I Rely On The Collapse Of The Character Setting To Survive In The Hands Of The Male Lead Chapter 265

Chapter 265

Lin Qingyang couldn’t believe that he had spent almost two days lying in bed since arriving at the imperial city of Tianheng. The days were really… Lin Qingyang was too embarrassed to face anyone.

When Yuan Ran came back after handling some matters, he didn’t pay attention to Lin Qingyang’s complaining look and just lifted him up.

“What are you doing?”

“I have things to do, and you’re coming with me.”

“Wait, my clothes… I can walk by myself!”

Under Lin Qingyang’s firm insistence, Yuan Ran relented and removed the Silver Rainbow.

When Lin Qingyang wanted to find clothes to wear, he realized that Yuan Ran hadn’t prepared any other clothes for him. His original clothes were already ruined, and there was only the red brocade robe that came with the ones Yuan Ran was wearing.

But Lin Qingyang felt too embarrassed to put it on and asked, “Do you have any other clothes?”

Yuan Ran frowned. “You don’t like it?”

“It’s just… wearing this, people might think we’re going to get married. It’s too conspicuous,” Lin Qingyang said awkwardly.

Yuan Ran fell silent after hearing this. Judging from his expression, Lin Qingyang suddenly realized, “You didn’t do this on purpose, did you?”

“Didn’t you say you liked me wearing red? Besides… you almost got engaged to Xu Wenze,” Yuan Ran complained.

Lin Qingyang fell silent for a moment before firming up. “I’ve explained it to you. I don’t like men, only you. Don’t you understand? Give me regular clothes.”

Yuan Ran looked displeased, but ultimately didn’t insist on Lin Qingyang wearing the fancy clothes.

When he saw Lin Qingyang hanging the sachet again, Yuan Ran’s expression softened slightly. He already knew what was inside the sachet.

The two stepped out of the gate, and Lin Qingyang finally saw the sun.

Probably knowing that Lin Qingyang was shy, apart from Mu Huichun, Lin Qingyang hadn’t seen anyone else in this quiet little courtyard. He had always thought it was just an ordinary place. When he saw everything in front of him, Lin Qingyang was dumbfounded.

“Is this… the palace?” Lin Qingyang looked at Yuan Ran in astonishment.

Yuan Ran nodded. “My current identity is the Royal Tutor of Tianheng Kingdom.”

After Yuan Ran finished speaking, the two also walked out of the palace where the courtyard was located. As soon as they stepped out, dozens of palace servants knelt down to pay their respects, clearly acknowledging the status of the Royal Tutor before them.

Lin Qingyang was utterly astonished, his mind filled with questions that he could only suppress for the time being.

On the palace road, sedan chairs were parked. Lin Qingyang saw the figures of Lu Yi and Lu Shi by one of the sedan chairs. Lin Qingyang quickly smiled and greeted them. Now, he was closest to Lu Shi. But when Lu Shi saw him, he immediately blushed and lowered his head, looking like he didn’t dare to look at him.

Lin Qingyang thought Lu Shi’s silence was due to their master’s presence, so he didn’t pay much attention to it, knowing that one couldn’t be too casual in front of Yuan Ran.

Just then, another group of people approached from afar.

From a distance, someone could be heard calling out, “Royal Tutor…”

Lin Qingyang looked over and saw a young boy dressed in distinct black robes running towards them.

Other palace attendants immediately bowed in respect. Lin Qingyang was startled to realize that this was the young emperor of Tianheng Kingdom. Despite being only ten years old, he appeared remarkably astute, even more so than Lin Qingyang’s impression of the Fourth Prince. It was no surprise considering he had been the emperor since childhood.

Lin Qingyang was about to join the others in bowing, but he was pulled into Yuan Ran’s embrace.

While Lu Yi and Lu Shi bowed, Yuan Ran stood with Lin Qingyang, only giving a slight nod in acknowledgment.

