Blame the Villain – Chapter 215

Villainous Emperor (15)

Song Xuyi didn’t know how much Jiang Ruoyu was possessed by the Yin Shen at this moment, because in that final instant, although Jiang Ruoyu’s face looked exactly the same as before, their whole aura seemed completely different from before.

But Jiang Ruoyu was still thinking about her.

Even though there was a dragon robe in her room, and it seemed she was about to become an emperor, somehow Song Xuyi felt that Jiang Ruoyu’s entire being was like a candle about to burn out, and everything she saw was just its final brilliant glow…

Since she decided to take care of Jiang Ruoyu, Song Xuyi had defined her as her responsibility. Moreover, Jiang Ruoyu made this contract with the Yin Shen for her sake.

Back in Guozhou, all the “holy maidens” possessed by the Yin Shen eventually turned into flowers and vanished from the human world, and with only two years left until the ten-year deadline set by the Yin Shen, Song Xuyi worried that Jiang Ruoyu would meet the same fate.

But now, having just recovered from a long illness, her power was far too weak compared to the Yin Shen. If she were to confront the Yin Shen like this, not only would she fail to save Jiang Ruoyu, but she might also get herself killed in the process.

Song Xuyi thought hard but couldn’t come up with any good solutions. She frowned all day until the System gave her advice—

“Xuyi, you need to learn to rely on powerful people,” the System sighed and hinted to Song Xuyi: “You have no solution to this situation because you’re still just a little fox with weak magical powers. But don’t forget that this body’s original parents are people who know how to repay kindness, otherwise they wouldn’t have let their original child go down to stay in Jiang Kingdom for so many years to repay a debt of gratitude.”

“You might as well tell your parents about this situation, maybe they can help you think of a solution…”

Song Xuyi felt somewhat embarrassed, feeling like this behavior was like mooching off her parents.

She never thought that after coming to this world for so long, she’d still end up relying on her parents, but since time flows differently between the divine realm and the human world, if she delayed any longer, by the time she gained enough power, Jiang Ruoyu might have already turned to scattered ashes. After much consideration, Song Xuyi told her parents about how Jiang Ruoyu was possessed by the Yin Shen because of her.

“Xuyi, you’ve really grown up!”

Father Song and Mother Song looked at Song Xuyi with deep emotion. Their clan had always believed in karma and doing good to others, yet they had given birth to the original body who was an oddball who only focused on cultivation and didn’t care about the outside world. Now seeing Song Xuyi finally having thoughts about repaying kindness and saving her benefactor from danger, Father and Mother Song felt extremely gratified.

And Father Song indeed proved very helpful, soon bringing Song Xuyi a mirror.

“This mirror is called Mirror of Flowers and Moon (a name referencing the Buddhist concept of illusory beauty), time inside it flows a hundred times slower than the outside world, but fearing it might disturb heaven’s harmony, each person can only stay inside the mirror for three months in their lifetime, which happens to be perfect for your current situation.”

As he spoke, Father Song also handed Song Xuyi a talisman paper. As soon as Song Xuyi’s fingers touched the talisman, it drilled into her body through her fingertips.

Then Song Xuyi’s appearance visibly changed—

She originally had an extremely elegant appearance, and being born of divine race, her whole being looked otherworldly, but after touching the talisman, baby fat appeared on Song Xuyi’s cheeks, her nose became duller, her eyes became rounder, fluttering like a little deer jumping in the forest, leaving only about thirty to forty percent resemblance to her original self.

“The divine realm has also vaguely noticed the Yin Shen’s misdeeds,” Father Song spoke with worry: “Now that Lord White God isn’t here, everyone hasn’t figured out a plan yet, but if the chaos in the human realm continues, divine beings will probably descend to the mortal world soon…”

“Xuyi, first use this body to move about in the human realm, and see what’s really happening in Jiang Kingdom now. This is a mortal body talisman, unless you actively reveal yourself, no one can see your divine status, but you must also be careful, the Yin Shen is treacherous and cunning, unless absolutely necessary, never reveal your magic.”

