There's Always a Treacherous Minister Plotting Rebellion

Ji Jing was an emperor, and a reborn emperor at that.

In his previous life, he ascended the throne at seventeen, put down Prince Yan's rebellion, fought against the Southern Shu campaign, and even conquered Chu at the age of thirty-two, unifying the realm.

But only a few years later, the chancellor and general who had served him for so long rebelled one after the other. Before he could put them down, his adopted son, whom he had raised for twenty years, imprisoned him in the palace. In the end, he died full of bitterness upon learning that the chancellor and general had joined forces to attack the capital.

When he opened his eyes again, Ji Jing was back on the night before his seventeenth birthday and ascension. Sitting on the throne once more, he looked at the court full of traitors and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

The elder brother who should have usurped the throne was now finding new ways every day to wash his hands and cook for him.

The hostage prince from Shu, who should have returned to Shu to ascend the throne and launch a war against Wei, was perfectly content to remain in Wei as a minor marquis.

The ambitious chancellor and general were looking at him strangely, too. And that wasn't all: even the Crown Prince of Chu had come to call him Father Emperor, while the Consort Shu, his confidante from his previous life, turned out to be a man in disguise.

Ji Jing: ...

Ji Jing finally understood: he wasn't the only one who had been reborn. The traitors had returned to the past, too.

And every one of them had returned earlier than he had!

Unaware that he was in the middle of a chaotic love triangle, he spent every day guarding against the treacherous ministers around him and expecting them to rebel.

Note: No official pairing, but there are plenty of one-sided crushes. The protagonist is straight, oblivious, and focused on his career, and doesn't return anyone's feelings.

Message: Learn to cherish what you have and leave no regrets.