It's Not That I Gave Up Being the Top Scholar, It's That the Emperor Needs Replacing

In the twenty-sixth year of Wanli in the Great Qian Dynasty, under the Jiazi cycle.

Bai Jie wrote an exam essay in Song-Jin script that was good enough to contend for first place in the imperial examination.

But on the day the results were posted, someone else's name was signed at the end of his essay.

Bai Jie didn't cry foul or complain. He turned and left in silence, ready to go home and start a rebellion.

After all, Bai Jie had only learned that murder was illegal after leaving Qingzhou. In the ancient capital of Luoyang, anyone capable of stealing his title would at least be someone who could get away with murder.

But just as Bai Jie was leaving the city, a mechanical electronic voice suddenly rang in his ear:

"Ding! Recruitment System bound. Due to a system error, compensation adjustments are being made:"

"Eight hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards. You can claim them at any time."

"Legendary General recruitment chance x1."

"Choose one rebel template: Li Shimin, Huang Chao, or Zhang Jiao."

Bai Jie yanked the reins tight and stared at Luoyang's towering walls. Then he suddenly laughed.

"Maybe breaking in really is easier than passing the exams."

Later, everyone under heaven would learn one thing:

The ancient noble clans of Luoyang had been trampled flat, brick by brick.

And the poor scholar whose title had once been stolen now held the imperial seal, seated in the Golden Throne Hall, smiling at the legendary generals below as he said:

"It's not that the imperial exams are too hard. It's time for a new emperor."