The Villain Loaded My System

Chapter 73

Gu Xiyu finished eating the eggs with the fortress master and socialized.

He didn’t really take the so-called custom seriously; he just didn’t want to disregard the goodwill of the people in the fortress.

But as he squeezed the eggshells in his hand, he couldn’t help but silently think that if he had the chance to be with the great demon of this world in the future, he would come back and ask for two more.

Although it was only a psychological comfort, it did not stop him from wanting this auspicious omen.

Ah Wen joked along with the people of the fortress, and without waiting for him to say anything, he took the initiative to release his hold on him and say, “I’m going out, Madam, come see me off.”

He and Gu Xiyu walked on until they left the sight of the people in the fortress. The distance between them was enough for two more people to stand. He silently bowed his head and followed Ah Wen to the gate, his eyes staring slyly at the freedom that was just a few meters away from him.

“I’m quite curious, what made you suddenly calm down and accept the situation?”

Gu Xiyu asked back emotionlessly, “Where do I look like I’ve accepted things?”

If it wasn’t for the mission.

Wei Chiyan chuckled. He didn’t know what the other party was thinking, but he felt that Gu Xiyu’s current attitude was more pleasing to the eye.

Gu Xiyu was quiet for a moment, then he suddenly remembered something and stopped him before he walked out of the gate. After confirming that no one else could hear their conversation, he asked him: “Are you going… are you really going into the city?”

The other man’s silence was an acquiescence, and Gu Xiyu continued, “Since you won’t let me leave, can you bring me some news about the Third Prince?”

Gu Xiyu didn’t know that the one standing in front of him was the great demon he had been longing for, but he was still maintaining his script and saying, “I came all the way to Yao Kingdom for him, and now that you have trapped me, are you not even qualified to let me hear about him?”

He was glad that in the previous worlds, he had been watching TV dramas with the Great Demon’s soul fragments and had all sorts of lines at his fingertips.

He thought the fortress master would be angry, but the expression on his face looked a little uncertain, like he was torn or holding something back.

After a long time, the man couldn’t help but ask, “Wei Chiyan again?”

“I don’t quite understand why you’re so interested in this guy that others avoid. You were born in a remote kingdom and have never met him, so how can you love him so deeply and obsessively after only hearing a few words about him?” After a pause, he said suspiciously, “Could it be that you and the royal family of the Dayan Kingdom, are trying to plot against him?”

No matter how you think about it, that was the most likely reason.

He also curled his eyes and said, “It just so happens that I have little affection for people from the royal family, so you don’t have to fake it in front of me. Maybe I can even help you out after you tell me your plan.”

But Gu Xiyu glared at him coldly and said, “You don’t know him, so don’t jump to conclusions.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that Wei Chiyan knew he was the one Gu Xiyu was looking for and remembered clearly that they had never crossed paths, he would have started to wonder if the ‘Wei Chiyan’ Gu Xiyu was talking about was a friend he had known for years and had a good relationship with.

He had grown up in the palace and did not like the struggles of the deep palace, yet he was forced to get involved in them. As long as he was in the palace, even a young palace maid was someone with an agenda or someone sent by others with an agenda to set him up. His father did not pay attention to him, his mother only had the fifth prince in her heart, and he had never experienced the feeling of being loved.

Even though Gu Xiyu’s attitude was so firm, the emotions he spoke of were still very illusory to him, especially since he had admitted to the ‘system’ that his words of love were false. But the look and attitude he revealed at the moment were so real that he was a little taken aback.

After a momentary daze, he heard his voice asking, “What exactly do you like about him? Because he is a prince?”

Wei Chiyan’s tone was suddenly serious, which in turn made Gu Xiyu flinch at the question.

He had always failed to believe what the Lord God said—that he had accidentally sealed off a part of himself while sealing the energy, thus causing him to lack emotions. It was true that his initial perception of emotions was a little weaker than others, but that didn’t mean it was completely absent.

No one can be completely indifferent after experiencing love from the same person for three lifetimes.

Gu Xiyu couldn’t anyway.

He had to admit that his state of mind toward the mission target was no longer the same as it was at the very beginning. It was just that the emotions he was feeling were relatively weak, so he firmly believed that he would be able to adjust his mentality right after the mission was over and he and the Great Demon King had no more interactions.

