The Consequences of Provoking the Male Lead of a Qidian Novel - Chapter 4

My life is cheap.

“Oh no, Taojin, we seem to have caused a massive problem.” Shen Youqing stood frozen in place.

This was the butterfly effect, and for the first time, Shen Youqing truly grasped its meaning. The spice he had bought from the system on a whim had triggered such a storm with a single flap of its wings, causing one of the villains—who was supposed to live far longer than him to be prematurely declared dead and out of the game.

Taojin also asked, her voice dragging, “What do you mean? You don’t think the Heir fell into the water because of the sachet I delivered, do you?”

Luyin frowned, not quite following. “Young Master, what are you both talking about?”

Shen Youqing sighed helplessly; the answer was self-evident.

“I understand. I’ll go to the magistrate’s office and turn myself in right now. I won’t let this bring any trouble to you, Young Master.” Taojin wiped her eyes, which were brimming with tears, and turned to leave, sobbing quietly.

“Get back here. That spice does have issues; smelling it long-term can make a person lose their senses and experience hallucinations, but it is non-toxic and water-soluble. Silver needles won’t detect it, and if the sachet was on him, it might have already been soaked away by the water. However, Li Xu is a beast who philanders everywhere and leads a dissolute life; he might not even be carrying my sachet around.” Shen Youqing rubbed his chin, analyzing the situation calmly.

Luyin nodded solemnly. “Understood. I will go to the Marquis’s residence right now to look for that sachet.”

Shen Youqing covered his forehead in silence. “You two are both more stubborn than the other.” He suspected that even if he actually wanted to kill Li Xu, one of them would be handing him the knife while the other destroyed the evidence.

“Wait until Li Xu’s condition stabilizes. Don’t go throwing yourselves into a trap right now.” Although Luyin had high combat ability, what kind of place was the Marquis of Wu’an’s residence? Li Xu’s father, the Marquis of Wu’an, was a high-ranking official who had assisted the state. During the chaotic times, he had followed the Emperor on numerous campaigns, conquering countless cities and being enfeoffed as a first-rank Marquis; his status was self-evident.

Li Xu was born lucky. Even if he wasn’t proficient in military strategy and didn’t read widely, he was destined to inherit the title before he was even born. He acted like a tyrant in his daily life, bullying others, and no matter how much he jumped around looking for trouble, he never suffered any backlash.

Fortunately, his whole family were villains. This meant they were destined to be dealt with by the protagonist sooner or later. As for Shen Youqing, he was just the villain’s cannon-fodder fiancée—someone who couldn’t stir up any major waves and ended up dying quite miserably.

Shen Youqing tapped the system. “If Li Xu dies, what punishment will I receive?”

The system’s voice was cold and robotic: “Awaiting system update, awaiting system update.”

Great, it’s still updating. Shen Youqing knew he wouldn’t get an answer, and not wanting to sit and wait for death, he anxiously lay halfway on the chaise lounge and began reading a storybook.

A day passed in the blink of an eye. According to the reports, Li Xu had been snatched back from the jaws of death by a doctor, and the Marquis of Wu’an had rewarded that doctor with so much gold and silver that others envied him.

However, ever since the Heir of Wu’an woke up, his mind hadn’t been right. He spoke only nonsense and couldn’t even pick up a brush to write. The Marquis of Wu’an was so anxious that he issued a bounty to doctors across the world, sincerely inviting them to come and save his son.

At that time, Shen Youqing was sitting in a carriage on the way to the Marquis of Wu’an’s residence. Hearing that Li Xu hadn’t died but had become stupid, he felt both amused and somewhat relieved. Li Xu was no good man—he was even notorious for his evil deeds—but if Li Xu had died inexplicably because of him, he wouldn’t be able to accept it. Furthermore, this person wasn’t an insignificant character in the plot, but a major stumbling block that would hinder Xue Gu in his struggle for power and the throne in the future.

