Yang Jixian had been reborn on the day of his execution.

The flash of pain from being beheaded still lingered, and he periodically massaged his neck as he followed the throng of travelers and merchants heading for Yue Kingdom. In his last life, he'd been too hasty to usurp the throne and raised the crown prince's suspicions, thus leading to an early death. The conniving bastard had even framed him for murdering his youngest brother! This time he'd be more careful—maybe ally with the second or third prince, or pin the fourth prince's death on one of them. Even reaching out to the slave king they kept torturing sounds like a good idea...

But his steps faltered at the top of the hill as he stared at the flag flying over the capital city's walls.

That's...the flag of Yan Kingdom?

Had he made a wrong turn? He turned towards a passerby and tugged his sleeve. "Oi, is this the Yue Kingdom's capital city Changyue?"

"Yue Kingdom?" The other shrugged him off with a laugh. "You're a foreigner, ain'tcha?"

Yang Jixian hesitated before nodding. He had been sent back in time yesterday and had yet to catch up on current events. "Why is Yan's flag flying over the city?"

The passerby tsk'd at him. "Because this is Yan territory now."

"Huh?"

"Blame Yue for being greedy. As if taking Yan's king as a slave wasn't bad enough, they even tried to frame him for poisoning the fourth prince! Luckily, the King of Yan got his army to conquer Yue and clear his name. Now both nations are united under his rule and prosperin' better than ever!"

"Then—then what about the crown prince? And the rest of the Yue royal family?"

"They just removed the crown prince's body from the gates last week," the passerby wrinkled his nose. "Nasty rotten job it was. He's probably been fed to the dogs by now. Don't know 'bout the rest, but I reckon they're locked up or dead themselves."

Something seemed to explode in Yang Jixian's head. But...so...then what was my rebirth for?

He had dreamed of climbing his way to the top as a male consort before ruling the nation in his husband's place. Now he was a widow before he even got married?!

Yang Jixian was even more stunned when news came later of the fourth prince Leng Qinxue's miraculous recovery in body and mind and his subsequent marriage to Huangfu Rongjin. The two people he'd dismissed as dead weight were now a phoenix and dragon soaring above the masses, worshiped and respected by the people.

And he, the once proud protagonist of the novel...was now nothing more than an extra.