Right now, he was still in the middle of the mission, and the Great Demon was still his target. He was impatient to meet him, reduce the risk value again, and spend the rest of their years in peace, so if someone asked him if he liked his mission target— then his answer was undoubtedly yes.

“Even if he’s not a prince, I still like him.” Gu Xiyu replied. He gently raised his eyes, which were as calm as water, and crashed straight into the eyes of the person opposite him.

He saw a momentary look of surprise in the other person’s eyes.

Gu Xiyu lowered his eyes again and softly asked the fortress master in front of him, “Do you believe in past lives?”

It was the first time that Wei Chiyan had heard someone ask him such a question, and it instantly overlapped with the countless denials in his mind, hitting him hard in the heart.

He could even hear the sound of his heartbeat intensifying.

Wei Chiyan tried to make his voice sound normal: “Why would you ask that?”

The corner of Gu Xiyu’s mouth curled upwards, and from Wei Chiyan’s angle, he could see his handsome side profile. Perhaps it was because he already knew Gu Xiyu was a man, but even though his make-up made him look soft and delicate, he could still imagine his appearance when he returned to his male attire.

It was true that Gu Xiyu was stunning when he pretended to be a woman, but he always subconsciously thought that when he returned to his real form, he would definitely look better than the current feminine one.

Just as Wei Chiyan finished thinking this, he heard Gu Xiyu say in a soft voice, “I believe there is.”

“That’s why, the moment I heard Wei Chiyan’s name, I felt that he was the person I wanted to find when I came into this world.”

“He and I have a three-life bond.”

The expression on Wei Chiyan’s face did not change much, but the hand behind him was clenched tightly. He knew Gu Xiyu came looking for him because he was the mission target, but his thoughts and mind could not help but be affected by his most likely made-up words.

It was an excuse he had made countless times for the handicapped eye, but even he could not convince himself to believe it. But now, another person was using that very excuse against him.

It made that unattainable absurdity suddenly a little more believable.

He tried to find an expression of guilt or hypocrisy in Gu Xiyu’s face or eyes, but all he could see was determination.

[Is what you’re saying true?] He used his identity as a system to ask Gu Xiyu.

He didn’t want to inquire why Gu Xiyu had suddenly changed his attitude towards him and knew it was probably some kind of conspiracy. But for this, he didn’t want to spend so much effort guessing.

“?” The man in front of him returned his query with a question mark, and just as he was wondering what he meant by that, he heard him say, “Oh, I forgot that you don’t remember either.”

“I don’t think he’ll remember either, he’ll probably never remember for the rest of his life.”

“But it’s fine, at least I will.”

Wei Chiyan stared deadpan at Gu Xiyu’s response, but his expression remained calm.

In a compromising tone, he replied to the frustrated Gu Xiyu, “Okay then.”

Gu Xiyu looked up at him suspiciously, but he calmly continued, “Since you like Wei Chiyan so much, I will send you to him when I finish the matter.”

“…… Really?” Gu Xiyu was astonished.

Yesterday, this fortress master had a domineering attitude of ‘don’t try to run away from me’, why did he suddenly become nice today? It couldn’t be that he had thought of some plot to trap him, could it

But the man said to him solemnly, “I’m serious.”

With that, he added meaningfully, “But don’t blame me for not warning you, don’t regret it when I hand you over to him.”

“By then, it will be impossible for you to ever leave.”

Gu Xiyu tried so hard not to show a very pleased expression, and could only lower his head to prevent the person in front of him from seeing it. “Thank you so much, Fortress Master. Wei Chiyan is the only person I want to be with in my life, even if he is ugly, incompetent, and ugly, I will not regret it.”

I’ve seen all kinds of great demons, no matter how bad this one is, there won’t be any regret.

“…” Wei Chiyan listened to Gu Xiyu’s words of gratitude with mixed feelings. The man seemed sure that he was ugly and had a shocking personality. He unclenched his fist behind his back and said, “I will do what I promised. Just stay at the fortress during this time, be good, and don’t make trouble, I will naturally satisfy you.”

Gu Xiyu actually had some reservations about the authenticity of the fortress master’s words, but he still gave him a serious thank you.

Thinking about it, the main system must have had its reasons for giving him that side mission. This fortress master seems to be a capable general; perhaps he would become a great help to the Great Demon later on, which is why the main system had asked him to help him deal with the troubles in Luohe Fortress first.

