How To Survive as a Villain

Chapter 161: A Token? Arrange It.

Even though they couldn’t tolerate it, Yang LiuAn and Xiao Fengyue always tried their best to do what Xiao YuAn wanted. In the end, Xiao Fengyue said: “Young Master, they’re still fighting on the front lines, and it won’t be easy to send a letter to the barracks. Moreover, the front line is so dangerous that no one is willing to deliver a letter at this time. Not to mention that this Yan HeQing, or the Emperor of the Southern Yan Kingdom, given his status, how could he care about letters from an unknown source?”

Xiao YuAn’s face immediately wrinkled into a bitter expression.

Yang LiuAn, who had previously sold salt, knew some merchants who had contacts, so he comforted Xiao YuAn and said: “Don’t worry, Young Master, I know someone who can send the letter to the barracks. However, I don’t know if they can be delivered to Yan HeQing, and it will also take some time for him to get here.”

Xiao YuAn’s eyes brightened as he said anxiously: “It’s good enough if they’re able to send the letter! How long will it take for him to come here?”

Yang LiuAn replied: “It might take several months.”

Xiao YuAn couldn’t help but clutch the bedding: “Several months ah…. send him a letter, we have to ask him!”

The next day, Xiao Fengyue wrote a letter for Xiao YuAn, and sent it to Yang LiuAn’s friend. This was the beginning.

Then, Xiao YuAn was longing for the stars and the moon¹, waiting two whole months, hoping for any news to arrive. By then, his injuries began to heal little by little, and his internal injuries also slowly recovered under Zhang Changsong’s care. However, Xiao YuAn was still unable to leave the bed. His kneecap was crushed by Yang Liye’s horse, and even though it’s said that it takes 100 days for a broken bone to recover, his condition was very serious.

Xiao YuAn waited for another ten days, and finally, Yang LiuAn’s friend arrived.

That friend boldly sat down on the stool, took a bowl for himself, and filled it with cold water. Then, he asked: “Who’s the one that wants to deliver a letter?”

“That would be me. What is it? Can you deliver it?” Xiao YuAn sat up straight as he leaned his body forward, and asked in a hurry.

“Oh, alas! Hey, do you even know who you’re trying to send that letter to?!” The friend waved his hand at Xiao YuAn with a look of disgust, but after feeling like his words were unreliable, he said instead: “After all, Yang LiuAn is my friend, and this matter will also give me a good reward. So, to tell you the truth, I can send that letter to the Southern Yan barracks. However, since you want that letter to be delivered to the Emperor himself, ah… that’s too difficult. You may not know this, but rumors say that the Emperor of the Southern Yan Kingdom has fallen into madness!”

Xiao YuAn’s heart suddenly thumped: “What does that mean?!”

Yang LiuAn’s friend replied: “You may not know, but ten days ago, the Southern Yan Kingdom won the war and invaded the Eastern Wu Kingdom. This Yan HeQing, sigh, seemed like he was possessed by a demon, and became extremely cruel. In the end, the Eastern Wu General Yang, tsk tsk, died a miserable death. People say that Yan HeQing cut him into a human stick, and others say that his flesh was cut open with a sword ten thousand times. But it’s also said that he simply took a type of poison that made his skin itch irritably, making him scratch himself to death! Anyway, in the end, his body was dismembered. His head was hung outside the city gate, exposed to the wind and sun, and the rest of his body was left in the wilderness to be eaten by wild dogs. Not a single part of his body was left intact! That General’s subordinates were almost slaughtered by the Emperor of the Southern Yan Kingdom as well. So, tell me, given the current temperament of the Emperor of the Southern Yan Kingdom, wouldn’t it be extremely impressive if I were able to send a letter to the barracks?!”

Xiao YuAn covered his face with one hand, and his shoulders trembled slightly. He then gasped heavily until he could calm down. After that, he looked up to Yang LiuAn’s friend, and said: “If you can’t deliver the letter directly to the Emperor of the Southern Yan Kingdom, then who will take this letter?”

Yang LiuAn’s friend touched his chin, tilted his head, raised his feet and said: “I can’t really guarantee you that. Bole knows the horses², but the horse itself has to be a fine steed³, am I wrong? As for commoners like us, who will never leave our towns in a lifetime, how can we have the opportunity to contact such a famous figure? If you really want to reach such a high and powerful person, you must have a token at least, right?”

Yang LiuAn’s friend wanted to let Xiao YuAn know the difficulties and back down, but contrary to what he thought, Xiao YuAn’s eyes brightened up instead: “A token? I do have one.”

YHQ conquered the Eastern Wu Kingdom!!! And look at that, what a coincidence that the one being tortured to death wasn’t the Emperor of the Eastern Wu Kingdom, but a certain General, who was a scum to our bby boi ✨✨

But that also makes me think that YHQ might think that XYA is dead, when he’s in fact very much safe… Send that letter now!!! ᕕ(˵•̀෴•́˵)ᕗ ✉️

Footnotes

1. 盼星星盼月亮 pàn xīng xīng pàn yuè liàng; It means to look forward with impatient expectancy. Because the stars and the moon are not obtainable, this phrase is used to describe the difficult path of wanting unobtainable things.
2. 伯乐识马 bó lè shí mǎ; It’s a Chinese idiom. It’s used as a metaphor for being good at finding, identifying and appointing talents.
3. 千里马 qiān lǐ mǎ; Literally translated as “A ten thousand li horse”. It refers to a good running horse that can travel thousands of miles a day, but it’s also used as a metaphor for people with outstanding talents, specially for talented youngsters.