And Shen Youqing, who helped him against Xue Gu, would be seen in Xue Gu’s eyes as nothing more than a pair of “scum lovers” with Li Xu.

Shen Youqing couldn’t force a smile.

“Young Master, if you go to visit Li Xu now, what will you do if you’re exposed?”

Shen Youqing shook his head. “Who said I’m going to visit? I’ll just offer a few words of greeting at the door and leave.” In such a special situation, the Marquis of Wu’an wouldn’t feel comfortable letting him inside anyway.

From afar came the clattering of horses’ hooves and the rumbling of carriage wheels rolling over the ground. Taojin curiously lifted the curtain of the carriage and poked her head out. “It’s so lively outside! Young Master, I want to go down and see.”

The city gates in the distance were wide open, and the streets leading to the imperial palace were packed tightly on both sides. In the middle of the road, the neighing of several horses sounded high-pitched and fierce, as if to show off their power.

Behind the soldiers sat a man on a tall horse. His posture was upright, and he wore dark, battle-patterned armor with silver threads, with leather wrapping his lean waist. A black jade-handled sword was slanted at his waist.

Because there were too many people ahead, the cavalry unit was forced to stop temporarily, waiting for the crowd to disperse before moving on.

A soldier quickly walked to the man’s side, lowered his head, and spoke a few words respectfully.

The man on the horse gave a careless “Hmm,” untied the sword at his waist, threw it to the soldier, and revealed the white-green jade pendant hanging at his waist, which was engraved with the character “Gu.”

The moment he turned to the side, Shen Youqing, looking through the carriage window, finally saw the face of the man on the horse.

Even though the warm early spring sun was shining on him, Shen Youqing couldn’t feel a shred of warmth. He subconsciously hugged the exquisitely crafted, round, and warm hand warmer in his arms tighter.

The man’s black hair was tied high, his stray hairs fluttering in the wind. His nose bridge was high and straight, and when those narrow, phoenix eyes weren’t smiling, they were as dark as ink poured from a tipped inkstone. The aura around him was like a damp, violent wind wrapped in the late spring chill, making people feel awestruck and afraid to meet his gaze.

Shen Youqing only felt the air becoming suffocating. His heart felt as if it had been gripped by an invisible hand, making his breathing difficult.

Xue Gu had returned.

He heard the sound of the system update finishing in his brain, hitting his eardrums over and over again, all of which signaled the male lead’s arrival. It was the restarting of the system’s clock; the book had begun turning its pages again right before his eyes.

“Major error detected by the host, leading to a critical character nearly dying. Yellow card warning! Punishment warning! Punishment warning!”

“…” Shen Youqing cursed silently.

At this moment, Xue Gu suddenly turned his head, alert like a hunting animal. After discovering something strange in the air, his gaze quickly locked onto the carriage diagonally behind him.

Shen Youqing crashed into his line of sight, his mind went blank, and his breathing skipped a beat.

Where is he looking? Where is he looking?

Oh, it seems he’s looking at me.

Shen Youqing couldn’t describe the subtle look in Xue Gu’s eyes after he saw him—calm, yet dangerous. That fleeting gloominess was enough to send a chill down his spine.

Shen Youqing hurriedly stood up and pulled down the carriage curtain, blocking the sun, and blocking Xue Gu’s unpleasant gaze as well.

He remembered that look.

Eight years ago, the first time he met Xue Gu, he looked at him with that exact same expression.

The auspicious snow heralded a good harvest. Every household on the street swept the snow from their doors, vendors set up small stalls, and amid the crisp clinking of bowls and ladles, steam rose, adding a touch of warmth to the winter.

Shen Youqing was ten years old at the time. Being afraid of the cold, he wore very thick clothes, looking like a round rice dumpling from afar. Because his appearance was too cute, the vendors in the alley gave him quite a bit of food.