“Don’t force yourself in repaying kindness, do what you can and leave the rest to fate. If your benefactor is completely possessed by the Yin Shen, remember not to force it, return home quickly, and with so many divine beings in our family, we will surely help you avenge your benefactor and eliminate the Yin Shen…”

Father Song advised Song Xuyi for quite a while before sending her down to the mortal realm.

The two of them landed outside the capital city gates of Jiang Kingdom.

These city gates weren’t unfamiliar to Song Xuyi. In her memory, it hadn’t been long since she and Jiang Ruoyu left the capital to go to Guozhou, but in reality, eight years had already passed.

The city walls looked no different from before, just as majestic as ever, but as soon as Song Xuyi walked to the city gates, she noticed something strange.

When Song Xuyi left the capital back then, it was like any prosperous national capital, with endless streams of common people at the gates, and tourists shoulder to shoulder.

But now, whether entering or leaving through the city gates, everyone looked somewhat grim, all looking straight ahead, and not even greeting each other as they passed by…

What had happened?

Song Xuyi discreetly observed everything around her, keeping her head down as she mixed into the crowd and entered through the city gates.

Compared to the bustling prosperity that Song Xuyi secretly maintained eight years ago, the streets of the capital now looked much quieter. Many shops had white mourning banners (traditional Chinese symbols of death and mourning) hanging at their entrances, and though there were still vendors along the way, everyone looked tense, with the entire capital shrouded in a suppressed atmosphere.

Walking alone on the street was too eye-catching, so after some thought, Song Xuyi checked into the inn closest to the imperial palace.

Song Xuyi booked a high-class room and called for the waiter to bring some snacks upstairs. Her original intention was to use silver to loosen the waiter’s tongue, since inn waiters who welcome and see off guests usually have the most current news.

However, to Song Xuyi’s surprise, when she made her intentions clear, the waiter repeatedly refused, nervously glancing toward a certain corner of the room.

Song Xuyi saw a wooden carving of a crescent moon made from locust wood (a wood traditionally believed to ward off evil spirits) enshrined in the corner.

This is…

Song Xuyi’s eyes widened.

“Some things that shouldn’t be asked cannot be asked, this is the guidance of Lord Yin Shen,” the waiter’s words further confirmed Song Xuyi’s suspicions, as he respectfully bowed to the wooden carving: “Miss, if you stay in the city a while longer, what you want to know will naturally become known to you.”

Song Xuyi frowned as she watched the waiter leave the room, her gaze inevitably falling on the locust wood crescent moon carving of the Yin Shen.

Like Song Xuyi’s divine statue, when people enshrine these statues, they become Song Xuyi’s eyes and ears in the mortal world. The Yin Shen had no specific form in the mortal realm, but under the promotion of the Yinyue Sect, the locust wood crescent moon had become the symbol of the Yin Shen, meaning these crescent moons were the Yin Shen’s eyes and ears in the mortal world.

Since the last time when she couldn’t find her divine statue anywhere in the capital, Song Xuyi had mentally prepared herself that Jiang Kingdom no longer worshipped her and had switched to worshipping the Yin Shen, but she never imagined that the Yin Shen’s surveillance would appear in a small inn room. Fear, anxiety, and such emotions were nourishment for the Yin Shen, and judging by the waiter being as silent as a cicada in winter, the Yin Shen’s power over these years had probably become even more unfathomable…

Song Xuyi stayed at the inn. During the day, she wandered the streets, and at night she cultivated inside the Mirror of Flowers and Moon. After several days, Song Xuyi’s divine power recovered considerably, and she finally learned what had happened in these eight years.

Eight years ago, a huge fire suddenly broke out in the imperial palace. After the fire was extinguished, the palace had suffered heavy losses. The emperor lost several children in the fire, and although he survived, he was injured in the flames and couldn’t attend court for years, causing his power to gradually slip away.

