Li Yu saw the emperor staring glumly at the green consort-selection tablets on the tray, without reaching for one. He stepped forward and urged him, “Your Majesty, which lady’s tablet would you like to turn over? Shall this old servant bring them closer so you can see?”
The emperor irritably tossed aside the memorial in his hand and rubbed his throbbing temples. Avoiding the green tablets, he said, “I have a headache today, so I won’t choose anyone. I’ll rest in the Hall of Mental Cultivation tonight. You may all leave.”
Li Yu couldn’t let that stand. The emperor hadn’t visited the harem in nearly a month. If the imperial physician hadn’t said he was in good health, Li Yu would have thought his own life was forfeit. He dropped to his knees in alarm and begged, “Your Majesty, you haven’t entered the harem in almost a month. If you don’t go tonight, the Empress Dowager will have me dragged out and beheaded!”
“Please, take pity on this old servant and go just once. You can visit the Empress or your beloved Consort Ling. Just don’t stay in the Hall of Mental Cultivation again.”
The emperor looked at the eunuch kneeling at his feet, his face so worried it seemed to have twisted out of shape. He knew he couldn’t put it off any longer. He’d been avoiding the harem for a month, and people outside were already gossiping that he was impotent. But he really was impotent!
With all those women, tall or short, fat or thin, each more unattractive than the last, with pockmarked faces or buck teeth, he truly couldn’t bring himself to kiss any of them. What kind of emperor had to put up with this? No wonder Qianlong loved traveling south of the Yangtze and leaving women behind wherever he went, with children all over the place.
He must be one unlucky emperor, and an even unluckier transmigrator stuck with someone else’s mess. Chen Houfa resigned himself to his fate, gazed out at the sky, now completely dark, and struggled to his feet. He set off with heavy steps. The night was truly dark, just like the road he seemed doomed to walk down forever...
No wonder no one commented on what this is about? Just a social animal
How about letting the male protagonist live with the ants? After reading six chapters, he had to chat a few words with the ants in each chapter.
I think it's pretty good