I Save My Life by Saving in This Dog-Blood Novel

Chen Bingjiang transmigrated into a mash-up of melodramatic novels with an "save and reload" ability.

In the original story, a minor royal was the most troublesome of them all. He became emperor for only half a day before the male lead took the throne and killed him. His whole family was exiled as a result and died in Lingnan.

Chen Bingjiang looked at his harmonious parents and his brothers getting along like, well, brothers... and turned green.

He was that unlucky fool!

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No more holding back. He'd live according to his own heart!

By repeatedly reloading and starting over, he could plan ahead, watch the drama unfold, and save a few other poor souls caught up in melodramatic plots... His ultimate goal was to overturn his doomed fate and become emperor!

Question: Every time he changes something in the original plot, he gets a new save slot. How many will he need to work his way to the throne?

Chen Bingjiang fell silent: "..."

Seems he didn't even need to work that hard. After reloading and planning things out to the end... the great general, the leader of the secret guards, the princess royal, the leading court scholar, an unrecognized man of talent, and even the original male lead were all absurdly on his side!

Who else could be emperor if not him?

Later histories recorded:

[Emperor Ruiming was wise and resourceful throughout his reign, and knew how to put the right people in the right positions. He despised injustice above all. On many occasions, he traveled incognito to uphold justice for the people, sharply criticizing such cases as "excessively melodramatic and morally twisted." His words are still used to this day.]

What later generations found even more fascinating was that over half the officials at court had been "thousand-mile horses" discovered by Emperor Ruiming during his time as a prince. Not only had he recognized their talents, but in some cases, he had saved their lives.

Together, ruler and ministers achieved a clear and orderly government, a full treasury, and a thriving nation, building the splendor of the "Ruiming Golden Age."

...Historians called it one of the great oddities of the Zhao Dynasty.

A little bonus scene:

After his prosperous reign, Chen Bingjiang abdicated and became Retired Emperor, then traveled the world with his wife, Lady Wan.

Lady Wan asked curiously, "Now can you finally tell me how you discovered so many worthy ministers and great generals?"

Chen Bingjiang said mournfully, "Did I want to discover them? I just kept getting dragged into their troubles..."

"Did you know the Earl's household wanted to kill both heirs, the real one and the fake one? Did you know the top-scoring candidate who was separated from his lover was a woman in disguise? Did you know the newly selected prince consort wanted to marry into the royal family and live off his wife? And did you know that a renowned scholar was locked in a little black room, while a great mathematician was holed up in the back courtyard playing out some white-moonlight, crematorium nonsense..."

Chen Bingjiang complained aggrievedly, "Qingqing, you know what I'm like. How could I see all that and do nothing?"

Lady Wan: ...

No one else knew, but all those things really did challenge her husband's sense of right and wrong.

.

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Things to know before reading:

1. The female lead is Empress Wan. There are no other consorts. It's a melodramatic world, so anything can happen.

2. This is the author's first attempt at a new genre and category. The writing is simple, and the alternate world isn't meant to be educational. Please don't nitpick the historical details.

[Upcoming story: My Ministers Have All Been Reborn] Feel free to add it to your collection!

Qi Chengming transmigrated into a book with a "development System."

He became the second prince, a background character in a succession-struggle novel. From the start, he was exiled to a desolate frontier to establish his fief. He had no people and no money, only land. Once the new emperor took the throne in the original story, he would casually have Qi Chengming killed. His future looked impossibly bleak.

To save himself, Qi Chengming rolled up his sleeves and made a few plans:

First, use the System's knowledge to develop the fief scientifically and quietly build it up.

Second, disguise himself as a talent scout and recruit the gifted people from the original story, building up his strength for the succession struggle.

Third, make money, make money, and make as much money as he possibly could.

Once he had developed his territory in secret, sooner or later he would march back to the capital!

But there was one thing Qi Chengming hadn't expected:

He had been in his fief for six months. He'd expected life to be bitter as yellow-bitter tea, but his luck was absurdly good.

Whenever disaster struck, fortune came to the rescue. Opportunities practically threw themselves into his arms, and life kept getting better. Even the original story's protagonists and supporting characters, the famous generals and ministers who would serve the new emperor later on, were now flocking to him without the slightest resistance.

Qi Chengming: "...?"

This was getting ridiculous.

He'd thought transmigrating into a book would be like entering Hell Mode. Was it actually Easy Mode?

...It was just that those promising talents seemed a little too enthusiastic whenever they smiled at him, as if they were hiding something. On his guard, Qi Chengming prepared for a betrayal and secretly waited for them to make their move.

He waited and waited. Before he knew it, he had ascended the throne himself, and nothing had happened.

Qi Chengming's worldview crumbled: "...?"

What on earth was going on? Were they secretly competing for his favor?!

On the day the new emperor of Dingguo was laid to rest, his ministers wept inconsolably. Those in poor health fainted from crying several times, wishing they could follow him in death. The people spontaneously walked dozens of miles to see him off, their cries echoing across the hills and fields.

The officials couldn't forget how this wise new emperor had risen from an obscure prince in a distant fief to become crown prince and then take the throne. They remembered how he'd turned the tide and saved Dingguo from collapse, purged the government, reorganized its offices, handled affairs with skill and maturity, and brought the country to prosperity.

Had he lived a full life, he would surely have led them to an even more glorious future.

...All they could do was blame his difficult and harsh childhood, when no one had cared for him, for leaving him with a frail body and an early death. Now, no matter how they looked back on it, there was no changing what had happened.

Grief-stricken, the ministers closed their eyes. When they opened them again, they had all returned to the time when the new emperor was still an obscure prince in his distant fief.

The ministers: "…"

The ministers: "!!!"

What a wonderful turn of events!

Theme: Writing should strive for originality and logic. Mindlessly relying on tired formulas and melodrama for everything is no good.