After Transmigrating to the Song Dynasty, I Became the Enemy of the Language Arts Dream Team

The Song dynasty is deeply mired in weakness and poverty. Cao Tun is selfish and indifferent, and never intended to worry about the fate of the country. He only wants to live comfortably as a scholar-official and spare his family from a life of hardship.

Then his aunt, Empress Cao, tells him that she is his mother and the current emperor is his father, and orders him to get ready to enter the palace and become Crown Prince.

Wait, so my surname is Zhao? Does that mean I'm responsible for the Song dynasty's downfall?

Cao Tun... no, Zhao Tun glances at the literary dream team eyeing him from behind, mutters, “Transmigrating can't save the Song dynasty,” and goes back to lying flat.

Then one day, Zhao Tun learns that Di Zheng, his brother-in-law, and Cao You, his uncle, who never existed in history, are also transmigrators.

He silently shakes the salt off himself and struggles to his feet.

To honor the flowers he offered at the tombs of Xin Qiji and Yue Fei in his previous life, Zhao Tun decides to get moving and see if he can take on the literary dream team filling the entire court.

Please note:

1. The male lead is involved in a romance, so please don't read if that's not your thing. There are exactly three transmigrators in this story: Zhao Tun and his two powerful backers (???). It's an ensemble story with a focus on everyday life, written in accessible, colloquial prose, and not intended as rigorous historical research.

2. The Song-era characters and the entire Song dynasty are portrayed with extremely strong historical limitations. Readers who are fond of the Song dynasty or any famous Song-era figures are likely to find this novel deeply uncomfortable, so please consider carefully before reading.

3. Given the limitations of the era, the male lead needs to write poetry. But the author is hopeless at writing classical poetry, so any poems attributed to the male lead in the story will be obscure existing poems presented as his own. The author's notes will identify their sources.

Before Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi, died, he solemnly entrusted his most beloved youngest son, Liu Pi, to Crown Prince Liu Che. “Che, take good care of Pi. He's your only full brother.”

From that day on, the sound that gave the great Han emperor Liu Che the biggest headache was a certain person's shriek.

“Brother! I'm your only full brother!”

In his previous life, Liu Pi was an aimless rich kid whose only hobby was eating.

When Liu Pi recovered his memories from his previous life and learned that he was Emperor Wu of Han's younger brother by the same mother, he could think only of the dark jokes about Emperor Wu going mad in his old age and wiping out the entire court. Even with a System, he had no plans to make a name for himself. He just wanted to secure a fiefdom and escape as far away as possible.

Until one day...

Liu Pi: “What on earth is this stuff?”

Servant: “This is roasted field mouse, and this is ant-egg relish. They're delicacies fit for the emperor alone, specially bestowed upon Your Highness by His Majesty.”

Liu Pi took a deep breath, nearly having a heart attack.

[The Host's intense wish has been detected. The System has evolved into the ‘Gourmet System.’ The ingredient map is now unlocked. Ingredients from anywhere within the Host's country's territory can be purchased with achievement points. Friendly reminder: if the Host is enfeoffed, the ingredient map will cover only the territory of the Host's fiefdom.]

Liu Pi wiped his face and put on a swaggering expression.

I don't care about dark jokes anymore! Life isn't worth living without good food!

By the time Emperor Wu gets old, I'll be old too. Whether I'm alive then or not won't matter!

“Brother! I'm your only full brother! I don't want a fief! I don't want to work! I don't want to leave you! You have to support me for the rest of my life!”

Theme: When you prosper, help the world around you.