Great Ming: I Resign to Avoid Disaster, Only for the Emperor to Keep Me in His Sights

Yan Maoqing transmigrates into the Jiajing era as a newly appointed jinshi, with just one goal: resign and go home to live as a small landowner, far from the ruthless court officials who devour people without even spitting out the bones. At the palace examination, he deliberately writes a terrible essay flattering the emperor's Daoist pursuits, convinced it will land him at the bottom of the third tier, where no one will pay him any attention.

Instead, Grand Secretary Xia Yan slams the table and threatens to tear up the paper as soon as he reads it. Yan Song sneers in secret, while the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate is so furious his beard trembles. Everyone thinks this fellow is finished. But none of them knows that Emperor Jiajing is constipated on the toilet, and Huang Jin, drawing a paper at random, happens to read this divine essay aloud.

Pfft! Plop! Jiajing is relieved!

The emperor immediately decrees: This man is commendably loyal! He must be given important responsibilities!

Even more absurdly, Yan Shifan has just driven him out of the guildhall when Guo Xun, Duke of Yiguo, sends a steward to fetch him in person. The steward of Luming Pavilion arrives carrying a box, smiling apologetically as he urges him to write. The assembled jinshi are all practically bug-eyed.

Yan Maoqing only wants to resign, but the court's powerful figures circle him like sharks scenting blood, one after another. The more he tries to hide, the more Jiajing keeps him in mind; the more he keeps a low profile, the more power is heaped upon him.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.