Gu Xiyu was quite happy after talking for a while and getting the fortress master’s promise in exchange.

The progress of the mission had finally seen the light of day.

He didn’t know how long the fortress master would be away, but until then, he had to find a way to keep an eye on that man named Chen Wei and see if he could get him to reveal himself.

—

Wei Chiyan slipped out of the palace and assumed the identity of the fortress master just to check something out, so he would enter the city every now and then to collect information that he had entrusted to someone in his capacity to investigate.

The arrogant Tianyun Zhai was one of his targets. He was quite vindictive, having been badgered by them before, and with the fact that this fortress was growing in power and affecting the country, there was a real need to get rid of them. He had always suspected that the reason this fortress had not been destroyed by the court and stood to this day despite being so arrogant was that someone from the palace was behind it.

He had spent some years tracking down and investigating the exploits of this fortress and had even purposely pushed the Luohe fortress into having a small feud with them, and things had finally started to pick up recently.

Wei Chiyan wore a bamboo hat and entered the city in a low-profile manner. He met the informant responsible for investigating this part of the matter at a tailor’s shop, and got the information he wanted, as he always did. He placed a large silver ingot on the table, took the document, and left.

The document contained little this time, but the information was sufficient, and it made him laugh straight away.

He had wondered if it was the First Prince, who had just been confirmed as the Crown Prince and had never imagined that the people who were behind Tianyun Zhai, who were using their power to do things recklessly and even intercept a lot of resources from the imperial court, were his good brother, Yuchi Sheng, and his mother.

Then his plan to use simple and brutal means to uproot Tianyun Zhai cannot be so casual.

After burning the document and going out to meet several people to exchange some information with them, he did not rush back to the fortress, nor did he make a point of shopping as he had promised Gu Xiyu. Instead, he returned to the palace in secret.

It went unnoticed by the people in the palace until he exchanged identities with the person who had replaced him.

The man in blue, who was now sitting in his palace as a guest, propped his head with one hand, his posture and demeanor both casual, as he teased, “Your mother consort has come a total of three times in your absence, I’m surprised she didn’t notice anything.”

“I have no resemblance to you except for the fact that I’m also good-looking; you’re so pitiful.” The man who spoke was similar in age to Wei Chiyan, both looking to be around twenty-six or seven, and when he pursed his lips and did not speak, he could give off a somewhat similar aura to Wei Chiyan.

Wei Chiyan replied coolly, “Those who are sent here as zhizi are not qualified to say that.”

*In ancient China, a prince sent to be held as a hostage in a neighboring kingdom was called a zhizi.

Perhaps he was used to hearing such words from Wei Chiyan’s mouth, the tall, slender man did not feel offended and said, “I heard that my sister was captured by bandits on her way to the palace. Is there any news about her?”

Wei Chiyan gave a slight pause, and then he calmly answered, “Not at the moment.”

He was right; he really didn’t know where the real Murong Qingwan was.

The man in front of him, whose original name was Murong Heng, was a zhizi sent by the Dayan Kingdom many years ago. It was said that Murong Qingwan was his biological sister. He was only about a year old when he left the palace, so he probably had little memory of his imperial brother.

Seeing that Murong Heng’s eyes were somewhat gloomy, Wei Chiyan said, “I’ve been spying on the Tianyun Zhai Fortress before I came back, it’s them who hijacked the bridal party, but they lost them in the end, so your imperial sister should not be in their hands.”

The expression on Murong Heng’s face did indeed loosen up a little, and Wei Chiyan pondered for a moment before asking, “Do you have any other relatives besides this sister?”

Murong Heng hesitated for a moment before saying, “I do have a brother, he wasn’t too old before I left.… Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

Wei Chiyan averted his eyes: “Nothing, simply curious, I only hear you mention your imperial sister.” The reason he agreed with the wedding preparations was that the other party happened to be Murong Heng’s sister, Murong Qingwan, and he wanted to take this opportunity to reunite them.

He hadn’t cared much about the marriage before this, but Murong Heng had helped him a lot over the years, and he thought it would be nice to be able to return the favor.

Murong Heng was a zhizi sent by the Dayan Kingdom a long time ago, and he had a pretty good relationship with him. But after that glowing panel came to his mind, he realized that the real ‘Wei Chiyan’ had experienced a different life than the one he was living now.