At first, the emperor tried to groom a child he favored as crown prince, but this child suddenly died not long after. With no choice, the emperor had to support another one…

However, this one didn’t last long either.

As heirs died one after another, the emperor grew suspicious, but by then it was too late. Jiang Xin, who had become invisible in the palace due to her legs being disabled from the fire, came to his bedside with a bowl of poison and told the emperor the truth: all the successors he tried to groom were killed by her!

Jiang Xin had somehow contacted the Yinyue Sect, and with their help, she killed all the successors the emperor had chosen, then ascended to the throne herself.

After Jiang Xin took the throne, she became increasingly crazy and unrestrained. First, she overthrew all the Goddess temples across the country, established the Yinyue Sect as the state religion, making the whole country worship the Yin Shen, then went on to massacre her remaining siblings and frame loyal officials, throwing the entire Jiang Kingdom into chaos…

Several years after Jiang Xin’s succession, seeing her methods becoming more brutal and perverse by the day, the ministers who were suffering greatly couldn’t bear it anymore. They found Jiang Ruoyu, the former emperor’s only remaining child who had been living away, put Jiang Xin under house arrest, and invited Jiang Ruoyu back to the capital, begging her to take the throne.

Surprisingly, the Yinyue Sect, which had been in cahoots with Jiang Xin, didn’t oppose Jiang Ruoyu’s succession.

According to the common people, at first Jiang Ruoyu refused to take the throne, until recently when the house-arrested Jiang Xin suddenly committed suicide in her room. To prevent the country from falling into other hands, Jiang Ruoyu finally agreed.

Now that Jiang Ruoyu hadn’t been emperor for long, the common people, who had experienced several emperors in quick succession like a revolving lantern over the past few years, were like startled birds hearing the bowstring (a Chinese idiom meaning to be extremely nervous from previous traumatic experiences), not knowing how long this emperor would reign, and naturally kept their mouths tightly shut about political matters…

Song Xuyi was stunned for a moment after learning about Jiang Kingdom’s experiences over these years.

She never imagined Jiang Xin would kill the emperor, and even less expected that after all the twists and turns, Jiang Ruoyu would end up becoming emperor.

While common people couldn’t detect anything suspicious, Song Xuyi felt that everything – from Jiang Xin’s madness to Jiang Ruoyu’s succession and the chaos in Jiang Kingdom over these years – seemed like someone was manipulating things from behind.

In Jiang Kingdom’s chaos, the only one who benefited was the Yinyue Sect.

Now with the new emperor on the throne, the Yinyue Sect remained the state religion, its position not shaken in the slightest, and the panic and anxiety produced by the chaos looming over the people these years were excellent nourishment for the Yin Shen…

Now that the Yin Shen had obtained all of Jiang Kingdom, what would be next?

After gaining power, what would the Yin Shen and Yinyue Sect want to do?

If only there was a chance to look inside the imperial palace…

Although Song Xuyi had recovered some divine power now, with the entire Jiang Kingdom worshipping the Yin Shen, she didn’t dare act rashly near the imperial palace. She could only try to find a way to sneak into the palace using her current mortal body.

And soon the opportunity came.

The new emperor Jiang Ruoyu was approaching their twenty-second birthday. This was the first birthday since the new emperor’s ascension to the throne, and the Yinyue Sect placed great importance on it, planning to select eighty-one fated women from across the country to enter the palace and pray for the emperor’s blessings.

Though it was called praying for blessings, there were rumors among the common people that the new Emperor Jiang Ruoyu disliked men and preferred women, and these selected women who entered the palace might become new imperial consorts, causing many officials to secretly scheme.

When she discovered that Lin Zhu, the female protagonist who in the original plot summary was ultimately refined into the Huan Sword, was among the selected women, Song Xuyi couldn’t sit still anymore and also signed up for the selection…

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LP: Re-translated on December 13, 2024

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