Rest Easy, Protagonist. I’ll Take Care of Your Wives and Concubines - Chapter 1:

Chapter 1: Wiping Out the Protagonist’s Family at the Start

“My lord, the condemned daughter of the Xiao family has been delivered.”

Wang Hai opened his eyes in a daze. Instinctively, he reached up to rub them, only for his arm to brush against warm, soft skin.

He looked down and found a woman lying in his arms, her hands bound behind her back with a silk ribbon. She wore nothing.

His mind went blank.

Xiao Liyue? The empress of the Great Qian Nation?!

No. That couldn’t be right. Wasn’t she a character from a novel?

His muddled thoughts abruptly cleared as countless buried memories surged through his mind.

He remembered. He remembered everything.

He was a transmigrator!

Ever since childhood, he had been unusually intelligent and eloquent, yet he had always felt as though he had forgotten something. When he was three, he had recalled the poem “Ode to the Goose” and astonished the entire capital.

After that, however, he had remembered nothing else and gradually faded into obscurity.

So he really had transmigrated.

Unfortunately, now that his memories of his previous life had awakened, he could not muster the slightest joy.

He had just ordered the destruction of the Xiao family!

A household of 137 people had been slaughtered overnight, their blood flowing in rivers. Only Xiao Liyue, the woman before him, had been spared. He had brought her back to his residence for his own pleasure.

Originally, this would hardly have seemed like a major incident. At least, it had not before his memories returned.

He was the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness of the Great Liang Nation, a trusted favorite of Empress Di Kongming.

Never mind wiping out the Xiao family. Even if he had bedded their entire clan, people would have treated it as nothing more than a scandalous romantic escapade.

Who would dare say a word against him?

Unfortunately, this was the world of a novel!

The protagonist’s name was Xiao Fan.

Xiao, as in the very family Wang Hai had just destroyed.

I’m dead! I’m dead! I’m dead!

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. His fingers tightened unconsciously, pinching Xiao Liyue hard enough to draw a muffled cry.

Wang Hai glanced down at her.

Release her?

Useless!

Her entire family was dead. Even if he let her go, Xiao Fan would still come for revenge. Wang Hai would still lose his head.

Keep her?

Even worse!

In the original novel, keeping Xiao Liyue was precisely what had led Xiao Fan to his door, where he had killed Wang Hai with a single slash.

[Ding! The host has exterminated the entire family of Xiao Fan, the Son of Destiny, using appallingly ruthless methods. The Destined Archvillain System has been activated!]

[Ding! The destined female lead, Xiao Liyue, has been imprisoned by the host. Beginner mission triggered: Have Xiao Liyue willingly offer herself to you.]

Wang Hai’s eyes lit up.

A system!

He really did have a system!

He knew it. How could a transmigrator possibly arrive without a special advantage?

Willingly offer herself?

He rubbed his chin. That should not be too difficult.

Wang Hai pinched her waist, and the sharp pain jolted Xiao Liyue awake. She struggled briefly, but when she realized she could not break free, she stopped wasting her strength and turned away, refusing to spare him another glance.

He raised an eyebrow.

As expected of the ruthless, decisive empress of the Great Qian Nation from the original novel. Even reduced to this state, she had lost none of her pride.

Unfortunately, that pride would do her no good against him.

Wang Hai caught her chin and forced her to face him.

In the candlelight, her beauty was unmistakable. She had almond-shaped eyes, rosy cheeks, and skin as smooth as cream. Her dark brows curved like distant mountains, and her lips were as red as cherries. Even her disheveled hair and pale complexion could not conceal her natural loveliness.

Unable to turn away, Xiao Liyue could only glare at him, hatred burning in her eyes. “Wang Hai, may you die a miserable death.”

He chuckled softly. “Eldest Miss Xiao, I hear you have an older brother cultivating on an immortal mountain overseas?”

Her pupils contracted.

An expert from overseas had recognized Xiao Fan’s potential when he was a child and taken him as a disciple. The Xiao family had never spoken of it to anyone. How could Wang Hai know?

Her brother was the Xiao family’s last hope!

After a moment’s thought, she forced a fierce expression onto her face. “My brother has already reached the 9th stage Innate Realm. If you know what’s good for you, release me immediately! Otherwise, killing you will be no harder than slaughtering a dog!”

“The 9th stage Innate Realm? Isn’t he at the 9th stage Grandmaster Realm?” Wang Hai studied her face. “Surely you aren’t less informed than an outsider like me, Miss Xiao?”

Her expression changed drastically.

He knew.

He really knew!

Wang Hai continued at his leisure, “Tell me, what if I forged a letter and sent it to your brother, telling him that disaster had struck the Xiao family and his sister had been captured, urging him to return to the capital at once to rescue her…”

He leaned toward her ear, his voice turning sinister. “Then I laid an inescapable trap here in my residence. Do you think your brother would survive?”

