I Failed the Imperial Exam: I'll Tread the Streets of Heaven Until the Nobles' Bones Are Crushed!

When the eighth day of the ninth month arrives, my flowers bloom and all others wither.

Their fragrant ranks pierce the skies above Chang'an, and the whole city is clad in golden armor.

Xu Zhiyuan awakens in another world and finds himself in the Zhou Wu Dynasty, a failed candidate in the imperial examinations.

It is the seventh year of the Tiande era. Though the empire is slowly recovering from the Rebellion of Mountains and Seas, natural and man-made disasters continue unabated. The people are displaced, the emperor cares only for pleasure, regional warlords carve up the land, military governors command armies of their own, and scions of the great clans monopolize the court. Ten families stand above all others, and the poor can no longer produce great men.

Just then, the System awakens. Every seven days, it grants him a new ability, giving him the means to survive in this cruel world...

[Overlord's Might] [Read People's Hearts] [Unbreakable Resolve] [Generosity] [Supreme Authority]

But when he sees with his own eyes the top scholar and princess galloping recklessly, treating human lives like child's play, while not one person in the streets dares to express anger or speak out, Xu Zhiyuan finally understands.

"It's easier to take Chang'an by force than to pass the exams and enter it."

"If the ministers are so cruel, treating all under heaven like straw dogs, then I'll make every minister at court a corpse rotting by the roadside."

So he kills the princess, writes a treasonous poem, leaves Chang'an for his hometown, beheads the prefect, destroys the great clans, and raises the banner of rebellion. He gathers an army of a hundred thousand, rules over three provinces, and sets his sights on the throne.

"Are kings and nobles born to their station? If so, then I can be emperor too."