I Am The Villain In The Novel

Chapter 20: The Long-Awaited Appearance of Fair-weather Friends

Lan Jingyao hadn’t slept all night, but Wei Changtian was full of energy.

A physical battle before going to bed, and a mental battle after going to bed.

Despite this, he woke up feeling neither tired nor foggy-headed. It could only be said that the “Dream Path” was indeed miraculous.

During breakfast, Lan Jingyao was absent. According to Yaun’er, she was “not feeling well and had no appetite,” but only ghosts knew the real reason.

Wei Changtian gulped down the specially prepared nourishing soup by Qiu Yun and wiped his mouth, preparing to head to the Mirror Division to continue being beaten up.

However, at that moment, a servant from the Wei family suddenly came to report that a young master Li had arrived.

“Young Master Li?”

Wei Changtian paused, asking, “Which Young Master Li?”

The servant was somewhat surprised. “It’s Young Master Li Yang from the Li family.”

“Oh… let him in.”

Wei Changtian nodded, remembering who Li Yang was.

Every antagonist would have some lackeys.

Their main purpose was to highlight the arrogance of the antagonist, allowing the protagonist to better humiliate them.

The previous owner had quite a few lackeys, but only Li Yang was named in the book.

His father, Li Kan, was a deputy minister of the Ministry of Justice, equivalent to the second in command of the highest court in the previous world, with neither high nor low rank, depending on whom you compared him to.

Riding on his father’s coattails, Li Yang also held a semi-official position in the Ministry of Justice, just like Wei Changtian, both of them being idle officials who did nothing but two things.

One: visit brothels.

Two: visit brothels with Wei Changtian.

In short, he was an idle second-generation official.

The only advantage was his loyalty to Wei Changtian, even taking the lead in picking a fight with Xiao Feng in the novel.

As for the ending… of course, it was a tragic one.

…

“Brother Wei! How come you look so energetic after not seeing you for a few days?”

“Sigh, ever since our big commotion at the Exploring Spring Tower last time, I’ve been grounded by my dad. I was only able to escape today.”

“I heard you’ve married Lan Jingyao? I was still confined at home then, so I came here today to specially give you a wedding gift!”

“I know you’re not short of money, so I stole a list of female convicts who will be escorted to the Ministry of Punishments soon from my dad!”

“There are many untouched ones on this list. Let’s study it carefully, and we’ll surely have the upper hand when the time comes…”

The somewhat sleazy-looking man rambled on, waving a piece of paper in his hand, making a “whoosh” sound.

Wei Changtian’s head was starting to ache as he listened.

He didn’t expect Li Yang to be such a chatterbox, babbling non-stop from the moment they met.

And what was with the wedding gift of a “list of misses”? What kind of weird operation was that?

After waiting for half a day without Li Yang stopping, he finally couldn’t help but interrupt with a cough. “Ahem, Brother Li, I’ll take the list.”

“But I’m going to the Mirror Division now…”

“I’ll go with you!”

Li Yang enthusiastically said, “I have something important to discuss with Brother Wei on the way!”

Wei Changtian: “Alright…”

The carriage was quickly prepared, with Wang Er serving as the coachman. Wei Changtian and Li Yang sat facing each other inside the carriage.

After the carriage had been running for a while, Wei Changtian asked helplessly, “Brother Li, what’s the matter?”

“Oh, it’s like this!”

Li Yang leaned in, lowering his voice: “Yesterday, when I went to get that list of female convicts, I happened to see a petition at my father’s place, accusing you of several crimes such as murder, kidnapping women, and causing trouble on the streets.”

“Hmm?”

Wei Changtian instinctively tensed up at the news, but quickly relaxed.

Was he still afraid of being accused given his current status?

“Brother Wei, this time it’s probably different!”

Li Yang seemed to sense his indifference and spoke urgently: “Normally, these kinds of things would have been suppressed by government officials long ago, but this time it’s been sent to the Ministry of Justice. It’s probably going to be seriously investigated.”

“Is that so?”

Wei Changtian was taken aback, and after a moment of contemplation, he asked, “Who do you think is targeting me?”

“It must be the Liu family!”

Li Yang slapped his thigh indignantly, speaking with certainty: “After the way you embarrassed Liu Zongliang last time, this turtle grandson definitely couldn’t swallow that insult!”

“This time, the Liu family is definitely seeking revenge for him!”

Liu Zongliang…

Although the name was unfamiliar to him, Wei Changtian knew a thing or two about the Liu family.

Among the three major families in Danning — Liu, Wei, and Xu — there was a popular saying among the common people.

To invite the God of Wealth into your home, ask if the Xu family agrees first.

Not fearing ghosts or gods, only fearing the Wei family’s blade.

If you want to change your official robes, use Liu’s cotton.

Although these sayings were somewhat exaggerated, they generally reflected the situation of the three families.

One was wealthy, one was powerful, and one had authority.

In terms of comprehensive strength, the Liu family, which held sway over the court, was undoubtedly the strongest, with the family head holding the position of the current prime minister. Their power was enough to overshadow everyone else.

However, the Liu family had always been at odds with the Wei family. Coupled with the former owner’s lawless personality… Wei Changtian had already guessed the ins and outs of the matter.

It was probably because the former owner had clashed with a Liu family junior named Liu Zongliang at some point, and now the Liu family wanted revenge, so they instigated some people to accuse him.

Anyway, the former owner had a bunch of dirt that could easily get him sentenced to “death by a thousand cuts” just by randomly picking a couple.

Of course, actual execution was out of the question, but for creating a bad reputation for the Wei family was enough.

Thinking of this, Wei Changtian’s expression finally became more serious.

“Brother Li, thank you for informing me of this matter.”

“What are you talking about, Brother Wei!”

Li Yang said boldly, “Your business is my business. I won’t just stand by and watch!”

“I’ll go to my father tonight. If there really is going to be a serious investigation, the Ministry of Justice will definitely support the Wei family!”

“We don’t need to rush into things.”

Wei Changtian shook his head and, after thinking for a moment, said, “I want to visit your father in the next few days.”

“Meet my father?”

Li Yang was puzzled. “Why don’t you just tell me what’s going on directly?”

Wei Changtian smiled: “It’s not something that can be explained in one or two sentences. Let’s talk about it when the time comes.”

“Alright.”

Li Yang nodded. “I’ll inform Brother Wei of the time after I talk to my father.”

“Alright, thanks.”

Wei Changtian patted Li Yang on the shoulder, and at that moment, the carriage slowly came to a stop.

Looking at the ornate signboard with the words “Mirror Division,” Li Yang suddenly remembered to ask, “By the way, Brother Wei, are you here to see Master Wei?”

“No.”

“Then why are you here? Don’t tell me you were also forced by your family to come on duty?”

“Sigh…”

Wei Changtian didn’t explain, he just sighed and jumped off the carriage, heading towards the martial arts hall.

Scratching his head in confusion behind him, Li Yang hesitated for a moment before trotting along.

Then, he was quickly stunned by the scene before him.

Why would these people dare to beat up Brother Wei? Do they have a death wish?

And why would Brother Wei allow them to hit him? Something just doesn’t seem right…

Now that he thought about it, Wei Changtian’s reaction in the carriage just now seemed a bit strange…

Could it be…

Is this what married men are like???