His Majesty Has a Habit of Weeping Into the Wind

Good news: On the day he transmigrated, Qi Zhiyu was already enthroned.

Bad news: He was a famously pretty, useless emperor in the history books, renowned for being difficult, capricious, sickly, and ravishingly beautiful. He was manipulated by his maternal relatives, the Li clan, and died at the hands of the powerful minister Li Jue less than three years after ascending the throne.

For now, the court is a battleground between powerful factions. They have enthroned him as a pawn, each minister harboring their own schemes and waiting to use him to purge corrupt officials and destroy the Li clan.

Qi Zhiyu: Get rid of Li Jue? Me?

When he meets the deep, inscrutable gaze of the Duke of Guo, he opens his mouth and coughs until the world goes dark.

He looks up, tears from coughing helplessly clinging to his lashes.

"Uncle..."

Is it too late to start calling him family now?

--

The Empress Dowager and her younger brother wield power and meddle in state affairs, stirring up the court. The ministers dare not voice their anger, so they incite the new emperor to help them suppress the Li clan.

Qi Zhiyu has no intention of confessing his true identity to Li Jue. He wants to live a couple more years.

Without waiting for Li Jue to say a word, he focuses on being a sickly weakling.

He coughs at the slightest breeze and gets dizzy at the sight of a memorial. Whenever he sees Li Jue, he pretends to be naive and plays the part of a useless fool. "I can't do anything right. Uncle, help me."

With a sweet mouth and a short life, Li Jue should have no reason to go after him.

--

But Li Jue seems exceptionally suspicious.

The more Qi Zhiyu acts weak, the more closely Li Jue watches him. He even often spends the night in the palace, and his gaze makes Qi Zhiyu feel terribly guilty.

The less Qi Zhiyu involves himself in state affairs, the more Li Jue insists on teaching him. He holds Qi Zhiyu's wrist on the throne and personally teaches him how to govern the court.

He even doubts the state of Qi Zhiyu's frail body, summoning every renowned physician to examine him and personally tending to him with medicine, never leaving his sickbed.

Qi Zhiyu feels that his death is drawing nearer and nearer.

--

When the three-year deadline arrives, Qi Zhiyu can't take it anymore. He sticks out his neck and offers himself up for the kill. "Li Jue, just kill me already."

He closes his eyes and waits to die. Li Jue's hand gently encircles his neck.

"Didn't you keep calling me Uncle?" Li Jue asks.

"Huh?"

Qi Zhiyu opens his eyes and sees the powerful minister, renowned for his sinister and lawless ways, gently stroking the side of his neck.

"Don't be afraid. Whatever you want, Uncle will give you."

Theme: Take control of your own destiny