Working as an Emperor to Support Me

[Complete. The next book is an ancient-style palace romance, The Emperor Has Apparently Become Addicted to Playacting, where a tyrant becomes everyone’s darling. See the author’s announcement for a direct link. Mwah!]

The Lan clan, rulers of the Yong Dynasty, was a family of notorious lunatics.

They were born to noble blood, blessed with peerless beauty and incomparable intelligence, as well as cold, cruel, deranged, and obsessive personalities.

It was only natural that they would murder one another for the throne, until victory or death.

Born exceptional, doomed to an unhappy end.

In his previous life, Lan Yihuan had won the battle for the throne.

He became an exalted ruler. During his reign, the nation prospered and enjoyed peace, while his friends and family all died, leaving him utterly alone.

In the end, he died from exhaustion, remembered afterward as a harsh and ungrateful ruler.

Fine, fine. Good riddance. I was sick of this job ages ago!

When he opened his eyes again, he found that he had been reborn as a six-year-old prince, and was bound to a System.

The System boasted that it would help him become emperor.

Lan Yihuan: “...That’s worse than letting me die again.”

He planned to outsource the tasks issued by the System.

[A qualified emperor must be well versed in the Four Books and Five Classics.

Today’s task: read ten books by sages. Reward: a plate of cherries from the South Sea tribute!]

Lan Yihuan took the crown prince by the hand and laid before him a collection of precious books, hard to find anywhere in the realm.

“Study hard! Once you’re done, Father will see you in a new light!”

“And as for me, I’ll be busy eating cherries.”

In this life, Lan Yihuan wished only to avoid the hardships of being emperor and enjoy all its perks.

To make this dream come true, he decided to use the Imperial System to cultivate capable people, turning them into tools to help him achieve his ambitions.

*

Though the crown prince of the Yong Dynasty held the title of heir apparent, the emperor was suspicious of him, and father and son had never gotten along.

One day, he had a nightmare in which he missed out on the throne and died in despair.

And the one to blame for it all was six-year-old Lan Yihuan.

His adviser counseled him: “Your Highness, the Seventh Prince is graced with regal bearing and a piercing gaze. He is surely ambitious. We cannot afford to leave him alive!”

Going after a six-year-old was pointless.

The crown prince gave the child, who was still lazing in bed in broad daylight, a cold glance, then swept out of the room.

At the time, he had no idea that this child would come to mean so much to him.

He wouldn’t be scared off by the crown prince’s cold demeanor. He would quietly keep him company when he was hurting, and angrily speak up when their father treated him unfairly. Every so often, he would look up with a smile and tell him:

“I like you best, Big Brother Crown Prince.”

Those words saved him through countless nights of grief and injustice.

One day, he finally realized how much the other boy meant to him.

Even more than... the throne.

“I don’t want to be emperor anymore,” he told his beloved little brother. “I only want you to be safe and happy.”

The crown prince didn’t notice the look of shock and grief on Lan Yihuan’s face.

Not until the next day, when he saw the little brat fawning over his third brother, who was always at odds with him.

“I like you best, Third Brother!”

The crown prince: “!!!”

*

The crown prince finally got it.

To win Lan Yihuan’s affection, he shouldn’t give up the empire for him. He should...

Work for him!!!

Really, who could fail to love a stand-in employee who says, “I’ll do the work, you take the pay”?

The ministers panicked.

They had discovered that the crown prince was more enthusiastic about going to work than ever!

Do you have to compete at raising kids, too?

At last, the crown prince successfully ascended the throne.

Lan Yihuan was also reunited with his birth parents and reclaimed his identity.

On the day of his coronation, the crown prince defied protocol and named Lan Yihuan Prince Regent, with the title Chen.

Throughout the dynasty, everyone knew that the emperor had lived a life of restraint, with no one in his harem. His one and only lifelong love was Prince Chen.

Having reached the throne, all he wished was to offer you his realm and win your heart.

P.S. The protagonist is not of the imperial bloodline, and the love interest and protagonist are not related. Nothing intimate happens before the truth about his origins is revealed.

[Cover artist: Shuimo Danqing-Fuzei. Not a commissioned cover.]

Theme: If the spring breeze had a tender heart for flowers, would it let me be young once more?