The young emperor quickly exclaimed, “I’ve already said that the Grand Master is my mentor; there’s no need for formalities. And this person… is the envoy from the Great Zhou Dynasty? The one destined by the Grand Master?” His dark eyes carried a distinct scrutinizing gaze tinged with displeasure.

Lin Qingyang was taken aback. Yuan Ran hadn’t introduced him like this to anyone else.

“Yes, indeed. Meeting him in person has further confirmed the accuracy of my calculations. However, due to his physical discomfort and instability, he cannot perform the bow. I hope Your Majesty will not take offense,” Yuan Ran replied in a subdued tone.

The young emperor immediately smiled and said, “No problem, no problem. Since he’s the one destined by the Grand Master, there’s no need for formalities. Grand Master, are you going to meet the other generals next…?”

“Of course, I will be meeting with the other generals on behalf of Your Majesty. Rest assured, everything will return to your control.”

“In that case, I’ll leave it to you, Grand Master,” the young emperor said with excitement, his cheeks flushing. “And also… it’s better to get rid of that person as soon as possible to avoid any future troubles.”

Yuan Ran nodded in acknowledgment, and the young emperor even kindly stepped forward to lift the curtain of the sedan chair for Yuan Ran.

Yuan Ran didn’t hesitate to bring Lin Qingyang along with him into the sedan chair. Lin Qingyang remained silent throughout the journey.

It wasn’t until the sedan chair was lifted up that Lin Qingyang finally whispered, “So… what’s going on exactly?”

“The talk about the destined person? I lied to him, saying it was my calculation. You were the bargaining chip. He helped me regain you, and in return, I agreed to do tasks for him,” Yuan Ran explained.

“He actually believed… uh, wait, that’s not what I wanted to ask. Anyway, just tell me about the current situation, or I’ll really be at a loss,” Lin Qingyang said, knowing that Yuan Ran’s persuasion skills were quite effective and there was no need to delve too deeply into it.

Yuan Ran’s expression also became serious, and he said slowly, “As you know, originally I planned to restore my power, ascend the throne, and then deal with Yu Suoxi and Tianheng Kingdom. But since I was forced to come here, and my influence has been controlled by Xu Lanxin, I changed my mind.”

Embracing Lin Qingyang, Yuan Ran explained the situation of Tianheng Kingdom in detail.

The young emperor and the empress dowager of Tianheng Kingdom have always been under the control of the regent, Yu Suoxi. Yu Suoxi is technically the young emperor’s uncle, but according to the young emperor, his father was actually killed by Yu Suoxi for opposing his rule. However, it’s strange that despite being a member of the royal family, Yu Suoxi himself has no interest in becoming the emperor, so he directly supported the young emperor to ascend the throne.

The mother and son lived in constant fear, their hearts set on killing Yu Suoxi and reclaiming power.

However, the entire Tianheng Kingdom was under Yu Suoxi’s control, with various factions suppressed by him, unable to act. Everyone knew that even if all the forces of Tianheng Kingdom united, they probably couldn’t deal with Yu Suoxi, and no one had the leadership ability to lead the charge.

They could only allow this hidden danger to persist, accumulating corruption. Yu Suoxi had no intention of governing the country well. He turned a blind eye to corruption and bribery, didn’t care about bullying and violence, and ignored the rampant banditry and theft. He formed cliques and pursued personal interests, unconcerned about anything that didn’t affect him directly. All day long, he only did what he found interesting. The seemingly powerful Tianheng Kingdom was actually on the verge of collapse, with termites having already undermined it in various ways.

Lin Qingyang also had a deep understanding of this. After spending several days in Tianheng Kingdom, he realized that apart from the impressive military strength, the common people were not living well. The class divide here was even more pronounced, with high-ranking individuals having the power to decide the life and death of those beneath them, and the buying and selling of slaves was considered normal.

At that time, Lin Qingyang had a realization. No wonder they worshipped the Saintess, praying for spiritual redemption from her, because they had long been powerless. Perhaps Yuan Ran also saw this point early on. When he was still the crown prince, he knew that he couldn’t allow clans like Yu Suoxi’s to grow stronger, nor could he allow the class system to solidify.