That Wei Chiyan never left the palace and seemed to be in a hostile relationship with Murong Heng, and….he had never crossed paths with Gu Xiyu.

He narrowed his eyes and refused to acknowledge that the person in the original plot mentioned in the glowing panel was him.

As Wei Chiyan was thinking about all this mess, he heard Murong Heng say, “He actually had a pretty rough time, ever since I became a victim of palace fighting and politics, my mother got a weak heart. I only remember that before I left, Mother Consort always fed him medicine and deliberately made his health poor.”

“I haven’t mentioned him all these years because I thought he might not live long.” Murong Heng’s tone was flat and light as he said these words, as if he were sad and as if he felt nothing.

Wei Chiyan pondered for a moment, but in the end, he didn’t say anything about Gu Xiyu.

He spent a few days at the palace, and during this time, his father called him to the imperial study and, in a heavy tone, told him about the disappearance of his intended bride.

His mother, who was also present, was not too concerned and smiled kindly at Wei Chiyan: “It’s just a princess sent from a small kingdom. If she is really gone, I will reassign Yan’er a new bride. I’m sure many girls would like to marry him.”

The emperor seemed to have the same intention, and Wei Chiyan was quiet for a while, and said, “No.”

When he said this, both the emperor and his mother looked at him in unison, the latter even with a bit of caution, as if she were looking at a son who was gradually trying to get out of her control.

Wei Chiyan found it ridiculous. They were both her biological sons, but while she spoiled the younger one and was even pushing him to the throne, she was on guard against the other son becoming more outstanding than the younger one.

How can affection be so partial? Perhaps it was because she had bet so much on his younger brother that there was no way back.

His eyes gently swept over his mother before he raised his head to the emperor on the dragon seat and said, “I heard that girls from the Dayan Kingdom are very beautiful, especially the daughters of the royal family, so this son… would like to wait a little longer.”

“In case she is still alive, this son will insist on consummating his marriage when the time comes.”

The emperor didn’t think too much about it, it was already surprising that he accepted the marriage so obediently. It was clear to everyone in the palace that whoever married the princess from this small kingdom would be giving up the succession to the throne. That little princess couldn’t offer anything effective for her husband.

Logically speaking, any normal prince would struggle a little more, and Wei Chiyan’s straightforward attitude made the emperor look at him a little differently.

“Well, since you are not anxious about the big events of your life, no one else has the right to worry about you. I will have someone look for her, and if she isn’t found and you still want to marry, just let me know, and then I will personally decide your marriage.”

Wei Chiyan said respectfully, “Thank you, Father.”

After finishing this matter, he did not even give his mother a second glance, but turned around and left.

As soon as the people in the palace saw the man in the half-mask walking past, they would go silent or stop whatever they were doing and kneel in panic. The man simply brushed past them as if he hadn’t seen them, indifferent and untouchable.

After confirming that there was nothing of importance in the palace in the near future and nothing that required his personal involvement, he said goodbye to Murong Heng and prepared to leave once again.

“Alas, it’s time to start walking around the palace with two identities again. Don’t forget to give me a heavy reward when you return.” As Murong Heng was sighing, he saw Wei Chiyan carrying out several boxes from the cabinet by the dressing table, and when he opened them, they were all filled with gold and jade ornaments.

These were all the various gifts, rewards, and other items that Wei Chiyan had received in the palace. He had never looked at them and usually kept them in the cabinet. At one point, Murong Heng even felt that these items would only appear in front of people again when Wei Chiyan was about to be buried.

Perhaps as funerary objects.

Not expecting to see them back in the light of day today, Murong Heng was a little curious: “What are you doing?”

Wei Chiyan held up a white tablet carved from jade, and he stared at the lifelike soaring dragon on it. He weighed it in his hand before throwing the other items back into the brocade box: “A token of love for someone when I return to the fortress.”

Murong Heng’s heart for gossip was instantly ignited: “What? You …..got a wife outside?”

Wei Chiyan did not deny it. Seeing that Murong Heng’s eyes were a bit strange and remembering the recent events, he added calmly, “Don’t think too much, it’s not your sister.”

“And it’s a man.”

Murong Heng: “……?!”

This was even more shocking than Wei Chiyan’s love object being his imperial sister.