I've Decided To Be This Tyrant's Dark Moonlight - Chapter 1

Early autumn, the setting sun cast its light over a thousand mountains. The nine-layered palace was shrouded in twilight, its golden tiles gleaming as if lacquered by the sunset’s glow. The sunlight slanted down from the golden tiles, illuminating the mottled crimson palace walls.

A young woman lowered her gaze, her small, pale hands half-covering her lips as a few faint coughs escaped between them.

“What’s your name?” the guard asked.

“Wēi Yīng,” her voice, raspy and weak from her illness, replied.

The guard lifted his eyes and glanced at her. Her face was pale, thin, and fragile. Her small face was bundled in a white fox-fur cloak, and her lowered eyes were filled with exhaustion. She was like a trembling leaf on an autumn bough, ready to fall in the cold wind at any moment.

“Where are you from?”

The guard wondered to himself why a sickly girl had been included in the selection of concubine-candidates. If she died in the palace, it would be bad luck.

“Jiangnan,” her voice was soft and a little sweet. As she spoke, she looked up, revealing eyes brimming with tears.

So she was from Jiangnan. The journey was long, and it wasn’t uncommon for concubine-candidates to die from the change of climate before even reaching the capital.

“Alright, go on in.”

Wēi Yīng gave a quiet nod. The mule-drawn cart carried her away from the Spring Radiance Gate, slowly entering the palace walls. Concubine-candidates from all over the country boarded these carts, were sent to the Imperial View Pavilion for inspection, and then transferred to the Concubine’s Residence for a selection process that would last more than half a month.

The autumn wind gently lifted a wisp of hair on her cheek. Her elegant brows lowered, plated with a thin layer of gold from the sunlight. Her throat tickled. She took out a handkerchief to cover her mouth, and a hint of crimson stained her pale lips.

Wēi Yīng sighed inwardly.

Ten days ago, she had woken up in this body that should have already been dead. The body’s original owner was named Duàn Wēi Yīng, the same name as her, and was a ‘beauty’ sent as tribute from Jiangnan. The original owner, not wanting to enter the palace, had taken her own life by drowning when the guards weren’t looking, leaving her body for Wēi Yīng.

When Wēi Yīng woke up, her head was pounding. A voice in her mind, calling itself the Palace Intrigue System, told her that she was originally a task-taker who traveled between worlds to complete missions. But she had failed a mission once, which led to her own death. Luckily, she had found this body, whose birth chart aligned with hers and whose life was already at its end, allowing her to transmigrate. Since the original owner and she were not the same person, their souls and bodies were not in sync. If she didn’t earn fusion points to slowly merge with the body, she would watch her own flesh rot away and die a second time in excruciating pain.

To earn fusion points, she had to complete the missions the system gave her and become the ultimate palace intrigue champion.

Upon arriving at the palace, the system was very excited. “Take down the female lead, win the emperor’s unparalleled favor, charge!”

Wēi Yīng said, “I remember I wasn’t originally in the palace intrigue group?”

The system went silent.

Wēi Yīng swallowed the blood rising in her throat, then heard the sound of hoofbeats behind her and turned to look. Amidst a line of mule carts, a single person on a white horse, with the setting sun at her back, walked leisurely down the palace road. The orange sunset outlined the soft and slender waist of the young woman.

—It was the female lead.

Another young woman, draped in gold and wearing a head full of hairpins, scrunched up her delicate face and shouted, “Why are you riding a horse?!”

—That was the female supporting character.

In this palace intrigue novel, the concubines are chaotic, and cannon fodder villains are a dime a dozen. The young woman on the white horse who clearly didn’t fit in with the concubine-candidates was Xiāo Qiānxuě, the female lead of this novel. The one draped in gold, with pearls and gems adorning her ten nail guards, was Gōng Bèinú, the Empress Dowager’s niece, an out-and-out minor villain who caused the female lead a lot of trouble early on, simply and purely evil.

The female lead said a few words and then ignored Gōng Bèinú, happily riding away on her little white horse. The little white horse happily bucked its hindquarters, its tail bobbing up and down as its hooves pattered along the paved road.

A slight smile played on Wēi Yīng’s lips.

Xiāo Qiānxuě rode over from the sunset. Her slender legs hung down from the horse’s back, resting on the stirrups. Looking up, one could see her skin, white as snow, and her bright, limpid eyes. She looked down, her clear eyes filled with shattered light from the sunset, making them appear very bright.

