The Tyrant Became a Cat to a Future Foolish Emperor

On the day the capital of the Great Yu dynasty fell, the last emperor, Yu Qiyuan, burned himself to death in the palace. Later generations would say: "Emperor Ai of Yu, Qiyuan, was tyrannical and wicked throughout his life. Yet his decision to die for his country showed the bearing of a true ruler and earned him a place in the history books." Hearing what people in later generations had to say, Yu Qiyuan really wanted to explain: You people are reading way too much into it. I didn't die for my country. I drank too much and didn't notice the charcoal fire. But now he couldn't speak... at least, he couldn't speak like a person. Yu Qiyuan was reborn a hundred years later, as a cat. After the Great Yu dynasty fell, the new Zhuang dynasty was established. A hundred years had passed, and now Zhuang was also weathering a storm of crisis. As it happened, the current emperor, Zhuang YIwei, was "unfazed by danger." After ascending the throne, he neglected state affairs and spent his days indulging himself and shirking work. He was every inch a foolish ruler. Yu Qiyuan, the tyrant, had become a cat in the imperial palace of Zhuang. The foolish emperor, Zhuang Yiwei, even scooped him up and kept him by his side. Though they were both emperors whom everyone loved to hate, Yu Qiyuan truly looked down on Zhuang Yiwei. The foolish emperor muttered to himself all day like some kind of spider, going on about, "I want to get online." Yu Qiyuan was sick of hearing it and tried to run away, but Zhuang Yiwei held him down and gave him a good rubbing. Reborn as a cat, Yu Qiyuan had lost all his imperial dignity. Furious, he kicked Zhuang Yiwei a few times. To his surprise, the foolish emperor seemed delighted to be kicked. "You've got some real strength, sweetheart!" Yu Qiyuan: "..." The foolish emperor was talentless and inept, and he didn't even have a temper. When his ministers pointed at his nose and berated him, he just grinned. The tyrant Yu Qiyuan had never put up with this kind of thing in his life. At once, he slapped... swatted the minister across the face with a paw. The minister wanted to catch the vicious cat and skin him alive. Zhuang Yiwei merely covered Yu Qiyuan's ears. "Don't listen, sweetheart. It's a bad review." Yu Qiyuan thought the man was utterly spineless, so in his frustration, he swatted Zhuang Yiwei too. The foolish emperor didn't get angry. He just kept muttering to himself: "Do cats get rabies these days? Do free-roaming house cats need vaccinations?" Yu Qiyuan: "..." The foolish emperor was also a coward who feared ghosts. He didn't even dare sleep alone, insisting on holding Yu Qiyuan's cat body as they slept. Furious at being held against his will, Yu Qiyuan rained punches and kicks on Zhuang Yiwei. The foolish emperor gasped as he tried to soothe him. "Don't hit my face, sweetheart. If the country falls, I'll still need this face to earn a living and support you." Yu Qiyuan struggled in vain. In the end, he gave up on everything and used Zhuang Yiwei as a pillow. One night, Zhuang Yiwei suddenly felt that the cat on top of him had gotten much heavier. So, still half asleep, he reached out to feel the cat. "Sweetheart, have you put on weight... Huh?!" Zhuang Yiwei didn't find a soft, furry cat. He felt only smooth, bare skin. He jolted awake, then realized that sprawled on top of him was a stunning, mesmerizing... beautiful man. Yu Qiyuan woke at the disturbance and realized that he had somehow turned back into a human. "I know you." Zhuang Yiwei poked Yu Qiyuan in the face, staring blankly. "You're Emperor Ai of Yu, that narcissist who painted portraits of himself his whole life!" Emperor Ai of Yu, Yu Qiyuan: "..." Zhuang Yiwei looked miserable. "I don't care if you're a person or a ghost. Where's my cat? Give my cat back first." Yu Qiyuan thought for a moment, then smiled maliciously. "I need a sacrifice to return to the living. Your cat has already been eaten. Now it's your turn." Zhuang Yiwei looked at Yu Qiyuan, whose long hair was his only covering, and stammered, "...Even if you're good-looking, you should still mind your table manners. Why don't you put your clothes on properly first?" Yu Qiyuan: "..." - Word spread through the palace that His Majesty had grown even more indulgent. He used to be obsessed with keeping cats, but now he was keeping a man too! And a man of unknown origins, at that! They said the man was as beautiful as an immortal and greatly favored by His Majesty. They ate and slept together, and His Majesty refused to let him out of his sight. The palace servants also said that the man showed His Majesty no respect whatsoever. He was either telling him to get lost or ordering him to go away, and he even dared to call himself "I," the imperial pronoun! Yet His Majesty still