How Can Anyone Rule as Emperor Without Going Mad?

1. [Unhinged Emperor x Stoic General] Murong Jiu was a madman. What emperor wasn't? At the victory banquet, he saw the impressive and handsome Great General Who Guards the Nation and took a liking to him. That very night, he forcibly kept the man in the palace and dragged him onto the imperial bed. Great General Xie had an unyielding spirit. The muscles in his arm tensed until the veins stood out, but under the emperor's threats, he had no choice but to submit. The heavenly book said he would die at Xie Lingyun's hands. Xie Lingyun would step over his corpse, quell the turmoil, and usher in a golden age. Oh, is that so? Murong Jiu called the man kneeling before him to his feet and said with a smile: "I've heard the general has remarkable stamina and can hold a horse stance for hours." The general's jaw ached from all the effort. He cursed the damn emperor in his heart. But the time wasn't right. He couldn't act rashly, so he could only endure. The general stood in a horse stance in the bedchamber all night, putting up with it. The emperor leaned against his shoulder, his black hair spilling down. His low laughter made the general's ears burn. Later, the great general discovered that getting into the emperor's bed could solve a lot of problems. The provisions and military pay that would normally have taken months of arguing in court and pulling strings to scrape together were allocated within days. Before, he had been hampered at every turn while leading his army. Now, the imperial decree that arrived at full gallop from the capital contained only three words: I trust you. Xie Lingyun held the decree, his eyes burning. No wonder the models of harmonious ruler-minister relationships in the old days all slept side by side. This trick really did work. The ancients never lied to me. If it works, use it often. The emperor had been waiting for Xie Lingyun to rebel. Instead, the first thing the great general did after returning victorious was hurry to climb into the imperial bed. "?" Wasn't something wrong with how this was supposed to go? 2. [Foolish Emperor x Regent Empress] The deposed little emperor, who pretends to be insane to save his own life, x the regent empress who controls the court and wields absolute power All the court officials knew the young emperor was an idiot. The wicked empress Xie Lingyun held all the power and threw the court into chaos. Over the past few months, Xie Lingyun had become even more unpredictable, leaving the entire court in a state of unease. The emperor admitted he was terrified, too. Xie Lingyun was pregnant, had been keeping a close eye on him lately, and was growing more and more irritable. She was nearly impossible to appease. He was very worried that she'd discover he was only pretending to be a fool. After seeing him at his most vulnerable so many times, Xie Lingyun would surely kill him to keep him quiet. 3. [Narcissistic Cult Leader x Body Double Shadow Guard] A former prince who leads a demonic cult as the top x a shadow guard serving the current emperor as the bottom The demonic cult leader Rong Jiuliu picked up a man. The man had excellent bone structure and looked almost exactly like him, so Rong Jiuliu decided to train him as his double. The shadow guard Yun Ying was the cult leader's double, the cult leader's shadow. He hated what the cult leader hated and loved what the cult leader loved. The cult leader hated the dog emperor of the Xie Dynasty most, so he treated the emperor as his enemy. The cult leader loved himself most, so he... he loved the cult leader most, too. (The shadow guard's true identity is the emperor, who has lost his memory.) Reading guide: ★ Top, happy ending. ★ A series of ancient-world stories. The main characters stay the same in every installment; the worlds are more or less parallel. (Original title: The Cult Leader's Body Double Shadow Guard) Theme: