attendant.
Without even putting on his shoes, he bolted out: “Stop!”
“Awoken?” The man’s voice was deep and slightly hoarse, like freezing ice.
Jiang Wangnan’s heart skipped a beat, sending a chill down his spine.
Looking toward the sound from a distance of over two meters, a man in black robes embroidered with gold-threaded dragon patterns sat regally upon a nanmu dragon-head armchair.
His hair was bound with a coiling-dragon gold crown, and hooked onto the outer cartilage of his right ear was an enamel-crafted ornament, interwoven with gold and green, resembling a curled-up feather.
That was the Ear-Wrap Feather, the only one of its kind in the world.
According to the book, Xiao Quanchuan had a tragic childhood, frequently bullied by other imperial princes, which resulted in impaired hearing in his left ear.
This trinket was the ancient equivalent of a modern hearing aid.
Bringing his index and middle fingers together, Xiao Quanchuan lazily pressed them against his temple, turning his head to look at him with half-drooped eyelids, his pupils veiled in the cold moonlight of the night.
“The imperial physicians checked you; your body is in fine shape. How is it that you are only waking up now?”