Xiè Wényàn was very smart, and his determination had always been steadfast. For instance, his fondness for power and his desire to climb the social ladder hadn’t changed a bit even after his rebirth. However, no matter how clever he was as a youth, his character was ultimately immature and lacked stability.

Ever since his cousin rose to prominence, the villagers had stopped praising him and instead began to gossip about him being cold-blooded and ungrateful, a white-eyed wolf. Xiè Wényàn was well aware that these words weren’t entirely wrong; his actions were indeed not very honorable. But understanding was one thing, and hearing gossip too often inevitably had an impact. His personality began to grow extreme, and he developed a competitive spirit against his cousin, becoming increasingly anxious to achieve something significant.

The consequence of such impatience was that he accidentally fell into a trap set by his classmate Qián Bótu, getting manipulated into gambling debts that led to him being unable to pay and having his legs broken, thus cutting off his path to the imperial examination! In the end, it was his cousin, out of filial piety and at the pleading of their grandparents, who helped him through this crisis.

After this huge change, the third branch of the family fell into a temporary silence. Yes, just a temporary silence! Because, in his cousin’s words, the third branch was simply a genetic mutation of the Xiè family, with no one having a docile and honest character; they were all exceptional…

From this incident, they realized that their cousin had a soft heart, so the whole family discussed and unanimously decided to take the route of reforming themselves and clinging to the big branch. There was no other way. He had become disabled and lost his path to an official career, so the third branch could only curry favor with the now successful big branch. And their family was full of schemers, capable of bending and stretching.

They played the role of honest people for a full three years, relying on their sob stories and pretending to be obedient, successfully making their soft-hearted and upright cousin believe that the third branch had truly reformed, thus starting to promote them. Of course, it wasn’t without the factor that their cousin, after becoming an official, was weak and valued his talent, while his parents and younger brother were shrewd and clever, wanting family support.

If he had remained a cripple, to live a good life, he would have certainly been an obedient behind-the-scenes helper for his cousin. But the problem was! His cousin was too impressive, actually finding a miraculous doctor who healed his legs.

Xiè Wényàn had long said that he wasn’t a good person; deep down, he was greedy for power and wealth, eager to climb to a high position. He had always been proud of his talent and gifts, so how could he be content to stay beneath others? He was grateful for his cousin’s help, but that didn’t prevent him from betraying him. After all, his character was indeed problematic; ungratefulness was something that could happen more than once…

In fact, there was another very important factor in betraying his cousin: he didn’t have faith in the Crown Prince his cousin served. Although the Crown Prince seemed to be doing well and appeared to be a good master with a heart for the world and respect for the worthy, his keen intuition told him that the Crown Prince was the same kind of person as him, not a good thing, and following him would definitely not end well.

Moreover, the benefits offered by the Crown Prince were insufficient. He was a person who prioritized interests; if the Crown Prince had provided enough benefits, he wouldn’t have hesitated to take risks and collude. After all, he was a bad person, and his bottom line could be flexible. Unfortunately, the other party was too stingy, wanting the horse to eat grass but not feeding it well. He didn’t have the noble character of his cousin, who could be easily swayed by a few words of brotherhood.

He was a worldly person, only wanting real gold, silver, jewels, and high official positions. So, he pledged allegiance to the Second Prince, because the Second Prince was willing to marry his younger brother as a concubine, which held more promise for the future!

Unfortunately, he had calculated everything but didn’t foresee that his cousin was actually a soul from another world, possessing countless advanced ideas and concepts from later generations. No matter how smart he was, he couldn’t compare to his cousin standing on the shoulders of giants. The result was naturally a complete failure; after a few years of glory, he was swept away by the Second Prince’s failed bid for the throne, and the new emperor executed a purge, leading to his family’s downfall and exile. His parents and younger brother all died in a harsh land, and the third branch could never rise again…

Until several years later. His cousin, who had served the State of Chǔ for many years and done countless good deeds for the country and the people, was drained of value by the royal family, feared and abandoned, wrongfully imprisoned, and ordered the execution of nine clans. The third branch, still within the Xiè family’s nine clans, was implicated, and he finally saw his cousin again in prison…

Xiè Wényàn was not surprised by this outcome. During those years in the harsh land, he hadn’t been idle; he had been keeping an eye on the news from the capital, hoping to find an opportunity to rise again, and his ambition to climb up was still alive. So, when he learned that his cousin was helping the royal family reform to deal with the noble families for the benefit of the people, he knew that the future of the Xiè family might not be bright.

One must know that throughout history, how many advocates of reform ended well? As expected, his cousin was betrayed by the very people he had helped, and the Xiè family faced the annihilation of their nine clans, all while being scolded by the foolish populace. It was truly laughable.

If Xiè Wényàn were to say, his cousin was simply too timid and too sentimental. If he had the powerful knowledge in his cousin’s mind, he wouldn’t care whether the Crown Prince was a gentleman with a heart for the world; he would definitely have overthrown the current royal family and made himself emperor. Given his capabilities, Xiè Wényàn would never settle for being beneath others!

So… when the Xiè family’s nine clans were captured, and he reunited with his cousin in prison after many years. At his age, he still refused to give up and continued to stir up trouble. He passionately expressed that he was wrong back then, that he had truly reformed, and hoped his cousin would find a way to help him escape from prison. The two brothers could join forces to rise again and take revenge for the Xiè family’s nine clans!

