It's Actually Not Easy Wanting to be a Supporting Male Lead Chapter 13 part4

Translated by Eve
Edited by Wuxian
Under Zhao Xihe's kind words of persuasion, as well as his terrifying threats, Sui Yuan ultimately collapsed under the evil force Zhao Xihe's abuse of authority. He had no choice but to agree to the request of disbanding his rear court. However, Sui Yuan expressed that this matter required both time and justification—they could not just dismiss them all at once. Although Sui Yuan didn't care about the lives or deaths of unimportant inhabitants of this world, if he could make their lives just a bit better, then Sui Yuan would not be miserly about that. After all, the chief offender behind their disrupted, once-peaceful lives was him. Sui Yuan had to take responsibility.
The most important thing was that if he let those women stay here, Sui Yuan was truly afraid that one day, Zhao Xihe, who now wielded a great authority, would snap one day and directly kill them all off.
After discussing their feelings and the matter of dealing with the wives and concubines, the atmosphere between Sui Yuan and Zhao Xihe became warmer and more harmonious. Zhao Xihe accompanied Sui Yuan to marvel at the beautiful scenery within the garden before he received the news that the Fourth Prince Situ Yu has requested to meet with him.
Once he heard the protagonist gong's name, Sui Yuan's first reaction was to escape. However, Zhao Xihe pressed down onto his shoulder.
"You have to see him sooner or later. You can avoid it once, but you won't be able to avoid it forever. Moreover, there are many eyes and ears all around. If you OOC, how will you explain things?" Zhao Xihe raised a brow slightly, speaking in a voice only audible to himself and Sui Yuan.
Sui Yuan swept a gaze at the palace maids and eunuchs, who had noiselessly appeared from the moment he and Zhao Xihe had begun their tour of the gardens, ready at any moment to help their masters solve difficulties and assist them in grabbing any required objects. He hesitated, causing him to lose his opportunity to escape.
Thus, after Situ Yu elegantly made his way over, what he immediately saw was a large and small figure standing side by side amidst the flowering shrubs.
The protagonist shou, Lin Xiao, had no qualifications to meet with the Emperor with his status in the plot, yet the Emperor just barely had more of a presence compared to the cannon fodder. However, as the greatest stage piece in the beginning, the description of the Emperor within the plot was quite significant.
For example, he was wise, far-sighted, and had an extraordinary bearing and vigor. He exerted himself to make his country prosperous. Another example, it was said that his martial arts was so good that he once personally led a campaign and entered the battle grounds. Also, that his aura was so formidable that it made people unable to meet his gaze directly. Another example, it was said that his appearance was majestic, awe-inspiring as if crafted by Heaven itself and that the Princes also inherited his dominance. Each and every one of them were handsome, confident and at ease, have a graceful bearing and outstanding charm…even if it was the protagonist gong Situ Yu, he also could not help but inwardly sigh that he fell short of his Emperor Father by a great degree.
As for the youth…Situ Yu glanced at Sui Yuan who looked at himself with indifference and his unwavering heart involuntarily missed a beat.
Situ Yu naturally recognized Xu Tu. Or rather, no one within the Capital did not know this adopted prince's name—it was known to everyone.
Xu Tu had grown up within the palace, thus Situ Yu could not avoid coming into contact with him several times. Because he was spoiled by the Emperor, Xu Tu was bossy as a child. After growing up, although he had curbed his behaviour a bit, his words, actions, and bearing became increasingly more unruly and unrestrained.
After coming of age and getting married, Xu Tu left the palace and established his own residence. Without the restriction of the palace's rules and regulations, his brash behaviour went out of hand and directly disturbed the Capital, blanketing it with a foul atmosphere. He could be said to be the Capital's local tyrant. However, against all reason, the Emperor turned a deaf ear. Even if Xu Tu was denounced before the court, it would only result in a small punishment and would not teach him a lesson.
The majority of the people could only see Xu Tu's appearance of being well-off and unbounded that he wore when before other people. However, Situ Yu could faintly perceive Emperor Father's true intention. Or rather, the fact that Xu Tu could act so preposterously was something that the Emperor himself wanted to see. The one he wanted to 'dote on', was only this kind of Xu Tu.
——It was probably for this reason that Xu Tu, although unwilling, did his utmost to support Situ Gui in the battle for succession. It was in hopes that through this he could resist against Emperor Father.
To speak the truth, Situ Yu felt that Xu Tu was a bit pitiful. However, he never held any goodwill towards him. It could even be said that he looked down on him with disdain quite a bit.
Situ Yu had an upright and proper character and he was also extremely courteous, abiding by the rules of etiquette. Meanwhile, Xu Tu was famous for being the most hedonistic son. He was a playboy little young master. There was no reason for him to be arrogant and despotic considering the lack of achievements and talents but he relied on his backing and identity to act as such anyway, stirring up trouble. Situ Yu especially disliked this, although perhaps Xu Tu had his own share of troubles and sorrows.
