Overnight, Shen Changjun was pushed onto the throne. He knew he was merely a mascot, a symbol of imperial authority.
He didn't care. Come on, what was wrong with spending every day in fine clothes, eating delicious food, and indulging in every pleasure? Whoever wanted to deal with those tedious, endless affairs of state could go ahead.
.
Days of wine and women passed one after another. Then, by chance, Shen Changjun came across a Minister of Personnel who had been drugged.
The young, foolish emperor simply thought it was a shame for such a handsome gentleman to be left in the mire, at the mercy of anyone who wished to trample him.
...But Shen Changjun was a puppet emperor himself, and could only use roundabout means to save him.
.
Shen Changjun told the Minister of Personnel, "Taking you into my harem isn't meant to humiliate you. It's just that this tiny patch of land inside the palace is the only place where I can still get things done."
The pale, slender man obediently performed the consort's courtesy to Shen Changjun in reply.
.
Yet from that day on, the world's most exceptional men seemed to have been bewitched. Like pearls falling from a broken string, they all tumbled into Shen Changjun's nest. Every day, the consorts went to pay their respects in the Empress's palace, and the scene looked even more like court audiences than the actual court.
Stumbling along as his beloved consorts tugged him this way and that, Shen Changjun gradually reclaimed the power he'd handed away, becoming the true emperor in name and deed.
.
Shen Changjun, who'd originally planned to slack off for the rest of his life, but was now burning the midnight oil to read and review memorials: ...Is something not quite right here?
Theme: As Heaven moves with vigor, so should a gentleman strive ceaselessly to improve himself.