He had snuck out, telling only Taojin and asking her to remember to meet him and keep it a secret; in return, he would bring her a candy figurine.

Passing a candy stall, Shen Youqing stood by and watched the candy master’s process, but the next moment he was attracted by a young boy in the corner of the wall across the street.

The dirt on the boy’s face couldn’t hide his handsome features. His arms and ankles were wrapped in bandages, and a broken bowl stood next to his feet.

Shen Youqing couldn’t bear to see such a small, beautiful child freezing and starving in the cold wind.

He secretly guessed that many of the beggars had already left the alley to find a warmer place to stay. This little beggar had probably failed to keep up with the group.

Shen Youqing walked over and squatted down beside him. The boy didn’t even lift his head, seemingly uninterested in everything. His eyes were hollow and lifeless, and he didn’t know if he was just zoning out.

For some reason, a sentence suddenly popped into Shen Youqing’s head: Only the occasional rotation of his pupils could indicate that he was a living thing.

The little beggar was a bit scary, but also very pitiful. There wasn’t even a copper coin in the broken bowl. In such cold weather, with wounds on his body, he was actually sleeping in the alley. If there was another heavy snowfall that night, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Shen Youqing quickly reached into his pocket. The boy had one hand resting on his leg, while the other hand behind his back slowly pulled out a dagger. His pale fingers gripped the hilt, but upon seeing what Shen Youqing pulled out, he pressed it back in place without a sound.

He watched as a copper coin fell into the broken bowl, then two, then three… Finally, Shen Youqing felt it wasn’t enough, so he added two ingots of silver.

The area had been quiet for a long time, and the continuous crisp ringing sounded somewhat abrupt.

But the temperature in the boy’s tea-colored pupils seemed to get lower and lower, his pair of phoenix eyes staring straight at him.

Shen Youqing coughed: “I didn’t bring much money with me; that’s all I have.”

The boy’s voice was hoarse, but not unpleasant, speaking in broken standard Mandarin: “That’s not my bowl.”

Shen Youqing mistakenly thought the little beggar was refusing to admit he was a beggar to maintain his dignity, but he said he understood.

“I’m treating you to a meal.” Shen Youqing stared at him, his eyes sparkling, as pure and clear as mountain springs, full of vitality.

The little beggar froze, then curled his lips, and a laugh erupted from his nose a “pfft” sound. His smile became increasingly willful, but his eyes carried contempt and mockery.

“Do you think you’re some kind of Bodhisattva saving the masses?”

Shen Youqing wanted to speak but stopped: “I…”

The boy closed his eyes: “My life is cheap. There’s no need for this wealthy young miss to offer charity and pity just to showcase your noble moral character.”

Shen Youqing bit his jaw tightly and said, word by word: “It was my fault for mistaking you for a beggar; I apologize. But I don’t want to see you die here. You’ve twisted my good intentions into an insult; shouldn’t you apologize to me as well?”

“Take care.” The boy leaned against the corner of the wall, his voice without a trace of fluctuation.

Shen Youqing couldn’t swallow this, so he poured the money out of the broken bowl, stuffed it quickly into his arms, and then smiled: “Since your life is cheap, is these few taels of silver enough for me to buy your cheap life?”

The boy’s thin lips were tightly pressed, his gaze nailed to his face. His eyes were like a bottomless abyss beneath the ice, and one couldn’t tell if it was resentment or mockery.

With the overlapping of the two faces and the two gazes, Shen Youqing slowly exhaled a breath.

Their first meeting had been so unpleasant, and it wasn’t until Xue Gu was recognized and returned to the imperial palace that he knew that the “little beggar” in the snow was the male lead of this book.

Shen Youqing gave a light laugh, “Who are you trying to scare?”

“Warning! Warning! Punishment begins in ten seconds. Host, please click the confirm button immediately. Failure to act will be deemed as a refusal to accept the punishment. Once detected, all points will be immediately cleared.”

Wait a minute.