In Those Days, the Way of the Sovereign Should Have Been Thus

[The story is complete. I may revise it or add bonus chapters from time to time.] Please support the official release~

Please add my next novel, Broken Persona, to your reading list. Its synopsis is at the very bottom.

By a twist of fate, Que Jin was a palace maid one day, then found herself seated in the false empress's place the next, under the emperor's threat.

It was only because she looked a little like the empress.

Only then did she learn that the empress, who had been bedridden for years and rarely left her chambers, had died long ago.

Que Jin thought she would be living in misery every day from then on.

But after a while, she found that life was unexpectedly comfortable.

Que Jin wanted to transfer a eunuch friend she'd known before to work by her side. The emperor agreed.

Que Jin took the leader of the emperor's personally trained guards as her underling. The emperor didn't bat an eye.

Que Jin couldn't keep holding an hour-long morning meeting every day for the imperial consorts. The emperor claimed that the rules passed down by their ancestors could not be ignored, but kept cutting the meeting shorter and shorter: first to half an hour and fifteen minutes, then half an hour, and finally, three or four days a week, the consorts were excused from paying their respects to the empress in the morning.

And so, before long, the day arrived when Que Jin's mission as "empress" was complete.

After completing it, Que Jin said she wanted to leave the palace.

The emperor agreed on the surface, then spread a rumor that rebels had seized the palace, forcing her to return and see him.

Que Jin watched the man who always wore a smile turn red around the eyes, his eyes glistening with tears. He pleaded:

"Be my empress. That way, no matter where you want to go, I'll let you go, as long as you come back."

Reading guide:

1. One-on-one romance, both leads have no romantic or sexual history with anyone else, and there is no mistreatment of the female lead.

2. The male lead has a harem from the start, but he has never touched anyone in it except the female lead, in any sense, including physically. He won't touch anyone else, whether before or after, whether it appears in the story or not.

3. The male lead will disband his harem by the end.

Synopsis for Broken Persona:

Fake siblings | Esports | Male lead has a secret crush | Male lead fights his way to the top

Remember is the hottest professional player in China's 5v5 fair-play MOBA, Gods' Clash. His real name is Chu Xunming.

He is 187 centimeters tall, with a lean build and handsome, striking features. He won the championship in his debut season. These are all reasons why he gained so many fans in just one year, but there's another reason that truly drives them wild:

Most of the time, he wears a cold expression. He only smiles faintly when he wins a match, and is otherwise almost completely expressionless.

He makes no effort to pander to his fans, but his handsome face only makes the contrast more charming, and fans find him adorable.

So the Remember fan community is full of not only his highlight plays, but also plenty of photos of his cool, handsome face!

Just when his aloof persona had become ingrained in everyone's mind, to the point where even a newcomer to Gods' Clash knew Remember was a cold person,

Chu Xunming won his second championship.

In the post-match interview, while his teammates thanked their girlfriends and future partners, Chu Xunming broke with his usual cold demeanor. He lowered his eyes, his cheeks tinged pink, and said shyly, "I want to thank my older sister."

The internet exploded...

Later, on a sunny afternoon, the well-known Chinese illustrator Eternity posted a picture on Weibo with the caption: "My two dogs."

There were only a woman, a man, and a dog in the picture.

The woman's face was out of frame, and only the part of her body below the neck was visible, but it was clear she was sitting in a rocking chair. The man and dog were each lying beside one of her legs.

Fans who followed both of them recognized the man at once: it was Remember.

The internet exploded again...

[If I'm seeing this right, this photo must have been taken by Remember himself, the esports player]

[Why are you smiling so happily? Your aloof persona is in pieces, you know!]

Theme: There is never a shortage of courage to face difficulties.