couldn't bear to be parted from him! The conduct was outrageous. The officials were furious, and the censor threatened to remonstrate to the death, hoping to bring His Majesty back to his senses and have him execute the male consort who was ruining the country. Yu Qiyuan happened to step out from behind a screen. "Male consort? You're talking about me?" The officials: "..." His Majesty had taken in a man who looked like the last emperor of the previous dynasty, given him the name of that last emperor, and let him imitate the former emperor's violent temperament and call himself "I"... The officials: So His Majesty isn't besotted with beauty. He's just so obsessed with Emperor Ai of Yu that he's lost his mind? ...Isn't that even more shocking?! The Zhuang dynasty is doomed! [Advance blurb written on 20250831] [Additional details added on 20260101] ※Advance novel 1: The Imperial Tutor Marries a Disabled General Blurb: After years of careful planning, Yu Chisu finally succeeded in helping the new emperor ascend the throne. As the teacher who had been at the new emperor's side for many years, Yu Chisu thought he could finally enjoy an easy life. Instead, his imperial student committed an outrageous act of defiance and wanted to make him empress. After Yu Chisu rejected him again and again and sternly reprimanded him, the new emperor flew into a rage and said whatever came to mind. He threatened to arrange a marriage between Yu Chisu and the newly returned general Duan Zhuhan, who had been crippled. If Yu Chisu wouldn't agree to become empress, then he could go be the disabled general's husband. Yu Chisu felt that being married off to Duan Zhuhan was clearly easier to accept than becoming his student's husband. So he readily agreed to the arranged marriage. As the new emperor fumed and the court looked on in stunned silence, Yu Chisu married the newly returned general, Duan Zhuhan. On their wedding night, Duan Zhuhan, whose legs were crippled, gave him a cool look. "I never thought His Majesty and the Imperial Tutor would think so highly of me. To keep an eye on me at all times, the Imperial Tutor has sacrificed so much, marrying a cripple as his husband." Yu Chisu couldn't be bothered to explain. As he undid his wedding robes, he replied, "Then General Duan had better behave." Watching Yu Chisu settle down to sleep with such ease, Duan Zhuhan couldn't resist placing a hand on his neck. The next morning, word spread that the Imperial Tutor had nearly been strangled to death by the general on their very first night as a married couple. The Imperial Tutor, Yu Chisu, was a once-in-a-generation talent, with the looks and bearing of an immortal. Yet he had been discarded once he was no longer useful and forced into the humiliating role of a man's wife. Worse, he'd been married to General Duan Zhuhan, who had long been notorious for his brutality and was now crippled, with an even stranger temperament by all accounts... People sighed over his misfortune and pitied him, convinced that such a delicate scholar wouldn't last a year by General Duan's side. Duan Zhuhan sneered. He too had thought Yu Chisu was a frail scholar, the sort who would die after coughing a few times... if Yu Chisu hadn't nearly stabbed him to death with a sword on their wedding night. People knew that General Duan had tried to strangle the Imperial Tutor on their wedding night, but they didn't know that the moment he put his hand on Yu Chisu's neck, before he could even apply pressure, Yu Chisu had swiftly stabbed him with a sword. While people expressed sympathy over the strangulation marks on Yu Chisu's neck, which he'd made himself, General Duan was bandaging his very real wounds and stopping the bleeding... Duan Zhuhan ground his teeth. "The Imperial Tutor is a master of both letters and arms, and knows when to bend and when to stand firm. I admire you." Yu Chisu smiled slightly. "I know a little medicine too. Since your legs aren't actually crippled, why don't I disable them for real, so your act will be flawless?" Duan Zhuhan choked, then teased him. "...Wife, are you reminding your perfectly healthy husband that he owes you a wedding night?" Yu Chisu: "..." ※Advance novel 2: The National Preceptor Has His Reasons Blurb: Lin Xiwen was a sickly mute. One day, he transmigrated into a book as the national preceptor, but he was still a mute. In the original story, the national preceptor, who had been unable to speak since childhood, was dark-hearted. He not only framed the highly esteemed Third Prince, who was about to be named crown prince, as a bringer of calamity, but also declared that the Fourth Prince, confined to the cold palace and neglected by everyone, was the one favored by fate. As a result, the two princes' destinies were switched The Third Prince endured hardship after hardship and