At the same time, Xu Tu got along well with the Second Prince, Situ Gui. Furthermore, Situ Gui and Situ Yu were rivals for the Emperor's throne. Situ Yu did not like this lackey that followed behind his second brother, using their connection to intimidate others. Xu Tu was also hostile towards the other princes who posed a threat towards Situ Gui. There was a clash of interests and both sides considered the other as unpleasant. On the surface, they kept an appearance of everyone minding their own business but that was as far as being amicable to each other went.
So, one can well imagine just how great the fright and shock the intense vibration within his heart gave Situ Yu. The wantonly smiling, irreverent youth in the gardens made him realize how beautiful he had grown up to be for the first time. Even the way he disregarded etiquette seemed to carry an implicit charm that he couldn't put into words, puzzling him extremely.
Although Situ Yu had already settled down with a harem of his own and had even seen the birth of his first Shu son; and although he would normally return politeness for politeness and thus even flirt lightly as part of social niceties, as a protagonist gong, before his destined protagonist shou showed up, even if his body was not clean, his heart had to be! So, Situ Yu who had never had any first love before completely did not understand the peculiarity—otherwise known as having one's heart race— he had just experienced in that instant.
If Sui Yuan was dressed as a woman like the protagonist shou was, perhaps Situ Yu would quickly realize what his 'heart racing' meant, tossing and turning at night because of it, thinking of him at any time and place, and setting off in a hot pursuit after being unable to forget him, pledging to not give up until he has him in his hands. Unfortunately—or rather, fortunately?— Situ Yu, who still believed himself to be a 'straight male', completely did not believe himself able to be like this or that with another man, and thus very calmly pushed this matter of his 'heart racing' to the bottom of his mind.
Instinctively, he felt that the feeling he had just now was extremely dangerous. As a man who believes in reason over emotions, Situ Yu quickly averted his gaze and attributed this to the brightly-coloured spring scenery that confused people, dazzling them and making them see illusions. That person was Xu Tu! He was the Xu Tu that he looked down and loathed the most!
Situ Yu simply wanted to fall apart because of the universe's malice….
Situ Yu did not dare think any more chaotic thoughts and quickly collected himself to make his greetings, "Erchen sees Emperor Father. Good evening Emperor Father."
Once he heard 'you may rise', he turned to Sui Yuan and smiled, "Third Brother is also here, ah?"
"Xu Tu sees Fourth Brother," Sui Yuan smiled fakely, saluting Situ Yu. Inwardly, he was extremely satisfied with this world's protagonist gong. Look! This is how a protagonist gong should appear, ah! There is not the slightest peculiarity in his reaction after seeing him. He even looks at me with a disdaining look in his eyes. I simply want to give him little red flowers for being 'steadfastly loyal and dependable'!
Sui Yuan naturally did not know that Situ Yu didn't look at him because he didn't dare to look at him. He was afraid that if he so much as caught another glimpse, he would be unable to suppress the flood of emotions he experienced just now and would make an irreversible mistake.
Xu Tu and Situ Yu found each other and all that they did was unpleasing to the eye, nitpicking and criticizing everything. Although they held themselves back before the Emperor, they never acted close. Although Sui Yuan had a lot of goodwill towards this unwavering protagonist gong that resisted his halo, he could not OOC and act too cordial towards him. After casually asking how Situ Yu was doing, he strolled to the other side to appreciate the flowers, appearing too lazy to chat with Situ Yu.
As for Situ Yu, he maintained his noble, upright appearance and stood by the Emperor's side, appearing to be in deep concentration. Likewise, he did not glance in Sui Yuan's direction. He felt that the atmosphere around 'Emperor Father' today was a bit fishy.
Ordinarily, Situ Yu was not very spoiled by his father. His Emperor Father also very rarely paid any attention to him. However, today, the gaze Emperor Father used to size him up was evidently full of profound meaning. More importantly, the meaning behind his gaze did not have a positive connotation. It was the gaze one would use to examine prey that had fallen into a trap while pondering over where they should cut first.
Situ Yu, unable to avoid said gaze began to turn this matter over in his head. Could it be that Emperor Father discovered something that he had done? When he thought of this, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
Being close to the sovereign can be as perilous as lying with a tiger. Because he did not know what this old tiger was thinking, and also because the Emperor was silent and unmoving at present, Situ Yu became increasingly apprehensive and uneasy. If it wasn't for the fact that he had always been upright in his behaviour and conduct, he would be itching to kneel and beg for forgiveness with a greatly changed expression, fighting for leniency in return for his confession.
A long while later, the Emperor's gaze slowly shifted away from him and he snorted, "Speak. For what matter did you come seek Zhen?"
Situ Yu sucked in a small breath and felt his whole body become exhausted and powerless. His complexion couldn't help but pale and he prudently reported the matter. He was afraid of saying the wrong thing and end up making Emperor Father explode once he grabbed onto his pigtail.
When he saw the protagonist gong trembling with fear, Zhao Xihe couldn't be more satisfied with choosing the Emperor as his identity. The ruler guides the subject, and the father guides the son. If he wanted to deal with anyone, it would be so easy. He only needed to reveal a certain look and it would be enough to let their imaginations do the scaring for themselves.
