Imperial Exams: I Slack Off from the Start, Only to Be Humiliated by My Reborn Half-Brother?

(Imperial exams + transmigration vs. rebirth + legitimate and illegitimate heirs vying for power + political intrigue + no System + no romance)

After transmigrating, Li He has just one plan for his life, summed up in eight characters: Don’t compete, don’t fight, just lie low.

But his illegitimate younger brother, Li Heng, gradually eats away at his position.

He wins over their father, befriends the powerful, and publicly sets Li He up and humiliates him at a poetry gathering.

Everyone thinks the legitimate eldest son of the Censor’s Office is finished.

Li He thinks it sounds great. One less person watching him means more peace and quiet.

Until someone throws the words “family discipline” in his face.

The moment he stands up, his younger brother’s smile cracks.

“I’ll add no old colors to the vermilion gates; from humble soil, I’ll raise a new voice.”

A retired Hanlin Academician bows to him.

Rumors in the capital turn on a dime overnight.

Li Heng crushes his fan ribs in his carriage.

How could the useless man from his past life have written a poem like that?