I Became the King of the Kitchen in the Imperial Court

Chen Yan is a fall guy in a fictional dynasty, taking the blame for officials. His price list is clear: twenty taels for being late or leaving early, three hundred taels for cheating in the imperial exams, and treason... price negotiable.

One day, a secret imperial decree arrives, forcing him to take the blame for a treasonous plot personally chosen by the emperor.

At court, the officials curse him as a wolf with ambition, while the princes watch coldly as he shoulders the blame and heads for his death.

Chen Yan, however, pulls out a little notebook. “Your Majesty, you still haven't settled the bill for your last incognito visit to the brothel.”

When the crown prince's treason is exposed, he slips the evidence into the Second Prince's residence. When the Third Prince's embezzlement case comes to light, he deftly points suspicion toward enemy spies.

As the princes fight each other to the death, he quietly rises through the ranks, amasses wealth, and finds himself surrounded by confidantes.

Then one day, evidence of every prince's crimes fills the emperor's desk. The emperor smiles faintly. “My dear subject, are you taking the blame for this one or not?”