Budding Anemone — III

The moment Li Xinyuan got his hands on the book, uncaring of the incredulous look sent towards him by Hu Lijing, the doctor all but filed through the book, horror stirring impossibly tight in his gut as he took in the pretty and romantic illustration of a man and woman on the cover with a title in Russian.

"The Pampered Consort of The Supreme Emperor"

Ah, classic Josei title vibes from the title itself made Li Xinyuan's stomach reel.

Of all the things, his ass had to get stuck in a Josie. Fuck his life, for real.

Once their entourage was back in the inn they rented, Li Xinyuan mumbled a few words to his attendant and strode to his room without a second glance back.

Hu Lijing — practically left in the dust — blinked at the retreating back of his master. What the hell was wrong with him? Did he eat something strange along the way?

This was the strangest Hu Lijing had seen Li Xinyuan act since his childhood. Was something wrong? What was in that weird book for his master to panic in this manner?

Was everything alright?

Nothing was alright!

Li Xinyuan barely resisted the urge to climb up the window of his room and do a bungee jump without the protective measures.

What the hell was this novel? He wondered, lamenting bitterly. Why was this novel even translated into Russian of all things? Was the publishing company brain-dead?

Alright, now that was an exaggeration by him.

Li Xinyuan took a deep breath.

Aside from the romance-centric fast plot of the novel, it wasn't all too bad for a quick — junk food sort of — read. This novel had minimal world-building focused mainly on some fantastical sort of nameless ancient Chinese Dynasty.

Why did it have a Russian translation of all things?? And rather than a proper spin-off, it was more of a 'what if'.

Even though that 'what if' was focused on the main web novel's second male lead getting together with the female lead and ascending to the throne of Supreme Emperor.

As if both of these events weren't mutually exclusive.

Li Xinyuan rolled his eyes and painstakingly read through the entire novel in a span of three hours. By the time he was done reading the book, he could feel his head throbbing from the amount of brainless bullshit he had to stomach.

But now that Li Xinyuan knew exactly what the plot was. He could easily avoid any sort of landmine and live his life in peace.

Or perhaps away from the imperial palace. Everyone and their mothers know that in any place, the royal palace was the last place a cannon fodder, much less a minorest of minor characters should be in.

Li Xinyuan had no intention of risking his neck. At least not at the moment. Unless compelled otherwise, the surgeon would gladly fuck off and let the plotline move on its own without his character's involvement. He wouldn't interfere no matter what.

If he was compelled, that is.

As Li Xinyuan reached the last page of the damned novel, he was prepared to close it and burn it to cinders. But the moment he flipped the last page, a single line caught his eye.

[The Imperial Consort could have been so much more than what we were shown.]

The moment the surgeon read those words. The page of the novel shifted in front of his eyes and sooner than later, the page turned from a traditional paperback novel's page it a shitty internet forum.

What the fuck.

No sooner than that. The entire page was flooded by innumerable comments in a thread with the parent post.

[This novel should have been a BL!]

[Fr. I started reading it, expecting the Male Lead to push YuanYuan down TT. I read the entire novel and what? ML and FL got together. Hello???]

↳

[I feel you! I've been deceived.]

[Lol, y'all are so fucking blind. The novel was in the Historical Romance section, not the BL section, dumbasses.]

↳

— [Upstairs, you better start running. I'm coming to your house, torch in hand. I'd like to greet you with an early new year and fireworks.]

— [Upstairs, calm down TT. Don't let your sorrow land you in jail.]

[But like, seriously, I loved the dynamic between our gentle YuanYuan and Male God Liu. Our YuanYuan was the prettiest person in this entire novel, how come he disappeared without a trace (T0T)]

[Shitty author, I want a storyline change!]

The last post sent a chill down Li Xinyuan's spine.

Li Xinyuan, who was the said Imperial Consort 'YuanYuan': (⁠눈⁠‸⁠눈⁠)

Who the fuck wants to be involved with the male lead? Doesn't everyone know that in a royal family, the least safe place is beside the crown fucking prince??

Li Xinyuan's headache intensified exponentially as he gritted his teeth, more than happy to burn this book to ashes with his Qi.

However, the moment he touched the book a line of text replaced the forum.

[> Host found. Commencing binding… Error. Error— binding incomplete. System unable to download!]

The surgeon's eyes widened. In an instant, he tore his hand away from the book as though burnt and stared at the book warily.

[— Sorry for the inconveniences. Due to partial System binding the Host is given access to plot and quests.

> Mandatory Quest: Avoid the plot landmines and help the male lead become the Supreme Emperor.

Reward calculation: With every positive comment from readers on the changes, 1-5 points will be given.

**Enough points may give the host access to the system store at a critical moment.

Current Points: 0

** Please fight for your love, dear host! (∩˃o˂∩)♡]

Despair dawned on the surgeon's person the longer he gazed at the cute kaomoji. Unblinking, he stared and stared, frozen, unmoving.

Lost in distress.

On the other hand, Hu Lijing — like the dutiful attendant he was — carried the warm supper to his master's room with a bottle of fine wine on the side.

Maybe this would help Li Xinyuan relax.

As he walked through the narrow corridor of the second floor, an enraged scream came from the room his master was staying in.

"FIND MY LOVE YOUR MOM!!"

The sudden voice startled Hu Lijing so much that his entire body flinched, sending the wine to the floor and the food in the air.

The amber-haired man panicked, eyes wide as he tried to find his footing and save the food from going to waste.

His steps stumbled as he barely caught the food back on the tray and let out a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately for him though, the wine bottle that had rolled away came rolling back right under his feet just enough to make the martial artist stumble.

And send the food tumbling in the air.

"Li Xinyuan!!" Face contorted in rage, Hu Lijing called out in anger, etiquettes and caution thrown out of the window. "What is wrong with you?!"

Stomping footsteps drew near the door as it was pulled open to reveal Li Xinyuan, face flushed red and tears of frustration in his eyes.

"Everything." He replied, voice shaking and the novel clutched in one hand. "Everything is wrong, Lijing."

His ever-so-calm voice wavered pitifully.