[Political intrigue, court and martial-world storylines, ensemble cast, reborn, alternate setting!! Alternate setting!!! Alternate setting!!!! Please don't nitpick the history.]
(The male lead has no golden finger and no romance, no harem, and this isn't a wish-fulfillment story. The protagonist grows over time, so don't read if that's not for you.)
Emperor Ping is gravely ill. The Crown Prince and the Third Prince are locked in a bitter struggle for the throne, while the court officials each speak their minds and none will yield.
As the Second Prince, Zhao Ronghe is handsome, intelligent, and exceptionally gifted from a young age. Yet he cares little for fame or fortune and wants no part in the struggle. He deliberately conceals his abilities and follows the middle path, playing the fool to escape one crisis after another, all because he dreams of the martial world.
He sneaks out of the palace and makes connections: a maid who knows a lost martial art, a guard carrying eleven of the world's greatest swords... He's made all these great buddies through his own skills, but there's one thing he can't figure out.
Fu Xun, son of Great Ping's most powerful minister, suddenly takes over as Censor-in-Chief, shaking the court and the country. Stranger still, the Censorate, an ostensibly neutral institution, seems to be leaning in Zhao Ronghe's favor.
Maybe it's just his imagination. After all, he appears to be a foolish prince. What could a young censor want from him?
Could he be planning to prop him up as a puppet and seize the chance to become regent?
Zhao Ronghe thinks that's not impossible. The court's waters are too deep, he reflects, just as a servant reports that Young Censor Fu has come to see him
"Your Highness, if you choose to contend for the throne, I, Fu, will brave fire and water for you without hesitation."
So he isn't trying to become regent.
But that doesn't make sense either.
"...Buddy, I'm not fighting for it."
Zhao Ronghe wonders what is going on. Could he have saved the young censor's life in his previous life?!
Zhao Ronghe has no idea that he really did.
I will follow Teacher Pu, an authoritative author 😏