The Villain Sister's Self-Saving Guide

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:

“It has been found that Regent King Chu Yunqi formed factions for personal gain, excluded dissenters, framed the loyal and virtuous, causing immense harm to the court of Great Liang. No one dared to speak the truth, and the clarity of governance was utterly lost.”

“Thus, Emperor Ming Zhao hereby orders that the criminal Chu Yunqi be executed at the Meridian Gate at the third quarter past noon today. By imperial decree!”

The voice of the announcer rang out high and sharp, neither masculine nor feminine, making everyone’s skin crawl.

Chu Yunqi knelt on the empty ground before the Meridian Gate. Before him stood a large crowd of confused Jing’an citizens.

They gathered together, kept ten meters away by soldiers, murmuring and discussing Chu Yunqi.

The common folk didn’t know who Chu Yunqi was. They only knew he was an official — and a bad one at that. So bad that the emperor himself had issued the execution order, branding him a treacherous minister.

Chu Yunqi lifted his head bearing shackles, his half-lidded eyes gazing toward a few carriages hidden at the edge of the crowd. A faint smile suddenly appeared on his face.

Someone in the crowd shouted, “He’s smiling?! How can he still smile?!”

In an instant, the crowd erupted in rage. Rotten eggs, wilted vegetables, and even sharp stones with jagged edges were hurled at him.

His face was slashed in several places, and his forehead was bleeding from a hit, but he seemed utterly unfazed. Staggering to his feet, he took a few steps toward the carriages and shouted loudly:

“I won. I won!”

Then he laughed heartily, only to be yanked down by the executioner pulling the chains on his ankles, sending him crashing to the ground.

In the 31st year of Yuanyi, on the 25th day of the first lunar month, during the Waking of Insects—

The criminal Chu Yunqi was beheaded at the Meridian Gate.

From that day on, no one in the Great Liang court dared to speak his name again. Not a single trace of him was recorded in official history.

─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉

When Chu Yunqi awoke, his head throbbed, and his body ached.

His damp, sticky clothes clung to him like he’d been buried in mud.

Where was this place?

In a daze, he opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling above.

That eerie voice — “The hour has come. Proceed with the execution.” — still echoed in his ears.

But now, the bustling scene outside the Meridian Gate was gone.

Was he dead?

Apparently not — the pain in his body was proof enough that he was still very much alive.

Realizing this, Chu Yunqi endured the pain and slowly sat up, taking in his surroundings.

He was in a rickety wooden shed that looked like it could collapse any second. Aside from the makeshift bed of stones and wood he lay on, the room was completely empty.

At the foot of the bed sat a cracked coarse porcelain bowl, dull yellow in color. Its base had broken off from the body and lay tipped to one side, with remnants of dark brown soup still inside.

Only now did Chu Yunqi finally remember where he was.

The 28th year of Yuanyi, first month — Zhai Xiang Pavilion.