Tianheng Kingdom is currently living off its past glory, and those with aspirations understand that they need a strong leader capable of confronting Yu Suoxi to lead them. They need to deal with the biggest problem first and then gradually bring about change. Otherwise, twenty years later, Tianheng Kingdom will be vulnerable.

So they chose the suddenly appearing Daoist as their Royal Tutor. Initially, there was distrust, but…

“In such a short time, things can’t be that easy.”

“Yu Suoxi offered the conditions himself,” Yuan Ran explained slowly.

Lin Qingyang was astonished. “What is he up to now?”

“He’s just acting out. He wants to help me regain the throne, so he provided the conditions to gain the trust of the young emperor. It’s a win-win situation for him and me, aligning with my plans. But he saved me a lot of time. As for the young emperor’s attempts to win me over to deal with him, he knows it well but welcomes it. So, in a way, we’re playing with our cards face up.”

On the gambling table, both sides laid out all their cards and then played.

Lin Qingyang looked at Yuan Ran incredulously. “Did the young emperor just… win?”

Yuan Ran looked back at Lin Qingyang seriously. “I won’t lose, and I can’t afford to. But… perhaps he wants to lose, who knows.”

In Tianheng Kingdom, Yuan Ran wouldn’t have as many constraints as he did in the Great Zhou Dynasty. He could be ruthless and decisive. As long as the young emperor could also be ruthless, Yuan Ran could provide cruel but effective strategies. However, he didn’t want to dirty Lin Qingyang’s ears with these details, so he chose not to elaborate.

Unrestricted Yuan Ran was the most terrifying, and also what Yu Suoxi was most willing to see.

However, after one or two confrontations, Yu Suoxi seemed to have had enough, and began to retreat step by step, as Yuan Ran swiftly dismantled his power.

This also led to the entire Tianheng Kingdom court placing immense trust in the Royal Tutor; anyone who could defeat Yu Suoxi was practically a god.

Although there were underlying issues, the rapidity of it all was indeed unbelievable. Yuan Ran felt that Yu Suoxi wanted to lose. No matter what schemes this kid had in mind, since he offered himself up for defeat, how could Yuan Ran not fulfill his wish after confirming it? It took Yuan Ran less than a month, during Lin Qingyang’s absence, to strip Yu Suoxi of everything.

Taking the knife handed to him by Yu Suoxi with a smile, Yuan Ran plunged it fiercely into Yu Suoxi’s body.

“The night you came was my final move. I had intended to welcome you earlier,” Yuan Ran said.

So that’s why Yuan Ran got injured that night.

“What about Yu Suoxi?” Lin Qingyang exclaimed in shock.

“Wanna see him?” Yuan Ran asked.

Lin Qingyang’s expression turned fierce in an instant. “I want to stab him to death myself!”

Yuan Ran raised an eyebrow. “He’s indeed close to death. Once we’re done here, I’ll take you to see him.”

Lin Qingyang couldn’t help feeling bewildered and surreal upon hearing this. How could that madman, who played with the destinies of most people, just fall like that? It all sounded like a conspiracy. Is he really dying? But it was Yuan Ran who acted, and Yuan Ran, fully recovered in strength, was different indeed.

The two didn’t continue discussing Yu Suoxi’s matter. Yuan Ran then clarified other doubts for Lin Qingyang.

“So you became their reliance. No wonder they could demand me to become an envoy and mobilize three hundred thousand troops. But why would they be so obedient?”

“By leading them to victory against Yu Suoxi several times, they became obedient. And the three hundred thousand troops are actually divided among five or six factions. Although Yu Suoxi holds power, each faction has its own agenda. They pretended to submit to the young emperor in order to deal with Yu Suoxi, reaching a consensus of interests. Except for the young emperor, others don’t know the specific reason for the army’s invasion. I made them believe that it was to deliberately strip Yu Suoxi of his military power. Naturally, they were willing to cooperate.” Yuan Ran looked at Lin Qingyang and continued, “Originally, I wanted to arrange for experts to directly snatch you, but I didn’t have suitable ones at my disposal. I couldn’t trust others with the task. Bringing you here openly and transparently was the safest option.”