Xiāo Qiānxuě’s gaze met Wēi Yīng’s and she was stunned for a moment.

The girl in the cart was frail and pale, her hair slightly disheveled and her face sickly. When a gentle breeze blew, she covered her mouth and coughed, her eyes turning a faint red, filled with the melancholic water of autumn. A hint of fresh red appeared on her pale handkerchief.

Xiāo Qiānxuě thought, even when she’s sick, she’s… exceptionally beautiful.

“Are you alright?”

Wēi Yīng slowly shook her head, clutching her handkerchief tightly.

Xiāo Qiānxuě slowed down to walk alongside her. “I remember your name, Wēi Yīng. Are all the girls from Jiangnan as beautiful as you?”

As soon as Wēi Yīng opened her mouth, a cough escaped, so she could only give Xiāo Qiānxuě a pale smile.

The Palace Intrigue System chattered in her mind, “Host, you’re doing great! First, charm the female lead, then snatch her opportunities! Win the emperor’s unparalleled favor and his love!”

Wēi Yīng: “…”

On the journey here, she had spent a few days reading through this palace intrigue novel. The book said that as soon as Xiāo Qiānxuě entered the palace, she would catch the emperor’s eye. She would then grow stronger under the torment of the villains, eventually winning the emperor’s unparalleled favor. But following the plot, she wouldn’t enjoy that favor for long before being dragged down and banished to the Cold Palace. In the Cold Palace, Xiāo Qiānxuě would come to realize the truth that ‘a monarch’s heart is ruthless.’ The emperor, whom she thought would love her for a lifetime, had never loved her at all, only seeing her as a substitute for a long-deceased consort. After leaving the Cold Palace, Xiāo Qiānxuě would harden her heart. Relying on her resemblance to the emperor’s beloved, she would wreak havoc in the palace, successfully get her revenge, and finally, a bowl of ginseng soup would send the extremely frail emperor to his grave.

The entire book was very satisfying, especially after the female lead turned ruthless. But right now, the Royal Noble Consort who would later stir up the palace was just an innocent, bright-eyed girl who had just come of age.

The Palace Intrigue System was full of fighting spirit. Wēi Yīng couldn’t help but pour cold water on it. “Do you think Xiāo Qiānxuě is beautiful?”

The system: “She’s pretty, but I think you’re even prettier!”

Wēi Yīng’s eyes curved. “Do you think our beauty is the same type?”

“Of course not.”

—Xiāo Qiānxuě was sassy and beautiful, youthful and radiant, like a splash of spring color, eye-catching wherever she went. Wēi Yīng, while beautiful, was too pale, thin, and melancholic.

Wēi Yīng calmly analyzed it for the system: “The emperor was madly in love with his deceased ‘first love,’ and Xiāo Qiānxuě looks similar to her, which shows that his first love was also the ‘sassy’ type. It’s clear this emperor doesn’t like my kind of look at all. He won’t even give me a second glance and will probably reject me during the selection.”

The system was immediately dejected. After a long pause, it said in a small voice, “M-maybe not…”

Wēi Yīng petted it. “Don’t worry, though. I have a way to make the emperor remember me forever.”

In front of her, a transparent box appeared. At the top of the box were tabs for ‘Missions,’ ‘Attributes,’ ‘Items,’ and ‘Achievements.’ When she clicked on ‘Attributes’ and saw the glaring red text “-99” next to ‘Constitution,’ her heart ached, and she almost coughed up another mouthful of blood. Fortunately, every time she completed a mission, she would gain fusion points, improve her constitution, and eventually have a healthy body.

Only the ‘Novice Mission’ was currently lit up in the ‘Missions’ tab:

• At the Imperial View Pavilion, prevent the emperor from taking Xiāo Qiānxuě into the palace.
• Reward: Fusion Points +10, Constitution +10

Wēi Yīng squeezed the blood-stained handkerchief, her eyes darkening slightly.

The original book’s Gōng Bèinú was a perfect plot device. At the Imperial View Pavilion, Gōng Bèinú, disliking the female lead, angrily came to cause her trouble. Unbeknownst to her, the emperor was right behind the osmanthus tree. He heard her unreasonable antics and, upon seeing Xiāo Qiānxuě, who looked so much like his first love, he took her back to the palace directly, skipping the selection process entirely.

The system offered a suggestion: “Host, we can use the ‘Love at First Sight’ card to make the emperor fall in love with you at first sight!”

Wēi Yīng: “And then? He’ll kick me out three seconds later?”