Xiao Liyue shuddered. An icy chill shot through her, and she began struggling wildly. Her bound hands twisted desperately, the silk cutting red marks into her pale wrists, but she seemed not to feel it.

“Wang Hai! You can’t do that! You can’t!”

He looked down at her, savoring her desperation. “The Xiao family is no different from a nest of ants to me. Sparing your brother isn’t entirely out of the question.”

Xiao Liyue jerked her head up. Through her tears, she caught the faint, mocking curve of his lips.

She was no fool. She knew this man would never show kindness without demanding something in return.

“What do you want me to do?”

“What do you think?”

“I… will give myself to you. Just please… spare my brother.”

Wang Hai made it clear that her brother’s fate depended on her compliance. Trembling, Xiao Liyue lowered her eyes and fell silent. With her brother’s life held over her, she submitted to his demands.

Wang Hai had coveted her when he read the novel in his previous life. Now, having transmigrated, he regarded her helpless submission as the fulfillment of that desire.

The candles flickered, casting shadows across the screen. Behind the lowered curtains, red wax trickled down like silent tears.

The lights in the rear courtyard of the marquis’s residence remained lit until the first pale light of dawn.

…

[Ding! Daughter of Destiny Xiao Liyue has willingly offered herself.]

[Villain Points gained: +10,000]

[Physique acquired: Nine Yang Physique, Heaven grade]

[Cultivation technique acquired: Nine Heavens Supreme Yang Scripture, upper Heaven grade]

[Current Villain Points: 10,000]

…

Wang Hai rolled over and sat up. Beside him, Xiao Liyue had fallen into an exhausted sleep, tear tracks still damp at the corners of her eyes.

Without lingering on her, he sat cross-legged and focused inward, sinking his consciousness into his sea of consciousness.

[Ding! Integrate the Nine Yang Physique now?]

“Integrate!”

The golden sphere suspended within his sea of consciousness exploded into countless golden threads, which surged through every part of his body.

Agony engulfed him like a raging fire.

Every meridian burned. Every bone was being reshaped. Flesh, blood, and marrow were thoroughly cleansed by that power of supreme Yang.

Wang Hai clenched his teeth, veins bulging at his temples, yet he refused to let out a single groan.

This was the ordeal he had to endure to transform himself completely. Once he survived it, boundless possibilities awaited.

Boom!

Something seemed to shatter inside him.

The bottleneck at the 9th stage Body Tempering Realm broke as easily as paper. His true Qi transformed into purer Innate Qi, surging through his meridians like dragons.

The 1st stage Innate Realm!

The 2nd stage Innate Realm!

The 3rd stage Innate Realm!

Wang Hai’s eyes flew open. A golden gleam flashed through them, then vanished.

Looking down at his hands, he clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling the immense power coursing through him. It seemed almost too abundant for his body to contain.

So this was the Innate Realm.

The difference between it and the Body Tempering Realm was like the distance between heaven and earth.

[Ding! Nine Yang Physique integration progress: 10%]

[Current cultivation: 3rd stage Innate Realm]

“The Nine Yang Physique really is formidable.”

Wang Hai drew a deep breath. The spiritual Qi of heaven and earth poured into his body like rivers flowing into the sea. He did not even need to deliberately circulate a cultivation technique. The spiritual Qi refined his muscles, bones, and flesh on its own.

Even if he lay perfectly still, his cultivation would continue to rise.

And this was only the beginning.

A satisfied smile curved his lips. His new physique was at least as powerful as Xiao Fan’s Pure Yang Physique in the original novel.

The Pure Yang Physique required a balance of hardness and softness, a harmony of Yin and Yang, to reach its full potential. The Nine Yang Physique, however, was supremely fierce and unyielding. Through overwhelming power, it could forge a path to the heavens!

His smile soon faded.

No matter how powerful his physique was, cultivation still required time.

At present, he was only at the 3rd stage Innate Realm, while Xiao Fan had already reached the 9th stage Grandmaster Realm. A full fifteen minor stages and an entire major realm separated them.

If they fought head-on, even the Nine Yang Physique would not save him.

However…

Wang Hai rose and walked to the bronze basin to wash his hands. Afterward, he straightened his clothes before the bronze mirror.

The man reflected there had sharp brows, bright eyes, and a face as handsome as polished jade. His brocade robe accentuated his tall, upright figure.

He smiled faintly, though his eyes held no warmth. “I am the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness, a trusted favorite of the empress of the Great Liang Nation. Personally getting into a fight to the death? That would hardly be fitting.”

Turning toward the door, he called, “Prepare my horse! I’m entering the palace to seek an audience with Her Majesty!”

…

Cultivation realms in this novel:

Body Tempering Realm, Innate Realm, Grandmaster Realm.

Primordial Origin Realm, Origin Spirit Realm, Divine Core Realm.

Celestial Realm, Nirvana Realm, Creation Realm.