“For the sake of bringing you here, such a grand setup wasn’t necessary, but Huo Luo still had to flee with the entire city’s population… Everyone is afraid of war.”

“As long as I don’t want it, there won’t be a war. Tianheng Kingdom is in turmoil and incapable of waging war. Unless Yu Suoxi takes the lead, no one is willing to be a target and confront Huo Luo. Moreover, how could I allow the army of Tianheng Kingdom to set foot on the land of the Great Zhou again? Regardless of who rules the Great Zhou, I won’t allow them to cross the Tongjia Pass.” Yuan Ran’s eyes turned bloodthirsty as he spoke, as if everything wasn’t for the sake of the country, but for his personal grudge, for the souls of the two hundred thousand lost.

Lin Qingyang couldn’t help but tighten his grip on Yuan Ran’s hand. Despite being expelled from the Great Zhou, despite often losing control and going mad, despite possibly no longer loving this the Great Zhou, he was still the Crown Prince guarding the Tongjia Pass.

“There are actually two other reasons for making such a deterrent arrangement,” Yuan Ran continued.

In fact, doing so could not only gather the army together, putting the central Tianheng Kingdom in extreme unrest, but also provoke dissatisfaction from Xu Lanxin and Zhao Cheng in the Great Zhou. It laid the groundwork for Yuan Ran’s future plans.

He aimed to sow chaos in Tianheng and seize the Great Zhou.

Tianheng was on the brink of chaos, lacking only a push from Tianheng Kingdom to destabilize it. With the Great Zhou dealing with Xu Lanxin and Zhao Cheng, they would have no worries.

Moreover, Yuan Ran found it easy to deal with them.

Though his power was under control, it hadn’t been completely wiped out. He just needed an opportunity to strike back.

The opportune moment was the alliance between Xu Lanxin and Zhao Cheng. With the invasion of the large army, the people’s hatred towards Tianheng, dissatisfaction with the peace talks, would unsettle the court and also breed discontent between Xu Lanxin and Zhao Cheng, who staunchly opposed warfare.

As for why Zhao Cheng wouldn’t engage in battle, Yuan Ran had the advantage of understanding the psychology of every individual. He knew the characteristics of each military commander. In this situation, Zhao Cheng wouldn’t fight because it hadn’t reached a life or death situation. Moreover, as he had just become the Grand General, he needed to win his first battle. He wouldn’t engage in a fight he was destined to lose. Furthermore, he would hope that Huo Luo would fight instead. However, if Huo Luo also adopted a resolute stance against fighting, Xu Lanxin would have no choice but to seek peace.

Yuan Ran needed to wait for the discontent among the people towards the court to ferment so that his return would be welcomed by the masses.

“It won’t be long now. Once I stir up chaos in Tianheng, I’ll take you back,” Yuan Ran said softly, holding Lin Qingyang close.

Lin Qingyang looked up at Yuan Ran, his heart pounding faster from the moment Yuan Ran spoke. When he was still in the capital, he knew that the situation there was unfolding exactly as Yuan Ran had anticipated. Perhaps it was because of this that Yue Chen had concluded that this situation was intentionally orchestrated by Yuan Ran, because the direction in which the situation was unfolding was most favorable for Yuan Ran’s triumphant return.

He knew just how formidable this person was, so the achievements of the tyrant in the original plot were not exaggerated. As long as he discarded his humanity and unleashed his full potential, no one could stop him. In any situation, in the face of any difficulty, he could rise again from the ashes.

Fortunately, the current Yuan Ran was different from the one depicted in the original plot. The male leadin the original plot was cynical and resentful towards the world, rejecting human emotions in favor of mere thrills. But the current Yuan Ran, even when he lost control, still retained some emotions. Though they might be scarce, their presence was reassuring, and he could gradually nurture them back in the future.