The beginner’s package the system gave her contained three cards: ‘Love at First Sight,’ ‘Radiant Glow,’ and ‘A Fluttering Heart.’ All three were grayed-out cards that only lasted three seconds, essentially giving a short-term ‘infatuation buff’ to someone.

The system fell silent.

Palace Intrigue System: The host is always dampening my spirits, crying-emoji.

Wēi Yīng petted it kindly: “It’s okay. Your idea was ugly, but you thought beautifully.”

Palace Intrigue System: sad-face-emoji.

In front of the Imperial View Pavilion, the carts had gone, leaving a group of gaudily dressed young women standing in front of the osmanthus forest. The sweet, cloying scent of osmanthus couldn’t hide the floating fragrance of powder in the air.

Xiāo Qiānxuě stood in the shade of a tree, holding the reins of her little white horse tightly, afraid that the horse, which was bucking and twisting its hooves, might bump into someone. She secretly turned her head. The person next to her was thin, like a wisp of cloud that would scatter with a gust of wind.

“Yīng Yīng, are you tired? Do you want to rest on my Little Pear Blossom?”

Wēi Yīng gave her a smile and gently shook her head. With her -99 constitution, she might die on the spot if Little Pear Blossom bucked.

Xiāo Qiānxuě, bothered by the smell of the perfume in the air, sneezed several times and moved closer to Wēi Yīng. “Their perfume smells so strange, it makes my nose tickle. Yours smells so much better!” As soon as she said that, she caught a whiff of another suffocatingly strong incense and sneezed several more times.

Gōng Bèinú: “Are you looking down on me?”

The two were about to start a fight, triggering the original book’s ‘hero saves the beauty’ first encounter. Wēi Yīng had already wisely stepped aside, taking a handful of sunflower seeds from her sleeve to watch the show.

Palace Intrigue System: …Host, the emperor is watching from behind.

Wēi Yīng: “Oh, you want me to give him a handful of sunflower seeds?”

The system wanted to die. A few minutes later, it composed itself and offered a serious, reasonable suggestion: “At this moment, you can interrupt Gōng Bèinú, stop their fight, and leave a good impression on the emperor! It would be best to pretend to be weak and faint into the emperor’s arms. If you use two of the cards, you can easily complete the mission!”

Wēi Yīng slowly cracked a sunflower seed. “Look at my body. Now look at them—one has a whip, and the other has fingernails like little knives. If I got involved, would I even have a life left?” With her -99 constitution, any further drop would mean her death.

The system was very anxious. “Are we just going to watch the original plot unfold?! The emperor is about to come out and save the beauty!”

Wēi Yīng: “Of course not.”

At that moment, the two young women’s argument became more and more heated. Gōng Bèinú, who had been spoiled since childhood, had never met someone without power or influence who dared to talk back to her. Her face turned red and then pale with anger. She raised her hand, intending to slap her, “You’re really so—”

The words ‘shameless’ stopped in her mouth, cut short.

Wēi Yīng’s hand moved slightly. Only she could see the cards fly onto Xiāo Qiānxuě and Gōng Bèinú.

• Card used: A Fluttering Heart.

• Card description: You are the joy of youth. The target will experience the ‘fluttering heart’ effect for 3 seconds.

Palace Intrigue System: …Did you use the wrong card?

Wēi Yīng: “No, my dear.”

The cards entered both of them and took effect.

Gōng Bèinú’s eyes widened, and a blush crept onto her cheeks. The person opposite her looked up, her eyelashes fluttering, dyed a faint gold by the sunset. Her autumn-like eyes held a subtle, teasing smile… it was incredibly charming.

Gōng Bèinú’s heart pounded like a little deer, and her hand, which had been raised high, gently lowered to touch the girl’s flawless skin. Blushing, she stammered, “You’re… you’re so beautiful.”

A person walked slowly from within the osmanthus forest.

“Your Majesty, should we… still go out?” The eunuch folded his sleeves and asked the emperor’s will.

The monarch had graying temples and a weary expression. He had heard the commotion and originally intended to come out and stop it, but just as he emerged from the osmanthus forest, he saw the two girls who had been arguing fiercely now complimenting each other with blushing faces. Do all the concubine-candidates these days play like this?

The monarch rubbed his temples, shook his head wearily, and as he turned to leave, his gaze suddenly fell upon the young woman standing to the side. The frail young woman leaned lazily against a flowering tree, holding a handful of sunflower seeds. She was cracking them and watching the show, her cheeks puffing out like a little hamster.

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