Sky Screen: I Swear I'm Really Frail

Also known as: I Really Didn't Kill My Brother, Force My Father to Abdicate, and Marry My Stepmother

On the day Zhou Liansheng, the fourth prince of Great Wei, was born, Venus shone in the daytime sky, vassal kings rebelled, the empress died, and the emperor deemed him ill-omened.

On his eighth birthday, he fell gravely ill with a cold. Zhou Liansheng thought his fever had made him delirious. What were those people outside muttering about?

[The history students are having a meltdown. Weren't we told that Emperor Renzong was a puppet, while Empress Lin and her maternal relative, the great general, controlled the government?]

[And now you're telling me Empress Lin was once Renzong's stepmother, and the two of them fought their way through the palace together, forcing the late emperor to grit his teeth and appoint them crown prince and crown princess, while the great general was just a scapegoat doing the dirty work?

Renzong: I obediently served as crown prince. Wasn't that puppet enough?

I will inherit everything from my father, including the stepmother who loves me. How I inherited it is none of your business :)]

[You upright historians, come out here! Where's your integrity? Forget the stepmother romance. We thought Renzong had no sons, so his brother succeeded him. But they weren't brothers, they were father and son? And you didn't record something this huge?! Where's your credibility? Huh?

So the unofficial histories are actually more reliable, right?]

The Benevolent

Zhou Liansheng: Wow, what a story. Let me finish the gossip before this fever burns me senseless.

I Heard Someone's House Collapsed

I Ran Over to Watch

Turns Out It Was My Own House

Zhou Liansheng: ...Could I conveniently die of illness?

P.S.:

1. I've written both sage rulers and tyrants. Now I'll write a pure-hearted white lotus with a spotless historical reputation.

2. A wicked married couple, with the woman nine years older than the man.

3. The protagonist will still ascend the throne, and the main characters still won't be the ones who suffer.

4. The late emperor isn't called that in the main text. The blurb uses "late emperor" as a placeholder; the posthumous title and temple name haven't been decided. The whole royal family has abysmal morals, so don't read if that's not your thing.

2026.1.10

Theme: Superstition is not to be trusted