Yuan Ran’s destination was the military headquarters of Tianheng Kingdom, where people were in a heated argument, evidently discussing the distribution of power following Yu Suoxi’s downfall. Some of them had never aligned with Yu Suoxi, while others had initially supported him but later betrayed him.

Tianheng Kingdom was predominantly led by military generals, with very few civil officials involved in governance. While formidable, this arrangement also inherently lacked stability.

The young emperor understood that, besides Yu Suoxi, he might struggle to control the people beneath him. However, he didn’t want to live in constant fear, unable to sleep at night. He decided to take a risk by eliminating the main threat first, hoping that the Royal Tutor would then help him regain power. At this point, the young emperor had immense trust in Yuan Ran.

Unfortunately, Yuan Ran’s intention wasn’t to help him regain power but to exacerbate the conflicts.

Lin Qingyang remained outside, the Silver Rainbow on his wrist gleaming in the sunlight. Yuan Ran was inside, meeting with various generals one by one.

Through the slightly open window, Lin Qingyang could see Yuan Ran’s graceful figure standing out among the crowd. His extraordinary aura made everyone who considered themselves exceptional act with caution.

The perfect blend of elegance and aloofness in him created an atmosphere that mesmerized everyone around him. He appeared calm and unruffled, like a hermit sage who followed the path of non-action. However, the aura of decisiveness and prowess was hidden deep within his eyes, concealed by the red veil covering them.

Indeed, Yuan Ran’s appearance was captivatingly fresh, leaving Lin Qingyang in awe as if the characters he drew had come to life. Yet, the reality before him far surpassed any creation of his own. Did he consider others fools? Couldn’t they see the regal aura cultivated by the royal family, the supreme demeanor of a true scion of the dragon?

Lost in his thoughts, Lin Qingyang was suddenly startled when Yuan Ran inside glanced in his direction. Even through the veil, Lin Qingyang felt the embarrassment of being caught staring like a deer in headlights. Quickly, he averted his gaze.

As he observed the various expressions on the faces of those leaving, it vividly illustrated the meaning of “each harboring their own ulterior motives.”

Until Yuan Ran emerged and stood in the sunlight, the gloomy atmosphere of conspiracy and intrigue behind him gradually dissipated.

Lin Qingyang watched silently, as if seeing the future chaos of Tianheng Kingdom and witnessing Yuan Ran’s year-long retaliation against the kingdom.

However, perhaps for the people of Tianheng Kingdom, whether in chaos or not, it didn’t make much difference to them. Maybe, breaking apart was necessary for a new beginning.

Lin Qingyang smiled as he watched Yuan Ran approach, but before Yuan Ran could even stand firmly, he grabbed Lin Qingyang’s wrist and pulled him up, crashing into Yuan Ran’s embrace.

Yuan Ran’s voice was hoarse as he questioned, “You were looking at me just now…”

Lin Qingyang: ???

Before he could react, Yuan Ran unexpectedly tried to push him onto the stone table.

Lin Qingyang immediately broke out in a sweat, feeling that the usually composed Yuan Ran was acting strangely, even in that aspect. Maybe he was being too enthusiastic.

The crisp sound of the silver bells rang out, as if heralding that Lin Qingyang’s waist was about to break again.

“Wait… I’m tired, I need to rest, you can’t… not here… Please… let’s wait until tonight. Lishu…. “ Lin Qingyang pleaded, blurting out another name as if it had a special suppressive effect on Yuan Ran.

Yuan Ran furrowed his brow, but still gave a kiss before lifting Lin Qingyang up again.

“Let’s go, I’ll take you to the zoo… Oh, it’s a bit far, we’ll take the elephant carriage, the one you rode when you entered the city…”

Lin Qingyang: As if some fearful memories were gradually awakening, he… he entered the city on an elephant carriage, was it during that time? What was the situation back then? Why ride the elephant carriage again, can anyone ride it freely in Tianheng Kingdom?

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