Of course, reforming was impossible… At that time, he just didn’t want to die. He knew his cousin must have a way to escape, after all, his cousin was a miracle. However, his desire for revenge was genuine; after all, he was also a member of the Xiè family, and the Xiè family had never wronged him. He wasn’t a good person, but he still had feelings for the Xiè family.

Unfortunately, his cousin was unwilling to live alone, feeling guilty for causing the downfall of the Xiè family’s nine clans, and was disheartened, wanting to die with the Xiè family. Xiè Wényàn couldn’t understand this. Perhaps this was the difference between good people and bad people; anyway, with his moral bottom line and conscience, he could never be so principled.

He didn’t want to die, even if he was already 60 years old and wouldn’t live for many more years. So, in the end, after failing to persuade him, he could only find a way to save himself, racking his brains to extract information from his cousin, hoping to find a chance to survive.

Originally, it was just a casual attempt, a last-ditch effort for his own life. Unexpectedly, he really found a way out. From his cousin’s disheartened ramblings, he learned that the other party was a soul from another world and heard about those unimaginable prosperous scenes from later generations.

Then, the spotlight that belonged to Xiè Wényàn finally returned! With his silver tongue, he convinced a prison guard who had benefited from his cousin’s kindness, successfully faking his death to escape from prison. Because an old man who had been exiled for many years was hardly noticed by anyone.

After that, he ran to a neighboring country, using his cousin’s reputation to his advantage, and managed to meet the emperor of the neighboring country. Under his persuasion, the emperor believed that he and his cousin possessed extraordinary talents, and in order to annex the territory of the State of Chǔ, boldly appointed him, breaking the norm to let him directly enter the court as an official and heavily rely on him.

And he indeed proved to be quite ‘extraordinary.’ Relying on the absence of threats from family members and being older, not knowing how many more years he could live, he stirred up the political scene in the court without any scruples. His main focus was on his own happiness and benefits!

In the end, not only did he destroy the State of Chǔ and take revenge for the Xiè family’s nine clans, but he also caused a bloody storm across the world, with various countries in chaos, and the common people rising in rebellion, leaving the high and mighty royal families and noble clans in a state of headache and anger. They all cursed him as a ‘traitor’ and ‘old thief’…

Xiè Wényàn may not have left a good name for posterity, but he did leave a mark in history, albeit a notorious one. But so what? He was never a good person, and after death, he didn’t care what others said. His cousin, who had worked hard for the country and the people all his life, ended up with what fate? Expecting him, a man with a blackened heart, to have any benevolence for the world was a joke, right?

Real officials had to be ruthless. After all, from beginning to end, Xiè Wényàn never regretted a bit. Now that he was reborn, his goal was still to climb up, to enjoy wealth and glory! And the most important thing in this life was to win over his extraordinarily talented cousin. His cousin, who had crossed over, was too soft-hearted and too good, not suitable for being an official. The grand task of revitalizing the family in this life should be left to him, the bad guy.

As long as the benefits were sufficient, in his previous life, he could be the treacherous minister who wreaked havoc on the world; in this life, he could be the sage who benefited the world. After all, to achieve his goals, Xiè Wényàn was truly capable of using any means necessary.

…

Xiè Wényàn’s timing for rebirth was excellent. At present, all the bad things had yet to happen, and his cousin from another world would only arrive tomorrow. The other party was a very soft-hearted person, with a somewhat naive character. To describe him with the words his cousin had once rambled in prison, he was like a college student, pure and foolish.

He didn’t quite understand these words, but he knew that his cousin was easy to deceive. If he weren’t easy to deceive, in his previous life, the third branch wouldn’t have taken advantage of them time and again, nor would he have been drained of value by the new emperor and then discarded so miserably.

However, while his cousin was easy to deceive, once the other party saw through the true face of the enemy, he could turn against them completely. In his previous life, after escaping from prison, why was he able to easily gain the trust and favor of the emperor of the neighboring country? And why was he able to stir up the political scene in various countries by himself?

In addition to his own intelligence, there was also the time spent in prison, where his cousin seemed to be rambling nonsense but was actually deliberately instilling various advanced knowledge from later generations into him. His cousin had served the State of Chǔ loyally for many years, yet ended up with the fate of having his nine clans exterminated; how could he not harbor hatred in his heart?

It was just that at that time, his cousin was indeed too disheartened, having grown old and lost the ambition and energy to continue fighting, which led him to choose to give up and die, placing the hope of revenge on him. Otherwise, based on the terrible things he had done in the past, how could his cousin possibly pay him any attention, let alone share the origin of his otherworldly soul?

His cousin was a good person, but not a fool. If he couldn’t personally destroy everything he had worked hard to build, he could only choose to let him, this “disaster,” go free.

So, he absolutely couldn’t underestimate this cousin; who knows what other tricks the other party from another world had up his sleeve? The plan to win him over had to be well thought out. It was just about playing the role of a good brother who valued emotions and righteousness. If the Crown Prince, who had discarded him after using him, could act, so could he.

As long as the wealth and glory were in place, he could act for a lifetime without any problem!

Author’s Note:
Xiè Gong: As long as the money is in place, everything is okay~