Zhao Xihe's mood that had turned from clear to cloudy had finally cleared up once again after Situ Yu's request for audience. Sui Yuan, that little fellow, did not notice anything at all. Perhaps he was still basking in endless satisfaction from the thought of the protagonist gong remaining unmoved by the halo that was still on his body. However, with how sharp Zhao Xihe's eyesight was, naturally, he did not miss the slight, second long change in Situ Yu just before.
Fortunately, this youngster was very rational and understood how to put on a facade. He did not expose even the slightest hint of his change. Otherwise, Zhao Xihe would actually find, in a casual manner, an excuse to ruthlessly teach him a lesson. Naturally, with the plot in his hand, he also held the pigtails of every character within the story. Finding a reason to justify his actions was absolutely effortless.
Situ Yu, who didn't know that he had just narrowly escaped, finished reporting the matter on his hands and received the Emperor's indifferent reply. There was no praise or award, nor a reprimand. There was just a casual wave of the hand, indicating that he could withdraw. Situ Yu also did not know whether he should be disappointed or if he should sigh in relief. He did not dare say anything more and left after saluting and asking to be excused.
After walking a distance out of the gardens, he heard his family's Emperor Father's strict voice, raw in its tenderness and doting in tone as it called out to the youngster who took advantage of Situ Yu's report to run off to one side, telling him to return to him. Situ Yu's steps paused and after trying to restrain himself, he ended up still turning to glance behind him.
The youth with a reckless, brash smile quickly ran out of the thicket he had wandered into and ran towards the man dressed in a bright, yellow gown. The sunshine spilled onto his slightly raised jade-like face. His delicate, beautiful eyes held a lively, dazzling expression that made people unable to look away. It was just a pity that before Situ Yu could look more carefully, his line of sight was blocked by the man's back. He could only hear the man's gentle voice reprimand the youth's naughty and unearnest behaviour. Then, he saw the man restrain the youth in his arms, and help him tidy up his disarrayed black hair that had been made messy by the branches in the garden.
Even though they were separated by a distance, Situ Yu could clearly perceive the hard to describe intimacy that pervaded the air between the two people. It felt intimate like what one would expect from father and son, but it also felt more than that—no one could stick themselves between them.
——This doting man seemed to be itching to offer everything to the youth with both hands just so that he would grace him with a single smile. Was this really his Emperor Father that had meticulously spoiled Xu Tu in a way that ended up putting him in a disadvantage—in particular, made him ignorant to many matters, gave him a bad reputation— and spectated on the side with cold eyes?
Situ Yu stared with wide eyes in shock but could only see the man and youth holding hands and disappearing into the end of the complicated flower path, their figures covered by the green leaves and flourishing flowers.
——It must be this cursed spring weather. It must definitely be the fault of this extremely splendid and dazzling sunshine. It unexpectedly made his eyesight bad. Situ Yu furrowed his brows and warned himself to not overthink things. Regardless of what Emperor Father was thinking to do, no matter what plans he was making, he was not to offer his opinion or conjectures.
At present, what he needed to do was be low-profile and cautious. Not that Emperor Father has already begin to suspect him, he must not make any mistakes.
Situ Yu quickly left the palace and continued to rush about on the thorny path that was the battle for succession, throwing all the thoughts he had today to one side. However, the silhouette of the youth who was reckless from the man's spoiling, was deeply engraved into his mind. No matter what he did, it was impossible to get rid of it. One day, Situ Yu was startled awake from a dream, breaking out in a cold sweat. He could feel that a certain place in his underpants was soaked and he pressed down onto his heart that was beating like mad with a hard to mask shock.
——I must be going insane! When he recalled the wanton, pampered youth that he had pressed down under his own body within his dream, Situ Yu silently cursed and quickly tore open his quilt. He stood up and hastily made his way to his study, searching for an invitation card that he had originally thrown into a corner.
This was an invitation for the Flower Appreciation Banquet hosted by his paternal aunt, Princess Zhang. What was to be admired was not just the brightly coloured spring flowers but also the wonderful, beautiful young beauties. Situ Yu did not plan on participating—he never had any interest in women and the wives and concubines in his home were only there to give birth and raise children so as to birth a son to continue his family line. Only, right now, he had no choice but to change his plan.
Situ Yu did not desire women but this did not mean that he desired men, ah! Moreover, the person that made his heart race was unexpectedly the devil incarnate that he had always looked down upon! Situ Yu felt that he needed to find a beautiful woman as soon as possible and reverse this extremely dangerous desire of his. Furthermore, noble women from all across the Capital had been invited to this Flower Appreciation Banquet so it was naturally the best place to pursue women.
——There definitely shouldn't be any problems. This must be nothing but a youth's impulse. He has walked onto the wrong path and only needed to rectify things in time for it to not become any sort of irreversible matter. Situ Yu comforted himself in this way.
5237："…Hehe.【lights candle】"
The author has something to say:
Protagonist gong, he is destined to fall in love at first sight…it is just unfortunate that the target is a bit wrong [lights candle].