narrowly escaped death time and again, while the Fourth Prince rose to the heights overnight and received the national preceptor's tutelage. Years later, however, the Third Prince rallied, made a comeback, and ascended the throne. Afraid his good days were over, the Fourth Prince hurriedly had the national preceptor bound and presented him to the new emperor. The emperor ordered the national preceptor to be executed by slicing, and the teacher of the nation met his end. After listening to the System explain the story, Lin Xiwen thought: ...So what's my mission? System: Follow the original plot. Frame the Third Prince and assist the Fourth Prince, but change the original ending. You must help the Fourth Prince successfully take the throne. Lin Xiwen: ... Maybe he should find a nice spot and bury himself there right now. Burying himself was out of the question, so he could only do his best to try the mission. But Lin Xiwen felt guilty about smearing an innocent prince's name. So while he openly tutored the Fourth Prince, he also hid his identity and secretly gave a little help to the Third Prince, whose circumstances were dire. Sure enough, a few years later, the original plot happened again: the Third Prince became emperor, and the Fourth Prince was terrified, sharpening his knives for the national preceptor. Fortunately, Lin Xiwen was quick to flee. Before leaving, he set up a ruse that made everyone think he feared the new emperor and had taken his own life. He hadn't completed the mission the System gave him, but as long as he wasn't caught, he could still stay alive. Lin Xiwen went into hiding under an assumed name and kept to himself. His life was manageable enough. Until one day, he woke to find a figure like the King of Hell sitting by his bed: Zhao Xingjin, the late emperor's Third Prince and the new emperor. Lin Xiwen: ... Zhao Xingjin shackled Lin Xiwen's hands and feet and took him back to the capital like a criminal being brought in for the worst of crimes. But contrary to Lin Xiwen's expectations, Zhao Xingjin didn't kill him. He only locked him in a dungeon. Even more unexpected, the dungeon had a soft bed, plush pillows, fine clothes, and delicious food. Zhao Xingjin humiliated him every night, but why did this treatment seem more like that of... a male concubine? - Zhao Xingjin couldn't understand Lin Xiwen. Lin Xiwen had declared with absolute conviction that he was a bringer of calamity, turning him from a favored child of heaven into a criminal in the cold palace who had to endure hunger and cold. But when Zhao Xingjin had a fever that wouldn't break, it was Lin Xiwen, concealing his identity, who took his pulse, brewed medicine, and brought him clothes, food, and charcoal. Lin Xiwen had made him a target of everyone's hatred, but when others bullied him, it was Lin Xiwen who pretended to disdain him while helping him out of trouble. He couldn't even get his hands on brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone, and that too was all thanks to Lin Xiwen. Yet it was also Lin Xiwen who secretly brought him books by famous scholars. When he nearly took poison given to him by someone else, it was Lin Xiwen, wearing a mask and saying nothing, who hurried over and stopped him from being killed or crippled... Zhao Xingjin hated Lin Xiwen with all his heart and wanted to cut him into a thousand pieces. But when the day came that he had the power to do so, Zhao Xingjin found he couldn't bring himself to act. In fact, when he heard that Lin Xiwen had taken his own life, he was so bewildered that he spat up blood. Lin Xiwen, you owe me so much. Your life and death belong to me. ...What gave you the right to decide for yourself? - On the way back to the palace with Lin Xiwen, whom he had found after the man's fake death, Zhao Xingjin had already made up his mind Lin Xiwen was truly hateful, so he deserved to be thrown into the imperial prison. But Lin Xiwen had helped him too, so the prison could be made comfortable. That way, the sickly man wouldn't get off easy by dying too quickly. Lin Xiwen was too malicious, so he deserved to be humiliated and left to cling to life. So... Zhao Xingjin made Lin Xiwen his male lover. Whenever Lin Xiwen was in a daze, he could hear Zhao Xingjin ask through clenched teeth beside his ear: If you had another chance, would you still help your Fourth Brother hurt me? Lin Xiwen could only try his best to shake his head. Zhao Xingjin deliberately misunderstood him. "You refuse to answer?" Lin Xiwen: ... Lin Xiwen had to swallow his grievances, with no way to speak up or voice his suffering Your Majesty, if you expect a mute to answer your question, shouldn't you give him paper and a brush? Or at least stop gripping his hands so tightly, so he can use sign language? Theme: Treasure life and live with optimism.