My Stepfather's Whole Family Is Royalty

After transmigrating, Lin Cong found himself the posthumous son of a great general who had been poisoned by the emperor. His father had been dead for only eight months. His beautiful mother, Lady Wang, had once been his father's favorite concubine, and was now keeping vigil in a hut beside his grave outside the city. Lin Cong looked up at the sky in speechless despair. His father had fatally offended the emperor, and his mother might also have angered the principal wife. With a background this messed up, how was he supposed to make it in ancient times from the start?

A few days later, the principal wife came by, took his mother aside for a heart-to-heart, and asked whether she was interested in remarrying. Less than two years later, the enemy army broke through the capital, the dynasty fell, the emperor died, and his mother decided to remarry.

Fine, she could remarry. What was wrong with having another father?

Then Lin Cong saw his stepfather and nearly goggled. His name was Li Siyuan, the future Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang!

Lin Cong turned to look at his mother, Lady Wang. Her family ran a pastry shop. Good heavens, his mother was actually Hua Jianxiu, the famously beautiful woman known as the foremost beauty of the Five Dynasties!

Then he went to live at his stepfather's home and was even more shocked to discover that his stepfather's younger brother, Li Cunxu, was the current emperor; his stepfather, Li Siyuan, would be the next emperor; his stepfather's third son, Li Conghou, would be the third emperor; his stepfather's concubine's former husband's son, Li Congke, would be the fourth emperor; and his stepfather's son-in-law, Shi Jingtang, would be the fifth emperor.

Lin Cong stared at the sky, speechless. Had his mother's remarriage dropped him into a nest of emperors?

But why were emperors changing so fast?

Watching nine emperors come and go in just twenty years, Lin Cong felt that he couldn't even stay attached to an emperor long enough to warm up.

Lin Cong declared, “I'm exhausted. Maybe I should just take the throne myself!”

Content notes:

① Women in this story cheerfully remarry, divorce, and change their children's surnames. Widows can remarry and keep their property. Men are happy to adopt children, including their former wives' sons. Emperors like to give officials new surnames, and officials change their names at least three times on average. Noblewomen and princesses may choose to become nuns and take male lovers rather than marry. After an emperor dies, his concubines can leave the palace and remarry. There are no restrictions on first, second, or third marriages, and an emperor may even marry a widow for his first marriage. The customs are open-minded. (The setting is the Tang dynasty and Five Dynasties, when customs really were very open-minded!)

② When the male lead first transmigrates, he is naive and wants to attach himself to a powerful patron and lie flat. Reality soon knocks him awake, and he has no choice but to fight his way up as a military commander.

③ The male lead grows over time. He starts out as an ordinary person, then studies under Feng Dao and gradually masters military power before becoming stronger.

④ The male lead becomes emperor.

⑤ The male lead marries the young princess, Li Siyuan's daughter. They were betrothed as children and join forces as two weak people trying to survive together. (This is a plot-driven story, and the romance only lasts a few chapters. Skip chapters 79 and 80 if that's not your thing.)

⑥ Historical setting: The Five Dynasties

Theme: End the chaos and unite the Central Plains